Music in videogames
The psychology of sound
Sound can be very important for players in a videogame, it can be used to immerse, frighten, delight and much more. The type of game naturally dictates what type of music will be played for example a horror game would have music appropriate to the genre, dark and disturbing with sinister undertones whereas a family friendly game would have much more light hearted sound track.
The importance of setting a mood in a game cannot be understated; using the right music for the right situation can be a perfect way of doing this. To use the example of a horror game again, you would expect a scene from the game where it is particularly frightening to have an equally frightening piece of music playing. It helps to get the player in the mood and adds to the atmosphere the game designers have tried to create which will in turn increase the overall immersion.
While on the topic of immersion I believe that this video perfectly demonstrates the psychological effect sound in videogames can have on a player. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfOUhwhdUV0
The sources of sound
When producing sound for videogames a variety of methods are used to create the most realistic sounds possible, these range from manually producing sound effects, hiring voice actors or simply buying sounds from audio libraries. When creating sound for games manually games companies will usually hire Foley artists, named after Jack Foley who worked on Universals first motion picture with sound, The Jazz Singer.
I found a great video that demonstrates the techniques used by Foley artists at the following link. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/field-recording-amnesia-the/704075
Game music
Music in games has come a long way from the days of simplistic 8-bit chip tunes. Nowadays many of the larger games companies will commission the production of original music for their games. Square Enix is a perfect example of this, as they are famously known for hiring entire orchestras for their games.
But it’s not just the game music that has come a long way; with the introduction of more complicated game mechanics and features new ways to create the accompanying sounds have had to be devised. Starting from the very basic Pong, the ball being hit back and forth made a ‘pong’ sound from which the game derived its name.
Compare that to today’s industry standard games that have several different sound files for nothing more than the wind or footsteps on various surfaces. Again, it comes down to that sense of immersion you feel when you get drawn into a great game. Sure the visuals and the story also play key roles but if the sound isn’t right you can easily pull your audience out of the moment.