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Vib-Ribbon launching in North America via PSN tomorrow
At last, Vibri is free. Sony announced today that PaRappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura's vector-graphics rhythm game Vib-Ribbon will hit the PlayStation Network tomorrow, marking its long-awaited North American debut. Released for the original PlayStation in 1999, Vib-Ribbon puts players in control of Vibri, a bizarre rabbit-like creature who must vault on-screen obstacles in time to a backing music track. In a novel twist at the time, Vib-Ribbon allowed players to insert their own music CDs and create playable levels based on individual tracks, often upping the game's challenge far beyond the difficulty of its default soundtrack. Though Vib-Ribbon was released in Japan and Europe, a North American version never surfaced. This week's PSN release will be the first time Vib-Ribbon is officially available in the United States, and Sony notes that its CD-scanning feature will arrive on the PlayStation 3 fully intact. [Image: Sony / NanaOn-sha]
Sony files for Vib-Ribbon trademark in Europe
Vib-Ribbon, an early Sony rhythm game that is almost entirely forgotten in our modern era, may be making a comeback, if a European trademark filed by the gaming giant is anything to go by. The original Vib-Ribbon appeared on the first PlayStation in 1999. It was designed by Masaya Matsuura and developed by his studio, NanaOn-Sha, the same development house behind PlayStation-era rhythm game classics Parappa The Rapper and Um Jammer Lammy. Unlike those two colorful games, however, Vib-Ribbon is a spartan, monochrome affair in which 2D, side-scrolling stages are generated from a user's own music – a feature that made Vib-Ribbon unique in 1999, and one that remains a rarity in rhythm games to this day. Unfortunately, the trademark filing offers no information on what Sony has planned for the long-dormant series. Our attempts to pry more information from Sony's representatives bore no fruit, so until the company opts to share its plans all we can say for sure is that Sony has some latent interest in the addictive, bizarre Vib-Ribbon. [Image: Sony]
Haunt house: a visit with NanaOn-Sha
Just before TGS this year, I paid a visit to NanaOn-Sha's small studio in Tokyo's Aoyama neighborhood. The majority of the tiny studio is the meeting and testing room seen in our gallery below, where I spoke to founder Masaya Matsuura and director of development Dewi Tanner, and played a demo of the studio's upcoming XBLA game, Haunt. Despite the relatively cozy surroundings, there's room for an impressive array of Parappa and Um Jammer Lammy merchandise. Was the Lammy pillow really something that was marketed? And just outside the door, there's (barely) room for all the awards NanaOn-Sha's games have received. Improbably, there's also room for a bathtub in the small studio, something that Matsuura told me has been useful in the impossibly hot and humid summer Tokyo's experienced. "Especially this summer," he noted, "Japan has difficulty using electric power" as a result of conservation efforts following the March earthquake. They offered to let me use the bathtub, but there will unfortunately be no Joystiq review, as I declined. Past the break, Matsuura and Tanner speak about their studio, partnerships with Western companies, Haunt, and not baths.%Gallery-134204%
Parappa the Rapper could return via new business models or Vita
Parappa the Rapper hasn't been heard from since the PS2's Parappa the Rapper 2 -- unless you count the Japan-only cartoon, or the PSP port of the first game. However, creator Masaya Matsuura told me during a pre-TGS meeting that the flat, self-doubting puppy remains in his thoughts. "We always think about the possibility of remaking or rebuilding or making sequels," Matsuura said. He told me that he prefers handheld platforms to consoles for rhythm games, because the built-in screens reduce the risk of latency between the controller input and the on-screen display. And thus the PlayStation Vita represents a "good chance" for him to revisit his signature series.
OneBigGame assembles 17 game composers for album to benefit children's charities
Gaming charity OneBigGame has partnered with developers for such as Chime and WINtA, with a portion of the profit they've generated going to benefit children's charities. Its new project, while still game-related, is decidedly less interactive -- but nonetheless compelling. The organization has announced it's teaming with the Game Music Initiative to bring together 17 game composers to create the OneBigAlbum, featuring new works by the likes of Masaya Matsuura (above, PaRappa the Rapper) and Emmy award-winning Christopher Tin (Civilization IV). Eighty percent of the proceeds will go to Save the Children and the Starlight Children's Foundation, each receiving half. OneBigGame hasn't firmed up a release date yet, but we'd say keeping the album on your radar would be a sound move. We've got the full list of composers who are contributing just past the break.
Matsuura's WINtA and OneBigGame support Save the Children Japan
Think you've got this whole "buy a game and we'll donate money to charity" thing figured out? Try this on for size: Masaya Matsuura, designer of the legendary Parappa the Rapper, partnered with OneBigGame to release an iOS music game called WINtA last year. Proceeds from those sales went to Save the Children and the Starlight Children's Foundation. So how could it possibly be more charitable? It's simple. For the next four weeks, "net earnings" from WINtA will "directly benefit the Save the Children charity teams active in Japan, helping children affected by the devastating earthquake and tsunami in the country." You snag the app for free ($0) and the net amount that NanaOn-Sha receives from song purchases (that's minus Apple's 30%) will be distributed by OneBigGame to "directly support Save the Children in setting up a network of child friendly spaces for children in the worst affected areas of Japan." How is this different than the usual relationship OneBigGame has with Save the Children? While normally OBG would redirect 80% of its earnings towards both Save the Children and Starlight Children's Foundation, "in light of the recent events in Japan, OneBigGame are proud to make a special case by re-routing donated funds generated by WINtA to support Save the Children's relief efforts in the affected regions, with immediate effect." Go, get your philanthropy on.
TUAW's Daily App: Winta
I first covered Winta (styled WINtA on the App Store) back at GDC Online in October, and found it an enjoyable music game from the creator of Parappa the Rapper, Masaya Matsuura. It's a simple title -- different shapes appear on screen, and the player is meant to tap them in order, which ends up going along with the rhythm of the song's vocals. There's one free track included with the app (which itself is free to download), and then a number of different songs are available via in-app purchase, each with their own themes and displays. Plus, the whole project is part of the OneBigGame initiative, so 10 percent of the profits on each track purchased will go to two charities, Save the Children and the Starlight Children's Foundation, to support the lives of children around the world. OneBigGame has teamed up with both Matsuura and developers Triangle Studios to create the game, and Ngmoco has joined in to share the game (and some achievements) on its own Plus+ social network. It's definitely an interesting title -- I wouldn't say it has quite the appeal of a game like Parappa the Rapper, but it's an interesting multi-touch take on the music genre, and helping out OneBigGame and its cause is definitely an excellent idea. If nothing else, give Winta (short for "War is Not the Answer") a free download and see what you think.
GDC Online 2010: Hands-on and preview of WINtA
WINtA is probably the best brand new game that I've seen so far at GDC Online 2010 (this week in Austin, Texas). It's a title published by a group called OneBigGame, which is a nonprofit video game publisher. They commission and publish games, which are created for free by luminaries in the video game field, and then they sell them to customers for money that goes straight to charities around the world. Founder Martin de Ronde took the stage at GDC to allegedly talk about how to take an app from iPhone to the iPad, but what he actually did was show off this really amazing game and music platform, and he gave a road map to where the iPad version will eventually go. "WINtA" stands for "War is Not The Answer," which is what game creator Masaya Matsuura felt after September 11th, and that's what he wanted to transfer into game form. WINtA itself is actually a rhythm game -- Matsuura is well known in the gaming community for making PaRappa the Rapper, which is a highly regarded PlayStation game known for pioneering the genre that eventually launched Guitar Hero and Tap Tap Revolution. de Ronde approached Matsuura under the OneBigGame banner, asking if he would create a game to sell for charity, and with the help of Dutch developer Triangle Studios, Matsuura came up with WINtA. The app will be out on the App Store for free later this year. Check out more, including a video of the demonstration, after the break.
Kinect comes to XBLA, Microsoft Game Studios reveals five Japanese titles
Microsoft Game Studios unveiled five new Japanese partnerships during its Tokyo Game Show 2010 keynote today, each intended to "provide fun for users throughout the world." Takashi Sensui, general manager of Xbox in Japan, claimed the projects would "define the future of Xbox 360 and Kinect" -- a future that now promises Kinect-enabled Xbox Live Arcade games. Out of the five new XBLA-exclusive games announced today, three will use Kinect: Haunt, a spooky adventure from Parappa the Rappa's Masaya Matsuura; Project Codename D, a stylish new endeavor from Grasshopper Manufacture's Suda 51; and Project Draco, a Panzer Dragoon-esque flight game from Phantom Dust creator Yukio Futatsugi. These will join third-party Kinect games Child of Eden, Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor and Rise of Nightmares in 2011. Microsoft also revealed Fire-Pro Wrestling from Spike, and a new version of Radiant Silvergun from Treasure (much to the chagrin of eBay profiteers). Both are coming to XBLA in 2011.
'Haunt' to materialize on Kinect in 2011
PaRappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura's studio NanaOn-Sha is working on a Kinect game entitled Haunt. The "horrible" game was just announced during Microsoft's TGS press conference. All we know so far is that there's a spooky mansion, first-person flashlighting and cartoon ghosts. The game will arrive in 2011. We'll get more details up as soon as we can. %Gallery-102400%
Parappa creator and OneBigGame make music game for charity
For its next charity fundraiser game, nonprofit publisher OneBigGame announced that it's working with Parappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura and his studio, NanaOn-Sha, along with Triangle Studios, to create WINtA, an iPhone/iPod Touch rhythm game. OneBigGame describes it as "combining elements of pattern recognition challenges with the natural tendency of humans to tap along with music and words." It appears to put pulsing dots on the screen, leaving the player to tap them in time with the music -- though not necessarily providing a clear cue when to tap. You can try to figure it out by watching early footage taken from the GameCity conference last year (via Pocket Gamer), after the break. That early footage looks nothing like the new screenshots (above), so there's still an element of mystery. Proceeds from sales of WINtA will benefit Save the Children, Starlight Children's Foundation and other charities when the game is released later this year.
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Zoe Mode creating not-for-profit XBLA puzzler for children's charity
click to enlarge OneBigGame, a non-profit games publisher founded in 2007, announced today that its first title will come from Zoë Mode, creator of games such as Crush (PSP), You're In the Movies (360) and co-developer of the SingStar franchise (PS3) with SCEE. Called Chime, the music-based puzzle game will launch this winter on Xbox Live Arcade. The first screens, while sort of soothing in their minimalism, don't exactly explain anything about how the game's played. Thankfully, Zoë Mode goes into detail about the gameplay on its newly launched Chime site.The developer is the first of what OneBigGame says are many others currently creating 15 titles, with at least 80 percent of all revenue made from them going to two charities: Save the Children and Starlight Children's Foundation. Zoë Mode developed Chime pro bono and has committed to giving all the royalties it receives from the XBLA game -- which it says will be around 60 percent of its purchase price -- to OneBigGame.Other developers signed on to produce games include Shiny founder David Perry, PaRappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura and prolific adventure game designer Charles Cecil (Beneath a Steel Sky, Broken Sword). %Gallery-77193%
Masaya Matsuura answers 10 Questions from the Academy
Introducing 10 Questions from the Academy: A weekly feature from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences wherein significant figures in the video game industry provide their input on past trends, current events, and future challenges and goals for the entertainment software community. Masaya Matsuura is a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. He spoke at the D.I.C.E. Summit in 2008 and the D.I.C.E. Summit Asia in 2009. He works for NanaOn-Sha, where he created the pioneering rhythm titles PaRappa the Rapper, UmJammer Lammy, and PaRappa the Rapper 2. His most recent title is Major Minor's Majestic March. AIAS: How do you measure success? Masaya Matsuura: By the number of people who felt happiness through my creations. What's your favorite part of game development? Making totally new experiences into something tangible. Naturally a great effort from the development team is essential. In addition, there is a moment in development (usually later in the cycle) where the game finally becomes fun. A lot of developers say that this is the moment when a new experience is born, although I'm unable to properly put the sensation into words.
Masaya Matsuura marches to GameCity Squared
Parappa the Rapper, Vib-Ribbon, and Major Minor's Majestic March creator Masaya Matsuura will deliver the "BAFTA Vision Statement" at GameCity Squared, the fourth annual "videogame culture festival" held in Nottingham. The Vision Statement, presented last year by Media Molecule, is "a unique platform for the most interesting, provocative developers in the World to deliver their thoughts and manifestos independent of any PR constraint," according to GameCity director Iain Simons. We look forward to hearing about the unique, anthropomorphic animal mentors against whom Matsuura faced off in rap battles during his journey to Nottingham -- said rap battles also instilling Matsuura with the confidence to write and deliver his keynote on October 31.
PaRappa creator contemplating return to PlayStation
Masaya Matsuura isn't a household name for PlayStation fans, but his games are: PaRappa the Rapper and (to a lesser extent) Vib-Ribbon became icons of the early era of PlayStation. However, since the release of Vib-Ripple in 2004, Matsuura hasn't touched a single PlayStation platform, choosing to work on various Nintendo games, most recently Major Minor's Majestic March for Wii.It seems Matsuura is ready to end his years-long hiatus on PlayStation systems. He told Edge Online that PS3 is the platform he would "most like to explore at the moment" because "PS3 has a very high potential to appeal to the market." He notes that "very few people can do good creation for PS3. I think, for example, that Flower is a very good example. It requires a very high level of knowledge, experience and ambition to work on, so perhaps these kind of things are required for PlayStation."The indie spirit seems to be drawing Matsuura to the house that Sony built, but he acknowledges that it is a company that "is struggling with its conservativeness." While Sony has made great strides in making PlayStation Network a burgeoning field for indie developers, he hopes to see Sony become even more aggressive. "If a company like Sony is not aggressive in the industry, it's very bad for the unique creator, like Jenova Chen or me."
PaRappa creator raps about Natal's musical possibilities
Masaya Matsuura (creator of PaRappa the Rapper and Major Minor's Majestic March) says he and his posse over at NanaOn-Sha are interested in making a music game for Microsoft's Project Natal. "We are thinking about ideas," said Matsuura to Videogamer.com at the UK Develop Conference. " I think any kind of interaction with a camera will be good for music games, but the important thing will be how we can find the new breed of gameplay."Matsuura thinks he can create something fresh -- something other than the rock genre, which he points out Guitar Hero and Rock Band cover quite well. Instead, he thinks there's room to grow for other sounds: "There is other attractive music, so please try to find another style, another interaction, another gameplay with another type of music." Activision is breaking out with DJ Hero. So, what could Matsuura work on? Wait a minute... breaking. How about a pure break dance title? Baraver the Breakdancing Beaver? No?
You gotta believe Masaya Matsuura and Jenova Chen will speak at Develop Conference
Develop has just announced the addition of two speakers to the Develop Conference's 2009 lineup, both respected game designers whose works tend to be more than a little unconventional. Parappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura, whose last game was the Wii marching adventure Major Minor's Majestic March, will present "It's Time for Music Games 2.0," in which the developer will "map out unexplored gaming possibilities and reinvent our understanding of the genre." thatgamecompany's Jenova Chen will present a retrospective about flOw and Flower, and "explore the relationship between games, entertainment and art."The Develop Conference will be held at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Brighton from July 14th through July 16th. If you're flying there and the pilot looks like this guy, get off and wait for the next plane.
E308: Wii Fanboy leads the band in Major Minor's Majestic March
Click for larger image Ever since it's been rumored, the whole team has been patiently awaiting PaRappa creator Masaya Matsuura's next project. Once it was revealed, I found myself puzzled as to what to expect. Would it be as good as PaRappa? Has Matsuura lost it? Well, that confusion is gone now that I've had time to play the game at E3. Is it good? Well, read on and find out!%Gallery-15020%
Masaya Matsuura on Majesco's Major Minor's Majestic March
Newsweek's N'Gai Croal interviewed Masaya Matsuura about his upcoming Wii music game Major Minor's Majestic March, allowing us to learn a bit more about the game. Apparently, the tempo of the songs will actually change in real time with your waggling, and not always to the best effect. "We have a situation where if you shake the remote to quickly switch from faster tempos to slower tempos or vice versa, the music goes very strange. Everybody plays a very strange sound. Those kind of things are very interesting for me. It really sounds like original tracks."The licensed marching band music has been "aggressively arranged" such that it will seem original to players. And, of course, the sound will change dynamically as you attract people into your band. "At the start of the stage you will not yet have a gorgeous orchestration. Maybe it will be a very simple and monophonic type of music coming from the speakers. But if you get a new member, one part will be played by that new member. If you can keep going and recruiting new members, the music grows bigger and more gorgeous."While we suspected that marching band music may have fallen into the public domain and that this was the motivation for making a band-based game, it doesn't sound like that's the case. For one, the music has apparently been licensed. But most importantly, Matsuura seems to have been inspired by personal exposure to marching band music.Was he also inspired by that other conducting game? Not so much: "We are just a third-party, and at this moment, I shouldn't have any detailed information about Wii Music. Maybe that would make me confused a little about what I'm trying to do."%Gallery-15020%[Via Joystiq]
Parappa creators bringing 'Major Minor's Majestic March' to Wii
Yeah, yeah, we're intrigued by the possibilities of Wii Music but, like you, we're disappointed by that game's apparent lack of marching! Someone at Majesco apparently feels the same way, because the company today announced Major Minor's Majestic March for the Wii.Featuring the talents of Parappa the Rapper designer Masaya Matsuura and artist Rodney Greenblat, the game will ask players to use the Wii remote to "keep tempo, recruit new band members and pick up valuable items." The release promises eight "whimsical" locations, a "dynamic procession" of up to 15 instruments and 25 "popular marching band songs." We hope they can secure the rights to some of the hits from Sousaphone Hero. The promise of conducting our own version of "Stars and Stripes Forever" by Holiday 2008 is just too delicious to contemplate.%Gallery-15021%
