benbenkr
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2013
- Posts
- 379
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- 49
To those of you asking if virtual surround is possible on the new consoles? It's BEEN possible for over a decade; the game developers just don't feel like implementing it! DICE is the only one who even tried with BF3, and that was after the audio travesty that was BF:BC2.
I suspect the same trend will continue on the current generation with console manufacturers only providing stereo mixes for the headphone outputs on the gamepads, maybe offering virtual 7.1 at best like Sony does on their wireless USB headsets.
Why else would they require PS3/PS4 firmware updates to work, going by the listed requirements? I bet it's mixed right on the console CPU, in which case they could do so much better than virtual 7.1 if they'd just set the groundwork for native 3D audio! They probably don't enable it on other USB audio devices to make it a headset selling point, too.
I believe the new consoles have the audio processors only to take the DSP calculation load off of the CPU. The final mix for headphones will likely be subpar at best without the game developer going the extra mile to code a native headphone binaural mixing option.
The other issue; there aren't enough pure headphone gamers in the console market. Over 70% of console gamers (this is a rough statistic, but it could certainly be less) still play with audio from their TV, so go figure why devs would bother with the time, effort and money to hire proper audio engineers to add a feature where only a minority uses. And also, many gamers don't care or know what HRTF is.
Of course, the slightly good news is that headsets and headphones has been gaining sales and is on the rise over the last few years. Everyday, there are more gamers starting to switch to headsets/headphones instead of sticking with the TV only.
It'll take a big push from someone like Sony, to tout that binaural is for real (ooh pun!) and market it to the masses who don't know what it is. Then and only then I would see devs start to take the innitiative to implement native HRTF like you said, right out from a game. Otherwise, it's only going to happen to a few niche games here and there over the next generation.