   
|
||
 August 1, 2006 Home Theater Gaming 2006
Almost. Lately, my Xbox has spent a lot of time in my system, and if you want to talk about a completely fun experience, this is it. Until you’ve played a console game in surround sound, you don’t know what you’re missing. The games are now so advanced and the sound so dynamic that it’s almost like being there -- wherever there is. So while the hi-def boom is pushing our hobby more toward video than audio, console gaming is a great way to take advantage of your surround-sound system. Some of my best gaming experiences have been with the various war games. The sounds of huge, room-shaking explosions and gunfire whizzing by my head add another dimension to the game. This quality is best demonstrated by Ghost Recon 2, a game spinoff from Tom Clancy, author of many popular books, some of which have been turned into good movies. The player is given the task of leading a squad of "Ghosts" -- highly trained commando units very similar to the Navy SEALs in concept, and using the most advanced weapons available. The game consists of 15 missions, with the ultimate goal of stopping a rogue North Korean general from detonating a nuclear bomb. Sounds as if it’s been lifted from today’s headlines, huh? I crawl through the tall grass in the middle of the night while thunder rumbles all around me. The surround sound puts me there with realistic effects: drops of rain fill the surround channels as thunder shakes the room. My comrades, too, creep through the grass, their every movement accurately replicated through the front speakers. Unexpectedly, out of the right front speaker I hear the voice of an enemy soldier alerting his compatriots to my presence. He sees me before I see him, and all hell breaks loose. There’s gunfire from every direction, and my squad’s weapons fire from the rear speakers as we fight for our lives. This explosively (literally) exciting game brings me as close to battle as I ever want to get.
I’m enveloped by the sounds of cars as I scream around the track. In my rear-view mirror I see my buddy approaching me from behind -- the sound of his engine slowly fills the surround channels as he gets closer and closer. When he reaches my rear bumper, the subwoofer shakes the room and the sound of his engine pans from left rear to right rear as he jockeys for position. As he passes, I slam into his side and crowd him into the wall. (I take on another personality when I get behind this virtual wheel.) The sounds of metal on metal, then the crash of metal into wall, then a massive collision of cars -- but these sounds quickly disappear as I drive away, leaving it all behind in my dust. This game can make a NASCAR fan out of anyone! (Maybe . . .) In fact, it’s so visually accurate that NASCAR drivers themselves use it to train for certain tracks.
Playing video games isn’t just for kids any more, and I’ve never grown out of playing them. If I had, I would have really missed out. With the future of gaming hinging on new waves of hi-def technology and increased disc capacity, the outlook is brighter than ever. Games will become more intricate than anyone can now imagine. Hopefully, their creators will not only use the technology’s expanded capability for better graphics, but for even better sound as well. While a three-dimensional picture is pretty to look at, without good surround sound it’s still only two-dimensional. ...Randall Smith
|
||
|
With high-definition video dominating
today’s home-electronics landscape, the possibilities of the average living-room
system are growing by leaps and bounds. Not only are consumers willing to shell out
thousands of dollars for a flat-panel television, many are also willing to splurge a
little more for a home-theater surround-sound system. Whether they buy a small
home-theater-in-a-box or spend a bit extra for a more advanced A/V system, the capability
is there for a real movie-theater experience. The experience of watching a movie in your
home, on a system you’ve spent your hard-earned dollars building, can be very
rewarding. Isn’t that what it’s really about?
NASCAR 06: Total Team Control
brings me close to a very different real thing. While I’m not a big racing fan, I do
live in the South. This means that I know just enough about certain NASCAR drivers to
negotiate my way through a conversation. NASCAR 06 has made me more of a fan. My
college roommate and I have battled hours on end, and have held many a grudge over the
playing of this game. The game has always provided the simple fun of racing against a
friend, but the addition of surround sound provides a very authentic experience as well:
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006 is a
hoot. While it doesn’t provide loud explosions, it still has a lot to offer. The game
is visually stunning, and the landscapes are accurate down to the finest detail. The
position of the sun in the sky, the shape and undulations of the greens, are all
re-created in my home theater, and the surround sound fits in nicely with ambient sounds.
Whether it’s the howling wind or a bird sitting in a tree and singing, sounds are
located precisely in the soundfield. You can turn the golfer around in circles, and the
sounds pan with him around the room -- an effect you can’t appreciate while hearing
this game through television speakers. While the sound of Tiger Woods PGA
isn’t as dynamic as that of Ghost Recon 2 or NASCAR 06, it’s still
a valuable addition to the atmosphere.