Ficlets

Dan sat on the couch with the controller in his hands, the marvelous environs of Super Mario Galaxy rendered on the TV in front of him, and Gorillaz’ “Demon Days” album playing on the entertainment system. Greg appeared pained by this.

“How can you do that?” asked Greg.

“What, that spin?” asked Dan. “I just waggle the remote like this.”

“No, no,” said Greg. “I mean, how can you play the game with the sound on mute and some album on in the background?”

“Firstly,” frowned Dan, pausing the game, “This isn’t just some album. It’s Demon Days. It’s a music journey into a another world. It’s a modern-day masterpiece. Secondly, the in-game audio’s secondary to the game.”

“No it isn’t,” said Greg. “The in-game audio enriches the experience. You don’t listen to music when you play Silent Hill, do you?”

“Depends on what mood I’m in.”

“See, that ruins the experience. Silent Hill isn’t scary if you have ‘The Spice Girls Greatest Hits’ playing in the background.”

Dan gave Greg a look. “Alright, bad example.”