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Synaesthesia is commonly known in the medical world as a condition in which people hear colors as specific sounds when they see them. In the gaming world, it's a design choice in which visuals, user input, and sound are all fused together in one amalgamation of a sensory overload.
As the most commonly cited example, Rez is basically the foundation for which all modern synaesthetic games are based. The game is played like any other on-rails shooter, but all the sound effects & visuals in the game are synchronized with the beat to the music, and tonally & sonically crafted to become a complement to the song. This gives the effect of the user basically creating a song as they play the game normally, as opposed to a rhythm game where playing a song is the entire purpose, and failure results in dischordance. Failure in a synaesthesia game simply results in a less complex song.
Tetsuya Mizuguchi is famous for pioneering this genre, and later went on to apply the design philosophy to the Tetris-like "falling block puzzle" genre with Lumines. Since his creation of Rez, many more games have popped up with this concept as a main attraction, such as Space Invaders Extreme.
A sensory juxtaposition of sight and sound.
Overview
Synaesthesia is commonly known in the medical world as a condition in which people hear colors as specific sounds when they see them. In the gaming world, it's a design choice in which visuals, user input, and sound are all fused together in one amalgamation of a sensory overload.
As the most commonly cited example, Rez is basically the foundation for which all modern synaesthetic games are based. The game is played like any other on-rails shooter, but all the sound effects & visuals in the game are synchronized with the beat to the music, and tonally & sonically crafted to become a complement to the song. This gives the effect of the user basically creating a song as they play the game normally, as opposed to a rhythm game where playing a song is the entire purpose, and failure results in dischordance. Failure in a synaesthesia game simply results in a less complex song.
Tetsuya Mizuguchi is famous for pioneering this genre, and later went on to apply the design philosophy to the Tetris-like "falling block puzzle" genre with Lumines. Since his creation of Rez, many more games have popped up with this concept as a main attraction, such as Space Invaders Extreme.
Synaesthesia games
Edit
| Name | Platforms | Developer | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Randy Balma: Municipal Abortionist |
PC | |
|
|
Qubed released on Sept. 15, 2009 |
X360 | Q Entertainment |
|
|
Space Invaders Infinity Gene released on July 28, 2009 |
IPHN | Taito Corporation |
|
|
Lumines Supernova released on Dec. 23, 2008 |
PSN | Q Entertainment |
|
|
PixelJunk Eden released on July 31, 2008 |
PS3, PSN | Q-Games Ltd. |
|
|
Space Invaders Extreme released on June 17, 2008 |
XBLM, DS, PSP | Backbone Emeryville, Taito Corporation, Backbone Entertainment |
|
|
Rez HD released on Jan. 30, 2008 |
XBLM | Hexa Drive, Q Entertainment |
|
|
Every Extend Extra Extreme released on Oct. 17, 2007 |
XBLM | Q Entertainment |
|
|
Everyday Shooter released on Oct. 11, 2007 |
PS3, PSP, PSN, PC | Queasy Games |
|
|
Synaesthete released on Oct. 1, 2007 |
PC | Rolling Without Slipping |
| Concept Name: | Synaesthesia |
| Appears in: | 17 games |
| First appearance: | Rez |
| Aliases |
