Gamer Culture, Guitar Hero, Headlines, Music, Rock Band
Come Together: What The Beatles’ Rock Band Game Means for the Music Industry
As I’m sure you’ve heard, The Beatles are coming to Rock Band. The Fab Four announced Thursday they will be making their digital debut via a partnership with MTV and Harmonix, which looks to see the band featured in its own exclusive Rock Band title, slated for a holiday 2009 release. Of course, this is a major announcement for a plethora of reasons. The most important reason is hidden underneath the surface of this monstrous musical development.
When the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 were released boasting hard drive capabilities, the prospect of custom soundtracks was definitely a plus. Microsoft ushered in the use of custom soundtracks with the Xbox and continued the trend with the 360. The PlayStation 3, however decided to introduce the custom soundtrack via their 2.40 firmware. But as time moves on, the question remains: are custom soundtracks still wanted?
So maybe you don’t quite remember 8-tracks, but chances are you’ve at least owned some cassette tapes in your lifetime. If you haven’t, then you were definitely born after 1990, and CDs are probably as old school as your music collection gets. The mini-disc never really caught on, but digital music sure found its niche after the MP3 and a little shareware program called Napster. Since then, music distribution has seen some interesting shifts. From USB albums to iTunes, music fans are always looking for new ways to hear their favorite bands. So what’s the next logical step? Rock Band and Guitar Hero, of course.
No, this isn’t another internet “top 5″ list. That would imply music is quantitative, and it’s not. But still, how do you choose the best in-game music, when really it can’t all be compared? It’s an apples-to-oranges situation. You may think, “Well, it’s music, and it’s in a game. So, yes, stupid, it can be compared.” But if you do that, you miss the entire point of music not being quantifiable. To be the best in-game music it has to be moving, memorable, and meaningful…and not all good game music has those qualities.
If you’re a fan of music, and a fan of video games, you are almost definitely a fan of either Rock Band or Guitar Hero. We’ve all “rocked out” on our plastic Stratocasters, and smashed the drums like Animal; but like every other facet of music, everyone has their own opinion on which songs they’d like to wail to. Both Harmonix and Activision have done a great job of presenting a variety of tracks that span multiple decades and genres; but I can’t help but feel they could use a little guidance in choosing future tracks to be released as downloadable content. I’ll present a list of songs that I believe would be perfect for both games, but this isn’t just a list of songs I like: these are songs that have a rightful place in both of these games.
Video Games Live, the touring concert that gives gamers the chance to see their favorite video game music played by a symphony orchestra in front of a gazillion-inch projection screen, has released a companion CD, titled Video Games Live: Volume I. But can a recording capture the grandeur of the live show?
The average gamer may be surprised to learn that PC games for the visually impaired exist at all; video games for the blind seems like a contradiction in terms. However, dozens of companies, focused specifically on producing PC games for the blind (BSC Games, Bavisoft, GMA, Gamesfortheblind, to name a few), have been at it for the past decade. The only problem is that many of the titles that these companies have published are geared so specifically for the visually impaired that they are virtually unplayable by gamers with good vision. Historically, the sensory divide between blind and sighted players has carried over to the gaming world, thus preventing the two groups from ever playing digital games together… until now.
I was ecstatic when I heard that Guitar Hero: On Tour, the new version of the popular Guitar Hero series for the Nintendo DS, was going to stop in Minneapolis for one afternoon only at my local Toys ‘R’ Us stores across the country. So I packed up the car and embarked on a non-stop road trip, spanning well over thirty blocks, to the nearest store for an exclusive preview. What followed was a hazy hour of music and promotional tattoos.