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"How Important Is A Games Soundtrack?"

How important is a soundtrack to a game. How much can it alter your gaming experience? I think music can is a fundemental part of the ideal gaming atmosphere. It can serve to create suspense or really make you get into those action sequences. The first real soundtrack with any real feeling was the music from Gameboy hit Tetris its repetitive but brilliant music made you really get into the game and really suited the frenzied pace of the game in the later levels. Another good example of a sound track that helps improve a game is the soundtrack from the N64 zelda games the music really gave the feel of the one man epic one against the world adventure and really helped you settle in to the game quickly. On the other hand you some times come across a game with a severly awful soundtrack, the kind of game that forces you to hit the mute but and grab the nearest cd. These games can really lose atmosphere and fun through monotomous and infuriating music. If a game can mak a soundtrack to match the feel of a game they can help to draw the gamer into the game's world and make them feel a part of it and enjoy it more. If a game is to be truly great it must have a soundtrack to match it as this can often be the difference between a reasonable game and a classic.

That would be good. Still, a game should come with good music, like Startopia rather than you having to get it yourself.

Doesnt the X-Box store MP3s on its harddisc and then let you choose playlists for certain game genres?

I think I heard that somewhere but I cannot remember where.

About Tetris, and that music.

They held a test, you see. This one bloke played the game without the music, and then with the music.

Stuff like heartrate being higher, getting a lower score... all with the music on, obviously. So perhaps it does do a great deal more to the game than we think.

I missed the whole split, I forget why. Anyway, soundtracks are good especially in games like Freespace 2 (When are they making Freespace 3?) where they add atmosphere but they can be quite small in games like Black & White where there is very little music that isn't played by villagers. Of course the music in Black & White is excellent, especially the music in the introduction and in the end sequence. It would be good if you could get that music on MP3 or Wav format.

Ant wrote:
Actually, I
> think Prime is really good at the moment.


Same here, slow paced, decent topics with discussion.

Not like before Chat, when I'd pop on here in the evening and see about 30+ new topics in the last 30 seconds.

Ironic really, everyone (except me) was shouting "It'll never work" When FoG was split up, but I think it has worked well.

There's nothing wrong with coming on here just to chat and have a laugh, but it's good that the serious discussions don't get buried underneath all the chit-chat.

another game with a cool sountrack is diablo 2 expansion.

It just goes to show how fussy us gamers are.

Music, I'd say, is the least important aspect of a game.

That doesn't stop us demanding it to be excellent though .

Obviously gameplay is the most important thing.
Second - the graphics.
And third - the soundtrack.

Classic games are the ones that marry all three aspects.
Crazy Taxi is for me a good example of this.

A game cannot survive without good gameplay and graphics no matter how rockin' the soundtrack.

Lol, I dis this exact thing a few weeks ago. {:)

Actually, I think Prime is really good at the moment.

has it i haven't been in this prime topics forum as nobody posts much of value in it anymore