Heavenly Sword has 10GB of sound data alone
by Colin Torretta 
{ Aug 14th 2007 at 8:00PM }
Tom Covin, the audio lead for Ninja Theory, explains why they've put so much time and effort into their music and sound effects, "For me, sound is very 'immediate' to the player. Music has a well-established cultural language; sound is much less clearly delineated – but you can get straight to someone's emotional responses with it – there's little time for the brain to analyse. Sound is key in making this awesome weapon – the Heavenly Sword – come to life so you can sense its brooding power and almost hear it feeding off each kill."
The Develop article delves in deep into the sound theory and technology that was used in the development of Heavenly Sword and is a great read for those interested in some of the behind-the-scene machinations of one of the PS3's most anticipated titles. If only September would come a little quicker ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
GL @ Aug 14th 2007 8:12PM
Well, xbox360 could always just compress it and reuse audio tracks for that "real next gen experience."
LOL!
Magma @ Aug 14th 2007 8:14PM
Yep @ 1.
miglaugh @ Aug 14th 2007 8:22PM
Haha... thats the first time I've seen that pic... I guess they know who their audience is. It's a little hard to look anywhere but the middle for some reason... can't quite nail down why. :P
GL @ Aug 14th 2007 8:26PM
miglaugh,
Nariko must work out?
SkeetSkiLee @ Aug 14th 2007 8:33PM
@3 miglaugh
I know! i cant stop looking at her cannon... hahha so freak'n huge =]
John @ Aug 14th 2007 8:38PM
I'm very impressed so far with what these people are doing, they're obviously pouring a ton of quality creativity into this piece. I am curious how sound will be used other than music-- from what Covin said, I'm imagining, rather than JUST sounds of battle and sword slashes and all there is some ambient background tone, as the sword gains power, or something, something curved sounding, like a whale sound, but lower, more complex. Something like the monstrous sound they're using in the previews for that movie that doesn't say it's name but it has this humongous warped woven sound that is gritty and tonal, a very strange assemblage of timbres bringing to mind something powerful and hardly contained, if at all.
While I like the pic (nice butt) her stance is correct for showing her butt and the backs of her legs, not for holding a weapon, or just finishing using a weapon.
If Nariko is going to pose like that, it should be a pose, intended in the same vein as those of rock n roll stars. If she's just gotten through using a massive gun, it's more likely her feet would be spread and her weight distributed differently.
GL @ Aug 14th 2007 8:48PM
Magma,
Did you miss my sarcasm? Maybe I should be more upfront next time... :)
I just trying to beat all xbot comments to the punch. Here's another...
DVD9 IZ TEH FUTUR3! :P
clavian @ Aug 14th 2007 8:49PM
That picture is awesome.
Magma @ Aug 14th 2007 8:50PM
Did you miss what I actually meant? ;p
naruto007 @ Aug 14th 2007 9:09PM
omg what a nice a$$
sorry couldnt help it have to said it XD
GL @ Aug 14th 2007 9:10PM
KsE 79,
Are you new to this site? You sound like it. Any controversial PS3 story gets infested by xbots!
Live and learn...
Ruben @ Aug 14th 2007 9:18PM
You can still play it on 360, 3 dvds #1- Part one of the game #2 Part 2 of the game #3 All the sounds and music that weren't on the other parts
mccomber @ Aug 14th 2007 10:20PM
It's not that BluRay is really needed yet; it's just that it's really, really nice to have. There's a bit from Epic saying the same thing in relation to UT3.
Now, I'm pretty sure needed will arrive sometime in mid 2008... then we'll see what BluRay truly offers gaming.
Matt B @ Aug 14th 2007 10:38PM
This and Lair may get me to buy 7.1 Surround. You never hear of gamers talking about sound. I mean yeah, get the TV first. But sound is the other level of immersion. I may have to invest soon.
*rubbing chin evilly*
GL @ Aug 14th 2007 11:07PM
@14
I agree mccomber. "Needed" is subjective. Especially early on in the PS3's lifecycle. But it becomes more valuable the longer the PS3 is on the market.
mccomber @ Aug 14th 2007 11:20PM
Agreed Matt B, sound seems to be overlooked by gamers too much. I miss my 7.1 setup. I think that was something I noticed not just about gaming this generation, but also about several BluRay movies; it just plain sounds much better, so much fuller.
Scott Krueger @ Aug 14th 2007 11:33PM
KsE 79
You are Full of it.
The 360 Drones Flood this Site because they have some insane need to discredit any console that does not have a 25%-30% Failure Rate.
If your PS3 is so Useless... Can I have it?
All joking aside, I also Have a 360 and I am the Opposite. I don't Buy for my 360 anymore because I am not going to let Microsoft Shaft me Next Gen with their Poor Excuse of Backwards Compatibility. I cannot afford to Throw away another Library of games and cannot keep 2 generation of consoles on my entertainment center.
GL @ Aug 14th 2007 11:59PM
Hey e-girl. Did you even read the article. Uncompress audio wasn't even mentioned in the article. Specialized and unique (proximity based) audio was mentioned. Uncompressed audio is just one factor.
As far as 2009. Remind me what disc format the 360 will be using in 2009? Hmmm?
PWND!
clavian @ Aug 15th 2007 12:20AM
I don't care what gaming machine you own, denying that games will eventually (some have already started) require more space than a DVD is akin to arguing the world is flat. Since when is DVD going to be sufficient forever? People's ignorance on this matter is astonishing.
mccomber @ Aug 15th 2007 12:31AM
Huh. I love how to apparently different people both used the exact same "5.5 waiting to happen" phrase.
Either you xbox fans really do think alike, or one person's desire to troll this site is extra pathetic.
Anthony Pittarelli @ Aug 15th 2007 12:53AM
hey there could be an "Audio Only" version if they use the hd add on! lol
Hoffer @ Aug 15th 2007 1:05AM
When I see stories like this, it makes me wonder. Are they using 10 GB of space for audio because they have to or because they want to fill up more of a Blu-ray disc to justify its expense. I mean, 10 GB is more than a DVD-9 disc can even hold.
Pat @ Aug 15th 2007 1:09AM
@ 18
Sony is limiting their backwards compatibility. So stop the MS bashing.
As an audio engineer, you sure as hell could compress that audio a lot and not loose quality.
Oh and have we heard anything on load times? Now not only are you loading the engine, models, textures, AI, and everything else you have a massive amount of audio. They need to bump the read speeds of blu-ray drives otherwise you'll be waiting forever.
Michael @ Aug 15th 2007 2:46AM
10gb of SOUND EFFECTS?!? Isn't that a bit excessive?
GL @ Aug 15th 2007 3:08AM
@24
Pat
What's the load times on Oblivion PS3 vs 360? Ever head of steaming? SPUs? HDD? The Blu-ray is great a constant data rates too.
Stellarpimp @ Aug 15th 2007 5:00AM
@24. Did you know PS3 has the ability to install the game on the HDD just like a computer? Ninja Gaiden Sigma is prime example of this. This method drops the load times a great deal.
Jeffrey @ Aug 15th 2007 5:02AM
#19 how was that pwned when the next xbox comes out its going have a blu ray drive
sony owns
superaktieboy @ Aug 15th 2007 5:30AM
lol the 360 will never be able to do this, unless its on multiple dvds, and please dont say i find it ok that its on multiple dvds coz its not, and i know you are saying that just because you love your 360 so much. but before in old gen (thinking about Final Fantasy IX) they may have been on multiple dvds but then there was no other solution, that was the only solution!! at least i have never liked to have multiple dvds for console games (and never bought any game with multiple discs for consoles) but i would say, in the current generation there is a solution (BluRay, HD DVD) but only companies that also think about the customers wont be afraid to test stuff (in this case Sony adding BluRay) and without testing you wont come anywere (BluRay outselling HD DVD 2:1)!!
greetz
Xa31nov1s @ Aug 15th 2007 6:21AM
What's the Xbox 360 going to use in 2009? DVDs; all that's particularly needed for five to six years until the 360's successor rolls around. THEN it will become a necessity for the most part.
As of right now, I just don't see the logic in making a game so large that it takes up nearly all of what a BluRay disc has to offer, and, at the same time, have a developer and publisher that would be naive enough to believe they would still make a profit off of something so massive and time consuming; especially when it's on a console that doesn't start with an 'X' or a 'W'.
10GB of audio can be compressed with relative ease. And the exclusion of the idea of compression by the author of this article adds some humor to it's very existence. How so? If, say, the author would've mentioned the idea, it probably would have made this entire argument about BluRay being a necessity this generation moot.
Call me an Xbot, I really couldn't care less. Yes, I have had my 360 die on me once, but what did that mean? Well, it meant that I went without games (my 360 games, at least) for about two weeks, but once I got it back I was playing plenty of good games. This is ironic because, say, if I had a PlayStation 3 instead, there wouldn't be any games to play on it even though it was working just fine!
Honestly, I'll take a somewhat ambiguous console (360) over a console that 1. Has no must-have games; 2. Has not lived up to the hype and promises; and 3. Is on a clearance sale (PS3).
Naaiif @ Aug 15th 2007 6:50AM
And 4. Has the greatest possible future out of all the consoles.
5. Is the most likely to bring us true next gen games in the future (FF13, FF VS 13)
What do you think games are going to look like Gears of War forever?
If anyone actually researched the matter and looked at past trends in the gaming industry, they'd know that the average size of games triples by the end of the consoles life cycle.
Just look up the difference between GTA III, and GTA San Andreas.
coplice @ Aug 15th 2007 9:19AM
@32
gears of war will become a PC games soon, same will eventualy happen to halo
you dont need a 360 to play 360 games, sure you get them later but there is thousand of games to download and play on PC while you wait hahaha
Edge @ Aug 15th 2007 9:53AM
You are suckers for Sony. They are showing you how "justified" sneaking a Blu-ray into your console is by giving themselves an easy target.
Basically, you blindly trusted Sony to set up a stuffed toy crocodile and then have you pay to watch them wrestle it. You people are pathetic. Blu-ray... is... not... necessary. They don't need 10GB of audio. This is a waste of processing power and disk space.
I can't stand arguing against ignorance. Yet I keep checking this blog.
Andy @ Aug 15th 2007 10:08AM
"This is a waste of processing power and disk space."
Last time I checked audio doesn't use that much processing power.
For someone without 7.1 surround sound this isn't really that great of news to me.
N0M4D @ Aug 15th 2007 11:17AM
- Blu-Ray is nice to have. Any X360 fanboy that denies it would be in, well, denial!;
- Sony deliberately pushed it to consumers with the PS3. Seeing as they originated the format themselves, that’s understandable;
- 10 GB of audio is… interesting. Still, I don’t think anyone needs a PhD in the field to figure they could’ve done virtually the same thing in a fraction of the diskspace;
Now let’s all just play nice and wait for a review for the thing – I’m hoping this game lives up to all the hype. ‘Might be the one that makes me get a PS3. In a few years’ time. When it’s come down to 200$ :-P
Broken Haiku @ Aug 15th 2007 11:25AM
Speaking of languages, try the Swedish language setting for the Heavenly Sword demo, it's bugged out and you get the English dialogue with clicks and stuttering instead.
mccomber @ Aug 15th 2007 11:37AM
"...it's bugged out and you get the English dialogue with clicks and stuttering..."
Have you ever heard Swedish people talk?
Chameleon @ Aug 15th 2007 12:24PM
@32 no it's not too much to ask:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Xbox_360_games
and to be fair and just ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_3_games
now then, 'can't we all just get along'?
Chameleon @ Aug 15th 2007 12:28PM
my apologies, forgot one ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wii_games
adogg @ Aug 15th 2007 2:07PM
UHHHHH just compress the audio into a smaller format and ummmmm lower the bitrate and then you can fit that puppy on a normal DVD or if you dont want to take away quality SFX you could release an English version and a Japanese version instead of putting every language on one disk!!!!
Ghaleon @ Aug 15th 2007 3:30PM
Wow, 11 languages of uncompressed audio (and almost no one has the equipment or the ear to tell the difference). This site is great, you should just merge with ThreeSpeach already.
Not that BD space will never be necessary -- but this is just more smoke and mirrors.
MYPS3KilledMy360 @ Aug 15th 2007 3:57PM
isnt ID releasing a FPS/driver game that has over 80gigs of sound when uncompressed surely that trumps this 10gig and there not even 1st party i wounder where there gonna put the rest of the game.
Byron517 @ Aug 15th 2007 7:03PM
Its impressive and it's just the beginning to show what the blu-ray can hold!! Just imagine when dev's can figure out how to fully utilize the disk to it's limit! OMG Say what you wanna say but Blu-Ray is gonna destroy here in the NEAR future!! Honestly Xbots you can talk all the shit you want too but Go ahead and dish that 150 for your HD-DVD player Go ahead and pay for online when ours is being Constantly upgraded to match if not at one point pwn Xbox live! *cough cough* HOME!! I mean God Damn!! I have both systems but I'm a gamer and as a TRUE GAMER I go for whoever is going to give me the best and not have to keep dishing hard earned money for *upgraded systems* like the Elite just to keep up!! That's BS! Yeah I paid 600 for my system but hmmm look at what I get in ONE price then having to buy "add ons!" Your right though.. Sony lovers are idiots... The ones that actually bought a Xbox LMAO I'll just trade mine in for MSG4,Haze,Warhawk,Heavenly Sword.. Awwww nothing like Gamespot Credit!!
Byron517 @ Aug 15th 2007 7:11PM
@42
Ok... It's obvious you don't know anything about marketing so let me take you to class... welcome to 101!!
1st The PS3 is REGION FREE!!! Hence anybody... And I mean ANYBODY!! Can buy ANY DISK FROM ANYWHERE and play it on their PS3 so... what that means is HS is smart they put multiple languages on their disk to appease all gamers of all differnet cultures and backgrounds! Something that hasn't been done before! *COUGH COUGH* NEXT GEN hello!!! This will allow poor Akmid Hammad over in God knows where kick ass and not have to play his video game while looking at an english dictionary! LoL I mean this is just the tip of the iceberg.. It allows for so much more.. basically it gives Dev's a NO LIMIT on what to create.. It's bascially giving a painter unlimited amount of paint and paper and say "GO AT IT! CREATE!" How is that not NEXT GEN???? Come on.. give credit when it's due ok?
Consolcwby @ Aug 15th 2007 11:24PM
Okay, allow me to reiterate the one obvious thing that separates the "BD FTW!!!" crowd from the "BD SUXXORZ!!!" crowd: The first group have home theaters. The second group do not. Anyone with any real knowledge of audio compression will tell you that as soon as you start compressing ANY sort of data, you begin to lose fidelity. Arguing that BDs are unnecessary reminds me of people who argued that CDs were unnecessary and that the only difference in quality was the loss of fidelity of going digital. This was back around 1982-83, people! Try going into a music store and check out the vinyl vs. cd sections of the store - and tell me who was wrong! Uncompressed digital audio is going to be the defacto standard of HD media within 2-3 years - whether you like it or not. Only to a child would that seem like a very long time... and children can't afford adult toys now, can they? On a good to excellent 7.1 reciever, there is a HUGE difference to the quality of uncompressed audio as compared to compressed 5.1 audio. I could hear (and see) the difference between my DVD copy of The Terminator and both 5.1 and 7.1 uncompressed audio versions of my BD copy. Make no mistake, home theaters aren't for everyone... just like the 70's, some people still bought new B&W televisions and cheapass record players - even though most people had color TVs and quadraphonic stereos. It seems to be the same now: Most people will have excellent hometheatres costing under $1100, but some will still have stereo SD TVs and a small CD/MP3 boombox. IN THE USA: If you're under 18 or have a very low paying job, none of this matters to you. Until 2009, because when the FCC's ruling comes into effect - SD broadcasting will be a thing of the past. That's right, in Feb of '09, the NEW standard is 720p HDTV with 5.1 audio for over the air broadcasting! (Even if congress defers this ruling, expect this to happen WITHOUT anyone's consent - local and national broadcasters have already begun to phase out existing technology, and when the switch happens - ALL SD PEOPLE WILL BE LEFT IN THE COLD.) Like it or not. =/
flameofdoom666 @ Aug 16th 2007 1:26AM
"1. Well, xbox360 could always just compress it and reuse audio tracks for that "real next gen experience."
LOL!"
haha, I agree! :-)
Byron517 @ Aug 16th 2007 7:17AM
@46
HA very well said!!
Chameleon @ Aug 16th 2007 10:34AM
damn byron, you're either very angry or very excited ...
Byron517 @ Aug 16th 2007 11:53AM
Chameleon
No I'm just angry at people that are extremely closed minded! I mean I love video games, I've been playing video games since Atari *sorry can't spell* LoL I don't take sides because I just want good games on good systems! If Xbox comes out with something kick ass that's awesome!! If PS3 comes back and comes out with something better AWESOME!! As a gamer you want these companies to go at it because in the end who benefits is US THE GAMERS!! We get good quality games!! The only thing that has really pissed me off about Xbox is I feel they rushed their system a bit... no built in HD-Dvd drive? pay for online play? I mean they will have to compete with HOME soon!! Just look at what Sony has done for the moment, their system is well built it doesn't crap out on you HOME is turning out to be something extremely cool and it's FREE!!! I just feel Microsoft is pulling gamers on the $ and people are blind... Oh well... you live you learn, I have one and it's collecting dust.. I'll trade it in before the value goes down any further!