Kotaku: Masaya Matsuura

There Are No Music Games. There Are Only Rhythm Ones.

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 08:00:00 EDT

PaRappa the Rapper designer Masaya Matsuura has been called the father of music games. Thing is, he doesn't believe there are music games. More »

Is WINtA Worth Warming up to?

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EDT

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The father of music games, PaRappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura, is bringing his innovative rhythm game sense to the iPhone. Again. More »

Sexual Healing Is Coming to Video Games [Update]

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 09:00:00 EDT

~~That's right, Marvin Gaye is getting a video game.~~ More »

PaRappa Creator Exploring Platform Options

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:20:00 EDT

The DS has been a juggernaut in Japan, racking up amazing sales. But nothing lasts forever, not even strong platform sales. PaRappa The Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura is looking for a new option for platform development. More »

PaRappa Creator: East And West Should Not Be "Too Separate"

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:00:00 EDT

PaRappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura is an international dude. Heck, he worked with American artist Rodney Greenblat to bring PaRappa to life. He knows the benefits of international collaboration. More »

Major Minor's Majestic March Sold 600 Copies In First Two Days

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT

New Wii rhythm game seems to have the all the ingredients for a music game hit: The reuniting of PaRappa The Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura and PaRappa artist Rodney Greenblat. More »

Fun and the Future: Masaya Matsuura on Gaming Today

Maggie Greene — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:30:00 EDT

Masaya Matsuura of NanaOn-Sha (PaRappa et al.) has a wonderful opinion piece over at Gamasutra on the future of gaming. You may not agree with all of his assertions, but it's nice to read something so passionate on the subject of where gaming is today and where it's headed. Based in part on his DICE 2008 presentation, Matsuura has an obvious fondness for the Wii and the implication for future games: More »

Major Minor's Majestic March E3 Trailer

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:00:00 EDT

You'll probably need a refresher on this one. Major Minor's Majestic March is a Wii game currently in development at Majesco. It's being designed by Masaya Matsuura, with art duties being handled by his old Parappa buddy, artist Rodney Alan Greenblat. It plays a little like Space Channel, except you're conducting an animal marching band. Read those last two sentences over again, let them sink in for a second, and you'll see why this might be one of the quietest, yet most pleasant unveilings of the show. More »

It's "Getting Difficult" For Non-Game DS Games

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:00:24 EST

A while back, Parappa The Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura got a little heat for saying the DS bubble had burst. Now, he's back to clarify! More »

Mizuguchi, Matsuura and Music

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 01:00:56 EST

Rez creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi and PaRappa the Rapper mastermind Masaya Matsuura are smart guys. They say smart things. This time, they're chatting up music — so essential to their games. Dig this exchange: More »

PaRappa and UmJammer: Real Guitar Heroes

Brian Ashcraft — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 01:00:30 EST

Developer NanaOn-Sha has churned out some pretty great music games like PaRappa The Rapper and UmJammer Lammy. Games so great they deserve to be immortalized in musical instruments. Over the holidays, reader Landon found these Parappa guitar picks in Osaka. He writes: More »

Parappa Team Creates Major Minor's Majestic March

Mike Fahey — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 11:20:42 EST

Back in December Majesco announced they were reuniting the Parappa team of artist Rodney Alan Greenblat and musician / game designer Masaya Matsuura for an exclusive Wii title, and now we know that title's title! Major Minor's Majestic March (Mmmm) will see you using your Wiimote as a band leader's baton, helping your adorable animal marching band keep time, recruiting new members, and picking items on the road towards creating the most impressive parade the world has ever seen. The game will feature 8 locations, 15 musical instruments, and over 25 marching band tunes from around the world, composed into original medleys so the player can mix and match instruments to create their own unique sound. Sounds like exactly the sort of whimsical musical concept that made us fall in love with the Parappa series in the first place. Mmmm. More »

No New Vib Ribbon?

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 00:00:48 EST

Back in 2007, game designer Masaya Matsuura mentioned that he was in talks with Sony for a PSN downloadable version of PS1 cult classic Vib Ribbon. The original game loaded into the PS1's RAM and let players use their own music CDs to play off. The game would generate unique levels based on the music. So when a Vib Ribbon appeared on the PEGI (Pan European Game Information) homepage, the remake seemed all systems go. Not so fast! Says a Sony spokesperson: More »

Musika Impressions

Mark Wilson — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 18:00:47 EDT

Musika is a new iPod game from PaRappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura (click that link for Ash's brilliant interview published just earlier today). In that article, Matsuura says this about iPod games:

Almost all the other games are basic and limited — like a simple puzzle. Our game will be very advanced compared to the others. This will last.

And it's tough to agree. More »

PaRappa Music Designer on Game Music

Kim Phu — Tue, 15 May 2007 15:40:00 EDT

Is there something in the water, or have all the game developers unanimously agreed to let their egos inflate to crazy new heights? PaRappa the Rapper designer Masaya Matsuura says that (according to Next Gen), "games and music have failed to conjoin in imaginative ways in the years since his seminal hit." This after Shane Kim from Microsoft Game Studios' was duly unconvinced by PS3's Home 3D environment. More »

Vib-Ribbon For PSN A Possibility

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 04 May 2007 21:40:13 EDT

Masaya Matsuura, creator of PaRappa The Rapper and import-only release Vib-Ribbon, recently sat down with Gamasutra to talk about future projects. More »

PaRappa Creator Wants Less Violence, More Rhythm, Faster TVs

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 19:20:25 EDT

Masaya Matsuura, creator of the PlayStation rhythm hit PaRappa the Rapper, says the industry should stop focusing on "X-rated" violent fare to attract new gamers to the medium, according to a report from Gamespot. Praising Nintendo's philosophy of attracting non-traditional gamers, Matsuura said at the recent Australian GO3 conference, that "making good games that everybody can play is a very high priority." More »