Episode 47 – Musically Challenged

So since I wrote the article about music influencing my opinion about the next Mario I’ve been thinking about um… well music. People who write music for video games don’t get nearly enough credit. While most people can tell you who composed the music for their favorite movie but cant for the life of them tell you who wrote the music for their favorite game.

People can tell you just about every movie that John Williams has scored but for the life of them can’t tell you who wrote the theme to Super Mario Bros… actually I had to look it up to be sure. It’s Koji Kondo in case you didn’t know.

When you think about it it’s kind of absurd and kind of a shame. You spend 40, 50, sometimes 60 hours with a game and yet movies only last about 2 hours. With the magic of mathematics I am able to figure out that you would have to watch your favorite movie 30 times to match the time it takes to play through one game.

Video game consoles now over 30 years old and still there is no category in the Grammy’s for video game score. No matter how hard the ESRB or any other organization tries, video games scores don’t seem to get the public recognition they deserve.

So next time you are with people who are talking about the best movie scores, and talk about Williams Star Wars score, or Elfmans score for Batman. Talk about Animal Crossing. And the next time you hum the Zelda remember how great Koji Kondo’s compositions are.

[Editors note: I have discovered WiFi at my aunts house. Victory.]