I heard MyLifeInGaming also reference how epic it is. Am I missing a reference? It was clever, I'm assuming Joe wrote a song and then used AI to create it, but from all the hype I feel like I'm missing the punchline.
Great Episode! Fun fact. Jake Kaufman composed his music using a VRC6 for the Shovel Knight games. It's really great! I have a modded NES and an original Famicom just for the purpose of music.
“Why did they even bother to include the chip if they’re almost never using it?” - good question, and one thing the internet seems to forget is that most of these chips were first *graphics and memory mappers*, with audio as a _secondary capability_. The Namco 163, for example, expands the program ROM space from 32KiB (stock NES) to 512KiB. Some others, like the MMC5, even allow for mid-frame tile swaps and scroll effects that are not possible with a stock NES or Famicom.
He overlooked the fact that the NES was unable to use audio expansion chips like the Famicom. It's not just that the rest of the world "wasn't ready." While the NES had more pins in the cartridge connector than the Famicom, it was lacking the audio pin.
I will never not love the Castlevania 3 soundtrack. The NES version actually was great for what it was, but I was blown away the first time I heard the VRC6 version.
@@PlasticCogLiquid that’s not why, silly. We would have been so impressed that we’d have constantly dropped our controllers and started clapping. Like when we’re in a movie theater, or when a plane lands. Or after a meal. Or a really satisfying bathroom trip.
Man, these technical episodes just keep getting better. Being able to isolate the individual chip contributions and then comparing them makes a real impact. Well done as always and look forward to the next one.
Wow!!! That ending is pure lunacy, even for you!!! And if that was done with AI, it's the single best use of it ive ever seen. And if not? Then how?!?!!!
He responded to my comment and said he wrote ALL the lyrics. :) And I think we can assume that the music was AI composed to his lyrics. I really hope he does more stuff like that because it was epic. And I mean as a first try even, imagine if he really gets into it. He could put out some retro game themed bangers for sure.
@cajampa yeah, agreed. That's exactly what I thought too. After years of watching, those lyrics were joe through and through! Cheers for confirming that though mate, much appreciated.
The look on your face while you sauntered across the room for another game was pretty epic, not gonna lie. Really made my day. Thanks, Joe. Never change.
The VRC 7 was also used in Tiny Toon Adventures 2, however it was only the graphics and memory management side of things that was used, not the sound. All those chips allowed the Famicom to do things graphical that were not possible stock standard, from vertical scrolling, angle scrolling, animation in the back grounds, all sorts of things, I know it was sound topical, but I think you could have mentioned that also. Lagrange point is an amazing game, it was doing things graphically and gameplay wise that were unseen on the Famicom prior to its release in 1991, it has weapon building and a pretty deep story, a lot of the enemies were actually designed via readers of Famitsu and chosen via competition, also the MMC 5 is based on the VRC 6, those two Hal games were epic, give them some time and remember that you are playing a Famicom when doing so. Thank you for your video.
I just want to say this is the only youtube channel i give a like on every video because Joe isnt an obnoxious like beggar just like every other youtuber. Thank for the quality content all these years.
So there were two separate decisions from Nintendo involved here: 1. No audio pins on the NES cartridge. 2. No third-party chips allowed (games that used a third-party mapper like the VRC6 had to be re-written to use one of Nintendo's chips). Most of the chips that had audio capability were third party, but even Nintendo's own MMC5 had extra audio that unfortunately went unused in the west because there was nowhere for it to go.
Number 2 isn't quite true some Sunsoft, Namco and Konami mappers did make it into NES cartridges. But for number 1 yeah why they would expand the number of pins on the connector but drop the audio pins, there's theory's but no real explanation.
@@schaffiourketaris2691 That's for Japan, the Famicom didn't have a lockout chip and so everyone could make cartridges for it. For the NES, Nintendo decided that they should be the only company allowed to fabricate the cartridges, and so they added those extra restrictions.
Also they moved the pins to the bottom expansion connector because they probably intended to release a Disk System that docked to the bottom. It's likely that they never anticipated that cartridge games with expansion chips would become much of a thing, especially not with extra audio. And of course some of the added pins are for the lockout chip so that the chip on the console can communicate with the one on the cartridge.
@@Nukle0n You beat me, that is what i was about to comment. The external audio pin was relocated into the expansion connector on the botton of the NES, most likely to accomadate an American version of the Famicom Disk System that sadly never happened.
@@Nukle0n Yes Nintendo made all the cartridges but some do have 3rd party mappers for instance Batman return of the Joker and Mr Gimmick use the Sunsoft FME-7 chip.
Expansion audio is one of the reasons I had to get an AV Famicom. Hearing some of these sounds coming out of an 8-bit game is a really wild experience.
I really love the subtle audio enhancements in famicom disc system ganes especially. Also i am very disappointed we didn't get to see joe playing dance aerobics with the powerpad on camera, that would have been incredible
Joe, this summer marks the 10th year since I started watching Game Sack, but this skit is the absolute religious experience. Thank you so much for perfecting Game Sack for us no matter what!
Due to my username, I'm considered an authority on this subject, and I concur, Jesus does in fact love Green dog, as well as Game sack, Joe Redifer, you and even me.
I remember growing up in the early 90s and Id go over to visit my grandparents. I'll never forget walking into my Grandfather's tool shed while he was listening to this old timey jazz song and it really peaked my interest. I asked my grandpa what the guy was singing about and he sat me down and told me about when he was a small boy the number one song was about 16 bit power and Greendog. He told me that naturally, they had no idea what the song was about but they liked it anyway.
7:36: TWOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo 🤣🤣🤣 excellent video, thanks for breaking down all these sound chips and especially each game, love the isolated sound demos too!
Few things I think were not touched upon in this episode, especially noting when the chips are not fully utilized for audio and quipping why even have it: These chips were multi functional, and were Japanese versions of mappers. The added sound capability was just one of many features they provide as they also do same jobs MMC chips do in western games, hence why Akumajou Dracula is powered by VRC-6 in Japan and it needed MMC5 in west. Many of MMC chips were not even used in Japan because the companies had solved the problem themselves with their own chips, and they thought why not go all out during it. So games that might have utilized the sound capability less were likely just modern games that needed modern memory mappers and sound was indeed inconsequential, but the hardware is still there for a reason, they cannot just throw away a fancy enhancement chip that was more or less a requirement for competitive modern Famicom game very much so as in west. It seems the sound capabilities of VRC-7 (Lagrange Point) are very close to expansion audio chips and cartridges Konami produced for MSX2. My source aside I made it the F up is that SD Snatcher (For MSX2, which has it's own audio enhancement cartridge) and Lagrange Point both use exactly same sound effects for menu choice. If I had played more SD Snatcher I would note if any other sounds were the same or extremely similar between the two platforms and games. Namco 163: I think there is omission of two titles here: Pac-Man Championship Edition (For Famicom) and I think likely Gaplus though I cannot make sure. These are both modern and officially digital only. But, M2 handling Namcot Collection/Namco Collection 1 & 2 were such detail and style freaks that they made these (somewhat) new Famicom games to match and use Namco 163, or at least, Pac-Man Championship Edition does. It utilizes the sound capability to make extremely good BGM for the game. Gaplus has less BGM but the soundscape is much richer than in other Galaxian/Galaga titles on the system. While digital, these titles work fully on actual hardware with expanded audio if you sacrifice a namco163 game for your reproduction, or use a flashcart that has expansion audio simulation capability (and if using western NES system, right kind of hardware modification to the console)
If I owned a retro gaming store I’d have all your videos playing endlessly on a vintage TV. Keep up the excellent content. You are dying breed of entertainment and among the best informative retro gaming YT channels. Always look forward to your next episode.
26:59 Okay, say what you want about the game itself, but you have to admit- that is some TENSE music to be playing during a Mahjong game! It sounds like something that would play when a killer is about to be unveiled in a murder mystery.
You didn't cover digital devil monogatari 2. The ethereal sound of that game slaps hard, it also really nailed the sound of smt games as a whole in 8 bit
one cool thing about gimmick's soundtrack is some of the most distinctive tones are just clever programming of the 2A03 - the 5B isn't actually doing that much! since they didn't recode the music for the unexpanded release (just removed the 5B tracks and left everything else as is) that version is missing a lot of potential. i believe some people have made new versions of those songs with just the 2A03 to demonstrate just how much more could have been done to make the loss of those extra channels sting less
They recoded. The 5B was doing many of the sound effects on it's own before. I had a section in there with the Famicom on it's own and it's not identical to the NES release, but I removed it because it was getting annoying with that section being played so many times in a row.
That last song the singer reminds me of John Fogerty. Now I wish Creedence Clearwater Revival made a Thunder Force 3 song. John Fogerty's voice singing about blowing things up would have been amazing.
That Namco 163 was *criminally* underused. It could have made Turbografx-16 audio commonplace on the Famicom, but got relegated to some beeps and buzzing in most games. There are some fan works that make much better use of the chip- for example, there are at least two fantastic N163 covers of Metal Squad (from Thunder Force IV). Raijin's version sounds like a high-end TG16 game, but ballandpaddle somehow manages to even top the Genesis version!
Fun fact about Dream Adventure: There's a rather vulgar easter egg that requires waiting _OVER AN HOUR AND A HALF_ before a code can be entered to show it. After beating the game, just sit there on the final image. Eventually, it turns black and white, then sepia, then after almost an hour later the music stops, press 🅰+🅱+ START + SELECT + ⬅ on controller 1 and 🅰+🅱+➡ on controller 2 to start some music, press 🅱+ SELECT +➡ on controller 1 and 🅱+↘ on controller 2 to play Hidemushi's first message, after the first message, press 🅰+🅱+⬆ for one last message. That's quite a long wait, isn't it? Even sped up in an emulator, it'd probably still take you half an hour waiting depending on how quickly the device you're using is able to fast forward. I've only seen a video of this message in Japanese. I wonder if the translation patch has it too?
Thank you Joe, again u r super serving me what I want! I have everdrive pro N8 and I modded my NES so it actualy plays the expansion audio, so this is just the info I need to know what games to play to take advantage! The biggest one so far is japanese Castlevania 3, it sounds so amazing I cant believe it
Great episode and topic choice! NES audio (inc. expansions and DPCM) was one of the subjects that cemented my nerdy interest in games and gaming tech (you know, as opposed to just playing the games like a normal person). By the way, SanGokuShi is just the Japanese version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so you don't need fan translations!
The answer to every "why they even bothered" in this video is that the chips were used as mappers first. I guess they had a huge stock of them and didn't mind putting them in games that didn't really use the audio functionality. Also you missed Megami Tensei II
JRPGs from the Famicom/Nes era were still not as popular in the west. They started to get some popularity in the Super Famicom/SNES era but exploded in popularity with the Play Station 1 and Final Fantasy VII
@@FIXTREME oh I know 😀 it’s just one of those iconic lines that always sticks. Mark is back on actually. I’ve seen some videos on the CGR channel. Now he has like a never ending live feed on there lol
The Namco 163 was effectively a repurposing of the audio chip Namco developed for their early 80s arcade games like _Pac-Man, Galaga_ etc., which itself was few years ahead of the norm for those years. It says a lot that it was _still_ giving some of the best audio on a console through most of the 80s. The chip, or rather the emulation of said, was officially used one more time when Namco put together their Famicom de-make of _Pac Man Championship Edition._
"Hey, Joe. What are you listening to? Blues?"
"Nah, Greens."
GREEN DOGS
What about reds, peppa pig reference
Hands Down, One of Best if not the best End Skits ever! GameSack rules!
I heard MyLifeInGaming also reference how epic it is. Am I missing a reference? It was clever, I'm assuming Joe wrote a song and then used AI to create it, but from all the hype I feel like I'm missing the punchline.
All timer of an end sketch in this one. Absolutely brilliant. The VRC6 rendition of the Game Sack theme was great too.
Wow that ending was superb! Am impressed to see that Joe has an entire 1950's gospel church at his disposal!
This is probably the peak of AI generated music
@@Xydako I don't care if it's AI generated music, I want a copy of that record!
@@emerje0 praise greendog, yes!
@@emerje0I need a 45 of this right now
Great Episode! Fun fact. Jake Kaufman composed his music using a VRC6 for the Shovel Knight games. It's really great! I have a modded NES and an original Famicom just for the purpose of music.
Yeah same, I just had to have the ability to hear the extra sounds.
That guy rules, really beautiful work on that game
Is he the same guy who did the awesome music for Double Dragon Neon?
Great game that Shovel Knight. Love the soundtrack,"especially " le dance macabre "
Wait Kaufman made Shovel Knight music? It makes so much sense now.
“Why did they even bother to include the chip if they’re almost never using it?” - good question, and one thing the internet seems to forget is that most of these chips were first *graphics and memory mappers*, with audio as a _secondary capability_. The Namco 163, for example, expands the program ROM space from 32KiB (stock NES) to 512KiB. Some others, like the MMC5, even allow for mid-frame tile swaps and scroll effects that are not possible with a stock NES or Famicom.
He overlooked the fact that the NES was unable to use audio expansion chips like the Famicom. It's not just that the rest of the world "wasn't ready." While the NES had more pins in the cartridge connector than the Famicom, it was lacking the audio pin.
Nothing better than getting a fresh game sack on a Sunday!
Quickest click I’ve ever done! Thrilled to see Famicom expansion chip stuff finally covered.
The song at the end is amazing.
Oh Lordy, that song at the end was mighty good!
That end song was fantastic. Expanded audio really enhances Game Sack.
The song at the end was the best religious experience I’ve ever had on a Sunday
16 Bit Power! Ohhhh Lord help us allllllll! 😅
By the preacher Blast Processor himself.
Testify Brother !
Amen!
Lord, give us our daily bits.
I will never not love the Castlevania 3 soundtrack. The NES version actually was great for what it was, but I was blown away the first time I heard the VRC6 version.
Castlevania music is the best
I have a "mixed" ROM that combines the Japanese and English versions, and has all the expansion audio. Emulators handle the extra audio just fine.
Japan knew we couldn't handle that kind of sound here in America. It would have scared us.
@@PlasticCogLiquid that’s not why, silly. We would have been so impressed that we’d have constantly dropped our controllers and started clapping. Like when we’re in a movie theater, or when a plane lands. Or after a meal. Or a really satisfying bathroom trip.
Man, these technical episodes just keep getting better. Being able to isolate the individual chip contributions and then comparing them makes a real impact. Well done as always and look forward to the next one.
Wow!!! That ending is pure lunacy, even for you!!! And if that was done with AI, it's the single best use of it ive ever seen. And if not? Then how?!?!!!
He responded to my comment and said he wrote ALL the lyrics. :)
And I think we can assume that the music was AI composed to his lyrics. I really hope he does more stuff like that because it was epic.
And I mean as a first try even, imagine if he really gets into it.
He could put out some retro game themed bangers for sure.
@cajampa yeah, agreed. That's exactly what I thought too. After years of watching, those lyrics were joe through and through! Cheers for confirming that though mate, much appreciated.
The look on your face while you sauntered across the room for another game was pretty epic, not gonna lie. Really made my day. Thanks, Joe. Never change.
I love that you’ve been covering game audio so much recently! Thanks for all the content Joe
That was the greatest skit you’ve ever done. That song was amazing.
These transitions are next level. Always an A+ production at Game Sack. Keep up the good work.
i have always wondered what akumajou densetsu would sound like if played in a normal NES thank you for finally satisfying that curiosity
that transition at the end of the aerobics game was mildly nightmare inducing. I think she got banished to the shadow realm.
One! Twooooooooo...
Please consider making the end skit it's own short. It deserves it.
The VRC 7 was also used in Tiny Toon Adventures 2, however it was only the graphics and memory management side of things that was used, not the sound.
All those chips allowed the Famicom to do things graphical that were not possible stock standard, from vertical scrolling, angle scrolling, animation in the back grounds, all sorts of things, I know it was sound topical, but I think you could have mentioned that also.
Lagrange point is an amazing game, it was doing things graphically and gameplay wise that were unseen on the Famicom prior to its release in 1991, it has weapon building and a pretty deep story, a lot of the enemies were actually designed via readers of Famitsu and chosen via competition, also the MMC 5 is based on the VRC 6, those two Hal games were epic, give them some time and remember that you are playing a Famicom when doing so.
Thank you for your video.
I just want to say this is the only youtube channel i give a like on every video because Joe isnt an obnoxious like beggar just like every other youtuber. Thank for the quality content all these years.
That outro was amazing dude.
Loved the AI composed song, I bet you wrote most of the lyrics though. I want to see full goofy episodes like this.
I wrote ALL of the lyrics. :)
@@GameSack Yeah, I am not surprised. You have to do more content like that. Looking over the comments it seems we all loved it.
I'm always excited when Joe gets his Sack out.
join the club
LGB
The premise of Madara must be a nod to Tezuka's Dororo... one doesn't easily forget the idea of a cursed, limbless caterpillar baby!
So there were two separate decisions from Nintendo involved here: 1. No audio pins on the NES cartridge. 2. No third-party chips allowed (games that used a third-party mapper like the VRC6 had to be re-written to use one of Nintendo's chips).
Most of the chips that had audio capability were third party, but even Nintendo's own MMC5 had extra audio that unfortunately went unused in the west because there was nowhere for it to go.
Number 2 isn't quite true some Sunsoft, Namco and Konami mappers did make it into NES cartridges. But for number 1 yeah why they would expand the number of pins on the connector but drop the audio pins, there's theory's but no real explanation.
@@schaffiourketaris2691 That's for Japan, the Famicom didn't have a lockout chip and so everyone could make cartridges for it. For the NES, Nintendo decided that they should be the only company allowed to fabricate the cartridges, and so they added those extra restrictions.
Also they moved the pins to the bottom expansion connector because they probably intended to release a Disk System that docked to the bottom. It's likely that they never anticipated that cartridge games with expansion chips would become much of a thing, especially not with extra audio.
And of course some of the added pins are for the lockout chip so that the chip on the console can communicate with the one on the cartridge.
@@Nukle0n You beat me, that is what i was about to comment. The external audio pin was relocated into the expansion connector on the botton of the NES, most likely to accomadate an American version of the Famicom Disk System that sadly never happened.
@@Nukle0n Yes Nintendo made all the cartridges but some do have 3rd party mappers for instance Batman return of the Joker and Mr Gimmick use the Sunsoft FME-7 chip.
Expansion audio is one of the reasons I had to get an AV Famicom. Hearing some of these sounds coming out of an 8-bit game is a really wild experience.
That ending tho
The ending skit was absolutely fantastic. Well done
The episode I was truly waiting for. Thank you for all the free content you put out. It’s stellar stuff.
Godlike that song was godlike. Sounded like i was listening to a 70s ccr song. Seriously whoever did that needs a raise
I'm guessing AI generated but who cares it's amazing
Great song at the end! Very authentic sounding
I like the A and B comparisons and then combining the tracks. That made it so much easier to pick up on the additions. Thanks again, Joe!
I really love the subtle audio enhancements in famicom disc system ganes especially.
Also i am very disappointed we didn't get to see joe playing dance aerobics with the powerpad on camera, that would have been incredible
How has no one mentioned how awesome the fm intro was?
Came here to say that! So cool!
💖
Joe, this summer marks the 10th year since I started watching Game Sack, but this skit is the absolute religious experience.
Thank you so much for perfecting Game Sack for us no matter what!
The music in the sketch is so good.
JESUS LOVES GREENDOG 🎶🔥
Due to my username, I'm considered an authority on this subject, and I concur, Jesus does in fact love Green dog, as well as Game sack, Joe Redifer, you and even me.
I remember growing up in the early 90s and Id go over to visit my grandparents. I'll never forget walking into my Grandfather's tool shed while he was listening to this old timey jazz song and it really peaked my interest. I asked my grandpa what the guy was singing about and he sat me down and told me about when he was a small boy the number one song was about 16 bit power and Greendog. He told me that naturally, they had no idea what the song was about but they liked it anyway.
Damn, that ending... how did you even...?????
I think it's AI generated "era" music. :) There are a few places that have some "style" songs that have fart or (insert body part) themes :-)
Welcome to the AI world. In 10 years we wont be able to know whats real or fake in the internet.
The voice sounds very much like generative AI.
If it's AI, it's a damn good use of it.
7:36: TWOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo 🤣🤣🤣 excellent video, thanks for breaking down all these sound chips and especially each game, love the isolated sound demos too!
They drop videos at 2 am eastern every now and then 😂 I enjoy game sack to fall asleep too sometimes
I mean it makes sense, it's midnight in his time zone.
Weirdly powerful songs. Gotta go get Greendog... And a cursed turntable.
THEY’RE MY SOUNDS, AND I WANT THEM NOW
CALL 877-SOUNDNO
(…stupid number limitations….)
I have a cash annuity and I need sounds now
🎶Call J Joe Redifer, 877- Sack Now🎶
Namcot was the label that Namco used for home releases in Japan, until early '95.
i`ve always wondered why? thanks☺👏
Few things I think were not touched upon in this episode, especially noting when the chips are not fully utilized for audio and quipping why even have it:
These chips were multi functional, and were Japanese versions of mappers. The added sound capability was just one of many features they provide as they also do same jobs MMC chips do in western games, hence why Akumajou Dracula is powered by VRC-6 in Japan and it needed MMC5 in west. Many of MMC chips were not even used in Japan because the companies had solved the problem themselves with their own chips, and they thought why not go all out during it. So games that might have utilized the sound capability less were likely just modern games that needed modern memory mappers and sound was indeed inconsequential, but the hardware is still there for a reason, they cannot just throw away a fancy enhancement chip that was more or less a requirement for competitive modern Famicom game very much so as in west.
It seems the sound capabilities of VRC-7 (Lagrange Point) are very close to expansion audio chips and cartridges Konami produced for MSX2. My source aside I made it the F up is that SD Snatcher (For MSX2, which has it's own audio enhancement cartridge) and Lagrange Point both use exactly same sound effects for menu choice. If I had played more SD Snatcher I would note if any other sounds were the same or extremely similar between the two platforms and games.
Namco 163: I think there is omission of two titles here: Pac-Man Championship Edition (For Famicom) and I think likely Gaplus though I cannot make sure. These are both modern and officially digital only. But, M2 handling Namcot Collection/Namco Collection 1 & 2 were such detail and style freaks that they made these (somewhat) new Famicom games to match and use Namco 163, or at least, Pac-Man Championship Edition does. It utilizes the sound capability to make extremely good BGM for the game. Gaplus has less BGM but the soundscape is much richer than in other Galaxian/Galaga titles on the system. While digital, these titles work fully on actual hardware with expanded audio if you sacrifice a namco163 game for your reproduction, or use a flashcart that has expansion audio simulation capability (and if using western NES system, right kind of hardware modification to the console)
Amazing episode! Congrats for the end skit.
If I owned a retro gaming store I’d have all your videos playing endlessly on a vintage TV. Keep up the excellent content. You are dying breed of entertainment and among the best informative retro gaming YT channels. Always look forward to your next episode.
Your videos can always make a day better. Always such consistent quality, thank you Joe 🙏
Actually saw Greendog in a local game shop loose cart, and made me think of Joe 😂
GREEEEEEENNDAAAAWWWWGGG
26:59 Okay, say what you want about the game itself, but you have to admit- that is some TENSE music to be playing during a Mahjong game! It sounds like something that would play when a killer is about to be unveiled in a murder mystery.
I love everything about old audio chips. Great episode (as always).
This end skit was goated. Everytime I think I've seen it all, you surprise me again and again.
Dude this was hands-down the very best ending skit in a LONG time.
You missed the most impressive N163 audio enhanced game. Megami Tensei 2.
You didn't cover digital devil monogatari 2. The ethereal sound of that game slaps hard, it also really nailed the sound of smt games as a whole in 8 bit
Seriously, that end sketch is something else. An instant classic, and in my top 5!
This was amazing.
I always knew Famicom sound expansions but never fully heard them
The GameSack show is like a good wine that you savour and have a good time!
Oh I knew that end scene had a Greendog lurking in there!!! LOLOLOLOLOL
Joe, you really got to run the Japanese titles by Google Translate speech. The way you were saying 'moe' as 'mow' in English, my sides 😂
And deny you some quality laughing time? Never! :)
I chuckled at the hand to ear thing u did when briefly talking about the fds games
this should be an upload on Sound Sack
What an incredibly well put together ending sketch. Thanks for that!
Nice haircut brother! Keep on keepin' on! Love me some Game Sack
OH it’s Joe with a haircut! I thought he managed to get BRAD PITT to guest host an ep /grandmacomment
😊😊 really tho, looking forward to good Joe!
one cool thing about gimmick's soundtrack is some of the most distinctive tones are just clever programming of the 2A03 - the 5B isn't actually doing that much! since they didn't recode the music for the unexpanded release (just removed the 5B tracks and left everything else as is) that version is missing a lot of potential. i believe some people have made new versions of those songs with just the 2A03 to demonstrate just how much more could have been done to make the loss of those extra channels sting less
They recoded. The 5B was doing many of the sound effects on it's own before. I had a section in there with the Famicom on it's own and it's not identical to the NES release, but I removed it because it was getting annoying with that section being played so many times in a row.
That last song the singer reminds me of John Fogerty. Now I wish Creedence Clearwater Revival made a Thunder Force 3 song. John Fogerty's voice singing about blowing things up would have been amazing.
Video game publishers investing in hardware for the sole purpose of making a game more immersive. What a time to be alive.
That Namco 163 was *criminally* underused. It could have made Turbografx-16 audio commonplace on the Famicom, but got relegated to some beeps and buzzing in most games.
There are some fan works that make much better use of the chip- for example, there are at least two fantastic N163 covers of Metal Squad (from Thunder Force IV). Raijin's version sounds like a high-end TG16 game, but ballandpaddle somehow manages to even top the Genesis version!
I’m gonna rip that last song to hear while gaming.
That ending skit is one of my favorites now, I need that song to listen to when I drive.
Fun fact about Dream Adventure: There's a rather vulgar easter egg that requires waiting _OVER AN HOUR AND A HALF_ before a code can be entered to show it. After beating the game, just sit there on the final image. Eventually, it turns black and white, then sepia, then after almost an hour later the music stops, press 🅰+🅱+ START + SELECT + ⬅ on controller 1 and 🅰+🅱+➡ on controller 2 to start some music, press 🅱+ SELECT +➡ on controller 1 and 🅱+↘ on controller 2 to play Hidemushi's first message, after the first message, press 🅰+🅱+⬆ for one last message.
That's quite a long wait, isn't it? Even sped up in an emulator, it'd probably still take you half an hour waiting depending on how quickly the device you're using is able to fast forward. I've only seen a video of this message in Japanese. I wonder if the translation patch has it too?
Thank you, Dave. Finally, my life has meaning, now that I have heard the beeps and screeches that were missing from it.
12:42 Nice scanlines and bubble effects. Yeah, we noticed. Thanks for the nice touch.
Know what *other* sound we've been robbed of? The OG intro fart sound.
I could imagine that some of these sound chips were also implemented as anti piracy devices.
Thank you Joe, again u r super serving me what I want! I have everdrive pro N8 and I modded my NES so it actualy plays the expansion audio, so this is just the info I need to know what games to play to take advantage! The biggest one so far is japanese Castlevania 3, it sounds so amazing I cant believe it
What a good video, talking about sound chips that i didnt know it exist, thanks gamesack for that info!!! Just in time for me
What an awesome LP!! Thank you kind Sir!! 👏👏👏🍻💥🍻😄
Great episode and topic choice! NES audio (inc. expansions and DPCM) was one of the subjects that cemented my nerdy interest in games and gaming tech (you know, as opposed to just playing the games like a normal person).
By the way, SanGokuShi is just the Japanese version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so you don't need fan translations!
OMG Joe! That was AWESOME 💪🏿💪🏿💪🏿 Great work on the end skit as always!!!🎶🎶🎶🎵 Music is a key to the heart ❤️
My favorite end skit ever
You're missing out, Joe. Gimmick is definitely one of the top 10 best games on the NES.
"Jesus Loves Greendog" had me in stitches.
What an ending, Joe. Outstanding. Greetings from the Czech Repblic. Love your channel.
The answer to every "why they even bothered" in this video is that the chips were used as mappers first. I guess they had a huge stock of them and didn't mind putting them in games that didn't really use the audio functionality. Also you missed Megami Tensei II
Love when I get home late on a Saturday and there's a Game Sack waiting. Thank you 💙
Its a shame the Esper Dream series and LaGrange point never came out to the US
JRPGs from the Famicom/Nes era were still not as popular in the west. They started to get some popularity in the Super Famicom/SNES era but exploded in popularity with the Play Station 1 and Final Fantasy VII
I've been watching since the beginning and the skit at the end of this was, hands down, the best. Joe, well done mate. And while I am here, thank you.
The soundtrack to Lagrange Point is such a surprising experience that it's almost criminal that Konami never officially released the game in the U.S.
Joe, the end skit for this one has to be your best ever. I couldn't stop laughing! Loved it.
Greendog forever……..Also long live Truxton
Truxton?! Wrong channel 😂 What ever did happen to Mark
@@FIXTREMEhes making content again. He does livestreams
@@FIXTREME oh I know 😀 it’s just one of those iconic lines that always sticks. Mark is back on actually. I’ve seen some videos on the CGR channel. Now he has like a never ending live feed on there lol
That end number was superb. Hats off for that performance.
The Namco 163 was effectively a repurposing of the audio chip Namco developed for their early 80s arcade games like _Pac-Man, Galaga_ etc., which itself was few years ahead of the norm for those years. It says a lot that it was _still_ giving some of the best audio on a console through most of the 80s. The chip, or rather the emulation of said, was officially used one more time when Namco put together their Famicom de-make of _Pac Man Championship Edition._
Best end skit EVER! Thanks Joe!
That ending skit was insanely good I would love to add that song to my Spotify playlist for chill out songs
"Thunder Force Ⅲ from TecnoSoft
Into the trash Greendog will be tossed"
🔥BARS🔥
I love this musical Gospel ending !! Joe, you're a really talented person. Thanks !
Gamesack is a rare gem in a cesspool of gaming shit. How it only has 303k subscribers I'll never understand.