Nintendo, Stravinsky, and the Aesthetics of Limitation

By: William Gibbons (Texas Christian University) // Not many video game consoles have the historical or cultural cachet of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The unassuming gray and black box became a ubiquitous feature of living rooms across much of the world in the 1980s and early 1990s, its massive success simultaneously revitalizing the flagging …

How It’s Meant to be Heard: Authenticity and Game Music

By: William Gibbons (Texas Christian University) // I never thought I would be listed as the “Dungeonmaster” in a concert program, much less for one of the world’s leading wind symphonies. Nevertheless, that was my title last March, when The Dallas Winds generously invited me to provide some on-stage commentary during a live concert of video …

Rock Music in Video Games

By: William Gibbons (Texas Christian University) // From What’s That Sound? An Introduction to Rock and its History, Fourth Edition, by John Covach and Andrew Flory (W. W. Norton & Company, 2015) Consider these three moments from video games: (1) While taking my “borrowed” car for a spin in Grand Theft Auto V (2013), I …