Custom Soundtracks

I was over on the official PlayStation message boards the other day, and I saw someone posted a supposed image of a PS3 menu, the kind you get when you press the PS button in the middle of a game, that had "Select Music" on the menu. The image was a photo of a screen, on an angle, and somewhat blurry. The person who posted the image said it was proof that the next PS3 firmware would include the option for custom soundtracks.

Well, the latest firmware was released early Tuesday morning, and no such option was mentioned in the release notes, and I couldn't find it, either. So, assuming the image is legit, either means it's from a game that supports custom soundtracks (meaning the PS3 has support for it already, but games have to utilize it), or it's from a still upcoming firmware release.

Either way, I don't really care that much. Which brings me to my topic for today, custom soundtracks. What is the big deal with custom soundtracks? Is it really that important to be able to listen to your own music?

Almost all games I've played have a wonderful soundtrack. And in most cases, the soundtrack fits the game much more than anything I could possibly come up with. I can't imagine wanting to play anything else when playing the game. I mean, who would want to listen to Fallout Boy or Ozzy Osbourne while wandering the realms of Oblivion, for example? It completely takes you out of the game experience. I don't see any reason to play my own music when the game provides a fitting and sometimes beautiful array of music.

The only games I want my own music in are the Electronic Arts games that have that "EA Trax" stuff. EA Trax, in my opinion, is consistently the worst music in gaming history. They seem to like taking some of the worst music (with a few gems here and there, though rare) and plastering it all over their games. From EA Sports games, to Need For Speed, and others. In these cases, I'm begging for a way to play my own music. Or at least a way to turn that crap off. EA, stop being lazy and make your own music. Or at the very least, sign decent artists. If you can't do that, just let me import my own songs. The PS3 should be more than capable of doing that. An honorable mention goes to Activision for Tony Hawk, and to any other developer/publisher of "extreme" sports games. Props out to Rockstar for getting the music thing right with Grand Theft Auto.

Overall, I don't really see why Sony should make custom soundtracks universal. And I don't see why game companies (other than EA and others mentioned above) should enable it. Games come with their own music for a reason.