2. Video game music is the soundtrack that
accompanies video games. Early video game
music was once limited to simple melodies of
early sound synthesizer technology
3. These limitations inspired the style of music
known as chiptunes, which combines simple
melodic styles with more complex patterns or
traditional music styles, and became the most
popular sound of the first video games
4. With advances in technology, video game
music has grown to include the same breadth
and complexity associated with television
and film scores, allowing for much more
creative freedom
5. Video game music can be one of two options:
original or licensed.
6. Chiptune - is a style of synthesized electronic
music made using the programmable sound
generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers
in vintage arcade machines, computers and
video game consoles.
7. While this allowed for inclusion of music in
early arcade video games, it was usually
monophonic, looped or used sparingly
between stages or at the start of a new game,
such as the Namco titles Pac-Man
8. Taking entirely pre-recorded music had many
advantages over sequencing for sound quality.
Music could be produced freely with any kind and
number of instruments, allowing developers to
simply record one track to be played back during
the game. Quality was only limited by the effort
put into mastering the track itself. Memory space
costs that was previously a concern was
somewhat addressed with optical media
becoming the dominant media for software
games. CD quality audio allowed for music and
voice that had the potential to be truly
indistinguishable from any other source or genre
of music.
9. Fifth generation home console systems also
developed specialised streaming formats and
containers for compressed audio playback.
Games would take full advantage of this
ability, sometimes with highly praised results
(Castlevania: Symphony of the Night)
10. Both using new music streams made specifically
for the game, and using previously
released/recorded music streams are common
approaches for developing sound tracks to this
day. It is common for X-games sports-based
video games to come with some popular artists
recent releases (SSX, Tony Hawk, Initial D), as
well as any game with heavy cultural
demographic theme that has tie-in to music
(Need For Speed: Underground, Gran Turismo,
and Grand Theft Auto). Sometimes a hybrid of
the two are used, such as in Dance Dance
Revolution.
