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Is video game music actually an over-rated genre?

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 11:08 pm
by Mikurotoro92
Is VGM as a whole over-rated or under-rated? As much as I absolutely love & adore the genre I hate to say it but VGM IS slightly over-rated especially because it overshadows other components of a game I'll use an analogy from a cartoon:

If music is the heart of a game then the characters & story are the liver & gallbladder!


In other words music isn't the only thing that's needed to make a game work! In my analogy all 3 of thouse internal organs are needed for your body to function properly & the same is also true for games! There is more to a game then just the music it really ticks me off when that's the main reason people want to play a game! Yes I understand a game without music would be dull, boring, & lifeless but still! Does anyone else feel the same way? Thanks in advance!

The honest truth is there isn't a genre of music that is TRULY under-rated! Not a single one not even VGM!

Can you guys figure out what cartoon I am referencing in my analogy & the episode where said reference originated?

HINT:this is from an over-rated & EXTREMELY popular long-running cartoon on Nickelodeon!

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 5:46 am
by Gonic
No. I've never seen anyone tell me to go out and play a game because of its Soundtrack. I wouldn't exactly call it overrated either, you don't see VGM music on mainstream music charts or whatever.

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 6:02 am
by Gonic
No. I've never played a game because of its Soundtrack. Gameplay is what should always take priority when playing a game. VGM isn't even mainstream, you don't ever see it make music charts. Also unlike the music we get in the charts, VGM has a wide range of genres such as classical and rock etc.

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No. I've never played a game because of its Soundtrack. Gameplay is what should always take priority when playing a game. VGM isn't even mainstream, you don't ever see it make music charts. Also unlike the music we get in the charts, VGM has a wide range of genres such as classical and rock etc. So you might need to be more specific when you say VGM is overrated.

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 6:04 am
by Gonic
No. I've never played a game because of its Soundtrack. Gameplay is what should always take priority when playing a game. VGM isn't even mainstream, you don't ever see it make music charts. Also unlike the music we get in the charts, VGM has a wide range of genres such as classical and rock etc. So you need to be more specific when you say VGM is 'overrated'

Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 11:22 am
by Wrath Oskvro
The only difference between "video game music" and normal "music" is that it's usually not played in a live show or compiled into a full album like a typical artist would have it. In my opinion there is far too much variety for video game music to be overrated. I can compose a full Metal track and it can be just as easily placed into a video game as say, Chiptune or Techno.

Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2016 1:13 pm
by Quills on Wheels
Please. If anything, VGM is underrated. There's so much that I think good VGM brings to the table that makes a game so much better, yet it feels like it's often overlooked, if it even gets a mention at all. Reviews rarely tend to even talk about music in a game.
You can for example look at the hate the Sonic Adventure games are getting nowadays; bunch of popular youtubers talking shit about the games and saying how they haven't aged well and now everyone's jumping the bandwagon. What they didn't mention was that the games weren't considered good just for their gameplay but for all their other qualities, vgm included.

Like Gonic said though, I don't recall a single game that has been good only because of its vgm. Even music focused games.
I actually dream of the day VGM becomes mainstream so I don't have to feel like a weirdo when I listen to VGM loud in uni. I was excited when I saw Spotify had a Gaming section in its browsing, only to realise it wasn't even VGM. :(

Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2016 4:58 pm
by PTKickass
VGM is underrated. That can be proved simply by listening to it on public places. You'll be judged. I remember one day I was in my cousin's car listening to Sonic Generations OST when he lol'd at me for listening to Sonic music. He even went to the point of saying "hey mom, he's listening to Sonic music HAHAHAHA". Yea, definitely not overrated.

Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 5:05 pm
by Antronach
Video game music tends to be either over-or-under-rated. Either people are unfamiliar with video game music and don't even know the popular stuff like Kingdom Heart's Simple and Clean or they know a lot about video game music and can probably recognize stuff like the Halo Opening Suite after a few notes. Never really see much in between. :/

Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 11:11 pm
by TCB
It can be under/overrrated depending on perception of it. Like the above poster mentioned about people being either unfamiliar with it or arguing it's too "samey"with trying to make it like these big movie scores.