“Tune Racer”? Audiosurf on consoles? Metal Gear Solid or Half-Life? We talk to Audiosurf creator Dylan Fitterer about what spawned Audiosurf, why interactivity is so beautiful and ask why cutscenes are still around in the industry.

What was your main inspiration for the concept of the game? What made you want to do it?

Well, it mostly just sort of grew out of other things I was trying. The idea stuck around because I loved the concept of a music visualizer that was worth giving your whole attention to for an entire album. One where you could really focus on the music and the experience instead of just having it on in the background.

Back when Audiosurf was Tune Racer (an early prototype) there was very little gameplay. It was then a big challenge to come up with a game that enhanced the musical experience instead of just getting in the
way.

Yes, but gameplay evokes different emotions than music. That’s part of the reason they go together so well.

Playing a little MGS2 was enough to convince me that I didn’t need any more of that. It’s surprising to me that cinema games are still popular at all. I expected them to die with 7th Guest. Comparing that to Half Life 2 (one of my favorite games) is completely unfair

Yes, but to me this question is too broad. Can games evoke emotions in players? Yes. Can creators express themselves through games? Yes. Can playing a game change how you look at a real-life situation? Yes.

I think that’s already happening and will continue as our populations shift to younger generations. Also, maybe we’ll find better ways to overlap the skills you learn in games with the skills you need everyday.

Yes, I think there’s some interesting possibilities there for manual edits to generated rides. The more players can make the experience their own the better.

It does take a lot of time so it can be hard to keep up, but it’s well worth it. There’s no better way to stay in touch with what players want. I’ve even learned new strategies from the players who outscore me.

I don’t see growth in casual games as detrimental to core games. It’s just growth for games. It turns out there’s a lot of people who like to play games, but have no interest in combat, camera control, cinematics, or framerates. I doubt casual games will ever be as large on XBLA or PSN as they are on PC. Strictly casual players probably have a PC for other reasons, but why would they have a console?

Have you been in talks with Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo to bring Audiosurf to consoles? Why would/wouldn’t it work on consoles?

Consoles are definitely a possibility, but as music platforms they’re not as strong as PC.

Is there a sequel planned?

We’ll see. I’m open to a lot of possibilities and am taking some time to experiment.

I’ve got a lot of ideas. The ones where I can mentally see the finished game aren’t very interesting to me though. I’d rather start on something that seems to have promise and eventually find the fun.

Team Fortress 2: Accessibility to get you going and depth to keep you there. I didn’t think any game would get me interested in playing a shooter with random people again, but it did.

Heroscape: A tabletop wargame with simple rules, custom armies, and high amounts of both skill and luck. Everybody has a good time whenever we play.

Name a couple of your favorite songs to play Audiosurf to.

Now That’s Sacred: Jack Conte
Sunspots: Nine Inch Nails
Galvanize: The Chemical Brothers
Eternal Life: Jeff Buckley

written by Jesper Sellerberg \\ tags: Audiosurf, Dylan Fitterer, game, interactivity, Music, PC, Tune Racer

Here’s how I found out about Mint Royale. And I don’t know much else about them. A UK based, big beat dance act that remixes and uses samples extensively, Mint Royale has skyrocketed to success because of their remix of “Singing In The Rain”, on 2003’s Dancehall Places.

You have to pick your darlings with Mint Royale, because not everything is everyone. The pendulum swings heavily back and forth between styles and tones, which forces you to do a best-of playlist every time you turn them on. But what a playlist it can be.

“Anything”, also from Dancehall…, is practically made for Audiosurf. “54″, from the same album, and “Wait For You” are slightly more monotonous, but damn fine tracks to surf to nonetheless.

written by Jesper Sellerberg \\ tags: Audiosurf, Mint Royale, remix, Singing In The Rain, UK

Today we’ve got none other than Trent Reznor treating us with a surf-able track off of Nine Inch Nails‘ latest album The Slip.

“Discipline” is one of NIN’s more dance oriented tracks, in the vein of “Only” from With Teeth (2005) and “Down In It” from Pretty Hate Machine (1989).

You have to applaude Trent & Co. for walking the talk about internet distribution, and giving the fans a choice in their consumerism. The first nine songs off of Ghosts I-IV were free to download, and you can listen to the whole album on the website before choosing whether to buy it or not.

The Slip was released as a free download from NIN’s official website, complete with artwork and the ability to choose what sound quality to download the album in. My initial reaction was that this album would not be as uncompromising as Ghosts I-V, released only a couple of months earlier.

And I was right. The Slip is NIN’s most unaccomplished work to date, but in NIN terms that doesn’t mean it’s a bad album. Every NIN album has a certain sound, and the great, great divide that is between Ghosts I-V and The Slip, boggles the mind that they were released in the same year.

Also, soon a patch will be released which lets you customize your very own game modes. The patch notes will be made available in the Audiosurf forums, and stay tuned for an interview with the man who created the art of audio surfing, Dylan Fitterer!

Continue reading »

written by Jesper Sellerberg \\ tags: Audiosurf, Dylan Fitterer, Ghosts, NIN, patch, The Slip, Trent Reznor

Dealing with remixes is a difficult task. How much of the original track is left in the mix? Is this even a remix, I can’t tell the difference? When Kylie Minogue decided to go the house/dance/pop-hybrid route on her new album, the result was mixed, no pun intended. The tracks that work really work, and the tracks that don’t are of course your run-of-the-mill pop anthems.

What is even more interesting to consider, however, is the amount of producers and artists who tend to flock to the remix table once a pop queen like Kylie invites them all with a thumping, dance beat record like X. The remixes for “In My Arms” and “Wow” are staggering in quality and melody, without a doubt made for the harder dance floors.

Canada’s MSTRKRFT make a habit out of remixing established artists, and their remix of Kylie’s “Wow” is, perhaps, the best damn song made for Audiosurf (with a notable exception of their remix of Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E.”).

Time to move on from the sludging, slow and melancholic post-rock/hardcore acts we’ve presented before, and go electronic here on Kezins. What better way to do that than with this awesome track from MSTRKRFT.

Five bucks to whoever beats my ninja high score…

written by Jesper Sellerberg \\ tags: ALBUM, Audiosurf, Canada, Dance, house, Kylie, Kylie Minogue, mix, MSTRKRFT, pop, remix, Song, track, Week, X

To continue the trend we started this iteration of Audiosurf Song Of The Week, we present to you a challenge. In the same vein as Cult Of Luna, Isis makes dynamic audio landscapes that translates beautifully in Audiosurf. If you have the patients. And really enjoy the music.

That is certainly true for everything, but this kind of music will either bore you, or transcend you. And when you hit that slope to the song’s crescendo in Audiosurf, Isis‘ “Garden Of Light” can transcend the most skeptic of listener. The follow-up to 2004’s commercial and critical breakthrough album, Panopticon, 2006’s In The Absence Of Truth sees the band take an even more melodic and softer approach than ever before.

“Garden Of Light” is the pinnacle crescendo of the album, that leaves the listener in a state of melancholic happiness. Themes of hope are introduced, both lyrically and musically, that ends the album on a perfect note. Front man Aaron Turner also decides to introduce a new theme for an Isis album, something that both prevails its obstacles and succumbs to its own infancy.

Themes only grow stronger for each Isis release, and the music along with it. Panopticon was the perfected version of the “control tower” theme, being in its third iteration. With the introduction of a new musical and lyrical theme on In The Absence Of Truth, the album actually suffers because of it. Yet, how unestablished the sound may be, it may be the perfect continuation of the band’s artistic progression.

written by Jesper Sellerberg \\ tags: Aaron Turner, ALBUM, Audiosurf, Cult of Luna, Garden Of Light, In The Absence Of Truth, Isis, Music, Panopticon, Song, Song Of The Week

This week we surf the waves of yet another Swedish rock act; Khoma, and the song “Medea“, from 2006’s The Second Wave. Other recommendations from the same album are “Stop Making Speeches”, “Through Walls” and “One of Us Must Hang”.

Khoma is the mellower, alternative metal oriented outfit of Cult of Luna mastermind Johannes Persson, who together with Jan Jämte (vocals) and fellow Cult of Luna bassist Fredrik Kihlberg (guitars, piano) started Khoma to do something more, mainstream, if you will.

Johannes Persson is also the Swedish equivalent to Canada’s Cevin Key (Skinny Puppy, Download, etc), in that he is a workaholic. Managing two bands at the same time, however, is what keeps the creative juices flowing, according Persson himself.

In 2003, Khoma’s (then Koma) debut album caught the music industry with storm, only one year after Cult of Luna’s second album, and one year ahead of Cult of Luna’s third, conceptual magnum opus; Salvation. In 2006, the follow-up to Khoma’s debut was released, with great critical acclaim, as well as the fourth, and most successful Culf of Luna album to date; Somewhere Along The Highway. Johannes Persson was the musical, lyrical and creative force behind each and everyone of these releases.

Khoma is currently recording their third studio album, and just this past week Cult of Luna released their fifth album, Eternal Kingdom. Check them out, and if you like it please support the artists. Always try before you buy. Just like it should be with games… But that’s another story for another post.

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written by Jesper Sellerberg \\ tags: Audiosurf, Cult of Luna, Features, Fredrik Kihlberg, Jan Jämte, Johannes Persson, Khoma, Koma, Medea, Metal, Second Wave, Sweden

We kick off the continuation of Audiosurf Song of the Week-series with the Swedish, post-hardcore act, Cult of Luna. Today is the European release date (July 16 for America) for their fifth studio album, Eternal Kingdom, and so it seems fitting to recommend a song to surf along to, and let your mind and emotions just slip away…

The song “Dim” on their fourth effort, Somewhere Along the Highway, is perhaps their softest song to date, and is a journey well worth taking. A track off of the latest album has not been deciphered yet and approved Audiosurf material; it seems like the songs are not as fitting as they are on the other albums. Hit the break for more on Cult of Luna, song recommendations and similar artists. Continue reading »

written by Jesper Sellerberg \\ tags: ALBUM, America, Audiosurf, band, Cult, date, Dim, Eternal, Features, Finland, Highway, Isis, Kingdom, Luna, Music, Neurosis, Salvation, Song, sound, surf

Continuing our not quite daily series of Audiosurf Song of the Day, we present another 90’s classic track from pop-rockers Garbage, and their stellar hit Push It.

The song is excellent if you enjoy intense chorus parts following huge track peeks that ascends you down in the speed of red light.

written by Jesper Sellerberg \\ tags: Audiosurf, garbage, PC, pc gaming, push it

It’s that time again, when we present our song of the day to play to that freaking awesome game… what’s it called… oh yeah, Audiosurf!

The last song we presented was pretty heavy and fast paced, so today we take it down a bit with one of the biggest sensations of the 90’s, Björk, and her hit from 1995’s sophomore album Post, “Hyper-ballad”.

If you’re put off by the rather slow-paced, first half of the song, just wait until it kicks in at the end…

written by Jesper Sellerberg \\ tags: Audiosurf, Music, pc gaming

Starting off a fun new series on Kezins.com, Audiosurf Song of the Day today features drum & bass rockstars Pendulum and their master track Hold Your Color.

Preferred visuals: Black background and a nice mix of warm and cold colors, as the song truly makes use of Audiosurf’s dynamic visualizations. Check back for more Audiosurf song tips!

written by Jesper Sellerberg \\ tags: Audiosurf, bass, Black, Color, com, day, fun, Kezins, master, Music, pc gaming, Pendulum, Preferred, series, Song, Today, track