The Evolution of Video Game Sound: Part 1 - The Origins | Living in the Past

[@vigneshkrishnan5680]

Oh boy, videos covering audio? This is new, and I'm super excited!

[@NXGamer]

I love sound design, music, foley etc etc so this series is important. I hope to see it grow as each episode is done, the next is more ‘exciting’.

[@timsmyth7942]

bro your channel is the best…no bs in sight, keep up the great work 👍

[@obiwanmedeiros4501]

Holy shit! So much effort seems to have poured into this. Gonna do my part in sharing it.

[@NXGamer]

Thank you, really means a lot and every bit helps.

[@SpontaneousWeasel]

Great video! I grew up with the c64 and spent most of my childhood with Amiga 500+ and Sega's megadrive. Watching this reminds me I was so spoilt for sound quality!!!

[@PatrickJanz]

Awesome video. Looking forward to see much more!

[@marcusstoner1641]

One of the best arcade games for sound I remember was RoboCop. Drop it! Think I also noticed the Kung Fu Master arcade game at the end there. Ahh, jumpers as goalposts...

[@jeahboy7259]

This is going to be a great series of videos. Can't wait for the next one to drop.

[@NXGamer]

Working on it now, thanks.

[@neddreadmaynard]

Hi dude, brilliant content. I will say though that silent movies were never watched in silence, most theaters had at least a piano player and sometimes full orchestra's accompanying the film. Which fits nicely with your narrative, so no foul.

[@collierx]

Excellent video as always. I'm one of the oldies that remembers when those first games hit the arcade. Cant wait for next installment.

[@NXGamer]

Nice one Steve, me too and it was an incredible time.

[@BigWelshMike]

@@NXGamer Same here, fella. I still have my C64 and Amiga game/demo playlists for the music I’ve loved across the generations. They get a regular hammering and it’s great to see how many demo coders from the old Amiga “scene” operating at the top levels of the gaming industry. DICE, Jesper Kyd (Hitman music, State of Decay, etc.). Love it all.

[@titntin5178]

What a fantastically well put together video that was! That was was excellently edited and scripted too, and Im delighted at the subject matter, it needs celebrating! Its criminal your not getting a million views...

[@NXGamer]

Appreciate that, a,ways nice to hear some positive vibes.

[@branjo-kazooie1225]

This video deserves way more attention. Glad I found this Channel.

[@tmoblak]

i am affraid to ask but - was there ever a part 2 of this?

[@AnalogFoundry]

"It's now safe to turn off your computer." brings back a lot of memories, haha.

[@davemeredith6964]

Brilliant video. As a gamer from that 70s era and one who composes soundtracks, inspired from the 80s C64 SID chip ,Snes... etc etc... this is great to watch. I even managed to have soundtrack legend Chris Huelsbeck on my latest project. Chris is one of my inspirations in video game music...others being Koshiro,Uematsu, Mitsuda and others... Looking forward to the C64 video....what a sound chip that thing had.

[@NXGamer]

Love the SiD and great to have someone watch who knows the hardware. Chris is a legend and such a talented musician,, as are so many you listed and more besides, Galway,Hubbard, Whittaker, Daglish and on....

[@davemeredith6964]

@@NXGamer Fully agree. So many legends in SID music from that era...really nice guys too. Great to see you keeping these things alive. Great work. Best wishes.

[@gdavies1103]

Oh my, that took me back to the early 80s in an instant. Ive not played, seen or heard Combat on the Atari for well over 35 years, much simpler times, the joy I had playing agains my brother came flooding back. Superb video NX, this video is a must watch if your in yr 40s. I’m eagerly awaiting to see and most importantly hear the next gems unearthed in the next episode. Brilliant stuff.

[@NXGamer]

Snap man, me and Bros used to play it. The annoyance when you boxed them in or they did you, everything was so new and exciting then.

[@gdavies1103]

Oh yeah, that’s the game right there. Taking it up another notch to the mode where you can bend the shells like after touch in sensible soccer. Oh so good 👍🏻

[@fall-neckthetallneck2977]

Oh NX, I would would always like to HEAR what you have to say about video game sound evolution. 😉😉😉

[@chanunnaki]

Quality content as usual NX!

[@BAMozzy69]

The 80's - the era of Digitised Speech in Video games. I grew up in the 70's with Pong, Atari and Arcades. My father had a BBC Model B and I had a Vic 20 as we moved into the 80's, quickly followed by Amstrad CPC 464 and then Amiga. I remember the days of simple beeps to synth like sounds, digitised speech and now with 'movie' quality 3D full surround sound. This is part of the reason I don't think we will have a massive leap in gaming anymore. Jumping up from simple beeps to synth sounds was a leap, Speech was a leap, CD quality was a leap but its now more 'refinement'. Going from 2D to 3D was a massive leap that transformed the gaming landscape too and now we are at the point of near photorealism - look at games like Gran Turismo, Forza, RDR2 - OK so Humans still look a bit gamey but environments and animals look very realistic. RT will improve the lighting effects but Devs have managed to 'fake' real time lighting incredibly well - particularly with static lighting - like a fixed time of day/weather conditions. Therefore, I don't foresee any 'transformative' gaming experiences coming with 'new' generations - more 'refinements'.

[@rottieman]

So rare to hear about sound and music,such an important part of video games....great videa

[@AbrahamZX1]

Happy to be a patreon supporter. Love your content Michael.

[@NXGamer]

Really grateful for your support, thanks Abraham. How is the Speccy doing 😉

[@HugoStiglitz88]

Audio is the most underrated part of gaming by far. People who don't care about sound in games are dumb

[@imnotdavidxnsx]

I am deeply bothered there was never a part 2.

[@antwango]

BARRY LEITCH!!!!!!!!!! LOTUS!!!! this man and his music needs a video... this dude and his work needs to be kept alive!!!!!!!

[@HuGiv5]

Another masterpiece thank you Michael

[@HazewinDog]

how long until the next one? the content on your channel isn't for me, except this, this is right up my alley. I'm subbed so I don't miss it part 2, but being subbed and not watching obviously hurts your channel... this deserves two extra 0s on the view counter for sure btw.

[@MrVelociraptor75]

I was getting anxious when you were playing space invaders, nearly beat the level, then went onto a new one... SO glad you went back and finished the OG one hahaha Thanks for the vid NX, it was nice learning about the much earlier gaming system's origins, especially on a sound front. (I didn't start gaming until the Amiga 500 era and NES days) I look forward to the rest of this series!

[@simonrobichaud6561]

That is a great video, thanks NX

[@BubblegumCrash332]

Amazing video. I love your retro content. 👌👍👍

[@Pitcher-T]

Great video as always. Glad to hear you've got the recognition you deserve with your IGN gig. Hopefully you get more followers from there to help you create more stuff like this.

[@mopeybloke]

This episode was an earsore at times.

[@Alianger]

This is good you should do more. I think people just expected a higher pace from it maybe?

[@mikem2253]

NXGamer bringing it on sound. I'd love to see a review and comparison of Tempest 3d audio vs Xbox's Dolby Atmos/DTS-X. I find the Sony solution better but can't find any objective measurements to quantify it.

[@sablemae8853]

I've barely seen any reviews on the audio for Sony and Xbox. I've been amazed by the huge leap in sound quality. I've seen some people who own series X's saying the Dolby Atmos is better but they had no reason other than it's Dolby. I've honestly thought the immersion from the sound combined with the dual sense has been the most impressive part of the ps 5.

[@mikem2253]

@@sablemae8853 i have both Series X and Ps5 and I have made comparisons with games I have on both. But again, no one has quantified this in any way. Too much focus on visuals when sound is so important to gaming experiences.

[@sablemae8853]

@@mikem2253 I don't have both and have been searching to find any comparison and there's nothing. Everytime I put the headphones on I'm amazed at the huge leap compared to last gen and am shocked that there's so little information out. The immersion from being able to see,hear and feel is the most underated feature for the ps 5. Is that something that makes a big difference when you're playing on each system?

[@HugoStiglitz88]

The sony implementation is easily better. Even without quantifying it it's just blatant. Dolby atmos is shit in comparison. Ive never found atmos impressive whatsoever and it's a shame. Dts x is pretty great but it's not 3d.

[@sablemae8853]

@@HugoStiglitz88 I'm glad you made it out of the basement Hugo! I thought you died in my favorite scene in a movie

[@zaydenmiller9924]

Brilliant job here m8

[@AndyGilleand]

No part 2?

[@DoggoneNexus]

Great video, but how did that pesky apostrophe sneak into your Jerry Goldsmith quote?

[@TheJohdu]

so geeky, love it!

[@jjrbanana]

Hey NX love to see your analysis of Returnal on PS5 - looks like it’s using a very clever upscaling method to get to 4K from a base 1080p to help run at 60 FPS with Ray tracing. From the videos I’ve seen the results are very impressive. How do they do it? What wizardry is at work here?

[@PixelBaller]

I recently replayed Tomb Raider definitive edition. Amazing sound design, some of the best and immersive surround sound I've experienced. Now playing the next game, Rise of the Tomb Raider and it's a let down. Nowhere near the same quality. So frustrating.

[@antwango]

YES YES YES!!!! Sound!!! Games are being done a disservice!!!! half of the games are missing.... Music/SFX!!!!! the Alien tracker!!! the sound of certain machine guns from Alien / Starwars!!!! your examples!!!! Soundtracks and orchestral soundtracks now!!!!!

[@antwango]

would love to see NXgamer delve into VR history and evolution too!!!! oooooh and pixel art history and graphics!!!! Pixel art can be as stylish and better than super realistic 3D games!!!!! oh yes chiptunes!!!!! too theres 4 different subjects you can delve into!!!!

[@artwork1285]

"Sound the soul"

[@Alianger]

Is there a word for audio affected by player actions, besides interactive? Similar to the diegetic term?

[@Chewbazza]

Like and a comment for your work!

[@jack_knife-1478]

Still got my c64 and all my games. Remember arguing at school with spectrum fanboys lol

[@mightyhadi6132]

So video games in general was inspired from " a Radar" .

[@scottishgamer7210]

PS5 always wins for best video game sound

[@HugoStiglitz88]

It really does but it's a big shame that you can only get it through headphone all audio. They really should let you still output to tv or allow 3d audio be sent to the tv

[@scottishgamer7210]

@@HugoStiglitz88 Sony always shows best tech for others copy and steal

[@LevitatingCups]

a comment. unfortunately it is silent.

[@NXGamer]

But I can hear it 👍

[@Entertainment-ev6ob]

Ehhhhh music is overrated. It’s not 50% of anything. It just adds to the overall experience. SOUND is important. That includes music, sound effects, soundtracks, etc... sound I’d say is 50% of the experience however if the sound is bad it’s not something I’m gonna be like wtfff my experience was ruined because of the lack of sound. It’s not something you notice that much. But when it is done right it is extremely satisfying. And when I say sound btw I also mean silence. The lack of sound is just as important as sound. But overall sound is either less important or more important depending on medium and genre of that medium