The first video games many of us came across back in the seventies were the squat table-top type, designed to sit at with a beer, use as a table and – this seems really funny in 2012 – some even had ashtrays built in.
Aged about six or seven, I was already utterly fascinated with the Asteroids and Lunar Lander machines in a hotel lobby near my home. One day I had a really good look at it (must have run out of 2 pence coins…) and discovered a neglected switch underneath the box which turned out to be the volume control. Wow – with sounds as well, the game was nothing short of astounding.
Turning up the volume and hearing all those little synthesised laser blasts and explosions for the first time literally transported me into space. If that little boy was already interested in games, now he was fascinated.
As humans, most of us experience the world through all five ‘senses’ and many more less recognised sensory inputs. This means that when we limit an experience to just the visual level, we are easily bored and quickly distracted. The movie industry took off properly when ‘the talkies’ were invented – and it seems as if the gaming industry too has reached maturity by developing its aural dimension.
The technical feasibility of rich, complex sound design and music in games is a large part of this story. Early developers had very little to work with in terms of both graphics and sound, with tiny computer chips and just a few bytes of memory.
The crunchy, monophonic bass melody from Taico’s original Space Invaders was actually the first game ‘soundtrack’ – running while you played and even speeding up as your game intensified!
As computer technology developed in the 1980’s, arcade game developers were right on the cutting edge of digital sound. Namco, Konami and Sega were among the leaders, introducing some of the first examples of polyphonic (more than one simultaneous sound) computer music in games such as Carnival, Frogger and Dig-Dug.
The really crucial development at this point was the introduction of PCM synthesis – the generation of ‘real’ sounding tones by digitally imitating a recorded analogue waveform. As well as providing us with much-improved game music, this technology also fed the synthesiser boom of 80’s pop music and led to the development of the compact disc – and ultimately the MP3.
By the late 80’s we were used to hearing great compositions that integrated with the action. Whether you loved Tetris, Chuckie Egg or Ikari Warriors – the music had become an essential part of the gaming experience.
The importance of music in video games had always been known to the developers, but in the 1990’s it really came of age. Finally, home consoles could compete with arcade machines like Outrun on graphics and sound. Gamers responded by stopping putting our our coins in the arcades – and went shopping instead. Thanks to the compact-disc streaming technology of platforms such as the Playstation 1, we were soon speeding round the Wipeout race tracks to a soundtrack of ‘real’ contemporary rave tunes.
It is no co-incidence that this is the point in gaming history where mainstream media sat up and took notice; gaming had become a serious artistic and economic contender and was definitely no longer just for kids – the gamers had grown up. Orchestral music was being written and specially recorded by top orchestras for games like Final Fantasy, and the days of ‘bleep-bleep-zap-fizz-bleep’ were firmly behind us. The stage had been set for the huge leaps in gaming sound design we have seen since the turn of the century.
In the ‘noughties’, Rockstar Games took the importance of sound design to a new level with their GTA series. They introduced such amazing features as virtual radio stations you could control – or switch off – properly acted voice scripts and hilarious conversations throughout the game world from horny passers-by to un-amused shop staff and motor-mouthed taxi drivers.
GTA – San Andreas raised the bar in terms of bringing a whole game world to life and achieved much of this by investing in unprecedented sound design.
Technology has also come a long way since those original monophonic analogue bleeps. Techniques such as spatial positioning and the use of virtual acoustics have been taken wholesale from the film and music production industries, and their processes have been vastly simplified by developments in software and increased computing power. These techniques are very valuable to gamers for the increased immersion they offer in our new, more realistic 3D worlds.
Of course it’s not all about realistic radio stations, sound effects and voice acting. The role of the composer in the game industry has developed alongside it, and increasingly specialised, talented individuals are taking the art of writing for games to new levels. In a remarkable turn-around that no-one was expecting, the music and sound design of the video game industry is even invading our traditional concert halls and orchestra pits.
It is testament to how far games have come, but how long until classical listeners wake up to the impressive music of Michael Giacchino, Harry Gregson Williams, Inon Zur or Jack Wall? The Fallout music by Mark Morgan haunts me for days whenever I play it. These guys are still alive, writing, and selling.
Bleep!
Gez Hebburn is a writer, musician and keen gamer based in south-east England. Gez has worked extensively in music for image, and is fascinated by the use of sound and music for film and theatre. He is currently playing LA Noire and working on a project for a production music company.
Sometimes music from games get very popular. But if you play in a game for long time it starts to bother you. I will prefer to have connection to radio station with special tracks which can be synchronize with the game. What do you think about this idea?