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Michael's music in videogames

someplace_else

someplace_else

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My search attempt was without any results, so:

"Billie Jean" is a song featured in GTA Vice City. So I asked myself if Michael, personally, had to agree to Rockstar using the song in the game? Just curious if he liked the GTA series, maybe someone here knows more. Also curious about info, if there are more games with his music in it 🧐.

Thanks in advance! :)
 
someplace_else said:
My search attempt was without any results, so:

"Billie Jean" is a song featured in GTA Vice City. So I asked myself if Michael, personally, had to agree to Rockstar using the song in the game? Just curious if he liked the GTA series, maybe someone here knows more. Also curious about info, if there are more games with his music in it 🧐.

Thanks in advance! :)
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WBSS is on Vice City also, on Fever 105fm.

Interesting fact - the mix of Billie Jean on Vice City is from the original pressing of Thriller (containing the lower "oh no's" and lower synth at the bridge")

I believe Sony had the license for these songs at the time, which is why MJ's songs and many others were removed for later updates and for the recent Definitive Editions.
 
Haven't played this game for like 20 years, so I didn't remember that, thank you 😅 .

I don't have the Definitive Editions, so didn't know that either. Sad to hear that, the songs in these games are (were) really great.
 
someplace_else said:
Haven't played this game for like 20 years, so I didn't remember that, thank you 😅 .

I don't have the Definitive Editions, so didn't know that either. Sad to hear that, the songs in these games are (were) really great.
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Yeah, Ozzy's Bark at the Moon and Lionel's Running in the Night were removed in the early 2010's on PC I think.
 
This is one of the reasons I only buy physical games. Nobody is changing what I own because of silly "licensing issues".

Also, there was a related thread:

Michael Jackson in Fortnite, good or bad move?

First of all, when I say in fortnite, I don't mean as a skin. You see, fortnite has this gamemode similar to games such as guitar hero. There are a lot of songs in this, and I was just wondering, would adding MJ's most iconic songs to it be a smart move for the estate? Let me know your thoughts.
www.mjjcommunity.com www.mjjcommunity.com
 
R1chard said:
This is one of the reasons I only buy physical games. Nobody is changing what I own because of silly "licensing issues".

Also, there was a related thread:

Michael Jackson in Fortnite, good or bad move?

First of all, when I say in fortnite, I don't mean as a skin. You see, fortnite has this gamemode similar to games such as guitar hero. There are a lot of songs in this, and I was just wondering, would adding MJ's most iconic songs to it be a smart move for the estate? Let me know your thoughts.
www.mjjcommunity.com www.mjjcommunity.com
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Thought, this one was only about Fortnite.

I was thinking about buying the Definitive Collection, because of added checkpoints 😅. Now that I hear the music changed, I am kinda sad...
 
dam2040 said:
I think there's an MJ song in Saints Row 2?

Also, if you're on PC I believe there's a mod to restore the original soundtracks.
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Yup! I still emulate the PS2 version so no issues there, but I did miss those songs playing the DE when it was released for PS4.
 
That's so funny you say that because I just played the trilogy recently lol When I finished Vice City, I looked up all the songs on the game's radio stations and saw that two of Michael's songs were in the base game (Billie Jean and Wanna Be Startin' Somethin') but were cut from the trilogy version. I looked into why and it seems to be due to expired licenses. It's a shame because I would have always put the radio stations that play his music on while playing! I hope they will put some of his songs back in the next game :)
 
Moonie said:
That's so funny you say that because I just played the trilogy recently lol When I finished Vice City, I looked up all the songs on the game's radio stations and saw that two of Michael's songs were in the base game (Billie Jean and Wanna Be Startin' Somethin') but were cut from the trilogy version. I looked into why and it seems to be due to expired licenses. It's a shame because I would have always put the radio stations that play his music on while playing! I hope they will put some of his songs back in the next game :)
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Billie Jean is the first song you hear when you get into the car at the lawyers at the very start of the game, in the original!
 
A game for the commodore 64 called Chiller. The music was changed I believe, but... it's clearly inspired by something.


chiller_01.png
 
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