Previously most videogames were totally silent or only contained extremely simple beeps and boops – such as in Atari’s Pong, released in 1972 – but as background music in videogames began to become expected by customers, developers capitalized directly on this growing trend with the release of the universally panned, Journey (I know what you’re thinking, but the 1983 version). This is my examination of music’s enormous role in videogames.Īround the late 1970’s when videogames first begun to emerge as a popular form of entertainment during the so-called ‘golden age’ of arcade videogames and the second generation of consoles (we are now entering the 8th generation with the Wii U, Xbox One and PS4), music was created via simple synthetic chips to generate musical sounds in the aptly named style: chiptune. Music alone has backed some of the greatest gaming moments of all time, however some titles have driven this a step further, building the entire core gameplay around musicality. The sophistication of electronic entertainment has come a long way since the days of 8-bit and MIDI soundtracks from classics such as Mario Bros. Just as the last few years has seen great strides in compelling videogame narrative, so too has its use of music seen rapid development.īut as all games must revolve around both storytelling and gameplay, its version of auditory accompaniment has proven itself wholly unique to this medium. As in films, effective use (or lack of use) of music in videogames has proven to be the difference between a defining emotional climax reaching its full splendor, and what would have otherwise been captivating moment achieving the poignancy of a dried tomato (unless dried tomatoes actually bring you to tears, in which case I’m sure they satisfy your need for emotional storytelling to a far greater extent than any game).
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