In a world ever changing there are tons of new games, as well as styles of game play. Today, we will go over some of the current long-running rages and some of the not-so-well-known but addictive and skill-testing games.
First is the ever-so-popular Guitar Hero & Rock Band phenomena. These games have managed to spawn a massive rage in the community over the past few years by bringing a wide array of music into the living rooms and game rooms of gamers as young as five to perhaps gamers in their mid-fifties. With this, developers like Activision, Neversoft and MTV Games have managed to breathe new life in today's younger generation by teaching them more about music culture and possibly inspiring them to pick up a legitimate instrument.
Ok, so now that's covered the main basics of the music genre, let's go into the more challenging reflexive games on the market. These games range anywhere from flight simulation, racing and shooting games. What's the big deal, you ask? Well, for starters gamers get to use their own personal music collection, and if that's not cool enough for you, then let it also be noted that the stages and difficulty of these stages varies from song to song. Where one might want to relax on a psychedelic drift down a virtual highway, they might play, for example, say something from Chicago. Other users looking for a more intense challenge would maybe go the route of metal or psy-trance.
One example of these games is Audiosurf, available on the PC platform. Audiosurf is a racingsimulation game where the track and speed at which you move changes with the beat and tempo of the song. The basic idea in this game is to gather blocks of colors into a pattern and dodge various obstructions. Although there are various modes of play, including co-op, as well as styles of play, there is a very distinctive difference when using the mouse as opposed to the keyboard. There is also an online leader board and community tracks section (where users submit and share tracks they made). This game will not be found in stores; however, your best bet is to Google it or find the demo version from your preferred Bit-Torrent engine.
Another example of the customizable and addictive music games is Beat Hazard for the Xbox 360. Beat Hazard uses the same technology as Audiosurf as far as using your own mp3's to create a new and exciting challenge for the eclectic gamer. Beat Hazard in a nutshell is a lot like Geometry Wars, or asteroids. It is a fast-paced flight shooter where the user's music (which can be played off the Xbox, connected storage device or streamed over the network) determines the amount, and type of enemies, as well as their attack paths. Cool features about this game include an awesome co-op mode, leader boards and "bragging rights "(a feature in the main menu that rubs your high score in the faces of all your friends). Beat Hazard is available under the Indie games section of the Xbox Live market place for 400 Microsoft points. Definitely worth it for those who would enjoy a more intense version of Geometry Wars with better graphics and music.
Finally, for gamers on the go who love addictive games, well, you are in luck: The iPhoneiTouch has released a game in the app store called BeatRider touch. It plays a lot like Dance Dance Revolution, with your finger tips, and also gives you the ability to... yup, you guessed it, use your own music. There are two available versions of this game: the "lite" version (that allows you to store one song on your iPhone or iTouch at a time) and the full version. (that allows you to store up to 20 songs at a time). The various difficulty levels, and the ability to upload, and download music to and from the BeatRider community makes this headphone-cranking tap fest a must for any reflexive music-loving gamer on the go.
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