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Remember when licensed music in games was cool?

T

The Take Out Bandit

Member
Y'know - way back when, when it was still something of a novelty.

I recall getting a kick out of White Zombie tunes being featured in Way of the Warrior, but really digging the soundtrack to Road Rash 3DO. Holy crap, that was totally 90's style awesome.

Now it's pretty insufferable. Mostly because it's all Top-40 isht. The only thing missing is Ryan Seacrest filling my ears with inane factoids as to why this artist is so in the moment. >:(

Here's to hoping Omega Force masters some new rock for Dynasty Warriors PS3 and Blade Storm having the best intro movie since Soul Edge!
 
Wipeout XL had the greatest game soundtrack of it's time in my opinion. I actually ended up buying the soundtrack they sold in stores. I think that was definitely a first for videogames. I don't know if they were the first to sell their soundtrack, but maybe the first western company to do so, and certainly it was the best.

Licensed music has gotten pretty bad lately, but it's mostly EA's fault. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was a high point for licensed music, and Project Gotham Racing 3 probably has the best licensed music in any game ever. Unfortunately in PGR3, you can't mix and match songs to make your own playlist (or at least I haven't figured out how).
 
I would love to see some Gothenburg like At the Gates put into an FPS.

Wait, no, I could just play it through my stereo or play it in the background on my computer.
 
WOXL was fuggin' awesome! Still is. I need to rip that one to ye aulde iPod.

GTA actually does a good job with factoring in popular tunes and the nostalgia for the era the game is set in. The soundtrack was a huge factor in my purchase of Vice City. But mainly it was for the Danny Trejo voice acting. :D

The Tony Hawk games have also been pretty good to me for music. I just turn off the crap I dislike, but they do a good job of also introducing me to stuff I've never heard before, or have not heard a lot of - like the Distillers and 3 Inches of Blood.
 
It still is, The Deaf Bandit!
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Clearly you were not one of the Polak terrorists I took out in Socom 3 last night! >:(

/me reloads the level and pursues NSO Borys with extreeeeeeme prejudice

Actually, I blame EA. As with most things. Their EA Trax BS sucks a big fat blood log.
 
EA Trax is pretty good on NFS:MW. Hoepfully it will go back to it's roots of finding cool music for games instead of just putting music on based dollar signs. NFS:MW's soundtrack is pretty good. Has something for everyone.

I loved the Crystal Method soundtrack of N2O. That soundtrack fit the game perfectly. GTA soundtracks are great. Really set the mood well. I also liked the soundtrack to the first NFL Street and the music in all of the NBA Streets.

I guess what I am saying is licensed music can still be done well, it just depends on the music that is picked and how well it fits into the game. Even EA Trax has been good in quite a few games. I have been turned on to alot of music from it's inclusion in videogames.
 
The GTA soundtracks are pretty much the only ones i can think of that I like. All of the EA Trax selections have been absolutely terrible.
 
The Take Out Bandit said:
Clearly you were not one of the Polak terrorists I took out in Socom 3 last night! >:(

/me reloads the level and pursues NSO Borys with extreeeeeeme prejudice

Actually, I blame EA. As with most things. Their EA Trax BS sucks a big fat blood log.
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:lol

Are you blasting Arabs and Polaks while banging to Polish >:( RAP >:( by any chance?
 
Yeah, GTA:VC music just rocked. I know how message boarders and stuff jizz all over the non licensed stuff, but starting a GTA with Micheal Jackson's Billy Jean freakin' owns you! Hell any game perhaps!! That cannot be denied!!
 
Pimpbaa said:
The GTA soundtracks are pretty much the only ones i can think of that I like. All of the EA Trax selections have been absolutely terrible.
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Not even Wip3out Pure? Licensing tracks can work fine, regardless of EA Trax.
 
Yup. The Wipeout soundtracks are amazing.

Hell, I've even liked some of the music from the Burnout Revenge EA Trax
 
Rockstar has a long record of outstanding music supervision:

Skate and Destroy had a killer hip-hop track list

Sugarhill Gang – "Rapper's Delight"
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five – "White Lines (Don't Do It)"
Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force – "Planet Rock"
Run-DMC – "King Of Rock"
Stetsasonic – "Talkin' All That Jazz"
Ultramagnetic MC's – "Kool Keith Housin' Things"
Eric B. & Rakim – "I Know You Got Soul"
EPMD – "I'm Housin'"
Public Enemy – "Rebel Without A Pause"
A Tribe Called Quest – "Award Tour"
Gang Starr – "Just To Get A Rep"
The Freestylers – "Freestlye Noize"
DeeJay Punk-Roc – "My Beatbox"
Sniper – "Crossfader Dominator"
Hardknox – "Coz I Can."
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A pretty good warm up to the quality decade-based song selection for the GTA sequels.

Their masterstroke in music licensing, though, was grabbing original Spaghetti Western soundtracks for Red Dead Revolver.
 
dskillzhtown said:
EA Trax is pretty good on NFS:MW. Hoepfully it will go back to it's roots of finding cool music for games instead of just putting music on based dollar signs. NFS:MW's soundtrack is pretty good. Has something for everyone.
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stop! that is absolute bullshit! especially nfs:mw has the worst licensed soundtrack in thehistory of videogames. ist absolute crap with shit bands like avenged sevenfold. there is not one single song, that sound right or good. and i really dig the tunes from underground 1&2, because there the music fits (!) the gameplay.

i think, you can put licensed music in games, but it has to be good (!) music. not such top 20 american crap. one good (!) example for licensed music is the soundtrack from fahrenheit (indigo prophecy) and total overdose.
 
NFS:MW has a good EA Trax? WTF. It's horrible. But at least they composed ORIGINAL music for the cop chases. Maybe you're confusing "good EA Trax" with that music? Cause I dont think the cop chase music is true EA Trax.
 
I have to admit, I like quite a few of the EA Trax choices from SSX On Tour

Blackalicious Rhythm Sticks
Bloc Party Banquet
Chali2Na International feat. Beenie Man
Death From Above 1979 Romantic Rights
Dio Stand Up And Shout
Diplo Big Lost
Diplo Indian Thick Jawns feat. P.E.A.C.E.
Iron Maiden Run To The Hills
Jurassic 5 Red Hot
LCD Soundsystem Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
Louis XIV God Killed The Queen
Motorhead Overkill
Queens Of The Stone Age Medication
The Faint I Disappear
The Herbaliser Lord, Lord feat. Roots Manuva
The Herbaliser Gadget Funk
The Hives No Pun Intended
Z-Trip All About The Music featuring Whipper Whip
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More than half of the tracks are decent to tolerable.
 
Flynn said:
I have to admit, I like quite a few of the EA Trax choices from SSX On Tour
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Yeah, On Tour's alright, although I wish wish EA Trax's marketing types would pace themselves on their coolhunting a bit more - I was playing Burnout Revenge at the same time and it was like being stalked by Bloc Party and Maximo Park.
 
Wow, really? EA Trax doesn't suck anymore? They just about undermined the awesomeness of Burnout 3 for me, and it takes a mighty big effort to do that.

Their masterstroke in music licensing, though, was grabbing original Spaghetti Western soundtracks for Red Dead Revolver.
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This man speaks the truth. Heck, that alone did more for the game then its gameplay did.
And NARC is a lousy game with a terrific soundtrack. Any game that promiently features Curtis Mayfield deserves props. N20 on the PS1 followed up the Wipeout vein and had a pretty great techno score. Good stuff. And of course, everybody loves Rock N' Roll Racing, as they should.

Pretty much everything else to use a liscenced soundtrack can go hang itself though, I don't like hearing that mainstream tripe in my games.
 
HyperZone<3 said:
Wow, really? EA Trax doesn't suck anymore?
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Oh no, they still suck. They just lucked out on On Tour.

And the Etienne de Crecy Bravery remix on Revenge.

edit: and FC Kahuna on NFSU.
 
You have an iPod? I thought you were poor :p
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I am!

I just recently paid it off with one of those stupid store credit card 10% off initial purchase, and no interest for 12 months. :D

Gotta work the angles, sharp and precise.

Speaking of RDR, you can buy Companeros from iTunes Music Store. Ennio Morricone for the win! :)
 
I always get confused when people say they loved GTA: VC's soundtrack the best. I mean, I myself love 80's music, but I thought everyone hated the 80's? Wtf?
 
Oblivion said:
I always get confused when people say they loved GTA: VC's soundtrack the best. I mean, I myself love 80's music, but I thought everyone hated the 80's? Wtf?
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Come on, VH1's done 3 different versions of "I love the 80's". :P
 
The SSX3 soundtrack is a stroke of genius. Seriously, Audio Bullies. That was crazy.

I sure don't miss the days when Rob Zombie's "Dragula" was in every game though. And hey, who can forget Sega? How many different games did they use Offspring and Pennywise?
 
i was playing pgr3 and morrissey came on. i was like "wtf." then i took a totally sweet 90 degree turn.
 
Sega Touring Car had some terrific licensed tunes from Avex Trax and a couple other Japanese dance labels...really cool stuff. Some of the music for the Saturn version was remixed, though I thought the arcade versions sounded better.

And I think Wipeout 3's soundtrack is stronger overall then XL. Both are pretty damn good though.
 
SolidSnakex said:
Come on, VH1's done 3 different versions of "I love the 80's". :P
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True, but I thought everyone would be into rap or whatever you youngsters listen to nowadays. :P
 
GTA Soundtracks are still the way they should be done. That stuff is generally GOOD and fits with the games, as well. If games are going to take on licensed music, I'd like to see them try some more diverse stuff than what we've heard so far, though.
 
I'm gonna have to go ahead and disagree with you on this one Bob

I can't remember ever liking licensed music, first thing I remember is prodigy and I hate prodigy
 
Belfast said:
If games are going to take on licensed music, I'd like to see them try some more diverse stuff than what we've heard so far, though.
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I'd like to see (hear?) smartly licensed music in a wider variety of games, too. Which I expect will start happening soon, if only because they've been doing it in movies for years, and games want to be just like movies when they grow up!
 
i always had a feeling the reason why most gamers hate EA TRAX is because they didnt put enough classic rock/alternative and instead have rap. quite a few gamers seem to hate rap put on EATRAX
 
>>>I recall getting a kick out of White Zombie tunes being featured in Way of the Warrior, but really digging the soundtrack to Road Rash 3DO.<<<

The 3DO version of Road Rash is the first game I thought of when I saw the thread title.
 
Carmageddon 2 had a full Iron Maiden soundtrack. Iron Maiden fits well with that game. Smashing cars if fun, but it's way better when you're doing it to The Trooper. You could also put the game in your CD player and listen to all of the Iron Maiden songs.
 
While I think some licensed music is okay, I was never fully a supporter of it being in games. Original soundtracks ftw!
 
The Take Out Bandit said:
HOLY SHIT!

The Perfect Game™ has been made and I did not get this memo?!
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We used to rock that game at LAN parties when I was in grad school. So much fun.
 
Zaxxon said:
Wipeout XL had the greatest game soundtrack of it's time in my opinion. I actually ended up buying the soundtrack they sold in stores. I think that was definitely a first for videogames. I don't know if they were the first to sell their soundtrack, but maybe the first western company to do so, and certainly it was the best.
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I have that on 12" and I think it's still the best licensed game soundtrack ever.

I also have to give a shout to Neversoft for being the only game company that uses hip hop in their soundtracks without resorting to dumbass studio gangster pop rap. It almost makes up for a lot of the faux-punk they use.
 
:lol I'm probably gonna go out and find Carmageddon 2 myself now too...

I think Vice City is the best implimentation of lisenced music I've ever known. The CD box sets that you could buy were a great marketing touch too.

Some of the 'wow' factor from licensed music in games came back to me like a lost memory recently, when I played Tony Hawks American Sk8land on Nintendo DS for the first time. Green Day's Holiday started up, followed by Frank Black's Los Angeles. Its just cool to hear something like that out of the lil' Nintendo handheld for the first time. Vicarious Visions have done an incredible job with this game.
 
SSX3's soundtrack was awesome, and from EA! crazy.

Burnout Revenges soundtrack is a whole lot better than Burnout 3s. Most of the songs are remixes of other songs, and don't have a lot of vocals, so it's great background music.
 
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