Popular music is presented in many ways, such as records, performances, music videos and even video games. The bringing together of ludology, also known as game studies, with musicology created in 2013 the term ‘Ludomusicology’ and became firmly established through the annual international conference of the same name – conferences that most of the authors that have contributed to these two volumes have attended. However, the thematic approaches of the two books are slightly different. Michael Austin, editor of Music Video Games: Performance. Politics and Play, provides a definition of music video games in his introduction: ‘Broadly defined, music video games are those in which the formal elements of the game (rules, rhetoric, dynamic, etc.) are musical in nature. This musicality is apparent when the most meaningful interaction with the game is musical’ (p. 2). This book is not about music in games in general, but focuses on games that make music the central element of any gamer's experience, such as Guitar Hero, Rockband and other often so-called rhythm games. Obviously, these cannot be left aside when talking about music video games but, as nearly every video game is full of sound, there is far more to explore in both of these excellent compilations. If interested in the broader musical context, which includes modular soundtracks and their analysis, Ludomusicology: Approaches to Video Game Music, edited by Michiel Kamp, Tim Summers and Mark Sweeney, should be your first choice. However, the borders between music in video games and, as I would put it, music as video games sometimes get a little blurred, as we shall see. Let me start with the latter.

Music Video Games is divided into three parts and consists of 11 chapters that are framed by the editor's introduction and an insightful concluding afterword by William Cheng that addresses widespread reservations concerning ‘real’ or authentic musicianship of music video gamers. In his introduction, Austin narrows his definition of music video games by looking at different genre definitions and approaches by prominent ludologists, such as Huizinga, Caillois, Bogost or Juul, before focusing on a possible classification of music video games as musical instruments according to the classic Hornbostel–Sachs categories. This makes sense, as instruments can be seen as music interfaces including, for example, the recording studio or the turntable: why not include music video games as well? Austin even substantiates his thesis by pointing out the relationship of musical sequencers and music video games in the fourth chapter of this collection. Even if this relationship should be explored much further, it is convincing and illustrates the human–machine relationship and the possibilities of expression, control and collaboration with media instruments and different kinds of artificial intelligence.

According to the author of the next chapter, it all started with Simon, the popular round hand-held toy with the four big flashing buttons on its top side and a unique and simple sound connected to each of them. William Knoblauch provides insights into the development of its influential design and the first steps taken by Simon’s creator into the field of home video consoles. It was a wise choice to start this part of the book, titled ‘Preludes and Overtures’, with a story that might evoke in readers fond memories of playing this simple but addictive sound-memory game. Dana M. Plank then explores users’ motivation, analysing user practices in various communities and subcultures with the so-called Mario Paint Composer, which became well known on YouTube through cover versions of pop songs. The game's description seems perhaps a little too detailed, an impression conveyed by some of the other articles in both collections. However, transferring between different media formats, in this case from games, through to video and text is always challenging, but it seems to be necessary to understand users’ motivation and possibilities and this is where Plank does a useful job. Next up is the popular Nintendo game Zelda Ocarina of Time, which has already attracted scholarly attention. Stephanie Lind offers different perspectives on the term ‘diegetic music’, central in both volumes. She argues that Zelda is not only a lovely adventure, but also a music video game, by presenting a convincing analysis of the different musical motifs not only present in the soundtrack, but also to be played on the virtual ocarina, a flute-like instrument with six holes that is triggered by a standard game controller.

The second part of the book begins with an article about Guitar Hero. While this has generated scholarly work, only a few reasons have so far been established as to why the game suddenly lost popularity. Mario A. Dozal discusses the ‘selling out’ of these games by its ever-increasing commercialization, with the market becoming flooded with lots of different versions, controllers and available tracks. He argues convincingly that Rockband and Guitar Hero ‘sold out’ because they tried to get more authenticity in respect of instrument-like shaped controllers and ‘real’ musicianship, thereby losing their authenticity in respect of the user's sense of performing like a real rock star. With her article ‘Beat it!: playing the “King of Pop” in video games’, Melanie Fritsch aims at a similar target regarding versions of Michael Jackson in video games.

The third part of this book is mainly concerned with the educational possibilities these games may provide. David Roesner, Ann Paisley and Gianna Cassidy discuss a study of musical learning and creativity with Rockband in a primary school and conclude that it is possible to attain an ‘accumulation of wider musical skills, such as rhythm, pitch, dexterity, hand–eye coordination, and acquisition of chords, and subsequent acknowledgement of the relationship between aural and notated musical representation’ (p. 210). While Rockband is not a way to teach actual guitar playing, Rocksmith can be, as described by Daniel O'Meara in the next chapter. Allowing users to plug in their own electric guitar and interact with the game creates new ways in which the musical instrument is played. In his following chapter on Rhythm Heaven, Peter Shultz goes one step further, asking whether this game trains our ‘rhythm sense’ or if this kind of ‘bodily timekeeping’ (p. 253) should be defined as sense at all. These last chapters are fascinating, as they give an idea of how music games are shaping players’ creativity, instrumental skills and senses.

On the whole this book is a tremendous compilation, focusing on the interactive side of music through video games and providing fascinating insights for both gamer and musician.

Ludomusicology Aproaches to Video Game Music is divided into 11 chapters. In the first chapter and introduction the editors state that ‘gaming involves more than passive listening’ (p. 1), clarifying the broader focus of this volume, one that easily aligns with and builds upon existing published research. Consequently, this first chapter provides us with a helpful history of video game music scholarship.

The following three chapters present theoretical approaches in this field of research concerning Game Musical Immersion (van Elferen), modularity in this kind of music (Medina-Gray) and a practical guide to analysing video game music (Summers). Isabella van Elferen's ‘ALI Model’ includes affect, literacy and interactivity as foundations for musical immersion, and it is not surprising that her approach is also mentioned in some of the following chapters. I also highlight the chapter by Tim Summers, because his method of analysis, including a case study on the popular game Halo, is not only a good starting point for readers of this book, but also for students entering the field. Elisabeth Medina-Gray connects music video games with the indeterminate, open form and aleatoric music of the 20th-century avant-garde (p. 57). This relationship is discussed further in Mark Sweeney`s chapter, which provides a detailed musicological analysis of the music in the game Dead Space, whose composer was deeply influenced by the Polish composer Penderecki (p. 172). Game music is in many ways connected to art music, as William Gibbons discusses in his rich chapter about remixes of classical music in several games (p. 198). Most interesting is his argument that meanings in the games are grounded on the duality between ‘classical’ and ‘popular’ music, while questioning ‘assumptions about the cultural roles and value of both classical music and video games’ (p. 218). Similar dualities are also present in the chapter by Melanie Fritsch, who looks at the fan culture of the Nintendo Super Mario series represented by the so-called ‘Mario Opera’, making us aware of the considerable possibilities of remixing video games, depending on both game and musical literacy (p. 92).

Whenever music and games are discussed together, an obvious coincidence may spring to mind – the idea of ‘play’ is connected to both musical instruments and games. Anahid Kassabian and Freya Jarman focus on this issue by continuing game-studies discourse about game and play according to music (p. 116). Their examination of i-Pad apps leads to the differentiation between games as virtual worlds and play as musical tools. Samantha Blickhan also addresses this issue when she dives deep into the analysis of Björk's album and respective app, Biophilia (p. 133), while Michiel Kamp asks the question of ‘when do we begin playing a video game?’ (p. 73), since music comes into focus while the game is loading, when an avatar dies or menus are displayed. While Kamp explores this rarely examined topic with reference to narratologist Gérard Genette and diegetic music, there is also a practical examination by game sound designer Stephen Baysted (p. 152). In the popular racing game Need for Speed: Shift the music is heard when the player is not actually steering their virtual car, otherwise sonically represented by sound effects such as roaring engines or squealing tires. Baysted's essay demonstrates the complexity of this kind of work, including restrictions caused by technical issues and aspects of distribution. It underscores the book's good multidisciplinary view of game music with many new ideas, theoretical concepts, personal views and interactive musical concepts to discover.

Both books show that conceptions of musical instruments and pieces have been fundamentally challenged by video game music. While Music Video Games looks more at the relationships between music technology and musical instruments, Ludomusicology focuses more on musical concepts and pieces. While I was at first more interested in the former, since it connected more to my own interests regarding music video games as musical instruments, as well as educational and technological aspects, it became clear that there are many connections between music in video games and music as video games. For instance, by moving an avatar through an adventure, triggering different sound loops or modules, one might say we are playing a certain sort of instrument. At the same time, however, this is questionable because, even in games like Guitar Hero, the pre-defined soundtrack is simply triggered by the player, according to the strict rules of the game. However, what my rapid review of these remarkable articles reveals is that music is crucial for games and not merely a trivial and minor aspect. It is modular, dynamic, interactive, narrative, historic, avant-garde, popular, creative, educational and many more things. If you would like further to explore these multiple directions, I recommend both of these inspiring volumes.