Awesome Video Game Music

I've always felt that one of the most overlooked, under-appreciated qualities of video games is their audio. Video games are meant to transport us to an alternate world, and they do so by engaging our various senses. Touch (controller interface) and sight (graphics) seem to receive the majority of the attention, though sound can play an equally important, if more subtle role. Take a moment to think about some of the most vivid, most memorable moments from your video game experiences. How many of them are driven by the poignant voice of a character delivering an iconic line? Engulfed in the crisp sound effects of raining bullets and glorious explosions? Accompanied by a pulsating, majestic, or beautiful song?

Odds are high that the majority of those memories have an audio component to them, and I'd like to focus on one in particular- music. If you know me in any capacity, then you know I love a good video game song as much as anyone. Not only is a lot of video game music of exceptionally high quality on its own merits, but when used in the proper context it can be one of the biggest driving forces behind a game. A good song can guide your emotional investment in a game better than anything, and I'd like to comment on the music that's affected me over the years. I think this blog space is the perfect venue for that.

Each entry will focus on either a single game, or more likely a single song, providing a write-up as to why I like the selection so much. I'll also include embedded Youtube videos containing the music in question for you to listen to while you read, provided I can find them of course. For the sake of being consistent, I'll preface the title of each entry with "Awesome Video Game Music". I'll also link each entry back to this introductory one, where I will include a full list of every entry I've ever written. Kind of like an archive.

Last but not least, this is meant to be fun, and is something I get pretty into. I feel like there is a lot of potential for music in games, and hope anyone reading this comes away with a better appreciation of the medium. I'd like to hear your comments, experiences, and thoughts pertaining to video game music as well, and look forward to engaging in some conversations via the comments. That's pretty much it- enjoy!

EDIT: As of July 17, 2012, I have discontinued this blog series. See the final entry, "Finale", for more details. Thanks for reading!

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