As much as many of us dream of becoming professional musicians, achieving this goal as mainstream performers is going to occur with around one percent of those who try. This applies to even the most popular genres at the height of visibility, where millions of fans actively seek out new experiences and names. If your performing genre is more niche, then the odds of success diminish even further. There is an often-overlooked area where this doesn't always hold, however, that of video games does.
In the 2020s, video games have long been more financially successful than both the music and movie industries combined. An important part of their success comes from their implementation of music, the range of which is far broader than many might know. From simple and catchy chiptunes to recreations of popular tracks and even sweeping orchestral scores, gaming covers the entire musical spectrum. For both finding a place to work and uncovering new avenues to appreciate, this arena is not one to be underestimated.
Why the Coverage?
As such a developed market, games exist to cater to all tastes. Despite being tied so closely to developing tech, the titles that the video game industry produces have never been limited to those which push the cutting edge. While some entries, like Red Dead Redemption 2 aim for enormous budgets that put many Hollywood movies to shame, the indie market is also seeing constant success. In between this space are thousands of other releases a year, each of which needs a genre, and each of which needs multiple music tracks to fit their themes.
Just a TasteFor a look at how diverse music in gaming can be, there are near-infinite examples from which to choose. For the sake of an article with limited space, we're going to cut it down to what we think are some of the best illustrations from throughout gaming history.
To turn back the clock, we're tempted to go with the theme song of Super Mario Bros as the biggest standout, but limitations can actually drive creativity. To demonstrate this, we're instead going with Bloody Tears from Castlevania 2 on the NES. Bound by 8-bit processing, the music in games of this generation was extremely confined. The NES boasted a total of five sound channels; two for pulse waves, one for triangle waves, one for white noise, and the last one for differential pulse-code modulation. What this meant for users is that musicians were confined to a box, and just like with graphics, these restrictions could be a boon in disguise.
Why the Coverage?
As such a developed market, games exist to cater to all tastes. Despite being tied so closely to developing tech, the titles that the video game industry produces have never been limited to those which push the cutting edge. While some entries, like Red Dead Redemption 2 aim for enormous budgets that put many Hollywood movies to shame, the indie market is also seeing constant success. In between this space are thousands of other releases a year, each of which needs a genre, and each of which needs multiple music tracks to fit their themes.
Just a TasteFor a look at how diverse music in gaming can be, there are near-infinite examples from which to choose. For the sake of an article with limited space, we're going to cut it down to what we think are some of the best illustrations from throughout gaming history.
To turn back the clock, we're tempted to go with the theme song of Super Mario Bros as the biggest standout, but limitations can actually drive creativity. To demonstrate this, we're instead going with Bloody Tears from Castlevania 2 on the NES. Bound by 8-bit processing, the music in games of this generation was extremely confined. The NES boasted a total of five sound channels; two for pulse waves, one for triangle waves, one for white noise, and the last one for differential pulse-code modulation. What this meant for users is that musicians were confined to a box, and just like with graphics, these restrictions could be a boon in disguise.
With Castlevania 2, the Bloody Tears track wasn't just extremely catchy, it also gave an enormous amount of space for players to unconsciously fill in the blanks. In essence, it demonstrated a fantastic foundation that still achieved its task. Bloody Tears has been remixed many times over the years, even appearing in the modern Netflix adaption, as eagle-eared players might have recognised.
Around the PlayStation generation, with leaps in processing power and storage space, high-quality audio extended what was possible to remove many prior limits. Games like Final Fantasy 7 have become legends for some of their tracks, which have again stood the test of time as they pushed expectations and ideas of what gaming music could be. From chilled-out western-style country music for rural locations to industrial and mechanical tracks for the dystopia of Midgar, these tracks showed how far gaming had come. Again, like with Castlevania, a few of these tracks have become legendary, showing up decades later to bring a chill down classic player spines.
Around the PlayStation generation, with leaps in processing power and storage space, high-quality audio extended what was possible to remove many prior limits. Games like Final Fantasy 7 have become legends for some of their tracks, which have again stood the test of time as they pushed expectations and ideas of what gaming music could be. From chilled-out western-style country music for rural locations to industrial and mechanical tracks for the dystopia of Midgar, these tracks showed how far gaming had come. Again, like with Castlevania, a few of these tracks have become legendary, showing up decades later to bring a chill down classic player spines.
It's not just original tracks that offer opportunities in the gaming space either, as recreations and adaption of existing music are also hugely popular. Some of the best online slots in the UK also serve as the best illustrations of this concept. The industry leverages popular music alongside bonuses like free spins, deposit matches, and seasonal rewards to please players. Slot games based on bands like Guns N’Roses and Kiss carry their passion on their sleeves, and for the big websites like Casiplay and HeySpin, great musicians and sound engineers are an important part of what keeps players coming back. There aren't many opportunities to work professionally with the biggest music from the biggest bands out there, but casino games continually revel in this landscape.
In the modern gaming market, there are essentially no limitations on what musicians can create. The indie market can cater to musicians who want to go a more Castlevania route, while boundary-pushing releases like the modern Dooms allow developers access to music’s full spectrum, and beyond. Classic to contemporary, western to prog-rock, there are thousands of hands working to make the music in these games a reality, and the market is only growing bigger. With some musicians even leveraging their musical chops to international fame, gaming's contributions are some of the most important in the modern era, even if you don't play yourself.
