Music game
Music games are a genre of computer and video games in which music is a central element of the gameplay.
Often these are rhythm games in which the player has to make certain inputs at the right moment for the rhythm of the music being played, e.g. B. Press a certain key on the keyboard or sing into a microphone . If the input is made via a dance mat , it is also referred to as a dance game . The genre of music games greatly overlaps with action games , but there is also overlap with other genres. Some games are reminiscent of the Senso toy . Sometimes certain similarities with audio games can be discovered, but music games always have a strong visual component.
Important games in the genre include Audiosurf , Guitar Hero , osu! , Rock Band , PaRappa the Rapper , Dance Dance Revolution , Samba de Amigo , SingStar , Beatmania , Rez and Donkey Konga . Music games such as Beat Saber are very popular on virtual reality platforms .
Subgenres
Music games can be divided into the following sub-genres, among others:
- Rhythm game: The player has to make certain inputs at the right moment for the music being played, e.g. B. Press a certain key on the keyboard or sing into a microphone. If the player moves in addition, it is also referred to as exergaming .
- A sub-genre of the rhythm game is playing a virtual instrument . Most of the time, the focus is more on fun than learning to play an instrument. Controlling a virtual instrument is also mostly very different from real instruments and is limited to pressing the keys to the rhythm. In a few cases, such as Rocksmith , a real instrument (here guitar) can also be used. Often a band with several players can be played and the controllers are replaced by special optical controllers that are modeled on musical instruments. Examples: Donkey Konga , Guitar Hero , Wii Music , DJ Hero , Band Hero , Rock Band , Frets on Fire .
- If the input is made via a dance mat, it is also referred to as a dance game. Well-known examples are Dance Dance Revolution , Just Dance and Dance Central .
- Music-generated games: In music-generated games, the game world, the targets or waves of attack are generated using an algorithm based on the pitch , volume and speed heard in the music . Well-known examples are Audiosurf or Beat Saber .
- Singspiele / Karaoke : Here the player has to sing songs and hit the pitches. Well-known examples are SingStar , UltraStar , We Sing and Karaoke Revolution .
Web links
- Music game at MobyGames (English)
- Music in play Scientific work (abstract) by Richard Graf on the subject of music and play
- www.lehrer-online.de Teaching unit by Tobias Hübner on the educational evaluation of music computer games
- www.medienistik.de "Real guitars are for old people". How the collaboration between the pop and computer game industry shapes a generation - scientific essay on music games by Tobias Hübner
- [1] "Multiplayer: Episode 15.1 - Music Games!". First part of a series of topics about music games from the Kollisionsabfrage.net video podcast