The music that appears in the video games we are used to being entertained and having a good time with is already considered a musical genre, especially because of the long history it has.
The history of music in video games
In order to better understand the importance and impact that music has had in the videogame sector, it is necessary to take into account this chronology of the most important moments in its history.
- The first video game in which a sound appears for the first time is “Pong”.
- Sound effects and a soundtrack are added to “Atari 2600”.
- “Space Invaders” becomes the first video game to include continuous music.
- The first home computer with a sound chip, the Commodore, appears.
- Koji Kondo creates the soundtrack for the popular Super Mario Bros. game.
- The Yen record label is the first to release an album of video game music.
- The SNES is launched, featuring an advanced sound system.
- “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” is released and with it comes the first soundtrack orchestrated exclusively for a video game.
- Harry Gregson-Williams, who is an expert film music composer, is hired to compose the music for the video game “Metal Gear Solid 2”.
- EA Trax, the video game soundtrack brand of EA and EA Sports, is born.
- 3D audio appears with the launch of the PS5.
The evolution of video games and their music
The evolution of sound in video games has always been present and has sought to be excellent in terms of technique, quality and interactivity with the player. In the 70s, those who were in charge of adding this music and the first sounds were composers who had some programming skills.
Trackers were normally used. This was because there was no music editing software yet, which encoded the music to be able to compose without the help of scores and using replayers to compile and play it in videogames.
When 16-bit came along, so did storage capacity, as well as processing and sound improvements. What is more, 8-bit and 16-bit are still being used today.
Moreover, even today, the technology available to us allows a single person to make a great musical gem. Of course, triple A games with a big budget include important composers and symphony orchestras in the development.
The importance of music in video games
The music that is part of video games is expressly created by and for the different formats that exist, and the quality is very high.
It has had such an impact that it has also made the leap to the casino. Music is becoming increasingly important in casino games. Every time you enter an online casino, you can already see that they are trying to achieve the atmosphere of a land based casino. The difference with this one is that, seen from an entertainment point of view, there is much more profit to be made. That is where the best bonuses and promotions you can find come into play. How a casino bonus works depends on the type of bonus you are claiming. Although, deposit match bonuses and free spins are usually the most popular. However, there are more specific bonuses to benefit from when playing a game. These can be poker bonuses or blackjack bonuses.
The music must be in tune with the genre and the narrative, as well as the gameplay, in order to generate emotions in the players and make them part of the story. A poor choice of soundtrack can completely spoil the gaming experience and turn a great game into a mediocre one.
How do you create music for a video game?
The music composed especially for video games can be perfectly differentiated from other media thanks to the particularities of electronic leisure. Normally, in other media, music usually keeps company in a more passive way, but in the case of video games it participates more actively and accompanies the player.
During the composition process, interactivity must always be present, and in some cases it must be very specific, taking into account the zones and the different moments of the game. Their creators take special care from the very beginning. The time it takes to develop them is usually much longer than in other audio-visual genres.
Image by Vectronom Studios from Pixabay
