Game sound has never gotten the recognition that it deserves. It is, as our interviewees described, the “ugly stepchild”, “evil stepsister”, that “nobody cares about”. When it’s good, as Tracy Bush says, sound “is a ninja”. It’s invisible. And the artists who have worked hard to overcome technological obstacles to bring that sound to life have been equally as invisible. Beep covers the history of game sound (voice, music and sound effects) from the Victorian penny arcades, through pinball and early video game arcades to today.
Beep filmed nearly 90 interviews with game audio professionals from around the world and throughout game history. At the heart of the film is the ongoing struggle between creativity and technology as what the artists want to achieve, and what is technologically possible, intertwine in new and challenging ways throughout game history. The Beep project is a feature-length documentary film, series of webisodes (each interview plus bonus material), two-volume book set and interactive documentary (in progress).
