Video game sound quality

Like alot of people these days I have my video game systems hooked up to a home theater setup. One thing that I have noticed is that most Neo Geo games have god-awful sound quality. I'm not even going to mention that sphro(?) stereo on the older games. While the newer games don't sound as bad as a Sega Genesis, they do sound shitty. The fist system to have decent sound was the SNES (Space Megaforce's explosions). And from there things have steadily improved. The games that have the best sound quality IMHO are from Capcom. They used to do the Qsound on alot of their older fighters and shooters on the Dreamcast and these games sound fantastic. Most of the games on the PS2 sound superb as well. I am so thrilled with the news that XBOX games are going to be encoded with Dolby Digital 5.1 discete surround sound. This development will usher in a new era of video game excitment. I can hardly wait! For those of you who don't understand just what this means I will break it down for you. When you go to see a movie you are hearing discrete surround sound. Now imagine that kind of sound in your video games. Explosions that will shake the house. Sound coming from behind you to warn of a sneak attack. All the speakers in your home theater bursting with sound as you jump into hyperspace! This is going to be so fucking cool!
Anyways, what video games do you think have the best sound and are you excited about 5.1 sound in future video game?

The Neo sound could definitly be better, some games sound a lot better than others though.

Agree.
Neo should sound much better.
I don't have newer A/V cable so I can't make any comment.

The worst sound I've ever heard is Genesis.
SNES was amazing when I played Actraiser first time in my life.

PS and PS2 are alright.
DC is cool.

The only Capcom game that felt like a step back in the sound department was Marvel vs. Capcom 1. Compared to X-Men vs. Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Street Fighter this game sounded absolutely horrible. Sound quality was down the drain.

I must say that the recent KoF series have some great sounds... the multitudes of voice samples is a great example. If you have a decent speaker system (you don't even need a home theater) KoF doesn't sound all that bad.

BJMFH, I can completely understand where you're coming from. But a few things to keep in mind:

1) I assume that your Neo system is modded with right and left RCA stereo outputs? If you're running your stereo sound out of the headphone jack, it WILL be a LOT worse. Also, if you haven't had the stereo mod done and are running mono from the regular Neo output, that's also a lot worse. You didn't mention if you had the stereo mod . . .

2) The Neo hardware is about 12 years old, cut it some slack!! I bought my home cart system in 1990, and the MVS came out in 89 I think, so you need to recognize that for its time, the sound quality is EXCELLENT!! Actually, there are quite a few games that sound REALLY good on the Neo, and yes I have some monster Klipsch speakers and also surround speakers all around my room. Great Neo soundtracks include the Metal Slug series (especially MS3!), MOTW, Last Blade 2, Shock Troopers, Alpha Mission II, and many others.

3) Obviously, for your pumped up sound setup, newer systems are going to sound better. Dreamcast games have excellent sound, there are some killer soundtracks and sound effects in many of the games. I too am very excited about the X-Box hardware specs, and I think the sound from it will be AWESOME. As for the POS2, so far I'm passing on that system . . . not worth it. Maybe when it drops to $149 I'll think about it, but for right now, no way is it worth 300 freakin' bucks!

I have not had the stereo conversion done to my Neo Geo and am still using the headphone jack to get stereo sound. But in my limited experience that shouldn't have much of an effect on the sound quality.
My system consists of
5 M&K S-150 (THX Ultra certified, the same speaker they used in the production of Star Wars Episode 1)
2 Velodyne HGS-15 subwoofers (1250 watts rms,3000 watts peak)
Pioneer VSX-TX 27 (THX Ultra certified)
Monster Cable to connect everything
Now I aint sayin that my system is all that because it isn't. But my system does produce a very neutral sound quality. What this basically means is garbage in, garbage out. If something sounds like shit my system makes no effort to enhance it. It remains true to the source material. If something has been well recorded it will be played back as such, if not then the weaknesses of the recording will also be revealed.
Perhaps I was being a bit harsh on the old Neo but overall most games do sound like trash. Or mabey I've been spoiled by all the well recorded Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks that I listen to. I'm not saying that Neo Geo games do not have good sountracks or cool sound effects because they do. The sound is just running on dated technology hindering the quality. It's like listening to an old 8 track that you really like. The music may kick ass but it can still sound like shit.

Chimpmeister, I am glad to see that someone else shares my passion for quality audio. Klipsch makes some of the best speakers out there. I had a chance to audition a pair (don't remember the model) at a stereo shop and was blown away! Most magazines have given their various models rave reviews. I may consider them when I upgrade. From what I understand they produce audiophile quality sound for thousands less than say, Martin Logan, Snell, or Nautilus.
The only that sucks about liking video games and stereos is that it gets so fucking expensive! <IMG SRC="smilies/glee.gif" border="0">