With Sonic City down with the flu, I’ve decided to add the next Richard Jacques SST article to the main blog instead.  This time I invited Richard to tell us a bit more about some of the technical aspects of his work on SEGA Superstars Tennis (which is out of course on March 20th).  Over to you Richard:

From the beginning of the project, the producers of SEGA Superstars Tennis were keen to have all the classic music from the various franchises produced in surround sound. This was a superb decision and so I started to make a list of all the classic tracks that would need mixing in surround.

As the latest consoles all support one form of surround or another, coupled with the fact that home theatre systems are now comparatively cheap and widely adopted amongst the gaming community, this was a great move by SEGA to be so forward thinking and accept nothing less than the highest audio quality for the title. So myself, and SEGA producers Warren Leigh and Ben Barker started to get together a list of the tracks that needed mixing in surround. This was already a fairly daunting task since the game involves so many classic franchises, and therefore a lot of the music associated with a particular character or franchise.

When all was said and done we ended up with about 85 music tracks that were going to be mixed for surround sound. This is no tall order, and SST has one of the largest music track lists produced in surround.

The main format we were working on was producing 5.1 Dolby Digital content. This is a widely adopted surround sound format which can be produced on PS3, Xbox 360 as well as being present in many home cinema receivers and amplifiers. It basically means that you have two main front speakers (Left and Right), a centre speaker, two rear surround speakers (Left and Right) and a sub woofer (also known as the LFE channel) for earth shattering bass!

One of the challenges with the music for SST was that we were dealing with material that had been created over a 15 year period, and obviously technology (both gaming and recording studio technology) has changed a lot during that time. Another factor was that there was music from many different composers, recorded and produced in many different studios in Europe, Japan the US and other countries, so we also had to bear that in mind.

So I and my team began to create the surround mixes.

This was a complex process using lots of high end studio equipment and we had to treat each music track in its own right and tweak various settings accordingly. And of course we were under tight time constraints so there was a constant stream of surround mixing, composition and remixing taking place for the duration of the project. I think everyone will agree that the results are stunning, and it was a joy to be able to work with such iconic music (including some of my personal favourites), providing a new fresh surround sound to these classic tracks.

I am very excited to tell everyone that we’ve just announced Alpha Protocol™; a thrilling new espionage role-playing game set in the modern world. Alpha Protocol™ is developed by the globally revered and genre defining development studio, Obsidian Entertainment, known for smash hits such as Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic II: The Sith Lords and Neverwinter Nights 2. This exciting new game will set the world alight on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Windows-based PCs in 2009.

Here’s some bits from the press release:

“Alpha Protocol blends Obsidian’s knack for intricate stories, engrossing characters, and significant character advancement with fast-paced modern combat,” said Feargus Urquhart, CEO of Obsidian Entertainment. “Alpha Protocol embraces everything we enjoy about making RPGs from a fresh perspective. We are confident our talented staff at Obsidian will enable us to deliver this exciting RPG experience.”

Loyalty carries a price and no one knows this more than agent Michael Thorton. A talented young agent cast out by his government, Thorton is the only one with the information needed to stop an impending international catastrophe. To do so means he must cut himself off from the very people he is sworn to protect. As players determine how to accomplish different objectives, the decisions made and actions taken in each mission will ultimately transform the type of secret agent Michael Thorton will become. Every choice the player makes as Michael Thorton will carry consequences for his future and the fate of the world.

“Working with Obsidian Entertainment on a project of this stature is incredibly exciting for SEGA. We have one of the best independent developers working on what will be one of the definitive games of 2009,” stated Gary Knight, European Marketing Director, SEGA Europe Ltd. “With innovative RPG action and an incredible interactive storyline to match the very best spy-thrillers, Alpha Protocol delivers a heart thumping high definition experience.”

We are please to announce that two chilling Condemned 2™ Theme Packs and five Picture Packs are available via the Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®. Developed by Monolith Productions, the geniuses of spine-chilling video games, Condemned 2 is the next chapter in the award winning and critically acclaimed Condemned™ series. The two Theme Packs, “Fight Club Theme” & “Characters Theme” are full of beautifully grim artwork to use as wallpapers, whilst the Picture Packs feature similarly gruesome imagery. The Theme Packs are available for 150 Microsoft Points each, and the Picture Packs for 120 Microsoft Points each.

Condemned 2 thrusts players into the worn boots of Ethan Thomas, the former Serial Crimes Unit investigator, found drifting aimlessly through a society in inexplicable decline. Fighting inner demons throughout his one-man investigation into a sinister conspiracy, Ethan will need to use anything and everything in the environment to survive as he unravels the mysteries shrouding the city in darkness.

Condemned 2 is set for release across Europe on April 4th, 2008 for the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.