A Culture Addicted to Music Games?

Rhythm games are nothing new. They've been around ever since the Atari was released in 1977. Recently, it seems that they've caught on. Of course, some may argue that Dance Dance Revolution started the current craze, but with the release of Guitar Hero it seems that the genre's finally become mainstream. Why is it that now, after 40 years of games, that people are finally connecting that dots? A little digging through Google gives the answers.

Parappa the Rapper, though many may not see it as such, is the father of the current generation of music games. It was cool, it was clever, and it was something that people could enjoy without getting up off of their feet. Sure, it's a cult classic now, but the only reason would be the marketing and style.

After the release of this game, RedOctane had the clever idea of doing a North American update of Japanese game "GuitarFreaks". They were already making guitars for the imported game, and they saw that the market was open. Harmonix, the developers of previous music games such as Karaoke Revolution (from which GH's visuals are derived) and Amplitude (the source of Guitar Hero's gameplay), were approached by RedOctane about the project. They accepted the offer, and thus Guitar Hero was born.

(Note: As Harmonix was bought by MTV games and RedOctane by Activision, the two companies no longer collaborate.)

It was a game that people thought was cool. Dancing as a game? No, thanks. This was a game that had you strumming away on a plastic Gibson guitar! This pseudo-instrument became the keystone of the most popular music games today.

Until 2007, no competition had arisen. Rock Band was out to change it. More and more people were buying this once-dead form of gaming, and somebody else needed in on it. The game was a hit, especially for music junkies and gamers who double as musicians.

But now, the war is heating up. Rock Band 2's been released, with a new Guitar Hero on the way. They both use multiple instruments. The question is, will this success lead to a downfall of this newly discovered moneymaker? It was recently announced that the amount of Guitar Hero games will be doubled by 2010, so there goes quality control.

The games are fun, but here's some food for thought; will they be overdone? Only time will tell.