Konami Taps Broadjam for New DDR Tracks
The Big K is all about the indie luv, apparently.
Published: January 9, 2007
One of the best things about getting a new Dance Dance Revolution game is seeing what tracks have been included. For a while there, the Japanese versions of the game were far superior, but we have to give Konami credit for not only sticking with the attempts to include Top 40 songs to help sell the game, but getting some classic DDR tunes and throwing some new stuff in there. Trance tracks, in particular, have started to build up (though they're obviously arriving well after the electronica subgenre hit its popularity peak back in the late 90s/early 00s), and DDR's selection is starting to get nicely varied indeed.
But it's the whole notion of including indie tracks that has us especially proud of the Redwood City, CA-based dev/pub. Konami is teaming up (apparently once again) with Broadjam, an online gathering place for budding artists, to find a potential new track to add to future games -- including the as-yet-unannounced inevitable game hitting systems sometime this year. The contest will give the winner (and all over the official contest site, it's mentioned that it's entirely possible that no one will win) a place in the game and $1000 to do with as they please.
It's an interesting approach to pulling in talent; we took a quick peek at the site and browsed some of the electronica tracks and found more than a few seriously decent tracks, so there's definitely potential already in place. Only members can enter the contest, and depending on your membership level, it'll cost you anywhere from $20 to nothing to throw your aural hat into the ring. The contest officially kicks off on the 15th of this month and ends at the end of February, with peer-reviews opening up January 25th and ending March 7th. On April 18, we'll find out which (if any) of the entrants get picked up.
“Last year’s contest was a smashing success. Broadjam’s experience, and vast membership, allowed us to find unique music that really matched our game,” exclaims Stillwind Borenstein, Music Director for Konami Digital Entertainment. “I’m very pleased and excited to be working with Broadjam again.”
“We’re thrilled that Konami has found so much great music on Broadjam for their products,” returns Roy Elkins, Broadjam's Founder and CEO. “We’re honored to work with Konami again and we look forward to finding the next great songs for their innovative Dance Dance Revolution products.”
The move to support both indie composers and broaden the selection of tracks in future DDR releases is something we happily support, and any could-be BTs or Beethovens should consider signing up. The pool of entrants right now is only about 60,000 strong, you have a chance. We look forward to seeing not only who wins, but what kind of music is selected for the upcoming game. More info on that game as soon as we find out.
But it's the whole notion of including indie tracks that has us especially proud of the Redwood City, CA-based dev/pub. Konami is teaming up (apparently once again) with Broadjam, an online gathering place for budding artists, to find a potential new track to add to future games -- including the as-yet-unannounced inevitable game hitting systems sometime this year. The contest will give the winner (and all over the official contest site, it's mentioned that it's entirely possible that no one will win) a place in the game and $1000 to do with as they please.
It's an interesting approach to pulling in talent; we took a quick peek at the site and browsed some of the electronica tracks and found more than a few seriously decent tracks, so there's definitely potential already in place. Only members can enter the contest, and depending on your membership level, it'll cost you anywhere from $20 to nothing to throw your aural hat into the ring. The contest officially kicks off on the 15th of this month and ends at the end of February, with peer-reviews opening up January 25th and ending March 7th. On April 18, we'll find out which (if any) of the entrants get picked up.
“Last year’s contest was a smashing success. Broadjam’s experience, and vast membership, allowed us to find unique music that really matched our game,” exclaims Stillwind Borenstein, Music Director for Konami Digital Entertainment. “I’m very pleased and excited to be working with Broadjam again.”
“We’re thrilled that Konami has found so much great music on Broadjam for their products,” returns Roy Elkins, Broadjam's Founder and CEO. “We’re honored to work with Konami again and we look forward to finding the next great songs for their innovative Dance Dance Revolution products.”
The move to support both indie composers and broaden the selection of tracks in future DDR releases is something we happily support, and any could-be BTs or Beethovens should consider signing up. The pool of entrants right now is only about 60,000 strong, you have a chance. We look forward to seeing not only who wins, but what kind of music is selected for the upcoming game. More info on that game as soon as we find out.