Soundtracks: the Evolution of Music in Games

Sounds have been a part of games since their conception, although the earlier the game, the simpler the sounds become. In Super Mario Bros. (1985), the overworld theme [1] became iconic, used in many of the later Mario games. Although many games created in the 1980's used synthesizers to create the sounds they needed, newer games also expanded to include full orchestras and bands to use in their games.

While a game such as Pong [2] (1972) may not have many sounds as a more modern game might, it was difficult at the time to code the game and put the appropriate sounds in at the proper time. Those sounds were created by a synthesizer, used in games as early as the late 1960's. While the synthesizer could play a variety of notes to be used in games, it wasn't until the 1980's that this was explored more in-depth.

As games approached the 90's and 00's, more and more soundtracks became available, using a wide variety of instruments, like the familiar synthesizer, and the rare string orchestra, as well as a few band pieces. In The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000), various songs [3] featuring harps, drums, wind instruments, and percussion can be found throughout the game in different areas. Depending on what boss you face, or in which area you're traveling, the background music may change to better suit the situation. This sort of dynamic change in music based on events was not a new change by any means, but it helped give the player a greater sense of immersion when it came to playing through the game in its entirety.

While older games from the 2000's or 1990's (or even earlier) featured simplified soundtracks or specific noises in response to specific actions, modern games such as Skyrim (2011) seem to take this to a whole new level, hiring an entire orchestra to create over three hours worth of musical content [4]. As many newer games keep to this standard of immersion by continually increasing the quality of music within their games, it's likely to keep up with the current music industry, including as wide a range of sounds into their games as possible. Certainly, such is expected of games now by default, similarly to how a certain level of graphics is expected as well.

Sources:
[1]DAFTPUNKletlive. (2008, July 5). "Super Mario Bros.- overworld theme." Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4PxvY2gjP0
[2]Sebastien Cousin. (2012, April 30). "Arcade gameplay- original Pong- Atari- boulot-retro-dodo,fr." Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHsYjWm8XSI
[3]Officer 94. (2011, October 18). "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask -OST- all tracks." Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhRImdUT06Y
[4]ThreeToucans. (2013, March 10). "Skyrim full soundtrack (1080p HD)." Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atM3ZhF8MVs