5 ms·
Probably a little nostalgia. The SMS sound chip is one of the cheapest and most primitive jellybean sound chip of the era (only 3 square waves, noise and no env
by epcoa 11mo ago
Probably a little nostalgia. The SMS sound chip is one of the cheapest and most primitive jellybean sound chip of the era (only 3 square waves, noise and no envelope generator either). That isn’t to say appreciating the art of doing more with less isn’t valid. It’s sort of like a MS Paint type of thing though.
- allenu 11mo agoI agree. I had an SMS growing up and always noticed the music sounded "cheaper" than the NES, almost childish. I think it really was just the square waves making everything sound the same. The NES had more interesting output with its triangle and sawtooth wave output and it gave it more edge and character.
- mr_johnson22 11mo agoThe NES' own sound chip didn't have a sawtooth channel, but some games had an onboard sound chip that added one, like Konami's VRC6: https://www.nesdev.org/wiki/VRC6_audio https://www.nesdev.org/wiki/VRC6_audio
- djmips 11mo agoIt may not have had a sawtooth but it did have the DMC (sample channel) which although very quirky could create a lot of variety - and used melodically to give you, for instance, a sampled bass - or drums - or an orchestral hit!
- dvzxcvsadfasdf 11mo agoThe Japanese Mark III had an available Yamaha FM expansion kit that could sound pretty great. US-based gamers couldn't listen to the soundtracks at the time, but emulators and whatnot make it possible to experience today.