For nearly three decades, music has been an integral part of the experience gamers get out of their favorite past times.

Just as with movies, music can help set the tone in a video game. It can get you pumped up for an adrenaline-fueled action sequence, or lay the emotional tracks for a scene full of important dialogue.

But unlike movie viewers, the player has control over many situations they encounter in a video game.

In a game — but especially in an open-world game like "Grand Theft Auto" or Sony's upcoming "Infamous: Second Son" — the music has to react to what you're doing so that it doesn't sound mismatched.

You don't want percussion-heavy combat music when you're just walking around taking in the sights, and you don't want quiet, emotional pieces playing while you mow down dozens of enemies in an intense fire fight.

I got to tour PlayStation's state-of-the-art music studio, where I met the guys responsible for creating blockbuster-quality music for the games that make people buy Sony's consoles.