Creating Audio That Matters

"Immersion" has become cliché. It's often just another buzzword when talking about how great a game is, but it's all too infrequent that those discussing games will actually break down the finer details of what that immersion entails.

Like all pieces of the puzzle that is game design, audio must work in concert with graphics and game mechanics to help immerse the player into gameplay experiences of all shapes and sizes through its ability to convey vast amounts of the detail to the player, often without their knowing.

J White, Martin Stig Andersen, and Thom Kellar, of Visceral Games, Playdead, and Freshtone Games respectively, are three sound designers who have ample experience in creating such audio experiences.

[DrVosknocker]

One more thing to add to the list of what more power of the next-gen can bring. Higher quality, very detailed and accurate sounds.

[ab5olut10n]

it's still up to your speakers though. this is a good article, could have been more in depth.

[OVOXO_Mike]

Agreed. You must have really good speakers to truly appreciate the audio a game has to offer. I have my PS3 sound through my tv as well as my BOSE surround. At times I just use the tv but when I crank up the BOSE, you can really hear every little noise that you couldn't hear before with just plain tv speakers.

[ab5olut10n]

i have a 5.1 surround, a little old, but in a large living room with the speakers spread out at all corners it sounds amazing, from the bombast of bf3 to the soft strains of Limbo.