We'll be the first to admit it -- we don't listen to most DS games. Unless the music and effects are really great (or essential), we've usually got the sound turned down, and rarely break out headphones. Oddly, we often treat console games the opposite, listening to the music or sounds whether or not they're compelling. Maybe it's just too easy to relax with the iPod while spending time with the DS, or maybe DS games just aren't always as immersive (there can be drawbacks to short-burst gaming, after all). Do you do the same? Fill us in.
Posts with tag sound
DS Daily: The sound
We'll be the first to admit it -- we don't listen to most DS games. Unless the music and effects are really great (or essential), we've usually got the sound turned down, and rarely break out headphones. Oddly, we often treat console games the opposite, listening to the music or sounds whether or not they're compelling. Maybe it's just too easy to relax with the iPod while spending time with the DS, or maybe DS games just aren't always as immersive (there can be drawbacks to short-burst gaming, after all). Do you do the same? Fill us in.
DS Daily: Volume up or volume down?
When you play DS games, do you usually listen to the music and sound effects if they're not essential to gameplay? The DS has many fine features, but its speaker is really not one of them. Still, some games manage some great music that really enhances the gaming experience ... and some don't. Give us the aural rundown -- sound, yea or nay? If yea, then do you rely on the speaker, or do you employ headphones?
Follow the bouncing ball with Ontama
Ontama is a new rhythm game for the DS. Which is, really, all we needed to know for our hype-generating machine to go into full power. In case you hadn't noticed, we tend to get worked up about the music games.
Rather than telling little mini-stories like Elite Beat Agents, Noise Factory's new game seems to be a somewhat more stripped-down, arcade experience, with characters that seem to be limited to describing gameplay. We don't exactly know how the game works, but we can tell that you touch little round creatures (probably the Ontama themselves, since that translates to "sound balls" or "music balls") to send them into icons on the top of the screen; you then hit directions and buttons that correspond to those icons at the right moment, like Parappa the Rapper.
Enjoy the trailer after the break, and see if you can figure out a little bit more of what's going on.
DS Daily: Headphones?
The DS Lite's speakers are certainly nothing to be ashamed of. They deliver fairly crisp sound (Elite Beat Agents is a wonderful example) at a decent volume. Still, is this enough in public places? Or are you simply too embarrassed for some games' vibrational happiness to be transmitted to the people around you?Certainly, headphones can offer a more immersive experience in a game. However, the inconvenience of having to carry around an extra device may outweigh the benefits for some. Do you use headphones, and if you do, are they a quality set? How often do you use them? Let's hear it, people.
And if a tree falls in the woods, it totally makes a sound. That question is ridiculous.
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