I found this article nigh impossible to get through with it's weird scrolling and transitions. I had to give up.<p>I listen to Video Game music while I work. Mostly via rainwave.cc [0] or OCRemix Albums [1]. It's pretty much the only non-vocal music I can tolerate for longer periods of time that don't bore me, but help me maintain focus and block out externalities.<p>The Final Fantasy soundtracks and their similar epic AAA games from most notably Square Enix (Xenogears, Chrono Cross/Trigger, Kingdom Hearts) as well as Nintendo (Zelda, Mario) are often heralded as some of the best. But, I find the 3 Donkey Kong Country and earlier Sonic music (the 3 Sonic Genesis titles up through Sonic Adventure and the anniversary collection) to be my absolute favorites.<p>There are also tons of excellent albums and chip tune on Band Camp. Way too many to list.<p>[0] <a href="https://rainwave.cc" rel="nofollow">https://rainwave.cc</a><p>[1] <a href="http://ocremix.org/albums/" rel="nofollow">http://ocremix.org/albums/</a>
This is a pretty good article, but I'm not fond of this recent trend to try to make articles into "experiences" that do all sorts of weird things with scrolling. They always end up being messed up in a bunch of ways if I scroll down using the spacebar instead of my mouse.<p>At least Reader Mode works on this one.
I grew up with a C64 and a big part of the charm, for me, was the sound chip and the noises/music it made. I can understand why that chip has such a cult following.<p>Back then, when we had nowhere near the fidelity in graphics that we have today, these basic sound chips were used to add a lot of character to those early games.<p>Today you have high profile composers like Hans Zimmer doing work for video games and everything in a AAA title is generally very well produced, but I still find myself firing up some of the oldies every now and then. Nostalgia, I guess.
I think many PC strategy games has excellent music: Age Of Empires, Home World, Sins of the Solar Empire, Total War and Civilization over its many iterations. I do find the music from these games have a different texture than music from other games.<p>For example: This song based upon the Epitaph of Siekelos, which plays if you play the Greeks in civ 5: <a href="https://youtu.be/YEKRE2uamyg" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/YEKRE2uamyg</a><p>I think Civ 5 music was recorded with a real orchestra.<p>Even sometimes poetry; From Silent Hunter 4;
<a href="https://youtu.be/8FrTuZxpD0k" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/8FrTuZxpD0k</a>
Are there any AAA games that use voice-stealing for their music?<p>Old games would drop voices-- like the melody or rhythm track-- when there were lots of sprites on screen.<p>I think it would be great if a Hans Zimmer score cross-faded to an arrangement with just low brass or something when the action starts to ramp up.
If you like video game music, I can't recommend the excellent "Les Démons du Midi" [1] podcast.<p>Yes, the brief commentary between tracks is in French — but music still is front and center.<p>[1]: <a href="https://www.geekzone.fr/tag/les-demons-du-midi/" rel="nofollow">https://www.geekzone.fr/tag/les-demons-du-midi/</a>
One quite well-known playlist in certain circles is the Vidya Intarweb Playlist [0], along with its Mellow Out subcategory [1].<p>[0] <a href="http://vip.aersia.net/" rel="nofollow">http://vip.aersia.net/</a><p>[1] <a href="http://vip.aersia.net/mellow/" rel="nofollow">http://vip.aersia.net/mellow/</a>
I enjoy listening to Indie-Game-Soundtracks, especially while working. Artists like Austin Wintory (Monaco, Larry), C418 (Minecraft), Jim Guthrie (Sword & Sworcery) and Disasterpeace (Fez). I made a Spotify-Playlist with those, and numerous other indie-tracks. [1]<p>[1] <a href="https://open.spotify.com/user/115694390/playlist/6nfksYi3hJxwrifGqoOsT0?si=6hDeSYpEQQ2hPuT3NM9utA" rel="nofollow">https://open.spotify.com/user/115694390/playlist/6nfksYi3hJx...</a>
Very interesting article about how music has to adapt for mediums like video games, where the player input impacts sequencing and pacing.<p>That said, I think classifying this as "secret manipulation" is clickbaity on the part of the poster. The fact that the music influences the player isn't really a secret, any more than the fact that the visuals / controls influence the player.
I would throw out SSX tricky for its game logic integration, the first two xenoblade games for just being great at capturing the expanse of it all, breath of the wild for having the guts to go ultra minimalist, and the first few silent hill games for its ambient industrial sound (and a few standout tracks that were simply pretty or cool normal songs).<p>Broadly speaking though, games are pretty conservative in their soundtracks. I think most are forgettable.
How can you write an article about video game music and not mention Jeremy Soule!?<p>He has composed soundtracks for over 60 games and over a dozen other works during his career. He is best known for his work in The Elder Scrolls and Guild Wars series, and several other top-selling titles such as Total Annihilation, Neverwinter Nights, Dungeon Siege, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Harry Potter.
Best video game soundtracks, I feel: Persona 3/4/5, Nier Automata, Jet Set Radio Future, Katamari Damacy, Final Fantasy Tactics / Radiant Silvergun (same composer, very similar). I listen to several others but I keep coming back to these.<p>Really surprised Nier didn't get a mention, as they do some cool experimental stuff with it.
Tough layout on mobile, but very cool piece. Love the bits about the nuance involved when the music was bound by technical limitations.<p>It’s been a few years, but I went to several of the early Video Games Live concerts and liked seeing this music celebrated.
In different categories, Wing Commander 1 had an excellent soundtrack (and even better on the Amiga) and several years later Total Annihilation with its superb epic soundtrack never seen before in a rts.
Harry Gregson Williams's work on Metal Gear Solid 2 can reliably give me goosebumps. It even works on people who have no idea it's from a game.