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]

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.

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PaRappa the Rapper Chop Chop Master Onion's Rap Showdown Finalists. [Sony Underground]

We must thank these fine people for a live action version of PaRappa the Rapper. Now if they could just explain what the hell is going on. Actually, we can. This is Andreas Wieslander's Bachelor's Thesis, who enlightens:

It's a project about marketing games through live performances, in order to focus on the games feel, rather than its graphics and sfx. This idea has been applied to the game PaRappa the Rapper to PlayStation.

Hit the jump for the original version. Brian Ashcraft

Way before Burger King got in the video game business, there was the McDonald's PaRappa the Rapper game. Just check out a clip from back with Sony and McDonald's (now B.F.F. with Nintendo) were thick as theives. According to an old GameSpot article, the game was a PS2 demo that contined one-level versions of Ape Escape 2001 and PaRappa the Rapper 2. The game takes place in a McDonald's, complete with McDonald's logos shoehorned in. Yum! Brian Ashcraft

PaRappa Loves Them Tasty Burgers [GameSetWatch]