PaRappa creator raps about Natal's musical possibilities

by Majed Athab { Jul 20th 2009 at 9:15AM }

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?

Tags: develop-conference, major-minors-majestic-march, masaya-matsuura, natal, parappa, project-natal

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Zee @ Jul 20th 2009 9:24AM

I love how the Wii couldn't attract quality developers given years, but Natal isn't even announced yet and well known devs are already planning on making games for it.

PR0F3TA @ Jul 20th 2009 9:28AM

well in fairness the Wii is "last gen" in some departments... some developers now have the same with Natal and Sony's wand but with ramped up graphics and a online structure and some sorta way to sell us DLC.

the only true way to see who wins in the Motion control department would have to be the first party games.

SoulBlade @ Jul 20th 2009 9:38AM

yea because the Wii touts a great camera peripheral like Natal does.

Oh wait..

JXCgunrunna @ Jul 20th 2009 9:44AM

OMG did you guys hear? Zee just unannounced Natal.

Hey Zee, that whole show they did at E3 was Natal's announcement.

Mr Khan is over 9000 @ Jul 20th 2009 11:08AM

They're only discussing possibilities, though. Much like they did and still do for Wii

Neuromancer @ Jul 20th 2009 11:51AM

JXCgunrunna was kind of a douche about it but it is true that they announced Natal, you can't say it hasn't been announced yet. They just haven't announced the real name, the price, the release date, or anything else pertinent.

Neuromancer @ Jul 20th 2009 11:52AM

JXCgunrunna was kind of a jerk about it but it is true that they announced Natal, you can't say it hasn't been announced yet. They just haven't announced the real name, the price, the release date, or anything else pertinent.

R (XBL: Esoteric Lord) @ Jul 20th 2009 9:24AM

Come on Country Folk Star Hero!

PR0F3TA @ Jul 20th 2009 9:24AM

PaRappa the Rapper was indeed a great game, let alone one of the first music ones. I remember it had a unforgiving targeting system, easy to play hard to master sorta way.

but how can project natal benefit besides screaming back at the TV which still seems kinda farfetched to me

cuteSAVAGE @ Jul 20th 2009 9:33AM

PaRappa is great, but you need to look at NanaOn-Sha's other games to get a feel at where they could go with Natal-like technology. Vib and Mojib-Ribbon are great examples of interactive music games.

It's just unfortunate he's thinking along the lines of making a GH/RB-alike just with different styles music and not reaching further into the depths of his creativity and trying to pioneer new ways to interact with music in games.

Neuromancer @ Jul 20th 2009 9:38AM

@Cute Savage

I don't think he said anything about emulating those games. He just said that style of music is played out and he wants to do something different, in fact he specifically says with different gameplay.

cuteSAVAGE @ Jul 20th 2009 9:41AM

Ah, I guess I spaced out at the end of that quote. Hopefully they keep with it then :)

Swagman @ Jul 20th 2009 11:15AM

Long before there was a such thing as "casual gaming", I was enjoying the works of Masaya Matsuura. PaRappa the Rapper was that shit, and if Matsuura-san says he wants to bring something fun and innovative to Natal, I say, "hell yeah, bring it on". If it is anywhere near as good as his past work, then it would appear that Project Natal has officially gotten it's second 'killer app'. Now if only Bemani, the team at Konami responsible for DDR, and Sonic Team, the guys at SEGA responsible for Samba de Amigo, would get off their butts and think up something completely new from each of their respective teams, for Project Natal, we may be looking at a couple more 'killer app' franchises.

Also, I cannot help but wonder what kind of music-inspired, Project Natal game Yuzo Koshiro would come up with. What ever happened to him, anyway?

And while on the subject of visionary, old-school developers. Where the hell is Kenji Eno?! Something like Project Natal is exactly, right up his alley. You would think that seeing a working demo of Project Natal would have been impetus enough to drag the man back out of retirement, and into making new, innovative games . . . you would think. The game industry needs it's Kenji Eno back.

tmmoore_nc @ Jul 20th 2009 9:27AM

Is it just me, or does that picture make Natal look larger than it has in previous pictures?

Prox @ Jul 20th 2009 10:07AM

They're beefing it up so people won't mistake it for a Wiimote and throw it through their TV screens.

shadowbender @ Jul 20th 2009 1:02PM

Except this time it would be their heads going through that T.V. screen.

B3astofthe3ast @ Jul 20th 2009 9:27AM

We need a game that comes with the special k and uses natal to put you in a virtual rave party.

Neuromancer @ Jul 20th 2009 9:38AM

I'd buy it

Littleonetwo @ Jul 20th 2009 9:27AM

Pop Hero... The Ashley Simpson experience

justiceblob @ Jul 20th 2009 11:33AM

Why does everyone bash pop music? I'm getting a bit sick and tired of Rock Band and GH shoving 'edgy' acts down my throat. The ONLY reason I am buying lego rock band is because it features some classic modern and old pop songs.

KR and SingStar have doing the whole pop root for years but neither have enough funding to get decent songs, lets see what the magical people at MTV games can do, emphasis on MTV.

On a lighter note I think the music genre is best suited to Natal. Imagine a game where you have to fit into a stencil of a dance move in time to a beat, i THINK THAT COULD A RIOT AT PARTIES, IN FACT, i'M GOING TO DREAM EVEN MORE ABOUT THAT NOW.

deaftly @ Jul 20th 2009 10:26AM

"Why does everyone bash pop music?"

Because it sucks.

Swagman @ Jul 20th 2009 10:56AM

@ justiceblob - SEGA already made a game like that, it's called Samba de Amigo. It (and Samba de Amigo 2000) were on Dreamcast, and they both are amazing . . . even now, almost a decade later.

Admittedly, the idea is still a very good idea and Project Natal would lend itself excellently to fleshing the idea out and truly taking it to the next level . . . something the Wii version of Samba could not do, unfortunately.

I can imagine something like a cross between Samba de Amigo and Dance Dance Revolution, but worked in such a way as to take full advantage of Project Natal, being quite popular and a whole lot of fun, if done right.

Meh @ Jul 20th 2009 11:18AM

"Because it sucks."
I take it you're talking about the modern "RnB"/"Rap"/"Pop" crossover. Pop rocks.

justiceblob @ Jul 20th 2009 11:22AM

@Deaftly You clearly haven't been listening to very good Pop music. I'm talking Little Boots, Ladyhawke, Frankmusik, Marina and the Diamonds, Annie, la Roux, CSS, VV brown,BoA, Utada, the wonder Girls, ABBA, MADONNA, Sophie Ellis Bexter, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs ( indie dancish, kinda),Florence + and the machine, Santogold, Goldfrapp, LADY GAGA, MICHEAL JACKSON AND THE TING TINGS

Pop music is the most popular genre in the world, one look at charts world wide prooves that. I simply find it odd how this genre of music has been almost entirely overlooked. If developers and publishers want to bring in more casual gamers, particularly female gamers, then this is the genre they should be looking at. I'm sure most women would prefer girls night in singing along to Madonna than pounding a plastic guitar to the beat of a screaming glam rocker.

I admit I have used lots of stereotypes in my argument, e.g women like pop, dislike rock and men prefer rock to pop. But I am sure my argument is more sturdy than simply saying 'pop music sucks'.

MystileArmor @ Jul 20th 2009 11:37AM

Just because pop is popular (hence the name), doesn't mean it's not crap. Personally, I don't like music that's made for the sole purpose of making money. Ninety percent of everything you hear on the radio has an autotuner on it. Not as an effect as T-Pain uses it, but just to correct the imperfections in a vocalists pitch.

Pop musicians hardly write their own songs, and there is so much pressure from record labels to record exactly whatever they want, there hardly is any artists input to the whole thing. There are some exceptions, but not many.

If you like it, good for you. But I'd hardly call that mass-manufactured bullshit good, and personally just because it qualifies as music, doesn't necessarily make it have any artistic value.

Tiptup300 @ Jul 20th 2009 12:47PM

You guys realize "Pop" music isn't really it's own genre. It stands for POPular.

"Pop music is the most popular genre in the world" - hilarious!

Young_Nastyman (a.k.a. Thor von Clemson) @ Jul 20th 2009 2:49PM

@Meh

I love pop rocks!!!

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Jul 20th 2009 9:33AM

damn all that....I'm 6'4" I'm not about to be doing no REAL dance moves or any of that....

SoulBlade @ Jul 20th 2009 9:43AM

you're probably going to have to set your camera up far away if you want the thing to get an image from head to toe. I wonder how this will work out in college dorms.

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Jul 20th 2009 10:55AM

my thoughts exactly....as for the dorms thing....NOT happening...lol

gib @ Jul 20th 2009 1:01PM

@Chris D - "I'm 6'4" I'm not about to be doing no REAL dance moves"

Well, that is okay... I'm white, so I'm not about to be doing no REAL dance moves either.

Josh Riesen @ Jul 20th 2009 1:48PM

Personally, I'm hoping for "Krumpin' Hero". I can do it.

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Jul 20th 2009 3:01PM

oh dear Lord....PLEASE let Krumpin die....lol

Josh Riesen @ Jul 20th 2009 6:34PM

LOL. I'm glad someone fricking got it. That was about to be a wasted joke.

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Jul 20th 2009 9:40PM

lol....if it wasnt for MadTV I wouldnt know what it was tho...lol

Ubiqutous Oxymoron @ Jul 20th 2009 9:46AM

Vict0r the Conduct0r! where u conduct the orchestra, gestural commands et al.

MystileArmor @ Jul 20th 2009 9:51AM

Well, Majed. I think you're onto something. Everyone loves beaver,.. well almost everyone.

Either way, I think they should make a game about Leeroy Thornhill.

Josh Riesen @ Jul 20th 2009 7:20PM

What about Leeroy Jenkins? That takes rhythm.

MystileArmor @ Jul 20th 2009 9:53AM

"why does everyone bash pop music?"

Hahah, cause it sucks? And alot of those "edgy" band you're probably referring to suck as well. Green Day is just as much pop as Ashley Simpson, for example.

MystileArmor @ Jul 20th 2009 9:54AM

(reply disaster)
I partially take that back. Even though Green Day sucks balls, atleast they can play their instruments.

justiceblob @ Jul 20th 2009 11:34AM

Funnily enough almost all of the people I listed write or co-write all of their songs, and/or perform instruments in them.

Isn't this game fun, you throw an insult at pop music and I reply thoughtfully with a counter argument which matches your point and proves you are an ill-informed dumbass :P.

MystileArmor @ Jul 20th 2009 11:47AM

Ashley Simpson co-wrote her songs. That kind of co-writing doesn't really go further as the actual writer asking them "Hey, what topic do you want to sing about"
Or letting them pick between what two verses they like better.

Oh, and fuck off. Call me an ill-informed dumbass on other topics, but as far as music goes, you don't know shit.

Being someone that WORKS in the music industry, anyone with a bit of musical knowledge will tell you you're a fucking retard.

justiceblob @ Jul 20th 2009 12:41PM

Being the janitor at 'we sign the people that play at local dingy clubs' records, doesn't mean you work in the music industry. You are entitled to your own opinion. However, just because you use 90's pop music money-making as your general idea of what pop music is makes that opinion wrong.

Pop music is about finding that one killer hook, that one beat, that one catchy chorus. Any of the those ingredients, or even better all is what makes pop music popular, maybe it has been manufactured. Does that mean it is bad? No. 'Baby One More Time' is probably the most manufactured song ever, does that mean that the hundreds millions of people that like that song are stupid or gullible? No.

deaftly @ Jul 20th 2009 1:59PM

"Baby One More Time' is probably the most manufactured song ever, does that mean that the hundreds millions of people that like that song are stupid or gullible? No."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrjwaqZfjIY

MystileArmor @ Jul 20th 2009 2:45PM

I'm not going to elaborate more as to what I do in the music industry. No point in bragging about anything on the internet, and it will turn into a "my dick is bigger then yours"-argument.

Thanks to idiots like you, I don't bother to turn on the radio anymore.
You're entitled to believe whatever crap you think is the truth. You have fun listening to your Britney's and such. I'll rather listen to some artists that have a bit more integrity and make music because they have the love and the skills to do so.

maveric101 @ Jul 20th 2009 5:51PM

Mystile get off your fucking high horse. why does it matter if your favorite bands have more "integrity" or skill than Britney Spears? the difference between you, and justiceblob & me, is that you are talking about being a fan of the musician, whereas we're talking about being fans of individual songs. yeah, there are some Britney songs i like. so what if she doesn't have "integrity," whatever that means. as long as you enjoy the song, it doesn't fucking matter where it came from.

MystileArmor @ Jul 20th 2009 6:39PM

Well, he was asking why everyone is bashing pop music. I'm just explaining why.
Does all pop suck? No, it didn't used to. Michael Jackson was a talented "pop" musician. So were The Beatles.
It does nowadays though, but I really don't feel like I need to carry on this debate. You like whatever the fuck you want to like. Debating music with someone that likes music such as Britney Spears is like debating business management with a toddler.

Josh Riesen @ Jul 20th 2009 6:52PM

Mystile, don't worry about them. When the big labels crumple under the weight of their old ideas and strategies, people like Britney won't make it far enough to get popular anywhere but a strip club. All will be right, and all these arguments will be moot.

As for you guys who don't care who makes your mental junk food-- Have fun passing that disposable legacy on to your kids when they ask what you listened to when you were their age.

"dad, wasn't that the girl who sang other people's songs like they were hers and then shaved her head because people stopped looking at her because she was fat?"

Yeah, explaining that will be fun.

Pick and choose each song you like. That's fine. Don't care about the integrity of the artist, that's fine. The difference between people like Mystile and me, and maveric101 and justiceblob, is that we'll be PROUD of what we listen to in twenty years, and you'll have nothing to show. Enjoy.