The Conduit is a futuristic first-person shooter video game developed by High Voltage Software for the Wii console. The game uses a new game engine called Quatum3, which has been designed by High Voltage specifically for the Wii. It’s quite a well made engine judging by the game play as the engine allows a number of effects such as bump mapping, reflection and refraction, and gloss. It is a very good effort by High Voltage to bring the Wii experience as close as possible to that of a PS3 & 360; they have really pushed the Wii’s limits hard with this title.

The story line follows a newly trained agent called Michael Ford who, while on a relatively routine mission to stop terrorism in the US capital, gets embroiled in a fire fight with an alien invasion. The alien race is known as the Drudge, and they use portal-like Conduits to teleport and deploy troops over Washington D.C. I’m not going to give any spoilers away with regards to what happens to Mr Ford. All I’m going to say is that it is a typical story line for a First Person Shooter. It works well and does the job.
The story line is generally told through cut scenes between the levels. However, there are small plot enhancements inside the levels through communication with Ford’s bosses. In addition to this, there are television and radio broadcasts to look out for in the missions as these further enhance the background knowledge of the game.

Apart from the run-of-the-mill FPS game play, The Conduit includes a unique feature called the ‘All-Seeing Eye’. This object is used by the player to uncover secrets hidden in the game, solve small puzzles as they go along, and detect traps as well as enemies. It’s a nice addition to the normal ‘shoot and kill’ aspect found in all FPS’s.

The Conduit’s game play is reminiscent of Metroid Prime 3. In my personal opinion, the control system is bit more refined and solid than that found in Metroid. It seems that the developers has taken the best bits from Metroid and Medal of Honour Heroes 2, and in turn have steered clear of the poor attempt at FPS game play on the Wii that Red Steele produced. In fact, the controls are so detailed and well thought out that there is the option for the user to completely redefine the control configuration. Best of all is that these controls can be altered as you go along without even leaving the mission. However, I found that the best set up was the default.

On top of the controller customization, High Voltage has also included a complete HUD customization menu. The user can move and place HUD elements on the screen wherever they please. Again, this can be done without leaving the current mission. I found that, again, the default way is the best way, however, it is very nice option to have included in the game.

The game features all of your basic weaponry such as pistols, SMG’s, rifles, and grenades. In addition to these it also features a number of alien like weaponry that have a number of unique fire techniques. The alien weaponry follows the same line as Metroid’s main weapon where you can charge your fire for a bigger hit. All the guns feel good to shoot in game as the physics are generally well put together. The only problem I found on this was some slight collision detection problems with walls and bullets. So steer clear of trying to catch the thin edge of an alien round a corner.

The last BIG feature of The Conduit is the multiplayer. It features 13 competitive modes in online play, with 7 different maps, and 15 weapons. The main categories are Death Matches and Team Based. Both categories have a number of sub-game modes such as “Three Strikes”, “ASE Football”, “Team Objective” (a ‘capture the flag’ like mode), and many more. Each of them are very enthralling and can be played with “Friends, Regionally, or with World Wide Players”. I found the online mode to be the biggest selling point of this game. Matches are started relatively easily and matches are very well balanced. After only 5 minutes of playing you will find yourself getting plenty of kills! A tip from me is to remember you do have grenades; use them, they are very helpful!

The online game play also supports Wii Speak, although I am yet to find anyone using it. I have thought about investing in one, they aren’t that expensive on eBay these days.

All in all SEGA’s second mature game for the Wii (after Mad World) has been a success in my opinion. I think FPS fans are going to be very happy with this title. I’m a big Counter Strike player and have found The Conduit a great and fun challenge. High Voltage haven’t created a revolutionary FPS title but have certainly put together the most comprehensible Wii FPS yet. Hopefully we will see more games like this from them in the future, but not just yet, as The Conduit will have you hooked for a few months yet!

Final Score: 9/10

Ted Poley is the talented musician who helped compose and write such Sonic music favourites as ‘Big the Cat’s’ theme ‘Lazy Day’s’ and ‘Escape from the City’. I caught up with him the other week to quiz him on life while working with SEGA and Jun Senoue. I also managed to clear up a couple of rumours regarding Ted and the Sonic community while I was at it.

Starting off with a few general questions before moving onto Sonic matters, here is the interview in full:

What for you important in life? A good career or to live unique? Or something really different?

Personally, I have never catered to any trend good or bad. Which may have been not the smartest move financially, but i think its better to stay true and stick with what you and the fans love. I’m very happy with my sound and that I never strayed from it. Life styles of the unique and famous, not rich and famous! <* Ted laughs *>

How would you describe your music style? Is there any style you really do not want to be compared to?

I can’t honestly say there is a style. I am too close to the music to be a judge I think. In general I like to think I appeal to people with sense of melody, with a sense of good music and chords. I always like to have great rock beats and drumming but I couldn’t put a style tag on the music. I have a consistant style, I do what I do, and hopefully people will like it.

Has working in the games industry taught you anything about how to write music in general?

I can’t say it has helped. I would say it’s different and it is definitaly a skill. Basically it’s music ‘on-demand’ and too specification. In the old days I probably wasnt up to the level of doing it. Your job is to follow the original style and theme to bring the game to life. You have a set of blue prints that you have to use to please the games company. So I can say I have learnt how to do that.

Music in games is getting bigger all the time. Have you noticed any changes in companies’ attitudes towards game composers and people in the audio processing business?

I think now with the success of games like Guitar Hero there has been a change in the attitudes. The focus is really on the music a lot more. Normally the music is just confined to the user playing it, but in places like Japan the music makes it onto audio CD. The music is standing more on its own these days.

What I found great about the music standing on its own is that people hear my music in the game, they then go out and find my personal music and start listening to that as well. I have to thank the video game world for a lot of my fans, especially the younger fans. I really enjoy it all.

You had such an illustrious 80’s metal career, how did you get into working on Sonic Adventure?

Ah, Big the Cat, that was fun! It was all opened up by my good personal friend Jun Senoue from Crush 40. Jun intiated the contact and invited me to help out with the SEGA team and produce some music. He probably contacted me after hearing my ‘Danger Danger’ stuff.

Have you ever played or watched the Sonic-Games where you’ve been featured?

Actually, the only time I have seen the game in action is when I have to sign a lot of confidentiality paper work and SEGA send me a video of the game in action for inspiration use. So I have seen the charaters, the graphics, and gameplay. Other than that I saw my friend’s kids playing the game when I went round to visit.

Apprantly, you worked with Jun Senoue at the start of the year? What was this for?

I did, I don’t think I can say what the game is. It’s probably a hand held… All I can say is there is something coming. It’s probably not a Sonic game, I believe it’s sports related.

Can you remember how long it takes to work on the tracks with Jun Senoue?

By the time I have gotten the track a lot of the music is already created. The concept is already there and normally a title is provided with a demo. I then come up with the lyrics sticking to Jun’s concept and title. Sometimes I will then add the melody and lots of harmony parts. I like adding the singing and harmonising parts that’s fun to do, and a challenge to stick to Jun’s ideas.

A length of time… funnily enough one of the Sonic tracks took only two days!

This was another of my questions actually. There was a rumor going around that the Sonic Rivals 2 Main Theme song took just two days to produce?

Yea, that’s the one! They needed a track really quickly. We started from scratch! It had to be writen, recorded and handed in within two/three days. It worked well because I had to concentrate on the music and not think about anything else. It helped because I didn’t have all the worries about things like ‘will everyone enjoy this’. It was an experient that could have gone wrong. However, ended up working and working really well!

Normally though two days is not the standard length of time. But the video games industry does not move slowly so these tracks to get produced quickly, generally two weeks I would say.

On your MySpace there is a song called Takoyaki Rock that reminds me of the video game work you have done in the past. Did you by any chance make this with Jun Senoue?

I did work with the SEGA guys on this one! I was inspired by the food Takoyaki when I was over there and the ‘SEGA All Stars’ helped me record it. ‘SEGA All Stars’ is what I like to call Jun and the crazy, talented guys who do the music over at SEGA. They had about 10 minutes left in the studio when Jun showed them my track. They then learnt and recorded it in the little time they had left, all in one take! The end result is a rocking track which sounds great.

Funnily enough, it sounds like the video game music because of the ‘All Stars’ that worked on it for me. I think Jun is going to include it on one of his CD’s and I am going to add to my next greatest hits track. I think the video game fans will really like this track.

How did this track come to being created?

I ate a lot of Takoyaki when I was in Osaka. With all respect, I just thought it was a fun word and a great food. So I made this track and Jun helped me out with it.

I have a small dream about this track actually. They love songs about food in Japan, so this could still happen! I thought it would be great if the Takoyaki industry would come to me and make this song the official song for Takoyaki in Japan! So I am waiting for the phone call Takoyaki phone call! <* Ted laughs! *>

You said on Jun Senoue’s community forum that you would love to tour Japan with him. Is this something that is possible?

We have talked about it and I would love to go on tour with Jun. Playing live with the ‘SEGA All-Stars’ is a dream! I would really enjoy bringing the fans favourite music into a live arena and bringing them too life for them.

Do your fans ever talk to you about your works with SEGA and Jun Senoue?

Oh yea! Especially my older fans who have heard my voice on their kid’s games console. They then come down to the shows and mention that to me. I also get fans who have never heard of ‘Danger Danger’ who come down to see me just from listening to the music from the Sonic games.

How critical is Jun Senoue during the process of producing video games music?

Oh, Jun is the team captain, he’s in charge. He is the most important person. He is the conduit to the whole process and without Jun and his work ethic the tracks wouldn’t sound like they do.

To me Jun is just a really nice guy and a friend. It’s hard to think of him as this genius musician who is so in touch with the scene. Without Jun however I would not have been introduced to this whole world. So I have a lot to thank him for.

Have you ever heard of the event called ‘Summer of Sonic’?

I can’t say I have, please enlighten me!

<* I explained SOS and what it is about. *>

Oh! I wish I had known! That’s so great that all the guest like Richard Jacques could go down. If there’s anything I could ever do for these sorts of things I would love too! I’m not the top A-list musician so I don’t have my private jet or anything. But if it was logisitcally possible I would love to get involved!

Brilliant! Thanks for talking to me Ted and good luck with the future!

Well there you have it! The man behind some of our favourite tracks laid out. Rumours cleared up and even a bit of excitment at the prospect of hearing Ted and Jun together in a new game. Wonder what game it could be?

Ted is always updating his MySpace with what gigs he is doing. So check that out if you want to go see him. He also sells CD’s of his work through his website. Just announced is Ted’s ‘Greatest Hits vol. 1’ be sure the have a look at that. He told me to say that if anyone wants to buy a CD and have it signed he would be more than happy to do so. Just email him at TEDPOLEY1@aol.com.

Ted Poley’s Sonic Music Biography:

• Big the Cat’s theme from Sonic Adventure – Lazy Day’s
• Wrote the melody and the lyrics for, as well as sang the ‘Escape from the City’ from Sonic Adventure 2
• Sang and co-wrote the Team Sonic theme, ‘We Can’, from Sonic Heroes.
• Worked with Jun Senoue on the composition and production of the Sonic Rivals 2 theme, ‘Race to Win’.

Ted Poley on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/tedpoley
Ted Poley’s Official Website: http://www.tedpoley.com

I am not a very big RPG fan myself, for example I have never played any of the Final Fantasy series; they just never really interested me that much. However, since this is a Sonic game, I couldn’t really stay away.

The gameplay is split into two main areas: battle and free-roaming puzzle solving. Lets start of with the free-roaming exploration part of the game. The Chronicles world is split into six different areas, the names of which any Sonic fan would recognise (Green Hill Zone, Metropolis, Angel Island). Each area has a certain amount of rings to find and a certain amount of Chao to discover (I will get into that a bit later). The artwork in these levels is fantastic! The whole game has a comic book feel to it, and the level artwork is also of this nature; really nice bright, vibrant colors. The level design is interesting as well! As you are exploring the levels you can select a character to use from your team (team of 4 that is) and there are areas of the levels where only certain characters can access. For example, little gaps between platforms that only a flying character could get to. As you play through the story you have to keep returning to different areas to do certain things for the mission you are playing through. All in all this part of the game is generally very enjoyable. You don’t find yourself saying “Ugh! I’ve got to go all the way over there again, FOR THAT!” like you would in say GTA San Andreas because of the size of the gameworld you’re in. You’re not going to find it repetitive, because if you have to go back to a previous area, it’s generally going to be a new part of the area that you are going to, using a different character!

The battle system is first-rate and very well done! It’s a turn/round based system. At the start of a ’round’ you select what each character is going to do during each turn in the round (each character has two turns each); this can be from either Attacks, POW Moves, Defend, Items, or Flee. They all do exactly what is said on the tin other than POW Moves, POW Moves are like special attacks. These special attacks are gained as the characted levels up, and the attacks themselves have three levels. There are 8 POW Moves to get per character, and what’s interesting about them is that with some, you can only use in them battle if you have other characters in your party. This makes the choice of characters in your party even more tricky. The POW Moves are a really fun addition to the gameplay, as to make them effective in battle you must follow some touch screen gestures, otherwise the move fails. There are some great attacks that Bioware have created for this game as well. The in battle presentation and movement of the characters are brilliant, it really has a good Sonic feel to it. This is also true of all the character movement in the exploration parts of the game.

That’s the gameplay in a nutshell. However, Bioshock couldn’t just do these two things well and come away with a successful Sonic game could they? Us fans need a good story line that follows the history of the series that we have come to love over the years. It was a potential hurdle for the studio, and hurdle that they succeeded in getting over well!

To quote Wikipedia: “Sonic is on vacation after defeating Doctor Eggman some time ago, when he receives a call from Tails, stating that Knuckles has been kidnapped, and that the Chaos Emeralds are disappearing.

The story is split into two acts. The first takes place in Sonic’s world, with the team attempting to unravel the situation they are in, whilst also stopping the Master Emerald from being taken. The second act sees Sonic and the team travelling to another dimension in order to stop a new threat to their own world.”

It’s a story line that fits and works really well! Along the similar lines of the Rush series where you have another dimension that the characters get taken too and a new foe to battle against! I’m not going to divuldge more into this as that would be giving the story away. Your going to have to play the game to find out what happens! All I can say is that Bioware did a fantastic job on it.

Something else to note about the game is the music. Most, if not all, of the music are arrangements of some of our favourite tracks from two great Sonic games (both known for their great OST’s!). These are Sonic 3D (both Saturn and Genesis versions) and Sonic CD. This was a great move by Bioware. There are some really great arrangements to listen to. The game had to feature a good soundtrack, simply because of the amount of time the player spends in one area, listening to the same track.

The things I have talked about are all good, and I have only just noticed that I haven’t talked about things I didn’t like about the game!

There isn’t much to be honest, the game ticks a lot of boxes. The only major things to me that stick out as not being good are:

- No great challenge: It lacks that “OMG I need to get S rank or I’ll never be happy” factor, then losing a day of your life getting it. The battles at the start of the game are only a real challenge, when you don’t have a full team of 4 characters and are a little inexperienced at playing the battles.
- The length of the game: It’s not really that long. With extensive playing you can complete it in two days or so. Personally, I don’t like getting games over with that quickly, so I stretched it out over a week.

That’s it for bad points and that’s it for this review! In conclusion, a very enjoyable RPG (that’s coming from someone who doesn’t play them). The Sonic series was put in the hands of a newcomer and they have not dissappointed. A well done to Bioware is in order. Any Sonic fan with a DS should get this game!

P.S. There is already a sequel being planned!

Are you ready to live OutRun in full 720p quality? If not then step off the bus now kids, because that’s what SEGA have done and they have done it well. Is this game worth you parting with 800 of your precious Microsoft Points (or £8/$10 on PSN)? That’s what we are about to find out.

SEGA has had many successful franchises over the past few decades and OutRun is right up there with the best of them. A game that started out in the true 16-bit world and today is one of the most addictive arcade games around.

Nothing beats the feeling of throwing your Ferrari round OutRun’s huge corners on the arcade game but this is not lost in this re-make. Drifting is implemented incredibly well in this game and more often than not it is encouraged.

What I personally found beautiful about these OutRun games is that the physics on the car is consistent with the original 16-bit classics. The way in which the car slides around the road (if you over turn) can be quite punishing at times but it wouldn’t be OutRun if it didn’t slam you for your mistakes. Hit the walls too much and you will not be making the check point in time.

You will probably complete the single player arcade mode relatively quickly. This is not too much of a disappointment because single player is not what this game is really about. The clue is in the title, this game is enjoyed more when played online. You race online in battles of up to 6 players. The end goal (A, B, C, D, E) is chosen before the race begins and from the word go it is just a flat out adrenaline rush! 6 players drifting into a corner and over 100 miles per hour is just amazing game play. The online races are generally pretty closely contested as the cars are all the same specification. One race I played finished with all 6 players crossing the line within 1 second of each other. Brilliant (only I came 4th!).

The game features a single player addition called ‘Heart Attack Mode’. You race through the maps performing numerous tasks to please your demanding girlfriend sitting next to you in the car. Each check point you go through you earn a rank and subsequently some points. At the end goal you collect your points total and get to shove it in your mates faces, at what point they turn around with a better one and you go back to the ‘Sunny Beach’ again!

All the music is back as per usual, so no complaints there. If something is not broken, don’t fix it. That’s what I always say. And SEGA take this approach to the OutRun sound track once again.

Graphically, this game is spot on. Sumo Digital (team behind OutRun games and Superstar Tennis) have taken the existing OutRun titles and produced an up-res version when you think about it. But wow, I will take up-res on everything and a side of fries please! All the level backgrounds, skies, waterfalls are all spruced up to a pin-sharp HD format. It looks stunning!

OutRun Online Arcade… is it worth the money? I would have to say 100% yes to that question. This game brings all the great game play of an OutRun game into the ‘HD next-gen’ jungle and has succeed on its own two feet incredibly well. The game is not big enough for a full release, but is perfect for the XBLA (PSN). Beautiful looking, great fun to play, and very addictive.

The original publication of this review had no numeric score given to the game. This is because of the websites own protocols on review writting. However, I am a fan of score giving and for this game I am going to award: 8/10.

My interview time with Izuka-san had to be shared with two other sites, SEGANerds and NiGHTSintodreams.com. This didn’t bother me too much as I was incredible nervous ahead of my first ever professional interview, and I was also relishing my chance to meet such a great game designer.

We’ll that’s the background to my story, here is the interview in full:

Nintendo Life: When did development for Journey of Dreams start?

Takashi Iizuka: The idea came about 2 Years ago. Development began 1 and a half years ago

Nintendo Life: Years ago rumors came about, for a game called Air NiGHTS, a proposed sequel for the original game. Motion control was rumored to be the main idea for the game back then. Was Air NiGHTS a real game, and did it have any bearing on Journey of Dreams?

Takashi Iizuka: At the time SEGA had been playing with the idea of motion control on their consoles. Air Nights was a prototype game testing out the technology. Nothing came of it, and development stopped.

SEGANerds: Where did you come up with the idea for the My Dream segment of the game?

Iizuka-san conducting the press conference pre-interview.

Takashi Iizuka: It was developed from the A-Life system in the original NiGHTS. While the original only allowed you to interact with A-Life in the missions. You now have a separate, small world, the beauty of A-Life, is it creates a place where the developers will not be able to predict what will happen.

SEGANerds: Why did you decide to give NiGHTS a voice? And why did you choose a female voice?

Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS] Well the original game had voice clips for NiGHTS, but in Journey of Dreams I wanted to use more voice acting. The voice helps to add depth to the game play, and tell the story in the cut scenes.
NiGHTS is neutral, and therefore has no gender. The impressions of the character with regards to gender are totally up to the player.

SEGANerds: Will there be any unlockable content in Journey of Dreams? Like with Christmas NiGHTS -€“ you could unlock Sonic.

Takashi Iizuka: There will be some unlockable features, but I cannot say what they are. They are meant to be a surprise. But if players get high rankings, they will unlock features.

SEGANerds: Is there anything you would have liked to have changed or added to the final release of Journey of Dreams?

Takashi Iizuka: No, nothing more. I feel that we have implemented everything we wanted to. I think we did everything we could do with the Wii’s features.

Nintendo Life: [JOKES] Nothing more you could do. Perfect!

Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS]

SEGANerds: Which control method do you prefer?

Takashi Iizuka: I personally prefer the Wiimote controls, as you get the feeling of free flying with these controls.
But I suggest that fans of the original may wish to use the GameCube controller, as it is more like the Saturn controller, and is what players will be used to, at least at first.

NiGHTSintoDreams.com: Some people say that Bell Bridge (the games fictional setting), resembles parts of London. Is there any truth to this? And if so, why did you choose this setting?

Takashi Iizuka: Well like the character of Sonic is designed to be more like American style, NiGHTS has been designed to be more like that of European. So that is why the stages have the look of a more European setting.
It is also why the characters in NiGHTS have English accents.

NiGHTSintoDreams.com: How many people worked on NiGHTS Journey of Dreams?

Takashi Iizuka: There were 26 developers from Sonic Team USA working on the game. With the sound and CG developed in Japan.

NiGHTSintoDreams.com: Why was Jackal not included in Journey of Dreams? Is the Chameleon boss meant to be a replacement? In addition, will we see Jackal again?

Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS] Well really I like the character, but if we created all the characters again we would be looking at the same game. We only wanted to keep Wiseman. [LAUGHS] It is a new game.

NiGHTSintoDreams.com: The second biggest mystery of NiGHTS! What did the deleted boss Selph look like? Apparently there was a deleted boss from the original game called Selph.

Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS] How do you know about Selph?

NiGHTSintoDreams.com: “They”™ know.

Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS] They, who is they?

NiGHTSintoDreams.com: Fans.

Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS] Ah, ok.
Well the idea for the character existed, but he was never actually created.

Nintendo Life: In Journey of Dreams, NiGHTS has different masks, which he can use. What is your favourite mask?

Takashi Iizuka: It depends on the situation; I like the Rocket mask because you can use it to create your own strategy.
But my favourite will have to be the Dragon mask.

Nintendo Life: While we were having a play of your game a little while ago, we noticed that there is a counter in the game. The counter seems to change with each night you play. Does this have any effect on the game at all?

Takashi Iizuka: No. It is just there as a counter, for you to know how long/many times you have been playing.

SEGANerds: NiGHTS used the Saturn’€™s internal clock to add new game play/secrets to the game, depending on the date. Will the same feature be used in Journey of Dreams?

Takashi Iizuka: No. For the Saturn, it was a new feature and a new challenge.
With the Wii, the Forecast Channel is the new challenge. However there will be seasonal events within the game, which will appear in the My Dreams section.

Nintendo Life: It has recently been announced that NiGHTS is being remade for the PS2. Will the game be released worldwide? In addition, are there any plans for a Wii version, perhaps on the Virtual Console?

Takashi Iizuka: There are currently no plans for the PS2 version to be released outside of Japan.

Nintendo Life: [TUTS]

Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS] It is being released in Japan, due to the high demand for the game. So there are no plans for a worldwide release… for now. As for Virtual Console there are no plans for a release either… for now.

NiGHTSintoDreams.com: For gamers who played NiGHTS into Dreams obsessively, you could unlock rare Nightopians called King or Superpians. Will there be any rare Nightopians in Journey of Dreams?

Takashi Iizuka: In the My Dreams section of the game it is possible to mix Nightopians with the Marens (baddies) to create new creatures.
There will also be Superpians.

Nintendo Life: Thank you very much, for your time and for making a new NiGHTS game.

Takashi Iizuka: Thank you.

I also have an audio copy of the interview in full (above is edited in places). Click Here to download it.