We're already getting used to downloadabletracks being a necessary addition to rhythm and music games. But are we ready for the feature to infect the soundtracks for other genres? Ready or not, EA Chief Music Executive Steve Schnur told MTV Multiplayer that downloadable background tracks will indeed be available in next year's version of Madden, with similar support added to "broader-based" EA games shortly thereafter.
It might seem a bit silly for EA to offer a proprietary music download service when all current-gen consoles allow users to create their own custom soundtracks from their already-existing digital music collections. You have to realize, though, that EA needs to offer its own downloads so it can marketpromotepush gently suggest the latest hot track from Kid Rock to their captive audience of millions of players.
It's not yet clear if you'll actually have to pay for these downloadable songs, but as this idea is coming from a company that's charging for extra weapons in first-person shooters, we wouldn't exactly be surprised.
We can do without "whiny" being the default setting for so much indy/emo music, but Arlington-and-Grand Prairie-Texas-based Man Factory serves up enough indy-powerpop-rock to offset any latent emo sadness. Plus the group's latest project is a series of seven songs written from the perspectives of Street Fighter characters. The series is called, "Street Fighter II: Rock Opera: Round 1," and hits enough high notes that we hope rounds two and three follow.
GameJew sings three short songs about retro Nintendo games in this seven-minute video. Part of his Mushroom Singdom series, we liked the catchy song about Yoshi's Story best. Take a break from that other videogame of the moment with this clip. (We won't even name or link it, Voldemort-style.)
See the video after the break. (And also watch his latest from the Mushroom Singdom series.)
It was bound to happen and be absolutely well deserved. Sarcastic Gamer, the guys who've already created a Wii song, Xbox song, and PS3 song, are now focusing on the hype machine behind Halo 3 and how it'll change the world. Sadly, we believe that many people actually think many of the things in the song will happen once Halo 3 is released -- OMG, what if they're right?
The Wii has been relatively unscathed by satire, which given its success is quite surprising. Maybe there is ultimate fear of the Nintendo Defense Force and anyone who speaks out is afraid of waking up with a lombax head in their bed. Jeromy Adams has now completed the circle of mockery starting with the PS3 on how to kill your brand, then the Xbox 360 and its red rings of fire.
Adams, who made the song with Dave Cothran, says the song is inspired by the "scores of gamers" who discover the Wii works better as a "bookend" than as a gaming platform. Hopefully the release of Metroid will signal a change in the Wii and it won't be considered the parched console of gimmicky waggle anymore. We hope.
Today's movie isn't topping any charts, but it's a dash of much needed Monkey vs. Robot-ness. Comic book artist and musician of the wacky James Kochalka created Monkey vs. Robot eons ago, and has appeared on cds, as a graphic novel, and in animated form. However, this version was created with the PC game/simulation The Movies. Yes, it's inane. Sure, it's repetitive. Damn skippy, it's simple ... but c'mon, it's monkey vs. robot.
Check out the damage after the jump. For a real royal rumble, someone needs to do a Monkey vs. Robot vs. Ninja vs. Pirate mashup. At least this thing is better than the episodes of Lost that have aired so far this season. Sawyer vs. Robot, FTW!
A seventeen-note theme that has been hidden in Nintendo games for over a decade is finding new life as internet sleuths track down new instances in old games. Totaka's song is most easily accessible from the title screen of the SNES' Mario Paint, but the quirky ditty has appeared in over a dozen games featuring the work of Nintendo sound designer Kazumi Totaka.
Interesting trivia, but not too relevant to today's gamers until a few months ago, when Powet.tv compiled a video of the song's known occurrences and put out the call to gamers everywhere to track it down in other games. Within a month, video confirmation for instances in Pikmin 2 and Wario Land for the Virtual Boy had been obtained, and earlier this week Powet posted a video of the song in Luigi's Mansion.
MobyGames lists 24 games Totaka has worked on, including the recently released Wii Sports, and it's a decent bet that his song is buried somewhere in most if not all of them. And so the call goes out to Nintendo fans across the land. Let's harness the awesome collaborative power of the internet to solve a mystery that has been plaguing humanity for, er... well... not exactly plaguing but... oh, let's just figure it out, OK?
The Wii may rock you, but it's unclear if this song will, the jury is still out. Team Fremont has put a musical effort up commemorating the Wii launch tomorrow. It won't be topping any charts (except maybe the "Top ten songs written to commemorate the Wii launch" chart), but it's worth a listen for the sheer "What the?!" factor.
According to Team Fremont, "In celebration of the Wii launch, we created a song for people to listen to while they stand in line or drive to the store at midnight. We hope you enjoy!" So, fire up the WiFi if you're out there in line and download some aural Wii-tunage to share with your fellow Wii-waiters.
"Come and play my Wiiiii ... you wanna wave it around!" Nice work, Team Fremont. A+ for effort, B- for the beat, and C- for the creepy factor. +50 DKP points to the first Joystiqer who lays down a decent remix of this song, preferably techno-style.
Are you in Chicago tonight for the big PLAY! concert tomorrow, but weren't willing to shell out $125 for the VIP meet-and-greet at the event? Well, you might be in luck (even if you're not attending), as a few famous folks from the concert will be on hand to sign autographs in Chicago proper for free tonight.
From 7 to 9 PM (presumably Central time) at the Tower Records store on 2301 N. Clark St., Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu, bilingual songstress Angela Aki (who wrote and sang the theme song for FFXII), and Principal Conductor and Music Director of PLAY! Arnie Roth will be signing autographs to promote the world-tour premiere of 'PLAY! A Video Game Symphony' and the CD for More Friends - Music from FINAL FANTASY.
While this blogger is sadly occupied with prior engagements tonight, gamers in the area are more than welcome to mob that Tower Records and cause the store's employees much consternation and bewilderment. If you don't have any imported CDs to sign, however, don't fret: the store's web site claims to have "some awesome Japanese imports available for you to purchase and have autographed at the event." Not only that, Angela Aki will be performing live as well. Score! Anybody wanna tell us how this evening turns out when it's all sung and done?
In case you missed it on Friday, IGN posted a pre-E3 hands-on preview of Guitar Hero II's new co-op mode. It's a departure from the first game's multiplayer mode in that the two players have to depend on each other a lot more to pass each song and thereby make beautiful music together.
While the old multiplayer option will still be around in the sequel, the new mode mixes distinct lead guitar and bass or rhythm parts where each player affects the other in various ways, whether by failing if either performance slips (as in DDR), sharing the same Rock Meter (with mistakes from either player resetting the score multiplier), and needing to both go vertical at the same time to activate the shared Star Power. Thankfully, different difficulty levels can be assigned to each player.
The Joystiq team out in L.A. will probably find something to do until they get their sweaty paws on a guitar controller or two on the E3 show floor (maybe one of those wacky press conferences will help pass the time), but we're sure the wait to try the latest build of this rockin' series will be worth it. The seven songs available at E3 are listed below.
Sure you knew that God of War was inspired by Clash of the Titans and
Raiders of the Lost Ark, but did you know that Christina Aguilera influenced its development as well?
In an interview conducted by Lorne Lanning for a session at GDC last week, David Jaffe revealed that thinking of (the
workplace tension between him and) his lead programmer during a Christina Aguilera song about Britney Spears helped him
get the game to work.
So identifying with the arguably lesser end of the Christina-Britney rivalry helped
Kratos make it out of development hell? Sounds like a surefire way to create a hit game! We also take it then that the
song in question wasn't "Genie in a Bottle," 'cause that would've made for one interesting unlockable costume
for our marked man. Cameo in the sequel, perhaps?
[Britney 'n' Christina pic found via an old BBC MTV VMA
story found here]
We're already getting used to downloadable tracks being a necessary addition to rhythm and music games. But are we ready for the feature to infect the soundtracks for other genres? Ready or not, EA Chief Music Executive Steve Schnur told MTV Multiplayer that downloadable background tracks will indeed be available in next year's version of Madden, with similar support added to "broader-based" EA games shortly thereafter.
The Wii may rock you, but it's unclear if this song will, the jury is still out. Team Fremont has put a 
