GANG has been working hard for this and I’m glad to see it’s finally happening.
Better hope Jethro Tull never makes game music Dave.
Good for them. I remember there were a bunch of people who were miffed when game music got bundled in as part of “other visual media”.
- Alan
While I don’t like the Grammy’s very much, they do count for a good deal of prestige and what with all the groups and concerts that are held for game music, it would be a great way to honor game musicians more.
It would also be nice, 'cause it always seems like graphics are the more concentrated of the two aesthetic elements in games and this goes in the other direction for putting music more in the forefront.
I know personally that while graphics can age, and a good artstyle can help, a good soundtrack NEVER dies. And that for myself, music and sound can often get more into the game that any graphics special effects can.
Aren’t you a sound engineer yourself, Dave? Does that mean you had to work to get the “swoosh” of the a lightsaber just right in KOTOR (:)) or do you do the sound effects in general? Or do I have it wrong and you’re a musician?
The wording seemed contradictory, so I couldn’t tell, but will this just be for US-released soundtracks, or will Japanese only ones have a chance too?
Hopefully it will encourage more American producers to release stand-alone remix albums and soundtracks. There’s certainly a large videogame music fanbase out there.
Did Bioware ever release the soundtracks to Baldur’s Gate or any other way, or was it always a bonus for buying that one special package? That’s the way I got it, imported.
-Kitsune
As a big supporter of gaming soundtracks, I find this to be excellent news. :)
Homer: Why won’t anyone give me an award?
Lisa: You won a grammy.
Homer: I mean an award that’s worth winning.
Homer: (seaching for tip money for a bellhop and finds nothing but his recently won Grammy) Here…
Bellhop: Wow! An award statuette! Thanks mister! Oh… It’s a grammy (throws grammy of balconey).
Grammy is thrown back with a cry of "Don’t throw your trash down here!
And people wonder why sound guy have an inferiority complex.
The sound people definitely deserve their props. I applaud this move by the Grammys committee. We are moving into an age where sound effects and music are no longer just “background” music thanks to advancements in speakers and sound technology.
Well deserved.
Yup, I’m sound designer/audio producer. I am basically responsible for all things audio over here. I work with our otehr sound designer, contractors, musicians, VO actors, etc. Get to do all the scheduling and planning as well.
The wording seemed contradictory, so I couldn’t tell, but will this just be for US-released soundtracks, or will Japanese only ones have a chance too?
Hopefully it will encourage more American producers to release stand-alone remix albums and soundtracks. There’s certainly a large videogame music fanbase out there.
I would assume that like most of the Grammies it would be biased towards games released in North America. Japanese only games don’t need nearly the boost when it comes to video game music as we do over here. It’s actually possible to get a game soundtrack on the charts in Japan.
Did Bioware ever release the soundtracks to Baldur’s Gate or any other way, or was it always a bonus for buying that one special package? That’s the way I got it, imported.
-Kitsune
You’d have to check the Interplay store, they were in charge of all that sort of thing. In the future we are going to be looking at releasing soundtracks, but it would most likely be for our won IPs and not licensed games.
Interplay had the BG soundtrack as a pre-order item for a while, but to my knowledge, it never shipped separately. (Interplay cancelled my pre-order of the stand-alone soundtrack.)
- Alan