The use of sound in video games has changed a lot of there course of the years. Sound has gone from being a nice addition to, in some games at least, a necessary part of the experience. Originally sounded was there to add some background music and the odd sound effects. But now in today’s modern games like Call of Duty and SOCOM, sound has become part of the game. It is being used to judge where your enemies’ footsteps are coming from, or to perhaps workout what gun is being used. That said, sound doesn’t make a game. Just like graphics don’t make a game. They are nothing more than components that go together with everything to make a game. Sound may add something, and it may be a major part of the game, but even without sound the game will still function.
The psychology in games has evolved over the years too. Though there are games that used sound effects and ambiance ten years ago. Games like the original Doom games used dark, chilling and atmospheric sounds to create a sense of tension and fear for the player. The same effects are being used 15 years later in games, but to much greater effect. The main advancement in sound over the past decade has been the invention of surround sound. This can be used now in mere headphones too. This allows the player to be alerted of certain events in certain directions. Using this in say, a dark corridor, will make the player jump and look in certain directions while a visual scare is use elsewhere.
The psychology can also affect the player in different ways too. For example, in the game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the developers licensed a lot of music tracks for the games in built radio stations. While this will have cost a lot for the developers, it will add an entire new level of immersion to it. Memories that players associate with the game, and most of the franchise, are centred on the soundtrack. People will remember certain parts of the game where certain songs were playing because they link in with it. And also, the music playing in the background will set the feel. For example, Vice City is set in the 80’s, with all the music on the radio’s being from the 80’s too. This all goes together to add to the cultural feel of the game.
The sources of sound are not always as obvious as they may seem. There are the very obvious sources of sounds, like getting a gun noise by recording a gun. And getting a car noise by recording a car engine. There are also easier ways of getting sounds if this doesn’t seem easier enough: libraries. Sound libraries are massive collects of sounds that are available to everyone, for a price. Though these are somewhat inaccurate and should never be used for any major or re-occurring sounds. The final way of getting sounds is done by something called Foley art. Foley art is a method in which sound effects are achieved by “faking” the noise. For example, in Fallout 3, there were a number of sounds that were faked. One of these was the sound of the character walking over certain surfaces. This noise was achieved by scrunching up a crisp packet and recording the sound and distorting it a bit in sound editing software to create what is seemingly the perfect noise.
Another source of sound in a game is the backing music. This was once just random sounds in the background, but now with titles like Modern Warfare 2, that has changed. Infinity Ward hired legendary composer Hans Zimmer to compose the score for Modern Warfare 2. This will have cost a lot, but at the same time Infinity ward had the money to play with and wanted to truly capture an epic movie like experience in sound form. Often games have rather “epic” soaring soundtracks, and even licensed tracks as the backing. This is becoming more and more common nowadays as the tools and options available to the developer’s progresses and becomes more powerful.
Game music on a whole can vary considerably depending on what game you are playing. In the old Doom games it was nothing more than a deep, chilling bassy under tone. But now in games like Burnout Paradise and the GTA series, they have entire soundtracks of licensed real world tracks. These add to the experience, although they do cost a lot. The DJ hero soundtrack cost over 100 million to license, where as the game itself only cost around 7-8 million. This figure alone shows how much getting out of studio music can cost. And composers won’t be any different. But that doesn’t mean that developers have to get out of studio help to get great soundtracks. With the advancements of computer technology nowadays it is possible to buy an entire orchestra in a box for only around $500. This allows the developers to make “epic” soundtracks game after game, for now extra cost. All that is needed is a little talent, which is readily available and a lot cheaper to hire than one of the industry heavy weights like Hans Zimmer.
To truly test whether sound in video games is really important, I set about to playing games with the sound turned off. The answer to this question, in my opinion, was instantly clear. Turning off the sound made me feel so lost in the game. It was as crippling as turning of the picture of the game was. A lot of games, nowadays especially, use things such as surround sound and stereo sound to add more depth to games. For example is most first person shooters, you can hear enemy’s walking towards you, depending on their direction, in different ears. And recently surround sound has added to this, to the point where you can now hear the exact direction that something is happening in game; although this is not true about the sound in all games. It is possible to turn the sound off in old games, such as sonic, and not be left at a disadvantage. This can also be true in racing games. So really, sound is based more on the game you are playing – or at least the genre you are playing. To group “games” as a whole and to say that sound is necessary is wrong. Sound is more genre specific nowadays in games.
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