Xbox Nation: Tell us about your involvement in Outlaw Volleyball, omitting no earthly details.
Nile Rodgers: First, what they did is the team came to my house, they put a gun to my head, they gagged me, and they chloroformed me. And when I woke up I was sitting in their studio and they’re going, “OK, we want some music in this game and it has got to be hot and it has got to be the best. When we start playing this thing, it has got to make us go nuts.”

XBN: You were a fan of Outlaw Golf, weren’t you?
Rodgers: Absolutely, as a matter of fact, a band that I just finished working with, between takes we would sit there and play Outlaw Golf. We were nuts. As a matter of fact, I almost had the audacity to put it on the budget-to somehow get Simon & Schuster Interactive to sort of pay for our downtime because we got so addicted to the game.

XBN: What attracted you to Outlaw Volleyball?
Rodgers: I have to be really honest with you; we became big fans of the characters from golf. When I first played golf, I didn’t think it would be cool and the artist I was working with said to me, “Nile, you won’t believe how cool it is.” I said. “Yeah, right.”
These guys are serious gamers. I mean all they do is play Halo and Splinter Cell and Golden Eye and all that sort of stuff. They’re like big nutty, nutty gamers and they’re deep into it, so when I saw them playing Outlaw Golf, I didn’t think that would be interesting to them because they’re big first-person shooter guys and like al this action and adventure stuff.
When we played it, the game was so cool, and then when they showed me the whole beat down thing, it was hysterical. It just works as a game. We loved it and I got hooked. Now, I sit at home and play it all the time.

XBN: Speaking of sons of Chic, is there any way you might see fit to include the red-headed stepchild of Chic, Vanilla Ice, in the games soundtrack? In his own words he’s a “lyrical poet” and he really, really needs the work.
Nile Rodgers: [Laughing] Unfortunately, the soundtrack is a wrap. We’re done but maybe on Outlaw Golf 2.

XBN: Are you going to do the score for Outlaw Golf 2?
Rodgers: I can’t imagine not doing it. This team has been so fantastic. We’ve had such a great time. We love the product. I’ve sent [the soundtrack] out to a lot of other competitive studios just to get their feedback on it. People have called me and said, “Nile, the soundtrack is awesome, the product is great, and people really dig it.” So it makes me proud because I know what’s out there, and pother people have really good vibes about it.

XBN: Can you give us a couple of specific examples of the songs you’ve chosen or the artists?
Nile Rodgers: We have a band called Diffuser. I’ve actually known about these guys for a while and when Hollywood got down with it, and I guess Diffuser are probably fans of the game, everything seemed to work out. They really melded with it perfectly.
This other kid we found almost by accident named DJ Ashba. I’ve got to tell you man, I’m so hyped on this kid. This kid DJ Ashba, not only did he nail it but his song actually has this great lyric in it that talks about how he wished that summer wouldn’t go away and you know obviously, the main character or one of the main characters in Volleyball in the Outlaw Sports Series is the girl Summer. So it was just the perfect song. It had the right vibe, the right flavor, and the lyrics married perfectly. You would almost think that he was part of the script.

XBN: What’s the coolest thing about the soundtrack, aside from its director?
Rodgers: The coolest thing about it, in my humble opinion, is that last night when I drove up to CVS to get my razors and stuff like my new automatic toothbrush to go away to Atlanta tomorrow, I drove up and there were some kids standing out front of CVS.
When I pulled up obviously, I had the [soundtrack] music blasting and they went “Holy shit man, that car is cool, what year is that?” I told them what year my car was and they were like, “Oh man, that’s amazing. Hey, yo dude, what was that you were playing?”
That’s the coolest thing is that kids who were standing out- just parking lot kids- thought that the soundtrack was as cool as my car and my car is amazingly cool. I should have a video game on my car. That’s my own personal opinion; you know what I’m saying?

XBN: Given your vast musical experience who do you think would win in a fight, [Daryl] Hall or [John] Oates?
Nile Rodgers: [Laughing] Well, that’s interesting. Hall would probably win in a fight if it were verbal, and Oates might win in a fight because he might be able to cheap shot him and kick him in the balls or something you know what I mean? He might be shorter but he’s cool, though. I don’t know.