Soundtrack of my life. Or at least my games.

When you repeatedly hear the same music with the same actions, you forever associate them with each other. I always listened to Sugar Ray's self-titled CD when I mowed the lawn or played Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 on the Game Boy Advance. Now, certain songs on that CD make me feel like I'm out mowing in the hot hot heat or skating around the rooftop level as Tony Hawk. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was a sublime game, but the music was... lacking. The minimalist soundtrack with a heavy emphasis on ambient nature sounds and footsteps was a huge turn-off for me. Luckily, 360's let you import your own CD's onto it to make a custom soundtrack for your games. I would travel all across Cyrodiil while bumpin' Cold War Kids. Now, whenever I hear their music on the radio or play their CD in my car, I picture the beautiful landscapes of Tamriel and the often ugly faces of the hundreds of NPC's in the game. It's like a subconscious music video. It's hard to hear Nirvana's "Smells like Teen Spirit" and not picture the dark gymnasium from the music video. I have unintentionally linked Oblivion and Cold War Kids in my mind, and it's not a bad thing. It gives imagery to the songs, even if the images conjured up are not the intended ones.

Another game I've remixed is Fable II: Pub Games. Barely a game at all, Pub Games' tedium is almost eliminated by listening to Beck's Modern Guilt while spinning the slot machines ad nauseum. Almost. Also, I want the prizes and achievement points! Anything that helps me mellow out after a long hard day is a winner in my book.

Fallout 3 is an improvement over Oblivion, I guess. There is a radio on the game that constantly loops often-humorous reinterpretations of old-time music. If I would hear that music in real life, I would be transported in my mind back to the world of Fallout 3, the way the game makers probably intended. Still, I wonder how long before I started playing some Radiohead in its place...?