The sound of feeling

There is an ongoing debate in the gaming industry about the mediums ability to be viewed as an art form. One of the cornerstones of the debate is how games convey emotions. Games are struggling to invoke a whole pallet of feelings. They excel in expressing competitiveness, violence/excitement and accomplishment but they seldom express sexuality, love and spirituality and when games try to go there, like Mass Effect 1 famous “sex scene” it’s most likely to start a heated debate.

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Shooting people in the head are “normal” game mechanics that hardly raises an eyebrow but a kiss and a tender touch from a love interest is viewed as adult gaming that must be kept away from children.  The “violence” versus “sex” debate has been going on in the film industry for many years, but it’s only recently the gaming industry have been part of that discussion a sign of the gaming industry trying to express other emotions.

Gaming as an art form is still very young compared to books and movies but recently there has been evidence that games are coming of age and try to go in new directions, instead of copying the way movies are telling stories and express emotion. Flower being one example.

But in one respect I find that gaming could learn more from movies and that is in the use of music and the way it helps express emotions. Games have a tradition of mostly using epic orchestral scores in the likes of John Williams and some have turned into gaming classics like the Halo score.  But what if games dared to use piano pieces similar to the soundtrack from The Hours by Philip Glass, a jazz inspired soundtrack like Angelo Badalamenti's Twin Peaks or even a musical soundtrack like the one from Moulin Rouge?

I came to think of this while I was playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Every time I come by one of the guys playing the guitar:



I stop and listen to their tune and that little piece of music puts me in a mood that a not even the most lifelike graphics can achieve.

I think there is a huge potential in using a broader range of music in videogames in order to explore the possibilities of invoking all kinds of emotions in the player.

We have seen some great examples; Bioshock wouldn’t be as powerful in creating an atmosphere without the use of 50’s songs, driving a stolen car without being caught by the police in the Grand Theft Auto IV are truly epic when it’s done to a Genesis song. The Vangelis inspired soundtrack to Mass Effect and Jesper Kyd’s soundtrack to Assassins Creed 2 are wonderful examples of gaming soundtracks that shy away from the traditional orchestral scores that we are so accustomed to.

My hope is that more people in the gaming industry will understand how music can take a hold on my gaming heart and bring my emotions to new and unexplored heights.

Note:
After I wrote this I found the post "Dial me up some emotions" on the “Brainy Gamer” on the same topic. A recommended read!