VGM (file format)

VGM (Video Game Music) is an audio format for multiple video game platforms, such as Sega's Master System, Game Gear, Mega Drive/Genesis, SG-1000 Mark III, and possibly many others in the future. It is also used by the ProSonic game engine.

The normal filename extension is .vgm, but files can also be Gzip compressed into .vgz files. Technically, .vgz files should be named .vgm.gz, but because some popular operating systems' file managers cannot handle file name suffixes that themselves contain a dot, .vgz is used in order to launch a VGM player (eg. Winamp with the proper plugin) and not a data compression program such as WinZip or WinRAR.

On November 20, 2005, VGM 1.50 was officially announced, and a new version of the input plugin released. The new version of the format now supports PCM optimization for the Yamaha YM2612 sound chip, which makes sound files using the chip a lot smaller — sometimes with over 75% of size reduction. The first YM2612 VGM archive, Project 2612, optimized all of its packages soon after.

See also

• Chiptune

External links

• VGM File Format Official specifications
• Chipamp - Winamp plug-in bundle compiled by OverClocked ReMix allowing playback of over 40 chiptune and tracker formats
• Audacious Media Player - Audacious Media Player is capable of playing VGM files out of the box on Linux/Unix systems. A patch from this webpage is required to enable playback of VGM files that utilize the YM2413 synthesizer, and PSG Master System and Mega Drive/Genesis VGMs are known to work with or without the patch.
• Audio Overload - Another program for playing VGMs. Available on Mac OS X, Windows, and x86/x86-64 Linux.

Template:VG Music Sound Formats