Welcome back, Gameologerinos, to our weekend gaming plans thread. As a discussion-starter this week, I’d like to reference a little tidbit that came up while Matt Gerardi and I were talking about The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth last week. Matt cut this part from the transcript (wisely so, as it didn’t lead anywhere), but at one point he mentioned that The Binding Of Isaac had always been a “podcast game” for him—he’ll put on a podcast, silence Isaac’s in-game music, and play away. I believe my response at the time was “That sounds fucking awful,” but who am I to judge? Nobody, that’s who.
So my question this Friday is, what’s your audio setup? Do you listen to the original soundtrack or substitute your own tunes? Speakers or headphones? Stereo or full 7.1 surround? Maybe, like Matt, your approach varies from game to game. I like to wear headphones and appreciate the full depth of the original tunes. (I also like to don headphones for football games, as I shared in a recent Block & Tackle column.) I only mix in my own music library when I’m playing slow strategy games like SimCity or Civilization, which have perfectly nice tracks of their own, but there’s only so many times you can listen to them. Otherwise, I tend to stick with the aural experience that the creators had in mind. Tell us in the comments what you like to hear; I’ll be listening.