burton (12/21/82)
I seem to remember there was a discussion a while back about the importance of sound in video games, and since I just had an experience with game sound, here's my 2-cents worth: I just finished playing about 3-4 dollars worth of Robotron, in an arcade jammed with other video games. Now, I've been playing Robotron for a while, and am very familiar with the game; but until today, I thought that sounds had very little effect on my play in Robotron, except to let me know when I get an extra man. WRONG! You see, the Robotron game was right next to a Starcastle game, and as anyone who is familiar with Starcastle knows, it is LOUD and OBNOXIOUS! I noticed a definite difference in my playing ability, depending upon whether someone was playing Starcastle next to me. I noticed that I tended to run into things more often, and miss picking up family members, because I couldn't hear when I had shot something or successfully picked up a family member. Robotron is a game of instinct; in many cases, you are not consciously checking to see if you shot or picked up, but that audible feedback lets you know when you have done so. Case in point: many times I would 'swoop' to pick up a family member, without actually looking to see where I was going or whether I had picked it up, because I would just aim for the general area and be watching and shooting elsewhere. Similarly, if there were a few GRUNTS in my path, I would just fire until I didn't hear anymore things being hit as I moved in that direction, all the while watching elsewhere for more sinister things. While Starcastle was being played, however, I did not have this feedback, and consequently my game suffered (tremendously in some cases). Doug Burton inuxc!burton
silver (12/25/82)
Of course video sound is important! Why do you think so many arcades have the music turned up so LOUD? They make more money that way...