Multichannel Gaming and the Aesthetics of Interactive Surround

Abstract

AbstractThis article appears in the Oxford Handbook of New Audiovisual Aesthetics edited by John Richardson, Claudia Gorbman, and Carol Vernallis. This chapter examines multichannel sound—specifically 5.1-channel surround sound—in video games, using gaming genres to explore the varying ways that games structure the three-way relationship among a multichannel sound track, onscreen visuals, and the game play itself. This approach uncovers distinct strategies of multichannel usage in platformers, first-person shooters, third-person 3D games, and rhythm games, and shows how these differ from traditional cinematic multichannel uses, especially in the way they problematize the relationship between image and sound. These differing approaches to game aesthetics illustrate different ways of conceiving the relationship among players, their in-game avatars, and the game world, with the sound mixing “rules” programmed into a game revealing the type of immersion and interactivity the game can promote. For example, some strategies reinforce the player–avatar connection, whereas others increase the distance between them. The chapter concludes by considering how industrial and technical factors unique to gaming impact multichannel sound usage.