Introduction

In this following Book we will be discussing and reviewing some of the past works of the legendary Rock band, The Doors, and the influence of their work on modern day video-games.

Video games have seen an impressive boom in the 1980s with the introduction of arcade games, but it wasn’t until the introduction of the Personal Computer did we see the video game market skyrocket.

The influence of video-games on teenagers and adolescent adults is immeasurable, because it’s so wide spread. But, for sure the music that has been associated to video games were largely classics and been loved by the gamers themselves.

This Book will demonstrate the most influential video games in the early 2000s, because those games were the stepping stones of the modern day gaming industry and where, The Doors, were introduced in those games and what tracks were used in the video game.

The doors

The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore.

They were unique and among the most controversial and influential rock acts of the 1960s, mostly because of Morrison’s lyrics and charismatic but unpredictable stage persona. After Morrison’s death in 1971 at age 27, the remaining members continued as a trio until disbanding in 1973.

Although the Doors’ active career ended in 1973, their popularity has persisted. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), they have sold 33 million certified units in the US and over 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling bands of all time.

Playing: “Riders on the storm (Remix by Fredwrick) ft. Snoop dogg” on Need For Speed: Underground2.

“Riders on the storm” originally was released as the second single from their sixth studio album and last with singer Jim Morrison, “L.A. Woman“, in June 1971. It reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S.

In November 2009, the original song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame Award under the category Rock (track).

This song is a remix of “Riders on the Storm” by The Doors which includes a new beat and features new vocals from Snoop Dogg.

This was made mainly for EA’s Need for Speed: Underground 2 racing game, which focused on illegal street racing. The music track is played every time you launch the game as the first track in the intro and plays throughout the main-menu.

**Personal Note: This track mixed my favorite genres, Rock and HipHop music. And is in my top 5 favorite tracks.

Playing: “Break On Through” in Tony Hawk’s Underground 2.

“Break On Through” is the opening track of their debut album, The Doors (1967).

Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 is a skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision, the sixth entry in the Tony Hawk’s series. The game was release in the year 2004.

The track is the opening track of the intro in the video-game.

Playing: “Peace Frog” in Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland.

“Peace Frog” is a song by the Doors, which was released on their fifth studio album Morrison Hotel in 1970.

Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland is the seventh entry in the Tony Hawk’s series and was released initially for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2005.

Playing: “Five to One” in Grand Theft Auto IV.

The track that was release on July 3, 1968, was featured in the huge RockStar studios video game GTA IV.

Within twenty-four hours of its release, Grand Theft Auto IV sold over 3.6 million copies, equating to approximately $310 million in revenue. Within a week, it generated more than $500 million in worldwide revenue, equating to approximately 6 million copies sold for Take Two.

The track was available in the in-game Radio of vehicles.

Playing: “Love Me Two Times” in Guitar Hero World Tour.

Love Me Two Times is a 1967 single by the Doors on their second studio album Strange Days.

The game was launched in North America in October 2008 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles, and a month later for Europe and Australia.

World Tour sold 3.4 million copies across all platforms in North America during 2008.

Honorable (AND SURPRISING) mention:

The Doors producing DUBSTEP music with Skrillex.

Skrillex is a well know worldwide dubstep producer and DJ, he has appeared in many of the world’s biggest stages of Electronic Music. The Doors, the legends of rock music showed up to the studio and co-produced a track that is a dubstep track. In the video we see that they also sang on the track in the studio and also by the end of the video we notice they are playing live at a dubstep concert.

The mix between those artists creates a fresh type of music that has a large audience. It also shows that the rules in music and genres are artificial and the experimentation with music could open new opportunism.