To end this month of "Burnout", I thought it might be fun to reinterpret the theme title and take a look at the sound design for a classic series of racing games that bear the same name. So allow me if you will, to take you... back in time! The year was 2001. It was the year the gaming world debuted the gruff yet dulcet tones of Max Payne. It was the … [Read more...]
Xbox One & Windows 10 Get Dolby Atmos
Xbox just announced that, starting next year, Dolby Atmos will come to Xbox One & Microsoft 10 PCs & Tablets. At Team Xbox, we are all gamers first, and bringing Dolby Atmos support to Xbox One and Windows 10 gaming next year will bring you even further inside the action and sound of your favorite titles. A big thank you to the team at Dolby for their partnership; … [Read more...]
Rewind…Audio Implementation Greats #3: Crackdown – Realtime Worlds
In the run-up to this month's reverb theme, former contributor Damian Kastbauer suggested we re-run this article he put together discussing the game Crackdown for XBOX. The article may be two years old, but the content remains undeniably relevant. Never one to ignore good suggestions, here we are... One area that has been gaining ground since the early days of EAX on the PC … [Read more...]
Exclusive Interview with the Audio Team of "Alan Wake"
Alan Wake is definitely one of my favorite games of 2010, both for the game itself and for the sound of it, which is really detailed and interesting from start to end. The game was just re-released via Xbox Live’s “Games On Demand”, complete with all eight episodes (6 from the boxed game plus 2 from DLC), so there's no a better time to revisit the amazing audio experience of … [Read more...]
Audio Director Mike Keogh on the sound of "The UnderGarden"
GameSpot has published a new post on their Sound Byte blog, this time an interview with Mike Keogh, audio director at Vitamin-G, developers of "The UnderGarden". The UnderGarden was initially described to me as a casual, Zen-like game that's similar to something like Flower or Flow. Tom Mc Shea recently reviewed the game, which you can read here, and highlighted the dynamic … [Read more...]
More About the Sound of "Crackdown 2"
The October's issue of Developer Magazine is now available in the official website. This time, our beloved "Heard About" section includes an article about the sound of Crackdown 2, with Kristofor Mellroth, who we interviewed some days ago. When Kristofor Mellroth enrolled at music recording school in 1995, he probably never dreamt that in just a few year’s time he’d be heading … [Read more...]
Alan Rankin on the Sound Design of "Alan Wake"
Alan Wake is one of my favorite games of this year. This dark story really intrigued me. The sound work is also fascinating, and for that, here are a couple of thoughts from Alan Rankin (Soundelux), sound design supervisor of the game. Supervising Sound Designer and Academy Award-nominee Alan Rankin headed a team of sound designers who, under the direction of Microsoft Game … [Read more...]