
Many years ago, if you wanted to make a fortune from pop culture, picking up a guitar was a viable route.
It was a long and arduous journey, but music and cinema were the two methods by which one could get famous and make a living doing so. Media has changed, and as the years have evolved a new player has arrived on the leisure scene taking huge sums of money for those who are a success.
Whether that is as an eSports competitor fighting for a share of a seven-figure prize pool, or a developer turning over millions with every new release, video games have become the cultural juggernaut of the new millennium. There is little surprise that as their popularity has increased, so has the crossover between them and the music industry.
Some top composers are now shunning Hollywood for the gaming industry. Some big musicians are supplementing their fame through gaming and some have even found fame because of the popular football game. Another Sky, featured on FIFA 20 and are a prime example according to Goal.
In other instances, music has become the purpose and theme of the game, bringing either bands or experiences directly to players. The most obvious of these examples was the Band Hero titles, which put a guitar in your hands and popular songs in your heads. Away from direct simulations, music has been used as a theme for games of other genres, too. Foxy Games has plenty of titles dedicated to rock music and associated imagery, including Monsters of Rock Megaways and Mild Rockers, mixing online slots with popular rock music themes. Everywhere you turn, music and video games are merging.
Some bands have even found a niche for themselves on computer, console or handheld device, lending their name and songs to titles, some popular, and some perhaps not so. So with that in mind, here are four of the most memorable rock bands/video game crossovers from gaming history.
Crüe Ball
Mötley Crüe stepped in to save this Sega Genesis pinball-themed game after MTV was initially pursued for their Headbangers Ball branding. The music channel refused, and Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Vince Neil and Tommy Lee became the core feature. It is a basic pinball experience that features three of the band’s songs: Dr Feelgood, Live Wire, and Home Sweet Home, as well as branding familiar to fans.
Revolution X
Aerosmith are perhaps a more universally accepted band than Mötley Crüe, and their title had a far wider release in 1994, spanning the SNES, Genesis, PC and eventually PlayStation, too. It was as close to a first-person shooter as 1994 could muster and featured tracks by the band, including Eat the Rich, Sweet Emotion, and Walk This Way. The band feature as plot characters in the game, with events kicking off at an Aerosmith gig in Club X, Los Angeles.
Ed Hunter
Ed Hunter was an interesting concept in that it was both a game and an album at the same time. Released on PC, it featured the songs from the album, as well as levels based on previous album art which the band’s mascot, Ed Hunter, must navigate. It was way ahead of its time in terms of concept, although maybe not execution, as there were better games out there but none ambitious enough to tie in with a band’s album release. It was a definite predecessor to music and video crossovers which continue to this day.
Kiss: Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child
There is something about Kiss that lends itself to video games perfectly. Maybe it is the over-the-top persona and imagery, but this first-person shooter certainly appealed to fans of the genre in more ways than one. Fans of the band might have also been drawn in, but the lack of a wider console release possibly held it back. It dropped on PC and Dreamcast, but not the more popular PlayStation, which meant only a select number of gamers got to play it.
It was a long and arduous journey, but music and cinema were the two methods by which one could get famous and make a living doing so. Media has changed, and as the years have evolved a new player has arrived on the leisure scene taking huge sums of money for those who are a success.
Whether that is as an eSports competitor fighting for a share of a seven-figure prize pool, or a developer turning over millions with every new release, video games have become the cultural juggernaut of the new millennium. There is little surprise that as their popularity has increased, so has the crossover between them and the music industry.
Some top composers are now shunning Hollywood for the gaming industry. Some big musicians are supplementing their fame through gaming and some have even found fame because of the popular football game. Another Sky, featured on FIFA 20 and are a prime example according to Goal.
In other instances, music has become the purpose and theme of the game, bringing either bands or experiences directly to players. The most obvious of these examples was the Band Hero titles, which put a guitar in your hands and popular songs in your heads. Away from direct simulations, music has been used as a theme for games of other genres, too. Foxy Games has plenty of titles dedicated to rock music and associated imagery, including Monsters of Rock Megaways and Mild Rockers, mixing online slots with popular rock music themes. Everywhere you turn, music and video games are merging.
Some bands have even found a niche for themselves on computer, console or handheld device, lending their name and songs to titles, some popular, and some perhaps not so. So with that in mind, here are four of the most memorable rock bands/video game crossovers from gaming history.
Crüe Ball
Mötley Crüe stepped in to save this Sega Genesis pinball-themed game after MTV was initially pursued for their Headbangers Ball branding. The music channel refused, and Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Vince Neil and Tommy Lee became the core feature. It is a basic pinball experience that features three of the band’s songs: Dr Feelgood, Live Wire, and Home Sweet Home, as well as branding familiar to fans.
Revolution X
Aerosmith are perhaps a more universally accepted band than Mötley Crüe, and their title had a far wider release in 1994, spanning the SNES, Genesis, PC and eventually PlayStation, too. It was as close to a first-person shooter as 1994 could muster and featured tracks by the band, including Eat the Rich, Sweet Emotion, and Walk This Way. The band feature as plot characters in the game, with events kicking off at an Aerosmith gig in Club X, Los Angeles.
Ed Hunter
Ed Hunter was an interesting concept in that it was both a game and an album at the same time. Released on PC, it featured the songs from the album, as well as levels based on previous album art which the band’s mascot, Ed Hunter, must navigate. It was way ahead of its time in terms of concept, although maybe not execution, as there were better games out there but none ambitious enough to tie in with a band’s album release. It was a definite predecessor to music and video crossovers which continue to this day.
Kiss: Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child
There is something about Kiss that lends itself to video games perfectly. Maybe it is the over-the-top persona and imagery, but this first-person shooter certainly appealed to fans of the genre in more ways than one. Fans of the band might have also been drawn in, but the lack of a wider console release possibly held it back. It dropped on PC and Dreamcast, but not the more popular PlayStation, which meant only a select number of gamers got to play it.