• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

People who listen to video game OSTs and nothing else

I only listen to the soundtracks of theatrical adaptations of my favourite books.

Seriously, who the hell lets the format music is written for determine their enjoyment of it?
 
GrizzNKev said:
To me, there's absolutely no difference between video game music and any other music. There's no reason I wouldn't listen to it, and there's no reason I'd listen to it exclusively. The things that influence us to enjoy certain pieces - association with positive feelings, personalities, ideas, or knowledge from repetition - are no different. There's absolutely no reason to distinguish music by qualifying it through the purpose of the composition. That, to me, is what's odd.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

I used to only listen to video game music when I was younger because that was really the only source I got it from. I wasn't exposed to much outside of that medium. When I got to highschool, I was exposed to much more and my tastes expanded. That's all. I listen to all the stuff I like.
 
Cant beat chilling out in the garden with a smoke in the evening looking at the sky listening to the Mass Effect soundtracks.
 
For me, a game has 3 important elements.
Gameplay, Art, Music.

Many games have been classics because of the music.
Some will deny it, but for instance megaman 2 & tyrian.

Music does really matter within a game.
90% (and even more) of the games does not have good music like it should be.

That's said, i'm a specialist in music and a composer.
However i will not discuss this any further.
 
Rafterman said:
He's right.

If you obsess over video games to the point that the only music you find acceptable is from video games you haven't matured as a person. If you're fine with that, cool, but let's not pretend it's not an issue. I love video games as much as the next guy, and I can appreciate a quality song from a game as well, but you will never grow as a person if you don't step out of your little gaming bubble to experience other things.
Click to expand...

So people who only listen to specific genres are also immature? Or maybe those people who only listen what plays on the radio/TV? Or that doesn't count because it's "real music" anyway?

What about people who simply don't listen music at all?
 
I have never met a person which a significant precentage of the music he listens to is video game music. This concept baffles me.
I mean, sure, I've searched for some video games tracks on Youtube, some I heard on repeat because I liked them. But I mean, what's so special about video game music? It's not like video game music is vastly different than film scores or other popular music. If you're into video game music, why couldn't you just as well listen to the Gladiator soundtrack or Dead Can Dance?

I don't mean to offend, but it sorts of sounds like people who had an emotional investment in a game and glorify the music because it reminds them of the experiences they had in the game. That's fine, but it's sort of ridiculous it makes them shun other music, which are practically identical to the ones they're listening to.

GrizzNKev said:
To me, there's absolutely no difference between video game music and any other music. There's no reason I wouldn't listen to it, and there's no reason I'd listen to it exclusively. The things that influence us to enjoy certain pieces - association with positive feelings, personalities, ideas, or knowledge from repetition - are no different. There's absolutely no reason to distinguish music by qualifying it through the purpose of the composition. That, to me, is what's odd.
Click to expand...
Exactly.
 
GrizzNKev said:
To me, there's absolutely no difference between video game music and any other music. There's no reason I wouldn't listen to it, and there's no reason I'd listen to it exclusively. The things that influence us to enjoy certain pieces - association with positive feelings, personalities, ideas, or knowledge from repetition - are no different. There's absolutely no reason to distinguish music by qualifying it through the purpose of the composition. That, to me, is what's odd.
Click to expand...

Well said
 
eot said:
Not quite that extreme, but yes it's analogous.
Click to expand...

It really isn't. I think equating the quality of the compositions of video game music to the writing quality of Halo novels is an impossible stance to justify. Well not unless you were going to claim that there are some great Halo novels too, but that'd just work against your point.
 
TheMink said:
Well said
Click to expand...

Just one more thing : it's all about the melody. That is how a great song is been made.
(Other elements are also important, But can be seen as extra)


People who only listen to a specific genre(s) and ignore all other do not have any idea what music is.
 
Kurt said:
Just one more thing : it's all about the melody. That is how a great song is been made.
(Other elements are also important, But can be seen as extra)
Click to expand...
lol what? that is an extremely reductive view on a artform as broad and ample as music is; the odd thing is restricting yourself to just one form of an art.

Also, video game music peaked in the 16-bit era, synth fm fo life
 
Generally, I find music made by regular bands much more preferable to video game soundtracks. Selected tracks by Soule and Uematsu I can listen to, but they're few and far between. If I'm in the mood for listening to music its pearl jam, dead sara, acdc, even some john bonomassa, public enemy, kings of leon, early 90's house. My tastes can be quite varied. But hardly ever a video game soundtrack. They're just not as good.

Oddly enough, perhaps, I will rarely if ever mute the soundtrack in a game and play something else. I always listen to whats in game.
 
Does anyone listen to Shoutcast/streaming stations to get their video game music fix?

NotGamingFM is my current favorite. Rainwave is ok and NoLifeRadio is good for older chiptunes. Pandora's Video Game stream is not bad.
 
It's pretty weird. Same with people that only listen to film OSTs. I mean 90% of the time the music doesn't work all that well out of context.
 
GrizzNKev said:
(To me,) there's absolutely no difference between video game music and any other music.
Click to expand...

Objectively wrong.
VG music is part (like movie scores) of a bigger media.
I listen to VG music because it reminds me gameplay and feelings from sequences of the games I played, and that's something you don't get with "traditionnal" music made out of nothing but the music itself.
I don't care about some love story from a guy who wrote it in music, I wasn't there.
I don't care about some music a guy wrote about the Sahara Desert, because when I go to Sahara his music isn't playing in the whole desert.
However I did enjoy some Gerudo Desert music.

IMO old (8/16bits) memorable scores are also the best ones, because people were composing it with very limited tools, and they focused to do very good melodies that only get better when orchestrated and remixed for today standards.
On the contrary it is now much more easier for anyone to do shit within today's music industry.


But in the end, in music even more than in any other subjects, all is about people tastes. So ultimately very subjective. So even if I said that objectively, there is differences between VG/movie music and regular music, I respect and understand that GrizzNKev's doesn't considere there is something different here.
 
There is a certain characteristic often found in (older) video game music that I enjoy. It's the use of a repeated melodic main theme that's often recognizable, hummable and occasionally even goosebump inducing (this is the best kind, but also the rarest). I have found a few occurances of this outside video games and movies but they are few and far between. Michael Jackson knew how to write good melodies, and as it happens he is rumored to have contributed to the Sonic 3 and Knuckles soundtrack (possibly debunked?). But usually in regular music with lyrics, the instruments are just backing to the vocals and not the focus, hence why this characteristic is often lacking.

Music is a big part of my life and I spend much of my time looking for new composers and artists. But I can understand those with less dedication who find it convenient to browse game and movie soundtrack for music with these characteristics because that's where they're most frequent.
 
There are some exceptions, but overall I only tend to listen to instrumental music, which of course includes video game music too.

Nothing wrong with that right?
 
A lot of people who self-identify as very nerdy have an extreme distaste of anything that they view as culturally modern, poppy, transient etc. So they kind of hate pop music(or stuff they identify as pop music) on principle. But whatev, whatever tickles your pickle. I'm not going to be listening to any game OSTs except maybe the hotline miami soundtrack.
 
Anyone who only listens to one genre or category of music simply hasn't bothered to see what else is out there. I know some snotty people who only listen to a select few things and moan about everything on the radio being shit, as if music doesn't exist outside of what gets played on your local pop station. Most of my favorite bands and albums have been things I've found just looking around the Amazon music store or on iTunes.
 
I really like videogame music, but I don't think I would ever prefer it over traditional music. It feels somewhat superficial in comparison and I cannot connect with it in the same way.

I have many friends who can only listen to game and movie scores. They are completely clueless when it comes to traditional music. I never really understood the psychology behind this, but it's quite interesting actually.
 
Basileus777 said:
It really isn't. I think equating the quality of the compositions of video game music to the writing quality of Halo novels is an impossible stance to justify. Well not unless you were going to claim that there are some great Halo novels too, but that'd just work against your point.
Click to expand...

The point isn't about quality, but I don't know how to have this discussion without condescending people so I think I'd rather not have it. Plus, this is the internet, you don't necessarily know if you're talking to a 13 year old or a 60 year old and in this case it makes a difference.
 
I pretty much only listen to 4 types of music:
First, excellent Anime music like Nujabes and his Samurai Champloo's work (R.I.P)
Videogame OSTs like Nier Gestalt's, Journey's, Chrono Cross's, etc.
Latin American Rock in spanish, from the 80's and onwards.
Lastly, any kind of Chill/Rap/Hip-Hop/Electronic mix of music, like Linkin Park's Reanimation album.
 
Video game music isn't a genre of music, its many genres of music that you find in a game. Down tempo, ambient, techno, rock, etc. Why not try and branch out and listen to these genres, you're missing out!
 
SystemBug said:
So I guess the question I am asking is how many of you guys listen to video game music exclusively, but more importantly why do you prefer to artist/band based music?
Click to expand...

I mostly listen to film/game soundtracks, and some ambient-like music nowadays, as songs with traditional structures (verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, verse, chorus, middle eight) and vocals/lyrics start to get repetitive after a while. I guess my listening habits have changed partly because I've played in bands for 23 years; when a hobby becomes work, it ceases to be a hobby. And I think it's better to listen to music that is different from what I'm playing, in order to avoid involuntary influences.

On a side note, I've never understood why people want to listen to their own playlists instead of the game soundtrack while playing. It just sounds odd to me, and it would definitely affect the game's atmosphere negatively for me personally.
 
I'm kind of the opposite, I play a lot of games but only have a handful of vg tracks I listen to independent of playing the games. As well as my music interests not being represented in a lot of gaming scores (ambient is the exception), listening to music intended for use alongside another form of media (the game) on its own - it feels like I'm missing an essential part of the experience and I don't like that. In the same vein, I hardly listen to film scores.

I also have a difficult to explain aversion to things like chiptune - 'game' music taken out of the games and made into a separate product. As someone who grew up listening to that sort of music in his handheld games, and who has no problem with it while playing them, that's hard to rationalize. All I know is I can't stand listening to most of it. I'm slowly finding more vg and film scores that can stand on their own though (very slowly) and hopefully, in time, I'll lose my inhibitions towards that stuff.

So for your friend I think it'll be the same process - just expose him to non-vg music and eventually he'll cotton on to a band or a genre that he can't afford to ignore.
 
Melchiah said:
On a side note, I've never understood why people want to listen to their own playlists instead of the game soundtrack while playing. It just sounds odd to me, and it would definitely affect the game's atmosphere negatively for me personally.
Click to expand...

Same reason I wouldn't sit there and listen to the same album 10 times in a row.
 
I never understood the game-music-only crowd. I can see people liking particular tracks from certain games, sure, but to pigeon hole your likes into such a small non-genre just seems wrong.

i blame the parents for not introducing you to real music from an early age.
 
Melchiah said:
I can understand it when it comes to something like racing games, but listening to your own music while playing a story-based game just sounds weird.
Click to expand...

Depends on the game really. If it's a lengthy RPG I'll pretty much always end up putting my own music on. Unless Uematsu was involved.
 
Me. Most of my music collection is games soundtracks or songs from bands that were in games, such as the ones on GTA radio stations.

There are also movie soundtracks, or orchestral groups. I do have songs from bands and such, but only specific songs, never entire albums.

EDIT: I misread the title, thought it said 'mostly' or 'a lot' game OST, not 'only'. derp. I do listen to several genres, bands, groups, artists and sources.
 
Probably a comfort zone thing, compounded by the theory people's musical tastes get cemented during their teens.
 
King_Moc said:
Depends on the game really. If it's a lengthy RPG I'll pretty much always end up putting my own music on. Unless Uematsu was involved.
Click to expand...

Well, the battle music can definitely get tiresome after a while, but you'd miss the other game music as well, if you put on your own playlist on the first playthrough.
 
Some parts of the Mass Effect soundtrack get dangerously close to great standalone electronic music.

Apart from that, I mostly listen to video game music for the associated memories.
 
I listened through Spotify the artist you mentioned. I'd guess he is not into "rap + autotuned female singer" type of songs or RnB genre in general.

I know you didn't ask it, but I'd recommend letting him listen wide variety of music from different eras through Spotify (or similiar service), e.g. Mozart, Bach, Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, Metallica, Luciano Pavarotti, Ace of Base, 2 Unlimited, Evanescence, Linkin Park, OutKast, Maria Carey, Lady Gaga etc. and see what he thinks of each artist. You can use this list to find some big names from different eras:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_musical_events

Myself, I like music from 80s the most, and it has a similiar feel to 80s/90s videogame music (because of synths and all), so I like artists like Pet Shop Boys, Sandra, Yazoo, songs produced by Stock, Aitken & Waterman etc.
 
Besides Film scores, Daft Punk, Lykke Li and Crystle Castles it's only video game soundtracks for me.

now I know using the Drake example is asking for trouble but it's not just Drake. I listen to other music to, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, and other stuff and every time I put those on he goes quite and acts like hes suffering.
Click to expand...
Maybe he just doesn't like the stuff that you listen to?
No everyone likes Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins or Nirvana.
 
I mostly listen to video game music, not necessarily because I think it's superior but because I don't really get in contact with much other music and don't give enough of a damn to go out looking for other stuff I like. A lot of modern popular music is boring as hell though
 
Yeah, I also don't get the "video game music only" people.

And I love some me some awesome video game OSTs (like Xenogears, Advent Rising, Chrono Cross, etc).

But there is so much music that's awesome that isn't a game, that if you're just exclusively listening to soundtracks from games, you're missing out on so so much. Even if you only like instrumental music, there's a shitload of great stuff you will never find in a game.
 
I really appreciate a good game score when I'm playing a game, but I'm much more interested in popular genres (for lack of a better term) when outside of gaming. There have been exceptions here and there, like the Hotline Miami soundtrack and the Max Payne 3 soundtrack.

I've never met anyone that listens only to video game music. Hell, I can't really think of anyone I know that actively listens to game music at all.
 
Music is such a subjective art form, it is impossible to try to define what is good or bad without falling into fallacies. Even if you could, it would not correlate with each one's personal taste... Criticizing musical tastes is so pointless imo.

I can see the point that people who only listen to game OSTs should broaden their musical tastes to see what they are missing, but even that doesn't make much sense: some people are just not that invested into music, and maybe have passion for other art forms like books or whatever.
 
SystemBug said:
So I guess the question I am asking is how many of you guys listen to video game music exclusively, but more importantly why do you prefer to artist/band based music?
Click to expand...

No lyrics, no gimmicks just plain music that reminds me of some good old video gaming days! Occasionally I listen to soul, jazz, R&B or something local or else the wife puts on some gospel when we're in the car. And I've been listening to Yes a lot too thanks to the recent JJBA anime. But yeah, I have pretty much been listening to VG and anime music 75% of the time for the past 7 years or so.

You've got to admit, video game music is awesome whether it's chiptunes or fully orchestrated. Makes me wish I'd taken music lessons seriously when I was a kid!
 
While I do love my video game music, I'm also a metal fan, mostly from my father's influence.

Most of the time I'm listening VGM but there's always a heavy metal song on the middle to have a little change o pace. Actually, my favorite VGMs are the one that are kind of metal\rockish, though I do enjoy other kinds of VGM.

Music, at least for me, is one of the most important parts in setting the tone of a video game. I hate when I play a game that only has generic orchestra music #9001, it ruins the entire mood for me.
 
Jackano said:
Objectively wrong.
VG music is part (like movie scores) of a bigger media.
I listen to VG music because it reminds me gameplay and feelings from sequences of the games I played, and that's something you don't get with "traditionnal" music made out of nothing but the music itself.
I don't care about some love story from a guy who wrote it in music, I wasn't there.
I don't care about some music a guy wrote about the Sahara Desert, because when I go to Sahara his music isn't playing in the whole desert.
However I did enjoy some Gerudo Desert music.

IMO old (8/16bits) memorable scores are also the best ones, because people were composing it with very limited tools, and they focused to do very good melodies that only get better when orchestrated and remixed for today standards.
On the contrary it is now much more easier for anyone to do shit within today's music industry.


But in the end, in music even more than in any other subjects, all is about people tastes. So ultimately very subjective. So even if I said that objectively, there is differences between VG/movie music and regular music, I respect and understand that GrizzNKev's doesn't considere there is something different here.
Click to expand...

I agree with you partially. I'll refer my sound design professor, a former Nintendo composer, who loves Stravinsky's claim that we write better music when imposing restrictions upon ourselves. So indeed, some of the best music comes from having very limited tools. However, you're still taking a very narrow view of music by separating it through its purpose and subsequently missing some possible scenarios. One example is enjoying music from a game you've never played simply on the merits of its composition, something I've done many times. In that way, it's impossible to separate it from something I heard on the radio. Another would be taking a liking to music that appears in a game, but wasn't written for that game. There's a chance you don't even know where that music came from or why it was written.
 
People who only listen to videogames sountracks are pretty much like people who only read comic books and never touch regular books.

Culturally immature.
 
Music is subjective and game music is "real music".

However I think there is a difference between these two things:

1. Someone who says "I mainly listen to game music".

2. Someone who says "I would never listen to anything that's not game music, it's all shit."

You can replace "game music" with any genre of music in the second example. You see it all the time - people who refuse in advance to consider anything outside their comfort zone or experience, or even go so far as to say if they don't like it then it's objectively bad.

The second sort of person may be immature in some way. But if you just end up listening to a lot of game music because that's what you like without actually being anti-everything else, there's no problem with you as a human being.
 
shuri said:
People who only listen to videogames sountracks are pretty much like people who only read comic books and never touch regular books.

Culturally immature.
Click to expand...

I guess when I go to see Zelda or Final Fantasy at the Opera house I'm pretty much just solidifying my cultural immaturity.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Nintendo Consoles/Games- who else?
2
55
658
playbignbox replied
Andy Weir (Project Hail Mary) and people who left game dev to become huge hits elsewhere?
Opinion Business 
32
434
Jaybe replied
Figures, Books, Video Game Merchandise, OSTs. Peripherals
3
281
semiconscious replied
[Game Informer] The Outer Worlds 2 And Capitalism: 'People Who Have Power Tend To Abuse The People Who Don't'
2 3 4
197
3K
Shaggidy replied
What's a game that has great gameplay, but everything else sucks and ruins the game?
2 3
109
960
nkarafo replied
Top Bottom