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TAG and Firemint: game soundtracks still needed in iPhone 3.0 world

So say the developers of Car Jack Streets and Real Racing

TAG and Firemint: game soundtracks still needed in iPhone 3.0 world
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Apple's iPhone 3.0 software update might allow developers to use players' own iPod libraries for in-game music, but that doesn't mean they'll stop compiling their own soundtracks for iPhone games.

At least, that's what TAG Games and Firemint have been telling PocketGamer.biz in a feature about music licensing. Both companies used new and unsigned artists for the soundtracks of Car Jack Streets and Real Racing.

"I think that the player expects you to present a whole experience to them, and that includes music," says Firemint boss Rob Murray.

"They may choose to override your music, but that should remain a choice. Not everybody wants to DJ while they are playing your game."

Meanwhile, TAG's Paul Farley says his company is working on a 3.0-compatible update for Car Jack Streets that will let people play their own tunes from within the game, but agrees with Murray that it's all about context.

"In a casual puzzle game I'd expect the game could be enhanced on an individual level by being able to listen to your own track listing," he says, but cites adventure games as one genre where developers often pick specific music for specific moments.

"In that type of context allowing players to play random music is potentially problematic," he says.

For the full feature, in which both companies talk about how they found the music for their games, and why they wouldn't go to major labels, head over to PocketGamer.biz.

Stuart Dredge
Stuart Dredge
Stuart is a freelance journalist and blogger who's been getting paid to write stuff since 1998. In that time, he's focused on topics ranging from Sega's Dreamcast console to robots. That's what you call versatility. (Or a short attention span.)