So, I've never played a music game...

[j_factor]

I think you're missing the point of Guitar Hero and analogs. Traditional music games like Parappa, etc. may appeal to musicians and other people that can appreciate holding rhythm and time, but the "hey, let's tap X and Square" gameplay is pretty uninspired and gets old fast to most people. Guitar Hero and Rockband are more about taking karaoke to another level. When you get down to it, Rockband is really just an elaborate karaoke machine that scores your performance. Granted, you're still tapping buttons, but you get the visceral feel like you're playing drums/guitar or you're very literally singing along and you get to feel like you're playing music without really doing anything but banging on a clunky plastic representation of an instrument. Although, then again, Guitar Hero has its limits as well since eventually most people come to the conclusion that time would be better spent learning the real instrument than banging out fictitious notes on a plastic guitar.

Guitar Hero is still "hey, let's tap X and Square", just with a different shaped controller.

Regardless, I still prefer Guitar Freaks and DrumMania. And if you want a game that involves realistic instrument-playing, Keyboardmania by far outclasses anything else. I also think Beatmania/Hiphopmania/IIDX is a lot better than DJ Hero.

[cj iwakura]

Forget the GHs and RBs. Play Space Channel 5 or Frequency. :P

[Tears of Ash]

Project Diva, DJ Max, and Frequency are pretty fun alternatives to that whole guitar-oriented Rock Band/Guitar Hero stuff.

Also, if you're into looking weird I suggest Para Para Paradise and Popnmusic.

[17daysolderthannes]

Guitar Hero is still "hey, let's tap X and Square", just with a different shaped controller.

Regardless, I still prefer Guitar Freaks and DrumMania. And if you want a game that involves realistic instrument-playing, Keyboardmania by far outclasses anything else. I also think Beatmania/Hiphopmania/IIDX is a lot better than DJ Hero.

How is Guitar Freaks any different/better? It looks exactly the same but more bland to me. Realistic Keyboard playing has been around since the Miracle piano on NES and Genesis, so that's nothing new. Beatmania just looks awful, it's just a lazy keyboard with a superfluous turntable. At least DJ Hero has a slider, effects knob, and the gameplay revolves around scratching over tapping some buttons that look like they came off of a Clean Sweep machine. Sounds like J-factor is a J-fanboy to me...

Forget the GHs and RBs. Play Space Channel 5 or Frequency. :P

I'm pretty sure he's interested in band simulation music games versus basic music/rhythm games. The whole point of Guitar Hero, like I said, is to be like karaoke for the guitar. You can't say the same about frequency or Space Channel 5. Not to say frequency isn't a fun game, but it's not the same thing at all. It's like comparing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater to Top Skater.

[j_factor]

How is Guitar Freaks any different/better? It looks exactly the same but more bland to me. Realistic Keyboard playing has been around since the Miracle piano on NES and Genesis, so that's nothing new. Beatmania just looks awful, it's just a lazy keyboard with a superfluous turntable. At least DJ Hero has a slider, effects knob, and the gameplay revolves around scratching over tapping some buttons that look like they came off of a Clean Sweep machine. Sounds like J-factor is a J-fanboy to me...

DJ Hero is "closer" to actual DJ'ing than Beatmania, but Beatmania is simply much more fun IMO. DJ Hero has some pretty shitty music. Gwen Stefani's "Bananas" should never be in a videogame (or anything else) ever. It's also poor ergonomic design to have buttons on the faux turntable; it's very uncomfortable resting your fingers on those buttons while scratching. Also, the crossfader is shitty, and the sound effects knob is completely unnecessary. Beatmania doesn't needlessly complicate itself with shitty sound effects and directional scratching, and it's more fun because of it.

I don't think Miracle Piano is a game, it's an actual keyboard with software that teaches you how to play. It's only a videogame if you also consider Mavis Beacon to be one. Keyboardmania is a videogame with its own keyboard-like controller. I'm not a "J-fanboy" (what does that even mean?), I just prefer Konami's classic music games to these Johnny-come-latelies.

[KenshiroX]

I personally don't like guitar playing on RB/GH and only like to sing on RB.

[GohanX]

Actually, I do need to play Space Channel 5 sometime, it's been on my to-do list since it was new on the DC. And yeah, no real instruments for me. I want to play a game, and also listen to some nice rock music.

[cj iwakura]

DJ Hero is surprisingly fun, and a lot more like DJing.

But it can be needlessly complicated. If you just want to keysound some (awesome) music, play Beatmania.

Great videos, too.

[j_factor]

DJ Hero is surprisingly fun, and a lot more like DJing.

It is and it isn't. It's more like DJ'ing in that the controller has a crossfader and a knob, and you play mash-ups. But it fails in the same places it succeeds. DJ's don't (generally) spin pre-recorded mash-ups, they do the mashing up live. Mash-ups require two turntables. And although the controller has a crossfader, it only has one platter, so what does the crossfader do? In the game the little lines will jut out to the left or right and you have to slide the crossfader in accordance with it. It doesn't really make sense.

In my opinion they should've done one of two things. Either separate the buttons from the platter and have straight songs instead of mash-ups, making it essentially a more Western style version of Beatmania (with the same "hit the keys in time with the music" gameplay), with techno, house, and hip-hop music. Or, keep the mash-up concept but have two platters and a crossfader that actually works, and have it so that you're actually mixing on the fly; instead of doing exact motions as prompted on screen, it would be more free-form. There's a very obscure import Saturn game called DJ Wars that plays this way (without any special controller of course) -- you have two turntables along with a fader and a couple other things, and it judges you as you jam. Although it's too primitive to produce music that sounds like a real/quality mash-up (which may not have been a goal considering when the game came out, and it doesn't have any licensed music anyway), it does let you independently select a record for each side, the music that you hear is what you play (and how you're playing it), and you even switch out records on the fly (and just like in real life, you have to fade to one side while you switch the other side's disc, or it'll sound bad).

DJ Wars is a game in which you work the turntables in a simplified but semi-realistic manner and get judged on your performance. Beatmania is a more standard music game in which you hit keys as displayed on the screen in time with the music, that has a controller that vaguely resembles a DJ setup. DJ Hero can't decide which it wants to be, and fails at doing either.