When two passions merge, pt 2

Earlier I've talked about my two favorite things; music and videogames; come together in holy matrimony. That was pretty cool in amongst itself. But then there are some music/videogame tie-ins are just not meant to be. And to my displeasure (call me a masochist) I'm gonna get into some detail on some of them. But not too much hopefully...

The first of these monstrosities that I'll dive into would be the Make My Video series of games for the Sega CD. These pile of feces were like taking the worst of the 90's and putting them in the form of a customizable editor booth to make their already crappy music videos even more crappy; by adding in stock footage of old silent movie era bits of film and whatnot to 'make your own video' of their crappy songs that no one really cared about. There were four games that were made in that series featuring Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, INXS, Kris Kross, and C&C Music Factory (which really wasn't part of the series, but just as equally crappy.) I would go deeper into this but, seriously, I just ate and I wanna keep what food I have left in my stomach if you don't mind.

The second of these fun-filled-failures is of a recent. The series of 50 cent games; Bulletproof and Blood in the Sand. As a videogame, the controls are choppy at best, the story is practically non-existent, and all and all, the game was a complete joke. As for the music, I was never much of a 50 cent fan, or fan of recent hip-hop to begin with. My allegiance will always be to the old school giants such as Public Enemy, Run-DMC, Naughty By Nature, Onyx, hell, even Body Count. These in my opinion is what made hip-hop cool; why? Because it wasn't hip-hop, it was RAP! The kind of music that was original in amongst itself taking the music industry to new heights. Now people aren't even ballsy enough to call their art rap anymore but still declare themselves rappers. That's major BS in my opinion and this game is a fine example of crap-on-crap action.

Another game that falls just short on this (barely) was the Def Jam series, in particular Fight for NY. This game was kinda like BET's 106 & Park meets EA Sports Fight Night (of course since it was produced by EA.) but what I think of that was it was a poor rendition of something that was already perfected one videogame generation before with Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style. Both of which were fighting games that were at least mediocre, but with Wu-Tang you had a better soundtrack. It was the better game and it was for the PSone. That's a lot to say for the Def Jam series that tried and tried again; but kept on failing on its endeavors.

I'm not trying to be bias towards rock in games versus hip-hop and R&B in games, but there is a bit of tinge in these posts. But that's not to say that games that had rap/hip-hop isn't all bad. Take for instance the Grand Theft Auto series. Ever since GTA3 incorporating its radio in their cars, you can change from rock to rap with the push of the L or R button respectively for each console it was on. Another take would be the soundtrack to some of the most recent Madden games that were released in the past few years. Hell, if it wasn't for that, we probably wouldn't have even gave two craps about Avenged Sevenfold and all their pop-punk rock greatness (or at least popularity.)

But that's my rant on music and videogames at least for the time. I dunno, maybe I'll revisit it. But for now...

Bootleg sampler.. signing out...

When two passions merge...

You might know by now that I'm a huge videogame fanatic. You might also know that I'm just as huge of a music fanatic. So when those worlds collide, marvelous things can happen (at least in my opinion.) But sometimes, those things can fall wayside and might never be heard of or mentioned about again. That is not my intention for this post. I want to shine some light on towards how music not only intensify the videogame experience, but sometimes even define what that game was all about.

Music in videogames are important, from the very subtle ambiance of a pin drop during a stealth shoot-em up FPS to the delightful fail music after dying by the hands of a goomba, music is part of what makes up a videogame. There's even a genre of videogames that is totally devoted to music; the rhythm-based vidogames that include such phenomenons as Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Dance Dance Revolution franchises. Without music to back them up, they would all be failures. And to transition into the point of this post, music is best served as part of the game but to also make it a stand-alone element amongst itself. Take a look at Guitar Hero and taking its claim on various acts as special packs such as Aerosmith, Metallica, and AC/DC as well as other themed versions such as 80's. Rock Band announced of a Beatles exclusive to its catalog. The point is that although now games are incorporating acts to help promote their products, it was a complete 180 back in the day and actually helped incorporate bands to star status. And there have been some games as well as musical acts to follow that principle.

One game that stands out in my mind was the title Road Rash for the Sega Saturn as well as the Playstation. As far as the gameplay is concerned, it's very short, simple, and to the point. Ride motorcycles across a circuit, don't get pulled over by the cops, and beat the crap out of any other motorist that comes your way. But what really set this above all other racing sims at the time was the soundtrack. It was the first to actually have a soundtrack. And it was GOOD!!! The definite notable band on the soundtrack is Soundgarden with their hits Kickstand, Superunknown, and Outshined, and Rusty Cage; but there was definitely more than meets the eye in that game. One of my favorite bands, Paw, is featured there. Paw, being a cross between grunge with a little bit of country twang (kinda like Hank Williams III) it really sets itself above all else there. It even incorporated a friggin' music video for their song 'Jessie' as an exclusive for the Playstation and Sega Saturn versions, now that's epic.

Also there was other notables such as acid rock group Monster Magnet before they were noticed. But my main focus is with Paw. I have their only LP and it friggin rocked, and it's just too bad that most people only associate Paw with their stint on Road Rash. They even have an EP that was made in 2000 that's available on eMusic, but since then, not much and that eventually ended up to the disbandment of the band. In fact, the only band that is still in existence from the game's soundtrack in whole is Monster Magnet; I wouldn't consider Soundgarden because only Chris Cornell is currently playing an active role in music since their band broke up in the mid 90's.

Another game that shines in the music department is Big Air for the Playstation. A snowboarding simulator that featured big named acts as well as some unknowns. Two acts that stand out is Blink-182 (who when this game was releaced was just coming out of their Dude Ranch album featuring hits like 'Dammit') and the one that I'll focus on for this game, Gangster Fun. Gangster Fun was a ska band back in the 90's that were under the helm of Mike E. Clark of ICP producing fame. Their songs were of the noir side of ska if there was one and amplified it to a beat of a drum for just about everyone to get into groove with. Notable songs were be 'Skarabia' and 'Night of the Living Stove' that were featured in the game. Personally, that got me hooked, but just like Paw, their fame was short lived only releasing just one LP and having a cameo appearance in ICP's Jeckel Brothers album. Another good band not getting the recognition that it deserves. But on the topic of snowboarding games, Shawn Palmer's Snowboarder for the Playstation 2 had another kick ass soundtrack to it to incorporate acts like Static-X and help kick start the band Alien Ant Farm to stardom. Both names are huge in its respected genres, Static-X for it's industrial rock and Alien Ant Farm for their stint in alternative music and their remake of Michael Jackson's hit 'Smooth Criminal.'

Heck, they're even the arcade classic Revolution X that was a rail shooter who featured the band Aerosmith exclusively. They even attempted to coin the phrase (to use) "music as a weapon" all throughout the game. It wasn't a good game compared to other rail shooters such as Terminator 2 arcade game or Silent Scope, but the simple fact that it was it's own arcade cabinet that was totally music oriented towards one of the greatest acts in existence. What can I say, you gotta have a yin to a yang sometimes...

But in short, videogames are an art form. Just as much as music. And to collaborate on such is well, kinda like an interactive music video. We can be the director and make it as epic (or as much of an epic fail) as our talents can offer.

BootLeG sampler.. signing out...