8-bit music: the soundtrack to a gaming revolution that resonates today

By Gerald Lynch

Here’s a quick test for you. Try to hum the main theme to a few recent triple AAA games. How does the main theme to Grand Theft Auto V go? How about any of the Assassin’s Creed games, or Mass Effect? As a gamer, there’s a good chance you’ve played one of these multi-million sellers, but you’d be hard pressed to recall exactly how their tunes went.

Now try to do the same for a few popular games of the 8-bit generation. Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros or The Legend of Zelda. The Last Ninja or R-Type on the Commodore 64. Much easier right? It’s not that modern soundtracks are in any way bad – modern technology allows for sweeping, polyphonic scores to rival the Hollywood greats.

But can you imagine any inspiring someone to do this?

Nostalgia plays a big part – these games have had decades to embed themselves in our consciousness. But, modern games should, by this reasoning, benefit from proximity and their relative freshness in our minds.

So what makes 8-bit music in particular so memorable?

What is 8-bit music?

In the simplest of terms, 8-bit music is named so after the 8-bit sound processors that early games consoles like the …read more

Source:: techradar.com – Gaming