Rising Star captures the struggles and successes of up and coming musicians, as they work to recruit band members, gain popularity locally and throughout America, and ultimately, get the lucrative recording contract of their dreams. Shady O’Grady’s(tm) Rising Star will be available in early March 2007 for $29 (download) or $36 (CD-ROM).

In Rising Star, you start out as an eighteen year old rookie musician in one of ten music types: rock and roll, jazz, ska, rap, pop, blues, metal, punk, folk, or country. Choose your home sweet home from over 120 cities located throughout the U.S., and recruit compatible musicians for your band. You’ll start off as poor, starving artists, as you landscape the local parks and deliver beer to the area pubs for a little cash. The jobs can be grueling as often you’re expected to drive like a bat out of hell to cover 3/5 of a mile in ten seconds in your beaten up ‘band-van’ to complete some insane delivery run for a couple hundred bucks. However, in this game, just as in life, money changes everything. Some spending cash will allow you to get familiar with the local club scene. Make enough connections with the club owners and bands, and soon you’ll score your first gig. You’ll get to enter Battle of the Bands, where initially you may be outshined by more experienced bands. But with some practice, you’ll be getting better and winning prize money in these competitions. Eventually, you’ll deal with larger venues, managers, producers, record contracts, product endorsements and more. You’ll write songs, and practice practice practice, until you’re ready to R.O.C.K in the U.S.A. Initially, the audience will wonder, “who are you?” But if you stay hungry and put on a couple great shows, your fame will rise until everybody wants you. You’re success in Rising Star won’t be some sort of mystery achievement – it’s all hard work and a lot of pressure to get to the top. It’s sad but true, but something as simple as a van breakdown on the way to Baltimore could mess with your career and have you crying bitter tears.

Once you’ve created and practiced enough songs, you’ll need to visit all the small bars in the area to see if you can find a gig. Whether you are opening for a better known band, or competing against other up and comers in a battle of the bands, you’ll have to prove it all night as you build your performance to a satisfying conclusion and leave your audience feelin’ alright and partying like its 1999. Give your fans a reason to believe and they’ll keep coming back to see you all day and all of the night. But if you end up getting out of control during your performance, you might over do it during your symphony of destruction and end up in the local hospital – alive, but dazed and confused.

Other Rising Star features include:

• RPG-style experience/leveling system, with six assignable skills: Songwriting, Playing, Stage Presence, Production, Repair, and Business.
• Make band decisions based on your musicians' Inspiration, Health, Happiness, and Ego levels.
• Dynamic musician attitude system - recruit compatible musicians, and kick out egotistical musicians living in their own private Idaho that no longer get along. Unhappy and uninspired musicians may quit on their own.
• Over 800 different types of equipment, including real brands with images supplied by American Musical Supply (www.americanmusical.com) to let your band rock on.
• Over 120 cities to roam and conquer each randomly generated and presented in 3D for exploring.
• Thousands of locations: Homes, bars, theaters, stadiums, clothing stores, music stores, studios, hotels & motels, manager offices, parks, cemeteries, and hospitals are all useful aspects of the game, providing lots of things to do.
• Customize your band's appearance with thousands of combinations of hairstyles, hats, glasses, shirts, pants, pants, and wrist/hand wear. Live out your rock and roll fantasy.
• Earn money doing odd-jobs to survive while trying to earn a reputation for your new band.
• Customize your van's appearance with over 50 different paint jobs.
• Success depends on decision making, not twitch skills.
• Trash hotels & motels with the advanced physics engine. Go ahead and throw that lamp at the TV and see what happens.
• A living world of working bands, spread over the continental USA
• Built-in tutorial to help beginners understand the wealth of information and options.
• Soundtrack of original music from real independent bands.
• Map editor, allowing you to add, delete, or modify existing cities.
• Equipment editor, allowing you to add, delete or modify existing equipment & supplies.
• Easy to add your own content, or share content with other players.

Related articles, Click here!