DarkStar is an interactive video game that's been in development for nearly 10 years. It's usually described as more of an interactive movie than a video game because the characters in the game are live actors. The game is of interest to Rush fans because it will feature the music of Rush; about two dozen songs spanning 12 albums. The last update we heard regarding the project was over 2 years ago when it looked like the game was finally on the verge of release, which obviously did not happen. Eric of the Power Windows site has been corresponding with DarkStar director/producer J. Allen Williams who had the following updates to give regarding the project:
We are now negotiating with Universal and Atlantic to include the following songs to be featured in the feature length scifi film that serves as back-story to the project: Anthem, Bastille Day, The Twilight Zone, Cygnus X-1, Cygnus X-1 Book II, Tom Sawyer, YYZ, The Camera Eye, Witch Hunt, Vital Signs, Subdivisions, Red Sector A, The Enemy Within, Red Lenses, Mystic Rhythms, Manhattan Project, Time Stand Still, Test for Echo, Time and Motion, Limbo, One Little Victory and Nocturne. The band and their management has approved the use of all of these songs, but final negotiations must be completed with Universal and Atlantic before we can announce the final songlist. We're hoping we can include this entire list.
- J. Allen Williams/Parallax Studio L.L.C.
Power Windows also reports that DarkStar is completely finished and will wrap up final beta testing in Canada in late January. The game will first be released on PC and MAC in 2010, with console versions tentatively set to follow in late 2010 or possibly 2011. The studio will announce a concrete release date very soon. They are also asking Rush fans to participate in a short survey to help speed the product to market. A substantial level of interest from Rush fans in this survey will bolster the studio's ability to show its publisher (and also Universal and Atlantic) that the fans would like to see the band represented in such a project, and that they would be interested in purchasing it as well. To watch a short trailer and take the survey go to this link.
Eric at Power Windows was lucky enough to see a preview of the game with the Rush soundtrack and had this to say:
I have personally viewed about an hour of the cinematics that have gone into Darkstar, and it was intense. I was expecting a 10 minute intro film for a video game, but this is obviously much more than that. Overall, watching a sci-fi space adventure set to the emotional music of RUSH was thrilling. The use of RUSH's music wasn't arbitrarily chosen either. Instead, specific selections were used to coincide with the action and the mood, be it the slow, yet steady introduction of "Cygnus X-1" as a starship approaches, or the thrilling double bass drum intro from "One Little Victory" during a dogfight scene.
He also asked Mr. Williams a few questions regarding the project which you can check out below.
Here is the Power Windows Q&A with J. Allen Williams of Parallax Studio L.L.C.
Q: It's taken a long time to produce Darkstar, why so long?
A: There have been several issues that have caused us to miss self-imposed deadlines. The primary issue is that we just kept coming up with ideas to make it bigger and better, and each tacked on months, sometimes years of production time. We've also had technological setbacks with CGI and authoring programs we use that put us behind the eight ball, but in the end, these were a blessing in disguise as ultimately it improved the final product. We've been pretty much content complete since the end of '08, and that's when we moved into the realm of publishing and legal issues. The crash in the economy has slowed us down a bit, because many of the publishers have no money right now, and others are being very careful about how much they put into third party productions, and rightfully so.
Q: So it's definitely coming out.
A: It is definitely coming out.
Q: What is the purpose of the survey you've offered up here?
A: Solely to get a good handle on who our demographic audience is. Age, gender, what consoles they prefer, stuff like that. There are only five questions, and they will help us quite a bit to put this together the way our demo would want us to.
Q: Where is this survey available besides this website.
A: Darkstar has three basic niche markets that we are very interested in catering to specifically. Obviously this one with 24 songs from the band. The band has been behind the project since the beginning, and Pegi Cecconi at Anthem has been fantastic spending a lot of her time helping us get all the rights management going. I've been working with her and the band since mid '04. There is also the Mystery Science Theater 3000 fanbase with original castmembers from the show featured. And there is Clive Robertson, the lead actor in Darkstar with a very decent following, so we're working with his fansite out of Belgium. And there are a few sites out there that cater to this specific type of game project that the survey will appear on. Of course it will be on the Darkstar website for folks that have been following it there as well. This survey is aimed at the core fanbase of a product like Darkstar.
Q: What's next for the project?
A: The hard part, the business side of things. But that's well under way, and data from this survey will sure help us out. On the RUSH end of things, we're working closely with Pegi at Anthem to get worldwide rights and royalties worked out. As I said, the band is behind the project, but we have to be sure all of the business stuff is negotiated out before we can release Darkstar. We are confident that this will be a great project for all involved, and we are so proud to have classic music from the greatest band on the planet in Darkstar. And we really want to thank RUSH's fans, they are the best.
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