I think is really important in the games, In the previous generation of consoles (PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox), memory had been sparse enough to impact on the sample rates, or "perceived quality" of the audio content. Games which had a large amount of audio content, such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the PS2, had to make compromises on the quality of their ADPCM audio assets in the game, often resulting in scratchy-sounding assets, such as dialogue. It is certainly the case now, with advancements in audio compression, particularly with the adoption of MP3, Ogg Vorbis, XMA et al, that sample rates can now rival those of a film soundtrack (depending on the amount of content required) on the PS3 and Xbox 360.