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The Audio Guys / Oculus and the rise of Virtual Reality

By TAG , 5 Feb 2015

Here at TAG headquarters we’ve been getting very intrigued and involved in the recent, new developments in Virtual Reality. Of course, here at TAG some of us are old enough to remember the first attempt at VR back in the 80s/90s, which was a total non-starter, due to the seriously less advanced computer and display technology that was available back then. With the recent rise of the new VR systems – Oculus Rift, Sony Morpheus and Samsung Gear VR – it is easy to see that this new generation of hardware is finally going to be capable of doing VR justice.

Oculus
Morpheus
Gear

VR is obviously going to be very relevant to gaming and visual entertainment, as well as other interactive and non-interactive media, but it also has many other applications such as training, conferencing, virtual tourism, and many other areas that we don’t even realise yet. 

So, consequently, here at TAG we have been getting ourselves acclimatized to the VR hardware and also playing around with some interesting VR audio ideas. We have the latest Oculus devkits and are fully registered with Oculus. We also have Gear VR units, and have been checking out the Sony Morpheus devkit headsets too.

Anyway, our latest fascinations with Virtual Reality is why things have seemed relatively quiet, over the last few months, on the News front here on the TAG website. We’ve been checking out all these new virtual worlds and demo’s people have been creating. 

So, we will try to leave The Matrix a bit more often from now on and will be back with more regular updates….

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We have turned to TAG on several occasions – they are always ready to jump in at the deep end when joining a project nearing completion and deliver content for existing systems in game, or take on entire sections of a feature and make it their own. They are highly professional, always friendly with a host of experience and resources to drive for, and deliver the top quality audio that all games should have.
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I have only praise for The Audio Guys. They are extremely professional, experienced, flexible and above all, the friendliest bunch of game audio guys you can come across in this industry. I hired them for several projects at Mind Candy and each time their expertise has made the difference. Besides, their rates are surprisingly competitive, especially considering the amount of knowhow and years of experience you buy in to. There’s basically not much to worry about after you get them on board, because whatever you throw at them, they’ll deal with it and deliver results that are above and beyond the call of duty.
Daan Hendriks, Lead Audio Designer, Mind Candy
In my time at SEGA, we have used TAG for many projects – they specialise in in-game audio (as opposed to musical scores) & consistently deliver what we ask for. Where deadlines are tight or we need something turning around or iteration with short notice, TAG can be relied upon to deliver. As well as advanced & complex audio-engines for console racing titles such as SEGA Rally & Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, we used TAG for all the original audio done for Sonic Jump & Sonic Dash, which combined have had more than 25 million downloads. I highly recommend TAG for game audio.
Chris Southall, Chief Technical Officer, SEGA
We’ve worked closely with TAG now for many years, so much so that we actually consider them part of the team! Tim, Dan, Staff and the guys have been instrumental in giving our games voice and life even when we’re at our most demanding. No better example of this can be found than Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed where we needed over 21 IP’s populating in the soundscape along with vehicles that drove, boated and flew through all of it. All suitably commentated upon in five different languages and also wrangled to fit into platforms from 3DS to Vita to X360. They even let me send emails that explained ‘This needs a little more BZZZZT, and I was thinking about how that could be more RAAARRR!!!’ and somehow translated that into sound effects that have delighted players around the world. Which is why they’re still my go to guys whenever we need something special on the audio front. Highly recommended.
Steve Lycett, Executive Producer, Sumo Digital
The Audio Guys have always provided us with a high quality and easy solution for our audio needs over the years. They have provided sounds for a number of games we have worked on, and we have never had any issues working together. They are easy going guys and know their stuff when it comes to audio. They worry about our sounds and work hard to make sure everything just drops into the game, which is great when you’re working to tight deadlines. We trust them to deliver on time and on budget and would happily recommend them.
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