FIFA 14 | Amazon Pre-Order price extortion

image courtesy of Amazon.co.uk

So two days ago we saw Amazon post up pre-orders for both Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's Playstation 4 at a staggering £599.99. From what I've seen its not been well received by the community.

Now they're predicting games at £89.99... what's next? If the prices are anywhere near these Amazon extortions... I could well be moving over to PC gaming permanently


Thanks for reading,

Rob Tyler
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How it Sounds | Dear Esther

Image courtesy of Dear-Esther.com

Dear Esther was originally released as a mod for Half Life 2 having been built in the Source engine. It rapidly drew attention to itself and became a critically acclaimed experimental first-person game. Dear Esther was created by Dan Pinchbeck, writer and producer of, the seven person team, The Chinese Room. The reasoning behind this unusual game was to show what a video game really can do.

"Dear Esther is a poetic ghost story told using game technologies. You explore a deserted island, uncovering a tale of love, loss, grief and redemption, delivered through stunning voice-over and soundtrack and set against one of the most beautiful environments yet created in a game." (Dear-Esther.com)

I personally picked up a copy from the 2013 Steam Indie Spring Sale, for around £1.50, as per recommendation from fellow author Achidi Frick. He often informs me of any interesting soundscape/sound design/audio in video games thanks to my near obsession with it. I have to thank him once again for my introduction to this beauty.

Moving away from the stunning visuals, you can see those yourself just from searching the game and from the images within the article. We are looking toward the beauty in the Sound. I will say that although Jessica Curry's score is exceptional and superb for the game, I'm probably not going to discuss it here on out as I want to focus on the diegetic and non-diegetic sounds excluding the score/soundtrack, the true Sound Design.

Image courtesy of Strategyinformer

From the blustery coast to the dank caves, Dear Esther stimulates the ears not quite like any game I've experienced before. As we enter the world we can do nothing other than wander it, searching for scraps of prose to unlock the horrors that preceded us. The coastline beginning opens us up to the wind whistling by and the waves crashing below.

After just over 2hours of gameplay I came to the conclusion that the environments of Dear Esther are built on stereo location recording for the ambience, the 'room tone' if you were. This became apparent as I rotated the protagonist showing no change in directionality from the wind and sea. The same occurring later in the game as we find ourselves in a labyrinth of wet caves. The dripping never really seems to come from anywhere but the environment is just producing it. I'm not saying this is/was a bad approach, what better way to replicate reality than sample it? The only element that dropped me back into reality was the lack of directional variation. Apart from that it really does sound like you are at the seaside.
Yet again the abandoned shack at the beginning of the game really did feel drafty... superb capture of an environment and extremely immersive.

Footsteps. The only real downfall in the audio department. I didn't feel they were a big enough focus. It seemed as though the developers simply assigned a cycle of footstep samples and left it at that. Textures didn't seem to influence the tone of them and there was no impact on the acoustical space.
As you walk through a cave you hear your crunching footsteps around you, the sound bouncing off the surfaces back to you. This doesn't happen within the experimental game but the footsteps seemed slapped on top. Perhaps they were more of an afterthought?

Image courtesy of Dear-Esther.com

Despite the mild let down in the foot department, the voice was incredible. Nigel Carrington gave a compelling performance throughout this indie title. Well suited to the passages of prose it was well recorded, processed and mixed into the game. Plenty of punch and low end and enough rasp to create the eery British tone that Dear Esther wreaks.

Dear Esther isn't brand new, the full title was released in 2012 with the original mod about in 2008. I'm grateful The Chinese Room experimented with video gaming. Not just making a generic shooter. They thought about it, took care in their sound to make realistic sounding virtual environments and acoustic spaces. I am forgiving of the slight let downs in the game as it is only an Indie game. Hopefully instilling inspiration into indie developers to take time in their games. Dear Esther may only be 2hours long but its detail and unique depth have made it one of the modern greats.



Thanks for reading,

Rob Tyler
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Rant: Survival

Shinji Mikami's coming up with The Evil Within. A new Resident Evil's coming out. Both are classified as survival horror. ... Well, I'm a little skeptical about Resident Evil, considering their recent track record.

Anyway, let's get back on track. I had a little talk on the web with someone recently (let's call him Person A for referencing's sake), and to my amazement, he has a "new" definition for the survival genre.

Ready? Here we go... *cough*

Most games are in the survival genre. *WHAAAAAAAAAAA*

Alright, here's the thing. He stresses that most games have the survival element in it, and I can't refute that. Action-adventures, RPGs, FPS'es.... EVERYTHING. The point of the game is to achieve something without dying.

Makes sense, doesn't it? 

NOPE, NOT TO ME. And here's my two cents on why.

In deciding a genre, the main components of the game decide where it belongs. If the core of your game is about shooting, it's a shooter. If the core is about action, it's an action game. Though there may be overlapping elements with games from different genres, this does not change its core element.

Take for example Metal Gear Solid. It... :

• is played from a third-person POV, with first-person view available
• uses guns and some form of physical combat
• requires the player to not die and accomplish objectives
• has some form of action elements in it

By the logic of Person A, the game belongs in the 3rd person fighter, FPS, survival-action game, because there are elements of those genres in it, but the game is classified as a stealth-action game. Why?

Metal Gear Solid centres around you stealthily sneaking around enemies and avoiding detection. The game was MADE with the idea in mind that the players will utilise stealth and action sequences to be sneaky. The other elements in it, such as survival, close-quarter combat and shooting are all secondary elements of the game. Yes, the elements exist but they do not make up the core of the game.

Using that train of thought, survival games' core would be about surviving then, right? What is surviving to you? Take that, and make it the core of the game. 

Survival to me means enduring hardships and barely making it out alive. The earlier Resident Evils had players put in a situation where ammo is limited, and there are tonnes of enemies out there to kill you. PlagueOfGripes' video makes this point, where ammo restriction forces the players to make decisions on whether to have a short-term benefit or a long-term benefit. The game wants you to feel the pain of surviving, the harshness of the elements that are against you. 

Sure, pitting me against a mob numbering in the thousands while I am in possession of a ton of weapons and ammo is still challenging and my survival is challenged, but that probably doesn't happen often enough for the game to be listed in the survival genre. And, if anything, that game is testing my shooting abilities above all else.

I think game developers are mostly not stupid. Surely, they create games and label them in a genre for VERY good reasons. Why would they label, say, a game like Mortal Kombat under the survival genre? Yes, Person A's logic would dictate that it is a game about surviving, and taking his stance, you are saving the world on a global scale too. It totally fits the survival genre then! But the creators of the game intended Mortal Kombat to be ABOUT fighting. It is a fighting game. A. Fighting. Game. Damnit.

Don't get me wrong, I see his logic but I think Person A fails to see the bigger picture here. Games are placed under certain genres because it is intended to appeal in that market. Secondary, minor elements of the games are still there, but these things are not what make the game super appealing, although it may be interesting.

Alright. Rant. Done.

Xelthius, out.

Xbox One & Playstation 4 | Pre-order for £599.99

Image courtesy of Amazon.co.uk

I spluttered.

Amazon have enabled consumers to pre-order both Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's Playstation 4 for a staggering £599.99. Along with this they have posted a disclaimer (as shown in the screenshot above) stating that "There are no official prices announced for Xbox One products" and their pre order price guarantee will mean you are charged the lowest price on release. But seriously?


£599.99


That is a hefty sum Amazon are predicting the next generation console to price at on release. We saw the Xbox360 priced at £279.99 in 2005. We here at V | G | A are predicting the Xbox One between £300-£400 way below Amazon's bold prediction. Then again it could work out well for both Sony and Microsoft to see the reaction from the community in time for E3. The Playstation 3 hit UK shelves March 2007 at £425 to uproar, perhaps we're in for a shock or (hopefully) a pleasant surprise come E3.

What are your thoughts?


Thanks for reading,

Rob Tyler
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Small Speaker | What Playstation 4's Dualshock 4 brings to the table

Image courtesy of Vamers.net

Being an audio guy, the most noticeable feature of the Playstation 4's Dualshock 4 controller is the small speaker implemented into the front of the handset. I'm intrigued yet apprehensive as from my experience with small speakers it doesn't bode well for this one. I can only hope for good things to come from it.

If you have ever had a go on the Nintendo Wii then the speaker implemented within the Wii remote is probably what springs to mind as you gaze between the PS button and new multi-gesture touchpad at the home of the Dualshock 4's speaker. Upon first impressions I really want the speaker to work for Sony but dread that the results are going to be tinny and a mere novelty.

Scott Rohde, SVP, Product development featured in Sony's video as they unveiled more features of the Dualshock 4. His speaks on the controller having a speaker; "That adds a lot of dynamic sound when you are in a shooter for example and you've got bullets whizzing by you"and also that "more personal and intimate elements will come out of the controller"
I can see clearly why they have implemented a speaker into the Dualshock 4, the next generation is bringing the experience out of the box (TV) incorporating other elements into next generation gaming.

If we move away from the hardcore gaming such as the First Person Shooters, Third Person Shooters and Action-Adventure titles and toward more arcade/indie games for more casual gamers and younger audience's perhaps the integration of the speaker will work nicely. Some gentle touches say from collecting a specific item in a platformer to alerting the player when it is their turn (much as the Wii remote does) may be what the main intention of the speaker is for. Catering for a wider audience than that of the 18-34 male demographic.

As we look ahead to E3 in June I am curious as to the implementation of this mystery speaker within the gaming experience. If the response isn't that of a corded telephone it should be a promising feature for Sony.


Thanks for reading,

Rob Tyler
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Who said what now? | Xbox One and Kinect 2.0 Speaker Recognition

Photo courtesy of RockPaperShotgun.com

As the details regarding Microsoft's latest console 'Xbox One' remain hazy, my flatmate posed the query, as I am sure many have considered;

When you are playing it would be really annoying if someone in the room said "Xbox, go home" and you were taken out of your game to the Xbox One homepage.

My first thought was surely the multi billion dollar company, that is Microsoft, probably had someone point this idea out... otherwise they are going to be a bit in shock. The next thought progressed me into thinking about this from an audio engineer's point of view, (This being my training and not just a hobby of mine). If you consider your voice and all your friends voices, it's quite rare that you will have similar voices right? Therefore the Kinect should detect the increased frequencies in one persons voice compared to the next.

For example someone with a nasal toned voice has a boost in the mid-range frequencies (800Hz - 2kHz) where as his friend has a deep voice with prominents around the 250Hz - 500Hz range.

If the Kinect can analyse these voices as they're coming in and assign a voice to one of its persona slots it should be able to keep track of who is saying what. We were shown at the Microsoft unveiling that upon saying "Xbox On" the Xbox One will start up and log in the profile of whom said the command.

"The physiological component of voice recognition is related to the physical shape of an individual's vocal tract, which consists of an airway and the soft tissue cavities from which vocal sounds originate. To produce speech, these components work in combination with the physical movement of the jaw, tongue, and larynx and resonances in the nasal passages. The acoustic patterns of speech come from the physical characteristics of the airways." (Biometrics.gov | Speaker Recognition, 2006)

So as we look ahead to E3 (11th-13th June 2013) we can expect to see a lot more from the Kinect 2.0. I can only assume something along the lines of speaker recognition will be incorporated as the new Kinect can now monitor up to 6 bodies at any one time. Then again these things are never perfect, my brother and I both have quite similar voices so perhaps there could be some issues there...


Thanks for reading,

Rob Tyler
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The Future of Acoustic Space Simulation?

I don't think one can avoid the fact 2013 is seeing the 4th Generation of games consoles hitting home come winter.  PC fans are right to point out that both the Xbox One and Playstation 4 specs meet up with that of a mid-range PC's capabilities. But we cannot disregard that this will endeavour the standard of gaming to be a lot higher than that of the 3rd generation.

So lets go back... way back to Half-Life 2 and the days of 2004. HL2 received 39 game of the year awards and is to be considered one of, if not, the best game of all time. It brought us from limping cave gamers into First Person Shooter (FPS) galore. Not only were the visuals like nothing we had ever seen. The audio had actually had a decent budget assigned to it.
We hear our protagonist's footsteps ebb out from under us, varying as we walk from concrete to wood, to concrete, to cardboard. I've said it before and I'll say it again... it's the little things.
We're not stuck in mono. As we look around sounds radiate from their point source, increasing and decreasing in amplitude as we change our distance to and fro said source. Now we're wielding a handgun and pulling off shots in a room. The walls are made of plaster board and we're getting the slap-back of our gunfire coming back to us (these are referred to as early reflections) followed by a decaying reverb (formed from the combination of the late reflections from the rooms surfaces) It's 2004 and you're in awe and for what feels like the first time, an immersive experience is upon us.

Cue another one of the greats: Battlefield 3. Released in October 2011 from DICE incorporating the Frostbite 2 game engine. Having received over 60awards to date BF3 is also considered one of the best FPS of all time. Not forgetting the praise that has gone to the Sound Design in this game. I've played BF3... a lot! My reference headphones are that of Sony MDR7506's and I made my analysis of BF3 with them on. The gunshots are incredible, sound localisation is terrific, voice acting superb and distance effects great. My only beef is that... the acoustic space simulation isn't far beyond that of Valve's Half-Life 2.

...

Although I do not have the direct insights into the methods DICE use for their audio in the Frostbite 2 engine I can assume it is using Cell based approaches in order to compute the reverberations. This means the games levels are broken up into sections called Cells, for example, you have an alleyway and an auditorium, these will be split into two Cells. From there the acoustic simulation is processed on each cell individually creating reverberation for that environment appropriately. Here is an image courtesy of Crytek looking at the cell based approach in Crysis, their incredible release of 2007:

Crysis, 2007

This is a highly popular technique used in video games over the last decade and you're thinking 

"yes this is a good idea, it calculates the correct reverberations appropriate in each sector."

"It's sounding really good in Battlefield 3 as I'm shooting inside this big room"

But the issue comes when we transition between two cells... If your front door is open you can hear the birds and road traffic coming in through the open door. Within cell based games this rarely does occur, as you pass through the door the environment will change from acoustic space A to acoustic space B. Within BF3 a crossfade effect occurs as you pass through the portal into the new acoustic space. This was a obscenely noticeable for me and brought me right back to reality as I realised I was actually playing a video game. 

So what is the future of acoustic space simulation? 

Well, the big game companies are holding their cards very close to their chest. The only response I seem to be able to get is that of Indie developers whom are more than happy to share their information. Where would we be without them?

But as my undergraduate thesis is based on Dynamic Acoustic Space Simulation I have come across some great examples of work from Masters and PhD students in my research. One of which is a 'Directionally varying reverb' which means anywhere the player stands in the game will have a different reverberation effect just as it does in real life. I would gladly delve deeper into this but I fear this article has dragged on. So check out this video and skip along to 3:35 to hear the comparison between their reverb algorithm and the one currently in the Half-Life 2 engine.

I leave you with a quote from a contact in the audio department at Krillbite studios;

"I see the gameplay and physics as the inner body, skeleton and gooey stuff, lighting and visuals as the appearance and audio as its personality(or the twinkle in the eye)."

                                                                                - Martin Kvale

Thanks for reading,

Rob Tyler
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