Talk:Video game music

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Disagreement with the second paragraph of the introduction section

Specifically, the part which says: "With advances in technology, video game music has grown to include the same breadth and complexity associated with television and film scores, allowing for much more creative freedom"

That is quite the opposite: it is BECAUSE of the limitations of the console music hardware that video game music composers could be so creative. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.123.99.88 (talk) 21:45, 17 June 2020 (UTC)

Creativity is not necessarily tied to the limitations of your creation or rules. GtRyz (talk) 03:13, 28 September 2020 (UTC)

Content in Game music as a genre & Video game music outside of video games

There's a brief mention in the former of rock bands covering VG themes, however I think it would be better suited in the latter. I edited the article yesterday not realizing this has already been mentioned (review History for details), and it was subsequently (and rightly) removed. Upon reviewing the article however it took me a few tries to actually find this in the article. I don't think Game music as a genre is the right place for this, it makes more sense to me to removed it and put in the video game music outside of video games section instead, since that's essentially what it is. Generally the bands that play this are from either the rock or metal genre who are playing videogame themes, rather than groups whose style of music is derived from games themselves. It's kind of semantic, but a metal band playing videogame theme songs is still of the metal genre IMHO. Thee darcy (talk) 22:00, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

While totally uncited and as near as I can tell currently uncitable, I find having the genre section is somewhat relevant from the POV of explaining how different from what one would consider more conventional forms of music were composed, especially in relation to the older pre-sampling systems from 3rd gen. This however has less to do with being video games, and more to do with the musical instrument being used, a limited tone generator. IMO thats the only scope that this section should deal with, and that any reference to a 'band' that didn't use an actual video game sound engine as their musical instrument, or to compositions from the 4th gen or later equipment (which was essentially no different than regular sampled instruments of the day) are irrelevant.RCHM (talk) 02:16, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

Personally, I think that the "Video game music outside of video games" section should only be about the actual music from the video games being played outside a video game context, like rocking out to a CD of Super Mario World. As written, the section goes into public performances of video game music, especially by those other than the original artist(s), where I really don't think it should. And for "Game music as a genre", I would argue that we should follow the Wikipedia definition of "Genre", which is a "a loose set of criteria for a category of composition". By this definition, The Imperial March from Star Wars could be classified as both classical music and a soundtrack or the music of Rage Against the Machine could be classified as some variant of rap rock and political music. This would mean that a metal band's cover of F-Zero could be both heavy metal and video game music culture (Just examples, the first that popped into my head.) This is just my opinion, of course. I'm interested how this discussion will play out. Wyatt Riot (talk) 22:27, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

You've got a good point, most music (these days at least) seems to fit under at least a couple different genres. Since there are many different styles of metal bands playing VGM, the consensus in Wikiproject Metal was that we'd list both the style(s) of metal they play along with video game music in the genre field. Video Game Metal is a bit of a fringe genre (no kidding!) and kind of unpindownable aside from being both metal and video game music, so it was decided that for now it's not really notable enough or very encyclopedic to list it as a legit fusion genre on its own. Which makes sense to me.

EDIT: I guess one of the things I'm concerned with here is that orchestral arrangements are listed in one section, while rock arrangements are another, which from my perspective doesn't make much sense- in both cases it's a matter of the music being played with varying degrees of faithfulness, and both are as you said "public performances of video game music, especially by those other than the original artist(s)". Thee darcy (talk) 18:39, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

I wholeheartedly agree. They should all be considered covers, in my opinion, whether it's done by a professional orchestra or the metal band down the street. Ideas from others? Wyatt Riot (talk) 21:58, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

There's a difference between something that's officially licensed, like Black Mages and Video Games Live, and "the metal band down the street". We have a seperate article for the later, for a good reason. ♫ Melodia Chaconne ♫ (talk) 22:23, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Are you saying that these elements (i.e., the unofficial covers, including those by orchestras and such) should be pruned from this article and added to the other article? If so, I'd agree. Wyatt Riot (talk) 03:31, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

Agreed, that makes sense- so long as the orchestral performance has a direct connection with the developers, such as VGL. Right now the article shows a strong bias in favour of orchestral music no matter how tenuous their connection to the games may be. Considering that a number of games' soundtracks were written with emulating a rock band in mind, that strikes me as a rather arbitrary distinction. Also consider groups like Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain who started off writing unofficial fan music and have since been included in BlizzCon, appeared on soundtracks, etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thee darcy (talk • contribs) 14:26, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

VGM performed by an orchestra is not a "cover". A "cover" is a term used only to refer to pop music renditions. VGM is arranged and/or orchestrated, not covered.71.255.174.65 (talk) 02:49, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

When a rock band plays something they didn't write it's usually (though incorrectly) referred to as a cover whether it was originally a pop tune or some other piece. I referred to them as covers earlier, but if we're going to get that particular I would say that VGM faithfully performed by any kind of group is an arrangement, not a cover.Thee darcy (talk) 19:07, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Probably correct, but does it matter? The issue at hand is whether a band is operating "officially" or "unofficially". Unless there are any other objections, I'll go through and remove some of the clutter. (If anybody else wants to do it, please do. Not sure when I'll have the time.) Wyatt Riot (talk) 11:56, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

VGM album history

Is "Video Game Music" [1][2] the first known video game music album? The Japanese version of this article seems to claim it is:

1984年には、細野晴臣プロデュースのアルバム「ビデオ・ゲーム・ミュージック」にて、『ゼビウス』などのゲームミュージックが初めてレコードとしてリリース。翌年にはアルファレコード内に、ゲームミュージック専門のレーベル・GMOが発足し、ゲームミュージックのサウンドトラック市場が形成され始めた。

(translation)
It also mentions how Alfa Records launched their "GMO" label dedicated to game music - many game music albums (from a variety of the large Japanese game producers) from the mid-late '80s and early '90s were released under this label. Would this be noteworthy? The Haruomi Hosono article also mentions this album. --Zilog Jones (talk) 03:01, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

Incorrectness on NES Sound

The Famicom Disk System did not have a PCM channel as it might indicate in the article. The FDS did however have an extra channel that provided FM-synth like tone. This appears in games like Metroid and The Legend Of Zelda. When these games were released in the US, the soundtrack was "dumbed down" because of this. The NES did however have the PCM channel which was originally used for small sound bits. Top Gun for example uses the DMC channel for the kickdrum, giving more depth to the track. The US version of Super Mario 2 also used the dmc channel for percussion. These were generally indvidual tiny samples that were programmed together. The use of large samples for speech and such came about later when they could squeeze more data on the the cartridges, such as in Monopoly and 3 Stooges. I've not discovered any games that use the dmc channel that have a japanese version that uses the fds channel. The number of games that actually use it seem to be few, but I have not dug through the 4,000 or so NSF files. Dewdude (talk) 16:36, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

The article, as near as I can tell, indicates no such thing. Are you sure you're not confusing the Famicom, and its peripheral the Famicom Disk System? the FDS has an extra FM channel of audio, but all Famicoms and NES released have a DPCM channel.RCHM (talk) 01:51, 23 September 2009 (UTC)

FM Synthesis?

"such as FM synthesis, this technique allowed short samples of pre-recorded sound waves to be played back through the computer's sound chip from memory." What? It's not fucking FM Synthesis! Adlib is FM Synthesis, you moron. This method is called "wavetable synthesis" or something like that. FM synths generate the sound via sorts of different mfilters and modulators and there's no samples involved. Sega Genesis had an FM synthesier. It also had a sampler. That's why you thought that FM synthesis is samples but it's not! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.105.67.254 (talk) 17:07, 8 December 2010‎

language, dude. I'm sure it was just a mis-arrangement of words, nothing to get worked up over.RCHM (talk) 23:25, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

German Article

Anyone notice how wildly different it is? anyone speak german wanna swing on by and get the skinny?RCHM (talk) 23:25, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

No CD Games used Redbook CDDA

Not unless they are not a game but a soundtrack. I changed all the articles and references that I could find that incorrectly state that VGM from CD Games are Redbook it is not. Redbook CDDA is an audio only format and very specific standard (i.e. audio only, single session etc.). Yellowbook CD-ROM is data only and what most games used, however when they use CD Streaming Audio the format is properly called Mixed Mode CD. The first track is always data and the rest are audio - this is not Redbook or Yellowbook but a mix :) I am surprised on how many articles have incorrectly used this on Wiki. Please be aware of this misconception and help change any incorrect references other the ones I have found.

Corrected: Streaming audio in video games, Video game music, Game rip (audio).

Thanks. Tyros1972 (talk) 20:38, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

Mention more on current music styles

I think there should be more examples of newer, 21st century soundtracks/music. What about the soundtracks/music from newer games like Super Smash Bros. Melee/Brawl, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Final Fantasy XIV, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Halo, Portal, Battlefield, etc.? Maybe we could mention the changes and gives examples of newer music styles? Example: the blending or usage of different styles that already exist, such as the Gregorian chant used in Halo, or the styles used in Skyrim. Video game music nowadays can pretty much be used in movies... - M0rphzone (talk) 08:45, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

Games still have soundtracks? I thought they were 100% dialogue and cutscenes? :) But seriously, the bulk of this article is driven by nostalgia, which explains the lack of current content. If you can find sources on modern games, I agree that the article could/should be brought up to date. Cheers! Wyatt Riot (talk) 15:07, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

Here's an article from Gamespot that's pretty specific on the history of video game music. Here are two nice sources from NPR that may be useful. I think we should mention something about "video game music hitting the concert stage" (as said in the source). Example: Video Games Live, and lol, here's a source from IGN where the London Philharmonic Orchestra played soundtracks including something from Mass Effect 3 and some of the others I mentioned above. - M0rphzone (talk) 20:53, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

Here's a source from The Atlantic. So, I think we can say something like: Starting in the late 2000s, video game music became increasingly similar to film scores and music. (Additional info about developments in soundtracks of modern games). In 2011, composer Christopher Tin's "Baba Yetu," originally written for Civilization IV, was nominated for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s), making it the first time that music written for a game has been nominated for anything at the Grammys. - M0rphzone (talk) 21:18, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

"More and more filmmakers are adopting the visual vibe of old-school videogames." - we can also mention something about the return to "8-bit"-style imagery in music videos, as mentioned in this Wired article, or maybe this is more appropriate at computer graphics? Here's another source which says the concert phenomena thing started around 2004/2005. - M0rphzone (talk) 21:24, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

Btw, about the cut scenes/dialogue comment. Shouldn't we mention something at gameplay about the blending of film/animation/video games/virtual reality/simulation? L.A. Noire is almost an interactive movie, and the Unreal Engine can be used to make animated films and machinima. Something about the increase in virtual reality/simulation should be mentioned too. Of course, all this is only possible from the developments of first-person/third-person game play. - M0rphzone (talk) 21:27, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

Yes, to everything! :) Wyatt Riot (talk) 04:58, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

Alright then, here we go. Can you clean up after my edits, and add the content I didn't mention? The current layout of the article makes it difficult to write in a historical perspective. - M0rphzone (talk) 05:04, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

Also, shouldn't we could get/use a snippet of music from something like Final Fantasy or Skyrim, or even Red Dead Redemption and Medal of Honor? Like the main theme from FF7 or One Winged Angel, music from SSB Melee, Dragonborn, theme from Red Dead or a Portal soundtrack like Still Alive? - M0rphzone (talk) 05:22, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

I'll take a crack at it tomorrow. And I agree on including some music, although I'm not sure what the policies or guidelines on that would be. I know that short musical sections are generally okay, and they're usually in OGG format, but little beyond that. Wyatt Riot (talk) 06:06, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

There's a snippet on Skyrim; maybe that could work. - M0rphzone (talk) 06:25, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

I added a couple sentences and included three references. I'm not sure how (or if) we'll be able to work in the other sources, since they're pretty short on actual content. Didn't have much time to read through all of your changes, but on first glance it looks great. I'm also wondering if we should tackle naming the references. That could be...fun. Sorry, didn't have much time this morning due to IRL issues, but I'll try to find more time tonight or in the next couple days. Cheers! Wyatt Riot (talk) 15:31, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

That's fine; you can just edit more when you have time. Hopefully more editors can help as well? - M0rphzone (talk) 03:33, 16 October 2012 (UTC)

Intro Cleanup

Feels like more of a side-grade to what was there before. I think the specific artists in the cross-over bit could still be left out of the intro section without losing much. Perhaps the whole cross-over bit could be left out of that part. I mostly left it in because I wasn't tempted to smeg up whatever the references were referencing too much. I did tack on the chiptunes bit, as I think some folks may conflate the idea of chiptunes with being the common style from video game music. If that would be better done with a disambiguation, go for it. Most of what I cut was reference to the console generations which are covered in detail in the article, and stating multiple times that the old music was simple and the new music is complex. Hope I did more good than harm. :D Desolation0 (talk) 10:24, 3 December 2012 (UTC)

General trimming and reorganising

This article has picked up alot of wordmass over the years again, and many of the details in their inclusion have diluted the overall chronologic presentation of the information. Lets consider reviewing pertinent content and the way its listed. for example, the introduction references composers needlessly in what should be a brief explanation of the subject of the article, and much of the details added to the early digital synthesis section muddles any sense of chronology. I'm going to work on it a bit at a time again. RCHM (talk) 23:03, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

No mention of David Bowie ?

His album Hours was composed for a videogame — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:248:100:741C:6:25BD:F6F9:873 (talk) 05:14, 1 September 2015 (UTC)

Where Did it start?

I read the article and no reference to where video game music started 216.104.100.66 (talk) 17:11, 29 October 2015 (UTC)Unknown

What do you mean started? The first video games that had music were in early 80's arcade games in Japan, which is explained in the article. ~ Dissident93 (talk) 21:59, 29 October 2015 (UTC)

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Sound effects

Hello, this article seems to discuss music in detail, but says very little about sound effects. Music is often a background to set mood, whereas effects are used to indicate game actions. Can you please expend it? --167.57.194.159 (talk) 18:57, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

• While sound effects from the SNES/Genesis era and before were mostly created in conjunction with the music and serves a somewhat similar purpose, I don't think more than a few sentences could be written about it. Of course, somebody is always welcome to try. ~ Dissident93 (talk) 01:04, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

Sound effects modified

After reading through the talk page about what people thought should be added to the article on video game music to make it more beneficial to the active readers on Wikipedia, I decided to edit what the user "Dissident93" had posted. They believed that sound effects are essential to video game music because it helps set the mood of the game and evokes certain emotions out of the players. However, nowhere in this article did it specifically talk about sound effects. Therefore, I decided to create a subsection over sound effects and how it benefits video game music in order to give the most to the readers of Wikipedia. The major points I went over include how the use of sound effects through the small attention towards details help increase the sales of that video game in the market, how it encourages the player to keep playing since it won't bore them, and also how it gives the gamer a real virtual experience. Dtamilmani1 (talk) 03:33, 27 March 2019 (UTC)

• How are sentences like "The more sound effects the creators put, the more successful the game will be" acceptable? Such obvious bias has no place on Wikipedia. I'm removing the section until you can clean it up. ~ Dissident93 ^(talk) 03:54, 27 March 2019 (UTC)

The edits you made were great! However, there was only one problem. At times in the paragraph you wrote, some parts were not supported by evidence and sources and therefore can not be used. Once you fix those it will be excellent. Good Job! - Basir Mansoor

Added "Importance of Soundtracks"

After reading through the talk page and discussing with my peers, I decided to add a section to this article called "Importance of Soundtracks." This section is a small section which discusses how sound effects and soundtracks in video games leads to heightened mood and elevated feelings about the game. I wrote about how soundtracks are very noticed by people as they generally come from whatever genre of music is popular at the time and falls into the current day trend. Studies have shown that video game soundtracks also have the power to not only help the gamer focus on playing the video game but also collect their thoughts and help with their cognitive skills. This makes sense because the players that were playing the video games were listening to the music and engaging their brain. After these studies were done more emphasis was placed on soundtracks and many video game designers began to give importance to the soundtracks that were playing in video games as a marketing strategy to increase the number of sales that could be done if people begin to realize the direct link between video game music soundtracks and immersion. I believe that this is a good addition to this article because it elaborates on the importance of soundtracks which the article doesn't currently do very well. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Basirmansoor (talk • contribs) 04:24, 27 March 2019 (UTC)

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Peer Review on Importance of Soundtrack

Only one sentence is linked to a source within the paragraph. Sentences with quotes and statistical information should have some type of citation. There is some subjective wording, but for the most part, it isn't too opinionated. Portions like "This makes sense because..." should be removed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kimbadonic (talk • contribs) 18:58, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

Peer Review on Importance of Soundtrack

Over all I did not recognize anything off the bat that suggested an opinion within the article. Looking deeper into it, there may be a few grammar mistakes that should be fixed, but all-in-all it is a well written add on that flows nicely. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Prestonw21 (talk • contribs) 19:30, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

Synthwave as a Music Genre

The article talks about chiptune as a music genre, however, today we have synthwave as a music genre often used in video games. We should add some information about video game music genres other than just synthwave that we have today since depending on the game, it will have a different music genre. --VMX5599 (talk) 22:56, 31 March 2019 (UTC)

This reads more like a history lesson

A lot of this is about hardware and seems out of place. There are contemporary areas. Maybe this should be split apart into different articles?--Nubtrazolacine (talk) 20:46, 10 May 2019 (UTC)

What about notable companies which have produced video game music?

Is that a possible area? This seems very focused on individual composers.Nubtrazolacine (talk) 20:49, 10 May 2019 (UTC)

• Because people make music. Even if you mentioned a company of specific people, you'd still be listing individual composers regardless. ~ Dissident93 ^(talk) 05:08, 11 May 2019 (UTC)

No mention of Grant Kirkhope?

He is nearly as seminal a figure in video game composition as David Wise and Jeremy Soule, out of the "Western" composers. Those 3 were the main Western video game music force for a long time before most of the others listed.

Main other Western composers I can think of were Matt Uelmen (Diablo), Tim Follin (many NES and SNES games), Alberto Jose González (many of the better Gameboy soundtracks) and maybe Tim Larkin (Riven/Myst, URU, Portal). Kirkhope was the main one I was surprised to not see though. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.241.54.18 (talk) 18:28, 3 July 2019 (UTC)