The Whack-It Game for Hark the Sound is an experiment in the use of spatial sound with the DDR pad. The player sits or stands in the middle of the pad and strikes one of the eight squares surrounding them to indicate the direction to a sound. You need surround sound to properly play Whack-It.
Surround sound is becoming more common on computers. The listener is surrounded by four or more speakers which allows the computer to simulate sound coming from any direction.
For laptops and computers without surround sound built-in we have used the Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 NX external USB sound system. You simply plug it in to your USB port then plug a pair of speakers into the jack labeled "front" and another pair into the jack labeled "back". Install the drivers that come on the CD and use their installation tools to adjust your speakers. Now you are ready to play Whack-It
Whack-It is in the Pad Games folder in Hark the Sound. With your DDR pad plugged in and the speakers arranged at each corner of the pad pointing toward the center start up Whack-It. You should hear the sound of a rattlesnake for a few seconds. The goal is to press the pad the corresponds to the correct direction for the sound before the sound ends. Game options allow you to change the number of points given for correct and incorrect identification of the directions.