Play your own mp3's from memory stick ?

[tapioca]

As i didn’t find the answer yet, does anyone have news about the possibility to play your own tunes from memstick ?
I think this would be a great feature for all fans of the series as well as music addicts. I understand that copyrights issues prevent the game from including classic tunes directly on UMD, but why not let the possibillity to the users, then ?

From what i read, you'll be able to download remixes of Pure tunes made on the official site. So this might not be impossible.

Could this be the downloadable feature everyone hopes ?
Picture this : Firestarter, Afroride, We have Explosives, Loops of Fury, Third Sequence, Body in Motion, Kittens… even your very own tracks for musicians people (let us hear and become the star of the Zone…or the next PS3 wipEout, who knows ?)

Does Colin know ? Please, if it’s not planned yet, tell the Team to think about it. You'll be our hero.

[Rapier Racer]

what about cold comfort and the likes? oh ya!

[Concept]

Onyx (Cold Storage's track for Pure) is probably my favourite track in the entire Wipeout series.

It's really grown on me, and is definitely up with Body In Motion. Beautiful music, that suits the atmosphere down to a tee.

[Hybrid Divide]

I too, would love this feature.

[Thruster2097]

From the interviews I have read and from the feature in edge magazine, Studio Liverpool wanted to include this feature, but were restricted by time. It is not impossible to make it happen, and it would definatley be one of the PSP's main selling points, despite being very similar (in theory) to the xbox's soundtrack system.
It was one of my original proviso's on deciding to get a PSP or not.
Sorta jumped the gun on that one, but patience has never been one of my strong points.

How about including it as a downloadable extra?
...not sure if that would be possible now. Too much annoying code to generally displace to get it to work - system crashes and glitches ensue. But for further titles it is a "must include" feature.

[Rapier Racer]

Well I said somewhere else that in the Playstation mag they confirmed this would be a feature, I don't know how reliable the information in that magazine is though as it told me a while back that there were plans for a third Rollcage… :roll: :turd

[Concept]

To be honest, I'm slightly not in favour of this idea. Wipeout's soundtrack defines a part of its backbone, and to open that up to anything, maybe perhaps takes away from the artistic vision/control in the series.

To give you an example... would Jet Set Radio, Rez, or Viewtiful Joe have improved from being open to anything-goes soundtracks?

In some games it works, in others... I'm not so sure.

On the one hand, Wipeout Pure is a racer, and racers are generally considered ideal for user-enabled soundtracks, whereas adventures/RPGs aren't (for obvious reasons). Yet on the other, I think Pure isn't just any old racer, and the control of its vision is key to its sense of identity and style.

[Prometheus]

yeah, you end up treading on wipeouts identity. I mean when you think of the audio of wipeout original you think cold storage, leftfield etc, 2097 with prodigy and fluke and so on. Open this up and a few years down the line people won't remember pure for the soundtrack given, but their own interpretation and audio experience of the game... you might get some people who just replace the entire soundtrack with their own stuff (LOL counttry and western or classical) and may just say "oh, never really played the original tracks"

Just to play devils advocate though, it would be a good feature if the soundtrack didn't seem on par with previous efforts. I mean how bad was it when you heard the very odd break beats of fusion and felt something was amiss but there was nothing you could do about it. In those circumstances, a "reponsible" wiper would use this kind of feature to restore the audio. Not to say Pure's soundtrack is unsuitable, but the Aphex Twin track was the first sign of dissapointment in the audio area, something i haven't felt in wipeout till fusion came along.

[Concept]

Yeah. Aphex Twin's track was a real disappointment.

However, Cold Storage, Paul Hartnoll, LFO, Photek, Tiesto (whose track isn't cheesy thank God), Plump Djs, Tayo meests Acid Rockers Uptown, Thermoc and Drumattic Twins are all on form. They represent a very specific funky style (as opposed to 2097/3's epic/dark sound) that's indicative of the more relaxed elements in Pure.

[Thruster2097]

To be honest, the true fans of the wipeout series would only seriously be filling the custom playlist with audio tracks from the previous wipeouts, I know I would live to dash around modesto heights listentng to messij or xpander!!

To the more casual gamer, a few stray tracks may find their way in, but this is only to be expected.

However, I can see how a soundtrack licensing person may disagree with it.
Also, the games that have custom soundtrack on the xbox (rallisport challenge 2, PGR2, quantum redshift, burnout3) generally came with poor soundtracks.

[Concept]

Xpander is awesome, and I agree, I'd like it in.

I suppose as Prometheus points out, the historical audio importance of the series may get diluted by opening the available choice up.

However, I'd love for FSOL to remix We Have Explosive for a downloadable Pure track. ;)

[Prometheus]

cool. It's not so much the track was dissapointing. it's that it's dissapointing a big artist such as Richard D James (Aphex Twin) has a shot at demonstrating his work in the wipeout saga and blows it when I've heard so many (quite literally dozens) of tracks that are far better than Naks Acid. Its been talked about elsewhere in the forums but it was a bit of a shame. Ah well :)

edit: firestarter, firestarter, firestarter!

[pseudonym]

he probably did it as a joke...

his come to daddy track was alledgedly a joke, a piss take of FireStarter. I wouldn't be surprised if he were laughing at the fact he was asked to make a 'futuristic' track for a 'futuristic' game. I don't think much of his work at all really... I don't hear much soul in his music, though his recent album sounds very emotionally charged, so I liked that quite a bit.

[Prometheus]

try polynomial C, and you'll see why i was so dissapointed with naks acid. His work has changed since then but there still remains a few gems in his discography.

[tapioca]

My reason to ask for such a feature is simple : wipEout has always been about speed (and tactical with bonuses), music and design (graphic or architecture). Pure seems to be created as the perfect hybrid between novelty and good old recipes.

We already know that the game contains classic tracks and will even offer new ones. We've been promised the possibility to include self-made billboards, downloading song remixes too. OK, from there, nothing we would complain about !
So the game looks very open-minded and customizable. There should be no technical matter to play audio files from memstick (as it's ok for downloadable remixes).
Then it seems logical to customize the soundtrack. Classic tracks with classic tunes for sure, and let's see how it works with Über-Mall or Chenghou. I’m sure this won’t depreciate the original soundtrack quality.
This is electronic music so let us play with machines ! Neverending possibilities…

And for whoever played Vib Ribbon : did you try it with Mouse On Mars "Niun-Niggung" ? This was complete crazyness ! :lol:

[TMoney]

I would love to cruise around Mandrashee to "Careless Whisper" by George Michael.

.. or maybe "Lady in Red" by Chris De Burgh

[Dimension]

Hey, uh, you could always turn off all the music and use an MP3 player on the road or do what i do with the old skool wipeouts and just play music off a sound system :?

[tapioca]

And next step is turn off everything.
Close your eyes firmly.
Imagine you're in a ship.
Make the sounds with your mouth.
Beat the lap record.
Congratulations…

[lunar]

Dimension: that way you`re going to lose the sfx. to have your own soundtrack + sfx a solution would be to turn off the ingame music and play your own tracks via an mp3 player, then feed the psp and mp3 outputs into a little battery operated soundmixer and from there to your headphones. don`t know if such mini-mixers exist.... . but it possibly wouldn`t be very hard for an electrical-techy person to make one. This arrangement might not be possible to use on the bus however.

I don`t agree with the idea of user soundtracks destroying the brand identity. If you don`t like dance influenced music much then typical wipeout tunes won`t be a positive aspect of the experience for you anyway. If someone wants to race to Napalm Hell Beast or Miles Davis or whatever works for them it can only be a positive thing for their game experience and hence a positive thing for the brand. The default soundtrack should always be techy/dance stuff though..... period. Changing that would damage the brand. It would be wrong, and possibly a criminal thing to do. :wink:

[Prometheus]

The thing is, once you give users the abilty to play their own track from the very start they boot the game, the original soundtrack doesn't even have a chance to stand on its own.. it runs the risk of being replaced straight away, and to me that's really bad, because when you play wipeout, the first week or so should be about getting used to the game, getting used to the graphics and the soundtrack... that way you remember and have heard the original playlist with enough time to "warm" to the tracks that you may have disliked straight away.
In my opinion, make the feature somethinng you can unlock after a considerable amount through the game... earn this feature, as you've shown you've played the game long enough and well enough to appreciate it on its own and that you can add your own style and customize your experience. *crosses fingers the euro version gets this one over the US and Japan versions as a reward for our patience*

[tapioca]

Yes this is why i talked of a downloadable feature.
To be honnest, the minute I have the game in my hands (waiting for euro release), the first thing I’ll do will be power on the console and then race like a mad. Customize the soundtrack would only come in a second time. At least after unlocking all the tracks to hear how music fits with it. I hope normal people would do the same.
Unlockable feature for personnal mp3's shouldn't be a problem for anyone, then…

[Prometheus]

someone called "whocares9" on the cold storage forums has uploaded a video of playin pure with onyx in the background. for those that haven't heard it yet here it is
http://s31.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=25V5VA32SALJY20UL8BIVQLJIY

from what i can here, its wipeout music at its best :) the bass is off the chart, a real thumping track... but with a hint of sasha's xpander in there... wish i could here it properly but ah well :(

[Concept]

Actually, there's more shades of Papua New Guinea than Xpander really in the overall vibe of the track. Onyx is funkier and uptempo, but the general mystism helps give small echoes...

[lunar]

Prometheus, I think to have the feature unlockable is a great idea.

Another risk of customized soundtracks in a game would be that the developer might be tempted to think they don`t have to bother providing a great one to start with - and we can`t have them thinking that. I love wipeout soundtracks. I would never find such a good soundtrack by myself, and need Sony to provide one. 8) It would just be nice to give the metal-heads and Abba-lovers a chance to race to their favourite tunes - once they`ve earned it. :D

[Prometheus]

yeah i agree. that's why i think it's more suited to being something you earn. Making it downloadable means players just have to sit tight for while and be given the opportunity to open the game up in the form of open soundtracks. That's a mistake IMHO. if you're good enough you'll have played the game enough to give the soundtrack and original gameplay a chance. only then should you be given the right to open up the wipeout pure experience. I think that's the problem with games today, there's just not enough reward for dedication and skill. so you earn a new feature... a few months down the line and you realise the developers release the magic "cheat code" and now every newb can get what you got with the skill of tapping a few buttons at menu...
in addtion, it's going back to the roots of the game in the original. as far as i know firestar is only unlockable if you are good enough to beat the game through normal play. I have owned the original wipeout for at least 6 or 7 years and i dont play it very often, but ashamedly i have never managed to get to firestar (dam silverstream sharp turns, I'm just not good enough) :(
that said, each time i put the disc in, i make it my objective which encourages me to practise, get better, and work harder at getting it. Once (or should I say if) ) i do get it though... well there really is no more because you've obtained an artifact in the game, not a function or feature. artifacts like tracks really are just played a few times before the experience wears off and you're left with a game that has a set number of tracks plus one.
with the idea of earning a feature or function to the game, you're extending the life of the game by adding a new experience to it making each race experience different for each user through their own music. There are as many experiences as there are music tracks in the world in combination with the number of players...I don't wanna do the math on that but I think it's safe to say that's close to infinity.

so yeah downloadable content, good for certain static artifacts like skins, tracks, ships where the appeal has a finite amount of time. But if the reward is too great like opening the game up to a function that is customisable...well, make players earn it... and as for "cheat codes"... well, they require no effort, no skill, no goal to achieve....and are just no good.

sorry if I'm rambling on, doing an interaction design essay for my course so kinda feeling all analytical about the way interactions are going in the wipeout series..from earning stuff in the original, cheats the the next three incarnations, then being given the stuff freely in pure..

btw, this is a great topic... do love it when people put their opinions and stir a great debate. keep em coming... and let us know what the future downloadable contents are as you get them :)

[yawnstretch]

has anyone tried to hack a downloadable update so that we can do this yet?

Hopefully any music tracks are a seperate file so that we can just replace them with tracks of our own... :idea:

[def]

i dont think any downloadable music has been released yet so noone quite knows how it works. Ill take my crack at it once the dl's show up ^_^

[Space Cowboy]

Fingers crossed it will be more tracks from good old Cold Storage :D

[Brother Laz]

you might get some people who just replace the entire soundtrack with their own stuff (LOL counttry and western or classical) and may just say "oh, never really played the original tracks"

Come to think of it, this is why most games have no [racing] track or car designer, and those that do are generally built around it . Imagine playing Pure 2 online, sitting in the lobby looking for games, and seeing tracks scroll by with names like ALTIMA MOD BY JOE BLOW ******3241432121 SPEED ARROWS****** or perhaps DAYTONA SPEEDWAY or POKEMON VS PIKACHU RESKIN QUAKES ONLY!!!!!!!!. People will get bored of the game very quickly, and not even remember what it was like when they bought it.

Remember Starcraft, the brilliant '98 RTS by Blizzard, considered by many the best PC game of all time and still being played on a competitive level in '05? Well it is [i]only played on a competitive level, because many casual players got bored of the fact that you just can't play a normal game online on a normal map anymore, all you see is [[[$$$FASTEST MAP EVER$$$]]] with hacked stacks of 10 million minerals and eight gas geysers around your starting area. These maps always turn into mass rushing of basic units with zero strategy involved. This turned off many players in the last two or three years.

In Pure they're perhaps just trying to prevent the idiots from loading up pop music, losing part of the atmosphere of Pure, being less impressed, and not buying Pure 2...

[wirehang]

I'd love to race to the instrumental version of Britney's "Toxic" - seriously!

matt