Sound is an essential diegetic and non-diegetic aspect of video games that receives very little attention. Every game has a unique soundtrack that characterizes the game. Nothing can make a person remember their favorite childhood game like listening to its sound track. Many aspects of video games are borrowed from movies, but after reading the article by Whalen, it seems like sound originates from research in psychology more than film studies. For example, the reason players can automatically interpret the hero and villain of the game is the sound they make while moving. In another example, players understand the right move from the wrong move due to positive and negative reinforcements. Sound helps with positive reinforcement because designers in built happy (pentatonich) music when a character levels up or finishes a stage. Through a subconscious awareness of the music, players know when they have made the right moves.

In earlier games such as Doom, Thief, and Sims that Karen Collins described, the sound once again plays a narrative role. In Doom the locations of the Demons are understood based on a change in music. The player doesn’t have to think that there has been a change in music so there must be a zombie. The brain automatically registers this change and tells our mind to become be careful. In the Sims, the creators knew that the game was all about user control, so they gave the users choice of what music they wanted. It would be interesting to learn why our brains automatically associate certain sound with good or bad. Another curious aspect is what Whalen would think of games such as Tetris which have no sound or narrative but still appeal to a large audience.