Chris W

Only the crumbliest, flakiest Rock Band...

The relationship between TV and games bothers me. It’s not been exploited anywhere near as effectively as it could be. Whereas film at least produces the potential for decent games - not to mention a convenient sales spike upon release - television, with its emphasis on human interaction and continuing story elements, conveys less well to digital media. Off the top of my head, the only really successful (and not-so-successful) efforts I can think of are based on cartoons, which aren’t generally too bothered with cutting edge drama.

So where else should be we be looking? There’s one part of TV infiltrates popular culture on a daily basis: the adverts. Consider it: puzzle games based on those Honda adverts, stunt racers based on many car ads, and many adverts for the latest LCD TVs look like something from Fantavision. Who wouldn’t want to take a lightgun to kneecap those dancing cunts that work for the Halifax? But there’s one gametype where we can achieve true synergy.

How many adverts are remembered purely for their music? How many musicians have shot or returned to fame because of a commercial? Apple’s iPod nano campaign recently did wonders for Canadian folk-pop elf Feist, and Levi’s and Guinness, amongst others, have been at it for decades.

The solution is simple: downloads of collections of songs taken from adverts, for your favourite rythym/karaoke/instrument-based game. The old songs thrive on nostalgia, the new ones add exposure for the artists of the day. We don’t even need proper songs; many ads have short, catchy tunes we sing along to, even if afterwards we can’t remember what they were flogging. They’d make ideal bonus rounds, collections of Wario Ware-style minigames, one ditty after another, as fast as you can go. As source material for the new wave of group games that rely on bundled peripherals, it’s something everyone is familiar with. Picture it: you banging away on the drums, sis strumming on the guitar, and gran busy covering your best microphone in spittle, arms flapping.

I feel like Chicken Tonight,
Like Chicken Tonight.
Chicken Tonight!

There’s even the potential for the companies using these songs to sponsor or subsidise the downloads, getting them into our living rooms on the cheap. You can take a cynical view of the intrusion of advertising space into your home if you like, but I’d be happy with a few cheap games showing something I’d likely be watching on the telly anyway.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to check where I can hire four gorilla suits while I wait for Phil Collin’s In the Air Tonight to hit Rock Band.