Hey, hey!
This here is just a quick blog dedicated to holding my DA all in one place 🙂 sadly, there isnt much but you will learn as why from this report here.
Enjoy!
BCM215
Video Game Sound Design – The Final
SIMPLY TAYLORLANI, VIDEO GAME SOUND DESIGN VERSION
Contextual Report, BCM215, Game Media Industries
Author – Taylor Housman, 2021
Overview:
As explained in the Pitch, I (Simply Taylorlani), would be exploring the concept of Video Game Sound Design in relation to the study of the class Game Media Industries. This class was an open area to create and study within, allowing for the picking of a Digital Artifact to be difficult to pinpoint. This is why ST decided on focusing on not a single game or era of them but rather a single aspect that is a part of the majority. The goal here was to critically analyse the chosen media text or paratext.
The inspiration for this project stemmed from a love of nostalgic Video Game soundtracks such as Nintendo, which is a primary example used throughout this DA. Shared within the Pitch is Youtube Ambience Nintendo inspired videos, which was the starting point. The importance of sound was briefly mentioned, but later became a larger aspect.
Before the publication of the Beta, I produced written content going through the history of sound design in correlation to video games, along with a post dedicated to favourite sounds and ambient inspired playlists, highlighting the different aspects they are used outside of game media space. Written content was the original product to be produced by this DA, and developed to sharing game music stuff on the content based Instagram via stories.
To be fair, this project did not go as planned. I found that researching this topic was interesting, which led to the brief history post, however it was difficult to create engaging content with. There were many draft pieces, ideas and concepts relating to methodology and research floating around, with little actually being produced. This was largely due to the fact I had no idea to break apart information into separate blog posts outside of things like “a history” etc. Along with being able to find a personal voice that didn’t feel as if I was quoting a textbook. Ultimately, while I did small efforts like Instagram stories, I had no idea what to do with this project, with my information, which created an unmotivated environment. I found myself focusing on other DA’s over this one.
While I, the creator, grew bored with the project with no path on how to improve, it was also lacking in any kind of engagement. A lesson would be that people are not that interested in reading about Game Media, and as am I.
Some Research:
This source was a great introduction to “Sound and Music in Film and Visual Media” as it is a critical overview and not directly Video Game related. This was helpful because it conveyed a connective idea and the way different forms of media, like films and games, utilises aspects of design like sound.
“The Evolution Of Video Game Music” aided in creating understanding. As someone who isn’t intensely invested in history, especially not of games, this was able to convey points of it to me. “History Of Video Games” – “Whereas in the early years the music was often created by the programmers themselves, today’s video game scores are created by film music composers…”
Because of my slight focus on Nintendo, I went a little deeper in trying to uncover some of the history for their Sound Design, especially with how known in Pop Culture it is. “Kondo, however, felt differently: ‘I wanted to create something that had never been heard before, where you’d think, “this isn’t like game music at all…”’, he said in a 2007 interview with Wired.”
Some other notable sources that were helpful and interesting in this project were:
- THE EFFECTS OF BACKGROUND MUSIC ON VIDEO GAME PLAY PERFORMANCE, BEHAVIOR AND EXPERIENCE IN EXTRAVERTS AND INTROVERTS
- Effects of soundtrack music on the video game experience
- Fear of the Unknown: Music and Sound Design in Psychological Horror Games
- What is nostalgia good for? Quite a bit, research shows
Methodology:
From that last point of nostalgia, I explored the frameworks of Nostalgia, Aesthetics and Genre. I explore this largely in these two blog posts. “Nostalgia is powerful here because over time simple aspects such as Sound Design become ingrained within your mind…sound is there to enhance the visual experience by adding to it and so by nature the overall aesthetic of the game is needed in context. Imagine playing Animal Crossing without their classic soundtrack but instead one of a horror game. It changes the interpretation, connectivity and experience…Horror soundtracks are so emotive, they create a connection with the audience. Thye make you feel something…” (Myself, ‘Yes More Game Sound Design’).
Feedback & Final:
Over the course of this project, mainly through both the Pitch and Beta as those had the most engagement, I received mainly positive feedback. This was mainly from peers, who were helpful in creating more understanding of my own content, who provided positive words like how interesting the initial concept was.
I believe this project had good intentions, had the right idea and in theory would have worked. However, it is abundantly clear that even when something looks good on paper, in action it can fail. This whole process has been a learning curve for myself, and while I am disappointed in the turn out, am grateful for the experience.
References:
Bridgett, R. (2013). Contextualizing game audio aesthetics (J. Richardson, C. Gorbman, & C. Vernallis, Eds.). Oxford University Press.
Dazed (2020) Going deep on the blissful brilliance of Animal Crossing’s soundtrack, Dazeddigital.com. Available at: https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/48988/1/going-deep-on-the-blissful-brilliance-animal-crossings-soundtrack-new-horizons
Extraverts, E. I. N. (no date) A thesis presented to, Gatech.edu. Available at: https://smartech.gatech.edu/bitstream/handle/1853/54462/LEVY-THESIS-2015.pdf
Friedman, L. (2016) “Why nostalgia marketing works so well with millennials, and how your brand can benefit,” Forbes Magazine, 2 August. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurenfriedman/2016/08/02/why-nostalgia-marketing-works-so-well-with-millennials-and-how-your-brand-can-benefit/
Fritsch, M. (2013). History of video game music. In Music and Game (pp. 11–40). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
geargods (2018) The importance of sound design in video gaming, Geargods.net. Available at: https://geargods.net/editorials/the-importance-of-sound-design-in-video-gaming/
How Nintendo changed the course of music history (no date) Frieze.com. Available at: https://www.frieze.com/article/nintendo-music-super-mario-bros-metroid-game-soundtrack
Jack Wall – IMDb (no date) Imdb.com. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0908410/
Klimmt, C., Possler, D., May, N., Auge, H., Wanjek, L., & Wolf, A.-L. (2019). Effects of soundtrack music on the video game experience. Media Psychology, 22(5), 689–713.
kotakuinternational (2019) Why nostalgia for video games is uniquely powerful, Com.au. Available at: https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/02/why-nostalgia-for-video-games-is-uniquely-powerful/
Lane, N., & Prestopnik, N. R. (2017). Diegetic connectivity: Blending work and play with storytelling in serious games. Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play.
Leamcharaskul, J. (2017) What is Horror Game Music and its Effect on the Player?, Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@JDWasabi/what-is-horror-game-music-and-its-effect-on-the-player-c3bfff3bc51d
NPR (2008) “The evolution of video game music,” NPR, 13 April. Available at: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89565567
Roberts, R. (2014). Fear of the unknown: Music and sound design in psychological horror games. In Music In Video Games (pp. 152–164). Routledge.
Tierney, J. (2013) “What is nostalgia good for? Quite a bit, research shows,” The New York times, 8 July. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/science/what-is-nostalgia-good-for-quite-a-bit-research-shows.html
Wood, S. (2009) “Video game music: High scores: Making sense of music and video games,” Sound and Music in Film and Visual Media. The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc. doi: 10.5040/9781628928969.ch-007.
(No date) 134.178:9000. Available at: http://45.114.134.178:9000/digi/MP03/B1L3-0048.pdf#page=172
Hey, Hey Let’s Keep Peer Reviewing
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Once again I have been given the opportunity to share some feedback to my fellow peers in University. This is an important process because the act of giving and receiving feedback “clarifies expectations, helps people learn from their mistakes and builds confidence.”
Julia here is focusing on nostalgia in regards to Wii games from childhood. They have been taking the time to review and, as detailed in their blog and video, learn from the process of a Digital Artefact. They mention feedback, their changes, things that did and didn’t work coherently and explored the feelings evoked through games.
Something Julia does well here is tell a story when speaking over the process of their project in a way that doesn’t just feel like some facts. This is something I can learn from them, along with how clear and clean cut everything was to follow where my own can be quite messy.
Cait has a very descriptive and analytical execution in their blog and video when recapping the process of their DA. Everything was connected, fit right in place together, and was the exact information needed. There was feedback, a clear line of trial and error, communication, and it all was pulled back to lectures and outsourced research. To me there was not really anything missing.
This is something Cait does well in executing and reacting to an audience. It’s factual, easy to understand, and has everything you would want to know. I could learn to be more like this, as I tend to waffle on in blog posts too much which leaves little room for being so detailed and precise.
Lily’s DA shocked me, for it is something I haven’t seen, nor even thought about how important it can be. They’re focusing on fitness in relation and connection to games, and thus fitness games and reviewing them. Something that is always within the conversation of game culture is fitness and health and Lily’s video and blog described an even flow on how these two things work together. Producing feedback, being expressive and clear over what has been happening in this project.
Lily knows their stuff, everything made sense, was clear and a very pretty execution. Something I will be taking away from reviewing Lily’s DA is the out of the box thinking, the personal feelings and experiences that correlate and add depth to the analytical stuff.
Reviewing your peers is something that I view is important. I know from personal experiences how helpful others perspectives can be in making quality work and I try my best to be helpful myself.
REFERENCE
HR Central. (2018, May 4). HR central. Com.Au. https://hrcentral.com.au/blog/feedback/
Yes More Game Sound Design
Hey, hey!
Here’s the thing, I have spoken a lot about the way the framework of Nostalgia corresponds to Video Game Sound Design but I haven’t really touched on anything else. In this post I will be going deeper in my exploration of frameworks, those being Nostalgia, Aesthetics, and Genre.
NOSTALGIA
Nostalgia is tightly connected to Pop Culture, in the way that makes it important to extrude that nostalgic tightness within your chest. This is increasingly important to Video Games, and thus Sound Design, in how relevant they are in contemporary Pop Culture.
A lot of people turn to gaming as escapism from reality, to take a break from their lives and jump into another. Nostalgia is powerful here because over time simple aspects such as Sound Design become ingrained within your mind. You interpret and relate this aspect of game play to those things and when paired with other factors – marketing a new game, merch, other extending parties like perhaps a movie – you pull in an audience.
AESTHETICS
Hand in hand with Nostalgia, Aesthetics take such an important play in game sound design. Now, how exactly is music aesthetic? Well, sound is there to enhance the visual experience by adding to it and so by nature the overall aesthetic of the game is needed in context. Imagine playing Animal Crossing without their classic soundtrack but instead one of a horror game. It changes the interpretation, connectivity and experience.
“Sound design now can use musical software to enhance sound effects in films and music composers to incorporate sound effect recordings. Soundtrack elements now appear to have an “aesthetic” character. Technology has engendered a spatial sonic arena wherein sonic elements have mixed into a sensual and psychological field.” While this is in more relation to films, it applies just as much to Video Games.
GENRE
I touched briefly on how changing the soundtrack of a relaxing game to one of horror changes the interpretations, the meaning and the context of the game. This is why genre is important to Sound Design. Much like aesthetics, you can’t just throw some sounds over the top of a visual, it needs to belong.
Horror soundtracks are so emotive, they create a connection with the audience. Thye make you feel something, much like nostalgic games, but different. Brainstem Reflex (Flight of Fight Response), Lacking ‘ear lids’, and Biological Responses both internal and external are all part of the way horror game Sound Design can make you feel. On edge, sweaty, anxious.
This is polar opposite to games I have mentioned before, the connection and the effects are different but the relevance and importance of developed Sound is there. Sound Design is much more than three framework principles of Nostalgia, Aesthetics, and Genre. Sound Design is partly what makes these things integral to a game.
References
Bridgett, R. (2013). Contextualizing game audio aesthetics (J. Richardson, C. Gorbman, & C. Vernallis, Eds.). Oxford University Press.
Friedman, L. (2016, August 2). Why nostalgia marketing works so well with millennials, and how your brand can benefit. Forbes Magazine. https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurenfriedman/2016/08/02/why-nostalgia-marketing-works-so-well-with-millennials-and-how-your-brand-can-benefit/
kotakuinternational. (2019, February 8). Why nostalgia for video games is uniquely powerful. Com.Au. https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/02/why-nostalgia-for-video-games-is-uniquely-powerful/
Leamcharaskul, J. (2017, November 20). What is Horror Game Music and its Effect on the Player? Medium. https://medium.com/@JDWasabi/what-is-horror-game-music-and-its-effect-on-the-player-c3bfff3bc51d
(N.d.). 134.178:9000. Retrieved October 14, 2021, from http://45.114.134.178:9000/digi/MP03/B1L3-0048.pdf#page=172
Game Sound Design, Huh
Hey, hey!
As I have mentioned, this semester at University one of my projects is to research and analyse Video Game Sound Design. In This blog post I plan to further examine aspects of this through framework and more understanding.
The history around Game Sound Design is interesting, and something I have taken the time to explore through the course of the project here. However, something that really struck out to me was when relating it back to my biggest example of Nintendo, and the shift towards making things emotive.
In relation to techniques of participation (multimediality, virtuality, interactivity, and connectivity), Sound Design has been developing through the years. Diegetic Connectivity as used in this example, broadcasts the mindset of a more serious sound design, by connecting the aspects that build by definition a good game: Story, Task, and Mechanics. “aesthetics, the visuals and sound of a game, are especially noticeable to players, and we view this presentational layer as especially important for forging diegetic connections.”
Part of the reason why Sound Design is important is the way it enhances the experience, motivation and engagement. “Even basic sounds like footsteps, reloading a weapon or breathing can add tension, excitement and realism to the gaming experience.” Sound creates a connection to the game, and it is the hope that these sound aspects stick with players beyond a screen.
Nostalgia plays a big part of Game Sound Design, especially in regards to sequels and later installments. “Video game jingles have even made it into the music charts…The chances are that game players will always remember the music and sounds associated with their favourite games. The music brings back memories and can trigger a nostalgic reaction.”
In the grand idea, Sound Design is interactive as well. Based on your own game play you will experience different sets of sounds, in relation to different things, which brings in this engagement and connection to the world being built.
Types of participation (interpretation, reconfiguration, construction) can be different from wanting to achieve connectivity in game production. So I’m sure you’re wondering how it relates. Interpretation is important when creating sound aspects, for you want to convey your point and have it translate – no matter what that may be.
A lot of people participate in games such as Animal Crossing simply because of the Sound Design and their interpretation of relaxation, enjoyment and peace. This right here is a great example of the importance and how genre fits into Sound Design. “The music isn’t there to stand out, but rather enhance the inconsequential beat of the everyday…a simple piano melody loops graciously, a crisp refrain that – put to the brisk percussion of a single maraca – conjures perfectly the early stillness of the crack of dawn…There’s sprinklings of cowbell and glockenspiel – inconsequential stuff, but then again, that’s the entire point.”
All of these things come together to make a larger picture, they’re all rolled up in a ball of mechanics, story, ambience in order to provide a captivating game play that you intercept and continue to love long enough to have “Nostalgic Ambience Game Sounds” on youtube with millions of views.
References
Dazed. (2020, April 24). Going deep on the blissful brilliance of Animal Crossing’s soundtrack. Dazeddigital.Com. https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/48988/1/going-deep-on-the-blissful-brilliance-animal-crossings-soundtrack-new-horizons
geargods. (2018, April 30). The importance of sound design in video gaming. Geargods.Net. https://geargods.net/editorials/the-importance-of-sound-design-in-video-gaming/
Lane, N., & Prestopnik, N. R. (2017). Diegetic connectivity: Blending work and play with storytelling in serious games. Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play.
The Musicality Of Video Games
Hey, hey!
I would like to welcome you back to one of my Digital Artefacts for this semester, you can read the Pitch for this project here.
I have been creating written content around the idea of Video Game Sound Design, and following feedback given to me have adjusted my work. A comment given to me was my lack of in depth scholarly research which altered the way I wished to go about this project.
Initially, I aimed to just look into certain games and their soundtracks and write about them. While that is still very much a working construct, I have been working on the history and importance of this in individual posts to be more informative and educated rather than broadly exploring.
After it being a suggestion I have also started to consider the framework of nostalgia to align this project with, as pointed out holds a mass amount of weight on how we transcribe and associate with sound design. I have found that using the formal elements to critique a game’s perspective around score to be an interesting contributor to really understanding the importance of sound.
A source relied to me in feedback allowed me to make this project more personal and take a dive into the effect of soundtracks on myself too. I have shared personal favourite ambient game based videos which I listen to outside of the game space and why, my feelings and uses of them.
For further information please check out the video.
References
Extraverts, E. I. N. (n.d.). A thesis presented to. Gatech.Edu. Retrieved October 7, 2021, from https://smartech.gatech.edu/bitstream/handle/1853/54462/LEVY-THESIS-2015.pdf
Klimmt, C., Possler, D., May, N., Auge, H., Wanjek, L., & Wolf, A.-L. (2019). Effects of soundtrack music on the video game experience. Media Psychology, 22(5), 689–713.
Roberts, R. (2014). Fear of the unknown: Music and sound design in psychological horror games. In Music In Video Games (pp. 152–164). Routledge.
Tierney, J. (2013, July 8). What is nostalgia good for? Quite a bit, research shows. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/science/what-is-nostalgia-good-for-quite-a-bit-research-shows.html
My Favourite Game Related Study Playlist’s
Hey, hey!
For today I shall be sharing some of my favourite study/relax playlists related to games 🙂 I am partly doing this because I want to and partly to prove a point that game scores hold impact even outside of their media. I don’t just use these for study or anything, that’s more of a buzzword. I have background noise for most activities, and yeah a lot of the time I might listen to Spotify, but there are a large number of moments where I chose a “autumn village – fall nintendo music” ambiance for the vibe.
For example, as an avid reader I will play something in the background like this. It’s relaxing and calming – depending on what you chose to listen to. I adore the Animal Crossing one’s, especially as someone who grew up playing that game.
Another time is when I’m creating art, especially if it’s a fantasy type of piece. Just as I listen to a music artist if I’m drawing a portrait of them, listening to Zelda scores while I envision a fantastical image aids in the whole process.
But now, onto the list!
a quite moment – zelda ost + thunderstorm ambience:
This right here is awfully comforting to me. There just is something about Zelda that is comforting to me. I found while listening to this that I often get a lot of creative process out, like I am so enchanted to keep creating. That ability is very powerful for me, as someone who gets so burnt out when it comes to my creative process.
rainbow cloud – nintendo ost + thunderstorm ambience:
One of the things that you’ll catch onto here is the way I love thunderstorm or rain ambience. It creates the perfect environment, like it sets this idea in my head that its my own time right now please breathe. This example here I listen to a lot, like all the time. I’ll get my coffee, a cookie and a book and get to work devouring the pages. I think that game ambience sounds really immersive for games, to draw you into the world, and it has that ability when losing myself in books too.
drifting away – kirby ost + thunderstorm ambience:
Oh, I love Kirby by the way! I don’t trust you if you don’t. I know I mentioned that “study” was a buzzword, which yeah it is, however I do still use these to study. I’ve found that a lot of these game ambience videos are that they go for longer than an hour, and when you’re studying this is so useful to have your background sound timed. It’s so easy to glance up and see if it’s been five minutes or thirty. It’s a useful aid in keeping a time schedule without being overly stressed
a storm of songs – zelda ost + thunderstorm ambience:
Yes, more thunderstorms, I’m not sorry about it. I have just as much of an attachment to thunderstorms as I do Zelda. I know I’ve mentioned a lot of ways I listen to these for practical use but I must point out that no, that’s not everything. I hate quiet unless I’m trying to sleep, or I’m over stimulated but more often than not I find that I am under stimulated. These help put my brain into use when I need it to be when I am simply existing.
Some Game Soundtrack History For Your Afternoon
Hey, hey!
For a Digital Artefact this semester I’m researching the importance, the effect, nostalgia and really anything I find myself going down a rabbit hole about in relation to Game Media – specifically Game Scores/Soundtracks.
“I will be writing about and analysing popular soundtracks, scores and sounds from video games to uncover the reasoning for this. I will be conducting textual analysis of games, exploring the love and hype around their musical attributes, and questioning why that is. For example, what makes this soundtrack stand out? How does it make you feel? I will be using this blog to publish posts doing as such, along with my content based Instagram, Simply Taylorlani, where I will be sharing more casual content about game music.”
Video Game Music Pitch
TODAY – SOME HISTORY
Video Game Music can be traced back to around as early as 1951. However, according to what I’ve found, the earliest video games were produced without sound, and in 1972 Pong was released, which is the first game with sound effects. Pong 1972 is a table tennis arcade style video game of simplistic style.
John Wall, award-winning and BAFTA nominated composer known for the scores of Call of Duty: Black Ops II, III, & IV, Mass Effect I & II, the Myst series, Jade Empire and several other franchises – “Playing all those arcade games, I never even paid attention to the music, It just sounded like sounds to me. However, you know all the tunes. It’s so funny. The bleeps and bloops, they kind of invade your brain.”
Video Game Music wasn’t originally created for intense feeling purposes, however later developed to retain that importance. An example of this is the Russian folk song used in the game Tetris. However, while this started to gain value, video games had limiting hardware.
HISTORY OF NINTENDO SOUNDTRACKS –
One of the most impactful soundtracks of my childhood and even adulthood has been Nintendo. I really grew up with it, and it was pretty much everywhere. If I’m being honest having an elder brother, with a ten year age gap, probably aided in this too. I have used Nintendo as my primary example throughout this DA simply because it is what I love when it comes to scores I listen to outside of the game.
Koji Kondo, who wrote tracks for Super Mario Bros. in the 1990s, which was still a time where music was considerably an afterthought. “Kondo, however, felt differently: ‘I wanted to create something that had never been heard before, where you’d think, “this isn’t like game music at all…”’, he said in a 2007 interview with Wired.” Kondoreally wanted you to feel through the music, a ripe example of this being the score used when swimming in order to achieve “dancing through water”.
Game Soundtracks have very much developed pretty far these days, in fact it is a pretty integral part of the whole game production process. It is used to invoke emotions, to hide clues and advance game play just as a basic line of point compared to when it was first introduced. I have no doubt that this upward slope in development will continue in the future.
REFERENCES
Fritsch, M. (2013). History of video game music. In Music and Game (pp. 11–40). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
How Nintendo changed the course of music history. (n.d.). Frieze.Com. Retrieved October 5, 2021, from https://www.frieze.com/article/nintendo-music-super-mario-bros-metroid-game-soundtrack
Jack Wall – IMDb. (n.d.). Imdb.Com. Retrieved October 5, 2021, from https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0908410/
NPR. (2008, April 13). The evolution of video game music. NPR. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89565567
Pixel Chix The Fever Dream?
In September of 2005 a series of interactive toy’s begun under the name Pixel Chix. These games were interactive with an LCD screen and came in many forms over the years. Marketed towards young girls by introducing them to life through little pixel girl pals. Created by Mattel, these games were desgined for you to live within a house with your character. You were able to dress them up, feed them, have pets and put them to bed. Over time the toys begun to add more to how you could play with different generations.
When thinking back on these games, which ultimatly ended as physical devices in 2009, we are met with intense nostalgia – an analytical framework which these games can be viewed through. I wasn’t sure if Pixel Chix would be an incredibly niche “old” game, especially considering how little it is brought up in spaces when discussing childhood games. However, after looking through the responces of this tweet of mine I knew it wasn’t just me who felt that hard love for these games as kids.
Pixel Chix House created a loveable expierence in little kids. Not only were you able to dress up and play with your girl pal yourself, you were able to connect the houses together and vist each others homes anc charaters. This created a connect, in person expierence for kids in the 2000s to play together. There was orginally three styles, “Cottage”, “Loft”, and “Mansion.”
Over the years Mattel made many different generations of Pixel Chix.
Road Trippin Vehicle, 2005
2-Story House, 2006
Love 2 Shop Mall, 2006
Roomies, 2007
Babysitter, 2007
Unlockets Charm, 2007
Pixel Chix TV, 2008
Fab Life, 2008
Secret Life of Pets, 2007
McDonalds Happy Meal Toys, 2008
Pixel Chix was also hosted as a game under “EverythingGirl.com” which lasted several years past the production of them in 2009, until the site closure in 2014. This makes me question the way I would analyse this game. As stated before, when talking about nostglic games Pixel Chix is non exisitant in many spaces as an option. Yet, when directly asked many of us as kids loved them so much. Until doing research I had no idea that the there even was a website game.
Unlike many different childhood games like “Temagotchi,” and “Cooking Mama”, Pixel Chix has not made any kind of new wave technoglical developments, there has been no new console game or phone app. It’s like it never really made that big of an impact, or if it did consdering they even had a McDonalds toy line, that it was not long lasting at all. Maybe this has to do with the games being developed by Mattel the toy line which is always mass prodcuing new content.
Pixel Chix might not be something that instantly comes to mind for anyone, yet it still has managed to fit in the gaps between the ones you do think of straight away. I think that has to say something, it’s not hated as i saw in the replies to my tweet, but its not remembered even though it was well liked. It’s a game that really sticks out as a fever dream to many people – which in a way is quite a unique type of nostaglia.
Hey, Hey Community – A Peer Review
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Last week I shared a blog post dedicated to pitching my Digital Artifact idea for this semester at University and so did many of my peers. You can read it here, but as a quick reminder, I will be conducting investigative research into music and sounds of video games and analysing their importance along with their effects. After this though, I was given the opportunity to read and give feedback on fellow students’ pitches. I think it is such a rewarding thing to have a community to give and receive feedback from, and I took this process to really reflect on even my own critiques in order to advance forward with my work. I hope those who I had the honour of reviewing feel that from the feedback I shared.
Firstly I reviewed James Mckay’s pitch, and while this might be my longest comment I am so incredibly excited to see where James goes with their ideas. Their pitch presented the question of “Do Video Games Suck?”, and goes on to explore the relationship of different era games – the old vs. the new – to analyse the quality of them. They intend to do this by streaming on Twitch and having a rank type system of three similar styled games.
I love this idea, and I made sure to relay that in my feedback. I’m a very opinionated person and am attached to certain games based on my own experiences. This really stuck out to me because I really allowed myself to see how little my own pitch goes into when it comes to audiences or even the type I wish to attract. It is clear to me, based on the game like examples in my own pitch, I could have conducted more research into the who these target audiences are and why certain scores/soundtracks are presented to them.
I then moved onto reading and engaging with Jules’ pitch, which really struck me because of the similar concepts but different ideas involved. I love seeing how differently people can execute projects. Their DA dives into the concept of nostalgia and its correspondence in gaming. Not only that, but they included the science side of things, going deep into what they wished to achieve with this project.
I feel like I might be excited for everyone’s DA’s, and Jules’ pitch really cleared me up on how I should handle things in my own work. Her audio/visual was very clean and still simple and as someone who really kind of struggles with that it allowed me to see ways that I can improve.
Lastly, I took a look at Jacob’s pitch blog post, and it was instantly recognisable. Their project was detailed and very clear to read, explaining how they intend to utilise their youtube channel to make game commentary around FIFA and further explore and analyse it from there. I found that Jacob’s pitch was very researched and had clear drawbacks to class content and lectures.
I really liked this about their pitch, because it is very clear on my own that I need to improve my engagement with frameworks and lecture understandings. Which is something I know myself as well as feedback given to me over the course of peer reviewing.
Throughout this process I was able to gain insight and understanding of other people’s projects which enabled me to take a look back at my own, critique it and has given me the ability to better my personal Digital Artifact in the long run.
Tangled In The Great Escape 