Game Vs Film Rant

anthemaudio · 2006-07-21T19:07:41

I'm starting a weekly rant on music4games.net, of which I run the forums BTW. The purpose is to start a dialog, not to inflame. I'll try and take hold of some misconceptions and myths, shake them around and see who I hit. Sometimes I'll just take a position and personally not even agree with it. This is more of an exercise in thought provocation. The first one I'll post here, after this you can only read them at M4G! Gilm? Fame? Man am I sick of game scores sounding just like film scores. Ok, actually I'm sick of people getting excited from the fact that game scores can sometimes sound like film scores. Everytime someone hires an orchestra and gives their best John Williams impersonation all the mainstream game news write an article. Here's my impression of that article: __________________________ "VIDEO GAME MUSIC GROWS UP" by Slappy McFatpants Gone are the bleeps and bloops of yesteryear's game music. Today's video game soundtracks are decidedly more sophisticated than what we've been hearing in the past few years. No longer tied to small file sizes, sometimes the soundtrack comes on it's own disc which can be listened to offline in the real world like a real CD. As games emulate the movie industry more and more it's no wonder that not only are game scores sounding just as great as traditional Hollywood scores, but they are attracting traditional Hollywood composers. "I've never played much games myself but my agent says these are the next best thing so..." "I've only recently picked up a Nintendo X-Station, but the music I've heard was actually pretty good, so I had to try my hand at it. Plus, my kids are big fans of Zippo the Flammable Dolphin games so I couldn't lose!" Along with bringing in big name composers from the film world, and the rising popularity and plummeting costs of running a home studio, an amateur composer can only spend a few thousand on machines and high end sample libraries to follow in the footsteps of their favorite film score composer. "I like what I hear from the new recruits" says film composer turned game composer Birken Stock. "It's a rennaisaince of interest in the film score, which is what game scores basically are but more interactive." It's about time people started noticing the sophistication of the modern game score. They are even known to hire an entire orchestra just for one game! They didn't do that for Donkey Kong! As games look more and more like Hollywood blockbusters, it only makes sense that the soundtracks that accompany them do the same. Welcome Video Game Music, you've come of age! __________________________ Yech. Plech! Flop-flip baggypoo sumpa sumpa boot! If I hear the phrase "bleeps and bloops of yesteryear" one more time I'm going to shove a Triscuit in my eye. Hey mainstream game article sites! You're not doing us any favors by linking us to film scores repeatedly. They just don't understand. Do they have a choice? What are we putting out currently? What do games by themselves often aspire to? There's also a big difference between scoring for larger collective audiences (film) versus a single person's perspective (games) but most aspiring composers don't really think about that. As long as it sounds cinematic it ought to translate, right? We buy the biggest orchestral sample libraries, set up a spiffy website with samples and pictures and rake in the Williams/Goldsmith/Zimmer sound-alike accolades. It's like we're not even trying! I know we have to start somewhere and ultimately all music is derivative, but don't you think it's getting time to evolve or at least start thinking in that direction? WE GET TO CHOOSE!!! Stop studying film composers and start studying game composers, but really just play more games! The best way to evoke solitude in film music may not be the best way for game music. Having a huge orchestral score may work well in epic strategy games, but should they also be as prevalent in squad based first person shooters? Why straddle both sides you composers out there? Why write for both film and games? I'm not saying you have to choose but I can't tell the difference between either of your offerings in their respective categories. Shouldn't I? Aren't they different enough? Don't you care?!? END RANT HERE