Game Audio Playthrough #46 - Ancient Game Audio

Join us when Jakob Schmid takes us through the audio of antique video games.

The early years of video games, the 1970s and 1980s, were an era of intense innovation in game hardware and software.

Jakob always had a particular fondness for the games of this era, and has often used them as inspiration for his own projects. For instance, the 1981 arcade game Defender was a big inspiration for the music and sound of COCOON.

Together, we will look at a selection of these video game antiques, from the time when sound effects, ambience, voice synthesis, and interactive and adaptive music were first invented for the medium.

The implementation techniques were varied and unique - sound was produced from custom audio chips, software synthesis, discrete hardware components, cassette tapes, or even mechanical percussive devices. We will pick out a few examples of these techniques and go a little deeper into how they work.

We hope the talk will inspire you to look at the earliest video games with new eyes - as inspiration for your future work.

Where: Unity, Niels Hemmingsens Gade 24, 1153 Copenhagen
When: Thursday, January 21st 2026, 18.30 – 21.30

Schedule:
18:00: Entrance with complimentary snacks and drinks
18:30: Presentation by Jakob Schmid
19.30: Break
19.45: Q&A
20:30: Drinks & mingle
21:00: Thank you for tonight. Voluntary afterparty at Wessels Kro

This event is arranged by Game Audio Denmark & hosted by
Daniel Nielsen and Nikolaj de Haan

Check out other events by Game Audio Denmark