Week 7, Part 1: Sound Interaction Investigation

The selected product that I have chosen to analyze, in terms of how the sou nds it makes interact with each other, is the online emulator of Super Mario Bros. The main interactions a person will have with it are the interactions of pressing the space bar and arrow keys on their computer's keyboard to control Mario in the emulator. The sounds coming from this experience that most people would not consider include the clicking sounds the user makes on their computer while they are pressing the keyboard buttons. As for the other sounds in the game, I'm sure they need no introduction. Pretty much everyone is familiar with the classic Super Mario Bros. theme tune, which is exactly the one that this emulator uses. All of the sound effects it uses are also the ones that come from the original Nintendo game released way back in 1983. These sounds include the singular-sound chimes of the coins that the player obtains during the game, as well as the ones that come from the player killing any of the predators in the game, such as the mushrooms and turtles. There are sounds with multiple chimes, such as the sound of the player losing a life , the sound of all the player's lives being lost, the sound of the character going into another dimension, and the sound of a level having been beaten.

The context of this game is also pretty straightforward. The environment of the video mainly takes place in nature, along with some underground rooms and such. As for the time of the day, those who play this game definitely play it when they're feeling bored and need some entertainment. It can be any time of day, seeing as the time at which a person may decide to play video games can be whenever, really. And seeing as the interactions with this game always stay the same no matter when a person plays it, and that will always stay the same, unless owner of the website that contains this emulates decides to ever change it in whatever way, which may include running it live at a certain time or what have you. However, until then, the interactions will always stay the same in this game at all points of the day.

The feedback of this game is also very straightforward and pretty much always stays the same under its certain circumstances. For example, if a person pushes the right arrow key, their character will move forwards. If they push the left arrow key, their character will go backwards. If they press the space bar, their character will jump, and it will always jump if they press the up arrow key. In addition, the player needs to make sure they get their dexterity and hand-eye coordination right if they want to beat the game without losing all their lives. If they lose all their lives too frequently, then the feedback they are getting from the game is that they need more practice so that they can get finally get it right. Obviously, the person will feel the best once they've beaten the game or have gotten a high score with which they are satisfied, and that pretty much concludes all the types of feedback that are involved in this game and this online emulator of it, specifically. Overall, there are unique sounds associated with this game, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of vintage video games.

As for the plan I have for the sounds that I would design for this game, I don't really feel that the sounds in this game need to be edited, seeing as they really do have a vintage charm that myself and everybody else loves. However, if the graphics of this game were to be updated to give them a more modern vibe, then I suppose I would change the instrumentation of the main theme tune to not use computerized sounds like it currently does, but more of a rock and roll instrumentation with an electric guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard. In addition, I would add more realistic sound effects, such as a stomping/crashing sound effect when Mario loses a life because he gets squashed by the mushrooms or turtles. In addition, more sound effects could be used for situations like when he hits his head on a wooden block or lands back on the ground. Thumping sound effects would definitely be the ones that would be best suited for this function. The mood/tone of these sounds would be to convey lots of action, seeing as the game is all about surviving until you beat the game without losing more than two lives. A good example of this is what Randy Thom stated previously about what makes a good film soundtrack, in that for the game to have a good soundtrack, it basically has to be built on the grounds of sound. Nintendo definitely already did a tremendous job at achieving this goal, which is why people love the Super Mario Bros. theme tune, even if it just is a computerized tune. These are all reasons why I would just make some very minimal changes to the game's sounds.

Analyzing these sounds was a marvelous endeavour for me, and I would recommend anything similar to this to anyone who is interested in video games and their sounds.
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Work Cited:

1. https://supermarioemulator.com/ (accessed Nov 19, 2020).

2. Thom, Randy. Desigining a Movie for Sound, 23 June 1999. 

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