Playing games without sound

FAST6191

Techromancer
OP
Editorial Team
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Messages
36,795
Trophies
5
XP
28,529
Country
United Kingdom
When reviewing things reviewers often remark they sometimes have to stop themselves "being pulled into a work". A similar thing some film makers do is watch films without sound, sometimes immediately after having watched the film. That way they can truly concentrate on the cinematography and thus find if that sudden pulse pounding action was the result of an audio sting or something else.
Politicians also use similar things (the chants at rallies often being designed to prevent people from thinking too hard).

I am trying to think of a true equivalent in games. Playing a game and skipping text and cutscenes could be one, indeed I recall a Tony Hawk game giving me the option for a story and the option for a classic level by level with objectives run. It lacks something to make it equivalent to the film thing though. Playing with cheats occasionally does something.

By similar token are you deaf and without the ability to hear, or maybe play games without sound because neighbours/kids/significant others... and then found yourself at odds with a general consensus?
Sound design in games is something a lot of developers know and do a lot with, however as a talking point it is somewhat overlooked unless it is really bad.

Thread then is talk some on any of the points brought up here or related things.
 

330

Banned!
Banned
Joined
Nov 20, 2017
Messages
327
Trophies
0
Location
Comfy nest
XP
431
Country
Nauru
I tend to play without sound if I'm grinding or playing a game that doesn't require a lot of immersion, like Pokémon Shuffle. I always prefer playing with sound, even if I'm watching something else. For example, I will put the volume of my PS4 quite low but loud enough to hear the engine roar when I'm playing Gran Turismo, while I'm listening to my favorite podcasts. A small immersion is enough.
 

Pedeadstrian

GBAtemp's Official frill-necked lizard.
Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2012
Messages
3,966
Trophies
2
Location
Sandy Eggo
XP
3,917
Country
United States
Generally, if I play a game without sound it's because I'm also doing something else like watching a tv show. When I do that, though, it's usually for a game with tons of grinding or mindless gameplay, like a lot of mobile games and some RPGs. I don't really find myself enjoying the game more.

That being said, I know someone who until fairly recently never had sound on in video games, regardless of the genre. Playing survival games like ARK and shooters like Overwatch without sound removes a lot of your situational awareness. It's absolutely essential in games like these to have these sound cues that show if an enemy is nearby. And he wondered why/how enemies snuck up on him all the time...
 

Tom Bombadildo

Dick, With Balls
Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2009
Messages
14,619
Trophies
3
Age
30
Location
I forgot
Website
pocket.likeits
XP
19,800
Country
United States
I usually play with sound the first time I play a game, but if it's particularly long and has sound/music/voice acting that doesn't really change much during the game, or isn't all that engaging, I'll mute it and watch videos or whatever after a while.
 

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • Skelletonike @ Skelletonike:
    They're clean, quiet and pretty much take care of themselves.
  • _Ruri_ @ _Ruri_:
    Hmm that's true, never considered it
  • _Ruri_ @ _Ruri_:
    It's still a huge responsibility though
  • Skelletonike @ Skelletonike:
    As a slave you only need to give them food and clean the litterbox before the lords make sure you do it the hard way
  • _Ruri_ @ _Ruri_:
    Wait I remembered we can’t, my mom is allergic to cat fur
  • _Ruri_ @ _Ruri_:
    I could consider it once I move out though
  • K3Nv3 @ K3Nv3:
    Cats are good protein
  • _Ruri_ @ _Ruri_:
    Oh yeah that's actually a pretty cool idea, thank you! I'd love to have a pet, maybe not now but in the future it's definitely a great idea
  • _Ruri_ @ _Ruri_:
    @K3Nv3, Hell yeah gymbro mindset
  • K3Nv3 @ K3Nv3:
    9g of protein
  • _Ruri_ @ _Ruri_:
    Kinda expensive for proteins though
  • K3Nv3 @ K3Nv3:
    Nah cans of tuna are still cheap for bait
  • K3Nv3 @ K3Nv3:
    Vets are what makes it expensive don't wanna eat bad kitty you get infections that way
  • _Ruri_ @ _Ruri_:
    I should start the Classroom of the Elite light novels
  • AncientBoi @ AncientBoi:
    cool. Only thing is.. I can't read. :mellow:
  • _Ruri_ @ _Ruri_:
    @AncientBoi, Hey it's never too late I guess
    +1
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    Reading is fun to be mental!
    +1
  • Skelletonike @ Skelletonike:
    temp had
    died on me a while ago, weird.
  • _Ruri_ @ _Ruri_:
    Omg same, it was when you said I could get a cat, thought it was my problem
    +1
  • _Ruri_ @ _Ruri_:
    "An unexpected database error occurred. Please try again later."
    +2
  • _Ruri_ @ _Ruri_:
    4:19 PM
  • _Ruri_ @ _Ruri_:
    In my timezone at least lol
  • Skelletonike @ Skelletonike:
    yeah, same here, but it's one hour earlier in PT
  • _Ruri_ @ _Ruri_:
    Huh, I thought we were in the same timezone
  • _Ruri_ @ _Ruri_:
    Didn't know PT was 1 hour earlier
    _Ruri_ @ _Ruri_: Didn't know PT was 1 hour earlier