Rhythm games have seen a wide array of twists and turns in North America and Europe. I know theyre not for everyone, but are they still considered part of an average gaming diet? How many plastic peripherals are stuffed in your closet?
With a higher game selection, and more ways to play games, arcades started to die out. They began to have fewer and fewer experiences that couldnt be replicated on a home console. DDR was getting old, and the casual market seemed to feel it was a tired concept.
We saw the rise and fall (and brief return) of the plastic peripheral series with Guitar Hero and Rock Band. It seems that, while people enjoy the gameplay and playing with friends, most people dont want to (or physical cant) store large pieces of plastic in their living space. So whats the solution to this? The arcade. Why spend large amounts of money on a rhythm gaming experience when you could spend a dollar for a few songs on high quality equipment?
I recently spent a year in Japan, the homeland of the rhythm game. I played every single BEMANI game I could get my hands on, and began to casually play one called Sound Voltex. Heres a video of about where I was after playing occasionally for a year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BORZkvt74I (mind you I cant play that perfectly). Its a phenomenal game, that sees regular updates with new charts. It features local play and online play, with all progress saved on a handy IC card.
Is this something that you would want to try? Or do you think the average gamer would feel intimidated by higher level play? Im curious to see some input from people in the United States with a Round 1 in their city, as some of these machines are featured in all locations.
Something else to note is that a TON of Dave and Busters locations recently acquired the latest version of Dance Dance Revolution from Japan, DDR Ace.
Do you think rhythm gaming could ever regain the power in the industry it once had?
Or will it continue to stay as something niche, only being actively played by hardcore fans?
Dance Dance Revolution was the first star of the genre, popping up in arcades, movie theatres, bowling alleys, and eventually even making its way into homes. It was praised as a fun way to get fit, put down as a silly interpretation of "dance", and was ultimately a huge success. It saw many releases in arcades, and more console iterations than you could jam on a shelf of a thrift store. Konami was more than happy the supply the constant demand, and even tested the waters with an (awful) localized PS2 version of their Beatmania IIDX series of games, simply titled Beatmania in North America. Other companies experimented with the market throughout this generation, with releases such as Taiko Drum Master on the PS2, and the Donkey Konga series of games on the GameCube (both from Namco).
With a higher game selection, and more ways to play games, arcades started to die out. They began to have fewer and fewer experiences that couldnt be replicated on a home console. DDR was getting old, and the casual market seemed to feel it was a tired concept.
We saw the rise and fall (and brief return) of the plastic peripheral series with Guitar Hero and Rock Band. It seems that, while people enjoy the gameplay and playing with friends, most people dont want to (or physical cant) store large pieces of plastic in their living space. So whats the solution to this? The arcade. Why spend large amounts of money on a rhythm gaming experience when you could spend a dollar for a few songs on high quality equipment?
This is what Japan has been consistently been doing since everything began, all the way back to the first DDR. With Beatmania IIDX leading the pack, the BEMANI series of games rakes in thousands and thousands of dollars every day, with cabinets located across Japan, Korea, (limited locations across) the United States, and Singapore.
I recently spent a year in Japan, the homeland of the rhythm game. I played every single BEMANI game I could get my hands on, and began to casually play one called Sound Voltex. Heres a video of about where I was after playing occasionally for a year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BORZkvt74I (mind you I cant play that perfectly). Its a phenomenal game, that sees regular updates with new charts. It features local play and online play, with all progress saved on a handy IC card.
Is this something that you would want to try? Or do you think the average gamer would feel intimidated by higher level play? Im curious to see some input from people in the United States with a Round 1 in their city, as some of these machines are featured in all locations.
Something else to note is that a TON of Dave and Busters locations recently acquired the latest version of Dance Dance Revolution from Japan, DDR Ace.
Do you think rhythm gaming could ever regain the power in the industry it once had?
Or will it continue to stay as something niche, only being actively played by hardcore fans?
