Music

Capitalizing on the popularity of pop group The Black Eyed Peas, Ubisoft plans to release a dance-based video game called The Black Eyed Peas Experience. The BEP Experience will be out for the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. The game will follow the example of mega-hits Just Dance and The Michael Jackson Experience, and will use the motion-control capability of the respective game systems.

"We are thrilled to be working with Ubisoft to create The Black Eyed Peas Experience video game," said BEP frontman will.i.am in a press release. The publisher and band announced the game Saturday in Paris.

There's even a website for you to enjoy.

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I realize that no one plays Rock Band anymore, and that the novelty song "Pac-Man Fever" was released before many of you were born, but don't let those facts dissuade you from downloading and playing the hell out of this ridiculous "classic" from the old-school arcade days. That's right, "Pac-Man Fever" is finally available for download on the Rock Band Network.

Believe it or not, there was a time when Buckner and Garcia's "Pac-Man Fever" was a hit song. Like, an honest hit. People went out to stores and bought this record (I realize records don't exist anymore, and that "stores" barely exist either). Your fathers and mothers requested "Pac-Man Fever" on radio stations (I realize radio stations barely exist anymore).  Now is your chance to relive those bygone days, and revel in that odd pop culture phenomena of something being so utterly crappy it emerges on the other side as awesome, somehow.

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Dance Central 2 by Harmonix is gonna make you throw your hands up in the air and wave 'em around like you just don't care. But don't worry, you won't need to be alone. The game has been expanded in numerous ways, pushing it towards the mark of perfection missing from the original Dance Central. Our own Dana Vinson checked the game out at E3, and she dares you to step up with your crew.

"Harmonix has done a lot to polish the gameplay this time around, and their efforts seem to be pushing the game more towards that mark of perfection. For starters, two players will be able to dance and compete simultaneously. Before, you could have more than one person dancing, but the game would only score one player. In order to go head-to-head, you had to do a Dance Battle, which involved switching off with the other dancer. Now, both dancers will be able to dance at the same time, with the game scoring them at the same time."

If you think you're ready to take on Dancing Queen Dana, be sure to check out Dana's full Dance Central 2 E3 2011 preview.

Personally, I think she's got some stiff competition. I already made a fool of myself playing the game at E3 2011 for your entertainment, and I promise that trend will continue.

TheFeed got the chance to speak with game music creator Danny Baranowsky recently. Danny is the man behind the music of Super Meat Boy. We talk to him about the success of his indie released soundtrack for the game, where his musical inspirations come from and what he is working on now. We’ve also got some meaty sounds for your ears, so why don’t you come in and take a listen!

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A track pack of eight classic Ozzy Osbourne tracks are coming to the Rock Band Network next week, including such heavy metal hits as "Bark at the Moon," and "Mr. Crowley."

OK, judging from our comments, I know a lot of you guys out there just really don't care as much about Rock Band as much as you used to, but this is Ozzy we're talking about, and you should care, dammit! Early next week, I want you to dust off your fake plastic drums, oil up your fake plastic guitar and bark at the damn moon, okay? For OZZY.

Full track list is under the cut.

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Just when you think Valve couldn't get more awesome, they go and give away the music from Portal 2 for free. Today, the company put 22 songs from the game on its website and would like you to download it, listen to it, and share it with your friends.

This is the first of three releases. Eventually, all of the Portal 2 music will appear for free, and, to make the deal even sweeter, you can download the tracks in ringtone form -- just the thing for your new Android of iPhone.

I've been listening for the past hour, and I have to say: I didn't really notice it in the game, but this music is incredible. Techno without being heartless, funny without being jokey... plus, it reminds me of playing Portal 2!

Download the music from Portal 2 right now, for free!

Pop sensation Lady GaGa just will not leave games alone! Last week, we learned of "GaGaville," a Lady GaGa themed Farmville tie-in. Next week, a track pack of Lady Gaga songs will be appearing on the Rock Band Network for your downloading pleasure.

Not only that, for fogeys like me, Foreigner's "Urgent" and "Hot Blooded" will be included.  Alice in Chains' "Rooster" and The White Stripes'  “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” available for pro-guitar upgrade also. The full list is under the cut.

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Tonight on Attack of the Show, Kevin Pereira and Candace Bailey welcome extreme surfer Mark Visser to talk about his latest adventures among 40' waves in Hawaii and how he made history in one nighttime run. We also catch up with The Lonely Island for the release of their second album, Turtleneck and Chain and Chris Gore returns with more Blu-ray/DVD reviews with Blue Valentine, Black Death and Daydream Holiday. We've also got the exclusive trailer for Ironclad so tune in tonight at 7PM!

Videogame soundtracks are often overlooked, but when you think about it, they really add so much character to just about every game. For every masterpiece of a title, there's usually an equally amazing soundtrack backing it up. Just think about some of your favorite videogames of all time, I bet they all had gorgeous soundtracks to go along with them. So, let's hear some of your favorite videogame soundtracks, or maybe even just your favorite song from a videogame. I'd have to say my favorite would probably be Chrono Cross' soundtrack, especially the song Time's Scar. It's so good. Take a listen below and then share you favorite videogame soundtrack or song.

A lawsuit filed in New York earlier this week accuses pop star Beyonce of abandoning a video game venture, and asks for $100 million dollars in restitution.

According to the complaint, developers Gate Five and Beyonce were teaming up to create and publicize a motion-enable dance game called "Starpower: Beyonce," a project the singer "abruptly abandoned," according to the suit.

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There's no better way for me to end an eventful week in video games than providing you a link to a video of some hayseeds banging out a bluegrass version of the Super Mario Bros. theme song. Let the weekend begin! Yee-haw... as they say. Luckily, our pals at our sister-site blastr have delivered. Just check it out... and note the rakish angle The Cleverly's mandolin player wears his hat! That's so country it's positively cantry.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2011 is this weekend, in case you were wondering why that guy with the ironic mustache riding a fixed gear bike was suddenly peeing in his ironically tight pants. With headliners like Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire and Kanye West, this year’s concert should be an amazing weekend of great music, terrific weather and too many Ray-Ban sunglasses.

But let’s be a little more realistic: do you really want to brave the elements to watch countless bands perform outside? By elements, we’re talking about exorbitantly priced passes, then even more cash for camping or a hotel room, hours of traffic on the 10 freeway to make it out to the desert, and absolutely no refunds if something bad happens. Plus, you have to shop for a new Coachella 2011 appropriate wardrobe, which means last year’s t-shirt with that 80’s throwback graphic from Threadless won’t work. Can you imagine wearing the same American Apparel outfit twice? Totally embarrassing.

Also, it doesn't help that the music festival is completely sold out. Don't worry though, because that doesn't mean you're out of luck! This year, we bring you the option of staying home without losing out on the Coachella experience, thanks to games like Rock Band, Guitar Hero, DJ Hero and Def Jam Rapstar. Yes, this means you can enjoy the music while also staying indoors with the air conditioning on full blast while not getting trampled by hordes of drunk hipsters. Check out some of the bands playing at Coachella 2011 that available on your video game console for you to start up Living Room Music Festival 2011 right now.

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The Grammy organization has restructured its awards, opening up four categories to music from video games. The Recording Academy has amended the awards they give out in the field of "Visual Media," so now, all music composed for games will be eligible to win the following awards:

• The Music for Visual Media (Motion, Television, Video Game Music, or Other Visual Media)
• Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media (Motion, Television, Video Game Music, or Other Visual Media)
• Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (Motion, Television, Video Game Music, or Other Visual Media)
• Best Song Written for Visual Media (Motion, Television, Video Game Music, or Other Visual Media)

Video games had previously been put in a sort of ghettoized category, "other visual medium."

• NEWS: Why Video Games Deserve A Dedicated Grammy

The inclusion of video game music in the Grammys is part of a larger restructuring of the awards.

“I think this could be viewed as a first step in the direction of video games getting their own category,” Bill Freimuth, the vice president for awards of The Recording Academy, told Industry Gamers. “Many people from the game community have been asking us to create a special category for games over the years, but the main reason we haven’t is because we have received very few entries from game publishers.”

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Usually, a bargain is a good thing, but this one is bittersweet: Harmonix announced that Rock Band 3's price has dropped to $19.99. Great for gamers, but sad, because it's a permanent price-drop, and this reminds me of the sorry state of the music game genre as a whole.

But let's focus on the positive: For music game fans out there, this may be the greatest bargain ever. For a third of the retail price of a AAA game, you get the single best music game that has ever been released, as well as access to a huge music library. So now is the time to pick this game up for a bargain basement price.

Did any of you out there wait to pick up Rock Band 3? Are you going to get it for the new, super-low price?

When Fender released Rock Band 3's Squier guitar, there was a lot of talk about how you could use the axe as a video game controller, but what about the opposite? How is the Squier when used strictly as a guitar, with no video game involved? 

X-Play's resident rocker J.P. Shub and sleaze metal-extremists Thunderdikk put the guitar to the test with a blistering live version of their party anthem "Bra Off, Party On." If you like it, you can download the track in The Rock Band' Network music store.

Check out the video and let us know what you think.