Rhythm Games - Part 6: Presentation
(Previous entries in this series of posts)
Part 1: The Rhythm Is Gonna Get You
Part 2: Establishing My Rhythm
Part 3: The Interface of GH2 and EBA
Part 4: Approachability and Learning Curve
Part 5: Song Selection
Presentation is everything that isn't gameplay. Obviously, gameplay should be king: regardless of presentation, if a game is good, it's good, right? While this may be true, presentation can add just what is needed to a game to take it from good to classic. And, if presentation is poor, it can actually take a good game and render it unplayable. (As a side note, I could write a whole series of articles on this concept, particularly pertaining to the "Graphics Don't Matter" mantra Nintendo has been bandying about. But we'll save this for another time, maybe.)

Take Guitar Hero, for instance. I already talked about one reason why GuitarFreaks wouldn't have worked in America: song selection. Well, the other reason it wouldn't have succeeded where Guitar Hero did is the presentation. You can't blame GuitarFreaks for what it did presentation-wise... it followed much of the same design and style as its Bemani brethren: Dance Dance Revolution, BeatMania, DrumMania, etc. However, as a standalone game -- particularly a guitar simulation game -- there is nothing about it that makes it particularly appealing to guitar players or wanna-be guitar players. It's rather bland and generic. That's just another way Guitar Hero got it right. From the speakers that go to 11 and "tips" for rockers during the loading screens to the writing on bathroom walls to sign your initials for high scores to the basements and underground rock club venues where you play your music to the notebook sketches in the song selection menu to the exploding drummers at the end of songs, it all properly immerses you into the life and the mindset of a rising rock star. And it's that presentation that helps make it click with players.
And that's all I will say about Guitar Hero, because I need as much space as possible to discuss Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! vs. Elite Beat Agents. Presentation is largely one of the main reasons why I cannot find myself enjoying one game over the other. But whereas Guitar Hero's presentation obviously appeals to its audience more than GuitarFreaks, it's tough to say whether Ouendan or EBA has a presentation that is more appealing to its target audience. Just like song selection, the presentation of either game may have a stronger appeal to any given person.

However, it is very apparent that the presentations are different for a reason. Ouendan was created specifically for a Japanese audience. Nintendo, I'm sure, believed that Ouendan, as it stood, would not have appealed to American audiences because of the differences in ideals and beliefs -- let alone the fact that the concept of male cheerleaders would seem laughable to those in the U.S. Thus, when Nintendo asked iNiS, creators of both games, to make an American version of Ouendan, they must have specifically told iNiS to construct the game explicitly so that it appealed to American audiences. But this is a foreign company making a game that they think fits the American mind set more. But honestly... do they know how to do that? And as it turns out, Elite Beat Agents becomes more of an interesting case study on what Japanese developers actually think of America.
The ideals of the games have changed drastically. Ouendan largely focuses on the underdog rising to the challenge to succeed. Its characters are mostly your everyday fellow, with little or no extraordinary talents or circumstances. Elite Beat Agents, on the other hand, is largely about fame and fortune. Its characters are usually already in a position of success, and their stories are about how they are taken away from it and then make their way back. And the subject matter is very much the corny version of what America is all about: baseball, football, babysitting, movies, man's best friend, and (as mentioned before) fame-and-fortune. I mean, let's compare storylines.
Elite Beat Agents: Ladies-man Leo(nardo Da Vinci) is a famous painter and ladies man who could have any woman he wants. But he runs into Mona (Lisa), whom he truly falls for, but his affection is rejected. He, with the help of the Elite Beat Agents, tries to the best of his ability to win her over and, in the end, succeeds.
Ouendan: A young, portly boy likes a girl, but he can't compare with the studly, athletic kid in school. After screaming for Ouendan, the Ouendan trio show up to spur him to success in a dodge ball match against aforementioned studly kid, impressing the girl (much to the dismay of her friend) and winning her affection.
Elite Beat Agents: Former baseball star Hulk doesn't quite have what he used to, as his career has gone down the toilet. But when a child who is his biggest fan is attacked by a giant rock monster at the amusement park, he recalls all of his old skills to defeat the monster and save the child and regains the confidence to resurrect his career.
Ouendan: Business man discovers that his city is being attacked by a giant... mouse. When the mouse threatens to hurt an innocent lady, the business man rushes to her rescue on his scooter and... grows to gigantic size to properly defeat the mouse in hand-to-hand combat. The girl tries to thank him, but he has already left to finish his journey home. He needs no reward.
Elite Beat Agents: Oil tycoon Colonel has his oil fields dry up on him, and his wife's exorbitant spending has caused him to go bankrupt. When she angrily kicks him out of the house (which is conveniently under her name and, somehow, she still owns) because he can no longer provide her with money, he goes and, thanks to the Elite Beat Agents, amasses himself a second fortune. Having regained his wealth, he gets back his with wife and the two live richly ever after.
Ouendan: Local restaurant owner just can't get any business nor any luck. Finally, when his only customer is a cat that relieves himself in his restaurant, the Ouendan team, already there (and appalled at the menu), decide to help him turn his restaurant from a wasteland to a thriving business, as well as helping turn the cat from defiler into a pet Lucky Cat.
Elite Beat Agents: Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie have nothing on the Carrington Sisters. Blonde, beautiful, and famous, everyone loves the siblings. But when an accident strands them on a deserted island, they must rely on their beauty, sexiness, and bouncing bosoms to seduce the local wildlife to help them survive until help finds them and returns them back to their lifestyle of riches and fame.

Ouendan: Secretary is overworked. Not only that, but she's at the bottom of the office ladder. Which means that the office manager will never notice her and ask her out to the office dance, especially when her three coworkers pile work onto her, making sure she can't make it to the dance and keeping the studly manager to themselves. But their plans backfire, and when she finishes all the work, the manager is so impressed that he asks our Cinderella to the ball.
And so on and so forth. Though there are some examples of people achieving fame in Ouendan and examples of underdogs winning in Elite Beat Agents, the general themes and mood are obviously very different. What I think iNiS failed to realize, however, is that America is barely different than Japan. They should remember that America is where Buster Keaton, Charlie Brown, and Peter Parker come from. We love our underdogs. So I'm not sure why the focus became so materialistic when they shifted to make the American game. We have ninja sons trying to rescue his father's successful business secrets instead of a teacher trying to win his class's respect. We have movie directors trying to make a hit movie instead of a horse trying to catch a thief. And I think it's something that makes the storylines not work for me. I've always connected more with underdog tales, and the stories in EBA feel less genuine because they don't feel as human anymore. It's just a manufactured version of what iNiS thought Americans would like.

Also, a lot of Ouendan's humor gets lost by the transition as well. Every story follows the same arc in both games. In Ouendan, a character gets presented with an overwhelming situation. They became angry, cry out "OUENDAN!!!" and, the majority of the time, Ouendan is already there, ready to help. They inspire the hapless victim with their cheering so that the victim goes into a fiery rage, complete with flames in their eyes and fire in the background. In EBA, a character gets presented with an overwhelming situation, to which they cry "HELP!!!" A man at a giant computer sees them and sends out his agents to rescue them. The agents arrive via all sorts of random transportation methods, and they inspire the hapless victims by getting them to wave their hands in the air (like they just don't care) with their singing.
Ouendan and EBA thrive on their humor. It's one of the things that makes them stand out. Though it is just be a matter of opinion, I just do not find EBA's setups as funny. For example, in the story in Ouendan where the teacher cannot get his class at the all-girls school to listen to him, he cries out for Ouendan. And where are they? They've been at the desks in the classroom of the all-girls school this whole time. When the restaurant owner screams for Ouendan, they are already customers in the restaurant, looking at the menu. It's one of my favorite running gags from the game. On top of that, the people who are in trouble yell for Ouendan. It's like somehow these people in trouble know that if they yell for this mythical cheerleading squad, they will arrive to help them achieve victory. I mean, they literally yell "Ouendan!!" Who would ever cry out such a thing in actual situations like these? The whole thing is so ludicrous and far-fetched that you just can't help but laugh.
Meanwhile, in EBA, you have "big brother" watching, who sends out his agents to aid people who yell out "HELP!", a cry that some people may actually yell out in real life. And then the agents arrive by car or jet pack or boat or whatever works. And, I dunno... I don't find any humor in that. And because everyone big brother helps seems to already be somewhat important, you get the feeling that the plights in Ouendan wouldn't even be good enough for big brother to send his agents out to.
And you know what? I love the fiery rage. It's my absolute favorite presentation factor of Ouendan. The fiery rage gets me every time. The arms waving thing in EBA? It just doesn't work for me. Not when compared to fiery rage. Pardon my netspeak, but fiery rage owns all.

So when all put together, the presentation of EBA just doesn't click together for me. It feels too calculated, too aware of trying to appeal to a certain culture rather than appealing to human nature. In that way, it loses a lot of warmth to me. And so even though EBA has a few improved gameplay elements that is missing from Ouendan, they can't outweigh the mental connection I get with Ouendan. I enjoyed watching the secretary get to the dance with her manager every time, which made me not mind playing the stage over and over again. I did not enjoy (and in fact was actually kind of appalled by) the fact that oil tycoon gets back with his wife instead of kicking her out instead. My drive to keep playing EBA just wasn't there.
The true test has yet to come. Ouendan 2 has been announced for Japan. If it comes out, and I get sucked into it as much as I did with the first one, then I can honestly say that presentation is what killed EBA for me. I still have the sneaking suspicion that EBA was less appealing solely because I burned myself out on Ouendan, but I don't think that's the main cause. I really do believe that there is something about the presentation that just didn't work for me in EBA.
And I just really missed the fiery rage.
Next up: Learnability
Part 1: The Rhythm Is Gonna Get You
Part 2: Establishing My Rhythm
Part 3: The Interface of GH2 and EBA
Part 4: Approachability and Learning Curve
Part 5: Song Selection
Presentation is everything that isn't gameplay. Obviously, gameplay should be king: regardless of presentation, if a game is good, it's good, right? While this may be true, presentation can add just what is needed to a game to take it from good to classic. And, if presentation is poor, it can actually take a good game and render it unplayable. (As a side note, I could write a whole series of articles on this concept, particularly pertaining to the "Graphics Don't Matter" mantra Nintendo has been bandying about. But we'll save this for another time, maybe.)

Take Guitar Hero, for instance. I already talked about one reason why GuitarFreaks wouldn't have worked in America: song selection. Well, the other reason it wouldn't have succeeded where Guitar Hero did is the presentation. You can't blame GuitarFreaks for what it did presentation-wise... it followed much of the same design and style as its Bemani brethren: Dance Dance Revolution, BeatMania, DrumMania, etc. However, as a standalone game -- particularly a guitar simulation game -- there is nothing about it that makes it particularly appealing to guitar players or wanna-be guitar players. It's rather bland and generic. That's just another way Guitar Hero got it right. From the speakers that go to 11 and "tips" for rockers during the loading screens to the writing on bathroom walls to sign your initials for high scores to the basements and underground rock club venues where you play your music to the notebook sketches in the song selection menu to the exploding drummers at the end of songs, it all properly immerses you into the life and the mindset of a rising rock star. And it's that presentation that helps make it click with players.
And that's all I will say about Guitar Hero, because I need as much space as possible to discuss Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! vs. Elite Beat Agents. Presentation is largely one of the main reasons why I cannot find myself enjoying one game over the other. But whereas Guitar Hero's presentation obviously appeals to its audience more than GuitarFreaks, it's tough to say whether Ouendan or EBA has a presentation that is more appealing to its target audience. Just like song selection, the presentation of either game may have a stronger appeal to any given person.

However, it is very apparent that the presentations are different for a reason. Ouendan was created specifically for a Japanese audience. Nintendo, I'm sure, believed that Ouendan, as it stood, would not have appealed to American audiences because of the differences in ideals and beliefs -- let alone the fact that the concept of male cheerleaders would seem laughable to those in the U.S. Thus, when Nintendo asked iNiS, creators of both games, to make an American version of Ouendan, they must have specifically told iNiS to construct the game explicitly so that it appealed to American audiences. But this is a foreign company making a game that they think fits the American mind set more. But honestly... do they know how to do that? And as it turns out, Elite Beat Agents becomes more of an interesting case study on what Japanese developers actually think of America.

Elite Beat Agents: Ladies-man Leo(nardo Da Vinci) is a famous painter and ladies man who could have any woman he wants. But he runs into Mona (Lisa), whom he truly falls for, but his affection is rejected. He, with the help of the Elite Beat Agents, tries to the best of his ability to win her over and, in the end, succeeds.
Ouendan: A young, portly boy likes a girl, but he can't compare with the studly, athletic kid in school. After screaming for Ouendan, the Ouendan trio show up to spur him to success in a dodge ball match against aforementioned studly kid, impressing the girl (much to the dismay of her friend) and winning her affection.
Elite Beat Agents: Former baseball star Hulk doesn't quite have what he used to, as his career has gone down the toilet. But when a child who is his biggest fan is attacked by a giant rock monster at the amusement park, he recalls all of his old skills to defeat the monster and save the child and regains the confidence to resurrect his career.
Ouendan: Business man discovers that his city is being attacked by a giant... mouse. When the mouse threatens to hurt an innocent lady, the business man rushes to her rescue on his scooter and... grows to gigantic size to properly defeat the mouse in hand-to-hand combat. The girl tries to thank him, but he has already left to finish his journey home. He needs no reward.
Elite Beat Agents: Oil tycoon Colonel has his oil fields dry up on him, and his wife's exorbitant spending has caused him to go bankrupt. When she angrily kicks him out of the house (which is conveniently under her name and, somehow, she still owns) because he can no longer provide her with money, he goes and, thanks to the Elite Beat Agents, amasses himself a second fortune. Having regained his wealth, he gets back his with wife and the two live richly ever after.
Ouendan: Local restaurant owner just can't get any business nor any luck. Finally, when his only customer is a cat that relieves himself in his restaurant, the Ouendan team, already there (and appalled at the menu), decide to help him turn his restaurant from a wasteland to a thriving business, as well as helping turn the cat from defiler into a pet Lucky Cat.
Elite Beat Agents: Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie have nothing on the Carrington Sisters. Blonde, beautiful, and famous, everyone loves the siblings. But when an accident strands them on a deserted island, they must rely on their beauty, sexiness, and bouncing bosoms to seduce the local wildlife to help them survive until help finds them and returns them back to their lifestyle of riches and fame.

Ouendan: Secretary is overworked. Not only that, but she's at the bottom of the office ladder. Which means that the office manager will never notice her and ask her out to the office dance, especially when her three coworkers pile work onto her, making sure she can't make it to the dance and keeping the studly manager to themselves. But their plans backfire, and when she finishes all the work, the manager is so impressed that he asks our Cinderella to the ball.
And so on and so forth. Though there are some examples of people achieving fame in Ouendan and examples of underdogs winning in Elite Beat Agents, the general themes and mood are obviously very different. What I think iNiS failed to realize, however, is that America is barely different than Japan. They should remember that America is where Buster Keaton, Charlie Brown, and Peter Parker come from. We love our underdogs. So I'm not sure why the focus became so materialistic when they shifted to make the American game. We have ninja sons trying to rescue his father's successful business secrets instead of a teacher trying to win his class's respect. We have movie directors trying to make a hit movie instead of a horse trying to catch a thief. And I think it's something that makes the storylines not work for me. I've always connected more with underdog tales, and the stories in EBA feel less genuine because they don't feel as human anymore. It's just a manufactured version of what iNiS thought Americans would like.

Also, a lot of Ouendan's humor gets lost by the transition as well. Every story follows the same arc in both games. In Ouendan, a character gets presented with an overwhelming situation. They became angry, cry out "OUENDAN!!!" and, the majority of the time, Ouendan is already there, ready to help. They inspire the hapless victim with their cheering so that the victim goes into a fiery rage, complete with flames in their eyes and fire in the background. In EBA, a character gets presented with an overwhelming situation, to which they cry "HELP!!!" A man at a giant computer sees them and sends out his agents to rescue them. The agents arrive via all sorts of random transportation methods, and they inspire the hapless victims by getting them to wave their hands in the air (like they just don't care) with their singing.
Ouendan and EBA thrive on their humor. It's one of the things that makes them stand out. Though it is just be a matter of opinion, I just do not find EBA's setups as funny. For example, in the story in Ouendan where the teacher cannot get his class at the all-girls school to listen to him, he cries out for Ouendan. And where are they? They've been at the desks in the classroom of the all-girls school this whole time. When the restaurant owner screams for Ouendan, they are already customers in the restaurant, looking at the menu. It's one of my favorite running gags from the game. On top of that, the people who are in trouble yell for Ouendan. It's like somehow these people in trouble know that if they yell for this mythical cheerleading squad, they will arrive to help them achieve victory. I mean, they literally yell "Ouendan!!" Who would ever cry out such a thing in actual situations like these? The whole thing is so ludicrous and far-fetched that you just can't help but laugh.

And you know what? I love the fiery rage. It's my absolute favorite presentation factor of Ouendan. The fiery rage gets me every time. The arms waving thing in EBA? It just doesn't work for me. Not when compared to fiery rage. Pardon my netspeak, but fiery rage owns all.

So when all put together, the presentation of EBA just doesn't click together for me. It feels too calculated, too aware of trying to appeal to a certain culture rather than appealing to human nature. In that way, it loses a lot of warmth to me. And so even though EBA has a few improved gameplay elements that is missing from Ouendan, they can't outweigh the mental connection I get with Ouendan. I enjoyed watching the secretary get to the dance with her manager every time, which made me not mind playing the stage over and over again. I did not enjoy (and in fact was actually kind of appalled by) the fact that oil tycoon gets back with his wife instead of kicking her out instead. My drive to keep playing EBA just wasn't there.
The true test has yet to come. Ouendan 2 has been announced for Japan. If it comes out, and I get sucked into it as much as I did with the first one, then I can honestly say that presentation is what killed EBA for me. I still have the sneaking suspicion that EBA was less appealing solely because I burned myself out on Ouendan, but I don't think that's the main cause. I really do believe that there is something about the presentation that just didn't work for me in EBA.
And I just really missed the fiery rage.
Next up: Learnability
6 Comments:
Hey James, I've been a longtime reader but this is actually my first comment. Your long study of rhythm games has really spurred me on to actually say something though. Beats me why, but once better than never.
...Bad joke, I know, but hey, it's almost 2AM and I should be asleep.
I wanted to make a note about EBA specifically, though. There was an article on 1up... (http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3153670)
And it went on a lot about how yeah, we want the underdogs too. In fact, the founder (or cofounder, really) of iNiS lived in the US for probably close to twenty years, growing up here until he finished college.
I find it that with that in mind, why he didn't realize that 99% of the people had to be of one race--kinda missing that "melting pot" tenet that we as Americans get really proud of from time to time--and at the same time really materialistic or superficial, like you said. That oil tycoon story was honestly the most dreaded one of them all. Decent song, but honestly glorifying that should have been the last thing on their list. I can't think of a single person who could possibly connect to him or find it funny.
What I'm wondering though, is if iNiS didn't plan that out from the beginning, or at least one of their designers did. It's a pretty good stab at the inane quality of some of our stereotypes. Not that it's underhanded in any way (not to mention totally against their company motto), but I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and think there was probably something in Osu! that was equally a jab at their society.
I do have a question for you, though, if a little off-topic. When did you really discover "the groove"--that frame of mind where you just achieve some kind of out-of-body experience and your focus on the task at hand is absolute. I think you mentioned a while back in one of the earlier posts, maybe calling it the "zone" (although admittedly the thing's probably got a dozen other nicknames). I wonder if finding that place is teachable, because honestly I know that I have friends or known people certainly capable of it, but just can't and for that reason won't try rhythm games or fighting games or, well, many games that might require you to think. It's my belief that if you believe in the groove and can find that internal rhythm there isn't a game you can't play (or equally philosophical no event you can't manage in life). I didn't really understand it until my junior year in high school, when I started to really consider my fiction writing seriously, got really into R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt novels and I think got Soul Calibur 2. What's most funny was that while I understood it and realized I had had it, I also found I had the groove with me for a long time already.
Ah, well, it's past 2am and I still have work and class tomorrow (hooray, UCI and Atlus USA!). Again, thanks for keeping up the posts and keep blogging! I'll certainly continue to stay posted, and comment some more myself.
By
Brian, at 2:10 AM
Oof, looks like I got a mistype in my post.
Scratch "why he didn't realize that..." and change it to "why he thought that..."
By
Brian, at 10:15 AM
I can't say for rhythm games but based on James' reply to a previous comment, I imagine this "getting into the groove" is obtained after getting through something more like a fog so it's hard to judge exactly how you got there. Old fashioned practice and practicing often helps you to play faster.
Ouendan's definitely seem different than US (female) cheerleaders, and good to see that as a unique aspect of the game's appeal. I think ouendan's are usually male, if not always, and function to shout at the top of their lungs to fans (and getting them to shout too), for prolonged periods of time, so get red faces/veins bulging on their necks with sore throats; they got religion. US cheerleaders seem to push sex a lot more (yet curiously are barred from having personal relations with the players they're supposed to be supporting).
By
Anonymous, at 8:47 PM
Thanks for that link to the 1up article, Brian. I loved reading it and almost wish I had read it before I wrote my piece... it actually provides some interesting discussion knowing he loves underdog stories and that he even lived in America for 20 years. Maybe his 20 years here left him with a bad taste? ^_^ I would love to believe that maybe it was done on purpose as a means by which the creator could take a stab at our culture (that the stories strayed so far from the underdog mentality), but I truly think it was just a misguided effort, or more pressure from Nintendo itself to "Americanize" the game. Whatever the cause, I largely suspect it was more subconscious than intentional.
As for "The Zone," which is what I called it, I have experienced the zone many, many, many times before. This ranges from my early arcade days of playing a perfect game of Dragon's Lair to playing Tetris back on the NES to spending hours and hours on Training Mode in Street Fighter Alpha for the Saturn. However, I don't think I ever really realized what was going on, and only qualified this "Zone" as a gaming phenomenon fairly recently, surprisingly.
I first actively noticed it with F-Zero GX for the GameCube. I was practicing a track in Practice Mode to make sure I could get better at it. And, while at first I was learning the nuances of the track, I soon was just racing the track, lap after lap after lap after lap. And at one point, I stopped and realized that I had just driven the track for over 40 laps, I think it was, with no computer opponents whatsoever. And I wasn't even trying to beat my best lap anymore, I was just... racing.
See, in Tetris, you are trying to acheive something. The game never makes you believe you aren't accomplishing anything. Training Mode in a fighting game makes you believe you are improving execution of a combo. But after you race a track for over an hour in Practice Mode and stopped caring about the time long ago, you have to realize something is up. And what I realized was that I was having fun. Just pure... fun. And it was because, having gotten good at the track, it just became a joy to drive without thinking, yet still doing well on a difficult track. And I had to sit back and wonder what it was that made it so fun, even though nothing was happening. And it was The Zone that did it.
Which is what made me realize that gaming can be fun even though there is no goal or purpose, as long as you get in that Zone (I guess I really should try playing fl0w). So that's when I started to think back to all the games I used to love (Bionic Commando's swinging, randomly exploring worlds in Mario Sunshine using all of Mario's techniques, Dance Dance Revolution, etc.) and realized that many of them I loved because of this Zone. So now, it's something I pay heavy attention to, and try very hard to notice when it happens again.
- James
P.S. I plan to talk about the Zone heavily if I ever get a chance to write a review of Sonic and the Secret Rings for the Wii. Having played it for a bit, I definitely have a pretty strong opinion about the game, and it deals heavily with this Zone.
By
jchensor, at 12:59 AM
Re: song selection again, this is from a recent NYT's article on Edison's brillant inventing abilities not translating directly to marketing savy:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/business/yourmoney/11edison.html?_r=1&ref=business&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin
"IN truth, the Edison phonograph fell short of being irresistible; nor did it lead the industry in technical innovation. It was the Victor Talking Machine Company that made discs a practical medium. The disc’s flat dimensions offered a more convenient means of storing many songs than the three-dimensional Edison cylinder. It was Victor that came up with a disc that offered four minutes of capacity when Edison’s cylinder’s had only two minutes. And it was Victor that introduced the Victrola, which hid the horn of the phonograph within a wood cabinet, transforming it into a piece of fine furniture — and a very profitable item for its manufacturer."
..."Edison had never shown a talent for strategy, and he did not give the subject close study. He spent most of his time working on problems related to industrial chemistry, principally those related to batteries, and, secondarily, those related to mass production of cylinders and discs. Yet he did take time to make decisions about music, personally approving — and, more often, disapproving — the suggestions of underlings about which performers should be recorded. His dislike of various musical genres and artists was strong and encompassed almost everything. Popular music — “these miserable dance and ragtime selections” — had no chance of receiving his blessing. Jazz was for “the nuts;” one performance reminded him of “the dying moan of dead animals.” But he was no elitist. He also dismissed the members of the Metropolitan Opera House as lacking tune. Sergei Rachmaninoff was just “a pounder.”"
By
Anonymous, at 8:33 PM
James, you touched on something that I've been thinking about for a while, I'm glad to read that I wasn't the only person thinking that EBA missed the mark.
I remember showing my friends EBA shortly after I got it - they looked at the stories, the presentation and everything, and said "this is still Japanese, and weird". That reaction reinforces the points you made tremendously; even by using "American" stories and characters, the way they were presented was still very foreign to a North American audience.
The reverse helps to explain why Guitar Hero has connected with so many people - the presentation is devoid of anything remotely Japanese, which drives many away from other rhythm games such as DDR, Taiko No Tasujin (sp?), etc. Instead, Harmonix crammed in as much testosterone as they could, creating something with a tremendous amount of appeal.
By
Unknown, at 3:54 PM
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