Back when I used to be able to sit around and play games for hours on end without feeling guilty, game soundtracks were either a lot less important to the gameplay or were just less interesting in general. When I bought a fledgling home theatre, I had access to all my music in the same place that I was playing games. If a game's soundtrack was boring or non-essential, I would quickly hit the mute button and fire up the stereo.
I know I used this technique extensively while doing ridiculously dorky stuff like breeding a golden chocobo in Final Fantasy VII, but the music I listened to then hasn't really stuck to my memories of the game. Two games, Sega Rally 2 for Dreamcast and Rallisport Challenge for Xbox, however, have definite links to music.
Sega Rally 2 saw me listening to a lot of Counting Crow's 3rd album,
This Desert Life. It's totally not racing music, but I borrowed it from a girl who I was interested in at work, so listening to it was a priority. Playing Sega Rally 2 was also a priority. Perhaps unsurprisingly, nothing ever developed between us. I don't hold Sega Rally accountable for that. Regardless, sitting around playing Sega Rally gave me the perfect opportunity to really listen to the album. Decent game; great album.
Rallisport Challenge was the only game I went through the excruciatingly slow process of loading songs onto the Xbox's harddrive for. I found that most songs didn't work very well on the short races I was doing in the game, but
The Hives' Veni Vidi Vicious was perfect. The sings kick right into gear and can play completely through over the course of most races. Whenever I think of Rallisport, I think of The Hives. Great game; great album.
It's interesting that the musical connection with the games only goes one way. I think of the albums when I think of the games. When I think of the albums, the games don't cross my mind. It probably has to do with having listened to the albums while not playing the games, but I still find it interesting.
Also interesting, and something I just found out while writing this, is that the Japanese version of VVV has three bonus tracks. Time to hit up Tsutaya!
Sega Rally 2 saw me listening to a lot of Counting Crow's 3rd album, This Desert Life. It's totally not racing music, but I borrowed it from a girl who I was interested in at work, so listening to it was a priority. Playing Sega Rally 2 was also a priority. Perhaps unsurprisingly, nothing ever developed between us. I don't hold Sega Rally accountable for that. Regardless, sitting around playing Sega Rally gave me the perfect opportunity to really listen to the album. Decent game; great album.
Rallisport Challenge was the only game I went through the excruciatingly slow process of loading songs onto the Xbox's harddrive for. I found that most songs didn't work very well on the short races I was doing in the game, but The Hives' Veni Vidi Vicious was perfect. The sings kick right into gear and can play completely through over the course of most races. Whenever I think of Rallisport, I think of The Hives. Great game; great album.
It's interesting that the musical connection with the games only goes one way. I think of the albums when I think of the games. When I think of the albums, the games don't cross my mind. It probably has to do with having listened to the albums while not playing the games, but I still find it interesting.
Also interesting, and something I just found out while writing this, is that the Japanese version of VVV has three bonus tracks. Time to hit up Tsutaya!
0 comments:
Post a Comment