Atari Boss: Music Games Could Spawn New Art Form

"Music has always been in the soundtrack of games," Harrison told VentureBeat. "Even during the early days of gaming before soundtracks existed players would put on a record or tape and listen to music while playing a game. Now with technology being able to mash up different genres and experiences more seamlessly, music, interactivity and graphics are really made for each other. The latest gaming consoles make it possible for music, music performance, and music capabilities to be a natural combination."

Looking forward, he sees games and music creating something entirely new, as music videogames allow users to connect and interact with each other.

"The future of music and games is obviously online, where you can bring music, music performance, interactive and community, specifically the ability to generate content and download content," he added. "I think a whole new art form can be created, but don't get me started because I can talk about that for hours."

We'd like to get him started, actually, and are in the process of arranging an interview with him to hear what he has to say about this new art form, which may have something to do with video and user-generated instruments.

Elsewhere in the interview, he says, "That [Rock Band World Tour] experience, as brilliant as it is, is still defined by the functionality of the instruments that you are connected with. If you could start to use community and video uploads and performance uploads, that self-expression and sharing with friends and others around the world is a powerful force."

By Eliot Van Buskirk