When it comes to video games, importance is often given not only to the playful issue, but also to the visual and narrative aspects, essential to involve the player in certain genres and often a real marketing lever to sell the title, if not a new generation of consoles. Yet sound is also a fundamental and often overlooked element.
It is when a soundtrack emphasizes an epic or touching moment, when we can distinguish the footsteps of an enemy in the other room or the groans of a zombie whose location we do not know. Let’s think for example of Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice, in which three-dimensional audio is an essential element of the story. Or let’s remember that the enormous popularity of Super Mario Bros. also comes from the soundtrack of Koji Kondo cheriece to give the game a very specific character depending on the situation.
That’s why, in presenting PlayStation 5, Sony has focused not only on the power of the processor and the graphics unit, but also on the three-dimensional audio and on the new model of Pulse 3D headphones, designed to enhance the characteristics of the Tempest Engine, the chip dedicated exclusively to sound.
Maybe the real next gen passes through our ears, more than our eyes? To find out more, we spoke with Kenichi Imai deputy head of Sony’s Software Engineering section and with Wataru Hachisako and Loic Couthier, respectively responsible for the audio part of Resident Evil Village e Returnal.
“Sound has always been an important element in video games but is often overshadowed – explains Imai – our goal was to increase its appeal, to make the public understand its importance. That’s why Sony chose 3D Audio after exploring many technologies. What can be achieved from the sound of a video game is similar to the experience given by cinema or music, but in games there are other technologies that can work together to amplify the sensations. For example, PlayStation 5 offers the haptic feedback of the controller, which also puts into context the possibility of feeling the game under your fingers in an even more precise way ”.
He offers an example of this possibility Returnal, the exclusive PlayStation 5 title set in a hostile planet that makes extensive use of both haptic feedback and particularly enveloping audio in which it is possible to guess from which side the enemies will attack simply by listening to them. “From a narrative point of view, the use of 3D Audio associated with headphones helps us a lot to bring the player into the work – adds Couthier – the headphones themselves are a tool that helps isolation and concentration, but the three-dimensional audio takes everything to the next level. It is a feeling of presence that you cannot experience any other way. It is something unconscious and all-encompassing and the difference is immediately noticeable if you use headphones that do not support it ”.
The importance of audio then multiplies when we talk about horror games, given that fear, as cinema also teaches, is a language based heavily on sounds and their ability to create tension, but also a sensation made of details, of creaks, windswept shutters, whispers and shuffling footsteps in the dark. “With three-dimensional audio, an additional level of language is added to the video game – says Hachisako – the player is able to perceive even the smallest differences in the change of atmosphere and being able to physically place his / her in space we can provide an even more intense “.
When you look at video game development you often don’t realize how complex it can be and how much work needs to be done in addition to writing the lines of code. There are the preparatory sketches, the 3D graphics, the game design, the animations and of course the sound, which with the introduction of three-dimensional audio must be considered already in the initial stages of development.
“In Resident Evil Village all sounds are treated as objects physically positioned in space, so in addition to having to record the noise of various objects and situations, such as a door opening, during the mixing phase we also have to decide the direction of the sound, if there are any elements that could change it, like a wall that is not very thick and at what level it is in relation to the player ”.
“It is very important that the audio team is involved as soon as possible because the three-dimensionality makes everything much more complex and there are solutions and problems that only those who deal specifically with sound can suggest. It is no longer just a matter of adding a sound to the animation of a jump or when firing a weapon, a series of new narrative possibilities are opening up ”.
So after the graphics will audio be the new frontier of the so-called triple A titles, those in which the investment is higher and riskier? “Today it is complex to define what makes a game a Triple A – concludes Imai – but undoubtedly 3D audio is an important element in any video game. I believe it is essential to provide a unique experience that mixes graphics, narration and control system. The ultimate goal is to offer this type of experience to everyone, even those who don’t have a specific audio system or an expensive surround system.