Hey all!

I’m glad that a couple of you read and commented on my last blog! It was very interesting to read other people’s perspective on being a lifetime gamer, and it was great to see that many of you feel the same about being a gamer as I do. My topic of discussion this week is going to involve two loves of mine…..videogames and music!

An Appreciation of Videogame Music

When the majority of people (non-gamers) hear the term “videogame music”, I feel there are two responses. The completely uneducated in this genre merely question the existence of actual songs/score in a videogame, believing that videogame music is merely a combination of “bleeps” and “bloops” with an occasional “insert Pac-man death sound here”. I don’t believe its entirely their fault….the media usually portrays someone playing a game of ANY type while being accompanied by these sounds. (The way the media portrays games in general is a good topic….maybe next week!)

However, there are a good number of non-gamers that upon hearing that term think about actual videogame music…most often the Mario melody or Tetris music comes to mind. In my opinion, songs such as those are a great example to what videogame music is and should be. Classically, videogame music has consisted of catchy tunes that remind a person of the game they played. For example, when I hear that Mario tune, I immediately think of Level 1-1, and how that first goomba you kill was merely the start of your bloodthirsty quest to save the Princess (I wonder how many goombas you end up killing in that game….I also wonder how many I’ve killed in the span of my gaming career!)

However, recently videogame music has evolved to be so much more. Nowadays, whole scores are orchestrated and performed with precision by some of the best musicians. And I believe that is one facet of videogame music that is not as well appreciated by the non-gaming community. Take Videogames Live for instance. I went to one of the first national tours when it went through Houston. It was very interesting to see the dichotomy of people in attendence. On the one hand, of course, you had the gamers, some of us trying to dress well for a symphony event, and others in full cosplay, or wearing Red Mage hats. (Does not compare to a Dolphin Hat though…..hey Rio! Since I plugged your hat in my blog can I get a free one? :P)


DO WANT!!

On the other hand, you had the older generation, who had bought season tickets to the symphony, and probably realized that they paid money for these damn tickets, might as well go….I still remember seeing these older couples, looking around at us gamers in amazement, wondering what we were doing at the symphony playing Guitar Hero in the outside lobby.

The great thing about it, though, was once the concert started, these two groups of people were enjoying the exact same music! ….Videogame music is COMPLETELY WORTHY of great symphonic performances….more and more, the arts institutions are realizing this and not becoming hesitant at performing events such as VGL and Dear Friends (also amazing).

Go to the next one you can....its a disservice to yourself if you dont!

And luckily, the increased production value of videogame music is not detracting from the original goal…..to remind us of the fun we had while playing. Not only are the videogame scores doing that, they are also adding emotion to the games. Recently there was a cblog by mix for the Tragic Hero contest, which was about Aeris.

Aeris, as I mentioned in the comments, was quite possibly my first love :-P. She was my favorite character in FF7 and I constantly kept her in my party. (If you need a spoiler warning, I honestly don’t know what to say to you) When she is killed in the middle of the game, I was seriously crushed…and the beautiful music that Nobuo Uematsu orchestrated fit my emotions perfectly. I honestly teared up a little and went through the stages of grief during the following FMV. Denial, Anger, Acceptance, etc… all those occurred in my head, accompanied by its own soundtrack. At Dear Friends, hearing that song being performed reminded me feel a rush of all those emotions I felt during that time….which regardless of whether the score is a piece by Bach or Uematsu, is the definition of EPIC WIN in music.

.....*tear!!* Why did you have to leave me! *tear*

So, anyway, if ever someone mentions off hand how childish videogames are, or how lame the music is, direct them secretly to music from Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Secret of Mana, or even Halo (really awesome performed live) and educate them. Cause we are sitting on a gold mine of amazing music that should not be kept to ourselves :)


Discussion times!

Do you guys have any videogame scores that you absolutely love? Have you ever heard people downplay the idea of videogame music? What are some experience you have that will forever be tied to a certain song or piece? Have you guys experienced an awesome VGL or Dear Friends concert (if not you SO should….now…..go…..I’ll wait)? How was it? (especially you guys that just got back from it!)

With that, I’ll see everyone around on the comments and c-blogs!

Level up!