Video games and music have one of the strongest links of all modern forms of media and entertainment. While the business impacts are obvious to most people, what really makes them partner up is that they are both seen as outsiders. Throughout the history of both music and gaming, they have been blamed for the ills of society and not given the same respect that literature and theatre command. This is partly why the two industries often gravitate towards each other. We’ve taken a look at some of the biggest connections between gaming and music.
Online casinos
This is one of the top links between the two industries at the moment. Online casinos have a huge number of licensed products from some of the top bands in the world. You can see games from Ozzy, Iron Maiden, Guns N’ Roses and more when playing at an online casino. The link between the two has helped both sides of the coin in a number of ways. It’s why you can find a large number of music-themed casino games at sites such as Betsson Casino. This selection of well-known bands connected to casino games makes them instantly recognizable to players when they see them.
It’s not something that is likely to change either. Even smaller bands such as Helloween have their own casino games. It shows that the niche exists and can help bands to add extra layers of income to their older music beyond being available on streaming sites.
Console video games
This is an area where music has long played a huge part. Obviously, console games have their own music in the background which helps to create a lot of atmosphere for players. These usually have composers in place who will create the soundtracks, so the music is specifically designed to evoke a certain emotion with players, whether this is to make a fast-paced section feel more frantic or to emulate the feelings that a certain story section of the game is trying to evoke.
Of course, there are games such as Doom which took on classic songs and used them as influences for its soundtrack. It’s a well-known story that the designers of the game had Metallica and Pantera as influences for the music that featured in the game. If you listen to the music from Doom in isolation, you can definitely hear both bands in some of the tunes that play.
It’s more than just influence though, just like casino games, there are often licenses that are put in place. A great example of this would be Kiss. The band has had a number of games released over the years, with the PlayStation and Dreamcast both having relatively well received games released for them. As the band is well known for licensing its image, it’s no shock that it took to the world of video games with aplomb.
Of course, success isn’t always a guarantee. The Aerosmith video game was widely derided as awful, so it’s no shock that the band hasn’t made moves to offer a license to any more console games. Especially as the game didn’t really have much link to the band apart from a few songs being included here and there.
None of these examples really compare to Guitar Hero and Rock Band though. These are the archetypes for musicians being included in video games. Part of the reason that these two games have had so much success is that they put players into the shoes of the musician and didn’t try to add in unrelated gameplay elements. It meant that they offered exactly what most video game players are looking for, escapism.
With an absolutely huge number of different bands included in the track list for both of these games, they have had a lot of success over the years. The main reason for this is that most genres of music were covered in each game. So, pop, rock and even jazz fans were likely to find something that appealed to them.
The biggest impact that Guitar Hero and Rock Band had on the music industry is that they have helped to inspire a whole new generation of musicians. By playing the games and enjoying the feeling of playing through a song, a lot of people decided to pick up an instrument for the first time. It is conceivable that within the next five years, we could see the first generation of bands that started out by playing Rock Band in their gaming room.
