Symphony No. 2600 in Atari Minor

In class it was mentioned that music wasn’t always something that was a part of video games. Only in the late stages of the Atari 2600 (or VCS) did music first appear in video games.  I found this very interesting because I had taken music as such a quintessential aspect of any video game.

Previously when we had watched the video on the creation of video games while in class, one of the guys who created either tennis for two or pong had mentioned that he made the game and was completely satisfied with being able to fit all the information he had onto the small sized chip. His boss then had to ask him to include cheering sounds. I thought it funny that there would be a video game that had no sound period. Not until it was mentioned in class yesterday did I understand that no sound meant no music and really understood the idea of a silent video game. It would be awkward at best.

The music that has evolved to become such an integral part of any video game does so much more than fill a silent void. It enhances game play. Music has always been known to evoke strong emotional responses for all situations. To add music to a video game is to only further perpetuate the players emotional tie to the game. A close friend of mine is a Zelda fanatic and uses the songs from Zelda to express her feelings, as ringtones, and loves to play them on her ocarina. She is constantly talking about the “Saria’s Song,” “Lost Woods,” “Windmill,” and most often “Gerudo Valley.”

Without the music incorporated into present day games , I doubt that games such as Zelda and many other games (especially RPG games) would evoke as deep an emotional response as they do. Music, as it has done time and time again, only compliments other art forms and aids game designers in their attempts to draw the game players further into the video games.