Gaming Music Goes Mainstream 34
Steve writes "CNN has posted an article about the emergence of a big business in video game music. According to the author, budgets for one game recently surpassed $300,000, with composers being paid between $700 and $1500 per minute of composition, even more 'if it's produced for an orchestra.' The article points out that the production quality of game music has surpassed that of television, where money is rarely budgeted for high-quality soundscapes."
Most interesting music == Games (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Most interesting music == Games (Score:2)
I understand that this is why several television composers use their own synths instead of a real orchestra. I believe the music for StarGate is done on synth rather than real orchestras.
Is there a d
Amortize this (Score:2)
I've found that the higher quality synthesizers with the high-end samples are virtually indistinguishable from a real orchestral performance, as far as soundtracks go at least. The cost of entry for quality hardware and samples might be high
Unlike the royalties for samples, the cost of hardware cannot be so easily amortized because the players have to purchase the hardware in order to play the game. If the cost for quality synthesizer hardware is high, then how do you expect the console maker to sell 20
Re:Amortize this (Score:2)
The cost savings I was referring to was the cost of the composer purchasing a professional synthesizer and professional samples, as opposed to repeatedly hiring an orchestra to record the performances. The cost of high-end hardware may well be more than the cost of the orchestra for a game, but you can use the har
There's a reason for real-time audio (Score:2)
The audio in the games is simply compressed audio
So how many DVDs, Mini-DVDs, UMDs, or DS cartridges is your game going to take up, and how will your players like swapping media during gameplay?
or a soundtrack for a TV show.
Granted, your point works for TV shows and independent films, as such a work is just one long FMV sequence. However, games are typically much longer than TV shows and need not only more music but also more flexibility in the music, such as the ability to turn tracks on or off d
Re:There's a reason for real-time audio (Score:2)
If the game ships on DVD, it has roughly 9.4GB to work with. Put a quarter of the DVD towards compressed audio, that is 42 hours of compressed audio. At the cost listed in the article, let's say $800 per minute, that much music would cost over 2 million dollars.
So as you can see, storage space is NOT a limitation. As much music as you can produce for a game, you can store. I can't speak for the DS or PSP,
GameCube discs are smaller (Score:2)
You do realize that pretty much every game made in the last 5 years has featured compressed or CD audio?
At least the WarioWare series (currently two GBA titles, one GameCube title, and one Nintendo DS title) uses MIDI because it needs to vary the tempo of each individual song from 140 BPM to over 300 BPM. And not many GBA games use compressed audio, even though the software decoder is available and permissively licensed [pineight.com].
If the game ships on DVD, it has roughly 9.4GB to work with. Put a quarter of the
Re:GameCube discs are smaller (Score:2)
Again, handhelds exist in a different marketspace than consoles. For one thing they are generally 1 to 2 (5 to 10) years behind consoles in capabilities, so the current crop of handhelds are e
Re:GameCube discs are smaller (Score:1)
Agreed on most of your points, but:
Most modern devices use wavetable synthesis for their synthesized audio.
They use general-purpose PCM playback channels, which can be configured as wavetable synths (by varying the sample rate and output volumes) or as playback channels for decompressed audio (by holding them constant). They can generally be set to 8-bit linear PCM, 16-bit linear PCM, or some variation on 4-bit ADPCM.
No, Vorbis is overkill. MP3 will do
MP3 decoding is a patented process, and esp
Re:GameCube discs are smaller (Score:2)
Console manufacturers require hefty licence fees just to develop games for a platform, so MP3 licencing fees are probably not a big deal. CPU power really isn't a big deal. The official licencing fee for MP3 is 75 cents per unit, meaning per shipped copy of a game, or US $50k one-time. As I mentioned, peanuts compared to the platform licencing fees and publisher fees.
The Ga
Bad. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Bad. (Score:1)
Not as bad as you make it out to be. (Score:1)
The same goes for graphics.
Re:Bad. (Score:2, Insightful)
Because that doesn't sound quite right to me.
Re:Bad. (Score:1)
I think part of the problem lies with reviewers. A lot of reviewers are starting to have high expectations for music. It's not a big deal when they take notice of high quality music, but when they mark down games without licenced music or orchestral music, it starts to be detrimental to smaller developers.
For example, Burnout 2 had a decent instrumental soundtrack. It probably was pretty cheap to produce
Re:Bad. (Score:1)
Don't get me wrong. I too would like to see smaller developers have better chances in setting up.
But where's the benefit in slowing progress and thus hindering any growth?
The better games get, the better (aint that obvious?)
Re:onwards tally-ho! (Score:2)
Revenge of Shinobi
Gaiares
RC Pro am
Zillion
Shinobi 3
Thunderforce series
Re:onwards tally-ho! (Score:1)
Also, just because there are a lot of remixes for a game doesn't mean it doesn't deserve it (Megaman 2 in particular)...but it does mean that they aren't often GOOD remixes. I mean, finding a decent mix of the Chrono Trigger theme is like pulling your hair out with tweezers...VERY painful. And there's not one mix of the Wily Castle theme from MM2 I like, despite it being my favorite song of the game.
Money not required (Score:2)
I'd also like to point out the obvious - great music does not imply a lot of money. Anyone here play Beyond Good and Evil? That game had some of the best music I've ever heard in a game (or television show, or movie for that matter!) and it was a relatively low-budget game. Unfortunately, it was also very under-appreciated - but that is another argument all together. :)
It's hard (Score:1)
About Time! (Score:3, Insightful)
(That is unless you go out and rent/buy 4-5 seasons of a show at a time and watch them in marathon sessions like I do.)
I'm glad people are finally spending more money on video game sound tracks. After several hours of the same speed-metal high-adrenaline "fight music", I typically want to take a hammer to whatever faceless composer put together the repetitive noise I'm listening to, and then follow up by bludgeoning whatever management muckety-muck cut his 'masterwork' down to a 2 minute loop, so as to maximize the throbbing in my temples.
Two different trends (Score:2)
Props where due (Score:3, Insightful)
Nobuo Uematsu, famed composer for the Final Fantasy series of games, also deserves recognition. For several games in a row, he was composing music for very limited platforms. Then comes FF8, with a wonderful orchestral piece accompanying the closing credits. There were indications that Square had made FF8 into sort of a movie that you play. This was shortly before their full CG Final Fantasy theatrical movie came out, and it seemed like FF8 was partially a technology proof-of-concept and partially an attempt to get geared up for making a movie. Anyway, the "game as movie" theme would simply not have worked had the music been merely average, but Uematsu's soundtrack made it work.
Re:Props where due (Score:2)
Re:Props where due (Score:2)