GameVerb: New vintage 90s verb based on 3 classic video game consoles

I'm pleased to announce the release of GameVerb, the ultimate plugin dedicated to 90s game console reverbs!

https://impactsoundworks.com/product/gameverb/

Representing the authentic sound of the Super Nintendo (SNES), PlayStation (PSX), and Nintendo 64 (N64) reverb algorithms, this is a quantum leap beyond our now-ancient SNESVerb plugin. Here's our quick trailer:

I Don't Play Video Games, What's This All About?

The SNES, PSX, and N64 are home to some of the most beloved video game soundtracks of all time. Programmers of the time used clever tricks and strategies to create lush reverb on very limited hardware, using special algorithms, filters, and delays designed to take as little CPU as possible.

With GameVerb, these ingenious reverb algorithms have been not just emulated, but fully recreated in modern code, giving you the exact sound and control that composers and sound designers of the era had… just a lot more convenient.

If you don't care about or have never played any games from these consoles, think of this as three extremely distinct vintage reverb/echo effects paired with some awesome lo-fi and retro shaping tools!

SNES Mode

The venerable SNES used a deceptively simple delay/echo effect to simulate reverb, which we've modeled faithfully. However, we've also included (for the first time in a plugin, to our knowledge) the FIR Filter from the SNES sound chip. This is basically a primitive type of impulse response (FIR = Finite Impulse Response) which can shape the 'reverb' in all sorts of interesting ways.

I personally went through over 600 tracks from hundreds of classic SNES games to retrieve their exact reverb and FIR settings, which are available in this plugin. So if you want the specific sound of "Aquatic Ambience" from Donkey Kong Country, the opera scene from Final Fantasy VI, or even build your own custom FIR, you can!

PSX Mode

Nine characterful classic reverbs from the PSX: Room, Studio Small, Studio Medium, Studio Large, Hall, Space Echo, Echo, Delay, and Half Echo. These are not simply presets but different algorithms. Use the size, feedback, damping, and width controls to have the reverb sit just right in your mix.

Nintendo 64 Mode

Nintendo’s 64-bit powerhouse didn’t have its own reverb per se. Instead, it provided building blocks that developers used to create their own reverb.

To this end, we’ve included three submodes. Mode 1 is a delay used by many games like the N64 Zelda, Donkey Kong, and Kirby games, among others. Mode 2 utilizes comb filters to recreate the reverbs for over 100 classic games, including Mario Party 3, Super Smash Brothers, and Transformers. The third mode runs the two modes in series.

Tweak the presets or create your own sound using the time, feedback, damping and comb output controls. Or jump into Geek Mode and edit the comb filter parameters down to the last detail.

This is, to our knowledge, the only plugin that has EVER modeled the N64 reverb!

Global Shaping

Expanded global capabilities let you quickly and easily dive further into a vintage, retro sound. Bring more dust and grit to your sound by lowering the sample rate or using one of the five modes of the Bit Rate Reduction filter.

The BRR filters were originally found only on the SNES component, but we made them global for use on the PSX and N64 reverbs as well.

Control how much of the sound gets affected with separate (but also linkable) dry and wet controls and color it with pre- and post- low pass filters.

Created With Love

You can't make a plugin like this without being over-the-top passionate about retro video games, which we are. All of us at ISW have great nostalgia for the 90s era of video gaming, but we also teamed up with audio wizard Jatin Chowdhury again to create/model the DSP, as well as programmer L. Spiro, an extreme technical expert on the N64 (among many other things game hardware!)

https://soundcloud.com/isworks/sets/gameverb-demos

Availability

GameVerb is available now in VST3, AU, AAX, and CLAP formats, with a free trial version available on the page below (periodic light noise) and a 14-day satisfaction guarantee.

MSRP is $49, but existing ISW customers who own related products like Super Audio Cart, inSIDious, or Super FX Vol 1 will find deals waiting for them in their Personalized Deals area.

https://impactsoundworks.com/product/gameverb/

Enjoy!