Pitchfork Debuts Soundplay Games With Music By Matthew Dear & M83
Pitchfork is getting into gaming with the launch of Soundplay games, plans for a Soundplay Arcade at the 2012 Pitchfork Music Festival and a two-day "game jam" hackathon. Intel is sponsoring Soundplay and it looks like a great way to do branded content. Music for the first two games that are now live come from M83 and Matthew Dear. Games with music by Cut Copy are due in July.
Pitchfork's Soundplay project launches with games produced by their partners at Kill Screen.
Street Song: Designed by Santa Ragione, Music by Matthew Dear
Soundplay currently features two games. Street Song, designed by Santa Ragione, with music by Matthew Dear:
"Street Song is an otherworldly voyage, set in the mind of a lone wanderer staring out over a bleak desert. Travel to distant monasteries on the horizon in an attempt to find meaning in a barren landscape inspired by Matthew Dear's haunting Street Song."
And We Were You, designed by Jake Elliott, featuring music by M83:
"We Were You is a game about childlike wonder, imagination, and a loose interpretation of the ancient mythology evoked by "Intro", the triumphant album opener to M83's critically acclaimed Hurry Up We're Dreaming. Explore a snowy world inhabited by mythical creatures, hear their stories, and help a lost girl find her way back home."
The initial release of games is the first step in an extended campaign that will include the Soundplay Arcade at the 2012 Pitchfork Music Festival.
Pitchfork and Kill Screen are also cohosting a two-day "game jam" or collective hackathon to build a game inspired by music as a group. The resulting creation will also be posted at Soundplay.
Soundplay is a great branded content play for Pitchfork. The project lends itself to having its own space yet doesn't feel like an add-on due to the unique content. With many high quality publishers exploring branded content, Pitchfork offers an excellent example of what makes it work.
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith blogs about business at Flux Research: Business Changes and about dance at All World Dance: News. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
This is a pretty wild idea, and I really dig it. Out of the games so far, I definitely liked the M83 one the best, probably because “Intro” is such a great song to inspire a cool game. The M83 tunes that Morgan Kibby contributes to are usually my favorite and “Intro” is no exception. Cool stuff, Pitchfork now let’s see if they actually develop this instead of milking it for what it’s worth and then forgetting about it (can anyone say Altered Zones?)