Fed up with having to listen to 150 crappy bands that all sound the same while you game? Why not make use of the recent phenomenon of customizable gaming soundtracks? With the Xbox, you can load in your own music, create playlists, and then use those playlists as in-game soundtracks. I’ve used this feature on several titles such as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Amped 2, ESPN NFL 2K5 which actually lets you create clips, and most recently Jeff and I put this feature to great use while playing Burnout 3.

Burnout 3 is one of those games where every element has to be “in your face” at all times; flashing graphics, loud and over the top sound fx, slow motion crashes, and of course 150 loud and obnoxious no named bands that leave no question as to why they have yet to be signed. On top of this is an over-emoting DJ who tells you about the races and squawks fake inane DJ chatter in between superfluous radio channel searching noises. All of this got to be overwhelming when trying to concentrate on the races, especially for after work gamers like ourselves. I told Jeff I thought it’d be great to see a racing game that offered you a New Age channel option instead of a half dozen channels that all sound the same. Jeff responded by walking over to the CD rack, pulling out his copy of Enya’s Shepherd Moons, and loading it onto his Xbox. A half hour later (it does take FOREVER to upload) we were enjoying a unique gaming experience. We side swiped cars, jumped ramps, and triggered horrendoues multi car pileups time and time again as the soothing New Age sounds of Ireland’s most popular chanteuse scored our flaming wreckage. It seemed to allow us more stamina to try and beat the races over and over again. Our brains were relaxed and better able to navigate the rolling scenery and send the correct messages to our thumbs. It also had a disassociative effect because the mellow music didn’t match the seizure inducing visuals making you feel like you were floating above the race; gently guiding your vehicle as if you were curling it through the course.

The best part was that the DJ and radio searching noises would still interrupt the music every few minutes with hilarious results.

Try it for yourselves. I think Jeff and I both found it preferrable to the stock soundtracks and at the very least it made for a fresh gaming experience.