When we previewed the Xbox 360 last month, it seemed that
in-game music was at the mercy of the player. That is, at any time, during any game, the player could access a custom
music selection and stream it into the playing field. However, speaking at Atari's GoPlay event in Lyon, an Eden
Studios representative suggested that developers could control the use of custom music, just like on the original Xbox.
He stated that Eden would not allow players to stream in their own music during the studio's upcoming horror-themed
action title, as doing so would ruin the ambience of the game.
This recent revelation seems to go against Microsoft's running next-gen theme, which is something along the lines of: play how you want to play. We understand why developers would want to control access to custom music, and we respect the musical decisions that most developers make. But ultimately, shouldn't the choice still be up to the player? This seems to leave the door open for publishers like EA to ram more of their licensed music down our throats—guess it's back to pumping the stereo up…
[Thanks, Kiel]
