Rhythm Games

In the past there have been video games aimed at being able to allow players to experience music with more than just their ears. Games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band were amongst the first to enable players to feel as if they were actually playing instruments. By playing on guitar and other instrument-shaped controllers, players were able to tactilely be a part of the music making. With the help of computer algorithms and graphics, players were also able to visualize the complexity and difficulty of any given song, adding yet another level of understanding to a particular piece of music, not necessarily possible by listening alone. These two games pioneered a new genre known to the world as “rhythm games.”

Much like reading sheet music allows us to see the technical aspect of music – by seeing the placement of the notes on the lines – similarly these rhythm games allow us to do the same, albeit in a less detailed fashion but more entertaining fashion. In the case of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, classic rock songs are turned into challenging rhythm puzzles where the goal is to perfectly time hitting different colored buttons that move along with the music.

A Little History

The original Guitar Hero was released in 2005 and according to wired.com had sold more than 1.5 million copies in just two years. Likewise the game Rock Band, in the span of 15 months after being released in 2009, sold more than $1 billion dollars. Without a doubt these two were very popular video games that most likely owed their success to their unique gaming mechanics, but it also tells us a thing about our society – that we love interacting with music.

I remember first playing the original Guitar Hero at Fry’s Electronics when they had it on display. Songs like “I love Rock n’ Roll” and “Iron Man” made their first impact on me during those times and from there I built my music library. It may sound cheesy but that game really did make me feel like I was really rocking out.

Years later, after the game had come out and we had beat it, another game hit the market – Rock Band – and I’d invite friends over to play and we’d spend hours taking turns, switching instruments. It was like a more realistic karaoke, one that simulated the entire act of being in an actual band. That game taught us the different roles each instrument played. My favorite was the bass, as it acted as the foundation for the music.

Even though these games played an important role in introducing many kids to different music and instruments, the games were criticized for being unrealistic. Many people thought that they distracted kids and gave them unrealistic expectations about the act of playing real instruments.

While it’s possible that video games distracted kids and that these games in particular gave some a false sense of talent, I can speak from personal experience that they only strengthened my appreciation for music, especially in creating it with other people.

And I know I’m not the only one as according to an article published by salon.com titled “How ‘Guitar Hero’ saved guitar music” the author, Farhad Manjoo, argued that: “Contrary to some purists’ claims, the popular video game is inspiring kids to rock out for real.” The Majoo goes on to write about a music teacher in Denver who made thousands of dollars from kids with newfound interests in guitars, stating: “Personally I’ve made hundreds or maybe even a couple thousand dollars on it, just because kids see the game and they want to go do the real thing. I think a lot of kids listen to music and they don’t know what it is — the game lets you pick out one particular instrument and it says, ‘Hey, this is what you can do with it.'”

Apart from the interest in music and instrumentation that the games organically caused, they also helped kids with dexterity and keeping beat. In the same article by salon.com the author writes about a teenage boy named Ben Eberle, who credits his playing of Guitar Hero with his speedy pickup of a real guitar, stating that the game taught him how to “stretch his fingers and better understand rhythm.”

“Ride Your Music”

While Guitar Hero and Rock Band were limited to the songs on the disk or to the songs able to be downloaded as DLC (Downloadable Content), there was another game out there on PC able to play any song one had stored on their computer. No external guitars required nor even a video game console. This game was called Audiosurf and it only required a basic computer and keyboard. Seriously, the system requirements for the game are very low.

Released in 2008 by Dylan Fitterer, it was directly influenced by the rhythm games released a few years prior. Audiosurf allowed players to control levitating vehicles similar to those in the games Wipeout and F-Zero as they traveled through a multi-tracked highway collecting blocks like in the game Klax.

What was a simple idea earned Audiosurf great reviews in the gaming community, one reviewer even calling it “a near-religious musical gaming experience.” What players liked was the simplicity of the purpose of the game which was to rack up as many points as possible all while doing it with the music of their choosing.

To explain a little more about how the game functions below is an excerpt from its Wikipedia entry:

“Audiosurf synchronizes the environment, traffic patterns, and scenery with the events in the current song. Each music file imported to the game by the user is first analyzed by the game engine, and an ASH file (containing the dynamics of the sounds and how the track and blocks are arranged) associated with the music is created and saved. The game loads the environment from the ASH files, with the track’s elevation, surface, and layout reflected in the dynamics of the music being played.”

In other words, the vibrations of the music you select is read and drawn onto a dynamic highway which you then ride on top of with a little spaceship collecting colorful points.

Why is this relevant?

While games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band were criticized for being unrealistic and were thought to distract kids from learning actual instruments, in reality they caused a lot of genuine interest in real-life instruments. Much like how the Tony Hawk games got a lot of kids skateboarding, these rhythm games got a lot of kids to pick up instruments they once thought were lame. Now whether or not those kids would’ve started skateboarding or playing instruments without these video games is another (in my opinion irrelevant) question, because all that matters is that the idea was planted one way or another.

Take Away

While it may be difficult now in 2022 for someone to go out and buy the necessary equipment to play Guitar Hero or Rock Band, Audiosurf doesn’t require much and gives you much the same experience – of being able to visually experience your beloved music library.

I’ve spent a lot of time riding through many different genres of music ranging from classical to jazz to progressive metal. I can tell you that the more technical a song is the more difficult the game will be.