Champions Online Meet the Team Q&A

The latest Champions Online Meet the Team Q&A features audio manager Michael Henry.

Q: What role does sound play in exciting gameplay?

A: A bigger role than most people imagine. For me, audio is somewhere between 30 to 50 percent of the gaming experience, perhaps even more (depending on context). It’s just like film or other mediums.

In games, audio often works on a subconscious level. If it sticks out it gets annoying and distracts you from the visuals. For things like ambience, if the audio is just right, your ears tend not to notice. You brain takes the sound for granted.

And music can completely color or change the feeling behind visual images. Try thinking of the shower scene from Psycho with the Bernard Herrmann music score replaced with some goofy, light-hearted Danny Elfman-esque music. The frightening terror of the scene would vanish, and the scene would be perceived with a whole new meaning.