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Music Games

Grammy Awards Finally Giving Games Some Respect 70

Posted by Soulskill from the retroactive-award-for-morrowind-please dept.
donniebaseball23 writes "Video game composers have been fighting for equal recognition at the Grammy Awards, and they've just taken another step in the right direction, as The Recording Academy has added video games to the descriptors of four awards, giving them equal billing with film and television. 'I think this could be viewed as a first step in the direction of video games getting their own category,' said the Recording Academy's Bill Freimuth."
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Grammy Awards Finally Giving Games Some Respect More

Grammy Awards Finally Giving Games Some Respect

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  • not even close.... (Score:3)

    by metalmaster ( 1005171 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2011 @12:51AM (#35789940)
    Cinematics, story and voice acting in your average videogame cannot come close to the equivalent in feature films. Games are event-driven, so they're choppy by nature. There are games like Metal Gear Solid that have great cut scenes, but many gamers have complained that it seems more like a movie than a game. That seems like it's always going to be an argument, because if people wanted to watch a movie they would do so. They wouldnt be playing games

    • Re:not even close.... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 12, 2011 @12:58AM (#35789974)

      You are aware that the grammy awards are about music?

      • Unless you're playing Lumines, Rez, DDR, Guitar Hero, or some other game whose gameplay revolves around music, the music in your game is going to be "choppy" to the extent that it stops playing one background music track and starts another. Smooth transitions won't be possible for several more years, at least until US Patent 5315057 [uspto.gov] expires at the end of 2014.

      • Are you aware the Grammy's are a joke? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by elrous0 ( 869638 ) * on Tuesday April 12, 2011 @08:49AM (#35792708)

        The Grammy's are the most notoriously meaningless awards in any field. They're owned by the studios, who use them as little more than PR tools. Every year they're won by the same predictable chart-toppers (indies need not apply), they reward popularity over talent (two words: "Milli Vanilli"), and no one takes them seriously. In fact, the Best New Artist Grammy has been jokingly called the "Kiss of Death" award, considering how most "artists" who win it end up becoming one hit wonders. The only reason anyone even watches that joke of an awards show is for the performances. And even those are pretty forgettable.

        The Simpsons said it best. In an episode where Homer wins a Grammy, he takes one look at it, sees it's a Grammy and throws it out the window. Then, out the window, we hear a voice yelling "Hey, don't throw your trash out here!"

        • Amen. Testify! Also, internet, weren't you supposed to save music by slaying the big labels? They may be slowly crumbling, but I can't remember a decade prior to last where mainstream music was so vapid, pointless, empty and engineered, with practically no redeeming qualities.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Schmyz ( 1265182 )
          I couldnt agree more...I am waiting for something profound to become an awards show...say...the awards show for the best folded laundry.

        • Every year they're won by the same predictable chart-toppers (indies need not apply)

          Yeah, the timing of this move is extra suspicious, last year many indie artists were represented and nominated, including the huge surprise of Esperanza Spalding beating Justin Beiber for Best New Artist! (even if you hate him, everybody's heard of him, how many people have heard of her? not many is my guess).

          Even if the Grammy's are diluted, they can help launch careers, just by exposing people to artists they might not be exposed to otherwise, another case in point, Nora Jones, a few years ago.

          Whet

        • The Simpsons said it best. In an episode where Homer wins a Grammy, he takes one look at it, sees it's a Grammy and throws it out the window. Then, out the window, we hear a voice yelling "Hey, don't throw your trash out here!"

          Actually, he takes it back to his hotel room where he tries to pawn it off as a tip substitute to his hotel attendant. The guy replies "Oh boy, an award statue! Oh, it's only a Grammy." and tosses it down the balcony. The rest of the quote is accurate.

    • Wow, you are deluded. Considering most major games these days use techniques that are used in film for cinematic sequences, stories that have much more depth than the hollywood reeltrash, and actors that are also big names in hollywood, well, maybe they are more deserving than films these days.

      Aside from this, it's not the Grammys that need to respect games... it would be gamers needing to respect the grammys - which I doubt will happen.

      I'm not sure what games you play that make them "choppy by nature", but

    • grammys == music....ok, cultural fail there

      Wow, you are deluded. Considering most major games these days use techniques that are used in film for cinematic sequences, stories that have much more depth than the hollywood reeltrash, and actors that are also big names in hollywood, well, maybe they are more deserving than films these days. Aside from this, it's not the Grammys that need to respect games... it would be gamers needing to respect the grammys - which I doubt will happen. I'm not sure what games you play that make them "choppy by nature", but they aren't the games that I am playing.

      Movies follow a linear progression of near constant dialogue. Game cinematics are broken up by uh....gameplay? I have seen a few games that move between cutscene and gameplay fluidly, but in many games this is a fault. One example being a boss battle. You kill your enemy with weapon A and the cutscene shows you doing so with weapon B OR you "kill" your enemy but in a cutscene they merely appear exhausted. This is choppy cinematics.

      LOL and BLAH... Duuuude!... Games haven been 3D and Digital since at least 20 years now... Cinema has only recently catched up to video games in that regard... get your facts updated man... and Metal Gear Solid is from 1998... so much fail...

      and finally, i know I shouldnt fee

      • Shadow of the Colossus on PS2 is a stunning example of how wrong you are and have been for years; it plays like a movie end to end.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by smelch ( 1988698 )
          Heavy fuckin' Rain. Great movie that plays like a game.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Raenex ( 947668 )

            Heavy fuckin' Rain. Great movie that plays like a game.

            I played the demo and it was just awful. The first problem was the horrible controls: no free-look, awkward swiping motions, and just terrible walking animations. I felt like I was awkwardly controlling a zombie. They really should have just licensed an engine that didn't suck, something like GTA IV.

            The second, and even more fundamental problem, was having to separate your attention between control prompts on the screen and following the "movie". Trying to do both at the same time takes the enjoyment out of

            • Re: (Score:1)

              by smelch ( 1988698 )
              Well I'm glad you played the demo and didn't like it from a brief encounter with a prostitute. The controls seem a little difficult at first but I got used to it pretty quickly. I also loved Indigo Prophecy. At one point in Heavy Rain I had my gun pointed at some guy who was losing his shit, saying in my head over and over "don't shoot him, don't shoot him, don't shoot him", the guy moved a little quickly and I accidentally shot him in panic. Its so immersive, its hard to fight back natural reactions. At on
    • Dreamfall, by Funcom, is very like a film. It is an adventure game that that progresses through puzzles and cutscenes and dialogue. It is also one of my favourite games. The story is a lot better than most films because most films these days are very generic. I played through Dreamfall 10 times because I enjoyed the story so much, even though I knew how to complete it.
    • Have you ever watched your friend play Uncharted 2, Crysis or Call of Duty? The realism is so great that it's like you're watching a movie.

      • or even play Mega Man Legends 1 or 2...it's like a playable cartoon.

      • Call of Duty games realistic? The first few were pretty good and somewhat realistic, but since CoD 4 its been one big game that traded story and realism for Michael Bay style of storytelling. Its the antithesis of realism, eschewing it for over-the-top explosions and characters doing ridiculous things. I slogged through the "story" mode of MW2 since I bought it to play online with friends and found myself rolling my eyes many times throughout. The CoD games now are just a bunch of big action scenes with

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by vlm ( 69642 )

      Cinematics, story and voice acting in your average videogame cannot come close to the equivalent in feature films. Games are event-driven, so they're choppy by nature. There are games like Metal Gear Solid that have great cut scenes, but many gamers have complained that it seems more like a movie than a game. That seems like it's always going to be an argument, because if people wanted to watch a movie they would do so. They wouldnt be playing games

      On the other hand, check out this list:

      1) No one makes any money but the distributors due to crooked accounting, and the distributors are being destroyed by "the internet".

      2) Mass distributed content is formulaic and repetitive remakes of the same tired old ideas and frankly hasn't had anything new or fresh in many years.

      3) 1% of the population is fanatic about it, the other 99% simply do not care.

      4) Everyone in the biz thinks the world revolves around them, everyone outside the biz doesn't care at all abou

  • Games shouldn't be treated as movies. (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    And I don't mean because games cannot be artistic. That's idiotic.

    I mean because games are made better than Hollywood movies are.

    I didn't believe this until recently. I thought even the most garbage movies shamed PC games. Then I played Mass Effect 2. I loved the game. But the Hollywood movie influence is everywhere.

    Notably, the 'epic' (but unreal) shots. A character spray-firing a machine gun with no aim because it "looks cool." A character leaping off a falling building and it crashing down around him, ju

  • Finally!! This is great news because, seriously, music production in the latest blockbuster games is truly spectacular. Hear the latest Shogun 2: Total War soundtrack [totalwar.com] and it's frankly Hollywood on Windows!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Hatta ( 162192 )

      Why in just the latest blockbuster games? The best game music is from the 8-bit era, when composers were so limited that it really took a genius to make anything sound good.

  • Just a bunch of RIAA insiders stroking themselves, and insisting the rest of us must care about it (since it dominates the newscast that night).

  • ...was that for the past 18 or so years, the grammy for game music (heck even awesome drowning sounds -- remember Quake Classic?) would have always gone to Trent Reznor hands down.

  • Civ 4 (Score:4, Interesting)

    by artor3 ( 1344997 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2011 @02:09AM (#35790316)

    The title song from Civilization 4 won a Grammy this year, becoming the first song from a video game to do so. I wonder if that had anything to do with their decision? As is often the case, you need really top-notch, undeniable talent to break down the barrier. Once it's broken, things get easier.

  • Who cares? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by hairyfish ( 1653411 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2011 @02:21AM (#35790374)
    Why do gamers care about the Grammys? As a gamer, I couldn't care less about *any* award show. The whole concept is some outdated idea from the 20th century when media companies had a monopoly on distribution, and used these shows to peddle their wares. The rise of the Internet has made them obsolete.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by martinX ( 672498 )

      Where's my mod points when I need them. Gone are the days when the industry can say "look at me" and we all collectively do.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Seumas ( 6865 )

      I don't have a problem with game awards shows that award all aspects of gaming and development. If it wouldn't appeal to a huge general audience, then broadcast it online to a niche audience (a well done one would still be huge) and treat it with respect and dignity. I'd pay a few bucks to watch that live online every year. Awards are part of acknowledging and rewarding bold new attempts, even if they're not commercially successful. They're important in every industry, frankly. Granted, some are more releva

    • As a gamer, I couldn't care less about *any* award show.

      I dunno, I'm a pretty big fan of the independent game festival [igf.com], and seeing who won what. Usually nukes a week or two of productivity for me.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by fermion ( 181285 )
      Which is why they are doing this. By including games, they increase they increase the chance that a person who never watched the Grammy awards might watch. The Grammy awards are irrelevent to the gamer generation. This is just a way to make it a little less irrelevant.

  • JRPGs - credit where it's due (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    For me the JRPGs would dominate any top 10 list of game soundtracks (spending a fortune licensing commercial music a la GTA doesn't count).
    Presumably, Western composers get paid peanuts to write in-game music, and the results are laughable - music nobody would ever choose to listen to outside the context of the game.

    There's no reason for the Grammys to recognise Japanese artists such as Koichi Sugiyama and Nobuo Uematsu who are truly brilliant modern-day composers - I think computer game composers command a

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I hope Chris Hülsbeck (http://www.huelsbeck.com/ [huelsbeck.com]) will have some reward for his career, one day ...

    Some of the music he has composed :
    - R-Type
    - Giana Sisters
    - Turrican 1, 2 and 3
    - Apidya
    - Tunnel B1
    - Extreme Assault
    ....

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Daetrin ( 576516 )
      I know almost nothing about the Giana Sisters except that i got a cool remix of its music via OCRemix [ocremix.org]. I guess it was some kind of Super Mario Bros knock-off that most people have never heard of? It kind of surprises me to see any kind of reference to the game show up, but it totally makes sense that if so it would be a discussion about game music :)

  • Lifetime Achievement Award (Score:4)

    by gravis777 ( 123605 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2011 @07:14AM (#35791610)

    Now if only they will go back and give Nobuo Uematsu a lifetime achievement award! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy#Music [wikipedia.org]

  • This is a triumph.
  • Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) - Now this is the kind of game/movie that I would love to see more of. The idea was simple: a game that plays like a movie but in which you still continuously(almost) PLAY the game. It had great story, great feeling to the scenes, sound was appropriate and cinematics blended in so naturally. It all worked out. In my opinion I would give that game an Oscar. I think the story is the most important aspect of a game - as in any movie. Match it with good acting and keep the user pla

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