Richard Garriott’s Shroud of the Avatar will play host to the debut of country singer-songwriter Shooter Jennings’ new album on February 22nd.
Countach (for Giorgio) is perhaps the first album to be released in a virtual world before it sees the real one. The game world of New Britannia will have a “listening party” hosted by Shooter Jennings himself, a long-time gamer and ardent supporter of the newest entry in Garriott’s esteemed library of PC role-playing games.
If you want a chance to own the music of Countach (for Giorgio) before its March 11th release, you’ll be able to do that as well. Jennings will be giving away twenty five virtual copies on virtual vinyl that you can play in-game. He’ll also bring 40 copies of each song on “wax cylinder” items that can apparently even be attached to other housing objects.
What’s more, Richard Garriott himself has lent his musical talents to one of the songs. “Chase” will feature the industry legend in a manner yet to be revealed. He joins others, including Marilyn Manson and Brandi Carlile, to be featured. No doubt “Chase” will be the most sought after track from the album for Ultima fans who don’t manage to snag the entire online collection.
Shroud of the Avatar is, perhaps, the perfect environment for this unique experiment. The game itself is a mash-up of features that span the RPG genre, from its inception to the cutting edge of current MMO development. We’ll be covering the game’s alchemy of the old and the new, as well as Richard “Lord British” Garriot himself, in the coming weeks.
If you’re interested in the album itself, Consequence of Sound has already posted a review of the “weird metal-machine-country hybrid.” They seem to have enjoyed it, but we’ll need to wait until February 22 to find out how it goes over with adventurers and kobolds.
Follow Nate Church @Get2Church on Twitter for the latest news in gaming and technology, and snarky opinions on both.
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