Music video game
Encyclopedia
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs. Music video games may take a variety of forms and are often grouped with puzzle games due to their common use of "rhythmically generated puzzles".
Strong support for the convergence of live music and video games is evident with the success of the Video Games Live
concert series. Emergent games for live concert performance, "game-scores," augment traditional western music notation with the dramatic elements of animation, interactivity, graphic elements and aleatoric principles (Anigraphical Music). The concept of incorporating Game Theory
and music is not new and can be traced back to Musikalisches Würfelspiel
.
Music video games are distinct from purely audio game
s (e.g. the 1997 Sega Saturn
release Real Sound: Kaze no Regret
) in that they feature a visual feedback, to lead the player through the game's soundtrack, although eidetic music games can fall under both categories.
in nature, the most common form of music game today is rhythmic in nature and has been termed the "rhythm game." Other common modes of gameplay in music video games include the sandbox style that encourages a free-form gameplay approach and the recent hybrid style that combines musical elements with more traditional genres such as the shooter
or puzzle game. Music video games are also commonly included as minigame
s in the party game genre.
Music memory games test a player's musical memory. The two major regions of musical memory that are tested in current games are short-term memory
and eidetic memory
. These two types of games can be seen as directly analogous to the simple children's games of Simon says
(which tests short-term memory) and Pelmanism
(which tests eidetic memory).
as the major gameplay-determinative musical element, other elements of musical notation
and development
such as pitch
and volume
also serve as points of emphasis in a number of more recent games. In all of these game-forms the goal of the player is to provide a direct injective
response to each prompt (linked to an element of the music) from the game. The prompts and responses alternate and as such the gameplay tests the player's short-term memory
and sight-reading ability in a manner directly analogous to the non-music-centric children's game Simon says
.
Rhythm-based games range from dance games such as Dance Dance Revolution
, and other music-based games such as Donkey Konga
and Guitar Hero
. These games challenge the player to press the right button at the right time. The popularity of these rhythm-based games has created a market for specialty input devices such as dance mats and electronic drums.
In rhythm games, the player must press specific buttons, or activate controls on a specialized game controller
, in sync with the game's music
. The control scheme is usually fairly simplistic, and the moves required are usually predetermined rather than randomized. The earliest rhythm game produced was Spinnaker
's Aerobics on the Atari 8-bit in 1983 and Nintendo
's Dance Aerobics
in 1987.
A pitch game, as characterized by Karaoke Revolution
, Lips (video game)
or SingStar
series, tests the player's ability to match the pitch of a piece of music provided by the game. Players use their voices and a specialized microphone as input and they are scored on their tonal
accuracy. These games typically remain linked to rhythm as well due to the basic nature of rhythm in most music, however pitch games are characterized by comparatively simple rhythms and an emphasis on the pitch element of the songs instead. Pitch games generally fail to address pronunciation flaws. For example, if you sing on pitch and on beat, but you mispronounce the word, you still get credited with the score.
The element of volume is very rare in music games, however it has featured in such games as Mad Maestro! and Wii Music
. Although volume games emphasize volume, the player typically does not accomplish this with his voice as with pitch games. Rather, a variety of methods are used to provide alterations in volume. In Mad Maestro!, for instance, the player is able to vary the volume according to the requirements of gameplay by varying the pressure he or she applies to the buttons of the Dualshock 2
controller which are capable of recognizing variable pressure. Alternatively, in Wii Music, the player varies the angle at which the Wii Remote
is held in order to vary the volume of the game. The great majority of volume games remain intimately linked to the rhythm aspects of the song.
The first game of this nature was Activision's Dolphins (1983) on the Atari 2600.
serves as an example, test the player's ability to memorize a musical series of notes or beats and to repeat it back in a Pelmanism-style
format. Eidetic music games can be differentiated from the sight-reading music games by the escalating series of prompts and responses required for successful completion. Each successive prompt and response contains the entirety of the prior prompt or response as well as additional material determined by the round and as such the gameplay is designed to tests the player's eidetic memory
. Due to the simplicity of gameplay, eidetic music games have been employed to great success as minigames in such titles as The 7th Guest, Zork Nemesis, and Myst
. Eidetic music games are the oldest form of the musically-influenced games, discounting the free form music art game
s, with roots reaching as far back as the audio game
s of the late 1970s.
Music management games are roughly equivalent to Sports management games except that they involve the management of a musical band or group or the production of music video
s. Although the direct interaction between music and the player is considerably limited in music management games, the games nevertheless center on the musical nature of the management tasks of scheduling, producing, and promoting music stars. Examples of such games include Rock Star Ate My Hamster, Total Distortion
, Spice World
, The Idolmaster series, and the Make My Video series.
Free form music games, characterized by games such as SimTunes
, are those in which the creation of music takes predominance over gameplay and as such these games are often more similar to non-game music synthesizers
such as the Tenori-on
. Free form music games occupy a position somewhere between generative hybrid music games and non-game utilities dependent upon the degree to which their gameplay relies upon a driving underlying plotline. Further examples of this form of music game include Fluid
, Electroplankton
, Wii Music
, Traxxpad
, myRMX, and MTV Drumscape
. Free form musical modes are also often made available as alternate gameplay modes or unlockables as in such games as Daigasso! Band Brothers
, Quest for Fame
, and Osu!
. This form of music game is closely analogous to Sandbox games in the realm of non-musical games and the term "sandbox" has been used to describe this form of gameplay.
s or utilities (in keeping with their relationship to free form music games). As art game
s, these games often lack mainstream appeal, however they have shown up visibly as installations in art museums. Examples of music art games would include Moondust
, tranquility, and the MusicVR
series.
An offshoot of the serious game
s initiative, hybrid forms of music video games such as Otocky
(a generative hybrid) and Pteranodon (a reactive hybrid) are characterized by substantial and meaningful interactions between a player and the music in a game that ostensibly belongs to a non-musical genre.
, for example, the game takes the form of a simple rail shooter, however by integrating sound effects created by the actions of the player (as he completes the normal tasks of rail-shooting) with the soundtrack as a whole, the game is intended to permit the player's direct interaction with the soundtrack and to encourage the creation of a synaesthetic experience.
, or iS – internal section focus upon the underlying genre such that the music serves to determine the dynamics of the non-musical components of the game. In these games the player takes substantial cues from the soundtrack to devise his gameplay. Comparable reactive-form music video games such as Vib-Ribbon
, Audiosurf
, or Dance Factory
lack a differentiable underlying genre and as such cannot be considered hybrid music games.
. Examples of this kind of mixed-genre game featuring musical elements include Feel the Magic: XY/XX
and The Rub Rabbits!
. Other games may be considered mixed-genre games if they meaningfully merge music video game elements with gameplay from another distinct genre. Although hybrid music games can be seen to accomplish a similar effect, the overlap between the musical elements and the gameplay in hybrid music games prevents the game from being fully understood when regarding either the non-musical aspect or the musical aspect in isolation from the other. Mixed-genre games such as the musical RPG
, Ragnarawk
, accomplish a much greater degree of separation between the traditional non-musical aspects of the game and the musical aspects.
arcade series. Pump It Up (1999), while widely believed to be based on Dance Dance Revolution, was in fact developed simultaneously to DDR although it was only released in Korea after the release of DDR. It is not as well known in America due to Andamiro keeping the game's availability only within its native Korea for many years. Its dance-mat layout was the inverse of the layout for DDR - the arcade machine uses four diagonal pads and one center pad for each player (see gameplay of Pump It Up). In November 2006, Andamiro announced Pump It Up New Xenesis
, which was to be developed by team Nexcade (Andamiro's previous development team, FreeVolt, was to compose approximately half of Nexcade). Pump It Up New Xenesis was released in December, 2006. Andamiro has produced at least 20 versions of the Pump It Up series worldwide, but due to their naming convention for new game titles it is hard to determine an exact index for the games.
Andamiro has also developed nine consumer software versions for PC, Xbox
, PlayStation 2
, and PlayStation Portable
.
in Japan
that make up a significant proportion of total sales in the music video game genre, the "BEMANI
series" is named for Konami's music games division. The division's name is derived, in common Japanese syllabic abbreviation, from its flagship game, BEatMANIa. In Beatmania
(1997), the player uses a set of buttons and a controller in the form of a DJ's turntable
. The BEMANI series also includes several games requiring the use of controllers shaped like musical instruments, such as GuitarFreaks
(1998) and DrumMania
(1999). Bemani's musical arcade titles include Mambo a Go Go
(2002) and Toy's March
(2005).
Konami currently only works on six titles in the BEMANI series, including jubeat
, Reflec Beat
, beatmania IIDX
, GuitarFreaks
, Drummania
, pop'n music
and Dance Dance Revolution
Only a limited selection of the BEMANI games have been released outside of Asia
, the most notable being Dance Dance Revolution
(1998) (commonly abbreviated to DDR; also known as Dancing Stage in Europe
an release). In DDR, players step on or otherwise activate panels on a large (about 1 meter square) floor controller
in time with an on-screen sequence. Home versions of the floor controller somewhat resemble the Nintendo
Power Pad
accessory. The overwhelming success of DDR and its sequels has spawned numerous re-creations or clones of the game or its mechanics, both commercial (as with EZ2Dancer
, In the Groove, and In the Groove 2
) and free (including StepMania
, which is also FOSS
, and also provided the engine for In the Groove). This makes DDR possibly the most duplicated music game in existence.
The BEMANI series can be credited with several trends in music games. One such trend is the use of novel, specialized game controllers, in both arcade and home versions (which Konami had also pioneered in non-music games such as Police 911
). Another trend is the use of a sizable catalog of short mixes and covers of existing songs as well as songs produced in-house for the game which serve as a common basis for many members of the series. Many games in the series also have further sequels in which the main change is the selection of songs, and the mechanics of the gameplay remain similar to the original.
is an American
game company that primarily makes music games. It first became famous for the game FreQuency
(2001) and its sequel Amplitude
(2003), both of which feature edits of existing songs (as well as original selections) and a gameplay similar to that of Beatmania.
Harmonix also produced Karaoke Revolution
(2003) (published by Konami
as a BEMANI game in the same vein as Dance Dance Revolution). In Karaoke Revolution, a player sings on-screen lyrics into a microphone along with accompanying background music (in the style of karaoke
) and is scored on closeness of pitch between player and tune. Although now one of the most well-known pitch-oriented games, Karaoke Revolution was released three years after the publication of the Finnish
PC game, PlaySingMusic (2000) by SoittoPeli (possibly the first such game) and its subsequent presentation at the LA iWireless World conference by Elmorex Ltd. in 2001.
A newer game by Harmonix, Guitar Hero (2005), has expanded into a popular series for which Harmonix is best known. Guitar Hero makes use of a guitar-shaped controller with five neck buttons. The sequel, Guitar Hero II
, was released in November 2006.
After being bought by MTV
in 2006, Harmonix began work on Rock Band, a game that combined guitar peripheral gameplay with singing and drumming to create a band experience. Former publisher RedOctane
(now owned by Activision
) turned the task of continuing the Guitar Hero franchise to Neversoft
. Harmonix released Rock Band on November 20, 2007 in North America
, with the game being published by EA Games and followed it up with its sequel, Rock Band 2
. An expansion to Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s
(2007), was created prior to the release of Rock Band in order to fulfill the contractual obligations with Activision, as its development started prior to the ownership transfer. Harmonix released Lego Rock Band
with TT Games
on November 3, 2009.
Apart from music video games, Harmonix is known for being one of the first developers to make use of the EyeToy
camera accessory for the PlayStation 2
.
is a video game developer
most commonly known for their cult video game Gitaroo Man
(2001) for the PlayStation 2
and their Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan
(2005) series for the Nintendo DS
. All of iNiS' rhythm games were designed by Keiichi Yano
. While the company has been around for many years, none of their previous games matched the recent success and support that Ouendan received. The popularity of Ouendan led to interest in the older game, Gitaroo Man. Published by Koei in 2002 throughout North America, which soon became difficult to find for sale as it gained cult status. In response to this demand, Koei resumed production to ship more copies which resulted in the elevation of Gitaroo Man from a cult video game
to a sleeper hit
. In addition, iNiS ported the game to Sony's handheld PlayStation Portable
gaming device as Gitaroo Man Lives! (2006).
iNiS's success with these rhythm games prompted Nintendo
, who was the publisher of Ouendan in Japan, to pressure iNiS to produce a spiritual sequel
to Ouendan that would appeal more to North American audiences. The reason for this was that Ouendan included musical and cultural references that would make little sense outside of Japan. This resulted in the production of Elite Beat Agents
in 2006. Elite Beat Agents
includes well-known Western songs, all performed by cover band
s. It also has a few new gameplay tweaks (see gameplay of Elite Beat Agents). On May 17, 2007 iNiS/Nintendo released (2007) in Japan as a direct sequel to the original Ouendan. Ouendan 2 featured new characters, situations, and Japanese music. iNiS made its Xbox 360
debut with the pitch-oriented game Lips
on November 18, 2008.
series. These arcade games featured 2 large taiko
-style drums and their popularity prompted the release of a PS2
version, Taiko: Drum Master
(2004) which required a specialized taiko-drum-shaped "TaTaCon" controller to play. Other games in the Taiko no Tatsujin series that have been released in Japan include both Taiko no Tatsujin Portable for the PSP
and Taiko no Tatsujin Touch De Dokodon
for the Nintendo DS
. In 2003, Namco expanded Nintendo's flagship Donkey Kong series into the realm of rhythm games with its Donkey Konga
series which currently consists of Donkey Konga
(2003), Donkey Konga 2 (2004), Donkey Konga 3 (2005), and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
(2004).
ese video game company now known as NanaOn-Sha
is credited with the creation of what is generally considered to be the first modern rhythm game, PaRappa the Rapper
(1996). The gameplay generally involves repeating the rhythms of raps from another character (one per level), by pressing any of eight buttons on the game controller. The button sequences are displayed on a timeline at the top of the screen. Pressing a button plays a sample of PaRappa's voice corresponding to which button was pressed, regardless of whether the pressing of the button matches the appropriate rhythmic sequence or intended button selection. PaRappa can sometimes be heard to say "Oops!" if no sample is associated with the button at that moment.
The game is scored for sequence and timing, and adhering closely to the given timeline results in a passing grade. Unlike many other music games, the player may obtain an even higher score and access a special "COOL" mode of play by improvisational "freestyling
" (though the algorithm
by which this is scored is often nebulous and the results virtually unpredictable). The game's success resulted in the spinoff UmJammer Lammy
(1999), which is based on guitar
samples, and eventually a proper sequel, PaRappa the Rapper 2
(2002).
NanaOn-Sha also produced another novel series of music games including Vib-Ribbon
(1999), Mojib-Ribbon (2003), and Vib-Ripple
(2004), however these games were only released in Japan
(and, in the case of Vib-Ribbon, Europe
). The gameplay involved in Vib-Ribbon centered on the player's reactions to elements of the landscape which in turn resulted from the tone of the background music. The game came with a soundtrack, but players were additionally able to load their own music on CDs into the PS1 and an in-game algorithm would produce the resulting landscape based on waveform analysis
. This freedom of landscape was again extended to players in the rhythm-centric Vib-Ripple, as the game allowed players to import images of their own choosing to serve as the background. As in the case of the waveform algorithm in Vib-Ribbon, Vib-Ripple contains an algorithm which converts externally loaded pictures into corresponding levels. Mojib-Ribbon followed a similar concept as the Vib titles, but used text files to create kanji
rap-based rhythm gameplay.
Their most recent music title is Major Minor's Majestic March
for the Wii
, which uses the Wii Remote
to replicate a marching band leader's baton.
's United Game Artists division in 2003, UGA's former lead designer, Tetsuya Mizuguchi
, left Sega along with several of his co-workers to form an independent game studio, Q Entertainment, which continued producing music-based games, along with a handful of other titles.
The first step of Mizuguchi's newly-formed Q Entertainment was to develop the blockbuster Lumines
(2004) for the PlayStation Portable
. Lumines is a puzzle game in which the goal is to arrange like-colored falling blocks into squares which will then disappear. Like Rez (a game Mizuguchi had previously designed), each stage in Lumines has a unique musical and visual theme. In Lumines blocks marked to be cleared do not disappear immediately. Instead, a bar called the timeline sweeps across the screen in time with the music and clears away the properly arranged blocks, producing a musical effect in sync with the background music each time this happens. Sequels to Lumines include Lumines Live! (2006) and Lumines II
(2006).
Following the release of Lumines II, Q Entertainment released a PSP title called Every Extend Extra
(2006). Every Extend Extra is as an abstract action game in which power-ups dropped by enemies, named "quickens", increase the speed of both the player and the enemy, as well as the speed of that drive's music. Like Rez, the basic gameplay itself appears unrelated to the music, however the music reacts to the gameplay in such a way as to produce a concert effect.
The same year Q Entertainment also created Gunpey (2006), a puzzle game for the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation Portable based on the classic formula from Gunpei Yokoi's Wonderswan game. It bears Mizuguchi's signature design previously seen in games such as Lumines, where every skin has a different mood, different background music, and different specific sound effects.
Q Entertainment's most recent release was a high-definition version of Rez entitled Rez HD (2008) for the Xbox 360
that additionally includes vibrational support for up to four controllers. In interviews, Mizuguchi has suggested holding one, placing one on the back, and placing one's feet upon the other two.
(formerly Sega AM8) is a division of Sega Corporation, which from 2000-2003 absorbed and incorporated several smaller former Sega divisions following the transitional phase in which Sega dropped out of the console race to concentrate on software and game development.
Sonic Team produced only one music video game prior to merging with United Game Artists. This Dreamcast game, entitled Samba de Amigo
(1999), involved the use of a set of maraca peripherals which were shaken in one of three positions corresponding to on-screen cues and the rhythm of the soundtrack.
Simultaneously another Sega division called Sega AM9, led by designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi
, produced its first and last music video game under the Sega AM9 name. Space Channel 5
(1999), another game for the Dreamcast, has the player control Ulala, a swingin' reporter for the titular broadcast network, Space Channel 5. Ulala defeats her enemies (which include aliens, robots, and nefarious humans) by mesmerizing them with her dancing and/or singing, then incapacitating them with her raygun
. The control scheme follows an eidetic format, with players repeating increasing sequences of button presses in time with the ever-present music.
In 2000, the Sega AM9 division was renamed United Game Artists and became a semi-autonomous subsidiary. Under this new name, the division's next title was Rez
(2001), a unique synaesthetic
rail shooter for Dreamcast and PlayStation 2
, destined to became a cult favorite. In Rez, the player flies through a psychedelic, abstract landscape while a Techno
or Breakbeat
track plays. Whenever the player locks on to an enemy, shoots, or uses a special ability, there is both a musical and a visual effect which occurs in time with the playing track. The controller's vibrating motors pulse in time with the beat, and the game also featured support for a Rez-specific accessory called the Rez Trance Vibrator which similarly vibrated in correspondence with the music created. The sensory experiences offered by the game (visual, auditory, and tactile) are all closely interwoven, and the unique audio/visual experience earned Rez many excellent reviews, although sales were lackluster. Renewed interest in the title as well as its cult status have prompted Mizuguchi to release an updated high-definition version entitled Rez HD (2008), although this version has been released by his new development company, Q Entertainment
.
The last title developed by UGA before its absorption into Sonic Team was Space Channel 5: Part 2
(2002), a direct sequel to Space Channel 5. Space Channel 5: Part 2 dropped the FMV
backgrounds from Part 1 and instead featured a more dynamic presentation. It also added instrument-based sequences in which the main character played the guitar
or drums
. It was generally hailed as a major improvement over its precursor, yet it failed to capture the same commercial success.
In 2003, UGA was absorbed by Sonic Team as a result of which former UGA lead designer, Tetsuya Mizuguchi
, and several other left to form Q Entertainment. Since the merger of UGA and Sonic Team, Sonic Team has not produced any strict music video games, although members of the former UGA staff (now under the Sonic Team name) have included musical mini-games in their 2004 release, Feel the Magic: XY/XX
.
Strong support for the convergence of live music and video games is evident with the success of the Video Games Live
Video Games Live
Video Games Live is a concert series created and produced by industry veterans and video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall. The concerts consist of segments of video game music performed by a live orchestra with video footage and synchronized lighting and effects, as well as several...
concert series. Emergent games for live concert performance, "game-scores," augment traditional western music notation with the dramatic elements of animation, interactivity, graphic elements and aleatoric principles (Anigraphical Music). The concept of incorporating Game Theory
Game theory
Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
and music is not new and can be traced back to Musikalisches Würfelspiel
Musikalisches Würfelspiel
A Musikalisches Würfelspiel was a system for using dice to randomly 'generate' music. These games were quite popular throughout Western Europe in the 18th century...
.
Music video games are distinct from purely audio game
Audio game
An audio game is an electronic game played on a device such as a personal computer. It is similar to a video game save that the only feedback device is audible rather than visual....
s (e.g. the 1997 Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
release Real Sound: Kaze no Regret
Real Sound: Kaze no Regret
is an adventure audio game created by WARP, Inc. for the Sega Saturn in 1997. The game was intended to provide equal access to both players with sight and to blind players.-Production history:...
) in that they feature a visual feedback, to lead the player through the game's soundtrack, although eidetic music games can fall under both categories.
Major gameplay variations
As the genre has gained popularity and expanded, music video games have demonstrated the ability to support a range of different styles of gameplay. While the oldest form of gameplay is eideticEidetic memory
Eidetic , commonly referred to as photographic memory, is a medical term, popularly defined as the ability to recall images, sounds, or objects in memory with extreme precision and in abundant volume. The word eidetic, referring to extraordinarily detailed and vivid recall not limited to, but...
in nature, the most common form of music game today is rhythmic in nature and has been termed the "rhythm game." Other common modes of gameplay in music video games include the sandbox style that encourages a free-form gameplay approach and the recent hybrid style that combines musical elements with more traditional genres such as the shooter
Shooter game
Shooter games are a sub-genre of action game, which often test the player's speed and reaction time. It includes many subgenres that have the commonality of focusing "on the actions of the avatar using some sort of weapon. Usually this weapon is a gun, or some other long-range weapon". A common...
or puzzle game. Music video games are also commonly included as minigame
Minigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
s in the party game genre.
Music memory games
Short-term memory
Short-term memory is the capacity for holding a small amount of information in mind in an active, readily available state for a short period of time. The duration of short-term memory is believed to be in the order of seconds. A commonly cited capacity is 7 ± 2 elements...
and eidetic memory
Eidetic memory
Eidetic , commonly referred to as photographic memory, is a medical term, popularly defined as the ability to recall images, sounds, or objects in memory with extreme precision and in abundant volume. The word eidetic, referring to extraordinarily detailed and vivid recall not limited to, but...
. These two types of games can be seen as directly analogous to the simple children's games of Simon says
Simon says
Simon says is a children's game for three or more players where one player takes the role of 'Simon' and issues instructions, to the other players, which should only be followed if prefaced with the phrase 'Simon says', for example 'Simon says jump in the air'...
(which tests short-term memory) and Pelmanism
Concentration (game)
Concentration, also known as Memory, Pelmanism, Shinkei-suijaku, Pexeso or simply Pairs, is a card game in which all of the cards are laid face down on a surface and two cards are flipped face up over each turn. The object of the game is to turn over pairs of matching cards...
(which tests eidetic memory).
Sight-reading music games
Sight-reading music games take a variety of forms depending upon which aspect of the music serves as the focus of gameplay. Although the majority of such games primarily emphasize rhythmRhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
as the major gameplay-determinative musical element, other elements of musical notation
Musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.-History:...
and development
Musical development
In European classical music, musical development is a process by which a musical idea is communicated in the course of a composition. It refers to the transformation and restatement of initial material, and is often contrasted with musical variation, which is a slightly different means to the same...
such as pitch
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
and volume
Volume
Volume is the quantity of three-dimensional space enclosed by some closed boundary, for example, the space that a substance or shape occupies or contains....
also serve as points of emphasis in a number of more recent games. In all of these game-forms the goal of the player is to provide a direct injective
Injective function
In mathematics, an injective function is a function that preserves distinctness: it never maps distinct elements of its domain to the same element of its codomain. In other words, every element of the function's codomain is mapped to by at most one element of its domain...
response to each prompt (linked to an element of the music) from the game. The prompts and responses alternate and as such the gameplay tests the player's short-term memory
Short-term memory
Short-term memory is the capacity for holding a small amount of information in mind in an active, readily available state for a short period of time. The duration of short-term memory is believed to be in the order of seconds. A commonly cited capacity is 7 ± 2 elements...
and sight-reading ability in a manner directly analogous to the non-music-centric children's game Simon says
Simon says
Simon says is a children's game for three or more players where one player takes the role of 'Simon' and issues instructions, to the other players, which should only be followed if prefaced with the phrase 'Simon says', for example 'Simon says jump in the air'...
.
Rhythm games
Rhythm-based games range from dance games such as Dance Dance Revolution
Dance Dance Revolution
Dance Dance Revolution, abbreviated DDR, and previously known as Dancing Stage in Europe and Australasia, is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, Dance Dance Revolution is the...
, and other music-based games such as Donkey Konga
Donkey Konga
is a GameCube rhythm video game starring the ape Donkey Kong, developed by Namco and published by Nintendo. Instead of the standard GameCube controllers, the game is intended to be played with a special controller called the DK Bongos that resemble two small bongo drums.Donkey Konga was developed...
and Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first entry in the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero was released on November 8, 2005 in North America, April 7, 2006 in Europe and June 15, 2006 in...
. These games challenge the player to press the right button at the right time. The popularity of these rhythm-based games has created a market for specialty input devices such as dance mats and electronic drums.
In rhythm games, the player must press specific buttons, or activate controls on a specialized game controller
Game controller
A game controller is a device used with games or entertainment systems used to control a playable character or object, or otherwise provide input in a computer game. A controller is typically connected to a game console or computer by means of a wire, cord or nowadays, by means of wireless connection...
, in sync with the game's music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
. The control scheme is usually fairly simplistic, and the moves required are usually predetermined rather than randomized. The earliest rhythm game produced was Spinnaker
Spinnaker
A spinnaker is a special type of sail that is designed specifically for sailing off the wind from a reaching course to a downwind, i.e. with the wind 90°–180° off the bow. The spinnaker fills with wind and balloons out in front of the boat when it is deployed, called flying. It is constructed of...
's Aerobics on the Atari 8-bit in 1983 and Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
's Dance Aerobics
Dance Aerobics
is a music video game published in February 1987 by Bandai as the third game in Bandai's Family Trainer series. It was designed for use with NES' 3x4 dance mat, the Power Pad, making it the first in the rhythm game genre - a genre that would later explode into the mainstream gaming market at the...
in 1987.
Pitch games
A pitch game, as characterized by Karaoke Revolution
Karaoke Revolution
Karaoke Revolution and its many sequels are video games for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Nintendo GameCube, Wii, Xbox, and Xbox 360, developed by Harmonix Music Systems and Blitz Games and published by Konami in its Bemani line of music games. The Original Concept for Karaoke Revolution was...
, Lips (video game)
Lips (video game)
Lips is a video game for the Xbox 360. Lips was developed by iNiS and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The game features the use of motion sensitive wireless microphones and supports the use of songs already owned through a Zune or iPod. The game was released on November 18, 2008 in North...
or SingStar
SingStar
SingStar is a competitive music video game series for PlayStation consoles, developed by London Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. 23 English-language instalments of the series have been released for the PlayStation 2, and six versions for the PlayStation 3 have been released...
series, tests the player's ability to match the pitch of a piece of music provided by the game. Players use their voices and a specialized microphone as input and they are scored on their tonal
Pure tone
A pure tone is a tone with a sinusoidal waveshape.A sine wave is characterized by its frequency, the number of cycles per second—or its wavelength, the distance the waveform travels through its medium within a period—and the amplitude, the size of each cycle...
accuracy. These games typically remain linked to rhythm as well due to the basic nature of rhythm in most music, however pitch games are characterized by comparatively simple rhythms and an emphasis on the pitch element of the songs instead. Pitch games generally fail to address pronunciation flaws. For example, if you sing on pitch and on beat, but you mispronounce the word, you still get credited with the score.
Volume games
The element of volume is very rare in music games, however it has featured in such games as Mad Maestro! and Wii Music
Wii Music
is a free form music game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The game was released in Japan and North America in October 2008, and in Europe and Australia in the following month...
. Although volume games emphasize volume, the player typically does not accomplish this with his voice as with pitch games. Rather, a variety of methods are used to provide alterations in volume. In Mad Maestro!, for instance, the player is able to vary the volume according to the requirements of gameplay by varying the pressure he or she applies to the buttons of the Dualshock 2
DualShock
The DualShock is a line of vibration-feedback gamepads by Sony for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3 video game consoles. The DualShock was introduced in Japan in late 1997, and launched in the North American market in May 1998...
controller which are capable of recognizing variable pressure. Alternatively, in Wii Music, the player varies the angle at which the Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
is held in order to vary the volume of the game. The great majority of volume games remain intimately linked to the rhythm aspects of the song.
The first game of this nature was Activision's Dolphins (1983) on the Atari 2600.
Eidetic music games
Eidetic music games, for which Space Channel 5Space Channel 5
Space Channel 5 is a music video game developed by United Game Artists under the direction of Tetsuya Mizuguchi and published by Sega. The gameplay features a system where the player must copy sequences of dance steps performed by the computer...
serves as an example, test the player's ability to memorize a musical series of notes or beats and to repeat it back in a Pelmanism-style
Concentration (game)
Concentration, also known as Memory, Pelmanism, Shinkei-suijaku, Pexeso or simply Pairs, is a card game in which all of the cards are laid face down on a surface and two cards are flipped face up over each turn. The object of the game is to turn over pairs of matching cards...
format. Eidetic music games can be differentiated from the sight-reading music games by the escalating series of prompts and responses required for successful completion. Each successive prompt and response contains the entirety of the prior prompt or response as well as additional material determined by the round and as such the gameplay is designed to tests the player's eidetic memory
Eidetic memory
Eidetic , commonly referred to as photographic memory, is a medical term, popularly defined as the ability to recall images, sounds, or objects in memory with extreme precision and in abundant volume. The word eidetic, referring to extraordinarily detailed and vivid recall not limited to, but...
. Due to the simplicity of gameplay, eidetic music games have been employed to great success as minigames in such titles as The 7th Guest, Zork Nemesis, and Myst
Myst
Myst is a graphic adventure video game designed and directed by the brothers Robyn and Rand Miller. It was developed by Cyan , a Spokane, Washington––based studio, and published and distributed by Brøderbund. The Millers began working on Myst in and released it for the Mac OS computer on September...
. Eidetic music games are the oldest form of the musically-influenced games, discounting the free form music art game
Art game
An art game or arthouse game is a video game that is designed in such a way as to emphasize art or whose structure is intended to produce some kind of reaction in its audience. Art games typically go out of their way to have a unique, unconventional look, often standing out for aesthetic beauty or...
s, with roots reaching as far back as the audio game
Audio game
An audio game is an electronic game played on a device such as a personal computer. It is similar to a video game save that the only feedback device is audible rather than visual....
s of the late 1970s.
Music management games
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s. Although the direct interaction between music and the player is considerably limited in music management games, the games nevertheless center on the musical nature of the management tasks of scheduling, producing, and promoting music stars. Examples of such games include Rock Star Ate My Hamster, Total Distortion
Total Distortion
Total Distortion is a 1995 full motion video adventure game for Mac and Windows, developed by Pop Rocket. It was critically acclaimed for being innovative and creative....
, Spice World
Spice World (video game)
Spice World is a music video game created by SCE London Studio for Sony PlayStation released in July 1998.-Content:With tracks like "Wannabe,", "Who Do You Think You Are", "Move Over", "Spice Up Your Life," and "Say You'll Be There," each animated Spice Girl will offer a few comments as they tour...
, The Idolmaster series, and the Make My Video series.
Free form music games
SimTunes
SimTunes is a children's software toy designed by Toshio Iwai and released by Maxis in 1996. It involves painting a picture with dots , where each color represents a musical note...
, are those in which the creation of music takes predominance over gameplay and as such these games are often more similar to non-game music synthesizers
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
such as the Tenori-on
Tenori-on
Tenori-on is an electronic musical instrument, designed and created by Japanese artist Toshio Iwai and Yu Nishibori of the Music and Human Interface Group, Yamaha Center for Advanced Sound Technology. It consists of a screen, held in the hands, of a sixteen by sixteen grid of LED switches, any of...
. Free form music games occupy a position somewhere between generative hybrid music games and non-game utilities dependent upon the degree to which their gameplay relies upon a driving underlying plotline. Further examples of this form of music game include Fluid
Fluid (video game)
Fluid - Depth is a PlayStation simulation game released in 1998 by SCEE and Opus Corp. The concept is an interactive sound lab - allowing the player to create dance and electronic music...
, Electroplankton
Electroplankton
Electroplankton is an interactive music video game developed by Toshio Iwai and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It was first released in Japan, and was later released in North America and Europe. This game allows the player to interact with animated plankton...
, Wii Music
Wii Music
is a free form music game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The game was released in Japan and North America in October 2008, and in Europe and Australia in the following month...
, Traxxpad
Traxxpad
Traxxpad is a music application for Sony's PlayStation Portable developed by Definitive Studios and published by Eidos Interactive. It was released June 26, 2007. Traxxpad is a portable music studio featuring a sequencer, drum machine, and keyboard for the creation of music tracks...
, myRMX, and MTV Drumscape
MTV Drumscape
MTV Drumscape is an arcade drum simulation made by Devecka Enterprises. First introduced in 1997, it was designed with the intention of introducing players to music in a fun and interesting way...
. Free form musical modes are also often made available as alternate gameplay modes or unlockables as in such games as Daigasso! Band Brothers
Daigasso! Band Brothers
is a music video game published and developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It was released in Japan on December 2, 2004 as a launch game for the Nintendo DS. The game features multiple songs, which include classical music, television themes, and video game music. The game...
, Quest for Fame
Quest for Fame
Quest for Fame is a music video game developed by Virtual Music and distributed by IBM. They were eventually acquired by Namco to create karaoke machines....
, and Osu!
Osu!
osu! is a freeware rhythm video game for Microsoft Windows. It is written in C# implementing the .NET Framework. Its gameplay is based on commercial titles including Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, Elite Beat Agents and Taiko no Tatsujin.-Gameplay:...
. This form of music game is closely analogous to Sandbox games in the realm of non-musical games and the term "sandbox" has been used to describe this form of gameplay.
Music art games
Music art games are a form of music game whose emphasis lies on the artistic aspects of musical gameplay rather than the ludological aspects. These games often lack a discernible plot and as such are similar to non-gameNon-game
Non-games define a class of software that lies on the border between video games, toys and applications. The original term non-game game was coined by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. The main difference between non-games and traditional video games is the apparent lack of goals, objectives and...
s or utilities (in keeping with their relationship to free form music games). As art game
Art game
An art game or arthouse game is a video game that is designed in such a way as to emphasize art or whose structure is intended to produce some kind of reaction in its audience. Art games typically go out of their way to have a unique, unconventional look, often standing out for aesthetic beauty or...
s, these games often lack mainstream appeal, however they have shown up visibly as installations in art museums. Examples of music art games would include Moondust
Moondust (video game)
Moondust is a 1983 generative music video game created for the Commodore 64 by virtual reality pioneer, Jaron Lanier. Moondust was programmed in 6502 assembly in 1982, and is widely considered the first art video game.-Summary:...
, tranquility, and the MusicVR
MusicVR
MusicVR is a virtual reality project created and developed by the musician Mike Oldfield. To date it has produced two standalone simulation games and inspired content for some of Oldfield's albums...
series.
Hybrid music games
Serious game
A serious game is a game designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment. The "serious" adjective is generally prepended to refer to products used by industries like defense, education, scientific exploration, health care, emergency management, city planning, engineering, religion,...
s initiative, hybrid forms of music video games such as Otocky
Otocky
Otocky is a videogame released in 1987 for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan. Developed by SEDIC and published by ASCII Corporation, the game was conceived and designed by Toshio Iwai.-Gameplay:...
(a generative hybrid) and Pteranodon (a reactive hybrid) are characterized by substantial and meaningful interactions between a player and the music in a game that ostensibly belongs to a non-musical genre.
Generative music games
Generative-form hybrid music video games often make the concert music resulting from the interaction between performer and in-game dynamics a goal of the game. To achieve this the non-musical genres to which these games give the outward appearance of belonging are often characterized by simple, straightforward dynamics. In RezRez
Rez, developed under the codename K-Project, Project Eden, and Vibes, is a rail shooter video game released by Sega in Japan in 2001 for the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2, with a European Dreamcast release and United States PlayStation 2 release in 2002...
, for example, the game takes the form of a simple rail shooter, however by integrating sound effects created by the actions of the player (as he completes the normal tasks of rail-shooting) with the soundtrack as a whole, the game is intended to permit the player's direct interaction with the soundtrack and to encourage the creation of a synaesthetic experience.
Reactive music games
The major difference between the generative and reactive forms of hybrid music video games is that games of the generative form allow for the creation of music as determined by gameplay whereas those of the reactive form employ music to determine gameplay. Reactive-form hybrid music video games such as Pteranodon, Rhyme Rider KeroricanRhyme Rider Kerorican
is a music video game in the style of Vib-Ribbon, an earlier game developed by the same studio. The game's plot is quite simple involving the adventures of Kerorican, a female astronaut wearing kemonomimi-style frog-helmet, as she walks along accompanied by jazzy techno music. As Kerorican...
, or iS – internal section focus upon the underlying genre such that the music serves to determine the dynamics of the non-musical components of the game. In these games the player takes substantial cues from the soundtrack to devise his gameplay. Comparable reactive-form music video games such as Vib-Ribbon
Vib-Ribbon
is a video game for Sony PlayStation. Developed by Masaya Matsuura and his NanaOn-Sha company, and released in Japan in 1999...
, Audiosurf
Audiosurf
Audiosurf is a puzzle/rhythm hybrid game created by Invisible Handlebar, a personal company created by Dylan Fitterer. Its track-like stages visually mimic the music the player chooses, while the player races across several lanes collecting colored blocks that appear in sync with the music...
, or Dance Factory
Dance Factory (game)
Dance Factory is a PlayStation 2 game developed by Broadsword Interactive and published by Codemasters. It has been compared with Dance Dance Revolution, but unlike those games generates dance moves from any music CD...
lack a differentiable underlying genre and as such cannot be considered hybrid music games.
Mixed-genre games
Mixed-genre games are typically party games in which a number of minigames each of different genres are merged into one frame narrativeFrame story
A frame story is a literary technique that sometimes serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, whereby an introductory or main narrative is presented, at least in part, for the purpose of setting the stage either for a more emphasized second narrative or for a set of shorter stories...
. Examples of this kind of mixed-genre game featuring musical elements include Feel the Magic: XY/XX
Feel the Magic: XY/XX
Feel the Magic: XY/XX, known in Japan as and in Europe and Australia as Project Rub, is a minigame video game compilation developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Nintendo DS handheld game console...
and The Rub Rabbits!
The Rub Rabbits!
The Rub Rabbits!, known in Japan as , is a mini-game compilation developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It was first released in Japan on October 20, 2005, and was later released in North America on February 7, 2006, and in Europe on February...
. Other games may be considered mixed-genre games if they meaningfully merge music video game elements with gameplay from another distinct genre. Although hybrid music games can be seen to accomplish a similar effect, the overlap between the musical elements and the gameplay in hybrid music games prevents the game from being fully understood when regarding either the non-musical aspect or the musical aspect in isolation from the other. Mixed-genre games such as the musical RPG
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
, Ragnarawk
Ragnarawk
Ragnarawk is an musical role-playing game created for the 2007 Dare to be Digital video games development competition. The self-proclaimed 'GuitaRPG' combines RPG-style gameplay with a Guitar Hero-style input system...
, accomplish a much greater degree of separation between the traditional non-musical aspects of the game and the musical aspects.
Music Games For Concert Performance
Games intended for live concert performance in which the musical performer navigates a dynamic interactive manuscript (game-score), with or without embedded accompaniment, projected for audience viewing and/or involvement of the performer's decision process leading to each musical performance being unique. See 'The Anigraphical Etudes'Andamiro
Although Andamiro was previously known within the gaming community at large for its prize-winning arcade mini game, Arch Shade, within the realm of music video games the company has become best known for its Pump It UpPump It Up
Pump It Up, commonly abbreviated as PIU or shortened to just Pump, is a music video game series currently developed by Nexcade and published by Andamiro, a Korean arcade game producer. The game is typically played on a dance pad with five arrow panels: up-left, up-right, bottom-left, bottom-right,...
arcade series. Pump It Up (1999), while widely believed to be based on Dance Dance Revolution, was in fact developed simultaneously to DDR although it was only released in Korea after the release of DDR. It is not as well known in America due to Andamiro keeping the game's availability only within its native Korea for many years. Its dance-mat layout was the inverse of the layout for DDR - the arcade machine uses four diagonal pads and one center pad for each player (see gameplay of Pump It Up). In November 2006, Andamiro announced Pump It Up New Xenesis
Pump It Up NX
Pump It Up New Xenesis is the 19th arcade game release in the Pump It Up series. It was released worldwide on December 15, 2006. NX introduced many new elements to the Pump series, such as a brand new interface, 29 new core songs, and the Special Station - a new dedicated area for all nonstop...
, which was to be developed by team Nexcade (Andamiro's previous development team, FreeVolt, was to compose approximately half of Nexcade). Pump It Up New Xenesis was released in December, 2006. Andamiro has produced at least 20 versions of the Pump It Up series worldwide, but due to their naming convention for new game titles it is hard to determine an exact index for the games.
Andamiro has also developed nine consumer software versions for PC, Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, and PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
.
Konami's "Bemani" Series
An extremely popular series of games published by KonamiKonami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
that make up a significant proportion of total sales in the music video game genre, the "BEMANI
Bemani
is Konami's music video game division. Originally named the Games & Music Division, or simply G.M.D., it changed its name in honor of its first and most successful game, Beatmania, and expanded into other music-based games.-Bemani video games:...
series" is named for Konami's music games division. The division's name is derived, in common Japanese syllabic abbreviation, from its flagship game, BEatMANIa. In Beatmania
Beatmania
is a rhythm video game developed and distributed by Japanese game developer Konami and first released in 1997. It contributed largely to the boom of music games in 1998, and the series expanded not only with arcade sequels, but also moved to home consoles and other portable devices, achieving a...
(1997), the player uses a set of buttons and a controller in the form of a DJ's turntable
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
. The BEMANI series also includes several games requiring the use of controllers shaped like musical instruments, such as GuitarFreaks
GuitarFreaks
is a music video game series produced by Konami. The player uses a controller to simulate the playing of an electric guitar. The game consists of music predominantly from rock and roll and J-Pop genres, and is now in its 19th version, GuitarFreaks V8, which was released in March 28, 2011...
(1998) and DrumMania
DrumMania
is a music video game series produced by Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., where colored notes travel down the screen which correspond with color coded parts of an electronic drum set...
(1999). Bemani's musical arcade titles include Mambo a Go Go
Mambo A Go Go
Mambo a Go Go, is a music video game produced by Konami where players must rhythmically beat conga drums as colored notes fall from the top of the screen. There are 3 drums, each one divided into three sections, giving players a maximum of nine places to hit.The game predominantly features Latin...
(2002) and Toy's March
Toy's March
Toy's March is a drum simulation game developed by Konami in . Players take on the role of toy soldiers in a military band performing in a parade. Each player has one snare and one cymbal. The cartoon-style graphics are targeted towards a younger audience. The soundtrack features many themes from...
(2005).
Konami currently only works on six titles in the BEMANI series, including jubeat
Jubeat
is a series of arcade music video games developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan, and is a part of Konami's Bemani line of music video games...
, Reflec Beat
Reflec Beat
is the latest rhythm game from Bemani, being the successor since jubeat in 2008. The game underwent location tests in various parts of Japan, Hong Kong and Korea from June to August 2010. It was released on November 4, 2010. An update, ver. 1.5 was released on July 14, 2011.-Gameplay:In the game...
, beatmania IIDX
Beatmania IIDX
is a series of rhythm video games and the sequel to Beatmania that was first introduced by Konami in Japan on February 26, 1999. IIDX has since spawned over 19 arcade releases and over 13 console releases on the Sony PlayStation 2...
, GuitarFreaks
GuitarFreaks
is a music video game series produced by Konami. The player uses a controller to simulate the playing of an electric guitar. The game consists of music predominantly from rock and roll and J-Pop genres, and is now in its 19th version, GuitarFreaks V8, which was released in March 28, 2011...
, Drummania
DrumMania
is a music video game series produced by Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., where colored notes travel down the screen which correspond with color coded parts of an electronic drum set...
, pop'n music
Pop'n Music
, commonly abbreviated as Pop'n, PM or PNM, is a music video game in the Bemani series made by the Konami Corporation. This game is known for its bright colors, upbeat songs, and cartoon character graphics...
and Dance Dance Revolution
Dance Dance Revolution
Dance Dance Revolution, abbreviated DDR, and previously known as Dancing Stage in Europe and Australasia, is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, Dance Dance Revolution is the...
Only a limited selection of the BEMANI games have been released outside of Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, the most notable being Dance Dance Revolution
Dance Dance Revolution
Dance Dance Revolution, abbreviated DDR, and previously known as Dancing Stage in Europe and Australasia, is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, Dance Dance Revolution is the...
(1998) (commonly abbreviated to DDR; also known as Dancing Stage in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an release). In DDR, players step on or otherwise activate panels on a large (about 1 meter square) floor controller
Dance pad
A dance pad, also known as a dance mat, dance platform, or jiffer deck is a flat electronic game controller used for input in dance games. Most dance pads are divided into a 3×3 matrix of square panels for the player to stand on, with some or all of the panels corresponding to directions or actions...
in time with an on-screen sequence. Home versions of the floor controller somewhat resemble the Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
Power Pad
Power Pad
The Power Pad is a floor mat game controller for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is a gray mat with twelve pressure-sensors embedded between two layers of flexible plastic...
accessory. The overwhelming success of DDR and its sequels has spawned numerous re-creations or clones of the game or its mechanics, both commercial (as with EZ2Dancer
EZ2Dancer
EZ2Dancer is a series of dance video games developed by the Korean video game company Amuseworld. The gameplay of the series is similar to other dance simulation games, but unlike most games of their genre, EZ2Dancer incorporates both hand sensors and foot sensors into gameplay.-Gameplay:The core...
, In the Groove, and In the Groove 2
In the Groove 2
In the Groove 2 is the sequel to Roxor Games' 2004 arcade game In the Groove. It was released to arcades officially on June 18, 2005. It is available as an upgrade kit and as a dedicated cabinet developed by Andamiro...
) and free (including StepMania
StepMania
StepMania is an open source and cross-platform rhythm video game and engine. It was originally developed as a simulator of Konami's arcade game series Dance Dance Revolution, and has since evolved into an extensible rhythm game engine capable of supporting a wide variety of rhythm-based game types...
, which is also FOSS
Foss
Foss may refer toPeople*Foss , people with the last name Foss*Foss Shanahan , New Zealand diplomat*Foss Westcott , English bishop...
, and also provided the engine for In the Groove). This makes DDR possibly the most duplicated music game in existence.
The BEMANI series can be credited with several trends in music games. One such trend is the use of novel, specialized game controllers, in both arcade and home versions (which Konami had also pioneered in non-music games such as Police 911
Police 911
Police 911 is a light gun arcade game that casts the player as either a "one man SWAT team" working for the Tokyo police, or an American police officer of the LAPD, working to take down members of the , an internationally based yakuza group.-Gameplay:The gameplay in Police 911...
). Another trend is the use of a sizable catalog of short mixes and covers of existing songs as well as songs produced in-house for the game which serve as a common basis for many members of the series. Many games in the series also have further sequels in which the main change is the selection of songs, and the mechanics of the gameplay remain similar to the original.
Harmonix
Harmonix Music SystemsHarmonix Music Systems
Harmonix Music Systems is an American video game development company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States...
is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
game company that primarily makes music games. It first became famous for the game FreQuency
FreQuency
Frequency is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by SCEI. It is the first major release from Harmonix. It was released in November 2001. A sequel titled Amplitude was released in 2003.-Gameplay:...
(2001) and its sequel Amplitude
Amplitude (game)
Amplitude is a 2003 PlayStation 2 musical video game. It was developed by Harmonix and is the sequel to the game Frequency.-Gameplay:In Amplitude, the player controls a ship moving down a path of varying shapes and lengths, containing up to six tracks...
(2003), both of which feature edits of existing songs (as well as original selections) and a gameplay similar to that of Beatmania.
Harmonix also produced Karaoke Revolution
Karaoke Revolution
Karaoke Revolution and its many sequels are video games for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Nintendo GameCube, Wii, Xbox, and Xbox 360, developed by Harmonix Music Systems and Blitz Games and published by Konami in its Bemani line of music games. The Original Concept for Karaoke Revolution was...
(2003) (published by Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
as a BEMANI game in the same vein as Dance Dance Revolution). In Karaoke Revolution, a player sings on-screen lyrics into a microphone along with accompanying background music (in the style of karaoke
Karaoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
) and is scored on closeness of pitch between player and tune. Although now one of the most well-known pitch-oriented games, Karaoke Revolution was released three years after the publication of the Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
PC game, PlaySingMusic (2000) by SoittoPeli (possibly the first such game) and its subsequent presentation at the LA iWireless World conference by Elmorex Ltd. in 2001.
A newer game by Harmonix, Guitar Hero (2005), has expanded into a popular series for which Harmonix is best known. Guitar Hero makes use of a guitar-shaped controller with five neck buttons. The sequel, Guitar Hero II
Guitar Hero II
Guitar Hero II is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane. It is the second installment in the Guitar Hero series and is the sequel to Guitar Hero...
, was released in November 2006.
After being bought by MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
in 2006, Harmonix began work on Rock Band, a game that combined guitar peripheral gameplay with singing and drumming to create a band experience. Former publisher RedOctane
RedOctane
RedOctane was an American electronic entertainment company perhaps best known for producing the Guitar Hero series beginning in November 2005. RedOctane became a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision in 2006...
(now owned by Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
) turned the task of continuing the Guitar Hero franchise to Neversoft
Neversoft
Neversoft Entertainment is an American video game developer, founded in 1994 by Joel Jewett, Mick West and Chris Ward. Neversoft is best recognized for their line of Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk skateboarding games, known as the Tony Hawk's series...
. Harmonix released Rock Band on November 20, 2007 in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, with the game being published by EA Games and followed it up with its sequel, Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2 is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems. It is the sequel to Rock Band and is the second title in the series. The game allows up to four players to simulate the performance of popular songs by playing with controllers modeled after musical instruments...
. An expansion to Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s is a music video game and the third installment in the popular Guitar Hero series...
(2007), was created prior to the release of Rock Band in order to fulfill the contractual obligations with Activision, as its development started prior to the ownership transfer. Harmonix released Lego Rock Band
Lego Rock Band
Lego Rock Band is a music video game and part of the Rock Band series developed by Harmonix Music Systems, but also incorporates elements from other Lego video games as developed by Traveller's Tales. The game is published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and MTV Games...
with TT Games
TT Games
TT Games group is a British video game developer and publisher. It is made up of three divisions, Traveller's Tales, TT Fusion and publisher TT Games Publishing...
on November 3, 2009.
Apart from music video games, Harmonix is known for being one of the first developers to make use of the EyeToy
EyeToy
The EyeToy is a color digital camera device, similar to a webcam, for the PlayStation 2. The technology uses computer vision and Gesture recognition to process images taken by the camera...
camera accessory for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
.
iNiS
iNiSINiS
is a Japanese video game developer that specializes in rhythm games. It was co-founded by Keiichi Yano on February 3, 1997. The name iNiS is an acronym and it stands for "infinite Noise of the inner Soul."-Games developed:-Engines:...
is a video game developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
most commonly known for their cult video game Gitaroo Man
Gitaroo Man
is a video game for the Sony PlayStation 2, published by Koei and developed by iNiS, with visual production by Mitsuru Nakamura AKA 326 and music performed by COIL....
(2001) for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and their Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan
, sometimes referred to as simply Ouendan, is a rhythm video game developed by iNiS and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console in 2005, for release only in Japan...
(2005) series for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
. All of iNiS' rhythm games were designed by Keiichi Yano
Keiichi Yano
is a Tokyo-based video game designer and musician responsible for a number of music video game titles including his most famous game, the 2002 cult video game, Gitaroo Man. Yano has been involved in music from a young age and he earned a major in jazz studies at the University of Southern California...
. While the company has been around for many years, none of their previous games matched the recent success and support that Ouendan received. The popularity of Ouendan led to interest in the older game, Gitaroo Man. Published by Koei in 2002 throughout North America, which soon became difficult to find for sale as it gained cult status. In response to this demand, Koei resumed production to ship more copies which resulted in the elevation of Gitaroo Man from a cult video game
Cult video games
A cult video game is a video game that has maintained a dedicated cult following among gaming enthusiasts.-Definition:Generally, the definition of a cult video game is a video game that was not widely successful, but has maintained a strong and dedicated fan following nevertheless...
to a sleeper hit
Sleeper hit
A sleeper hit, a.k.a. surprise hit , refers to a film, book, single, album, TV show, or video game that gains unexpected success or recognition...
. In addition, iNiS ported the game to Sony's handheld PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
gaming device as Gitaroo Man Lives! (2006).
iNiS's success with these rhythm games prompted Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
, who was the publisher of Ouendan in Japan, to pressure iNiS to produce a spiritual sequel
Spiritual sequel
A spiritual successor, sometimes called a spiritual sequel or a companion piece, is a successor to a work of fiction which does not directly build upon the storyline established by a previous work as do most traditional prequels or sequels, but nevertheless features many of the same elements,...
to Ouendan that would appeal more to North American audiences. The reason for this was that Ouendan included musical and cultural references that would make little sense outside of Japan. This resulted in the production of Elite Beat Agents
Elite Beat Agents
Elite Beat Agents is a music video game developed by iNiS and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It was first released in North America, and has since been released in Europe and South Korea . It is the spiritual sequel to Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, a Japanese rhythm game...
in 2006. Elite Beat Agents
Elite Beat Agents
Elite Beat Agents is a music video game developed by iNiS and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It was first released in North America, and has since been released in Europe and South Korea . It is the spiritual sequel to Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, a Japanese rhythm game...
includes well-known Western songs, all performed by cover band
Cover band
A cover band , is a band that plays mostly or exclusively cover songs. New or unknown bands often find the cover band format marketable for smaller gigs, and these bands may be known as a wedding band, party band and function band. A band whose covers consist mainly of songs that were chart hits is...
s. It also has a few new gameplay tweaks (see gameplay of Elite Beat Agents). On May 17, 2007 iNiS/Nintendo released (2007) in Japan as a direct sequel to the original Ouendan. Ouendan 2 featured new characters, situations, and Japanese music. iNiS made its Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
debut with the pitch-oriented game Lips
Lips (video game)
Lips is a video game for the Xbox 360. Lips was developed by iNiS and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The game features the use of motion sensitive wireless microphones and supports the use of songs already owned through a Zune or iPod. The game was released on November 18, 2008 in North...
on November 18, 2008.
Namco
Relatively late to the market, Namco's first foray into rhythm games came in the form of its Taiko no TatsujinTaiko no Tatsujin
is a series of rhythm games created by Namco. The series has seen releases for the arcade, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii, iOS, Advanced Pico Beena, and mobile phones....
series. These arcade games featured 2 large taiko
Taiko
means "drum" in Japanese . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming...
-style drums and their popularity prompted the release of a PS2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
version, Taiko: Drum Master
Taiko: Drum Master
"Taiko: Drum Master" , also known as "Taiko no Tatsujin" is a drumming game for the Sony PlayStation 2 based on the popular Japanese arcade game. A drum simulating the taiko is played in time with music. It is made by Namco. The home version can be played with a TaTaCon, a special controller which...
(2004) which required a specialized taiko-drum-shaped "TaTaCon" controller to play. Other games in the Taiko no Tatsujin series that have been released in Japan include both Taiko no Tatsujin Portable for the PSP
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
and Taiko no Tatsujin Touch De Dokodon
Taiko no Tatsujin DS
is a rhythm video game developed and published by Namco for the Nintendo DS handheld game console in 2007, and it was released only in Japan. Like other Taiko games, the player plays the notes of a chosen song's drum part as they are displayed on the screen...
for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
. In 2003, Namco expanded Nintendo's flagship Donkey Kong series into the realm of rhythm games with its Donkey Konga
Donkey Konga
is a GameCube rhythm video game starring the ape Donkey Kong, developed by Namco and published by Nintendo. Instead of the standard GameCube controllers, the game is intended to be played with a special controller called the DK Bongos that resemble two small bongo drums.Donkey Konga was developed...
series which currently consists of Donkey Konga
Donkey Konga
is a GameCube rhythm video game starring the ape Donkey Kong, developed by Namco and published by Nintendo. Instead of the standard GameCube controllers, the game is intended to be played with a special controller called the DK Bongos that resemble two small bongo drums.Donkey Konga was developed...
(2003), Donkey Konga 2 (2004), Donkey Konga 3 (2005), and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
is a Nintendo GameCube video game featuring the ape Donkey Kong and played with the DK Bongos. It was released in Japan on December 16, 2002, in Europe on February 4, 2003, in North America on March 14, 2005, and in Australia on March 17, 2003. In 2008 and 2009, the game was re-released in the New...
(2004).
NanaOn-Sha
A JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese video game company now known as NanaOn-Sha
NanaOn-Sha
NanaOn-Sha is a Japanese video game company which created what is widely credited as the first modern rhythm game, PaRappa the Rapper. It was founded by: Masaya Matsuura in 1993. The game's success resulted in the spinoff UmJammer Lammy, which is based on guitar samples, and eventually a proper...
is credited with the creation of what is generally considered to be the first modern rhythm game, PaRappa the Rapper
PaRappa the Rapper
is a rhythm video game for the Sony PlayStation created by Masaya Matsuura and his NanaOn-Sha company....
(1996). The gameplay generally involves repeating the rhythms of raps from another character (one per level), by pressing any of eight buttons on the game controller. The button sequences are displayed on a timeline at the top of the screen. Pressing a button plays a sample of PaRappa's voice corresponding to which button was pressed, regardless of whether the pressing of the button matches the appropriate rhythmic sequence or intended button selection. PaRappa can sometimes be heard to say "Oops!" if no sample is associated with the button at that moment.
The game is scored for sequence and timing, and adhering closely to the given timeline results in a passing grade. Unlike many other music games, the player may obtain an even higher score and access a special "COOL" mode of play by improvisational "freestyling
Freestyle music
Freestyle or Latin freestyle, sometimes referred to as Latin hip hop, is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the early 1980s. Mostly popular during the mid 80s to the early 90s...
" (though the algorithm
Algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an effective method expressed as a finite list of well-defined instructions for calculating a function. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning...
by which this is scored is often nebulous and the results virtually unpredictable). The game's success resulted in the spinoff UmJammer Lammy
UmJammer Lammy
is a rhythm video game developed by NanaOn-Sha and published by Sony for the PlayStation video game console. UmJammer Lammy is a spin-off of PaRappa the Rapper, also released for the PlayStation...
(1999), which is based on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
samples, and eventually a proper sequel, PaRappa the Rapper 2
PaRappa the Rapper 2
is a PlayStation 2 rhythm video game and the sequel to PaRappa the Rapper, although it is actually the third game in the series following UmJammer Lammy...
(2002).
NanaOn-Sha also produced another novel series of music games including Vib-Ribbon
Vib-Ribbon
is a video game for Sony PlayStation. Developed by Masaya Matsuura and his NanaOn-Sha company, and released in Japan in 1999...
(1999), Mojib-Ribbon (2003), and Vib-Ripple
Vib-Ripple
is a video game for the PlayStation 2 created by Masaya Matsuura and his studio NanaOn-Sha. It is the sequel to the 1999 PlayStation game Vib-Ribbon...
(2004), however these games were only released in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
(and, in the case of Vib-Ribbon, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
). The gameplay involved in Vib-Ribbon centered on the player's reactions to elements of the landscape which in turn resulted from the tone of the background music. The game came with a soundtrack, but players were additionally able to load their own music on CDs into the PS1 and an in-game algorithm would produce the resulting landscape based on waveform analysis
Waveform viewer
A waveform viewer is a software tool for viewing the signal levels of either a digital or analog circuit design.Waveform viewers comes in two varieties:# simulation waveform viewers for displaying signal levels of simulated design models, and...
. This freedom of landscape was again extended to players in the rhythm-centric Vib-Ripple, as the game allowed players to import images of their own choosing to serve as the background. As in the case of the waveform algorithm in Vib-Ribbon, Vib-Ripple contains an algorithm which converts externally loaded pictures into corresponding levels. Mojib-Ribbon followed a similar concept as the Vib titles, but used text files to create kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
rap-based rhythm gameplay.
Their most recent music title is Major Minor's Majestic March
Major Minor's Majestic March
is a music video game for the Wii. It was created by Parappa the Rapper designer Masaya Matsuura and famous artist Rodney Greenblat.Major Minor’s Majestic March uses the Wii Remote as a mace that the drum major, Major Minor, uses to keep tempo, recruit new band members and pick up valuable items...
for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
, which uses the Wii Remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
to replicate a marching band leader's baton.
Q Entertainment
In the month following the dissolution of SegaSega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
's United Game Artists division in 2003, UGA's former lead designer, Tetsuya Mizuguchi
Tetsuya Mizuguchi
is a video game designer and founder of the video game development firm Q Entertainment. He formerly worked for Sega were he eventually became the head of their United Game Artists division...
, left Sega along with several of his co-workers to form an independent game studio, Q Entertainment, which continued producing music-based games, along with a handful of other titles.
The first step of Mizuguchi's newly-formed Q Entertainment was to develop the blockbuster Lumines
Lumines
is a puzzle video game based on sound and light patterns. Created by game designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi and his company, Q Entertainment, it was first released as a launch title for the PlayStation Portable in Japan on December 12, and released in North America on March 23 and released in Europe on...
(2004) for the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
. Lumines is a puzzle game in which the goal is to arrange like-colored falling blocks into squares which will then disappear. Like Rez (a game Mizuguchi had previously designed), each stage in Lumines has a unique musical and visual theme. In Lumines blocks marked to be cleared do not disappear immediately. Instead, a bar called the timeline sweeps across the screen in time with the music and clears away the properly arranged blocks, producing a musical effect in sync with the background music each time this happens. Sequels to Lumines include Lumines Live! (2006) and Lumines II
Lumines II
Lumines II is a sequel to the puzzle game Lumines. The game was released in November, 2006 in Europe and North America, and in February 2007 in Japan.-Gameplay:The gameplay in Lumines II is very similar to its predecessor, Lumines...
(2006).
Following the release of Lumines II, Q Entertainment released a PSP title called Every Extend Extra
Every Extend Extra
Every Extend Extra is a shoot 'em up video game by Q Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable .Every Extend Extra is a redevelopment of the popular freeware game Every Extend, which was a personal project by Kanta Matsuhisa under his "Omega" pseudonym...
(2006). Every Extend Extra is as an abstract action game in which power-ups dropped by enemies, named "quickens", increase the speed of both the player and the enemy, as well as the speed of that drive's music. Like Rez, the basic gameplay itself appears unrelated to the music, however the music reacts to the gameplay in such a way as to produce a concert effect.
The same year Q Entertainment also created Gunpey (2006), a puzzle game for the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation Portable based on the classic formula from Gunpei Yokoi's Wonderswan game. It bears Mizuguchi's signature design previously seen in games such as Lumines, where every skin has a different mood, different background music, and different specific sound effects.
Q Entertainment's most recent release was a high-definition version of Rez entitled Rez HD (2008) for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
that additionally includes vibrational support for up to four controllers. In interviews, Mizuguchi has suggested holding one, placing one on the back, and placing one's feet upon the other two.
Sonic Team / United Game Artists / Sega AM9
Sonic TeamSonic Team
is a Japanese computer and video game developer established in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan in 1990, originally known as Sega AM8. The Japan-based division is also known as G.E. Department Global Entertainment. The studio has collaborated with several in-house Japanese studios as well as other American-based...
(formerly Sega AM8) is a division of Sega Corporation, which from 2000-2003 absorbed and incorporated several smaller former Sega divisions following the transitional phase in which Sega dropped out of the console race to concentrate on software and game development.
Sonic Team produced only one music video game prior to merging with United Game Artists. This Dreamcast game, entitled Samba de Amigo
Samba de Amigo
Samba de Amigo is a rhythm game originally developed by Sonic Team and released in 1999 by Sega in arcades, 2000 for the Dreamcast video game console, and developed by Gearbox Software and Escalation Studios in 2008 for the Wii. The player uses controllers shaped like maracas with the goal of...
(1999), involved the use of a set of maraca peripherals which were shaken in one of three positions corresponding to on-screen cues and the rhythm of the soundtrack.
Simultaneously another Sega division called Sega AM9, led by designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi
Tetsuya Mizuguchi
is a video game designer and founder of the video game development firm Q Entertainment. He formerly worked for Sega were he eventually became the head of their United Game Artists division...
, produced its first and last music video game under the Sega AM9 name. Space Channel 5
Space Channel 5
Space Channel 5 is a music video game developed by United Game Artists under the direction of Tetsuya Mizuguchi and published by Sega. The gameplay features a system where the player must copy sequences of dance steps performed by the computer...
(1999), another game for the Dreamcast, has the player control Ulala, a swingin' reporter for the titular broadcast network, Space Channel 5. Ulala defeats her enemies (which include aliens, robots, and nefarious humans) by mesmerizing them with her dancing and/or singing, then incapacitating them with her raygun
Raygun
Rayguns are a type of fictional directed-energy weapon. They have various alternate names: ray gun, death ray, beam gun, blaster, laser gun, phaser, etc. They are a well-known feature of science fiction; for such stories they typically have the general function of guns...
. The control scheme follows an eidetic format, with players repeating increasing sequences of button presses in time with the ever-present music.
In 2000, the Sega AM9 division was renamed United Game Artists and became a semi-autonomous subsidiary. Under this new name, the division's next title was Rez
Rez
Rez, developed under the codename K-Project, Project Eden, and Vibes, is a rail shooter video game released by Sega in Japan in 2001 for the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2, with a European Dreamcast release and United States PlayStation 2 release in 2002...
(2001), a unique synaesthetic
Synesthesia
Synesthesia , from the ancient Greek , "together," and , "sensation," is a neurologically based condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway...
rail shooter for Dreamcast and PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, destined to became a cult favorite. In Rez, the player flies through a psychedelic, abstract landscape while a Techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
or Breakbeat
Breakbeat
In 1992, a new style called "jungalistic hardcore" emerged, and for many ravers it was too funky to dance to. Josh Lawford of Ravescene prophesied that the breakbeat was "the death-knell of rave" because the ever changing drumbeat patterns of breakbeat music didn't allow for the same zoned out,...
track plays. Whenever the player locks on to an enemy, shoots, or uses a special ability, there is both a musical and a visual effect which occurs in time with the playing track. The controller's vibrating motors pulse in time with the beat, and the game also featured support for a Rez-specific accessory called the Rez Trance Vibrator which similarly vibrated in correspondence with the music created. The sensory experiences offered by the game (visual, auditory, and tactile) are all closely interwoven, and the unique audio/visual experience earned Rez many excellent reviews, although sales were lackluster. Renewed interest in the title as well as its cult status have prompted Mizuguchi to release an updated high-definition version entitled Rez HD (2008), although this version has been released by his new development company, Q Entertainment
Q Entertainment
Q Entertainment creates, produces, and publishes in digital entertainment content across multiple game consoles, PC broadband and mobile units...
.
The last title developed by UGA before its absorption into Sonic Team was Space Channel 5: Part 2
Space Channel 5: Part 2
Space Channel 5: Part 2 is the sequel to the rhythm action game Space Channel 5, developed by United Game Artists and published by Sega. It was released on the Dreamcast and the PlayStation 2...
(2002), a direct sequel to Space Channel 5. Space Channel 5: Part 2 dropped the FMV
FMV
FMV may refer to:*Full motion video, Video sequences in computer games and video games*Fair market value, an estimate of the market value of a property*For Maximum Value , Kroger supermarket's store brand...
backgrounds from Part 1 and instead featured a more dynamic presentation. It also added instrument-based sequences in which the main character played the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
or drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
. It was generally hailed as a major improvement over its precursor, yet it failed to capture the same commercial success.
In 2003, UGA was absorbed by Sonic Team as a result of which former UGA lead designer, Tetsuya Mizuguchi
Tetsuya Mizuguchi
is a video game designer and founder of the video game development firm Q Entertainment. He formerly worked for Sega were he eventually became the head of their United Game Artists division...
, and several other left to form Q Entertainment. Since the merger of UGA and Sonic Team, Sonic Team has not produced any strict music video games, although members of the former UGA staff (now under the Sonic Team name) have included musical mini-games in their 2004 release, Feel the Magic: XY/XX
Feel the Magic: XY/XX
Feel the Magic: XY/XX, known in Japan as and in Europe and Australia as Project Rub, is a minigame video game compilation developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Nintendo DS handheld game console...
.
Other major developers
- Amuse World - EZ2DJEZ2DJEZ2DJ is a series of music video games created by the South Korean company Amuseworld. The basic manner of gameplay is similar as in the Konami's Beatmania series; however, as the franchise continues, it differs in style of music and gameplay...
series (1999) for arcade. - Aspyr MediaAspyr MediaAspyr Media, Inc. is an Austin, Texas based company that specializes in porting Windows games to Mac OS. It has been in business since 1996, and as of 2003 owns 60 percent of the Mac entertainment market...
- First-time developer with Guitar Hero III: Legends of RockGuitar Hero III: Legends of RockGuitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a music video game, the third main installment in the Guitar Hero series, and the fourth title overall...
porting it to the PCPersonal computerA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
and MacintoshMacintoshThe Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
computerComputerA computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s - Doogi Doogi Co. Ltd. - Doogi doogiDoogi doogiDoogi doogi is a drumming arcade game that uses an actual drumset. It is a rhythm game where the player must play the actual drums to different songs. It is produced by a Korean company named Doogi Doogi Co. Ltd....
for arcade - Devecka company - MTV DrumscapeMTV DrumscapeMTV Drumscape is an arcade drum simulation made by Devecka Enterprises. First introduced in 1997, it was designed with the intention of introducing players to music in a fun and interesting way...
(1997) for arcade - International Games System Co. Ltd.International Games SystemInternational Games System or IGS is a company based in Taiwan which develops video game software for the arcade and PC. It was founded in 1989.- History :*1991:IGS, International Games System Co., LTD was founded...
(IGS) - Rock Fever (1999) and Percussion Master (2004) for arcade, and We Dancing Online (2006) for PCPersonal computerA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator... - Indies Zero - ElectroplanktonElectroplanktonElectroplankton is an interactive music video game developed by Toshio Iwai and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It was first released in Japan, and was later released in North America and Europe. This game allows the player to interact with animated plankton...
(2005) for Nintendo DSNintendo DSThe is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP... - Maxis Software - SimTunesSimTunesSimTunes is a children's software toy designed by Toshio Iwai and released by Maxis in 1996. It involves painting a picture with dots , where each color represents a musical note...
(1996) for PCPersonal computerA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator... - Natsume - Princess DebutPrincess DebutPrincess Debut is a rhythm otome game published by Natsume and developed by Cave for the Nintendo DS.The illustration and package design was done by Kotori Momoyuki, a manga artist serialized in Kodansha's Nakayoshi.-Story:...
(2008) for Nintendo DSNintendo DSThe is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP... - NeversoftNeversoftNeversoft Entertainment is an American video game developer, founded in 1994 by Joel Jewett, Mick West and Chris Ward. Neversoft is best recognized for their line of Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk skateboarding games, known as the Tony Hawk's series...
- First-time developer with Guitar Hero III: Legends of RockGuitar Hero III: Legends of RockGuitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a music video game, the third main installment in the Guitar Hero series, and the fourth title overall...
for the PlayStation 2PlayStation 2The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, PlayStation 3PlayStation 3The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, Xbox 360Xbox 360The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, and WiiWiiThe Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
video game consoleVideo game consoleA video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
s - NifflasNicklas NygrenNicklas Nygren , better known by the handle "Nifflas", is a video game developer. He is known for his freeware games Knytt, Knytt Stories, Within a Deep Forest and the #ModArchive Story series, and is currently developing software for indie publisher/developer Nicalis...
- Pteranadon for PCPersonal computerA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator... - Nintendo R&D1Nintendo Research & Development 1was Nintendo's oldest development team. Its creation coincided with Nintendo's entry into the video games industry, and the original R&D1 was headed by Gunpei Yokoi...
- Rhythm TengokuRhythm Tengokuis a music video game developed by Nintendo SPD. It was released in Japan on August 3, 2006, and was the last game developed by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. The game received an Excellence Prize for Entertainment at the 10th annual Japan Media Arts Festival in 2006...
(2006) for Game Boy AdvanceGame Boy AdvanceThe is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China... - Nintendo R&D2Nintendo Research & Development 2was a team within Nintendo that developed software and peripherals. R&D2 ported several of the Nintendo R&D1 and Nintendo R&D3 games over to the Famicom in the early 1980s...
- Daigasso! Band BrothersDaigasso! Band Brothersis a music video game published and developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It was released in Japan on December 2, 2004 as a launch game for the Nintendo DS. The game features multiple songs, which include classical music, television themes, and video game music. The game...
(2004) for Nintendo DSNintendo DSThe is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP... - Noise FactoryNoise Factory' is a Japanese company that specialises in developing video games. It is one of the developer companies of SNK Playmore. Its more known games are Rage of the Dragons and the new Power Instinct games .- Games :* Gaia Crusaders* Metal Slug 3 * Sengoku 2001 / Sengoku 3* Metal Slug 4...
- OntamaramaOntamaramaOntamarama is a rhythm game published by Atlus for the Nintendo DS. The game uses both of the DS's screens, touch functionality, and the microphone during gameplay...
(2007) for Nintendo DSNintendo DSThe is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP... - Pentavision - DJMAXDJMAXDJMax is an action-rhythm video game series created by the South Korean company Pentavision Entertainment which belongs to Neowiz holdings. Games feature mostly experimental music and visual art from Korean DJs, artists and composers...
(2004) and DJMax Trilogy (2008) for PCPersonal computerA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
, DJMax Portable (2006), DJMax Portable 2 (2007), DJMax Portable Clazziquai Edition (2008), DJMax Portable Black Square (2008), DJ Max FeverDJ Max FeverDJ Max Fever is a music game for the PlayStation Portable developed by Pentavision and PM Studios. It was released in North America on January 27, 2009. Although the franchise has made several appearances in Asia, DJ Max Fever is the first DJMax released in the United States and Europe...
(2009) and DJMax Portable Hot Tunes (2010) for PlayStation PortablePlayStation PortableThe is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
, DJ Max TechnikaDJ Max TechnikaDJMax Technika is an arcade music game published and developed by Pentavision in South Korea. This was the first game announced as part of the DJMax METRO PROJECT. An international version of the game was released in North America by PM Studios...
(2008) and DJ Max Technika 2DJ Max Technika 2DJMax Technika 2 is a music arcade game published and developed by Pentavision in South Korea, and is a sequel to the earlier DJMax Technika arcade game.-Announcement:...
and DJ Max Portable 3DJ Max Portable 3DJMax Portable 3 is a music game for the PlayStation Portable published and developed by Pentavision in South Korea, and is a sequel to the earlier DJMax Portable game series. DJMax Portable 3 was announced shortly after DJMax Technika 2 was announced. Soon after, the official trailers from PM...
(2011) - Pyramid / Japan Studios - PataponPataponis a video game published for the PlayStation Portable handheld game console combining gameplay features of a rhythm game and a god game. The game is presented in a cartoonish, silhouetted two-dimensional environment, and features the player acting as a deity who commands an army of caricatured...
(2007) for PlayStation PortablePlayStation PortableThe is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004... - Roxor - In the Groove, In the Groove 2In the Groove 2In the Groove 2 is the sequel to Roxor Games' 2004 arcade game In the Groove. It was released to arcades officially on June 18, 2005. It is available as an upgrade kit and as a dedicated cabinet developed by Andamiro...
- SEDIC - OtockyOtockyOtocky is a videogame released in 1987 for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan. Developed by SEDIC and published by ASCII Corporation, the game was conceived and designed by Toshio Iwai.-Gameplay:...
(1987) for Damicom Disk System - TapulousTapulousTapulous, Inc. is an American software and video game developer and publisher headquartered in Palo Alto, California. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company as part of the Disney Interactive Media Group...
- Tap TapTap TapTap Tap is a series of rhythm games by Tapulous available for the iOS of which several versions, both purchasable and free, have been produced. The goal of the game is to tap each of the colored balls when they reach a line at the bottom of the screen. If the ball is hit on the beat, the player...
series - The Anigraphical Etudes - 'The Anigraphical Etude #9' (Flute), 'Orpheus Down' (Saxophone). Original developer and first interactive music video games to embed manuscript (game-scores) for live concert musical performance.
- UbisoftUbisoftUbisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
- Just DanceJust Dance (video game)Just Dance is a music video game developed and published by Ubisoft for the Wii. It was released on November 17, 2009 in North America, November 26 in Australia, and November 27 in Europe. It is similar to the Dance Dance Revolution games in that dancers match moves on screen in order to earn...
(2009) for WiiWiiThe Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
and its sequels - Just Dance 2 (2010), and Just Dance 3 (2011) for the WiiWiiThe Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others... - Unreal VoodooUnreal VoodooUnreal Voodoo is a Finnish demogroup. Unreal Voodoo was founded by Sami Kyöstilä and Iikku Mattila in December 1997. Unreal Voodoo develops projects on Linux/UNIX, DOS, and Windows.-Members:*Sami "hiteck" Kyöstilä...
- Frets on FireFrets on FireFrets on Fire is a free, open-source Finnish music video game created by Unreal Voodoo. Players use the keyboard to play along with markers which appear on screen, with the aim to score points, achieve a high point multiplier, and complete a song... - Virtual Music - Quest for FameQuest for FameQuest for Fame is a music video game developed by Virtual Music and distributed by IBM. They were eventually acquired by Namco to create karaoke machines....
(2001), Born To Rock, and Welcome To West Feedback (bundled with the Virtual Guitar)
See also
- Video game music
- Audio gameAudio gameAn audio game is an electronic game played on a device such as a personal computer. It is similar to a video game save that the only feedback device is audible rather than visual....