Hear that? Neither do I...

In analyzing game aesthetics, Nielsen puts emphasis on sound, or more specifically, game audio and its role within a game. The author categorizes game audio into four primary components: vocalization, sound effects, ambient effects, and music (p.125). While the purpose of vocalization and sound effects may be clear, I too believe that the importance of "background noise" including ambient effects and music have been largely ignored. Ambient effects are defined as "non-specific sounds contributing to the game atmosphere" while music is defined as "the soundtrack of a game... usually used to add to the atmosphere of the game" (p. 125). These two component are closely linked in that they both play major roles in the game atmosphere composition. It can easily be argued that the proper ambient effects or game music can make or break a game.

[Please play music prior to moving on through the blog post]


For some reason, when going through this reading, my mind kept racing back to the same song, one that I finally realized was from Final Fantasy 8 (or "VIII" for the purists out there). Although the game was released for the original Playstation, primitive in comparison to todays game consoles, the music within the game was hauntingly beautiful at time (of course, I must also acknowledge the amazing music that can be found across all of the Final Fantasy games as well as dozens if not hundreds of other fantastic RPGs). The music in FF8 did a fantastic job of creating a gameplay experience that was conductive to a state of flow and utter player immersion: players would run through a maze of doors and courtyards but through the game's music, know that they were in the right place. Other times, the lack of music stood out like a sore thumb to let the player know that there was something amiss eventually leading to a darker or fast paced song. Even the ambient effects served to add to the environments without overpowering any of the other audio elements, adding to the realism, the player's state of mind, etc. Finally, I will leave you with a contrasting song found in FF8 that should, in itself, be able to give you an idea of the atmosphere and context within which it was played.



Do you think that game developers need to put more time and effort into their game audio? Moreover, do you believe that the audio of video game media play a more or less important role in games as the audio found in other narrative media such as television and movies?