How important is SOUND to gaming??

I don't hang out in here very often so I am not aware of all of the debates that occur, but I wanted to ask all you gamers how important you precieve sound to be. This is prolly MORE situated to FPS gamers as they are the ones that MOST benefit from multichannel sound and proper positioning and accuracy.

Anyway your choices will be thusly

Critical: You believe that your sound system is as critical to enjoying games as your vidcard/monitor

Important: You consider Multichannel to be very important but dont really sweat over positioning and accuracy.

Ehh: You can play with headphones or stereo or multichannel, the difference is negligible.

Indifferent: Sound is just filler, play the same way with or without.

FrPS Nazi: Hey man I need that extra 1 FrPS, no frills here.

Unenlightened: Never really experienced a good multichannel setup so I don't really know how beneficial it can be.

Obligatory Comedic Option: I like making funny smart *** remarks, dont you??

I think it’s critically important. In a game like Thief were hearing and knowing where the guard was all important to surviving the mission the sound was an integral part of the experience. In other games were the positional sounds are not so important then the soundtrack makes or breaks the game as far as making you part of the fantasy world played out on your monitor's screen.

Sound is very important.

I've tried playing without sound just to see what happened to my stats. I dropped from an average of 2.5:1 K:D ratio to just under 1:1. Sound cues me to so much in games it's unreal....

Is it critical to have sound when you watch a movie ??? YES!!!! IT is very important wiht combo of visual AND sound you can be pulled in! :)

I can know exactly where you are, where you are heading and what you are doing based on sound. I shoot and kill sometimes based on something like the sound of ammo being picked up.

Obviously sound is a very important and can give people a major advantage.

it's totally critical...I'm no audio freak but if the guns sound crappy and the sound effects are terrible...it just ruins everything else...playing planetside in a huge battle draws you in so much when you can hear all the stuff that's going around...and imagine call of duty without sound or bad sound...it just wouldn't be the same...

my stats improved quite a bit in ut2k3 when i got surround sound because then i could tell exactly where someone was instead of just left/right. sound is very critical...it lets you know what's going on around you, the music sets the mood, and the sound affects/ambient sounds make the game come alive.;)

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Originally posted by Wurm
I think it’s critically important. In a game like Thief were hearing and knowing where the guard was all important to surviving the mission the sound was an integral part of the experience. In other games were the positional sounds are not so important then the soundtrack makes or breaks the game as far as making you part of the fantasy world played out on your monitor's screen.

Sound is very important.

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Well put. I deem sound to be as important as the video in most games that I play. My stats are ALWAYS higher when I play games with the audio options set to their highest setting and have the volume turned up.

Man i have played games where the game was fun but the sound sucks and i just stopped paying it. So yea i want grade A sound when i play my games thats why i dont use on board sound ;)

I also say critical. With FPS games what you hear and from where can be the difference between being the fragger or the fragee.

I'm a pretty big CS gamer, and let me tell you, having an awesome set of cans (Senn 280pro) helps immensely. Exact positioning and accuracy of sound will let you know where the enemy is, which gains you a great advantage because you can set an ambush up. This is especially true in match play because you'll hear where your enemy is going far before seeing them. So, in conclusion, without accurate surround sound (or virtual surround like my cans), you're F'd beyond belief in CS and most other FPS.

Definately critical. Sight should be matched with great sound.

I just played Gitaroo-Man on a TV with mono sound... it was awful...

CRITICAL!

we should go back to "PC Audio" sound

also...although not directly related but I remember some company developing quake 3 for the blind...it used a mix of hundreds of sounds to tell the player where specific things where...and suprisingly it worked somewhat...

No sound in a game is like putting a blind guy in a firefight.

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Originally posted by Alientank
No sound in a game is like putting a blind guy in a firefight.

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Please elaborate...


I said critical because sound is a multipurpose media. It can create mood, locate, warn, and even communicate emotion. Therefore when used properly it can make a game, if not then it can break a game.

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Originally posted by commanderkeen
Please elaborate...

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Disadvantage.

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Originally posted by PointlesS
also...although not directly related but I remember some company developing quake 3 for the blind...it used a mix of hundreds of sounds to tell the player where specific things where...and suprisingly it worked somewhat...

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Thats insane, now find me a link!

Sound is very important. It's not like you are damned if you don't have sound in some games, but still in most games it's critical to have it.

Depends on the map, game, and situation. Some maps do not need any sound at all. I can say however that after I got my 4.1 setup, I had a lot more fun in UT only because I could hear people coming from behind me. When I used to play regular weapons, this was very important. Anyways, I say important only because there are some situations when you don't even need sound to play.

Absolutely critical, especially in fps games such as CS...