E3 2010 - Dancing Like a Master
posted Thursday Jun 17, 2010 by Scott Ertz
Anyone who is a fan of the rhythm genre of gaming should know the name Naoki. He is the creator of the genre, responsible for the Bemani series that defined what music games would be - Dance Dance Revolution, ParaParaParadise, beatmania and much more. Naoki was on hand for the Konami media briefing at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles to talk about his newest addition to the genre.
Dance Masters is a dancing simulator similar to Dance Central, which was shown off at Microsoft's media briefing earlier in the week. The separator is in the classic Naoki feel. Instead of just learning the dance moves from the screen and following along, there are shadows or silhouettes that show you what upcoming moves will be, similar to the arrows in other Bemani titles.
Hit the break for more info on the game.
Naoki then proceeded to "demo" the game, including ParaPara-style arm movements and DDR-style dancing, bringing the two together successfully for the first time. The demo was interesting, as it is clear Naoki rarely plays his own games (his is the musical mastermind behind them) but was certainly worth seeing.
It is a possibility that this game could actually evolve the way the dance games are thought about. They believe this so strongly that they affectionately refer to it as Dance Dance Evolution.
What do you guys think? Is DDR dead or could this game revitalize the genre? Let us know in the comments below.
Also, don't forget to check out PLuGHiTz Live! Radio Thursday night @ 9PM Eastern for our Nintendo and Konami recap show where we will break down this topic.