Is music not as memorable in today's game as it was 10-20 years ago?

I'd say both Still Alive songs are rather memorable.

NIER, Blazblue, Halo, etc..

I was thinking about this about two days ago and I'm officially found myself disconnected with today's video game music because of the lack of rhythmic melodies. It's becoming orchestral and very emotional. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that but it's reminiscing the movie industry style too much. That and as a person who likes to collect video game soundtracks, it's hard to understand the essence of say, Heavy Rain, when you haven't played the game. Back 8-12 years ago, you didn't have to play the game. You could imagine that gameplay along with the music because the music was built to enhance the gameplay, not necessarily the emotion.

The Mario Bros. theme was not meant to create emotion, it was meant to be something enjoyable to listen to, without getting extremely annoying and bring someone to hating playing the game because the music was grinding against the gameplay. The same with Sonic. The same with Paperboy. The same with Star Fox. The same with Crash Bandicoot. Mario Kart, Perfect Dark, Tetris, Metroid, etc.That's not to say none of the music enhanced moods but emotion wasn't the only end, gameplay was an end also.

Now music is trying to invoke or enhance a mood. There's nothing wrong with that and if that's what the developer wants to do, then that's great. They're just not as memorable as a game is being played. The music is awesome but it's nothing that can be hummed later and again, there's nothing wrong with that because they're trying to create something catchy or "un-annoying."

NIER, Blazblue, Halo, etc..

Twin-Blade

[QUOTE="PalmPixi"]

[QUOTE="Archangel3371"]Well not that I don't have a lot of favourites from many years ago but the music from games today is absolutely fantastic and I find them just as memorable as any of my cIassic favourites. Games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Halo, Blazblue, etc. have some amazing soundtracks.Archangel3371

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTsD2FjmLsw

Only 3? I've played it through at least 8 times :P

Is that not normal?

Anyway... sticking with the ME theme, here's a song:

Mass Effect - Vigil Theme

[QUOTE="sirkibble2"]...Now music is trying to invoke or enhance a mood.Fragasnap

yeah, yhis is more kinda what i'm talking about. Epic boss fight music etc. just dosen't seem to exist anymore. The Metal Gear Solid tune that plays when Snake gets spotted, that really fitted perfectly with what was going on gameplay wise. It's fast,and provokes a since of panic and danger.

Fanfare and battle themes-these I think are dying out. Which is unfortunate.

I will say though that given the right circumstance, orchestrated music is fine, if not perfect for certain occasions.

This song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAw0bObNKr4, used to terrify me, hell it still does! This song is perfect for what it's trying to acheive- suspense, fear, and suits perfectly to the character for which it plays. I would also be nervous before the fight because of this music, no matter how prepared i was. The song just elavates the character's being.

[QUOTE="sirkibble2"]...Now music is trying to invoke or enhance a mood.Fragasnap

I'm in total agreement with you about the music enhancing moods back then. Totally correct. Didn't convey that well. What I was getting at mostly was that today's music isn't memorable. That's not saying it's bad, just not something I can hum down the street most of the time. Elan2008 made a good point that it comes down to personal taste.

The music in today's music is fitting. It works. It sounds great. Personally, I like music that has heavy rhythmic patterns, memorable melodies and will repeat every so often. This is not a nostalgic taste, it's simply what I prefer. If I were to make a game, this is how I would make my music because I wouldn't someone to remember that the music they were listening to while playing was good, I would want them to be humming it after their done playing it.

The music is just as memorable today as it was back than.

I think most of the people answering this topic are not answering the TC's question. Is music "better" today? Yes, for sure. This is NOT the question though. Is music more memorable today? I would have to say "no." I can remember themes from tons of games on NES all the way up to playstation. After PS2, I can hardly remember any of the awesome songs I've heard save FFX. The music in games today is awesome, but not nearly as memorable as the music in past generations.channtheman1

Yes, exactly! That's what i meant, people here didn't seem to realise that. I've never really thought "oh this sounds terrible" etc. in any recent game, but I couldn't remember a song from a game i was playing an hour ago. Maybe the music has also been turned turn in terms of volume as well. Music was generally pretty loud in older games.

I will actually say though that I can remember some Disgaea 3 songs i.e main themes etc. But I would also say that those game are more 'old-school'.

Games back in the old days had fewer, simpler tracks. SMB of old had the classic Mario theme, the underground theme, and from SMB3 onwards, the music for levels that scrolled automatically (Blue Sky Athletics in the SMG OST).

Games these days aren't trying to use a small range of techniques to identify themselves, as though it were a cartoon. The music can be less memorable since it's trying to enhance the overall experience rather than trying to be an identifier for the game.

These days games are trying to have a whole bunch of emotions as they "mature", and to be fair there's some great music out there - ME, Crysis 2, Starcraft 2, amongst others.

Games back in the old days had fewer, simpler tracks. SMB of old had the classic Mario theme, the underground theme, and from SMB3 onwards, the music for levels that scrolled automatically (Blue Sky Athletics in the SMG OST).

Games these days aren't trying to use a small range of techniques to identify themselves, as though it were a cartoon. The music can be less memorable since it's trying to enhance the overall experience rather than trying to be an identifier for the game.

These days games are trying to have a whole bunch of emotions as they "mature", and to be fair there's some great music out there - ME, Crysis 2, Starcraft 2, amongst others.

LordRork

Even the early Final Fantasy games had maturity. You don't need an orchestra to convey maturity. Although I would say it is probably the most effective way of doing so. It's no surprise people seem to like (this is in general from the comments i've read) today's music more. The technology is far greater. Restrictions are removed. True freedom of expression in modern game's music is available, and it does appeal to our emotions.

But I would still find something like FFVIII's music (in which there were alot of orchestra and latin songs) more memorable. I can like that dramatic music even if i don't remember what part of the game it's in, because I just actually like the music. Maybe i'm over-senimental, but that's just the way I am.

I think most of the people answering this topic are not answering the TC's question. Is music "better" today? Yes, for sure. This is NOT the question though. Is music more memorable today? I would have to say "no." I can remember themes from tons of games on NES all the way up to playstation. After PS2, I can hardly remember any of the awesome songs I've heard save FFX. The music in games today is awesome, but not nearly as memorable as the music in past generations.channtheman1

[QUOTE="channtheman1"]I think most of the people answering this topic are not answering the TC's question. Is music "better" today? Yes, for sure. This is NOT the question though. Is music more memorable today? I would have to say "no." I can remember themes from tons of games on NES all the way up to playstation. After PS2, I can hardly remember any of the awesome songs I've heard save FFX. The music in games today is awesome, but not nearly as memorable as the music in past generations.PalmPixi

Look at you're games collection (old or new) and see how many songs you can remember from a game. Obviously i don't expect you to remember every song. Maybe look up the soundtrack to a game and only listened to the first 5 secs or so of a song and see if you remember the rest. Give me any soundtrack from my ps1 days-5 secs per song is all i need. Unless the first 5 are silent haha

This excludes 'real' songs i.e songs from actual proper artists. I justmean songs made for that specific game.

Of course, proper memorable songs won't need to be listened to at all like this.

I also notice people are seem to be comparing memorable to orchestra-they're are orchestra songs that can be remembered too. Electro sounds were more common years ago, and were easier to remember though.

Gotta love the old MGS songs :) I like MGS4, but i can't remember any music from it at all.

Generally I don't pay a lot of attention to a game's music unless there is a lack of it to where tracks repeat a lot.

Since IRL you don't hear music playing if you walk around like you're in a game - sans iPod.:lol:

Memorable is subjective, though. There's no doubt that the 8-Bit era tracks are easier to get your head around, but I could spout off a few modern memorable tunes, especially having to do with Halo. But Medal of Honor, Mass Effect, Starcraft, TF2, etc. have some great themes as well. I personally don't believe that more complicated makes it less memorable.

For instance, not video game related, but Bear McCreary's Battlestar score is usually very subdued at parts (ie: the original theme is just a dudek, military and taiko drums) yet more often I find myself tapping out those badass and memorable percussion bits from various parts of the score than humming a melody. But this is just me-- I really like the heavy percussion in Halo too.

It's funny how I saw this thread almost exactly after how I was thinking older games, despite basically being a bunch of bleeps and bloops, even during the PS1/N64 era had much better music. The only memorable music I remember from this era is in the Halo series. Games just don't have as good of music for whatever reason.

this is all i need to table for this thread to be rendered pointless..

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2019-Videogame-Music

/thread

ionusX

Awesome video! Thanks for that!

I've been gaming since the very late 70's. I absolutely LOVE game music. People would look strange at me if they saw that half of my iPod is filled with music from games. That being said, I think I have a notable opinion on this matter.

It all depends on how much you listen to game music today.

Due to technical limitatiions, music from games in early generations had simple, short melodies that were looped repeatedly. Therefore your mind will remember them much more clearly and thus they seem more memorable.

Today's music can be a lot more layered and evocative of the mood of the game. We have longer music piece that are structured to be less repetive and more varied.

Since I've exposed myself to a lot of gaming music the last two gens (most of what fills my iPod), I find that it's just as memorable if not more so. It's definitely a lot more entertaining to listen to outside of the games for extended periods of time. In fact, after leaving my player on shuffle mode pretty much all of the time, jumping from the likes of Lair, Bust-a-Groove and NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams to Mega Man 2 and Super C was more jarring than I thought it would be.

I agree. Attention to melody has lost favor to big, lush 60 piece orchestras, filling a room with sound. I mean, its cool that you can have a whole orchestra play on a game, but none of these songs are memorable.. Give me a 90's midi any day.

These modern scores are "fine" but they have no identity.

In old games they basically had 5 seconds of synth music repeated over and over for the dozens of hours the game lasted. Of course that's going to stick in your head. One of the main reasons I never played Mario for more than a minute at a time was that music would drive me nuts.

I've heard some fantastic soundtracks in recent games, stuff that really set the mood and added a ton to the atmosphere of the game.

Ok i'm not going to read all these comments, but i watched the video posted close to the beginning. The video makes a lot of good points, but i'll have to disagree with it. I won't say music has gotten worse but the song quality has gotten worse for sure imo. Ok so back then they made simple melodies because thats all they had but what songs in the past 5-10 years have been memorable like the old ones? I can count them on 2 hands. Why can't they make these brand new epic melodies with all the background symphonies like they've been doing when they remix all the old songs. Example in the video they showed the Final Fantasy theme on NES then they showed the symphony playing it. I agree that the symphony was way better, but where are the current composers to make something fresh and as epic as that?? Basically I'm saying Not memorable = worse music then before.

Ok i'm not going to read all these comments, but i watched the video posted close to the beginning. The video makes a lot of good points, but i'll have to disagree with it. I won't say music has gotten worse but the song quality has gotten worse for sure imo. Ok so back then they made simple melodies because thats all they had but what songs in the past 5-10 years have been memorable like the old ones? I can count them on 2 hands. Why can't they make these brand new epic melodies with all the background symphonies like they've been doing when they remix all the old songs. Example in the video they showed the Final Fantasy theme on NES then they showed the symphony playing it. I agree that the symphony was way better, but where are the current composers to make something fresh and as epic as that?? Basically I'm saying Not memorable = worse music then before.

Soko77788

Here's a track with old(and new) Final Fantasy themes played by an orchestra http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lx1WplJgsM&feature=related :P

therancors

I think the orchestra songs sound better, however that artistic creativity thatproduced those songs in the first place seems to be fading fast.