Music and sound have taken large, broad dynamic shifts throughout it's history. From the early games such as pong to modern blockbusters such as Call of Duty, sound has been an ever present and dominating factor. Looking back towards the very first series of computer games, sound wasn't a technical possibility. Take Computer space for example, a popular arcade game that had basic gaming operations but sound wasn't a possibility, it wasn't until Pong, that even blips and boops were introduced to the market. Even then, they were a difficult constraint to bypass for the designers.
For 25 years sound had taken the backseat in the gaming experience. It wasn't until CD driven consoles were released in the nineties that sound design began to evolve. It eventually lead to the introduction of mainstream music, and their participation in such games as Tony Hawk. But this all meant that sound was a new tool to be reckoned with and open a number of doors for developers to enhance the gaming experience.
These days Sound is used as an interactive feature. It is used throughout your entertainment experience to set the pace of your story, evoke emotion and inspire you. It is no longer a gimmick to enjoy whilst you grind away at a computer screen, its an important part of a games soul. Soundtracks have been specifically composed just for computer games, the market and need for individual and original music has increased incredibly in recent years. Martin O'Donnell being a prime example of this new milestone in sound generation. Providing video games with a voice which they have been without for so long.
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