March 29, 2024

New Fury Media

Music. Gaming. Nostalgia. Culture.

Metal Music Makes Games Rock: From Guns N’ Roses to Nine Inch Nails

There’s always been a connection between digital games and music. From the days of Super Mario Bros and the iconic “Ground Theme” composed by Koji Kondo in the key of C, games have always been given a boost by music. While the majority of gaming studios have opted to write their own scores, there has been a gradual move towards licensing agreements in recent years. Today, when you look across the gaming industry, you’ll find, and subsequently hear, a catalog of head-banging tunes.

Rocking Tunes Make Rocking Games

We say head-banging because game developers love metal and rock. Why? Well, that’s obvious: because rock music is great. However, aside from that, there’s a certain tempo and passion to rock music that can lift a game to new heights. One of the most popular bands among developers is Guns N’ Roses. Indeed, if you look through any list of popular games over the last two decades, many of them are backed by Guns N’ Roses hits.

The obvious examples are Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Players can pick up a microphone and do their best Axl Rose impression in Rock Band 2. If you don’t fancy trying to sing Shackler’s Revenge, you can pick up a pretend guitar and tap away to Sweet Child O’ Mine and Welcome to the Jungle thanks to the Guitar Hero collection.

The connection between Guns N’ Roses and gaming is more than superficial. In other words, the band’s hits aren’t the only thing game developers have used. As well as adding extra depth to Guitar Hero et al, the band is the central figure in various games. For example, guitarist Slash was the main character in a pinball machine made by Jersey Jack Pinball.

The game is based on the Not in this Lifetime world tour and features 21 songs, as well as voiceover content from Slash and the rest of Guns N’ Roses. It’s a similar story in the online gaming world. The Guns N’ Roses slot is available at BetMGM Casino and stands as a digital tribute to the band, and fans can check out these online casino reviews before trying to play it.

Thanks to a licensing deal between NetEnt and Geffen Records, this game features official Guns N’ Roses iconography. However, its real selling point is its soundtrack. Basically, you get to skip through a playlist of Guns N’ Roses hits. From Sweet Child O’ Mine to Paradise City, this game has been given a boost by some of the best rock tunes of all time.

Rounding out this love of Guns N’ Roses among game developers is the Grand Theft Auto series and, surprisingly, the Madden Football franchise. Welcome to the Jungle has been used extensively in multiple games within both series. Why? Well, aside from being a major hit that millions of people love, it creates a sense of pace and passion that brings an extra something to the act of completing missions and running football plays. Regardless if it’s open-world games, music games, or slots, Guns N’Roses works naturally when the genre allows it.

Rock Legends Lend their Talents to Gaming

It’s not just Guns N’ Roses that have rocked the gaming world. Building on ’80s music such as Holy Diver (which was a homage to Ronnie James Dio and other rock icons), hits such as Doom have embraced the musical genre. Quake, for example, featured tracks arranged by Nine Inch Nails’ songwriter, Trent Reznor. Duke Nukem 3D had songs from Megadeth and Coal Chamber, while Splatterhouse featured hits from Mastodon and Lamb of God. In fact, most gamers will probably tell you not to play Splatterhouse and listen to the soundtrack instead because that’s the best thing about it.

Finally, we need to loop back to the ever-popular Guitar Hero series. The franchise has generated billions of dollars in revenue. In fact, it was so popular back in the day that it made Aerosmith more money than any of their albums ever did. Therefore, the relationship between rock music and gaming isn’t a one-way street. Yes, rock songs have helped turn good games into great games. However, games have helped rock bands reach a wider audience. In turn, this has increased their appeal and made the genre even bigger than before. That’s something we should be thankful for as music fans and, indeed, as gaming fans. Indeed, as well as being able to listen to music via YouTube and Spotify, you can now load up an online slot or switch on your PlayStation and rock out to Guns N’ Roses and many more great bands.

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