An auditory idea

When I purchased my Xbox 360, I was happy to find out that some of the features it had were more on par with what pc gamers had been able to do for years. The main feature I am focusing on is the ability to load my MP3s, or rip CDs the hard disk for play when I am playing a game on the system.

Now of course I could always mute the music in the game of choice and use my PC or stereo to do this anyway, but I like not having to do so. Call me lazy.

I had an idea this morning. Custom soundtracks have been made possible for PC gamers with games where the developer offers toolsets, or in the old days when you could replace the mp3s that came with the game with your own. But why not make this a more mainstream feature?

I love a lot of video game music, don't get me wrong. The iconic works of Koji Kondo, Nobuo Uematsu, and others never fail to bring a smile (or wistful sigh). However, for each of the greats, there are other... Not so greats. I read once in a book I can't remember that sound guys are often the least respected members of video game development teams. This is sad, as sound is so important for game to player communication. The 8-bit sound effects of the past are still strong in my mind. Does anyone else think of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game for NES whenever they hear certain models of Microwaves sound that time is up?

Perhaps not. The point is, sound is an important aspect of immersion, but budgets are more focused on the visual flash of graphics, which is easier to sell through commercials and pictures. While some games have composers writing scores that stand up to any film score, others have music that grates on the ears and is quickly muted.

I return now, after much rambling, to my idea. What if games had an option for custom soundtracks? There could be a track list, with a basic description, and you could put your own audio file into the game. Descriptions such as "intense action" could be used so that the player could input their own songs of choice. The only thing that I see standing in the way of such an idea is that mainstream gamers probably don't want to spend the time on the front end of a new game purchase uploading songs. However, I think that it would be a great addition to many games.