I love to reminisce about the good old MIDI gaming days. The days when I would play an RPG and obsess over midis. There’s some part of me, deep down, that still loves those clangy, high pitched musical notes. Even after I buy the instrumental CD or what have you. I loved games like Thousand Arms, that had an in game jukebox. I could sit and listen to that thing for hours. Admittedly, I never enjoyed the terrible electronic music from those hilariously bad tiger hand-held games toys. Even I have to draw a line somewhere.

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Merry Christmas! Yep, it’s that special day - that one day of the year we turn all sentimental and start subscribing to the notion of happy, functional, extended families.

Like many of you, I intend to stuff myself silly, and then watch gentle and non-challenging television for a few hours. Since I’m not expecting any new games this year, and since my celebrations will be somewhat muted by the fact my boyfriend-and-husband-to-be is STILL in another country, I thought I’d dedicate this post to all of you who are, perhaps, not jiving to the Christmas Spirit quite so strongly - for whatever reason that may be.

The truth is - you don’t need the latest console and amazing new graphical superstar game to make this Christmas noteworthy. It is time to look away from the hyped up boring old flashy titles and consider that magical wonderland that are Indie Games & Mods.

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The music in video games is often neglected and confined to the background. People praise game play, characters, plot, and even voice acting, but rarely do they praise a video game based on its soundtrack. And yet, as gamers, we all know the Zelda theme by heart, we can whistle the Mario Bros theme, and we all remember “One Winged Angel” from FFVII. This is because, despite being tucked away and out of the spotlight, music is integral to video games. It sets the scene. It creates ambiance. It creates immersion. Fast-paced beats set our hearts racing, and slow violins warn of us an impending Hallmark moment.

Arguably, without music, video games would not be where they are today.

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