When they pull it off, though, it's epic. Soundtrack to Total Annihilation comes to mind.
Eastern Devs aim to make amazing game soundtracks. Western Devs aim to make amazing movie soundtracks
Another East vs West music thread, another gaggle of silly billies what ain't know of the wonders that are Gonzalez,
If every Western composer would be like Jesper Kyd, games would be far more immersive. Hitman 2 title screen is still the best I've heard from him.
Gonzalez is good, never liked his SNES stuff though, preferrd his synthesized compositions much better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ-LNuyVHkA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=668WsLql73I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTfKxMQJWzk
He's very talented, just wish he made music in the style he used to, it was very unique.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ5SEMyJVcw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5qP6BpSYHs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfsGUPChLs0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovm6WikALO0&index=14
I believe it was Pete Davison (formerly of USGamer) who said that the big difference between American and Japanese game music is that American game music tends to be inspired primarily by the soundracks of American movies while Japanese game music tends to be inspired by J-POP, or something like that.
I also personally think that part of the difference is that the Japanese industry has its roots in the games of the 80s and early 90s, where it was impossible to replicate the music created by real instruments so you had to figure out what music worked best for video games and video game hardware, whereas the western game industry didn't really come into its own until the 00s, when hardware was at the point where you could slap in whatever mp3 you wanted for your music, so the inspirations came more from contemporary non-game music and cinema soundtracks.
Hell, in general I think a large part of the difference between Japanese and western video games probably comes from the fact that most Japanese developers have their roots in the games of the 80s and 90s while most western developers played a shitload of the games in that era but didn't start making games themselves until the late 90s/early 00s.
He is great on genesis but his modern work cleanly beats it. Blood Money, ACII, and Darksiders 2 are masterful. Also does a lot of good work on Borderlands.
I can't say that, his new stuff is no where as impressive.What he did with only 6 4op channels in mind boggling.He has a real passion for electronic music, and it showed up a lot in his older work.Didn't know he did Borderlands, I actually liked a few songs from 2.
I also personally think that part of the difference is that the Japanese industry has its roots in the games of the 80s and early 90s, where it was impossible to replicate the music created by real instruments so you had to figure out what music worked best for video games and video game hardware,
Yeah, see, I find it really distracting, but I didn't grow up with those games, so I don't suffer from nostalgia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4FLi1DFYSc
I think he also did the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve music, which is another suite that stands out in that game.
Might as well listen to arpeggiated synths.
So your only counter to my point is to accuse me of being blinded by nostalgia?
So good, never knew this was on the C64.Only knew of the Genesis/Amiga/SNES tracks.
Until a Western dev surpasses Yoko Shimomura and Keiichi Okabe, Eastern wins. All bravado and boisterous sounds. No finesse and motif.
I was talking about some of the music Super and Mega/3 shared.I just didn't know they made a version of 3 for the C64, very cool.I played 2 a long time ago, but I don't recall how different it was from Mega/3.Don't remember too much of the little C64 music I heard, only a few tracks from the games I got play stuck with me.I remember one of the Last Ninja games having a pretty good soundtrack.Well, first up, the Genesis and Amiga games are different than the SNES games. But beyond that, Turrican was primarily a C64 series. The C64 was the lead platform for the 2 best games in the series, Turrican 1 and 2, being created almost entirely by one man, Manfred Trenz. Trenz also made the NES game Super Turrican (not to be confused with Super Turrican on the SNES) entirely by himself. The entire thing, including music.
Turrican 3 on the C64 is a home brew title from a collection of the top C64 demoscene artists. It is entirely different from Turrican 3 on the Amiga (which is a port of Mega Turrican on the Genesis). Mega Turrican is a pretty big departure from Turrican 1 and 2, and the SNES games are even bigger departures. Turrican 3 on the C64 is made in very close style to Turrican 1 and 2.
Great topic all about Turrican if you're interested. One of the best action series of the 8-bit era, even if it's mostly overlooked by non-europeans.
Level 1-2 of the soundtrack I posted above is so dope, especially coming out of a real C64. It sounds unlike really any other machine. A very unique sound.
I was talking about some of the music Super and Mega/3 shared.I just didn't know they made a version of 3 for the C64, very cool.I played 2 a long time ago, but I don't recall how different it was from Mega/3.Don't remember too much of the little C64 music I heard, only a few tracks from the games I got play stuck with me.I remember one of the Last Ninja games having a pretty good soundtrack.
So your only counter to my point is to accuse me of being blinded by nostalgia? That's not very mature.
Let's take a classic example from Chrono Trigger. The Magus fight is a pretty iconic moment from a classic ROG, and how it uses music to lead into the fight is superb. When you first enter the room, you can hear some synthesized chanting, as you overhear Magus casting his spell. However, as soon as you approach him, you interrupt the ritual, and the chanting falls silent. The game remains silent as the heroes go through their opening banter with Magus, but as tensions ramp up, two things happen: Magus' theme starts playing (for the first time in the game) and the player loses control over text advancement so that the pacing of the scene will match up to the music. So, the player is treated to this really ominous and slow start to the song to build tension as everyone gears for battle, and then at the very moment the song kicks into high gear the game transitions into the battle. It is a brilliant use of music to set the tone and hype the player up for a climactic fight.
But, apparently my opinions are tainted by childhood nostalgia or something and thus don't count. Okay then, let's look at more recent game. Xenoblade Chronicles has an amazing soundtrack with a distinctive sound that combines traditional wind instruments with electric guitars. Alongside a whole slew of awesome exploration themes and emotional cutscene songs, one of its most memorable songs is You Will Know Our Names, a song that plays when you encounter one of the myriad optional named enemies that are scattered around the world. It is a song that gets you pumped up and, perhaps more importantly, serves the gameplay purpose of reinforcing that you are not fighting a normal enemy and shouldn't take this fight lightly.
Now, one of my recent favorite songs is Answers, the main theme song of Final Fantasy XIV. In particular, its use in the End of an Era trailer that served as the ending to the original 1.0 version of FFXIV. The way the music syncs up with the action in the trailer is breath-taking. The lyrics of the song convey a lot of the themes of the game too, and the song is used as a major leitmotif in the game.
Final Fantasy XIV uses music to great effect during boss fights too. One of my favorites is the use of music in the Good King Moggle Mog XII fight. When the fight starts, you are greeted by this Tim-Burton-esque song. It is both a recognizable play on the classic Moogle theme from previous Final Fantasy games, but is somehow both more whimsical and haunting at the same time. However, as you beat the first few Moogles and clear the opening stretch of the fight, the music halts as the Moogles gather together and do a dance as a short playful melody runs. With a big musical flourish, the Good King himself enters the battlefield. There a few short seconds of silence as King Mog charges up an attack, and then this theme starts playing just as the King executes a massive attack against you. I have heard people describe that song as terrifying, since that crazy singing accompanies a battle that quickly descends into pure chaos. That maniacal song suits that crazy fight perfectly, and can become the stuff of nightmares of you start wiping against the King too many times. It's great.
Powerful music is an indispensable part of creating mood and emotion in a videogame, and I think a lot of Japanese developers have mastered its use. Letting music just fade into ambience is a complete waste.
Japan:
- Koichi Sugiyama
- Nobuo Uematsu
- Masashi Hamauzu
- Kenji Ito
- Hitoshi Sakimoto
- Yasunori Mitsuda
- Hirokazu Tanaka
- Koji Kondo
- Yoko Shimomura
- Go Shina
- Shogo Sakai
Western:
- Michael Giacchino (if he still counts)
- Jake Kaufman
Japan:
- Koichi Sugiyama
- Nobuo Uematsu
- Masashi Hamauzu
- Kenji Ito
- Hitoshi Sakimoto
- Yasunori Mitsuda
- Hirokazu Tanaka
- Koji Kondo
- Yoko Shimomura
- Go Shina
- Shogo Sakai
Western:
- Michael Giacchino (if he still counts)
- Jake Kaufman
heres a generalization for ya: just like the games themselves the most exciting things happening in video game music come from the west now
Western music. Just so not memorable or unique, amirite? It's all just cinematic shit and all of it sucks. Here's a primer to educate you on how shit it all is:
*snip*
Since this thread is all about silly generalizations, I might as well share that I have this feeling that people shitting on Western music either A) don't play Western games or B) think they can use modern AAA titles as a scapegoat for their preferences and ignore everything else that has come out of the West. The amount of amazing OSTs that you can find in Western games is truly staggering. To write this post, I spent three hours going through my YouTube playlists listening to tracks I had saved and I barely scratched the surface of what I've saved over the years.
Man, y'all need to play more old-school PC games.
Eastern Devs aim to make amazing game soundtracks. Western Devs aim to make amazing movie soundtracks
Never really got the "western music is shit" generalisation. It's incredibly lazy, as even the briefest glance beyond the likes of Modern Warfare 3 brings up a massive range of talented composers with a variety of styles.
I don't know what bothers me most: generalizations about the east, generalizations about the west, or generalizations about movies. I'm clearly a masochist for having read this whole thread.
MW3 was very disappointing after MW2.
Eastern music for me.
The only memorable music from the west for me was from Blizzard, but they lost touch after Warcraft 3. WoW, SC2 and D3 pretty much only has ambient sound that plays in the background. (minus a few exceptional tracks)
heres a generalization for ya: just like the games themselves the most exciting things happening in video game music come from the west now
It's incredibly lazy because the people saying it generally are focusing only on the big-budget mainstream titles. Case in point, dumb shit like this:Never really got the "western music is shit" generalisation. It's incredibly lazy, as even the briefest glance beyond the likes of Modern Warfare 3 brings up a massive range of talented composers with a variety of styles.
Even if we concede that those are shit (and I don't), then we've still got thousands of hours of music from smaller studios and from indie devs.Eastern Devs aim to make amazing game soundtracks. Western Devs aim to make amazing movie soundtracks
But the western indie scene stepping it up in the music department is just my point. The AAA western devs view music differently because they have other tools at their disposal to create atmosphere. Its not coincidental then, that, like Japanese devs, Western indies use music to set the tone of the game instead of just supporting it.It's incredibly lazy because the people saying it generally are focusing only on the big-budget mainstream titles. Case in point, dumb shit like this:
Even if we concede that those are shit (and I don't), then we've still got thousands of hours of music from smaller studios and from indie devs.
Glad you liked the list though.