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[Markio128]

Most of you are probably too young to remember a game based on Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s album ‘Welcome to the pleasure dome’.

You played a mundane character who had to improve his personality enough to enter the pleasure dome. Pretty wild concept for a game at the time.

Anyway, the album (which included the famous and controversial song ‘Relax’) was deemed popular enough to have a game created and based around its concept.



Can anyone think of any other games that were made based on the concept of an album?

Can you think of any albums that would be cool to base a game on?

My love of music and games is fairly equal, so I’d love to see more games that used the concept of an album, even if they were indie titles.

I’d imagine Radiohead would be a good source, with albums like OK Computer or Kid-A. Speaking of which, Radiohead did have a recent VR experience, but it wasn’t what I’d call a game.

 

[HL3.exe]

Because monoculture is dead.

Edit:
Also, Radiohead did recently have a "video-game"

 

[diffusionx]

The closest thing I can think of is that adventure game based on Queen that came out in the 1990s.

 

[nial]

I’d imagine Radiohead would be a good source, with albums like OK Computer or Kid-A. Speaking of which, Radiohead did have a recent VR experience, but it wasn’t what I’d call a game.

I was gonna say that one. Kid A Mnesia Exhibition is not a VR experience, though. You can play it normally on PS5.

 

[RagnarokIV]

You can now play the fictional video game from the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Californication music video

The hit track from 1999 has been turned into a video game by Spanish developer Miquel Camps Orteza.

guitar.com

The game is based on the official video for the title track of the band’s seventh album, Californication, which is set inside a fictitious video game – now, thanks to one hardcore fan, that game is a reality.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Wasn't there an Aerosmith game or was that a drug-induced dream? I remember there being a Metallica racing game in the works 20 years ago but it never came out.

 

[Humdinger]

I suppose you are excluding games like Rock Band etc. - music/rhythm games. You seem to be asking more about concept albums. I would say that one reason may be that concept albums themselves have become rarer.

When I think of concept albums, I think of Tommy (The Who) or Thick as a Brick (Jethro Tull). That's my era. It would be challenging to turn either of those into a videogame. Tommy would probably be easier, since it's already a movie/musical. Thick as a Brick is more cerebral, though, and doesn't have much of a story per se.

I'm sure there are a range of musicals that could be turned into games, if someone had the will to do it. I'm not a big fan of musicals, though, so I probably wouldn't be playing those games, even if they existed...

 

[Hudo]

Taiko No Tatsujin.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Probably not worth it. It'd mean either the developer would have to pay huge licensing rights, or the producer would have to be interested in making a game to promote an album or musician. In either scenario you're also severely limiting your public.

It's better to just make a music genre inspired game, perhaps include some specific tracks or make original songs.

 

[lordrand11]

Most of you are probably too young to remember a game based on Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s album ‘Welcome to the pleasure dome’.

You played a mundane character who had to improve his personality enough to enter the pleasure dome. Pretty wild concept for a game at the time.

Anyway, the album (which included the famous and controversial song ‘Relax’) was deemed popular enough to have a game created and based around its concept.



Can anyone think of any other games that were made based on the concept of an album?

Can you think of any albums that would be cool to base a game on?

My love of music and games is fairly equal, so I’d love to see more games that used the concept of an album, even if they were indie titles.

I’d imagine Radiohead would be a good source, with albums like OK Computer or Kid-A. Speaking of which, Radiohead did have a recent VR experience, but it wasn’t what I’d call a game.

Kiss Psycho circus the nightmare child?

 

[cash_longfellow]

Pink Floyd “The Wall” would make for a hell of a first person narrative experience.

 

[cash_longfellow]

Wasn't there an Aerosmith game or was that a drug-induced dream? I remember there being a Metallica racing game in the works 20 years ago but it never came out.

There was, I remember playing it in the arcade…there was also that Michael Jackson game in the arcades too.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

Probably not worth it. It'd mean either the developer would have to pay huge licensing rights, or the producer would have to be interested in making a game to promote an album or musician. In either scenario you're also severely limiting your public.

I agree and reckon this is probably quite a lot of it.

Having a track on a game used to be a big money-spinner with the advent of CD consoles because a royalty was paid on sales. That made it quite expensive for the game publisher. I think initially it was a good way of legitimising games to an audience, you only need to look at Tony Hawk, Crazy Taxi, etc. Unthinkable that those games wouldn't be accompanied by the soundtracks they benefitted from. Hardly anyone wants Crazy Taxi without Yah, Yah, Yah, Yah, Yah, etc. Later on, lower flat fees were often paid for games and so it became a less enticing prospect for music publishers and artists.

Before streaming was the dominant way to listen to music, the value of music was high, and it'd be really hard to get a band or artist to commit to giving an entire soundtrack's worth of music to a game, at any rate, let alone the lower rates paid later on.

But I also think that finding an artist that would reach enough people to make it truly mainstream and overlap with gamers' taste would be difficult. If you could license an artist and have them be the face of a new game, you'd really struggle to find someone to make it work. I wouldn't be interested in a Taylor Swift/ Ed Sheeran / Coldplay / Metallica / Dua Lipa / Kiss / Abba soundtracked game. But who else could you hit up? Let alone wondering how much cash you'd have to throw at one of those acts, particularly Taylor Swift.

I think, generally speaking, that games have got big enough to not benefit significantly from music tie ins at this point.

I would love to see Doom Eternal (Taylor's Version) though.

 

[midnightAI]

There's been a few Iron Maiden games

 

[Gojiira]

At one point Sonata Arctica were involved in a game based on their album Winterhearts Guild. Pretty sure it was supposed to be a multiplayer fantasy type game. Biggest loss is the hours of WHG-era music they recorded for it but never released.
Only modern band I could ever see doing a game now would be Dream Theater, their album Scenes from a Memory is already a stage show and now has a novelisation. Its a amazing album, could maybe be a VN or maybe something like LA Noire. Give me a game based on Hakens album Virus any day though or Queensryches album Operation Mindcrime.

 

[SmokedMeat]

This immediately popped in my head

 

[ReBurn]

This immediately popped in my head

The arcade game this was based on was kinda weird.

 

[Hudo]

Just the names taken from songs but whatever.

 

[Markio128]

The arcade game this was based on was kinda weird.

It’s the first I’ve heard of this one. It probably didn’t reach the UK, and I missed it if it did. Those sprites are hilarious though.

 

[existensmaximum]

Crüe Ball wasn't so hot.

 

[Sorcerer]

Some bands who have video games I can recall:

Devo: The Adventures of The Smart Patrol
The Residents:: Bad day on the Midway
I believe the Stranglers included a floppy disc with a text adventure with copies of one of their albums
Seems like more "alternative bands" embraced gaming at one time.

 

[Punished Miku]

That Radiohead free thing was cool.

 

[Markio128]

It seems there were quite a few games based around big US rock bands.

I’m embarrassed to say that I never tried the Iron Maiden game(s?). They were my favourite Metal band for quite a while, along with Black Sabbath.

Speaking of which - I’d love a Black Sabbath inspired game, with The Wizard as one of the tunes.

I’ve just thought of another game that I enjoyed on Dreamcast - Omikron - with Bowie tracks. I loved the intro to that game.

 

[Markio128]

Some bands who have video games I can recall:

Devo: The Adventures of The Smart Patrol
The Residents:: Bad day on the Midway
I believe the Stranglers included a floppy disc with a text adventure with copies of one of their albums
Seems like more "alternative bands" embraced gaming at one time.

There were a few games back in the early days that had songs that came with the game, such as ‘Everyones a wally’ that came on the B-side of the spectrum 48k and C64 cassette. It was off its nut.

 

[Markio128]

I guess there are other games, like Death Stranding that aren’t particularly based on the proper band music they include, but are much better experiences because of it.

Edit: I wonder if DS2 will have a similar soundtrack? I really hope so.

 

[calistan]

There are loads of pinball machines based on bands or musicians. Pinball is a much better fit for that sort of tie-in than videogames - all you need is some music and artwork, and nobody cares if the gameplay is just lighting up the letters K-I-S-S or whatever.

(Elvis, Elton John, Metallica, Dolly Parton, Iron Maiden, The Who, Aerosmith, Rush, AC/DC, Queen, Guns n Roses, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and many more)

 

[Northeastmonk]

I guess there are other games, like Death Stranding that aren’t particularly based on the proper band music they include, but are much better experiences because of it.

Edit: I wonder if DS2 will have a similar soundtrack? I really hope so.

What’s odd is if you buy the OST you don’t get most of the vocal tracks from the game. Which is a huge shame. The sampler was ok. They had a 5 track mini OST, but those aren’t the songs you’re hearing when you walk around. The actual OST isn’t all that great if you ask me. It’s a lot of sounds that are better off as background noise for whatever you’re doing.

 

[Markio128]

Not sure if anyone is into Operation Mindcrime by Queensryche, but that would make an interesting concept for a game.

 

[jufonuk]

Games cost a shit ton to make today. Back then you could make a vaguely human block character and claim it’s anyone. then create a simple platformer or shooter and job done. oh, maybe these concept games could find a home on mobile devices more easy shovelware. anyone want a taylor swift sokoban style game? I'll take 10% for the idea

 

[Toots]

I remember the David Bowie cameo in Omikron it was mind blowing (at the time for 14 year old me)

 

[SHA]

Enshittification, so they don't get worse over time.

 

[SirTerry-T]

Hawkwind's "Space Ritual"
...though I suppose Jeff Minter's stuff comes pretty close.

 

[Bonfires Down]

Only modern band I could ever see doing a game now would be Dream Theater, their album Scenes from a Memory is already a stage show and now has a novelisation. Its a amazing album, could maybe be a VN or maybe something like LA Noire.

We have Scenes From A Memory at home.

 

[Gojiira]

We have Scenes From A Memory at home.

Lol ‘at home’ is right

 

[Wildebeest]

A lot of musicians don't want to be associated with violence and war, which is 99.99995% of video game content.

 

[Loke]

Pink Floyd “The Wall” would make for a hell of a first person narrative experience.

Not a commercial game but there is a mod for Duke Nukem 3D that's based on The Wall.

 

[intbal]

The KISS game was pretty great (on PC).
They were faithful to the genre, with the band really only serving as inspiration for the character designs (and even then it was in their Psycho Circus versions).

I only played the Omikron demo, but I thought it was a very interesting design.
Probably should have picked that one up.

 

[Markio128]

The KISS game was pretty great (on PC).
They were faithful to the genre, with the band really only serving as inspiration for the character designs (and even then it was in their Psycho Circus versions).

I only played the Omikron demo, but I thought it was a very interesting design.
Probably should have picked that one up.

Please tell me there was a lovegun involved in the KISS game.

 

[ultrazilla]

IRON MAIDEN

To my knowledge, there's only a mobile game called "Legacy of the Beast"(wasn't too bad actually) and
a very obscure "on the rails" fps shooter "Ed Hunter" that's so shitty nobody really remembers it.

Ed Hunter | That Time Iron Maiden Made a Video Game - Upside Down Shark

Ed Hunter brought together the might of Iron Maiden and the world of video games. Was it any good and does it hold up now? Find out!

upsidedownshark.com

Iron Maiden and their mascot in "Eddie" IMO is a perfect character to build a video game around. I'll tell you
what, the "Legacy of the Beast" soundtrack used the Maiden catalog of songs brilliantly.

 

[killatopak]

Here you go

 

[Markio128]

IRON MAIDEN

To my knowledge, there's only a mobile game called "Legacy of the Beast"(wasn't too bad actually) and
a very obscure "on the rails" fps shooter "Ed Hunter" that's so shitty nobody really remembers it.

Ed Hunter | That Time Iron Maiden Made a Video Game - Upside Down Shark

Ed Hunter brought together the might of Iron Maiden and the world of video games. Was it any good and does it hold up now? Find out!

upsidedownshark.com

Iron Maiden and their mascot in "Eddie" IMO is a perfect character to build a video game around. I'll tell you
what, the "Legacy of the Beast" soundtrack used the Maiden catalog of songs brilliantly.

If any band deserves the AAA treatment it’s Iron Maiden. Which album would suit a game the most do you reckon? Somewhere in Time would make a solid base for a sci-fi game, especially since Eddie looks super cool on the album sleeve.

 

[intbal]

Please tell me there was a lovegun involved in the KISS game.

Nope. All the weapons are very Sci-Fantasy, based on the comic (I assume. I've never read it.)

 

[Markio128]

I was gonna say that one. Kid A Mnesia Exhibition is not a VR experience, though. You can play it normally on PS5.

Yeah, may have been a bit confused with that one. I remember starting off in some kind of forest, then heading into a bunker with all kinds of weird shit going on. I’d say it was based more on the artwork of Radiohead, than the music itself, but there were a few tracks in there.

 

[Markio128]

Nope. All the weapons are very Sci-Fantasy, based on the comic (I assume. I've never read it.)

Shame. It’d make a great gun for Duke Nukem. ‘CUM GET SOME!!’

 

[cash_longfellow]

Not a commercial game but there is a mod for Duke Nukem 3D that's based on The Wall.

Nice!

 

[CamHostage]

Neat thread idea, and some good reccs in here. It seems like the '90s boom era of games and the massive market of music sales would have hooked up more game/musi cross-licensed product, though I get some of the reasons why bands or albums have not been the foundation of games very often.

(Adding to the reasons: * Individual bands have less machinery behind them than movie or TV studios to shop for developer interest. * The development timeline is just too long to match the album cycle and so a game would have to be based on a hit or classic album, a real issue of being timely in a market so dependent on trends and the next big thing. * The simple fact that there just isn't one big blockbuster proving to producers that music-inspired games are big business to be exploited.)

Also, here's a game sort of based on music: Kanye West was for a while "seriously interested" in making a game in tribute to his mother's passing. Music for Kanye's Only One was composed by hm (although this was at the start of his Gospel period, long after his peak as a mainstream hitmaker, so it would have been that music and not Gold Digger...), and the game's theme is familiar in his tracks, also the game seemed kind of similar to imagery in some of his videos or graphics.

It all seemed like a joke of a fever dream at the time (Kanye even cornered Shigeru Miyamoto at E3 and tried to get him and Nintendo involved,) but a game development team called Encyclopedia Pictura (mostly an animation/effects company) did work on the project for over a year. Kanye did eventually release an app sort of based on this concept, but I can't tell what the "gameplay" was and it seems to already be delisted.

Kanye West's new game caps off his long, weird Only One saga | Digital Trends

Kanye West recently released a mobile game to promote his latest Yeezy Gap fashion line, capping off his long, weird fascination with games.

www.digitaltrends.com

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Hideo Kojima

Horror title

Based on The Downward Spiral by NIN.

 

[CamHostage]

Kind of an application though rather than a case of a game "based on" music.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

The arcade game this was based on was kinda weird.

Man the Showbiz Pizza by me had this arcade machine, I played because it looked so weird and interesting. Didn’t even realize that Journey was a real band at the time.

 

[Damien Grief]

There have been some cheap little games commissioned by the band in question themselves. Iron Maiden did one a while back. The most recent one that I can think of that wasn't just some quick 2D pixel art platformer game where the band seemed to really take it seriously was when the UK prog metal band TesseracT made a 3D game in Unreal Engine 5 called "War of Being" for their latest album release in 2023. Complete with Early Access release on Steam. And the lead vocalist was the lead game designer. They put songs from their new album all throughout and used it as a way to promote the album before it came out.

As for why it doesn't happen more often? I think most bands and artists aren't passionate about it and game developers don't want to license whole albums worth of music from a single band. It's expensive and limits your audience potential.