December 04, 2004
Grand Thieves Audio modologues
Originally posted by jo from networked_performance, reBlogged by ts
We’re tired of stealing cars. So we’re stealin’ the soundtrack…
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, an earth-shaking game of theft, prostitution, , and beautifully animated racist depictions of Cubans and Haitians. You are free-wheeling Tommy Vercetti, driving any car you can pop the lock on, taking s out to the lighthouse, enjoying all the pixilated pleasures the 80s can offer you. Bunk is making the game that much better because we’re putting somebody in the car with you. We’re carjacking the game with a mod of our own…This is only the beginning, the first in a series of monologues (or modologues) and performances we’re testing out. Send us yours and we’ll feature them on the page…(Modologue: Machinima-style dubbing that modifies game-play through an alternate narrative.)
“On Bunk, we’ve published the beta of the “Grand Thieves Audio” project. These MP3s constitute our attempt to carjack the audio on “GTA: Vice City.” These audio files attempt to recontextualize the playing experience along subversive avenues. The idea is to create the illusion of new (subversive) nonplayer characters in the game through the audio.”
These modologues combine the audio dubbing of machinima with the infiltration of game mods (since sticking them in your MP3 folder does not alter the code of the game). Unlike Machinima, which dub sound tracks over edited clips of game play and turn the player into a spectator, these monologues, or “modologues,” let the user play in a different narrative context.
These files represent the first attempts to infiltrate the game. I hope other performers will record some and send them our way so we can build a library.
Current downloads include: Army Recruiter (since video games are now tools of recruitment), Mama Vercetti, The Driver’s Ed Instructor, and Arnold Schwarzenegger (though this last is anachronistic and probably more suitable to “San Andreas”).”
