What is a Master System? If you’re reading this in English and you owned a Sega Master System you probably didn’t own the most complete version of the Sega Master System. This isn’t idle snobbery: the Machine that was released outside Japan was notably different Read More …
Tag: History of Gaming Sound
I love making sound with old sound chips, but I also love learning about them too. Here are some simple overviews I’ve written about some famous (and not so famous) console sound chips.
32-bit Audio Fight Club: The Saturn, the PlayStation and the End of the Chiptune Era
The first rule of 32-bit Audio Fight Club is that you don’t talk about 32-bit Audio Fight Club. Actually, that’s not quite true: the first rule of 32-bit Audio Fight Club is that…well…you probably wouldn’t even think to talk about 32-bit Audio Fight Club. Or Read More …
“IRQ: 7” – The Complicated World of early MS-DOS Sound Options
Modern games consoles, eh? With their bundled hard drives and insatiable hunger for game patches, they’re effectively just user-friendly PCs aren’t they? Yes, even you over there in the corner, Mr Switch. Hang on though! When you think about it, the inverse is also true. Read More …
In Defence of GEMS
On the whole, sound engines aren’t something people tend to discuss. That’s perfectly understandable really: a sound engine is just a bit of code that allows composers to talk to the sound hardware contained in a console. Even in the relatively niche world Read More …
Zx Spectrum Day: Why should you care about the ZX Spectrum?
For Zx Spectrum day over at Skirmish Frogs, I produced a couple of articles explaining why the Speccy is so important to UK gamers. I thought id combine them both into one super article here so, without further ado, here you go! If there’s an Read More …
An Unsung giant of 80’s Gaming
This company helped define video games throughout the mid 80’s and early 90’s, but you probably wouldn’t think of them as a videogame company. Don’t believe me? Their tech was used in both the Megadrive and the Japanese Master System, but they aren’t anything to do Read More …
The Mysterious Legacy of the SNES Soundchip
It’s a pretty obvious statement that, when it comes to streaming and writing about old video games, some vintage consoles definitely are more popular than others. It’s also true that, when it comes to the chip tuning scene, some hardware platforms are inevitably more popular Read More …