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Chapter 7
An Acoustic Communication
Framework for Game Sound:
Fidelity, Verisimilitude, Ecology
Milena Droumeva
Simon Fraser University, Canada
AbstrAct
This chapter explores how notions of fidelity and verisimilitude manifest historically both as global
cultural conventions of media and technology, as well as more specifically as design goals in the produc-
tion of sound in games. By exploring these two perspectives on acoustic realism through the acoustic
communication framework with its focus on patterns of listening over time, acoustic communities, and
ecology, I hope to offer a model for future theorizing and exploration of game sound and a lens for in-
depth analysis of specific game titles. As a novel contribution, this chapter offers a set of listening modes
that are derived from and describe attentional stances towards historically diverse game soundscapes
in the hopes that we may use these to not only identify but also evaluate the relationship between gam-
ing and culture.
INtrODUctION
Wallén, 2011), which builds on several existing
design guideline systems for game sound (Ekman,
2005; Grimshaw & Schott, 2007; Jørgensen, 2006;
Stockburger, 2007), and particularly Grimshaw's
(2008) conceptualization of an acoustic ecology
in first-person shooter games are beginning to
pave the way for more in-depth explorations into
understanding, analyzing and representing the role
of sound in games.
In addition to the more established foundations
of game sound in music synthesis, algorithmic
sound generation, and real-time implementation of
Within game studies—a relatively young disci-
pline itself—the field of game sound has already
experienced growth, however there are still
scarce resources and analytical frameworks for
understanding the role of sound for purposes
of cultural critique, historical analysis or cross-
media examination. Frameworks such as the IEZA
one (Huiberts & van Tol, 2008; Wilhelmsson &
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