science

Streaming audio in video games

Streaming audio in video games is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Streaming audio in video games rather than just read about it. In short: In video games, music can be streamed, where the audio is pre-recorded and played back when required. While early video games were restricted to sequenced music, streaming music has become a more viable option as technology has improved.

Key takeaways

Streaming audio in video games belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Streaming audio in video games to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Streaming audio in video games from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In video games, music can be streamed, where the audio is pre-recorded and played back when required. While early video games were restricted to sequenced music, streaming music has become a more viable option as technology has improved.

History

Arcade games Early video game streaming was analog, sourced from a cassette tape inside an arcade cabinet. In the case with certain games that used FMV sequences, or were based entirely upon some type of video like 1983's Astron Belt and Dragon's Lair, carried audio streamed with the video. However, the continued reliance of arcade games on solid-state memory as opposed to optical media resulted in less use of streamed audio until the release of games such as Killer Instinct. This game used a magnetic hard drive with a comparatively high capacity and played back audio streams from the drive. Exceptions included the genre of rhythm games, which, by their nature, number music as an integral feature. Currently, many arcade game platforms are based either on similar home-console technology, or general purpose computers using x86 architecture.

Console games Early console games with streaming audio were on CD-based systems such as the PC Engine CD-ROM² System in 1988, and the CD-i and Mega CD in 1991. With their increased storage size over previous media such as cartridges, streaming audio and video could be added to games. These games typically used Mixed Mode CD audio, similar to audio CDs, except on a Mixed Mode CD, the data and audio coexist. Because of this, many early games with streaming audio can be played in any CD player, although the first track, which typically makes up the game itself, will either not play or result in an unpleasant screeching noise which can damage the listener's speakers. Some of the earliest examples of Mixed Mode CD audio in video games was the Ys series, composed by Yuzo Koshiro and Mieko Ishikawa, and arranged by Ryo Yonemitsu for the PC Engine from 1989. The Ys soundtracks, particularly Ys I & II (1989), are still regarded as some of the best and most influential video game music ever composed. By the fifth generation of video game consoles, the majority of games with streaming audio adopted audio formats other than CD audio, which offered flexibility in sound quality and looping, where a track can repeat seamlessly until it is no longer needed, for example, until the end of a stage.

Computer games Streaming audio in computer games came about with the advent of improved sound cards. Early sound cards had support for playing back sequenced but not streamed audio. It wasn't until Creative Labs's Sound Blaster series, introduced in 1989, that PCs became capable of playing back pre-recorded audio. However, the early Sound Blasters' streaming audio support was not widely made use of, and only with the 1992 release of the Sound Blaster 16, did the use of pre-recorded audio begin to catch on.

Benefits and drawbacks Use of streaming audio does not present any limitations on sound quality, where sequenced music is limited by the number of synthesized voices available and the quality of the wavetable (or sample) used by the sequencer. The instrumentation of streaming audio is limited only by a developer's capacity to record and master the audio. However, this complexity requires that audio streams be much larger in file size than sequences. Also, where sequenced audio can include dynamic shifts, such as additional orchestration during battle scenes, etc., streamed audio cannot. Some games, such as Super Mario Galaxy (2007), work around this by synchronizing sequenced and streaming audio so that additional effects can be added to the streamed music.

References

External links

Stream players foo_adpcm, ADPCM component for foobar2000 in_cube, GameCube stream plugin for Winamp Segu's Tool Box, featuring PSmplay, a media player for PlayStation streams

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Streaming audio in video games

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Streaming audio in video games claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Streaming audio in video games before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Streaming audio in video games ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Streaming audio in video games

In research: Streaming audio in video games appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Streaming audio in video games in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Streaming audio in video games is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Japanese inventions, Video game music technology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Streaming audio in video games outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Streaming audio in video games in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Streaming audio in video games means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Streaming audio in video games out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Streaming audio in video games in simple terms?

Why does Streaming audio in video games matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Streaming audio in video games?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Streaming audio in video games.