The evolution of language in games is a fascinating process that shows how technology influences our entertainment experiences, because video games are undoubtedly one of the most popular forms of entertainment. However, their history is not that long, dating back to around the 1960s.
The beginnings of video games
The early days of video games were mainly text-based communication, limited to a minimum, where the player received simple instructions or information through written words on the screen. Due to the fact that initially only military units and advanced research centers had access to computers, the vast majority of them were available only to a relatively limited number of recipients. However, over the years and technological progress, games began to use more and more advanced forms of dialogue or interaction and became available to a wider community.
In 1958, William Higinbotham at Brookhaven National Laboratory created Tennis for Two – a project considered by many to be the first video game. It was a table tennis simulator that had no sounds and it is difficult to call it a game in today’s sense.
In the 1970s, the first home consoles appeared. The first home console was created by Ralph Baer in the 1960s, and in 1972 it appeared on the market.
Pong – Atari’s first product was also the first video game, which was an impulse for greater development of the entire industry. It was a computer game that simulated table tennis using two-dimensional graphics. What’s important is that Pong included sounds – simple, single tones made when the ball hits the paddle or the ball leaves the board. Initially, Pong was only available on gaming machines, but after a few years it debuted in the computer version, and over time it was available… everywhere.
A breakthrough in gaming – voice
The first game to use a continuous background soundtrack was Space Invaders, released in 1978. From that moment on, the music started to develop quite quickly.
Another milestone was the development of music in games on the Nintendo Entertainment System in the 1980s. There, for the first time people could hear iconic melodies such as “Super Mario Bros”. Although the compositions were technologically limited, they became an integral part of the games’ identity.
In 1980, Mattel released the Intellivision console, which was originally intended for education, but in 1981 the approach was changed and a speech synthesis module – Intel Voice – was added to the console.
In 1993, the game Doom appeared – a single-player shooter, which for the first time introduced character movement in the third dimension, realistic lighting and good sound effects.
PlayStation
Quite an important ground for the modern sound of music in games was laid by CD technology, thanks to which, after its introduction in the 1980s, games could take up much more space and be much more complex. One of such consoles from that period was the Sony PlayStation console released in 1994. In addition to 3D graphics, it also offered sound with a frequency enabling multiple sound effects to be performed simultaneously. The sound itself when turning on PS heralded a completely new quality. Takafumi Fujisawa was one of the main people in the team creating the PS console and he was responsible for the intro sound. This famous sound became a very characteristic element of PlayStation.
Today
Today, game sounds can adapt to the player’s current situation in real time. There is no doubt that music in games, just like in movies, plays a key role in creating atmosphere and impressions. It often happens that sound is what makes the game popular and liked all over the world, and its universal language becomes an element that connects players from different countries. Music from games often becomes also so famous, that it is released in albums, as well as performed at specially dedicated instrumental concerts, which attract crowds and are organized not only as part of industry events, but simply as concerts in concert halls. Not only players listen to it.
The future of video games
We already know the history of music in games, but what does the future hold? This is not known, but we are observing a trend of increasingly popular voice-activated communication. Speech recognition systems give players the ability to control their characters, make decisions and conduct conversations using their own voice. This modern approach to interaction makes gaming more engaging and realistic. It is possible that one day artificial intelligence that can create music, will replace composers. It’s very fascinating and terrifying at the same time. However, these are only speculations, and no one knows what will happen.
