Video game music may have started life as simple bleeps and bloops, but as arcade uprights and home consoles gained more audio muscle, the basic sounds evolved into complex compositions. The natural extension of that growth was the addition of lyrics. Granted, many video game songs aren’t very memorable, but there are a handful that stood out from the pack due to their ability to move, make people laugh, or simply kick ass.
The music game genre isn’t just drowning in the RIAA’s profits–the lack of innovation is wrecking a potentially unique gaming segment.
Outside of innovative titles such as Rez, few music games have attempted to be more than simple “press the button when the icon is in the right position” rhythm games. That formula was the basis of Parappa the Rapper, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band, and has proved highly successful with wannabe music mavens. Fortunately, developer [...]
Who knew modest little Parappa the Rapper would spawn one of the most popular genres in video games? And who knows what the future might hold for music games? According to Harmonix creative director Josh Randall music games might not even need consoles in the future. Instead, instruments could store songs on them and be [...]
