Turn the radio up, make me lose control...

[khaosworks]

The best thing about Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is not only the fact that when you're driving the various vehicles in the game you get to listen to the radio music (a feature which first surfaced in GTA III), but the fact that as the game takes place in 1986, the creators managed to license actual music from the 1980s to be played on the in-game radios.

Seriously, it fucking rocks. Even if you're not playing the game, per se, but just driving around in Vice City (a lovingly realized virtual environment by the way), just listening to the music is just so damn cool. We had the bad fashion back then, but our music ruled.

Rockstar Entertainment, who made the game, has the soundtrack on 7 CDs, each representing a "radio station". Yes, I am a sad git who bought the boxed set. I will take these CDs, and combine them with the rest of the 80s music I own, and rip them into one, giganormous monstrosity of an MP3/AAC playlist and travel back in time.

Except this time I won't get made fun of by the cooler kids.

Comments

[scirocco.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with everything you said about this game. I'll just drive around the city for hours flipping through the music (and running down motorcycles for fun) and never get bored. I got all the CDs for a combined Birthday/Xmas present, and they're excellent. :)

[camwyn]

Not that I have any intention of buying the game, but what sort of 80's stuff are we talking here? Just having a decent compilation might be worthwhile, if it's 80's stuff I like.

[khaosworks.livejournal.com]

You can check out the boxed set here, or just the Greatest Hits version .

[surrdave.livejournal.com]

Drop by when you get into town... I've got a small but soulful 80s collection you can plunder.

Get NOW instead...

[osj.livejournal.com]

I checked out the song listings...too American, if you ask me...

I'd suggest a true child of '80s should go to Amazon UK and get all the NOW compilations for from 1982-1990. Now THAT'S what I call music...

Incidentally, I just received my Duran Duran Singles 81-85 boxed set yesterday...it's a collection of the 13 7" singles released by the band in those years, with each single presented as CD single in a hard cardboard slide-in sleeve that is a perfect shrunken-down replica of the original 7" cover...beautiful!