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[img align=right]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-027/ss/ex/U-027-S-00510-A_05.jpg&sizex=174[/img] As I sit hear, listening to the Future of Rock and Roll, I was pondering what my next article should be. I sit hear, enjoying the music, listening to the smooth melodies of the indie rock scene. Feel the emotion, the magic, the rhythm. Music is a powerful medium. Music can be one of the best ways to convey emotion and mood without saying a word. Truly, music is an important part of games. From the 8-bit era to today, music has been an integral part of games. Think of the classics. The Mario Theme. The Zelda Theme, and many more, they're all great. Let's take the time to reminisce on the past, and identify the history of game music as it is today. As a kid, the first system that I had was an NES, and the first game that I played was Super Mario Bros, with its earthshaking 8-bit game play and amazing synthesized tones on three channels. However, 18 years after first playing Super Mario Bros, the melodies first introduced in the game are now some of the most recognizable pieces of game music ever written. I bet Koji Kondo, when he first pumped out the 8-bit tunes found in the Mario series, had no idea that his tunes would become iconic. The question is then, why are these musical pieces, and the musical pieces from many other retro classics, iconic? I don't know if I can give an authoritative answer on that. It could be the numerous incarnations of these melodies, but the melodies had to be popular to experiences numerous incarnations. Perhaps they are popular still today because they are nostalgic. For some people, that might be the case, but for most I don't buy it. The game music of old is popular still today for one reason - it's good. Listen to some of the classics. The Mario Theme. The Zelda Overworld Theme. The Balloon Fight Music. Metalman's Stage Music (a personal favorite of mine). I bet you can name some of your own favorites. Retro Music has had a lasting effect on the gaming public and communities. Just look around. You'll see it's true. As time progresses, I feel the same arguments for why 8-bit songs are still popular holds true for more recent tunes. Look at the songs found in the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Those songs are masterful, beautiful, and powerful. Today, actual orchestrated pieces provide memorable tunes for us to remember. The Metal Gear Solid Theme comes to mind as a tune for the ages. Certainly, as time progresses more and more memorable tunes will be composed, and for the generation of now, they may be to them what the 8-bit classic tunes are to us. Do you find game music to be interesting? Or to you, is it just background noise? To me, game music is in a league of its own, and with the success of activities such as Video Games Live, I can tell that many other people feel that same viewpoint. As time progressed, game music became more and more complex, allowing it to become more effective in its purpose. Perhaps you like the new music, with its orchestral arrangements and almost cinematic quality. Perhaps you enjoy the retro tunes of the 8 and 16-bit era, but chances are that if you are reading this site there is probably a game theme or song that you really enjoy. I know I certainly do, and I hope that you do too. David Murnan is the Site Director of RF Generation, the classic and modern video games database. In the past, he was also a band geek, and wished that the marching band he was part of would do video games themes. Alas, they did not. David Murnan is also a Nintendo Fanboy, which can be noticed by the songs that he has mentioned. You'd probably be a Nintendo Fanboy too if that's what you grew up on. Certainly, we hope you didn't expect this article to be authoritative, and if you did, well, yeah... Sorry.
[img align=right width=250]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/268794616478035c6c0147hd_dvd_bluray.jpg[/img] Well, it seems as though the format wars are possibly reaching a conclusion, with Sony's Blu Ray format beating out HD DVD. Depending on how you look at it, either this conclusion is vindication for Betamax or something that you wish mirrored Betamax. So, after years of fighting, bickering, and backhanded deals, the future is looking rather bleak for HD DVD. I guess the question then is- was the future ever looking bright for HD DVD? I don't know if I can say yes. It seems as though one of its principal proponents (Microsoft) seems to be rather preoccupied with its own download service. Do they really care about HD DVD? Perhaps we'll find out soon at CES with their rumored Ultimate Xbox announcement. But, I bet that even if the Ultimate 360 has a built-in HD DVD drive Microsoft will still have its agenda entirely on its download service. I wonder if it even matters any more. Let me tell you why. So, I am not a big, huge, movie buff. I don't find myself in huge need for the "high-def" experience. I watch DVDs, they look great. Am I going to be blown away by a "high-def" disk? I don't know that I would be. Sure it would be greater clarity, but aside from that the experience is the same. But, is it necessary to see every wrinkle on an elderly person, or those little lines in one's iris? I don't think so, and I bet that Joe Shmoe doesn't care either. Do you? So, the next question that comes to mind is the DVD format ready to leave? I certainly don't think that it is. People still buy DVDs like hotcakes, and I imagine that this trend will continue well past the conclusion of the HD format wars. After all, if South Park was originally aired in 480i, does it really matter to have South Park on an HD DVD? DVDs can do high def audio, you know. My setup sounds great. There are a lot more of these examples I can state, but we'll stick to just that one. I am just not convinced that there is really the demand for this high def format that is currently being fought for. But, as I have mentioned before, I am a regular Joe Shmoe on the outside looking in. Perhaps you know better. Lastly, and this is simply a postulation â€" do we know whether or not this high def format is not just a transitional format? How do we know that whatever format that wins won't be gone in two years? I bet big production houses would much rather have digital distributions for their properties, which is something that isn't too far out. There are a lot of perks for these houses to do digital distributions only. Big Brother can be a lot more involved with digital distribution. You also can't bring your digital distributions to your friend's house. So, if you want to watch something you own at a friend's house, your friend will have to buy it. (Proof of concept: Virtual Console) Digital distributions can also easily change encryption, even for old releases. Such a thing would appear to be more difficult for physical releases. Lastly, digital distributions also have very little production costs. Get rid of the retailer space, packing, physical media, sales person, etc- I guess what I am trying to say is that the profit margin for digital distributions has the potential to be huge. So, yeah, there is real reason to just use this format war as a façade for a transition to total digital distributions. Is this a conspiracy theory? Perhaps, but we'll find out in the future. So the question for you is what do you think about the format wars? Will the high-def winner ultimately becomes main stream, will regular old DVDs remain king, or will we see a transition to total digital distributions? Time shall tell, it certainly will, regardless of what any of us think. Disclaimer: David Murnan is the site director for RF Generation, the Classic and Modern Gaming Databases. Given that this said site is a gaming site, the author has no expertise about this high def format war, only regular old observations that may be horribly wrong or perhaps on track. Such is for you to decide. Also, the sky is blue. That is all.[ IMAGE]
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