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Is videogame music a lost art?

Hideki Naganuma (Jet Set Radio, Sonic Rush), and Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage) always hold a place in my heart.

In fact, Yuzo Koshiro is still doing game soundtracks, and some of his newer work can be found in the game, Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune. The OST to the first game can actually be downloaded off their official website.:)

Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune OST
 
Tanukid said:
Hideki Naganuma (Jet Set Radio, Sonic Rush), and Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage) always hold a place in my heart.

In fact, Yuzo Koshiro is still doing game soundtracks, and some of his newer work can be found in the game, Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune. The OST to the first game can actually be downloaded off their official website.:)

Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune OST
Click to expand...
dude, Koshiro's Etrian Odyssey (new Atlus RPG for DS) soundtrack is HOT. try to listen it if you can, really really good stuff.
 
Tanukid said:
Hideki Naganuma (Jet Set Radio, Sonic Rush), and Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage) always hold a place in my heart.

In fact, Yuzo Koshiro is still doing game soundtracks, and some of his newer work can be found in the game, Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune. The OST to the first game can actually be downloaded off their official website.:)

Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune OST
Click to expand...
Am i the only person who found sonic rush Unbearable to listen to? I just don't get what was so special about it. Compared to the 16-bit games it's awful.
 
Error said:
edit: ok nm... omg omg omg omg
Click to expand...

Awesome, aren't they? When I heard these songs for the first time, I smiled for the whole day. These songs are just too freaking good.

You just have to give respect to these guys, making these songs needs a lot of programming skills. :)
 
joezombie said:
I don't know if it's better or worse, but it's definitely a lot less memorable
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What do you think is going to get embedded into your head more quickly?

16 measures (i.e., 10 seconds or less) repeated throughout an entire 40+ hour game which you play as a kid.

or

2 minute+ compositions that aren't repeated nearly as often because games today have more than a handful of songs in them.
 
Well, obviously. Personally, I don't have much taste in music, so I definitely prefer simple, short and catchy to long, complex and atmospheric
 
dog$ said:
What do you think is going to get embedded into your head more quickly?

16 measures (i.e., 10 seconds or less) repeated throughout an entire 40+ hour game which you play as a kid.

or

2 minute+ compositions that aren't repeated nearly as often because games today have more than a handful of songs in them.
Click to expand...

Listen that doesn't matter. Most decent 16-bit games have quite a few songs in them. Super metroid has the best music of any metroid game for instance. It sets the mood and is very cacthy and memorable and are not much shorter that the music in metroid prime. Most games these days don't have your 2 minute theory bar a few anyway.

It's the entire music industry that has fallen. You cannot say that music is as good now as it was back in the 80's say. Where are the guns N and roses and queen of today? And these songs had similiar length. If you look back at your favourite 16-bit music most of it would be deemed 'cheesy'.

I don't agree with your length theory. But i think the problem is outside gaming itself.
 
Few game composers are talented enough to stand up against the film composers which have a much higher standard for their work and many of them with a much better pedigree.
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While this may be true to a degree, it's something I actually don't feel results in superior music. Film scores are handled in such a way that a central theme must be kept throughout and, in most cases, the music truly hides in the background with only specific scenes allowing it to swell. When you sit down and listen to a soundtrack outside of a film, in many cases, they simply aren't as interesting.

Game music is composed in an entirely different fashion and often makes for a more enjoyable listening experience.
 
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Hell no.
 
I dont feel that the music has stopped being well orchestrated and catchy but yes most titles seem to be slacking when it comes to attempting to create a memorable soundtrack for there game.
 
Wow, this thread has tipped me off to some videogame music I have never heard before that is excellent... the Turrican 2 and Wangan Midnight soundtracks in particular! But I am one of those people who preferred the NES/SNES/early PSX eras of music... I liked the synths and catchy melodies of these eras, although there are some good soundtracks coming out today. Early videogame music just had an original sound that doesn't exist anywhere else in the world of music, hence why you see people like Nullsleep or Bubblyfish playing chiptunes on Gameboys, or the 10000000x Dr Wily stage 1 covers. I loved especially the whole new-agey elements used in a lot of SNES RPGs, particularly the CT and Mana game soundtracks.
 
Mcj Metroid said:
Most games these days don't have your 2 minute theory bar a few anyway.
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Um, I really think they do. Most soundtracks which I own all have tracks that are rarely no shorter than 90 seconds. Which current games do you have in mind that have tracks which are shorter than a minute in length?
I don't agree with your length theory.
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This is repetitious. This is repetitious. This is repetitious. This is repetitious. This is repetitious. This is repetitious. This is repetitious. This is repetitious. This is repetitious. This is repetitious.

vs

This is a repetitive sentence that is being repeated over and over again - you'll notice where the repetition starts eventually. This is a repetitive sentence that is being repeated over and over again - you'll notice where the repetition starts eventually. This is a repetitive sentence that is being repeated over and over again - you'll notice where the repetition starts eventually.

Now, which repeated sentence are you able to recite from memory first?
 
dog$ said:
Um, I really think they do. Most soundtracks which I own all have tracks that are rarely no shorter than 90 seconds. Which current games do you have in mind that have tracks which are shorter than a minute in length?
Click to expand...

NES Megaman tunes were generally 30 seconds in length, though.

Regardless, I could hum Snakeman's theme from memory first time I heard it.
 
dog$ said:
This is repetitious. This is repetitious. This is repetitious. This is repetitious. This is repetitious. This is repetitious. This is repetitious. This is repetitious. This is repetitious. This is repetitious.

vs

This is a repetitive sentence that is being repeated over and over again - you'll notice where the repetition starts eventually. This is a repetitive sentence that is being repeated over and over again - you'll notice where the repetition starts eventually. This is a repetitive sentence that is being repeated over and over again - you'll notice where the repetition starts eventually.

Now, which repeated sentence are you able to recite from memory first?
Click to expand...
Ugh you idiot shut the hell up. I can't believe you typed and copied that whole thing out. Would it not better for you to use that space to make an argument rather than that crap you just spat out' i disagree because i own soundtracks that are longer' is basically what i got from you.
 
Mcj Metroid said:
Ugh you idiot shut the hell up. I can't believe you typed and copied that whole thing out. Would it not better for you to use that space to make an argument rather than that crap you just spat out' i disagree because i own soundtracks that are longer' is basically what i got from you.
Click to expand...

You... obviously don't get it.
 
Imagine a final fantasy game with the music of yasunori mitsuda, that would be awesome


or imagine a mega man game with the music of michiru yamane.


Or imagine a zelda game with the music of nobuo uematsu.
 
Western games music has been pretty awesome recently.

Recent games with great scores...

Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy
Freedom Fighters
Medal of Honour
Gears of War
God of War 2
Halo / Halo 2
Killzone

Michael Giacchino who did Medal of Honour went on to do scores for The Incredibles and Ratatouille.

There are of course many more western games out there with great music and I'd say overall we are in the best period in game music thus far. I do however used to love the SNES crank out faux orchestral tunes in games like Chrono Trigger and Actraiser.
 
Mcj Metroid: Please answer my questions or don't post. Direct your insults to Private Messages.

The primary reason that music from older games seems more memorable to people is because they had to hear shorter pieces at a higher rate of frequency.

What song does most people remember from Marvel VS Capcom 2? That's right, the character selection theme - the one that is only 5 seconds long and repeated more than any other song that you hear in the game.

If you disagree with this opinion, your counter-point should come by showing that numerous games from decades ago had soundtracks that featured songs with just as much variety and length as they do today and were quantitatively more memorable than soundtracks from current games.

I'm pretty sure you'll disagree, but if you take the time to post I'd appreciate something more worthwhile than calling me an idiot. Everyone knows I'm an idiot already, and nobody cares.
 
I remember the other thread where I kept trying to explain to someone how I didn't believe "memorability" to be a supreme criterion of value in music, and no matter how many times and ways I said this he didn't get it. I don't mean he disagreed, I mean he didn't seem to be capable of even registering my point and kept arguing with me as if I hadn't made it, like he couldn't even conceive that anyone could possibly think that.
 
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