"I think many developers and publishers are just focusing on DS but everybody understands [DS' significance in the market] will not go for a long time from now, so everybody trying to find another solution," Matsuura told Edge Online. "But it's very hard to be successful on another platform."

Matsuura went on to say the platform he'd like to explore the most is the PS3, but worries that Sony might not be aggressive enough in the marketplace.

Later this year, Matsuura will be speaking at GameCity and DICE Asia. Maybe he'll be talking about this, maybe he won't. Who knows. Matsuura does, that's who.

Interview: Masaya Matsuura [Edge Online]

"Developers in the East and West should not be too separate," said Matsuura at Develop Conference 2009 in Brighton, Uk. "It should me international, and we need to work with more international artists."

Matsuura stated that he hoped things changed "very soon". The East-West division could actually hurt gaming, he continued. "I'm very concerned about this point, and perhaps it could be bad for the industry." Developers around the world, join hands!

Matsuura: 'East and West must not be divided' [Develop]

The duo also worked on the groundbreaking PlayStation title UmJammer Lammy.

Their latest offering, marching title Major Minor's Majestic March, was released April 24. The game did not make the Media Create weekly top fifty for the 4/20 - 4/26 sales week. According to Japanese site Do Blog, the game didn't get anywhere near the top fifty.

It apparently sold only 600 copies in its first two days on sale. Matsuura has had low sales before — PaRappa sold only 35,000 in its first month. Word of mouth caused that game to ultimately become a smash hit. Three hundred copies of the game were given out to V-Jump readers; however, those numbers should not factor into weekly sales.

We've compared the Do Blog sales tallies with the Media Create ones, and there is a discrepancy between the numbers: Some are lower, some are higher.

ゲームソフトランキング2009年04月20日～04月26日 [ドぶろぐ via チラシの裏でゲーム鈍報]

Video games are a very simple way to enjoy virtual experience. All you need is a TV, a console, a controller, and the software. This is an easy system for everyone compared with other forms of entertainment.

But like Hollywood, in order to keep the customers paying, the industry is using increasingly exaggerated content. Pressing buttons, moving sticks-these are small actions with grand effects. However, I think it is a slight error of judgment in our industry to believe that actions that in reality would carry great responsibility can be carried out in video games without thought for responsibility.

The Wii has come and put a cat amongst the pigeons of this unbalance. The harder you swing the remote, the faster the baseball bat moves. This more organic relation between imagination and reality is easily absorbed.

At the same time we understand that game designs that, for example, require the player to shake the Wii controller strongly to rotate a Tetris block, are unsuitable for input methods like this. The Wii requires a tighter connection between actual and virtual actions. But think! How can we improve on these kinds of obvious connections? That is the hint to make more advanced games.

It's a bit all over the place, but it's hard to fault Matsuura for that — it's a really interesting piece and wonderfully engaging, and certainly worth reading. Sure, it's only one take on the state of games today and he says many things that I'm sure many gamers would vehemently disagree with, but it's one (very passionate) side of the debate on where we are and where we're going.

A Sense of Fun: Anybody Could Be Your Player 1 [Gamasutra]

It is not a simple bubble. The DS successfully launched in many territories simultaneously, but maybe at the end of 2006 to 2007 many titles — sequels — lost [money]. Very few titles are getting much better.

This means, especially for the Brain Training titles or non-gaming content, it is getting difficult right now.

Wii's case is much more difficult. It currently looks as if no third-party title is successful in Japan. So, this means to make a good Wii game requires longer time to make the interaction better.

Matsuura Interview [Games Industry via Go Nintendo]

Mizuguchi: ...What is music? Music has many elements, so how can we cut and separate and remake the parts in the process of game design? So then, game designers have to know what is fun, what is the essence of music?

Matsuura: Essence of music, I don't know. I really don't understand the essence of music. I've been composing music for thirty years, and I still don't understand what music is. But I'm still looking for the certain shape of my music. Anybody who can define the existence of music, I really respect.

Mizuguchi: Yeah, I agree with you. Music is like a universe — many, many elements. Lyrics, chords, rhythm, beats, playing, listening. Emotionally, you feel something. When I was 11 years old, I listened to my first Beatles music. I couldn't understand English, but I felt emotion or something, sort of... I want to love somebody! It's the power of music, of chords... very physical things, very emotional things. Not logic — I don't know, maybe logic. If I understand the lyrics, and it's a new chemistry. Music, we have a long history with music, but new music is coming still. I don't know why. It's a universe. Amazing.

I play drums, not guitar, but I had to PICK (get it?) them up.

MAJESCO ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES 'MAJOR MINOR'S MAJESTIC MARCH'

Legendary Designer Masaya Matsuura and Artist Rodney Alan Greenblat Bring First Marching Band Game Exclusively to the WiiTM System

(BRISTOL, U.K., January 31, 2008) - March to the beat of your own drum as Majesco Entertainment Company (NASDAQ: COOL), an innovative provider of video games for the mass market, today announced Major Minor's Majestic March for the Wii™ home video game console. Developed by NanaOn-Sha, Major Minor's Majestic March marks the return of the creative team behind the renowned PaRappa the Rapper franchise-legendary game designer and multimedia musician Masaya Matsuura and famed New York artist Rodney Alan Greenblat.

"There's something magical about marching bands that truly captures the imagination. The concept of leading a virtual band that's reliant on your musicianship is a perfect fit for the interactive capabilities of Wii," said John Merchant, Marketing Manager, Majesco Europe. "The combined musical and artistic superiority of Matsuura and Greenblat make them a natural choice to deliver this innovative title exclusively to the Wii audience."

Major Minor's Majestic March turns the Wii Remote™ into a "special" baton that the bandleader, Major Minor, uses to keep tempo, recruit new band members and pick up valuable items. While marching through eight whimsical locations that contain various hair-raising events, Major Minor strives to create the most impressive parade ever. Players can add up to 15 different instruments to their dynamic procession—including brass, woodwinds, and percussion—to alter its composition and resulting performance. Players are scored on how well their band maintains its rhythm and manages obstacles that could otherwise throw the procession into disarray. The band keeps tempo to more than 25 popular marching band songs from around the world, composed into original medleys for each stage.

... as far as I'm aware there is no new version in the works. We regularly have our games rated so this may not mean it's actually going to be released but you can always keep your fingers crossed.

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.

The Concept
Musika is a $4.99 casual game for your iPod. The goal is to quickly decipher letters as they appear on screen and click the iPod's center button if identify a letter in the title. Pick the right letter, you get points. Pick the wrong letter, you lose points.

The Good News
You are sure to enjoy the music, since it is your own. You can import individual songs or entire playlists, and sort through your music very easily—it's just as you'd hope a music game on the iPod would work.

Graphics are occasionally quite nice. There are a handful of different animated effects for appearing letters. Most involve glowing fluorescent colors, some spin in 3D, and others even involve leaves (which is just odd).

The Bad News
You know when you are signing up for a new screen name or verifying a purchase online and you have to make out those scrunchy letters to prove you aren't a bot? Put the radio on in the background and that's basically the entire game. It's a strain on your eyes instead of your brain, and I was done after 10 minutes...forever.

A visualization mode looked promising, but just involves your song titles being spelled out on giant letter at a time. It's like the game without the game.

For $4.99 it's tough to bitch because the game is very well assembled for a title running on the iPod. But I was actually excited to load up Matsuura's latest creation—especially with the potential of its integration with my music on the go. But ultimately, the game isn't about the songs you love, but the titles of the songs you love. And in that way, it misses the point.

Matsuura believes that:

Examples of the relationship between music and games are rather shallow. There has been a lot of neglect and apathy. There are many incompetent music directors who cannot truly be described as musicians, since they do not have their own style, they are merely involved in production.

Which is true for most music directors who are not involved in a music-themed game. Nothing quite cheers me up like the soundtrack from Katamari Damacy, and some songs are so popular, they get covered by mindboggling talented people. Never let the music die or it will be like Footloose all over again (except without the dancing). Kim Phu

PaRappa Creator: Game Music "Incompetent" [Next Gen]

While developer NaNaOn-Sha is hard at work on Tamagotchi games and bringing their casual music game Rhythmica to, well, everything under the sun, Matsuura drops hints about another Vib-Ribbon release, this time for the PlayStation Network.

Rhythmica is a very similar idea to Vib Ribbon — it's about analyzing audio and creating a game from that data, but it uses MP3 audio instead of CDs. We are discussing the possibility of making a downloadable version of Vib Ribbon for Sony. But, I don't know yet - Sony only recently launched their downloadable service in Japan, so maybe we need to wait a while before releasing a title with that kind of appeal.

Um, who do I have to kill, bribe or sleep with to get this on the PlayStation Store? I'd love to play some lo-fi Vib-Ribbon with the tracks I've ripped to my PS3. Make it happen, Sony! Michael McWhertor

Q&A: NanaOn-Sha's Matsuura (Parappa) On The State Of Music Games [Gamasutra]

Kicking and punching? That should stay all in the mind.

In addition, the NanaOn-Sha staffer says that the rhythm genre he helped create is on the decline in Japan. That's in contrast to current Western tastes where music titles like Boogie, Rock Band and Guitar Hero are still hot. What's contributing to this downfall? Flat panel TVs, he says, and their delayed displays.

More of Matsuura's GO3 musings at Gamespot. Michael McWhertor

GO3: Make less-violent games: PaRappa creator [Gamespot]