03 Sep 2010
Inspired By: Old Time Radio
(This might turn into an occasional series of posts about stuff that’s given me creative ideas. Or it might not.)
Over the last few years I’ve been listening to a lot of MPIR (can also be found in iTunes’ Radio directory under News/Talk Radio, and via iPhone apps such as RadioBOX), and recently have been using Vintage Radio Lite a bit. There’s some great stuff in amongst dated dross, and many of the series featured have intro sequences that really do set the right mood:
Yes, it might all seem a bit crude and over-the-top from a modern perspective, but they do the trick, and I’m rather envious of those who got to experience these shows with their ear pressed against a crackly radio late at night.
For me, it’s another reminder not only of the importance of audio (many otherwise-slick Flash games feature incredibly poor music and effects), and to look beyond modern popular culture, but also of how valuable establishing an initial tone/mood/theme (then sticking with it) is. Even when there’s no obvious or logical theme to go with, it’s often worth picking one (e.g. I gave The Rather Difficult Game the feel of an old movie/cartoon simply because it makes it more interesting and holds everything together).
I’ve also devised a game concept directly inspired by these old radio series, but I’m going to keep that to myself for now…
