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t. e. Video game music ( VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to the style of music known as chiptune, which became the sound of the first video games.
- The Early Days
- 1980-1985
- 1986-1990
- 1991-1995
- 1996-2000
- 2001-Today
- Who's Who in Video Game Music
1958- The Silent Era The very first video games, alas, had no sound component whatsoever. In 1958, William Higinbotham, an engineer at Brookhaven National Laboratory, a US nuclear research facility, fashioned a crude tennis-type game on an oscilloscope. (Many experts consider this the first "hack" of a computer system.) Five years later, Spacewar--...
1980 Taunting Berzerkers Manufacturer Stern introduces the innovative shooter Berzerk, which features the most recognizable voice synthesizer module of the early arcade era: "Get the humanoid!" "Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" "The humanoid must not escape!" "Chicken! Fight like a robot!" Inexplicably, players seem to enjoy being mocked and taunte...
1986 Sega, Atari React Sega releases its 8-bit Sega Master System (SMS) in the US. The system features four dedicated sound channels--three for music, one for noise. Atari releases the 8-bit 7800 game console, which has built-in backward compatibility for 2600 games. 1986 Dawn of the Disk Era Nintendo releases a peripheral for the Famicom (the Japa...
1991 Super Famicom Arrives in US Nintendo releases the 16-bit Super Famicom in America and calls the $249.95 console the Super NES (SNES). The system uses a dedicated 8-bit Sony SPC700 sound chip with eight separate channels. 1991 ActRaiser Goes to the Symphony This Super NES title from Japan is often cited as one of the first to effectively incorp...
1996 Nintendo 64 Nintendo launches its Nintendo 64 in the US. The beefed-up, cartridge-based 64-bit system breaks tradition by relying on its exceptionally powerful CPU to handle much of the task of creating music and playing back sound effects. 1996 Quake and Nine Inch Nails If ever there were a marriage made in hell (and we mean that in a good wa...
2001 Game Boy Gets Funky Nintendo releases a new adapter for the Game Boy Color, and it turns the handheld system into a portable MP3 player. The $80 unit, called the SongBoy, attaches to the top of the Game Boy and equips the system with 16MB of memory (expandable to 32MB) for playing MP3 music files. 2001 Video Game Radio The proliferation of Int...
Hirokazu Ando- Super Smash Bros. series Taro Bando- Super Mario Kart, F-Zero X, F-Zero GC Robin Beanland- Killer Instinct, Killer Instinct 2, Conker's Bad Fur Day, GoldenEye (video game), Perfect Dark Masashi Hamauzu- SaGa Frontier 2, Tobal No. 1, Final Fantasy X Tadashi Ikegami- Super Smash Bros Melee Jun Ishikawa- Kirby series, Alcahest Kenji Ito...
Aug 11, 2022 · In 1987, a PC sound card would be released that changed the future of video game audio: the AdLib music synthesizer. The AdLib used a Yamaha YM3812, an 11-channel FM-based sound chip that could play 11 continuous sounds or six channels of sound with five percussive instruments, which meant video game composers and programmers could get creative ...
- Eric Askew
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Sep 6, 2014 · Pioneering musicologist launches creating documentary film and guidebook about game music past and present. Waterloo, Canada – Friday August 15 – Ehtonal, Inc. announced the development of BEEP: A History of Game Sound today. This documentary film will take viewers on a rich audio-visual journey through the history of game music and sound ...
Jan 14, 2023 · Vampire Killer is one of Castlevania’s most memorable tracks, having existed since the very first game. It’s a heroic track that sets you off on your quest to slay Dracula in the best way possible, filling you with hope. The Harmony of Despair version is the best because it's the liveliest.
Composing Classics: A History of Video Game Music. The Strong National Museum of Play. Music sets the tone for video games. From computer-generated blips and boops to fully orchestrated scores, music provides video games with a sonic backdrop that inspires smiles, laughter, and even tears. This exhibit explores the history of video game music ...
Mar 3, 2019 · Video game music has come a long way since the bleeps and bloops of Pong. Games like Assassin’s Creed and Red Dead Redemption 2 now come with dense, cinematic scores that stretch over 50 or 60 ...
