Do You See Video Games Music As An Art Form?

[Snow_Storm]

Okay, I shouldn't really be saythign this on this type of fourm, but honestly:

My question to you is this: Do you think video game music is becoming an art form? Will the music we know, love, and enjoy will reach the level and fame of famous Hollywood soundtracks?

To all my fellow musicians and composers out there: If you are planning on making a living composing music for video games, how do you plan on telling closed-mind people that video game music is real music? How you plan on debunking people that say "Oh,video game music i nothing but making noise on a keyboard or it will never be an artform, give up."

I think it will take some time for music in video games to be understood as an artform. You know, maybe in the next five, ten, or twenty years from now. Who knows what will happen. One day, your favorite radio station might play some tunes from your favorite games.

One day, maybe the video game industry, along with a few fans, and OC Remix will get together and make thier own radio station based solely on video game music. You turn on the radio and you are blown away that video game music is much of an artform that One Winged Angel is playing on such and such station.

One day, a soundtrack form your favorite video game wins a Grammy or sells of the soundtrack is over 1,000,000.

One day, you know. You may not believe me now, but I tell ya, it will.

I have a dream to promte video game music as real music:

One of my (very wild) dream is to hook up with OC Remix, a few composers in the video game industry, and gaming musicians to set up our own national radio station deciated to nothing but video game music. 

I will only do this IF I ever become a well known video game designer/music compose/proudcer, business owner, and have enough money.  Be a great role model for young black youth who want to get into game design and music composing.   (My other wild dream is to be call the Black Uematsu and the Black Miyamoto =P)
ll happen.

[Nintendo Rocks]

The fact of the matter is, Video game music is an art form simply because it is music, and good music at that. I know what you mean when you say some people don't think its real music; my ipod is almost all video game music, and showng it to friends always ends with some look of awe. I see a huge influence of classical and baroque style music in video games; a good example is castlevania. Many video games today have beautiful, high quality sound tracks, so simply leting people to listen for a few seconds will usually change their mind. When it comes to older games, i personally love the nostalgic feel of the low quality, original tracks, but i also look for newer versions played by live orchestra. These might help others see why video game music truly is an artform. I doubt that video game soundtracks will be mass hits or be played on a radio 24/7 for a few reasons. 1 - most of what is popular today can hardly be called music in my opinion. 2 - Video Game music does not have mainstream appeal; what i mean by this is that while many people play games, only a fraction of those people will have a deep appreciation for the music. 3 - In all honesty, it is better this way. When things become mainstream, they tend to their lose quality. I hope that game music gains more support, but my main interest is in the music itself. If everyone around me is wondering what i am listening to, all i need are my really good in-ear headphones to block them out while i listen to Woodcarving Partitia .

[jujuforce]

I have a pretty hard time explaining my family/friends why I love VGM so much, when you have to Nintendo Rocks or anybody else, what tracks do you play ? ty

[Nintendo Rocks]

It really depends on what your trying to accomplish. If your trying to prove that the VGM is real music, then i would play something that sounds classical like Woodcarving Partita or Tower of Mist from Symphony of the Night. That kind of music usually destroys the false notion that VGM is not real music because it has high quality Synths and the music sounds like something from the Baroque or Classical era. After that, it will be difficult for anyone to say that VGM isn't real music.

If, on the other hand, you are trying to get your friends to enjoy VGM as much as you do, it would then depend on their preferences concerning music. Play them something that you think coincides with their own tastes in music. If they are new to VGM, chances are they won't appreciate lower quality synths from older games. Pick something from a newer game, or find an arranged version of the song played by an orchestra.

[Onionman]

I can't believe anyone would even ask this question. Of course it's art! Art isn't just paintings. Creative expression.

[alex feldmen]

I see you looking.

[Nightmoon]

Absolutely!

Especially with modern games that follow a semi-coherent plot, soundtracks in video games play the same role as they do in movies: They help tell the story.

Whether in film or game, music provides an emotional backdrop to a scene through a channel that transcends language and visual metaphor. Even without looking at the screen, you can tell when an awe-inspiring citadel is looming on the horizon, and the tone and style can tell you whether that's a bright glittering spire or an ominously menacing tower. The tempo and rhythm set a mood, whether you're strolling along through a wide open plain, working your way through a dank, dark cave, or frantically fighting for your life against an enormous abomination. Music directly conveys emotion, connecting a player (or viewer) to the emotional state of the characters in a scene. Without it, you can watch the scene, but still remain somewhat detached. Once the music is added, the experience becomes visceral, raising your heart rate, tightening your muscles reflexively, or making your hair stand on end.

One of the reasons many reviewers found F.E.A.R. to be so terrifying is that the soundtrack sometimes builds, as if to indicate a looming threat, building anticipation in the player. But then suddenly vanishes without anything happening. The player is left wondering whether something is going to jump out at him, or whether he's evaded the threat.

The Final Fantasy VII cut-scene in which Aeris is killed by Sephiroth and laid to rest by Cloud is considered by some players to be one of the heart-wrenching moments in the entire Final Fantasy series, with many of my friends (and myself) having been brought to tears. As an experiment, try watching the scene both with and without the music (just mute the sound, since there's no dialog). Removing the music can dull the emotional impact.