The Super Mario Bros. jingle seems to have almost as many fans as the classic video game itself, inspiring covers on YouTube that get millions of views.
Yet, while songs and effects are an important part of gameplay, few programmers can write music as well as they write code. Lately, University of Toronto computer science students are turning to their peers in the Faculty of Music in a new collaboration to help make games that are as fun to listen to as they are to play.
Steve Engels, an associate professor of computer science at U of T, says all too often music and sound effects are afterthoughts in amateur video games. Working in teams can change that.
In the past, Engels has created partnerships between his science students and arts students at OCAD University to increase the visual appeal of the games his students create.
