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THX To Certify Videogame Audio
dan_linder writes "According to an article on CNet News, THX are starting to certify the audio produced for video games. Good, now all I need are something better than my Labtec speakers on my PC..." According to the piece, "When a company signs up as a licensee... THX sends them specifications on what the company's audio and video production rooms should look like, down to the types of desks people sit at when they are working."
I'm fairly certain Ultima IX did this 4 or 5 years ago. I remember reading that Origin had a new sound system put in, that THX can and inspected it and everything (I think it even had the THX logo on the box). Which make senses, given that that article says that EA had to do much the same thing.
So if I'm right EA is NOT the first to get the THX certification...and this isn't a new idea.
Wood Shavings!
- Godai
THX, an entity formed from the tremendous overflowing creative genius of George Lucas, is starting to put their seal of approval on stuff? Isn't that as worthless as getting a thumbs-up from Pauly Shore after telling a joke?
I'm not much of an audiophile myself, but if this means getting that cool THX splash screen like in the movies, I'm all for it.
...down to the types of desks people sit at when they are working.
What do desk types have to do with sound quality? Is THX concerned with the comfort of sound engineers?
"Anyway, long story short... is a phrase whose origins are complicated and rambling...." - Abraham Simpson
'give us your money for a nice logo on the box, please.'
that's what it is really, as the specs can't include "the game must have good music and sound effects that fits into it's atmopshere".
sure, they sat on a certain type of desk or used certain type of devices and software, but where does that really get you in creating game audio that works well with the game? nowhere.
more importantly, when did you buy a game purely for it's audio? and no, i don't think star control 2 would have qualified for this thx logo.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
the article doesn't say whether the certification is for PC or console games. Great if they mean PC games. But shouldn't we be bitchin about the shitty audio from our x-box and PS2? I don't give a rats ass if the game is THX if all I have is 2 channel analog out from my machine. I want an x-box with digital multi channel outputs. ProLogic sucks when compared to DTS.
I hate the damn THX robot that shows up before movies to loudly announce the presence of THX sound. The stupid THX noise is so discordant, ugly, and more often than not too LOUD. it puts me in a bad mood before the movie even starts.
I'd better not hear it before I play my video games too, god dammit! Oh wait, something tells me not too many Linux games are going to have to worry about this. Whew.
THX isn't a certification of audio quality. It's certification of audio quality inside an architecturally THX-certified room. So, it means that the sound on the game is best heard in an architecturally THX-certified room....
Unless they also hand out pamphlets on how to arrange your room according to THX standards, you'll get, at best, average sounding audio. At least this is how I understand it. Anyone?
Jeffool.
Oh yeah: THX. Your ears are bleeding.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
Good thing I've got THX certified speakers, and an auditorium to setup my computer in... Wait, no I don't, and neither does >99% of the world. On the other hand I might be convinced to buy a THX certified GBA game :)
My inner self is ineffable, so don't eff with me.
I noticed the THX logo at the begining of SSX 3 and though it a little strange. But hey, if it makes people buy THX speakers and give money to Lucas I guess this is a good thing???
Sorry if this is trollish...
It's not like this is a surprise. Klipsch was the first to market with THX certified speakers specifically for home PCs, and that was almost two years ago. Of course, you could argue that they were intended for those that used their PCs as a media centre (movies, music, etc...) but anyone who uses a PC for those purposes more than likely plays a few games. Regardless, would this actually make a game more attractive to me? Not freakin' likely.
But they need to be funny ones, like the robot one..
or better yet, have the game's character be in the THX thing, sorta like what lucasarts does with its logo sometimes.
Newsie, Moderator, www.tauniverse.com
Would THX please certify my geforce fx?
- cost. You can't beat free.
- license. You can't beat GNU-GPL.
- accessability. Most PC+console games are geared towards gaming experts, who won't be happy unless they spend 100+ user-hours on a game. Otherwise how do they justify paying $50 for it? As a result the games are bloated and huge. If my girlfriend has to read an instruction manual to know how to play, she aint going to play it with me.
- The underlying OS is non-evil, with reasonable redistribution rights.
- Of course, no reboot.
Examples of games I have fun with are: Star Control 2 (aka UrQuaan Masters), glTron, Copter Commander, Xboard, Xpilot, Quake3 demo, and Tribes 2.While looking at AV receivers and speakers over the last few months, one thing I've seen repeated over, and over again is that THX certification generally isn't worth it. It costs a fair amount to be certified and those costs are passed straight on to the consumer.
Most of these items cost $500.00 and up, and the price is just tacked on. What's this going to do for the cost of games then? Is it going to add $5 to the cost of games to cover it? The way they seem to be certifying, perhaps it's a one off cost for the studio. But honestly, the vast majority of people don't have cool sound systems attached to their computers. Perhaps the games industry is trying to change that?
Isn't one of the technologies that Carmack wants to push with Doom 3, surround sound?
Refuse to make a statement in your sig!
To be THX certified you have to have the sound guys sit in special chairs?
There seems to be a bit of confusion over the part of the article where it says they are told what kind of desk to sit at. "Desk" is audio engineer jargon for an audio mixing board. Thus, it makes perfect sense to be told what kind of desk to use.
Make me a friend and I'll mod you up
Headphones are seriously underrated as sound gear. You get more accurate sound for cheaper than equally accurate speakers, and IMHO it's more immersive, as they filter out outside sound and put the game sound right in your ears.
I use Sony MDR-7506 headphones. They're usually used for monitoring studio recordings, but at $100, they give better sound than any equally or higher priced speaker setup. Mostly because with headphones you don't get room echo, and you can't hear your computer fans whining away as much.
Don't think you can get aurround sound without surround speakers? How do you think that you perceive surround sound with only two ears in the first place? Audio programmers are getting a lot better at reproducing the exact audio cues that we use to perceive surround sound, without the wastefulness of using four speakers to stimulate two ears.
Make me a friend and I'll mod you up
That's all very well and good, cheese-eaters, but I think it misses the bigger point -- that of "who gives a shit?"
Wow. Thanks for the corrections folk. I humbly bow out. (Now don't you wish others would on Slashdot when proved wrong? ;) )
Jeffool.
I knew I bought those klipsh promedia hunk of junks for something!
Look it's a joke about my sig IN MY SIG! LOL!