Parallel Lines Drives onto iTunes
Atari's licensing department had better make a few bucks from this.
Published: March 16, 2006
After two hugely disappointing games that tried to take the focus off, well, driving with sloppy on-foot controls and a lackluster -- if not nonexistent -- story line, Reflections went back to the drawing board and started building a new Driver game, one that captured the essence of the first game's atmosphere and setting.
That meant, among other things, taking the whole mess back to New York city, dropping the first part of the game into the funkadelic 70s, and getting so many licensed tracks for the time period that it sounds like a Time-Life collection. The result is one of the best compilations of 70s music ever heard in a game. No, we're serious, it boasts Iggy Pop (who appeared as a character in Driv3r, WAR, Blondie, David Bowie, Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic, Parliament, Average White and The Temptations -- and those are just from the 70s.
Since the game runs in Parallel Lines (hence the title), there's plenty of music (some of it created exclusively for the game) for the modern day payback part of the game too; Paul Oakenfold, Mylo, Public Enemy, Grandmaster Flash, Suicide, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Lifesavas, The Audio Bullys and Arthur Baker.
"Like the game, the soundtrack to Driver: Parallel Lines, is stylish, upbeat and now via the iTunes Music Store, very accessible,” detailed Nique Fajors, Atari's VP of Marketing. “Offering the soundtrack on iTunes is another example of the integral convergence between music and games, and further strengthens Atari’s commitment to bring the best interactive entertainment experiences to our audience.”
Given that the soundtrack is nearly 80 songs strong, Atari did a little picking and choosing, opting to lay out the 21 best tracks for the iTunes store, where you can grab each and every one for the usual $.99 price. To grab the tunes, you'll need iTunes installed, then just hit the store and search for "Parallel Lines". Not only can you buy the tunes there, but you'll find a link to the official Parallel Lines site, which actually has a music player where you can sample some songs before you realize you must have them. All of them.
Time to go see how much is on the corporate card. You can write off impulse buys like online music store downloads, right?
That meant, among other things, taking the whole mess back to New York city, dropping the first part of the game into the funkadelic 70s, and getting so many licensed tracks for the time period that it sounds like a Time-Life collection. The result is one of the best compilations of 70s music ever heard in a game. No, we're serious, it boasts Iggy Pop (who appeared as a character in Driv3r, WAR, Blondie, David Bowie, Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic, Parliament, Average White and The Temptations -- and those are just from the 70s.
Since the game runs in Parallel Lines (hence the title), there's plenty of music (some of it created exclusively for the game) for the modern day payback part of the game too; Paul Oakenfold, Mylo, Public Enemy, Grandmaster Flash, Suicide, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Lifesavas, The Audio Bullys and Arthur Baker.
"Like the game, the soundtrack to Driver: Parallel Lines, is stylish, upbeat and now via the iTunes Music Store, very accessible,” detailed Nique Fajors, Atari's VP of Marketing. “Offering the soundtrack on iTunes is another example of the integral convergence between music and games, and further strengthens Atari’s commitment to bring the best interactive entertainment experiences to our audience.”
Given that the soundtrack is nearly 80 songs strong, Atari did a little picking and choosing, opting to lay out the 21 best tracks for the iTunes store, where you can grab each and every one for the usual $.99 price. To grab the tunes, you'll need iTunes installed, then just hit the store and search for "Parallel Lines". Not only can you buy the tunes there, but you'll find a link to the official Parallel Lines site, which actually has a music player where you can sample some songs before you realize you must have them. All of them.
Time to go see how much is on the corporate card. You can write off impulse buys like online music store downloads, right?
