Custom video game soundtracks for your 360
Category: Industry, Posted: 09/17/2007 at 01:39AM CDT by Tim Mellish, Staff WriterMusic is an essential part of any video game. It evokes emotion, sets the tone for the moment, and adds that extra layer of polish to an already amazing experience. Games like Final Fantasy (insert number here), Gears of War, BioShock, and Metal Gear Solid are just some of the titles where the music plays a vital role.
Fans of games can attest to how amazing some of their favorite scores are, and can probably pick out any scene within these games just by listening to the music. But then the Xbox 360 came along, with it's custom soundtrack feature built in so that any game could play whatever music the gamer desired.
While some in the industry like Marty O'Donnell from Bungie aren't too hip with the custom soundtrack option, one can't deny gamers are given a pretty cool opportunity to try out music with games they didn't think possible.
Like many gamers I have spent long nights with my iPod and Xbox 360, trying out various movie and game scores with different games trying to find those gems.
Games, when matched with a certain piece of musical score, just come to life like never before. Trust me when I say this, after playing the following games with new music, it's going to be hard to go back to the original experience.
- Grand Theft Auto IV 05/11/2008
- Grand Theft Auto IV 05/11/2008
- Fantasy Wars 05/06/2008
- Mario Kart Wii 04/25/2008
- Okami 04/24/2008
- Gran Turismo 5 Prologue 04/22/2008
- View More
- Hands-on: God of War: Chains o... 02/18/2008
- Hands-on: The Bad, The Ugly, a... 02/18/2008
- Hands-on: The Club 02/13/2008
- Hands-on: Penumbra: Black Plag... 02/08/2008
- Hands-on: Codename Panzers: Co... 01/31/2008
- LEGO Batman 01/27/2008
- View More
Brendon Lindsey
Updated May 6th, 2008
DVD Review: Cloverfield
Frank Ling
Updated April 30, 2008....
Why GTA IV was released broken.
Eddie Inzauto
Updated Friday, May 9th
The Holy Grail?
Brian Schulman
Complaining for gamers who are sick of the crap
GamerNode needs your help. Register
now and join thousands of gamers in a
crusade to spread the word of
GamerNode!
Join the Node Army!
- World's Longest Thread 05/12/2008
- You laugh, you lose. 05/12/2008
- Post your "Real" Desktop. 05/12/2008
- What game did you play today? 05/12/2008
- Everybody deserves a little bit ... 05/12/2008
- The official "Rate the sig above... 05/12/2008
- What are you listening to? 05/11/2008
- Freeware Game Review #2 05/11/2008
- 2008 NHL playoffs 05/11/2008
- Nintendo Wii 05/11/2008
- View More
I hope to GOD that you don't use custom soundtracks on your initial playthroughs.
When you substitute your own soundtrack you more often than not lose a crucial element of the game that is the musical cues. These musical cues can enhance certain moods such as seclusion and/or a sudden sense of urgency. Without them, a substantial part of the narrative is no longer there and you, the user, feel like you are less a part of the actual experience than ever before.
Now custom soundtracks during multiplayer games and/or multiple playthroughs are ok in my book.
Just try and imagine listening to any other than the in-game music during critical plot elements in an MGS game such as when Sniperwolf dies. Think about that for awhile.
Using a custom soundtrack in Guitar Hero 2 would make that game a lot more challenging. Too bad it's not possible :(
Also, links to the trance podcasts you mentioned in Geometry Wars would be nice, I'm interested in that :P