Oh help. It's been a month since I did my rhythm game write-up and a few people said I
should try out Space Channel 5. I managed to pick up a used copy for less than $8 and gave
it a whirl last night.

Okay guys, you gotta explain it to me: what the deal is with this game? I was all primed to
love it: the style, Ulala, the CRAZY. It's a rhythm game too, so theoretically, I should be right
at home with SC5! And really, the first minute or so of dancing and Ulala's swaggering was
likable and catchy. I enjoyed Deee-lite in the '90s too, so how did this game go so horribly
wrong for me?

My main problem is that I can't get past the bloody first mission. My viewing rating never rises
above 13%, and while I love a good challenge, the precision required seems ridiculous! I have
considered the possibility that I suck, but I know my sense of rhythm and my whole room of
friends were counting together to get the beat right to no avail.

What I would've loved in this game would be visual cues for timing so that you could see
whether you were a little too early or a little too late. The game frustrated everyone with the
inability to judge accurately what the hell you did wrong. The game mechanics are hella
simple as well: just follow and hit the directional buttons in the same order and timing as
demonstrated. I'm fine with really basic gameplay; it just makes me feel all the dumber for
not being able to execute the mission.

If anyone's got any suggestions, shoot 'em my way. In the mean time, I'm going to keep
playing Cave Story, because at least in that game I know why I keep losing.

Throughout my personal gaming history, the rhythm game genre has always had a solid place alongside puzzle games and JRPGs. I haven't seen an "And the Gamers Who Play Them" blog about it yet, so I'm going to go back to select titles in my repertoire and highlight the glory of games with phat beatz yo. I'm starting with what began it all for me:



Dance Dance Revolution

When I first heard about Dance Dance Revolution, I thought that a game that taught you how to dance was a fantastic idea. Once I saw gameplay, however, I entertained no thoughts that this game was in any way related to whatever dance steps I had preconceived. Regardless, the skill set required a sense of timing and a physical challenge.

The physical challenge was ultimately the biggest draw at the time. I loved that I could play video games and exercise at the same time. Growing up with parents who saw video games as time-wasting, brain-killing toys, it was refreshing to be able to legitimize my hobby, especially when my dad would tell me get off my butt and "go dancing." Much of DDR's recognition stems from this justification that it's okay to play this game, because it makes you sweat! It's what has gotten the game in schools.

DDR's gameplay was also different from any other game I had experienced, though admittedly, I hadn't played many games at that point. (As I said before, my parents weren't gaming fans, and I only had my Vectrex to play with until I got my first Gameboy Pocket and Pokemon Red Version at 11-years-old. DIGRESSION.) JRPGs, my primary preference at the time, had me leveling and reading text at a leisurely pace that wasn't especially demanding of my attention. The one or two shmups were better in keeping me on my toes, but DDR was the first game where timing and a sense of rhythm were essential in gameplay. This also hooked me in that I felt I actually had an edge going into the game. I was a decently athletic kid, and I also played the piano. I didn't need a strategy guide for this game. It was refreshing to feel like I had what I considered non-gaming skills that could give me an advantage in a game for once.

Though I said earlier that DDR reflects little "actual" dancing, I still felt a strong resonance from moving to the beats of each song. I wouldn't break out these steps at the next high school dance, but I still felt like I was dancing, moving to the beat. I would consciously realize that the steps were robotic, repetitive, and pretty doofy-looking, but that never totally destroyed the "feel" of dancing. This feel that you're performing this musical act overrides cognitive awareness that you're doing a watered down game version, and it's held up as a draw to similar rhythm games that followed DDR (i.e. Karaoke Revolution, Rock Band).

I haven't even touched on the music. Before DDR started pulling in modern top 40 songs, its setlist mainly consisted of Japanese dance originals made for the game alongside classic disco/dance tracks from the 70s. Even if you didn't know any of the songs, that would change quickly once you started playing. Even my friends that disliked electronic music had favorite songs after playing through them, and so DDR created a common musical link amongst my group of friends. It's not like everyone suddenly needed cheesy vocal trance or house in their winamp playlist, but the game often recontextualized those music genres for me and my friends as to make them more accessible/tolerable/stuck in your head goddammit. (Seriously, "AI YI YI I'M YOUR LITTLE BUTTERFLY" haunts me to this day.)

DDR got the longest writeup because it's the first I ever experienced and, to me, set up a precedent for rhythm games that followed.


(XKCD never gets old.)

Other Performance Games

Among these ranks stand Karaoke Revolution, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band. Like DDR, the idea is that you simulate a musical performance: singing, playing the guitar, etc. Beyond the gameplay, much of the success of these games lie in the immersive environment they create so that you feel like a performer, entertaining the virtual masses. The characters are far more customizable than DDR, which features static dancers, and other features include choices in venue and instrument model. I sometimes feel like the games mirror artists in the real music industry: the music almost falls secondary to image, though honestly, in the case of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, it's due to meticulous attention to detail on the part of the developers. The pop songs for Karaoke are crowd pleasers at parties, and the choices for GH and RB are pretty spot on for the various rock genres.



A Small Mention: Taiko Drum Master

I have to express some of my love for this game. It falls into the performance subset of rhythm games, but the presentation is completely different in that it's exuberant and near-cloyingly CUTE. As you tear into the drum peripheral, which booms pretty nicely as you hit it, happy/sad circles fly across the screen as demented animals dance around the stage. That's probably why it's always been a cult gem, as its less accessible to those without a penchant for Japanese craziness, but it stands apart from the previously discussed games for the atmosphere it creates. Which makes it a good lead-in to ...



Elite Beat Agents

FUCK YEAAH. This game is 50% rhythm, 50% sheer crack. You don't pretend to dance, sing, or play any instrument; tapping and sliding your stylus to a beat is the whole gameplay, and it's still wildly popular. Here, the appeal is a combination of the gameply and the premise, which revolves around an organization that's basically Men In Black meets the Village People meets a cheerleading squad.

Each song you play comes with a comic-like scenario that plays out according to your progress, with bad scenes if you suck and uplifting scenes if you're awesome. None of them relate to the content of the songs, which is helpful in your appreciation of the song. Seriously, Ashlee Simpson's "La La" becomes infinitely catchier as the accompaniment to helping an athlete get over his cold to win a race. Many of the songs are the aggravating hits of middle school, but that never stopped me from cracking up at the antics on the top screen of my DS. In fact, I even think Avril's "Sk8ter Boi" contributed to the over-the-top frenetic scene of driving that pregnant lady to the hospital.

EBA takes the basic rhythm game mechanics, strips them of the performance context, and dresses them up in off-the-wall antics and (often bad) pop songs.



Patapon

I only recently started playing this, and though flawed, the game definitely brings a lot of new elements to the rhythm game genre. It's currently the only rhythm game I can think of where each stage is part of a single narrative, that of leading the tribe of little men called "Patapons" to find an unknown IT. (I'm only 2.5 hours in, but I've already been spoiled about what IT is. Hint: It's Fontaine.) I feel a little uneasy leading these adorable characters into a mini-crusade where they die because I miss a beat, but the art direction is so quirky and colorful that I can't help but like it. This takes from EBA's treatment of the rhythm mechanic in terms of pulling it from the performance aspect and applies it to other genres. Even if you don't enjoy it, you gotta respect what it's trying to do for the genre.

-

Music is a unifying element. Everyone enjoys it in some form or another. Rhythm games are a different way of interacting with it, providing an accessible means for people to participate in music without having to take lessons to learn an instrument. They also have a pick up and play quality to them; you play in 2-10 minute increments, which works well as party game play; after you learn the basic gameplay, it's usually easy enough to jump in. Games like EBA and Patapon exist for those who don't need to feel like a rock star and simply want to enjoy music in different way. Anyone can enjoy rhythm games, from casual to hardcore and everything in-between, just as long as you like music.

And/or fangirls. I'm not going to discriminate.

So I read only two gaming blogs, really: Leigh Alexander's Sexy Videogameland and Michael Abbott's The Brainy Gamer. Call me a pretentious fuck, but their discourse on videogames is genuinely interesting, thought-provoking, and fairly well-written. Again, the keyword here is "discourse," as they write to generate discussion of the medium. I feel like they have small audiences, but those that do follow them consist of similarly intelligent and opinionated people that can converse while still having fun and maintaining respect for one another.

That's why it was so sad to see The Brainy Gamer thrown to the masses of N4G for Abbott's disappointment in Lost Odyssey. A flame war erupted in his comments (which are probably edited down now and definitely locked), and fanboys flung kneejerk insults. It's SO PREDICTABLE. Why does this have to happen? I mean, it's understandable that when an opinion contrasting with that of the general public appears, it'll be met with a strong response; however, that response doesn't need to consist of insults or dismissals of another's credibility. Not only is it hurtful to others, to everyone else with half a brain, you look like a jerk. These comments written in 10 seconds don't make you look any smarter, nor do they support whatever cause you seem to be crusading for. If you really feel that passionately about a game, fight fire with fire: take a breath, think it out, and respond in a civil fashion. This often takes effort, I realize, but if you're unwilling to spend sometime to sit down and treat others respectfully, whatever's the issue is probably not worth it.

I particularly agree with this comment on The Brainy Gamer:

"As to why the vehemence comes about? We live in a culture that tells us we are defined by the products we buy and are allied under the brand names we prefer. Children are, by and large, not trained by the education system to have empowered beliefs, or to articulate them in a constructive fashion. Their lack of critical training provides them very few articulate arguments, resulting in personal attacks rather than reasoned discourse.

Furthermore, the inability to affect positive change in their daily lives, the powerlessness they must feel, is likely a prime motivator for recklessly and wildly wielding the power of words behind the mask of anonymity the internet provides."

Alexander wrote a column addressing shouting on the internets here.

It's about healthy discussion, kids. If the gaming community wants outsiders to view our medium with respect, we have to treat each other with it first.

Relatedly, think for yourself: a pretty sweet song by Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip if you haven't heard it already.

I'm a big Portal fan, and I'm sure that with Team Fortress 2 and the Half-Life Games, The Orange Box is an amazing package. One of my favorite inclusions, though, isn't a Valve game, nor an official part of The Orange Box. Peggle Extreme came with The Orange Box download if you ordered it from Steam. It's a pachinko-like game where you shoot a ball into a playing field of blue and orange pegs. On contact, the ball lights up the peg and clears it from the field. The goal is to clear all the orange pegs before you run out of balls.

You get bonuses for clearing violet pegs, and green pegs give you helper abilities based on the stage you're playing. If your ball bounces a crazy path before it's done, you get style points, and more pegs cleared in a single go towards the potential of a free ball. Notes climb the scale as you rack up get closer to earning that free ball, which builds a nice feeling of suspense. The best part, however, is when you hit the final orange peg: the ball moves in slow motion until that moment of contact where fireworks appear and Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" blasts in celebration of your victory! It's dynamic and way satisfying every time. I consider this moment a definitive one for the game, as it gives a greater sense of accomplishment than many other puzzle games that just pop up with your current score once you've finished a level or round. No other puzzle game makes me feel quite so badass as Peggle does.

Imagine my sheer ecstasy tonight when I found out that Peggle got an OSX release, a fact I somehow glossed over when I heard the news that it was coming to the iPods. My main beef is the steep price tag. Seriously, $20? Steam offers the full version for half that price, but seeing as Steam is Windows-only, I'm out of luck. (PC kids, before you say anything, I'm a design student who kind of needs a mac. Don't hate; just love.) I'm fine with paying money for Peggle ... just not quite so much. If anyone knows where I can get a good deal on this lovely game, let me know. Though I did just get birthday money ... and Peggle is so much more fun than studying for tomorrow's exam ...

Retro-gamer cupcakes OM NOM NOM NOM

I love dorky crafts, and dorky baked goods are even better! These are especially well-executed: the frosting is so precise, so colorful, so adorable, guys! I would so love to try to make some myself, but I spent the MLK Jr. weekend setting off my friends' smoke detectors while attempting to make crepes. If I did want to attempt them, though, I would so try to make FF6 cupcakes. I really just want operatic video game munchies.

Just a quick drive-by morning post to start off the work/school week!

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GC) - I have a bad habit of not finishing games, but I'm really trying with this one! I started Wind Waker in the summer and got as far as having to complete the Triforce of Courage before school hit and Persona 3 came into my hands (a game that's also been put on the back burner). I've gotten all the triforce shards now, and since Ganon's Tower seems like it'll be the last dungeon, I'm scouring the world for heart pieces before I finish the game. Awesomely enough, my roommate felt the urge to continue her save file the same day I did, so we've been handing off the controller whenever we're done for the moment. This is the first time I've lived with someone who probably enjoys gaming more than I do, so this is an awesome experience.

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations (DS) - Augh. Someone get me reinvested in this second case. My friend keeps singing the praises of the later cases, and it's a frustrating tease because never have I been so bored with an Ace Attorney case. I may succumb to using a faq if I can't get past my current point where I have to break Adrian Andrews' psy-lock, but so far, to no avail. Le siiigh.

Bioshock (360) - No progress since my last post. My friends with the 360 have been too busy distracting me with Team America: World Police and season one of Venture Bros, possibly one of my new favorite shows.