Blips and Chips
Channel: Mike Thal
Date: 2016-06-30

Insert coin… press START!  The music of video games has changed drastically since its beginnings in 1972.   What used to be digital beeps and boops, has now become a fully expressive art form with real instruments.  Blips and Chips is a historical journey through this transformation in video game sound.  So strap in as you hear the arcade sounds of yesteryear evolve into the music of today’s video games – an experience forty years in the making!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blips and Chips was composed as a Final Project for NYU's Advanced Computer Music Composition Class - Summer 2016.  For the sake of time and accessibility, the sounds used are digital recreations of the tones generated by the original devices.  However the music still abides by audio hardware restrictions present in each video game console (with the exception of stereo sound in Early Arcade Games, which was used for entertainment purposes).

Gameplay Footage (by Era)
-Early Arcade Games: Pong, Space Invaders, Pac-Man

-Nintendo Entertainment System: Super Mario Bros, Mega Man 2, Ninja Gaiden, Metroid, Kirby's Adventure

-Sega Genesis: Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Vectorman, Altered Beast

-Super Nintendo: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Chrono Trigger, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario World

-Playstation and Nintendo 64: Banjo-Kazooie, Final Fantasy VII, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Crash Bandicoot

-Modern Gaming: Bioshock: Infinite, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Bloodborne, Rise of the Tomb Raider