Prompted by my reviewing of the Diablo game intro, I've included a link in the side bar to the Final Fantasy XI (FFXI) game intro. You see the little short characters that scream "BEHEMOTH"? Ya, that's the race I play. I only wish I could cast the spell they're casting.
Please listen to the music playing in the background. I believe that part of the gaming experience are the cutscenes' background music. Music can add so much to gaming. A memory can be triggered from music, just like emotion so you feel for your characters...even if they're 8bit.
Tell me about game intros you remember, or games you remember playing. Even Ms PacMan had a story: remember, beat stage one, and Ms PacMan has a run in with PacMan. Yeah, dig into your gaming memory, you know you want to.
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Wow, I hadn't thought of the soundtrack/music being a part of online gaming experience. That is fascinating. I have a friend who is incredibly active in Second Life, and the ambient sound plays a huge part there (she set up a recording of English countryside sound--birds, etc.--for her property there--and her cats meow so realistically that ours try to climb inside the computer to catch them--and I've been fooled more than once).
ReplyDeleteOh yes, music can play a big part.^^ You see, music can set the mood for the Cutscene (CS) much like music does for movies. Also, the FF series has a unifying them that plays in every game: the Crystal theme. At some point in the game, you will hear that theme or a variation of it. There is also the closing theme and the Chocobo theme (once Chocobos were introduced to the series). Also, from FFVIII and on, there has been a vocal song included in the game. Even in the Chains of Promathia expansion of FFXI.
ReplyDeleteNot only is it themes, but also the composers themselves. Nobuo Uematsu was the main composer for the FF series for a long time, but then he left in 2004 and started his own company. That company now does freelance work for Square Enix (the company that makes the FF series). You can even buy cds of the game music, as well as cd's from Nobuo's band, The Black Mages (which expand and do rock variations of the music for the games he did the soundtrack too). So music can play an intregal part.
Sounds can too, from the sound of a waterfall you are running by, or the birds flying overhead; they all help to set the ambience and help the players enjoy the creation of the game world (whenver they actually take the time to enjoy it). Okay, /fan rant over. =)
That is very true! Do you think that music in video games plays a similar role to those in movies? It does help maintain a narrative dialogue in different ways (besides the fact that it is text itself)
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