Music Games

The exact, precise moment the music game fad burst

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8k8okAjAM0[/youtube]Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint the instant in time when something’s suddenly not as cool as it was a moment before. Other times it’s easy. Remember this ad from two years ago? For music games as the Current Big Thing, this was the killer meteor entering the atmosphere. I’m one of the faithful who still believes i...

Rock Band 3 looks lame; is proof rhythm games missed the point

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV24LBf7y2A[/youtube] In 2007, a handful of ex-Guitar Hero developers announced a “radical new idea” in video games. I know because I was in the room at E3 when they announced it. They, Harmonix, were going to launch “an interactive music platform” called Rock Band, after which additional songs and game updates would be download later...

Just Dance: Can 2 million people be wrong?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YTtLu5JO7o[/youtube] Ubisoft surprised the gaming industry last month (myself included), announcing that Just Dance had sold 2 million copies worldwide in fewer than four months, making it the fastest selling third-party Wii game ever. “The consumer response to Just Dance has been overwhelming,” said Ubisoft’s Tony Key at the time. “...