The Cultural Representation of Non-Western Cultures through Music in Mainstream Video Games

This thesis addresses three main questions: 1. In what ways does music contribute to the game player’s experience? - A more general enquiry, drawing from a number of different fields, and hoping to identify some of the roles played by music in video games. 2. To what extent are non-western musical instruments, patterns, and other stylistic features used in video game audio? - A more focused enquiry, looking specifically at the above aspects. 3. What approaches are used in successfully incorporating these non-Western elements in video game audio? - An attempt to determine the approaches present, and their effectiveness.