Monday 17 January 2011

The Custom Music Monster

I have a slightly hazy recollection of this, but if my memory serves me rightly Madden 2004 for the PC featured a little nugget which I still appreciate to this day: the ability to add your own music to the game. Sure you had to move music to a particular directory, but it really wasn't a big hassle. The ability to customise had begun!

Of course this meant much more to those with a keener musical ear, like my best friend Neil. He soon good a music converter that Electronic Arts offered and was putting custom music in everything, from various Need For Speed games to his own organ music in the NHL series.

Just over two years ago I bought a PS3. I slowly but surely built up a small collection of games, replacing those which I had for years in different guises on the PC. I thought the launch of NHL 10 would be the ideal time to replace my trusty old copy of NHL 2004, and wow, how pleased would I be with the final version. While I would ideally prefer commentary from Jim Hughson I could overlook that for the most complete custom music solution I had seen to date.

NHL 10 allowed custom music for menus and - for the first time that I could see - individual game events. This sent me scurrying to my .mp3 collection and Audacity, ready to pare down the Three Amigos' "25 Miles" in the style of Rob Fox and all kinds of blue songs for my best friend with a St. Louis bias.

Now FIFA 11 has followed suit (eliminating the need to rid FIFA 09 of any evidence of Duffy) and Gran Turismo has done likewise (in admittedly clunky fashion). Does it get better than this? The difficulty now is in making the choices, not in putting up with what comes with the game. Some examples of individual events/playlists are as follows:

FIFA Menu Music
The Lightning Seeds - "Life of Riley (Instrumental)"
Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean - "Hips Don't Lie"
Black Eyed Peas - "I Gotta Feeling"
Bubba Sparxxx - "Back In The Mud"
Maroon 5 - "Wake Up Call"

NHL Blue Playlist
Eiffel 65 - "Blue (Da Be Dee)"
Chris Isaak - "Blue Hotel"
New Order - "Blue Monday"
Elton John - "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" (my best friend hates this)
Erasure - "Blue Savannah" (see above)

NHL Off Ice Mix
Blue - "Song 2"
The Doors - "Light My Fire"
Franz Ferdinand - "Take Me Out"
Girls Aloud - "Wake Me Out"
Guns 'N' Roses - "Sweet Child O' Mine"
The Lightning Seeds - "Sugar Coated Iceberg"
Monaco - "What Do You Want From Me?"
Spaundau Ballet - "To Cut A Long Story Short

What custom music do you add into the games you play?