I would like to talk today about how music in video games
elicits emotions in the player. Playing a video game is (or should be) an
immersive experience; it is different from watching a movie or a play, both of
which normally include a musical score, because you the player have direct
control over the proceedings in front of you. In this way, games which use
music successfully use it in a way that contributes to the player's overall
level of immersion and maintaining of “flow” which according to
Whalen in his
essay is described as “self-consciousness dissapear[ing], perceptions of time
becom[ing] distorted, and concentration becom[ing] so intense that the
game...completely absorbs us” (Whalen, 2004). This is what a great musical
score can do for the player. Another big
way in which music is being used in games to elicit emotion and response if
through the use of “diagetic music”, that is, music that originates from the
game world itself instead of pre-recorded orchestral tracks. One game which
comes to my mind that does this incredibly well is Bioshock. In the game, you
are trapped in a dying underwater metropolis during the late 1950s, and once in
awhile you will walk into a room and hear a scratchy old record playing a
classic croon; it sets the mood effectively and leads the player to explore the
expansive levels, using the diagetic music to guide them. Using this type of
music can also greatly improve player
immersion. In Bioshock, you may hear
music playing distantly around a corner, or muffled through a doorway, and
especially using surround sound headphones, you can hear the direction in which
things are coming from; effectively putting you in the shoes of the on-screen
character. Music is a strong way to cause emotional response in an audience,
especially in a video game, where the player has invested their time into their
character and the setting.
Resources:
Whalen, Z. (2004, November). Play along - an approach to video game music. Game Studies, 4(1).
Zdanowicz, G. (2012, October 31). Game design aspect of the month: Video game music: Player
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