Music video game

Open source music video game StepMania

A music video game, also commonly known as a music game or rhythm game, is a video game where the gameplay is oriented almost entirely around the player's ability to follow a musical beat and stay with the rhythm of the game's soundtrack. They are often grouped with puzzle games due to their use of "rhythmically generated puzzles". Rhythm/music games are distinct from purely audio games in that they feature a visual feedback, to lead the player through the game's soundtrack.

In a music video game, the player must press specific buttons, or activate controls on a specialized game controller, in time with the game's music. The control scheme is usually fairly simplistic, and the moves required are usually pre-determined rather than randomized. More recently, music games such as Rez (2002) have attempted to move away from the traditional "Simon says" approach, attempting to give the player more freedom in the sounds they create.

In an offshoot of the serious games initiative, a hybrid music video game is emerging where the goal of the game itself is the resulting concert music from the interaction between performer and live projected video game. While strong support for the convergence of live music and video games is evident with the success of the Video Games Live concert series, this type of "game-score" augments traditional western music notation with the dramatic elements of animation, interactivity, graphic elements and aleatoric principals (Anigraphical Music). The concept of incorporating Game Theory and music is not new and can be traced back to the Musikalisches Würfelspiel.

Major developers

Amuse World

Korean developer Amuse World has created Ez2Dj series for arcade since 1999. Although the series started with basis on Konami's beatmania series, the lineup found its own path by providing different genre of music and different play style using numerous key settings. Amuse World aims to have its 7th upgrade to the Ez2Dj franchise in early 2007.

ANDAMIRO

Main article: Andamiro

Andamiro is known for arcade music game Pump It Up series although the company started with prize-winning mini games for arcade. Pump It Up (1999), while widely believed to be based on Dance Dance Revolution, was in fact in simultaneous development to DDR, but only released in Korea after DDR was released. 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 approach was completely opposite to DDR - the arcade machine uses four diagonal and one center pads for each player (see the gameplay section of the Pump It Up article). In November 2006, Andamiro has announced Pump It Up: NX with Nexcade, abandoning its developing team FreeVolt. (note: What was Team FreeVolt is part, approximately half, of Nexcade.) They created the newest addition in the franchise, Pump It Up: NX. The company had produced 18 arcade versions worldwide, but due to their naming convention for new game titles, it is hard to determine the exact index for new arcade games. Andamiro has also developed six consumer software versions for PC, Xbox and PlayStation 2.

BEMANI (formerly Konami g.m.d)

Main article: Bemani

An extremely popular series of games published by Konami in Japan that make up a significant proportion of the genre, and are known as the "BEMANI series", after the company's music games division. The series is named, in a common Japanese syllabic abbreviation, after its flagship game, beatmania (1997), in which a player uses a set of buttons and a controller in the form of a DJ's turntable. The series also includes several games based on controllers shaped like musical instruments, such as GuitarFreaks (1998) and DrumMania (1999). Arcade titles include Mambo A Go Go and Toy's March (2005).

Only a limited selection of the BEMANI games have been released outside of Asia, the most notable being Dance Dance Revolution (1998) (also known as Dancing Stage in European release), in which players, in time with an on-screen sequence, step on or otherwise activate panels on a large (about 1 meter square) floor controller which in home versions somewhat resembles the Nintendo Power Pad accessory. The overwhelming success of DDR and its sequels has spawned numerous re-creations of the game or its mechanics, both commercial (EZ2Dancer, In the Groove. In the Groove 2) and free (including StepMania, which is also FOSS, and Dance With Intensity, which is not), making it possibly the most duplicated music game in existence.

The BEMANI series can be credited with several trends in music games. One is the use of novel, specialized game controllers, in both arcade and home versions (which Konami has also pioneered in non-music games such as Police 911). Another is a basis on a sizeable catalog of short mixes and covers of existing songs as well as songs produced in-house for the game. Most or all games in the series have (often multiple) sequels in which the mechanics of the game vary little from the original and the main change is the selection of songs.

Harmonix

Main article: Harmonix Music Systems

An American game company called Harmonix Music Systems makes primarily music games, and is 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 which a player sings along to background music and on-screen lyrics (in the style of karaoke) into a microphone and scored on correct pitch. (Three years after apparently the first such game (PlaySingMusic/SoittoPeli) was published for PC in Finland (2000) and presented in LA (iWireless World conference, April 2-4, 2001 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.) by Elmorex Ltd.)

A newer game by Harmonix, Guitar Hero (2005), 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, whilst former publisher RedOctane (now owned by Activision), would hand Neversoft the task of continuing the Guitar Hero franchise. Harmonix released Rock Band on November 20, 2007 in North America, with the game being published by EA Games. An expansion to Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s (2007), was launched in order to fulfill the contractual obligations with Activision, as its development started prior to the ownership transfer.

The company was one of the first developers to make use of the EyeToy camera accessory for the PlayStation 2.

iNiS

Main article: iNiS

iNiS is a video game developer most commonly known for their cult video games Gitaroo Man (2001) for the PlayStation 2 and the Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (2005) series for the Nintendo DS. They are all rhythm games designed by Keiichi Yano. While the company has been around for many years, none of their previous games have 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, the game quickly became a cult video game and as a result was extremely hard to find. However, Koei noticed the demand for the game, and resumed production to ship more copies, essentially elevating Gitaroo Man from a cult video game to a sleeper hit. In addition, iNiS ported the game to Sony's handheld gaming device the PlayStation Portable as Gitaroo Man Lives! (2006).

iNiS's new found success with these rhythm games has just begun as Nintendo, who was the publisher of Ouendan in Japan, recognized this rapidly growing fanbase and had the developer produce a spiritual sequel to Ouendan that appealed more to North American audiences called Elite Beat Agents (2006). The original Ouendan's style included music and cultural references that would make little sense outside of Japan. The spiritual sequel, however, includes well known songs to the North American culture, all performed by cover bands. It also has a few new gameplay tweaks (see the gameplay section of the Elite Beat Agents article for more information). Then on May 17,2007 iNiS/Nintendo released Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 (2007) (translated as Burn! Hot-blooded Rhythm Soul! Go! Fight! Cheer Squad 2)in Japan which featured new characters,situations,and Japanese music.

Namco

Main article: Namco

Relatively late to the market, Namco's first foray into rhythm games came in the form of its Taiko no Tatsujin series. These arcade games featured 2 large taiko-style drums and their popularity prompted the release of a PS2 version, Taiko: Drum Master which required a specialized "TaTaCon" controller to play. Other versions that have since been released in Japan include two Taiko no Tatsujin Portable games 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). There is also an arcade version in this series called Donkey Kong: Banana Kingdom (2006). The most recent title in the series, a Wii game called Donkey Kong Barrel Blast (2007), was developed by Paon.

NanaOn-Sha

Main article: NanaOn-Sha

A Japanese 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 the top of the screen. The press of a button plays a corresponding sample of PaRappa's voice, regardless of whether the timing of the press or the selection of the button is correct (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 exactly to the given timeline results in a passing grade. However, unlike many other music games, the player may obtain an even higher score and access a special "COOL" mode of play by "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).

United Game Artists/Q Entertainment

Main articles: SEGA United Game Artists and Q Entertainment

Sonic Team produced a single rhythm game for the Sega Dreamcast entitled Samba de Amigo (1999) whose success prompted its 2003 joining of forces with United Game Artists and Q Entertainment.

Before it was absorbed by Sonic Team in 2003, SEGA's United Game Artists division, led by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, created several music games. In the month following the dissolution of UGA, Mizuguchi left SEGA along with several of his co-workers to form an independent game studio, Q Entertainment, which continues producing music-based games, along with a handful of other titles.

The first titles produced by UGA were the Dreamcast game Space Channel 5 (1999). In the game, the player controls 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 a "simon says" format, with players repeating sequences of button presses in time with the ever-present music.

The next title made by UGA was Rez (2001), a unique synaesthetic rail shooter for the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2. 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 a both a musical and a visual effect which occurs in time with the playing track. The controller's vibrating motors also pulse in time with the beat. 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.

The last title developed by UGA before it's dissolution was Space Channel 5: Part 2 (2002), another music game that built on the previous SC5. It dropped the FMV backgrounds of the previous and 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 major improvement on its precursor, but failed to capture the same commercial success.

After Mizuguchi left SEGA to form Q Entertainment, his new company produced two titles for new portable systems, Lumines (2004) for the PlayStation Portable and Meteos (2005) for the Nintendo DS. A sequel was created in 2007 called Meteos: Disney Magic. Meteos includes a largely orchestral soundtrack, but the gameplay does not center on music or rhythm, so it is outside the scope of this article.

Lumines is a puzzle game in which the goal is to arrange like-colored falling blocks into squares which will then disappear. Like Rez, each stage in the game has a unique musical and visual theme. Unlike, for example, Tetris, blocks which are 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).

In 2006 Q Entertainment is released a new PSP title called Every Extend Extra (2006). It is as an abstract action game with elements resembling shoot 'em up games. Like Rez, the gameplay itself does not require the player to interact with the music, but the music reacts to the gameplay.

Q Entertainment also created Gunpey, a puzzle game for the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP based on the classic formula from Gunpei Yokoi's Wonderswan game. It bears Mizuguchi's personal signature previously seen in games such as Lumines, where every skin has a different mood, background music as well as specific sound effects.

Other Developers

• Aspyr Media - First-time developer with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock porting it to the PC and Macintosh computers
• Doogi Doogi Co. Ltd. - Doogi doogi for arcade
• Devecka company - MTV Drumscape (1997) for arcade
• Neversoft - First-time developer with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii video game consoles
• Nifflas - Pteranadon for PC
• Roxor - In the Groove, In the Groove 2
• SEDIC - Otocky (1987) for Famicom Disk System
• Ubisoft - Rayman Raving Rabbids (2006) for Wii; portions of which are rhythm-oriented
• Virtual Music - Quest for Fame (2001), Born To Rock, and Welcome To West Feedback (bundled with the Virtual Guitar)

See also

• Video game music