Difference between revisions of "VGM"

From Video Game Music Preservation Foundation Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
Line 4: Line 4:
 
| Developer  =  
 
| Developer  =  
 
| Header      = Unknown
 
| Header      = Unknown
−
| Instruments = Internal
+
| Instruments = Combined
 
| Released    = 2001
 
| Released    = 2001
 
| FirstGame  =  
 
| FirstGame  =  

Revision as of 15:26, 27 October 2014

[[Category: Formats With {{{Content}}} Content]]
Videogame Music
VGM.png
Developer:
Header: Unknown
Content: {{{Content}}}
Instruments: Combined
Target Output
Output - Digital Audio - No.png Output - MIDI - No.png Output - FM Synthesis - No.png Output - PSG - No.png
Released: 2001
Extensions
  • *.vgm
  • *.vgz

The Videogame Music format stores the audio data that is sent to various audio chips used in videogame consoles, arcade consoles, pinball machines, and home computers. VGM takes a different approach than most formats. Rather than house the original sound files (like MIDI / MOD) or the game's extracted audio code (like NSF / SID), VGM logs all of the data being sent to an audio chip. To playback a song, this data is sent to an emulated chip, which, if emulated properly, yields identical sound to the game. To use a piano metaphor, VGM doesn't copy the sheet music, and it doesn't record the played music with a microphone, rather it records the motions made by the hands of the pianist. This approach is the same as DRO and IMF, but for a much wider range of audio chips, VGM could be seen as a superset of those formats.

While this method bypasses having to emulate the countless custom methods that have developed over the years for storing and playing videogame music, it is not without its share of problems. Only the processed data is recorded, not the original files and code. This means that it is not possible to easily edit the music once it's recorded. It also means that each song must be timed by hand since the audio chip never sees the actual start and stop of looping music.

Here's a breakdown on which chips are used by which systems:


Chip

Manufacturer

Devices

AY-3-8910 General Instrument Hundreds of arcade games, Mockingboards Sound I and Sound II, MSX, Oric 1, Colour Genie, Elektor TV Games Computer (Expanded Version)
AY-3-8912 General Instrument Vectrex, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum 128, some arcade games.
AY-3-8913 General Instrument Mockingboards A, C, D, M, and v1, some arcade games.
AY-3-8914 General Instrument Intellivision, Intellivision II
PWM Sega Sega 32x
RF5C164 Ricoh Sega Mega CD
RF5C68 Ricoh System 18 and System 32 arcade games
RP2A03 Ricoh Nintendo Entertainment System
Sega PCM Sega Various arcade games
SN76489 / SN76496 Texas Instruments BBC Micro, Game Gear (with stereo extensions), Mark III, SC-3000, Master System, SG-1000, Genesis
T6W28 Texas Instruments NeoGeo Pocket (variant of the SN76489)
Y8950 Yamaha MSX with MSX-Audio, a few arcade games
YM2149 Yamaha MSX2, Atari ST
YM2151 Yamaha Capcom CPS-1, and Sega arcade games. Sharp X68000
YM2203 Yamaha NEC PC-8801, Various arcade games
YM2413 Yamaha Japanese Sega Master System, Mark III, and the MSX-1 with FM-PAC, VRC7
YM2608 Yamaha NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-9801, Some arcade games
YM2610/B Yamaha Various arcade games, NeoGeo Consoles
YM2612 Yamaha Sega Genesis, FM Towns
YM3526 (OPL) Yamaha Various arcade games
YM3812 (OPL2) Yamaha PC with AdLib or Sound Blaster, and various arcade games
YMF262 (OPL3) Yamaha PC with Sound Blaster 16, and some arcade games
YMF271 Yamaha Some arcade games
YMF278B (OPL4) Yamaha MSX with Moonsound and some arcade games
YMZ280B Yamaha Various arcade games

VGM files with a VGZ extension have been compressed with the gzip algorithm. However, all VGM files on this site will be compressed with the superior 7Z format in order to save space.


Players

(Category)


Editors

(Category)


Converters

(Category)

VGM to ?

? to VGM


Games

(Category)


Links

Retrieved from "https://vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=VGM&oldid=61069"