Previously, I wrote about how games, specifically how Street Fighter II, changed my life to make me a more balanced and self-actualized person. Today, I wanted to describe how games had a major hand in shaping another aspect of my life: my taste in music.

So, there I was in high school, trying to latch onto whatever music was considered cool by others. At the time, grunge was taking hold of one segment of my generation, while R&B and hip-hop were grabbing the other. I tried to slot myself into the grunge contingent, listening to Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam. I wore plaid shirts and torn jeans, like everyone else. And I liked the music well enough; I just didn't love it.

Then all that changed.

One day--one fateful day--I went to a friend's house. He had a PlayStation console, which I had never seen before. He had PaRappa the Rapper. He had SoulBlade.

And he had WipEout XL.

And my musical life has never been the same.

Then and there, I was a convert to electronic beats, starting with The Prodigy's "Firestarter". It was the first time I had chosen a genre of music to like independently of the dictates of my peer group. In fact, electronic music has always remained pretty unpopular among those in my social circles, but that hasn't altered my love for it a bit.

At the time, I was stunned by how much more awesome the game experience was because of the pumping tracks, so unlike any game music I had ever heard before. The Prodigy. The Chemical Brothers. Fluke. Leftfield. The WipEout soundtrack was a who's who of the top electronic music acts of the time, and I loved it all.

My tenuous appreciation for grunge began to die off, and my love for a thumping beat and bizarre digital noises took deep root and flourished. I bought the WipEout XL soundtrack, which had additional music not in the game, including a track called "Musique" by a group called Daft Punk--to this day, my favourite band. I couldn't get enough beats, and I still can't.

Back then, it was Daft Punk, The Prodigy, Orbital. Today, it's still Daft Punk, still The Prodigy, but also Boys Noize, Para One, Strip Steve, Justice, MSTRKRFT, the BBC Radio One Essential Mix. It's all about the beat and the innovative uses of sound to create something to move to. Without video games, I might still be listening to Pearl Jam.

WipEout remains a favourite series of mine as well. WipEout Pure and WipEout Pulse alone justified my purchase of a PSP. WipEout 2048 is really drawing me to the Vita. WipEout HD is a primary reason I chose PS3 over 360. I even played, and enjoyed, WipEout 64 on N64. :)

For that, thank you WipEout. Thank you Daft Punk and The Prodigy. Thank you to all creators and promoters of awesome beats. And thank you, once more, video games! Happy GameSpotting!