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It seems that the two giant commodity environments
of music and gaming have finallly converged for real
this time.
At this year's E3, David Bowie could be seen
reclining in the VIP lounge at the EIDOS party,
looking not too out of place. Yes, '70s rock-icons
are also rumoured to have hatched a deal at the same
show to provide music for Relic's upcoming real-time
strategy game HOMEWORLD. The soundtrack to
Gran Turismo on the PlayStation features music contributed
by a truckload of indie rockers: Garbage, Bowie,
Blur, Ash, Dandy Warhols, Supergrass, Placebo, and
more besides.
And with the ambitious and equally classic rollout of
the new Eidos racing game Mad Dash Racing this
November featuring an exceptional roster of stars
including Moby, The Proppellerheads, Fatboy Slim
and Uberzone the convergence seems to have found
a more natural conflation of interests to provide a
full on urban experience: the sound of the streets pitched
up and against the interests of the street - enhancing
the game, enhancing the music.
Of course, gaming and music have always been close cousins,
but the recent addition of "Visual Media" to three Grammy
categories, an arena previously open only to television
and film entries, solidifies a connection that's long
been loose but well acknowledged.
Up until the release of Mad Dash Racing and it's
more sensibly pitched sountrack, a rock star signing
onto a game, was unlikely to translate into anything
either more aurally pleasing or game pleasing than greater
media coverage.
Not that there has not been sucessful and imaginative
coalitions before. Nine Inch Nails member Chris Vrenna,
no stranger to collosal sonic concepts such as the recent
(and excellent) ' The
Attraction to All Things Uncertain penned the original
music to ELECTRONIC ART'S ’ Alice in Wonderland-themed
video game, AMERICAN MCGEES ALICE.
And now there's Mad Dash Racing - taking the
inevitable convergence of music and gaming to a new,
more natural level.
The list of contributions to the soundtrack that Eidos
revealed runs something like this:
Acid 8000 (Fatboy Slim)
Bang On (Propellerheads)
Honey (Moby)
Control (MDFMK)
Jump (Mephisto Odyssey)
Stompbox (Overseer)
Insectarcutor Dub (Overseer)
Rhythm Device (Uberzone)
Nitrogen Part II (Juno Reactor)
Fragments (Meat Beat Manifesto)
#4 (Meat Beat Manifesto)
Rabble Rouser (MDFMK)
Mad Dash is Eidos and Crystal Dynamics upcoming Xbox
launch title. Called a "combat racer" by the publisher,
the game involves footraces, cartoon characters, and
now techno music. The game is scheduled to launch alongside
the Xbox this November. A 3D action adventure, with
a crew of motley characters, whose race for survival
sees the them glide across rivers of steaming lava,
bash through mammoth boulders, and knock off their opponents
with hand-to-hand combat.
The dialogue for the characters is rumoured also to
be 'hilarious' delivered as it is by some very professional
voice talent indeed. You will probably recognize some
very familiar voices in the cast including Billy
West who does the voices for Ren and Stimpy,
Johnny Bravo, and characters for Futurama
and the Simpsons.
Sounds convincing. So go ahead, convince us....
Title: Mad Dash Racing
Genre: Combat Racing Adventure
Platform: Xbox
ESRB Rating: Teen: Comic Mischief, Mild Language, Mild
Lyrics
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Eidos Interactive Release Date: November
8, 2001 (launch title)
Report by Alan Sargeant for Crud Magazine©
2001
relevant sites:
Official
site -maddashracing.com
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