Outrage Bandwagon

Stephen Tolito of Kotaku recently posted an article:  'The Year I Gained the Courage to Ignore Video Game Music'.

I couldn't let this pass without comment.  He's missed the point.  If he can play the game without music and feel as though the experience has been uncompromised, there's something wrong with the music, not that music is 'unnecessary' for the game.  It can't lose something it never had.  Music should be creating mood, warning of danger, reassuring the player of safety, building tension, rewarding them for good performance. And that’s not just for RPGs or survival horror or shooters – puzzlers, platformers and racing games should all be doing this.  If it's not doing these things, something has gone wrong.  How much of the high from finding a rare collectible or fighting a tough battle comes from the victory sting?  How much tension from a puzzle game, when the music changes as you get too close to the top of the screen?  How much energy in a racing game, when the music speeds up for the final lap?

The only games I can think of that are improved without music are those who use the absence of music for effect - much like how the starkness of the aural landscape throughout most of Ico further enhances the player's loneliness.  And if you're listening to podcasts in games like that, you're losing that, too.

An excellent response was written here on Cruise Elroy - he eloquently covers a number of other issues in regards to Totilo's article, and is worth reading.

As one last note, so as to avoid beating a drum everyone else has already had a fairly good whack at, I'm not too sure if I want video game opinions from somebody who is more interested in multi-tasking than immersing themselves in the full game experience.  It's rather like reading movie reviews from a reviewer who watched the movie on TV while talking on the phone and baking a cake.  He has things to do, sure - everyone does.  But if you're so worried about all the things you have to do and resort to listening to podcasts while gaming to maximise your time, is it still recreation?