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Implementation and evaluation of a background music reactive game

Published: 03 December 2007 Publication History

Abstract

This paper discusses further work on the authors' "background music reactive games" concept, where background music is used to modify video game parameters and thus actions on the screen. Each song selected by the player makes the game look different and behave variedly. The concept is explored by modifying an open-source game called Briquolo, which is based on the well-known arcade game Breakout. Several audio signal features such as magnitude, energy, centroid, and spectral flux are calculated from the background music MP3 file and mapped to relevant game parameters. In order to verify how well the features work in practice, a user study with 20 participants was arranged. The results suggest strongly that people appreciate the concept of background music reactive games. The selected analysis algorithms and mapping worked nicely, and 90% of participants felt that the music truly affected the game. In addition, 90% of participants also felt that the modified version was more entertaining than the original.

References

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ID3 v2.3.0 Specification. http://www.id3.org/id3v2.3.0, 30.3.2007.
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Guitar Hero. http://www.guitarherogame.com, 10.4.2007.
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Dance Factory. http://www.codemasters.co.uk/games/?gameid=1832, 10.4.2007.
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Vib-Ribbon. http://www.vib-ribbon.com/, 25.1.2006.
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Breakout. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakout, 10.4.2007.
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Blaine, T., and Fels, S. Design Issues for Collaborative Musical Interfaces and Experiences. In Proceedings of New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) Conference, Montreal, Canada, May 22--24, 2003.
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Holm, J., Havukainen, K., and Arrasvuori, J. Novel Ways to Use Audio in Games. In Proceedings of Game Developers Conference (GDC), San Francisco, USA, March 7--11, 2005.
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Holm, J., Havukainen, K., Arrasvuori, J. Personalizing Game Content Using Audio-Visual Media. In Proceedings of Advances in Computer Entertainment (ACE) Conference, Valencia, Spain, June 15--17, 2005.
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Cassidy, G., MacDonald, R., and Sykes, J. The Effects of Aggressive and Relaxing Popular Music on Driving Game Performance and Evaluation. Abstract in http://www.gamesconference.org/digra2005/viewabstract.p hp?id=94, 2.4.2006.
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Holm, J., Havukainen, K., and Arrasvuori, J. Using MIDI to Modify Game Content. In Proceedings of New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME'06) Conference, Paris, France, June 4--8, 2006.
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Blaine, T. The Convergence of Alternate Controllers and Musical Interfaces in Interactive Entertainment. In Proceedings of New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) Conference, Vancouver, Canada, May 26--28, 2005.
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Cited By

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  • (2010)Background music reactive gamesProceedings of the 14th International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning Future Media Environments10.1145/1930488.1930517(135-142)Online publication date: 6-Oct-2010

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cover image ACM Conferences
IE '07: Proceedings of the 4th Australasian conference on Interactive entertainment
December 2007
174 pages
ISBN:9781921166877

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RMIT University

Melbourne, Australia

Publication History

Published: 03 December 2007

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Author Tags

  1. AudioAsteroids
  2. Briquolo
  3. MP3
  4. background music reactive games
  5. breakout
  6. games
  7. music
  8. music signal analysis
  9. musically controlled games

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  • Research-article

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IE07: Australian Conference on Interactive Entertainment
December 3 - 5, 2007
Melbourne, Australia

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Overall Acceptance Rate 64 of 148 submissions, 43%

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  • (2010)Background music reactive gamesProceedings of the 14th International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning Future Media Environments10.1145/1930488.1930517(135-142)Online publication date: 6-Oct-2010

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