Bio
Sophia Wetzel (she/they) is a PhD student in Music History and Theory at the University of Chicago. Her current research focuses on musicality and player engagement in video games. Other areas of interest include disability studies, genre studies, and the commodification of music. In 2025, Sophia was one of the founders of the Accessibility in Gaming initiative at UChicago. They partnered with the university’s Media Arts, Data, and Design Center to develop programming and resources centered around equity and access in all forms of gaming. Prior to beginning her studies at the University of Chicago, Sophia received an AM in Music from Washington University in Saint Louis and a BMUS in Theory and Composition from Arizona State University.
Outside of work, Sophia enjoys playing video games, knitting, and spending time with her beloved dog, Ellie.
Scholarship
Music and Mind Games: Disability and Genre in the Psychonauts Series
Master's Thesis, submitted August 2023. (Open Access, Full Download Available)
Academic Conference Presentations
"Down with Zelda": Hip-Hop Advertising Aesthetics and Nineties Neoliberal Coolness
co-presented with J.P. Cupps at the North American Conference on Video Game Music (NACVGM) 2026, May 2, 2026, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Abstract
In 1987, Nintendo released a commercial for The Legend of Zelda (1986) that featured two white teenage boys rapping about the “radness” of the game. This now-famous commercial is one of several that Nintendo released in the late 1980s and early 1990s that capitalized on what Amy Coddington (2023) has described as hip-hop’s mainstreaming in popular culture. Previous work by Gibbons (2021) and Deaville (2024) has focused on early methods of video game advertising.
In this paper, we explore how Nintendo’s advertisements between 1987 and 1993 co-opted hip-hop aesthetics to signify their games’ “coolness” to their targeted audience and helped to shape the “gamer” marketing identity. Drawing on work from scholars such as Tricia Rose, Bakari Kitwana, and Patrick Jagoda, we trace the paths hip-hop and video games each took to independently become major commodities by the 1990s and how their paths converged towards what we term “neoliberal coolness.” We use neoliberal coolness to refer to the indexing of consumption as not simply market participation, but as an act of self-definition and individuation. To examine how these marketing techniques were deployed, we evaluate Nintendo’s “Down with Zelda” commercial for The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (1993). Our analysis illustrates how Nintendo appealed to white, teenage boys who wished to individuate themselves from others—at first, socially and, later on, in the labor market. Drawing on hip-hop’s association with a culturally legible Black coolness, Nintendo was able to sell their audience games and by extension neoliberalism.
The Rhythm of the Knight: Rhythmic Entrainment and Playing Musically in Soulsborne Games
presented at Ludo 2025, July 12, 2025, University of East London
Abstract
Whether pressing buttons in time with colorful bars in Guitar Hero (2006) or knowing when to jump over obstacles in Super Mario Bros (1985), the ability to internalize and execute an action in time is a foundational gameplay mechanic. Prior research on timed mechanics has focused on their use in rhythm games and their relation to aural cues (see Austin, Kagan, and Lind). I argue that analysis of timed mechanics can be extended beyond rhythm games to examine how they encourage musical thought and rhythmic entrainment in players. In this paper, I explore how gameplay in Soulsborne games can be analyzed musically, using Dark Souls III (2016) as a case study. Unlike rhythm games, Soulsborne games encourage entrainment to unsounding rhythms, cueing player input visually. Adopting Anabel Maler’s definition of music as “culturally defined, intentionally organized movement,” I argue the act of play should be considered musical, especially as players become familiar with the “rhythm” of a fight or action. Drawing on research on rhythmic entrainment and perception by Martin Clayton and Mariusz Kozack, I suggest the gameplay in Soulsborne games can be analyzed rhythmically. Beyond my analysis, I further illustrate that players themselves conceive of their play as musical. Close readings of player discussions and gameplay shows that players describe their play in musical terms, using metaphors of dance or rhythm to interpret their actions. These players, I argue, are engaging in a form of “musicking,” à laChristopher Small. I, therefore, read gameplay as an embodied, performed implementation of what Olivia Lucas calls “vernacular music theory.”
Musical Mind Games: Genre as Mental Illness in the Psychonauts Series
presented at Sound on Screen II, July 5, 2023, Oxford Brookes University
Abstract
The cult-classic video game Psychonauts (2005) and its acclaimed sequel Psychonauts 2 (2021) are known for their depiction of mental illness and trauma. However, the depictions in each game reinforce different disability narratives: the first a “cure” narrative and the second an “accommodation” narrative (Mitchell & Snyder 2000; Howe 2016). Each level, or mindscape, occurs within the mind of a different character, allowing the player to interact with manifestations of the character’s mental illness, such as fighting enemies called “Panic Attacks” or sorting their “Emotional Baggage.” The scoring for each level reflects the respective character by drawing from existing musical genres to mark them with a unique sonic profile. The genres heard include examples of popular music genres, like psychedelic rock, but they also include references to styles from popular culture, such as mid-century television theme songs. These allusions function as “genre-topic[s]” (Lavengood, 2019), evoking extramusical associations that incline the player towards either a positive or negative perception of each character.
In this paper, I trace the genre references in two levels— “Gloria’s Theater” from Psychonauts and “PSI King’s Sensorium” from Psychonauts 2— and their accompanying cues as case studies of the characterization of mental illness and trauma in each game. For each cue, I identify and outline the sonic markers of each cue’s genre-topic(s) and examine how the generic allusions may impact the player’s perception of the character. My examination also outlines how the level’s visuals and scoring reinforce the two disability narratives presented by the games. As part of the larger accommodation narrative, for example, the sensory associations of psychedelic rock are used to illustrate the acceptance process of a character desensitized by trauma. By comparing these levels, I show that the depiction of mentally ill characters shifts between games from condescending to an empathetic view encouraging acceptance.
Public Presentations
How to Become a Music Theorist
November 25, 2025, presented at Walker High School, Puyallup, Washington
Becoming a Music Theorist
December 12, 2023, presented at Casteel High School, Queen Creek, Arizona