Topic: No Metroid nominations

[Berto2K]

The Game Audio Network Guild is having its first G.A.N.G. awards show. GANG is a "non-profit organization established to promote excellence in interactive music and sound". Looking through the list, Metroid Prime gets no nominations at all. At least the recognized Eternal Darkness and RE0 for something though.

http://www.music4games.net/n_gang_awards_2003.html  

[Zomboi]

Wow those guys seem pretty messed up to me. Best handheld audio Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance? What the heck! Circle of the Moon had such a superior soundtrack. However, I do agree that Eternal Darkness and RE0 have some great nerve-racking songs. Oh well, thanks for sharing the site anyway (even though I'm still pissed about them not including Metroid Prime).  

[Sean]

Unbearably ignorant, really.  Metroid Prime isn't just liked by Nintendo fans--it's recognized by the industry as a landmark title.  Shameful.  The music is truly great, and it has one of those classic game soundtracks that is solid and memorable--you can close your eyes and hear the tunes.  You really can't say that about many games nowadays.  To me, even Final Fantasy's Nobuo Uematsu isn't quite up to snuff, but mostly because, perhaps, he has to write SO MUCH music.  I don't know--there was a great number even back in FF6, not to mention the others.

[Hemmorrhoid]

well after all its just music, metroid has great music but i think we should be happy about the countless gameplay awards

[Sean]

Absolutely.  I actually had to edit my post a bit ago once I realized that the awards were for music and sound--just me not paying attention.  You're right, Hemm.  No reason to blow over this...hahaha...  Still the music is worthy of praise.  ;-)

[JoeSmashBro]

Whoever wrote these probably hasn't actually listened to the music and sound on all these games. They just put what they think will look reasonable and what they've heard from others.

[Calibretto]

Quote
Originally posted by: Sean
Unbearably ignorant, really.  Metroid Prime isn't just liked by Nintendo fans--it's recognized by the industry as a landmark title.  Shameful.  The music is truly great, and it has one of those classic game soundtracks that is solid and memorable--you can close your eyes and hear the tunes.  You really can't say that about many games nowadays.  To me, even Final Fantasy's Nobuo Uematsu isn't quite up to snuff, but mostly because, perhaps, he has to write SO MUCH music.  I don't know--there was a great number even back in FF6, not to mention the others.

I agree completely.  I think music is a vastly underapreicated and often under developed part of video games.  FF6 had the best music of the final fantasy series; also, many Super Nintendo games had more lasting music then most of today's games.  Part of what made games like Metriod Prime and Super Smash Bros. Melee great, and even Halo was their superb music.  Of, course gameplay is the biggest factor in making a game great, but music is a part of the design and art direction, and too often I believe it goes underdeveloped.

[couchmonkey]

Has anyone wondered whether part of the reason newer game music isn't as memborable is if it's more complex?  Take Super Smash Brothers Melee, it contains several classic "stuck in your head' game songs, yet I don't find that the songs from that game are as memorable as they were way back when I was playing Super Mario Bros. or The Legend of Zelda.  When these games were released, the songs featured very simple looping melodies with only two or three "instruments" playing at any given time and they were often used over and over again throughout the game.  I think maybe that made a difference.

Anyway, that's just something that I've wondered, because I've also noticed that new games don't seem to be as memorable as they once were, but at the same time, when I stop and listen I often notice some really good songs.

[Sean]

Couch, I totally see what you're saying, but even the great composers built huge symphonies (etc.) off of very, very, VERY memorable and simple motifs.  I think this has been forgotten in many games nowadays, since there's rarely a truly memorable melody or riff or motif to be found, even in some of the really great new games.  Hope you see what I'm getting at.

Of course, I also see what you're saying about how the repetition of the older tunes made them more memorable, and now we have a lot more songs in games, perhaps.  I don't have the facts, but that seems to be true.  Still, I think that, nostalgia aside, the lack of technology actually forced game composers to create really interesting and different tunes.  One of my favorite examples is Mario 64, which came out in a time with CD-based music in games was truly all the rage.  And yet, though the quality of the samples in Mario 64 wasn't perfect, the tunes were just terrific.  I bet you can whistle the hub-world music RIGHT NOW.

However, one of my favorite red-book audio examples comes from Lunar 1 for the Sega CD.  Really terrific music, and it definitely got me excited about the future of CD-based games.