Game composers have to throw away the old tools from the old schools of scoring. They need to think in terms of an 'if, then' approach to soundtracks. Game composers agree that the musical direction can be affected by the theme of the game. And it is a catalyst of emotion. I tell people that the importance of music in a game is defined by the degree of emotional response that they want out of the game player.
Music does play a similar role in games as it does in films.
We may go about the nuts and bolts differently, but ultimately we're listening to the same muse. Peter McConnell, who worked on LucasArts' title Grim Fandango believes that scoring for the PC is a different type of work altogether. As in film, music is essentially a post-production process. You have to see what you're scoring before you can write the music. However, there are two things that make interactive scoring different.