Metal: The music genre of choice for the gaming community?

[Korenith]

OK, before I start I am not saying every gamer is into metal. Obviously that would be a ridiculous statement considering the diversity involved within the community but having said that I have noticed on these forums a much higher proportion of "metalheads" than I ever meet out and about in the world. Also considering how much metal is present in the gaming soundtracks (eg. Guitar Hero, almost every hack and slash in last decade, Brutal Legend and Sacred 2 who even got Blind Guardian to do an awesome track specifically for the game) I've got to believe either metalheads like their games or gamers like their metal.

So what do you folks think? Any ideas why metal is so prevelant in the gaming community?

 

[BonsaiK]

Heavy metal and gaming are both forms of fantasy escapism and thus appeal to people for similar reasons. It's all about being larger than life, and taking your brain into a journey to something bigger and more powerful - a way for people who are usually young and therefore may not necessarily have much power in the real world to live out fantasies of power vicariously. That's what I think.

 

[Amphoteric]

I prefer Bands like Radiohead, The killers, Arctic monkeys etc... to metal bands.

 

[alrekr]

METAL YEAH DUDE METAL YEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!...

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

As my English teacher put it...

The large portion of 'hardcore' gamers and metal heads stem from the same background.

Your average middle class white kid. This is not to be racist and I know there is a lot of diversity but it is a key area in both metal fans and hardcore gamers.

So it just makes sense there would be a fair amount of overlapping.

Plus there is nothing like playing Halo to some crazy ass Japanese metal.

 

[CitySquirrel]

Not a metal fan and I appreciate a game that doesn't just have some generic metal playing as background music.

 

[Keava]

I don't know. Metal generally is quite mainstream for at least 15 years now, at least from what i observe in everyday life, on streets of my city. It's more often used in different advertisements, and pretty much every 'teenage' centred product tries to tie itself to metal.
Not my genre tho, i find it boring and the supposed 'subculture' of metalheads as uninspiring, hardly different from pop culture in general.

 

[the Dept of Science]

Also, tonnes of people here seem to be into j-pop. Would be curious for people to suggest why that is.

 

[Furious Styles]

My favorite bands are the beatles, rem, arcade fire and various others. I'm not a huge fan of metal.

 

[irequirefood]

I dunno about that. Out of the people I know, Only like 3-4 are really, really into metal. Sure I like metal a bit, but I wouldn't class myself as a metal head. Most people I know have really diverse music tastes.

 

[Tips_of_Fingers]

The only thing classed as "metal" on my iPod is Mastodon and I'm not even that into them. I tend to steer more towards ska/skate-punk and Hardcore. I got into many bands like Comeback Kid and Rise Against because I first heard them on a videogame. One of the reasons why I fucking loved skateboarding or BMX games was because they had some fucking amazing music on them.

They should release a "Ska Hero" game...that would be amusing.

 

[Korenith]

I don't know. Metal generally is quite mainstream for at least 15 years now, at least from what i observe in everyday life, on streets of my city. It's more often used in different advertisements, and pretty much every 'teenage' centred product tries to tie itself to metal.
Not my genre tho, i find it boring and the supposed 'subculture' of metalheads as uninspiring, hardly different from pop culture in general.

Depends what you mean by metal though. Things like Dragonforce, Metallica, Slipknot etc are certainly quite mainstream but bands highly praised within their own genre like Opeth, Agalloch, Ayreon, Diablo Swing Orchestra and Orphaned Land are still mostly underground figures.

 

[RobotNinja]

Most of the gamers I know prefer either Metal or electronica. I prefer the latter.

 

[Brightzide]

I love meself some Metal, It's almost scientific fact that listening to death metal makes you pwn 50% more noobs On a serious note, I like metal but I dont really play it while gaming. The music I do play while gaming is the music I'd usually listen to in order to chill and escape reality. eg. Sugar Ray, Sum41 and even some Rap and hiphop, more in the Public Enemy region. I think it depends heavily on your mind-set towards games, if they are more competitive ( like my friend towards WoW PvP ) I think Metal is the more serious and preferred option. But if you play to relax, then it'll come down to your personal taste...And if that taste just happens to be Metal, then so be it

 

[Flishiz]

I have to disagree. I think rap is an equally valid gamer music choice, seeing as the glut of rap games, from Def Jam Icon to the 50 Cent things.

Basically all I'm saying is that while metal is prevalent, it's by no means dominant.

 

[tigermilk]

Is there a correlation between the age of gamers and metal fans? Perhaps people in the teen years? Please don't bother quoting this post with "I am not a teenager but like metal and gaming therefore you are wrong and gay".

 

[the Dept of Science]

I have to disagree. I think rap is an equally valid gamer music choice, seeing as the glut of rap games, from Def Jam Icon to the 50 Cent things.

Basically all I'm saying is that while metal is prevalent, it's by no means dominant.

If we take this forum as a fairly good sample group for gamers, considering that "the metal thread" was 20 or so pages long and anti-rap threads turn up fairly regularly, I think metal definately seems to be the trend. Even though its not universal, the proportion of metalheads here seems to be much higher than in any other sample group.

 

[Gxas]

I prefer pop/punk and a bit of post-hardcore.

I actually dislike metal due to the (generally) samey nature of each and every song.

 

[Eggsnham]

I like a lot of stuff.

I actually find myself listening to metal less and less lately.