A video game score has finally been recognized as a potential Grammy Award winner.
Composer Austin Wintory's score for thatgamecompany and Sony's Journey has been nominated as one of six potential winners of its "Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media" award, competing against films that include The Dark Knight Rises and The Artist.
"I really don't have words right now," a shocked Wintory tweeted last night upon hearing the news.
Should Wintory win, it will be the first video game score to win, but not the first song. That honor goes to composer Christopher Tin, who won an award for "Baba Yetu," the opening theme to Firaxis' Civilization IV.
Great news for Journey, but I kinda found this a bit sad for the game industry. Maybe I'm just ignorant, but to me video game score's have surprased over visual medium scores for the last 5 years. Not to say the game industry should be dominating that area but I feel like there should of been several more nominations over the years. Is the game industry overlooked, or are the quality of game scores generally sub par?
Over looked. Despite the irony of video games being a mainstream media, there is still quite a bit of debate if video games can be considered an artistic expression.
Its inevitable for video games to be considered art, but that won't stop some from trying to slow the adoption of games as art.
Yeah, its really ridiculous when you think of it. Some of the best scores I've heard have been video game scores.
Just give it some time though. As with any other medium in its infancy, its only when the older resistant generations die off that it will start to gain the recognition it deserves.
Personally I think that video games generally have better soundtracks than TV or film. Game soundtracks tend to stay with me, whereas most TV or film soundtracks tend to go in one ear and out the other. It's ironic because when it comes to writing, there's no question that the level of quality in TV and film towers above what you can find in games, but when it comes to soundtracks I find it to be exactly the opposite.
I don't like Journey myself. When it comes to the score, there are much better candidates IMHO. However i'd much rather have the general public see Journey on the big screen rather than something like Uncharted or Call of Duty or other generic AAA whatever. Journey is much more likely to change the way people view games and that's good for the industry.
This is a great achievement, and a testament to Austin's work ethic, creative skill, and understanding of games as a medium. Austin creates scores for linear media also, but it is his undeniable creative abilities in creating beautiful scores paired with his understanding of dynamic game structures and composing for these interactive systems that makes me excited about this nomination. I think this will draw attention to the abilities of composers working in games, and the different mindset required to compose for dynamic, interactive media such as games.
It's great that video games are finally being recognized for their soundtracks, but I wish it wasn't with a score like Journey's. I know that some people like it, but personally I find it to be so pretentious, overbearing, and unmemorable. It's as if the person scoring the game asked themselves "how can I make this sound as much like a generic Ang Lee movie as possible." I soldiered my way through the game mainly because of the gorgeous visuals, but the music really soured the experience for me.
There are so many excellent video game scores out there, many of which surpass the soundtracks of feature films. It's funny, because when it comes to writing, games aren't anywhere near the level found in TV and films; but when it comes to soundtracks, I find it to be the complete opposite. It's nice that video games are starting to get some recognition, but there are so many better things they could have picked than Journey.
Its inevitable for video games to be considered art, but that won't stop some from trying to slow the adoption of games as art.
Just give it some time though. As with any other medium in its infancy, its only when the older resistant generations die off that it will start to gain the recognition it deserves.
There are so many excellent video game scores out there, many of which surpass the soundtracks of feature films. It's funny, because when it comes to writing, games aren't anywhere near the level found in TV and films; but when it comes to soundtracks, I find it to be the complete opposite. It's nice that video games are starting to get some recognition, but there are so many better things they could have picked than Journey.