Raw Thrills' Eliminated American Idol Arcade Game
My initial reaction after hearing about Raw Thrills' karaoke arcade game based on American Idol was to groan, but the concept of the setup ad its technology is actually interesting. Players stand in front of a green screen while the game films them and creates a music video background while they sing. Their performance is then emailed to them or burnt onto a DVD players can take home.
Unfortunately, Raw Thrills cancelled Star Studio earlier this year after 18 months of work. Though the company didn't give a reason for killing the project, programmer Cameron Silver's voiced frustrations provide a hint: "These [Star Studio machines] would have been a star, if only they weren't blasted out if the sky by petty politics and brain-dead morons."
Silver posted a detailed developer's diary for the arcade game's production, but it's unfortunately no longer available online. We do have several embarrassing videos of Silver and others playing the game that we can watch:
"The effects were all scripted by a program I wrote (along side writing the entire game too)," says Silver. "I doubt that I'll ever top this, and the fact that it was killed on account of stupidity really hurts. The team solved every problem and made a product that was pretty much suitable to everybody."
[Via Arcade Heroes]
