This is a riff on the thread that ChaosNovaXZ created about the Chocobo song in FFXIII-2.

I was wondering, does anybody else get the sense that the gaming community turns their nose up at rock and metal in videogame soundtracks?

Obviously, music the likes of that Chocobo track deserve to be ridiculed, but when was the last time the gaming community or press held up a videogame soundtrack as brilliant when it was composed of original rock or metal tracks?

Everything from retro-chic chip tunes to upbeat japanese pop, to epic, sweeping orchestral stuff like the Halo soundtrack (or Skyrim) get tons of love, but you rarely hear people begging for great rock or metal compositions in games, or speaking highly of those games that do have them. The closest I've seen to acclaim for rock music in games is Akira Yamaoka's work in Silent Hill.

Are they just harder to pull off? Or is this an after-effect of videogames as a neglected sub-culture, where we feel more 'hip' and 'insider' by gravitating towards more niche music styles regardless of how great some rock tracks are?

Why don't metal and rock compositions in games get love?