In Ian Bogost’s book “How to Do Things with Videogames,” he writes at one point that in music games, like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, mastering levels of higher and higher difficulty in the game “does not lead the player to a greater state of mastery as a musician, but to a greater depth of understanding as a listener.” And although Bogost is really only referring to these two musical interaction videogames and their relation to musical literacy as a result, I think that the idea that he presents here can be teased apart to represent a larger applicable argument to videogames and their ability to teach the player. One of the arguments that many parents and videogame critics present is that videogames are (gasp!) brain-rotting. However, I believe that if we use Bogost’s argument about the aforementioned games on a grander scale, we can in fact find greater benefit to the playing of videogames and to our mastery of certain skills. Take for example a first person shooter game like Call of Duty. Most parents would look at this game and think that it is nothing but a violence-promoting waste of time. Perhaps however, if we looked at the game and its intricacy and depth, we would be able to agree that although the game does not make one a better shooter or soldier, it does sharpen reflexes, promote critical problem solving, and an increase an aptitude for spontaneous strategy adjustment (ie. “Crap, we should probably take a different route since this one appears to be chock-full of zombies.”) I’d like to think that many videogames can promote this process of deeper understanding of something, and in fact teach the player something, even if it isn’t that which the game is mimicking or necessarily representing. After playing most games, even simple ones such as Words with Friends or Temple Run, we walk away having absorbed some sort of benefit. All of the chapters in Bogost’s book emphasize this idea of deeper content to videogames than meets the eye, and this statement and these reasons demonstrate the teaching ability of videogames that tends to get lost in the noise (since this specific chapter was about music after all).
Tag Archives: music
“It takes me back…”
In response to our discussions in class and a few of the blog posts, I thought it would be fitting to talk about how much sentimental and reminiscent video game sounds can be for us. Since we are from the “Nintendo generation,” a lot of us grew up listening to the Mario theme song, or the tunes from Zelda. To this day, as demonstrated in class, most of us can still identify which one note sound corresponds with the movements that Mario makes. At the same time, these sounds take us back to the fond memories we have of playing these games as children. For example, here is the commercial I was referring to in class that most people who didn’t play Sonic or Mario wouldn’t understand. But since these were our games, we know that Mario is up the flag just by hearing the few bars that indicate this movement for him. This, I like to believe, is one of the most integral components of having music in video games. Sure, the game would be rather boring without it, but it would also be entirely less memorable. The audible sounds have such strong ties to the memories we create while we play these games. And especially in terms of the older games, where the graphics weren’t really anything special, it was the sounds that created and transformed the screen into a game world.
Beyond the simple noises and original pieces created for the games, I know personally that the menu music for EA Sports games, like Madden and Fifa, also tended to be real sticking points for me. These were songs that were actual soundtrack music from artists in the music world that would play on a loop during the stand-by menu. I know sometimes, and this may have just been me, but I would leave the menu up just to have the music play while I was doing something in my room. After about a week of playing these games, I would have most of the words to these songs memorized. It made the game that much more enjoyable for me.
In conclusion, I agree with shandler and their saying that music really does a lot in enhancing the game for us. I think that music isn’t just an important side note in a game. I really believe that it is an essential part of the game.
Also, here is a clip of music from the other game that I was talking about, Swords and Sworcery, revolved solely around the music of Jim Guthrie.
Musical Recall
While reading the Whalen essay, I was intrigued when he came across the subject of “mickey mousing”. Whalen uses the obvious example of Fantasia to describe how the term is used since the entire film is composed of animated characters moving to the rhythm and sounds of the music. “Mickey mousing”, in this case, felt, to me, like one person’s opinion of what may be happening while this music is playing. I, myself,did not imagine a pegasus teaching a baby pegasus how to fly when I first heard the first movement of Beethoven’s 6th Symphony. And I most certainly did not imagine a scene full of centaurs dancing in and next to a lake when I first heard the second movement. That aside, when I watched the film, the movements of the pegasi and centaurs matched so well with the choice of music that I did not think it at all out of place. However, were I to watch the film multiple times, I might begin to start associating Tchaikovsky’s “Chinese Dance” from the Nutcracker Suite with dancing mushrooms.
With that said, repetition and distinctiveness of a melody can allow an association between the event and the music to form for the listener. An example Whalen uses the example of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time‘s mechanic of using the melody of the music played while within an area in order to unlock something related to that area. This type of mechanic further reinforces the tendency to associate a specific area with a unique melody. Not only will the player be hearing the theme, but the theme will also correlate to the related area. Thinking of either the melody of an area or the area itself will cause one to think of the other automatically.
The Value of Music in Games
In his essay “Play Along – An Approach to Videogame Music,” Zach Whalen describes the role of music (which for the sake of argument will include the actual music during gameplay along with the sound effects encountered throughout the game) as an essential part to video games. One of the trajectories that Whalen states musical sound follows is expanding the concept of a game’s fictional world. One of the best examples I can think of that allows the operator to further enter the game through the musical soundtrack is the original Tony Hawk Pro Skater. Whenever the player would drop into the two minute course, a different alternative punk song would come on to give the operator a sense of actually being the skater listening to a music track while slashing around town. However, when I think back to memories I have of playing Tony Hawk, the first thing that comes to mind is the soundtrack rather than the gameplay itself. While there are other elements of the game that stick out, such as collecting tapes and button mashing ridiculous trick combos, the soundtrack still sticks out as being one of the best parts of playing Tony Hawk. If I were to say that one of the best parts of playing a video game was the soundtrack, I would most likely not think highly of the gameplay. Despite this fact, Tony Hawk became a classic for the Nintendo 64. The question that I have from this conclusion is whether or not the music in a game can surpass other elements of game, such as the gameplay itself, in an effort to boost the overall experience of the game? Can the musical satisfaction of beating a level, such as at the end of any Super Mario level, give more joy to the player than just the pure satisfaction of beating a level? Does the music in a game expand the concept of the game as Whalen states, or does the music set up a basis for the game to follow throughout the narrative that the gameplay must expand upon?