Video game music refers to any of the musical pieces or soundtracks and background musics found in video games. It can range from a simple synthesizer tune to an orchestral piece, usually such that the older the game, the simpler the music. Music can also be an important gameplay element in certain types of video games (like rhythm games). Beginning in the fifth generation, video game music began to be more complex, and with the sixth generation and continuing with the seventh, video games have complex soundtracks similar to the film scores of movies, and sometimes even interactive soundtracks which change based on player input in order to create an appropriate atmosphere. The complexity of the music improved to the point where the score of a video game became almost indistinguishable from the music played in the finest concert halls. As musical capabilities of consoles increased, big names signed on with Trent Reznor composing music for Quake and Hans Zimmer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, among many others. Conversely, game composers crossed over: Michael Giacchino made his name with the Medal of Honor series, and went on to compose the music for both the Alias and Lost television series, and the film Star Trek released in 2009. Beginning in the early 2000s, it became increasingly common for video game soundtracks to be commercially sold or performed in concerts that focus on video game music.
Read more about Video Game Music: Game Music As A Genre, Video Game Music Outside Video Games, Video Game Music Education, Awards, Fan Culture
Famous quotes containing the words video game, video, game and/or music:
“It is among the ranks of school-age children, those six- to twelve-year-olds who once avidly filled their free moments with childhood play, that the greatest change is evident. In the place of traditional, sometimes ancient childhood games that were still popular a generation ago, in the place of fantasy and make- believe play . . . today’s children have substituted television viewing and, most recently, video games.”
—Marie Winn (20th century)
“It is among the ranks of school-age children, those six- to twelve-year-olds who once avidly filled their free moments with childhood play, that the greatest change is evident. In the place of traditional, sometimes ancient childhood games that were still popular a generation ago, in the place of fantasy and make- believe play . . . today’s children have substituted television viewing and, most recently, video games.”
—Marie Winn (20th century)
“Neighboring farmers and visitors at White Sulphur drove out occasionally to watch ‘those funny Scotchmen’ with amused superiority; when one member imported clubs from Scotland, they were held for three weeks by customs officials who could not believe that any game could be played with ‘such elongated blackjacks or implements of murder.’”
—For the State of West Virginia, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“As for the terms good and bad, they indicate no positive quality in things regarded in themselves, but are merely modes of thinking, or notions which we form from the comparison of things with one another. Thus one and the same thing can be at the same time good, bad, and indifferent. For instance music is good for him that is melancholy, bad for him who mourns; for him who is deaf, it is neither good nor bad.”
—Baruch (Benedict)