Dubstep music: A new trend for video game trailers?

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

I recently watched the launch trailer for Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City and I noticed it uses dubstep music. This trailer was released recently but it isn't the first game to use it. A CG trailer for Far Cry 3 uses dubstep music too. And Syndicate uses what can easily be mistaken for dubstep: electronic dance music (EDM). I'm sure I'm not the only person to have noticed this trend. It seems like more and more developers are using alternative music for their game trailers. Right now, the popular choice is dubstep music. What do you guys think?

Dubstep music kicks in at 29s.

Dubstep music kicks in at 1m 45s.

EDM starts from beginning to end, but it really kicks in at 42s.

Dubstep music starts from beginning to end, but it really kicks in at 2m 24s.

[Xerax]

I hate Dubstep, It's just not as good as the classical music games used to use :/

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Nothing new. Trailers used emo/punk music about a year after that became hugely mainstream.

As for the use of dubstep... I DJ a lot, and for a while ran a dubstep night just before it became mainstream (goddamn I sound like an arrogant git for that statement). Anyway... I loved Dubstep, I hoped it would be the new D'n'B, be a style that was gonna stand the test of time and be around for ages, going underground, resurfacing, etc. But no - it became a cliche for middle-class whiteboys to act "urban, durrty and gangsta". Going on and on and on about how dirty it is, how grimey and dark it is. Every wannabe producer started making "dubstep remixes" which all followed the same formula. As such, it doesn't surprise me that it became "one for the keyboard warriors". It's the posterboy genre for those with disposable income to act like they are a lot more "intense" than they really are.

I stopped playing dubstep for the above reasons. White, middle-class kids would all ask for me to drop some hugely dirty beats so they could wob wob wob and act like Miklybar gangstas. They'd act aggressive but be bricking it inside. They'd try to outdo each other with how many times they could refer to a mix as dirty as possible. It became a joke. Sure there's still some great dubstep out there, but these kids wouldn't know the difference. Some of the major dubstep pioneers have turned their back on it, and I can see why.

[DesGaiZu]

I only like music that no one else likes.

[Miuku.]

I hope to spaghetti monster that it isn't one they'll adopt - dubstep is just.. well, it's a personal preference but to my ear it's like someone was scratching a chalkboard.

[CentralDogma]

I only like music that no one else likes.

That's quite a paradox.

[The Teej]

Nothing new. Trailers used emo/punk music about a year after that became hugely mainstream.

As for the use of dubstep... I DJ a lot, and for a while ran a dubstep night just before it became mainstream (goddamn I sound like an arrogant git for that statement). Anyway... I loved Dubstep, I hoped it would be the new D'n'B, be a style that was gonna stand the test of time and be around for ages, going underground, resurfacing, etc. But no - it became a cliche for middle-class whiteboys to act "urban, durrty and gangsta". Going on and on and on about how dirty it is, how grimey and dark it is. Every wannabe producer started making "dubstep remixes" which all followed the same formula. As such, it doesn't surprise me that it became "one for the keyboard warriors". It's the posterboy genre for those with disposable income to act like they are a lot more "intense" than they really are.

I stopped playing dubstep for the above reasons. White, middle-class kids would all ask for me to drop some hugely dirty beats so they could wob wob wob and act like Miklybar gangstas. They'd act aggressive but be bricking it inside. They'd try to outdo each other with how many times they could refer to a mix as dirty as possible. It became a joke. Sure there's still some great dubstep out there, but these kids wouldn't know the difference. Some of the major dubstep pioneers have turned their back on it, and I can see why.

Which is a real shame. I'll admit, I'm definitely one of those people who got into Dubstep "when it became popular" - although I think it's personally more of a coincidence. I was searching around for new genres to listen to (outside of Metal) and Dubstep just happened to be there. Personally I think I arrived just before the cusp of it becoming popular, because of a lot of the tracks I was listening to I really liked. I'm a fan of music in general (now, anyway) and didn't need Dubstep to make me feel validated as a gangsta or anything ( :laugh: :laugh:) I just liked the beats.

However, after that initial foray into the genre I've noticed most of the new stuff is... average. It's following a monotonous samey-oldey beat that most rap songs do eventually, but the bigger problem being is that Rap has the luxury of being, well, rapped over. Dubstep doesn't, and a lot of the time it's painfully obvious. It's a shame that a genre I've just come to love is going down the ****** because of a bunch of middle class twats have ruined it and sucked the fun out of it from the pioneers of the genre, which means a severe lack of decent new material.

On a side note, it feels weird taking a "hipster" stance to the genre even though I'm a complete rookie haha.

[Miuku.]

That's because you're all hipsters, I only use Tibetan Throat Singing in my montages and intros ;-)

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

I hate Dubstep, It's just not as good as the classical music games used to use :/

I actually like dubstep music but I don't think it fits in well with most games. I prefer "epic" music like Heart of Courage by Two Steps from Hell in video game trailers. It was used in the launch trailer for Mass Effect 2 (

).

Nothing new. Trailers used emo/punk music about a year after that became hugely mainstream.

As for the use of dubstep... I DJ a lot, and for a while ran a dubstep night just before it became mainstream (goddamn I sound like an arrogant git for that statement). Anyway... I loved Dubstep, I hoped it would be the new D'n'B, be a style that was gonna stand the test of time and be around for ages, going underground, resurfacing, etc. But no - it became a cliche for middle-class whiteboys to act "urban, durrty and gangsta". Going on and on and on about how dirty it is, how grimey and dark it is. Every wannabe producer started making "dubstep remixes" which all followed the same formula. As such, it doesn't surprise me that it became "one for the keyboard warriors". It's the posterboy genre for those with disposable income to act like they are a lot more "intense" than they really are.

I stopped playing dubstep for the above reasons. White, middle-class kids would all ask for me to drop some hugely dirty beats so they could wob wob wob and act like Miklybar gangstas. They'd act aggressive but be bricking it inside. They'd try to outdo each other with how many times they could refer to a mix as dirty as possible. It became a joke. Sure there's still some great dubstep out there, but these kids wouldn't know the difference. Some of the major dubstep pioneers have turned their back on it, and I can see why.

I wasn't a fan of dubstep music before it was popular but I still prefer the good stuff. It seems like some popular artists are just throwing in the "wobble" bass line to give their music a dubstep flavour (and only because dubstep recently became popular in North America [see: brostep]).

[Emn1ty]

The only reason I can't listen to dubstep initially is because of the slow pace. Being a long time DnB/House/Trance listener the speed of dubstep just felt like a crawl. By the time it grew on me a bit it hit mainstream hard and became something that just stagnated (similar to punk rock and how almost every singer/band was identical). I miss the days pre 2004 when bands/artists in the same genre could actually be differentiated by their sound. Now it seems everyone just copy pastas each other.

I'll stick to my Infected Mushroom, Daft Punk and Deiselboy. Dubstep has nothing to offer other than "wob wob wob" in 90% of cases. Maybe once the genre has died down and the gems have been sifted out of the sea of mundane I'll find some good stuff to add to my library.

In relation to games, meh. I don't watch trailers for the music.

[ANON86364]

Which is a real shame. I'll admit, I'm definitely one of those people who got into Dubstep "when it became popular" - although I think it's personally more of a coincidence. I was searching around for new genres to listen to (outside of Metal) and Dubstep just happened to be there. Personally I think I arrived just before the cusp of it becoming popular, because of a lot of the tracks I was listening to I really liked. I'm a fan of music in general (now, anyway) and didn't need Dubstep to make me feel validated as a gangsta or anything ( :laugh: :laugh:) I just liked the beats.

However, after that initial foray into the genre I've noticed most of the new stuff is... average. It's following a monotonous samey-oldey beat that most rap songs do eventually, but the bigger problem being is that Rap has the luxury of being, well, rapped over. Dubstep doesn't, and a lot of the time it's painfully obvious. It's a shame that a genre I've just come to love is going down the ****** because of a bunch of middle class twats have ruined it and sucked the fun out of it from the pioneers of the genre, which means a severe lack of decent new material.

On a side note, it feels weird taking a "hipster" stance to the genre even though I'm a complete rookie haha.

I'm in this boat as well.

It seemed to me that dubstep started gaining ground after Tron's revival of Daft Punk. That could be and probably is largely coincidence though. I don't think a single movie would have such an impact. It's been a long time coming though. I remember Cascada and others in 2006 really coming out with hard party music and it being integrated in mainstream pop stations. After that it's been pushed harder into Kesha with harder bass drums and with Britney Spears using dubstep in her songs among others. Transformers also helped start the trend with electronic music with a robotic sound that can easily be similar to dubstep.

The amateurs are out in numbers though. I respect the original sounds from the UK; they aren't as "dark" and "grindy" as the rookies try so hard to be now. Skrillex is a polarizing figure. He has some good stuff but not much originality and some of it falls into the rookie category for me. His video productions are awesome though.

It's not just for video games though, most movie trailers I see anymore include some dubstep sounds.

[Coolicer]

As for the use of dubstep... I DJ a lot, and for a while ran a dubstep night just before it became mainstream (goddamn I sound like an arrogant git for that statement). Anyway... I loved Dubstep, I hoped it would be the new D'n'B, be a style that was gonna stand the test of time and be around for ages, going underground, resurfacing, etc. But no - it became a cliche for middle-class whiteboys to act "urban, durrty and gangsta". Going on and on and on about how dirty it is, how grimey and dark it is. Every wannabe producer started making "dubstep remixes" which all followed the same formula. As such, it doesn't surprise me that it became "one for the keyboard warriors". It's the posterboy genre for those with disposable income to act like they are a lot more "intense" than they really are.

Dubstep reminds me in a lot of aspects Deathcore Metal. It was a neat mix of two genres and had the potential te become great. But what happened? It spawned a cliche and everyone started copying everything in exactly the same fashion and the genre became flooded with emo-wannabe talentless guys.

Basically the genre is ruined because no one continued evolving it and so it became a cookingbook formula for the rest of the genre.

[madd-hatter]

Certain birds and distant car alarms, echoing through the woods, sound like dubstep.

[Solid Knight]

This Dubstep band really gets around. How'd they get so big?

[soniqstylz]

[Intersect]

the music to resident evil realy does sux i prefer the last 2 videos the music fits quite well with them.

but over all dubstep isnt some thing id like to see main stream in a lot of games. some it fits well such as dirt 3 / Motor storm RC even if its a little anoying.

[compl3x]

Can't say I like this kind of music. If it stays on trailers and doesn't start to seep into the games themselves then I guess I don't care that much.

[BumbleBritches57]

Nothing new. Trailers used emo/punk music about a year after that became hugely mainstream.

As for the use of dubstep... I DJ a lot, and for a while ran a dubstep night just before it became mainstream (goddamn I sound like an arrogant git for that statement). Anyway... I loved Dubstep, I hoped it would be the new D'n'B, be a style that was gonna stand the test of time and be around for ages, going underground, resurfacing, etc. But no - it became a cliche for middle-class whiteboys to act "urban, durrty and gangsta". Going on and on and on about how dirty it is, how grimey and dark it is. Every wannabe producer started making "dubstep remixes" which all followed the same formula. As such, it doesn't surprise me that it became "one for the keyboard warriors". It's the posterboy genre for those with disposable income to act like they are a lot more "intense" than they really are.

I stopped playing dubstep for the above reasons. White, middle-class kids would all ask for me to drop some hugely dirty beats so they could wob wob wob and act like Miklybar gangstas. They'd act aggressive but be bricking it inside. They'd try to outdo each other with how many times they could refer to a mix as dirty as possible. It became a joke. Sure there's still some great dubstep out there, but these kids wouldn't know the difference. Some of the major dubstep pioneers have turned their back on it, and I can see why.

Thats a lotta hate bruh, you racist?

[madd-hatter]

Thats a lotta hate bruh, you racist?

I found his statement to be much more accurate and truthful than racist and I'm a 'middle-class white kid.' (Though I'm 24 and don't care for dubstep.)

He's spot on. It's been ruined by it's quick-rise popularity with the bandwagon impressionable youth.

But this thread has already become much more of music discussion than gaming.

I prefer gameplay trailers with dubstep over live action trailers with any other music/sounds. Live action trailers are the real travesty here.

Live action with dubstep? Disgusting...

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Racist? How so? I'm white! ;)

And yeah, sorry I took it off topic. I genuinely loved Dubstep and had high hopes for it.

[Intersect]

Thats a lotta hate bruh, you racist?

coming from an early 90s rave scene i can see excatly what hes trying say, no hate there,he has hit the nail squarely on the head.

dubstep is just another buzzword that the "hipsters" think they know everthing about. when allthey have done is read some reviews

on a website and want to act gansta like westwood,

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Exactly. I loved it, and seeing this reaction (much like you say to early rave) made me wanna stop playing it.

Case in point: I can now choose to DJ a 16 year old, suburban white kids birthday party. All pretty girls and well groomed boys. Mummy and daddy drop them off in their Audi's. And they will be like "Bruv, you gotta drop me some really dirty dirty dubstep mate! You heard Flux Pavillion? They are so dark blud".

NO! Flux are commercial and about as dark as the **** under my foreskin. You don't call me bruv or blud because we are both white. And stop acting Milkybar Gangsta, it's pathetic.

Don't get me wrong, there is some amazingly good Dubstep still, but it won't be what you hear on the radio or game trailers. It won't be a "Chrispy Remix".

And yeah, Brostep is a crime against music. Skrillex must die!

[raid0]

Dubstep, drum n bass and breakbeat are the music types I hear most in games trailers for a while

[Coagulated]

Cannot stand Dub Step. Worked in a nightclub for three years and got to see Dub Step in it's infancy. I thought it was horrific then and my opinion hasn't changed now. Does it bother me that video game trailers have resorted to Dub Step? In all honesty, I'm not bothered. Media of any sort always migrates towards the latest craze as an extra marketing tool. I remember a few years ago when horror films had nothing but Nu-Metal soundtracks.

Another example would be the rise in diabolical UK "Hip-Hop"/Grime, people like Tinie Tempah (you can argue about his genre, but I'm just blanketing here) being last years Wrestlemania theme and I believe the same track is also currently the Sky Sports theme for football coverage?

Anyway, I digress, it's just the media arriving late to the party as per and trying to catch sales through osmosis. Love it or hate it, I cannot see it changing until Dub Step is kicked out of the public eye and replaced with another wave of music.

[compl3x]

*dying from laughter at "Milkybar Gangsta"*