New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Music has long been a critical component in video games. The power of video game music showed itself earlier this week, in the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony the
music from Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Nier and several others was used and played to tens of millions of viewers from around the world. Japan is extremely proud of its video game heritage and rightly so - video game music composers are highly thought of and respected in the country. The highly respected UK radio station, Classic FM, often plays music themes from video games too. In 2016, Nobuo Uematsu's
Final Fantasy Soundtrack reached
number 17 in the Classic FM Hall of Fame.
In the recent past, developers of online slot games have begun investing time and effort in creating memorable music soundtracks. Inspired by Masato Nakamura, the creator of the Sonic the Hedgehog game music, slot developers such as NetEnt have been attempting to create iconic music for their customers. Music which is both great to listen to and increases the concentration levels of the listeners, much like 1990s video games such as Streets of Rage and Sonic achieved.
Music Making a Comeback in AAA Video Games?
With the preference for the top video games companies to invest most of their time and resources into online multiplayers games, the need for top quality music soundtracks has been low. In the past, it has been single-player video games which have offered the state-of-the-art soundtracks. The aforementioned Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy and Streets of Rage being three strong examples. But can we expect to see a comeback? We certainly hope so. The popular but notoriously difficult Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice offered players a fantastic gaming experience but unfortunately lacked a memorable soundtrack to accompany the gameplay.
Certainly, a well composed and original soundtrack helps a video game to become memorable. For example, think of a video game that you love, we are sure that you will be able to recall music from the game. Personally, a game I recalled which helped me to fall in love with gaming was Halo: Combat Evolved, and I still recall the fantastic menu soundtrack of a choral choir which transforms into a peaceful yet melancholy mood before the tempo is increased with the beat of rock music and drums.
However, the original Halo game was released almost two decades ago on the original Xbox console. Unfortunately, in the modern era, music is not necessarily seen as an important factor when selling video games. Although AAA games may not prioritise music, there are some developers who are doing so.
Music A Priority in Modern Slot Games
Music can be used and interpreted in endless ways. For developers which produce online casino slots, it means using music in a way which stimulates and keeps up concentration levels. Techno/electronic music first used in 1990s video games was extremely successful in stimulating players - the music was simple to create but so effective. It is for this reason why developers such as NetEnt, Thunderkick and No Limit City are now creating slot games with fantastic soundtracks in mind. Esqueleto Explosivo by Thunderkick is based on Mexico's Day of the Dead and utilises a fantastic Mexican themed music soundtrack whilst No Limit City created a Punk Rocker themed slot based on the British Punk Rock music scene.
In 2021 and beyond, we expect music to play a pivotal role in the development and success of online slot games. Already, many of the best RTP slots games feature music which help to ensure that the player stays as alert and active as possible. Furthermore, with an ever-greater number of music streaming services such as Twitch being downloaded worldwide, it can pay to create an immense soundtrack for a video game.
Indie and Steam
Steam has given the opportunity for independent video game creators to produce their games to a mass audience. We hope that indie developers can manage to incorporate original music into their video games, albeit this is tricky. Many soundtracks are bounded by copyright for obvious reasons and, as we know, making music is a difficult skill. However, there are many talented YouTubers specialising in making music who would be delighted to work with any independent game developers - this could be a fantastic money saving option for developers on a budget who cannot afford to pay an already known composer.
We hope to see music being utilised in more games though as we head into a new tech era of virtual reality and online gameplay. Music is one of mankind's greatest ever creations, it would be wise to make use of it.
