In the past couple of months we've had a lot of excitement here at Virtual Music. In addition to winning a New Media Invision award and a Leonardo da Vinci award for Quest For Fame, we have announced a major alliance with Rolling Stone Magazine. We will be releasing three new products: The Tour starring Roger Daltrey is the first title of the Rolling Stone Air Guitar Series, the Stolen Song starring Japanese guitar legend Hotei and Virtual Star a compilation title. We have also announced an upcoming Virtual Music Online product/service which will allow you to play Virtual Music along with your regular audio CDs. Finally, we debuted our new VStix drum controller which looks and acts like a mousepad - but is a lot more fun!
Virtual Music Entertainment is particularly pleased to announce a strategic venture with BMG Interactive, one of the world's largest record companies, to make interactive music products for the European market.
So as you can tell, there's a lot happening at Virtual Music and we encourage you to check out our products and technology and then visit the Online Forum to tell us what you think and what music you'd like to see in upcoming products.
You can also download videos of some of our recent activities.
Rolling Stone Magazine presents - The Tour
Rolling Stone Magazine, Virtual Music and IBM have joined forces to give music fans the ultimate rock and roll adventure - Rolling Stone Magazine's The Tour starring Roger Daltrey of The Who.
Rolling Stone Magazine is putting together an amazing 30th Anniversary Issue for the upcoming celebration of their Magazine. Since they are a cutting edge organization, they plan to employ maximum cyber technology in a project to re-interpret the important music of the past. Meanwhile, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Duane (a 1974 MIT Grad, musician, and restless inventor) has been working on a revolutionary time-warping device. When Rolling Stone gets word of Duane's work, they ask him to outfit their Tour Bus with the system. They have a plan: to take an ace crew back to experience the great concerts live, and review them for the anniversary issue.
The player's challenge is to work his/her way onto the bus and eventually earn the chance to play on stage at some of the great performances in rock history. To make it on stage, the player has to impress two very tough judges, Rolling Stone ace writer/historian, Curtis Cahill and rock legend Roger Daltrey. If the player plays well, the bus will steer towards his/her venue of choice. If not, the player may find himself/herself on the side of the road being subjected to the heckling of a host of roadside characters, as well as many other possible scenarios.
Featured Venues:
The Who - Private concert at Shepperton Studios.
Jimi Hendrix at Berkeley
Janis Joplin at Woodstock
Stevie Ray Vaughan at Austin City Limits
Platforms: PC, Macintosh, and PlayStation®
Release Date: 4Q 1996
Read the Press Release
The Stolen Song - Starring Tomoyasu Hotei
In a further move to globalize the Virtual Music phenomenon, Virtual Music Entertainment has announced that the international recording artist Hotei will star in an interactive music CD titled The Stolen Song. The Stolen Song is the industry's first rock and roll mystery adventure, pitting players against time and Tokyo's underground as they strive to rescue Hotei from a group of kidnappers.
Set in the unique rock and roll world of Tokyo, The Stolen Song, begins with Hotei teaching the player the first part of the title song. Shortly thereafter, Hotei is kidnapped. The player's challenge is to convince the other members of his band that he/she can play along with the band well enough to join the search for the missing rock star. Once enjoined in the search, the player encounters a series of interactive multimedia challenges, surprises, and clues that must be deciphered in order to find Hotei in time for the big concert finale.
The Toshiba/EMI recording artist Hotei is 34 years old and firmly established throughout the world as a major rock guitar virtuoso. His most recent album, Kings and Queens, debuted in Japan in the number one position. To date, Hotei has sold close to 20 million albums worldwide.
Platforms: PC, Macintosh, and PlayStation®
Release Date: 2Q 1997
Read the Press Release
Virtual Star - A Modern Rock Adventure
Virtual Star is an adventure game that takes the player through the early days of a climb towards rock and roll fame. The player is cast as an aspiring guitarist working his/her way onto the circuit, learning songs by some of today's hottest groups in hopes of landing a band. The goal is a stage "gig" at a local club, and to get there the player must earn his/her way by learning and playing the songs at the different venues. In the bedroom, by practicing, the player will "land" a garage band. If the player plays well in the garage, he/she will be approached by an agent for a club appearance. If the player does not play well, he/she is sent back to a high school vocational counselor who will propose new careers for the failed musician.
Song List for Virtual Star
Hey Jealousy - originally recorded by the Gin Blossoms
Growing into You - originally recorded by Soul Asylum
This is Cracker Soul - originally recorded by Cracker
Come and Go Blues - originally recorded by the Allman Brothers Band
Somebody to Shove - originally recorded by Soul Asylum
Fire Woman - originally recorded by The Cult
Hands are Tied - originally recorded by the Gin Blossoms
Whipping Post - originally recorded by The Allman Brothers Band
Platforms: PC, Macintosh, and PlayStation®
Release Date: 4th Quarter,1996
Virtual Music Online
Virtual Music has taken its revolutionary interactive music technology into an entirely new environment. Virtual Music's new online technology allows consumers to download Virtual Music files from the internet so they can play along with their audio CD's.
The Virtual Music Online technology is comprised of a Virtual Music Engine, Virtual Music JukeBox and Virtual Instruments. The Engine resides on the player's computer system and provides them with both an interface and a database. The interface allows the player to download Virtual Music files in an easy-to-understand way. The Virtual Music JukeBox can be found on Virtual Music's web site, and stores an inventory of files, gamelets, historic information, and songs. The player can easily download the songs and gamelets of his/her choice to his/her computer. They will then be ready to jam, with their Vpick, VStix, or Virtual Guitar, from their own selection of audio CD's. The Virtual Music files are small in size (about 60K) and only take about a minute to download - Virtual Music Online is easy, fun, and brings interactive entertainment to everyone's audio CD collection.
Release Date: 2Q 1997
Read the Press Release
Download the video of the interactive dancer gamelet at the 1996 E3 show, produced in conjunction with Boston Dynamics, Inc.
The VStix drum controller
The VStix drum controller signals the start of the second phase in Virtual Music's product development program. The VStix virtual drum game controller is designed as a radically new kind of pressure-sensitive mouse pad. It connects directly to the back of a multimedia PC and allows gamers to play virtual drums using either their hands or real drum sticks. Virtual Music's goal is to eventually provide players with the ability to connect a variety of Virtual Music Instruments to their multimedia PC, Macintosh or game system, and share the experience of being in a real rock band.
Release Date: 1Q 1997
Read the Press Release
View the video of the VStix Demo at the 1996 E3 show.
The VMascot Dog Controller
Our lovable new mascot, Linden, enjoys playing with pigs' ears, licking faces, playing with her little custom doggie frisbee, and destroying small plastic flower pots.
Birthdate: January 12, 1996
Weight: 45 Pounds
Favorite Color: Cotton-tail white
Download the video of the VMascot Dog Controller relaxing at home.
