I know someone out there has to know what this game is called. Chris Kohnert (our CTO), and Jeremy Saunders (one of our producers), and I were in the “AdventureDome” (a large indoor area with rides, etc) in Circus Circus in Vegas during one of our annual trips diverting ourselves until the sun went down. (The rest of the group was hanging around somewhere else in the AdventureDome.) Circus Circus is almost completely without merit, and I realize that, so please, no need to mock us for our presence there. In any case, one of the employees of the place was playing some sort of Japanese import video game I’d not seen before that involved somewhere between 6 and 8 buttons that you had to press beat-matching style to 6-8 lines of descending graphics on screen.
This guy was inhuman. I have never seen anything like it. His hands moved literally in a blur and he seemed to rarely-to-never miss a beat. We must have stood and watched him for 10 minutes before moving on. I’m sure the guy loved it. Arcade employees don’t strike me as having a lot to envy generally, unless job insecurity is a bonus in your life. I’d never seen the game again until today on Google video, and if anyone knows what it’s called, I’d be obliged. Thanks! (Incidentally, the guy in the video is not quite as good as the guy in Vegas.)
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July 18th, 2006 at 10:12 pm
Joseph Monk
I haven’t seen that one before, but I’m taking a business trip to Osaka in September. If I see it, I’ll let you know. The room the guy is in looks like a pachinko hall, and I always make a point of stopping by one when I’m in Japan.
July 18th, 2006 at 11:25 pm
Cosmik
That would be Pop’N Music.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop’n_Music
July 18th, 2006 at 11:29 pm
Matt
You’re the man, Cosmik. Thanks!
–matt
July 19th, 2006 at 4:21 am
Fabian
That is literally one of the most frightening things I have ever seen. I can scarcely imagine the hours of practice and the many nights of cradling bleeding and broken hands it must have taken to get to that level of ability.
July 19th, 2006 at 7:45 am
Jeremy
You should have seen the guy in Vegas. I almost wanted to try the game, except after watching that guy play, I would have killed myself in frustration.
July 19th, 2006 at 5:50 pm
Bob Dole
Dance Dance Revolution is a much more widespread in the US and is a similar game played with your feet (you must have seen it). There are lots of videos out there of DDR that are very impressive (way more than that Pop’n Music video).
July 19th, 2006 at 5:51 pm
Bob Dole
Sorry to have sounded so unpleasant…
I wish we had more Pop’n Music cause it seems like fun. I personally have lost 25 pounds while learning to play DDR.
July 19th, 2006 at 6:08 pm
Matt
Sure, I’ve played DDR now and then, and I enjoy it when I can find a machine that has songs I’m actually familiar with. I’m sure there are people who are quite good at it, but man, I tell you, the guy in Vegas playing Pop ‘n Music was just something else.
July 20th, 2006 at 7:17 am
almagill
OK, DDR had me standing watching it being played and going “uhm.. so, it’s like, uh… dancing? and uhm.. that’s ?FUN? ?” because to me it liiked like the players were doing no more than learning to peck (well, stomp) in time to a cue like pigeons getting grain in some weird lab experiment.
But Pop’n'Music? I’m literally sat here with my jaw dropping after watching that kid in the arcade. Holy ratfudge, that was fast. (Still pigeon pecking tho)
I suppose that sort of speed/coordination would come in useful if he ever got a job as a bagging clerk in a supermarket?
July 20th, 2006 at 8:59 am
Marvi
That was great
Wonder if they have a Rach No. 3 song on there?
July 22nd, 2006 at 7:30 am
Acrune
DDR of course has different speeds and difficulty levels. The slowest speeds are quite boring. Its fun watching people who have gotten really good at the faster speeds. One of my friends (Tsukasa from achaea) was a DDR fiend.
I tried it once at my after prom party, sucked (a lot), but still had fun.
The game in the video looks pretty neat too. Doubt its as good of a workout though
July 24th, 2006 at 6:42 pm
Kris L
part of the reason games such as DDR work is it (like Guitar Hero is now) gives those of us that have no ability whatsoever in certain things (like dancing) some way to sort of be able to do those things. Even though we know that neither is really teaching us how to do what it is about.