As the industry tries increasingly to broaden the appeal of video games beyond “hard core” gamers devoted to sports and shooter titles, music-based play has become a flourishing category of its own.<\/p>\n
An array of new games unveiled at E3 Business and Media Summit in Santa Monica, California, this week follow the lead of Guitar Hero, a blockbuster game in which victory depends on playing guitar-like controllers with virtual band mates.<\/p>\n
“The whole theme is expanding the market and trying to get the next generation of gamers,” Wedbush Morgan research analyst Edward Woo told AFP.<\/p>\n
“Music can’t be considered casual play because there is a level of sophistication to the play of something like Guitar Hero."<\/p>\n
A new “Rock Band” game by Harmonix allows people to become band members that follow onscreen guitar and drum cues using controllers resembling the instruments.<\/p>\n
Universal Music Group and other record labels inked deals earlier this year to provide music for the game, and the classic rock album "Who’s Next" by The Who will be sold in digital format to be part of the repertoire.<\/p>\n
Rock Band will be available for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 consoles in time for the year-end holiday season, according to Harmonix.<\/p>\n
Sony’s president of Worldwide Studios Phil Harrison used E3 to showcase a “SingStar” game the company describes as “iTunes meets MySpace” because it combines Karaoke with online social networking.<\/p>\n
French video game giant Ubisoft created “Jam Sessions” software that lets people play Nintendo DS handheld devices as though they are guitars and built a band game into a new version of its popular Rayman Raving Rabbids title.<\/p>\n
“The music category is a big category on its own,” said Ubisoft vice president of marketing Tony Key.<\/p>\n
“The fantasy of the rock god and playing it out in your living room is very appealing."<\/p>\n
Disney Interactive Studios is releasing a video game that lets users create music-performing animated proxies based on a popular “Hannah Montana” television programme.<\/p>\n
Konami has tailored for Wii consoles a version of Dance Dance Revolution, a widely successful game in which players score points by matching dance steps on a pressure-sensing mat.<\/p>\n
Electronic Arts in August is releasing a “Boogie” music-based game for Wii in which players use Wii’s motion-sensing controllers to make customized cartoon characters dance and sing.<\/p>\n
While trying out the game, 12-year-old Leila Mendoza’s big smile revealed braces on her teeth as she swung a Wii controller in time to a hip-hop song to make a cartoon green hulk break dance.<\/p>\n
“It’s just cool,” the girl said, confiding she much prefers music games to virtual fighting that has traditionally defined mainstream video game play.<\/p>\n
“Just look at the way he moves and flips, and you can dance with it."<\/p>\n