digibutter.nerr

[Medikoopa]

I have half of it finished. Its for my Eng-101 class. We were told that we could write a thesis paper about anything that has to do with music and how it influences people, so I chose video game music.

Wanna see what I have so far?

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Its in my third post in this topic (including this).

Quick link[/url]

[Medikoopa]

Eh, I'll post it anyway.

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Video Game Music

As with any movie, television show, and perhaps radio-drama, music creates the feel – the mood, if you will – for a video game. It allows the player to get a little closer, a little more interested in the events going on the other side of the screen. Without it, then the games are not quite as interesting. As a matter of fact, not only does it create interest, but it can even inspire the players to create!

Imagine… You have traveled underground, be it through a flight of stairs, an open sewer grate, a ladder, or even just a hole in the ground. The moment you have entered this haven for nocturnal or subterranean creatures, you know at once that this is no place to let down your guard. It is not safe down here, just as it probably is not safe above ground. But it is not the darkened lights (if there are any) nor is it the bats that dwell down here - the bats, by the way, could very well be some sort of foe – that makes you grip whatever weapon you bear. The music has warned you. Beware whatever lurks down here in these cold, dark tunnels.

There is a song for every moment. The music helps hook the player by supporting the theme of the moment. There are bouncy tunes for happy moments and triumphant jingles for any and all victories. Fast paced and (usually) loud songs for combat while there are slow, sad and normally short tunes for losses or death – which is a Game Over if you lose all your character’s lives. The music that plays breathes life into the video game. It is important to note, or so I feel, that the game designers don’t, as an example, assign jolly tunes for deaths because they don’t wish to confuse the players. After all, wouldn’t you be confused if you heard a light and happy song when one of your characters perished, be it in a cut-scene or in actual battle? I know I would!

Music can be memorable. Anyone who has even touched a game knows well the background music for the entirety of the very first area (dubbed ‘1-1’, or World 1 – Level 1) in Super Mario Brothers 1 for the Famicom in Japan and the Nintendo Entertainment System (or NES) in North America, Europe, and Australia. Other memorable songs from this game are the music played whenever you are in a Castle, a haunted house (or ‘Boo Mansion’), or traveling underground. Even more examples memorable songs are the ‘Overworld’ theme from the Legend of Zelda series and the ‘Brinstar’ planet from the Metroid games.

Without music, the games become dull and players can lose interest in them sooner (if ever) than with the songs playing in the background. A prime example of what I am talking about is when I once tried to play Super Mario RPG on the Super Nintendo (also called Super NES or SNES). It was the weekend and I wanted to play the game, but I did not wish to wake my brother up. So, I turned the volume all the way down. This, as it quickly revealed, was a bad decision. I could had unplugged the SNES and brought it downstairs and played it on the living room television, but I did not wish to go through all the trouble unplugging all the cords, plugging them in, then doing it all over again when I was finished. The game itself possesses plot and characters that is far superior to many games that are in store now, in spite of the fact that the graphics are considered by some to be of poor quality. However, although it was such a great game, I just was not interested in it enough (in spite of my earlier enthusiasm) to continue to play. The battles seemed to take forever and a day to end and by the time I had reached the third area (of at least eleven, all taking at least an hour or two to complete, even without going on side-quests) I just saved and then turned the system off. Deprived of music, video games are little more than interactive picture books. These books (if you are not playing a game from the puzzle, sport, or racing genres) have long and occasionally dull fights. The role-playing games (or RPGs) are the worst without music, seeing as how you so often cannot literally take ten to thirty steps outside of a town without an enemy character start to attack your party.

((To be continued))

[Flar3 Luigi]

*sniff* That was bueatiful!

[Gold Prognosticus]

...nice.

[Medikoopa]

Here it is in full.

Video Game Music

As with any movie, television show, and perhaps radio-drama, music creates the feel – the mood, if you will – for a video game. It allows the player to get a little closer, a little more interested in the events going on the other side of the screen. Without it, then the games are not quite as interesting. As a matter of fact, not only does it create interest, but it can even inspire the players to create!

Imagine… You have traveled underground, be it through a flight of stairs, an open sewer grate, a ladder, or even just a hole in the ground. The moment you have entered this haven for nocturnal or subterranean creatures, you know at once that this is no place to let down your guard. It is not safe down here, just as it probably is not safe above ground. But it is not the darkened lights (if there are any) nor is it the bats that dwell down here - the bats, by the way, could very well be some sort of foe – that makes you grip whatever weapon you bear. The music has warned you. Beware whatever lurks down here in these cold, dark tunnels.

There is a song for every moment. The music helps hook the player by supporting the theme of the moment. There are bouncy tunes for happy moments and triumphant jingles for any and all victories. Fast paced and (usually) loud songs for combat while there are slow, sad and normally short tunes for losses or death – which is a Game Over if you lose all your character’s lives. The music that plays breathes life into the video game. It is important to note, or so I feel, that the game designers don’t, as an example, assign jolly tunes for deaths because they don’t wish to confuse the players. After all, wouldn’t you be confused if you heard a light and happy song when one of your characters perished, be it in a cut-scene or in actual battle? I know I would!

Music can be memorable. Anyone who has even touched a game knows well the background music for the entirety of the very first area (dubbed ‘1-1’, or World 1 – Level 1) in Super Mario Brothers 1 for the Famicom in Japan and the Nintendo Entertainment System (also called Nintendo or NES) in North America, Europe, and Australia. Other memorable songs from this game are the music played whenever you are in a Castle, a haunted house (or ‘Boo Mansion’), or traveling underground. Even more examples memorable songs are the ‘Overworld’ theme from the Legend of Zelda series and the ‘Brinstar’ planet from the Metroid games.

Without music, the games become dull and players can lose interest in them sooner (if ever) than with the songs playing in the background. A prime example of what I am talking about is when I once tried to play Super Mario RPG on the Super Nintendo (also called Super NES or SNES). It was the weekend and I wanted to play the game, but I did not wish to wake my brother up. So, I turned the volume all the way down. This, as it quickly revealed, was a bad decision. I could had unplugged the SNES and brought it downstairs and played it on the living room television, but I did not wish to go through all the trouble unplugging all the cords, plugging them in, then doing it all over again when I was finished. The game itself possesses plot and characters that is far superior to many games that are in store now, in spite of the fact that the graphics are considered by some to be of poor quality. However, although it was such a great game, I just was not interested in it enough (in spite of my earlier enthusiasm) to continue to play. The battles seemed to take forever and a day to end and by the time I had reached the third area (of at least eleven, all taking at least an hour or two to complete, even without going on side-quests) I just saved and then turned the system off. Deprived of music, video games are little more than interactive picture books. These books (if you are not playing a game from the puzzle, sport, or racing genres) have long and occasionally dull fights. The role-playing games (or RPGs) are the worst without music, seeing as how you so often cannot literally take ten to thirty steps outside of a town without an enemy character start to attack your party.

Video game music is a source of inspiration for new musicians, budding artists, and even occasionally authors. One of the many sites which hosts music based on or inspired by video games is OCRemix.org. There are literally tens of thousands of different songs, from all genres and many video games. Not all of the music are based on the popular series; there are songs based on some games which I otherwise would probably never had heard of beforehand. There are many different styles, genres, and types of instruments. The music is only sorted by game, original composer, game developer, game system, and the person who made the new or remixed piece.

Some songs created by these budding musicians are so vastly different; it is hard to tell that it is actually a remix. A good example of this is a song called ‘JENOVAD Trance’, a Final Fantasy VII remix by FFMusic DJ. Another song which I have a rough time identifying the original piece is ‘The Place We Knew’, a Chrono Trigger remix which was made by two people – pixietrixs and Reuben Kee.

As I have said, some music is hard to tell that it is a remix. There is music that though retaining the original beat, is still given a new twist to it. Sometimes the song is improved by this and becomes a new beat but still echoes the original. Three examples of this are ‘Monstrous Turtles!’, a Super Mario World remix by zircon, ‘Koopa vs. Kefka’, a Super Mario World and Final Fantasy VI remix by Dhsu, and ‘What Hast Thou Done with This’, a Chrono Trigger remix by Vicks Cornatto.

There are also some who simply take the song and create lyrics for it. Once these lyrics have been written, the song is altered slightly so that it fits the mood of the music. One of these few examples of this that I have found are ‘Forever Until Tomorrow’, a Chrono Trigger remix by Star Salzman, as well as ‘The Place We Knew’. I myself have also taken some music from video games and composed lyrics for them, but I have not actually turned it into a song. One of these I have written for is the ‘Fountain of Dreams’ map from Super Smash Brothers Melee, a Gamecube game, whose level originates for the Kirby video game series.

In conclusion, since music is a part of life, it comes as no surprise to me that music is such an important part of video games. The songs guide us, warn us, and make us smile. They can help us come up with new ideas or just frighten us. So, before you dare to say that video game music is terrible, as I have heard on a couple occasions by people who could not properly back up their argument, or that it plays no part in the creative process, I suggest you decide whether to flip the switch, face the music, and venture onward to glorious battle or just keep the power off and hide from that which you do not know.