StrangeClimber, a Virtual Playground

I was checking out my Twitter feed earlier today when I saw PC Gamer posted their best free games of the week. Naturally, my eyes widened in gaming greed when I saw "free," so I decided to check it out. After checking out the selection of five games, the first one on the list, StrangeClimber, interested me enough to give it a whirl. Perhaps it was their shoutout to Far Cry 3's radio towers that did it?

Anyways, StrangeClimber, developed by Strangethink, utilizes procedurally-generated geometry to create your very own Aggro Crag to master. Well, other than the smoke and falling obstacles. The  objective is simple - climb. There are always multiple ways to get to the top, and because it is randomly designed each time, you'll always have a new tower to scale.

First off, there is no fall damage, so if (and/or when) you teeter off an edge, the only penalty is having to start back from square one. If you are having difficulty with a certain layout, pressing "G" on the keyboard will reset the current design with a new one (and start you back on the ground). Controls are very simple: WASD + mouse for movement and camera panning, Space Bar/Left Click for jumping, and Shift/Right Click to sprint. Holding the jumping key longer will result in a higher jump, which will be necessary in order to make vertical and horizontal jumps possible.

There is a pretty mellow trance-like tune in the background, which is soothing at first, but may become monotonous over a length of time. As for the gameplay, this may not be the game for you if you are easily prone to raging. Because of the touchy controls, it is fairly easy to misplace your footing and plummet toward the ground. There were times that I felt like I should be able to make a full jump (didn't see any geometry above me), but I was only able to make a partial jump. The game textures can also sometimes make it a little difficult to tell exactly how objects are extending, though panning the camera with the mouse should help alleviate this.

I'd love for there to be perhaps another mode or option to make quick saves during your journey up the tower. I think this would help to ease those with less patience that may otherwise just ragequit after a couple falls (especially as you get far up). I have not yet made it up a tower myself, though I've only had about an hour of experience with the game thus far.

Overall, this is a great virtual parkour climbing experience. This kinda feels like one of those games that could work on the Oculus Rift. It'll take a little while to get a grasp on your jumping limitations, and you'll experience plenty of those critical jumps where it's "all or nothing," but I find this to be an enjoyable free-to-play jungle gym. I'm not totally sure what happens when you make it to the top, but based on what I've experienced along the journey, I can imagine it'll certainly be rewarding either way.

You can either play StrangeClimber online here (it uses the Unity engine, and you'll need to have to have the web player downloaded), or you can scroll down a bit and download the standalone game on the same page.

And miles to go before I leap...

Goooooooooooal!

I was catching up on a couple of posts via the Blaugust reel when I came across a post on Byx's Lock and Bolt blog about to-do lists in gaming. She remarked on re-discovering a gaming notebook that contained many of her WoW notes and goals which had been lost by time. Naturally, we all will generally have some goal in mind should you decide to play a certain title long-term, but do you actually write them down?

I find MMO titles much easier to put together certain goals which you'd like to accomplish. This genre of gaming usually adopts a large set of systems in place in order to cater to a large group of players, and seemingly overwhelm users with a crap-ton of stuff to keep us entertained and playing that specific title. While other games do have their own ways to keep us playing, MMOs seem to pick and choose various elements from other genres, and ball them together with a fresh roll of duct tape.

That being said, most of my goal-forming with LOTRO has been associated with an annual episode of the LOTRO Academy podcast in which Branick, Pineleaf, Mysteri, and Draculetta discuss how/if their goals from the prior year had been met, and explain goals which they'd like to accomplish for the following year (listen to the 2014 episode of this here). Listeners can then post their goals in the comment section below. It's nothing necessary, but it is kinda fun to see what others come up with, and how close they were to reaching their prior goals. At least it certainly reflects on your gaming habits, and what kind of time you can devote toward reaching those goals.

Outside of MMOs, I used to do a decent amount of note-taking when it came to Diablo 2. This mostly came in the form of the online play via Battle.net, and while it was not heavy on the goal-making, did include a lot of items I had on mule characters (switching toons too often/quickly would sometimes kick you off the server). If there was a particular boss I was farming, I would sometimes write down the loot for each run. I can remember in particular doing a fairly large project where I would continually grind the Countess in Act 1, and take note of the rune(s) that dropped. I suppose these aren't really good examples of a to-do list, but I would often relay the noted data on a forum, so I guess it was more of a to-post list. Still, notetaking is notetaking.

At my current stage of casual gaming, I am not really doing any to-do lists on a physical notebook space (nor really on a virtual one). With technology these days, it feels just as easy to open up Notepad or something and jot any tasks down, but as someone who occasionally goes on a jaunt of writing, I can still appreciate a good notebook by your side. I think in-game goal tracking has also improved as we get more intuitive UIs introduced into games (or are introduced through game mods), next to much simpler systems in the past (some of which may necessitated the need for an out-of-game journal to keep track of stuff).

As gamers, we pick up that goal-oriented trait through our gameplay. Some virtual worlds are designed to make those finish lines very linear, while others (ie open-word games) are much more loosey-goosey and allow for flexible strategies to reach those goals. Either way, we become rather apt at identifying the situation, and address as such with our gamer tact. Whether you are there for the journey or its conclusion, we all seem to have some goal in mind. Hopefully a big part of that is just having fun with the experience.

Check out Byx's blog, Lock and Bolt!

Gaming Questionnaire Hype!

Well, I've seen several others complete this gaming questionnaire created by Jasyla over at Cannot by Tamed, so I decided to jump onto the bandwidth...err wagon, of which many Blaugust members have completed. There could be some things I say here that I have previously mentioned, but this is a pretty broad set of gaming questions, so that'd probably be expected. Anyways, on to the queries!

1) When did you start playing video games? 

The the best of my knowledge, I started with educational titles in my elementary school computer lab, so that was probably early-mid 90s. I know, I'm kind of a youngin', deal with it.

2) What is the first game you remember playing?

If you're counting educational titles, the ones that stick in my head are Math Blaster and Word Munchers. If not, one of the first I can recall was Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, though I may have played some kiddy games before that.

3) PC or Console? 

PC...I have owned a couple of consoles, but the time spent consoling it up is likely a drop in the bucket next to the time spent PC gaming.

4) XBox, PlayStation, or Wii? 

None of the above. The latest console I own is the Nintendo Gamecube. I do think the Wii was pretty revolutionary at the time, and liked how it was geared toward family entertainment.

5) What’s the best game you’ve ever played?

I think the best games I've played are not just those that I have enjoyed playing, but also go beyond the in-game barrier. Diablo 2 was not just a title that I'd enjoy spending countless hours mashing on my mouse and keyboard, but it also gave me my first true experience with a forum community. I was not only a member over at D2Sector, but also moderated for several years. As such, it was akin to a volunteer experience that I feel helped give me a better ability to deal with people through online conversations, through the good and the bad (still love reading a good bit of drama, get your popcorn ready!).

For the same kind of feeling, LOTRO is also one of the best games I have played. Being an MMO, it gave me a good chance to meet all sorts of new people, both in and out of game. LOTRO generally has a more mature crowd, so my experiences have mostly all been good. I have also been fortunate enough to join up with the good peoples at LOTRO Players and do a bit of writing and all that good stuff, which would have never been possible if I never had played LOTRO.

6) What’s the worst game you’ve ever played?

Hard for me to pinpoint this one. I generally always look at the good in the game, and because I do not usually participate in gaming that had been a burden financially, I usually don't feel like I was ripped off by buying or acquiring the game. However, Duke Nukem Forever was a little "eh" for the 15 years or so it had of development. I was not too hot with the limit on weapons, when I wasn't exactly sure what I would need for the challenge ahead.

7) Name a game that was popular/critically adored that you just didn’t like. 

Not sure of an exactly game, but I do know that real-time strategies are not my cup of tea. The couple I have tried (most just a demo thing) generally made me think more than I'd like to for a gaming experience. I have nothing against people that do like them...like I said, just not my cup of tea. Maybe one example of this is that Starcraft is probably one of the biggest strategy titles I've played, and I spent a good chunk of that playing their Use Map Settings (UMS) maps that involved RPG gameplay. Go figure.

MOBAs are another genre I'm not too hot over...maybe it's because both of these genres are so competitive, and I am not a competitive gamer.

8) Name a game that was poorly received that you really like. 

While I don't think it bombed per se, I rather enjoyed Hellgate: London. Once again, an RPG shooter stole my heart (or at least a nice big chunk of gaming time). This post-apocalyptic shooter was later made into a F2P online title (at least in Korea, I believe), and I'm not sure of its current status. I always stuck with the original offline CD-ROM like a boss. I enjoyed both RPG and shooter elements, and there was plenty of ground to cover (and re-cover, and re-cover...love me some grinding).

9) What are your favourite game genres? 

I would say my favorite genre is the RPG. There's just a cool feeling when you start from nothing, and can acquire new skills and equipment throughout the entirety of the gaming experience. By slowly building your abilities up, you can basically control the difficulty. I also like hybrid RPG titles, like the action RPG (Diablo series) or the similar shooter RPG (Borderlands series).

10)Who is your favourite game protagonist? 

Well, I suppose most of the story NPCs (part of the epic) in LOTRO could fall under this umbrella, and even just some that you meet in the quest zones. Aren't Horn and Nona a-dork-able? While I have not even played Bioshock Infinite, but from what I've seen (including the ending...woops), I think it's safe to say that both Booker and Elizabeth are pretty neat characters.

11) Describe your perfect video game. 

Toss me an open-word experience that is constantly in flux, add some humor and well-enriched NPCs, don't make me think too much, and I'm good.

12) What video game character do have you have a crush on? 

If I said Borderlands, you'd probably assume Moxxi. What if I said Tannis? Sure, she's a little...out there. But hey...uh...yeh.

13) What game has the best music? 

I'll admit that I do not listen to in-game music as much as some others may, but when I do, the background to the Elder Scrolls games are pretty sweet. I really don't listen to the music/any in-game sounds in LOTRO, but don't tell anybody about that. It's not because it's bad (from what I've listened to, it's enjoyable), but I usually either have my own music on in the background, or I'm multi-tasking and maybe listening to a podcast/Twitch stream.

14) Most memorable moment in a game: 

The first time I beat Diablo in Diablo 2. I have discussed it in the past, and while I have had many great moments in gaming, I think it was just my age and the environment I was in that gave me such a cool memorable impression. I have also beat Diablo in the first game since, but because it came several years later, it did not give me that same experience.

15) Scariest moment in a game: 

Yep, I'm looking at you, F.E.A.R. Never had I seen something usually so innocent turned in a mind-wrecking horror, exacerbated by playing in the dark. Needless to say, I only hoped I didn't dream of descending ladders, only to be met by Alma that night.

16) Most heart-wrenching moment in a game:

I'm not sure I have a specific moment in time. Now if you are talking about my run of Bioshock where I went all out with the wrench, then there you have it. Wrench Jockey for life!

17) What are your favourite websites/blogs about games? 

With #Blaugust, I have been reading more blogs than I have in the past (many/most which are gaming related). Prior to that, I was pretty partial to LOTRO Players, and other than that, I just Google stuff when I want to know.

18) What’s the last game you finished? 

Hard to say when I play so many open-ended games, plus MMOs (which really don't have endings...until they pull the plug). I've technically finished Skyrim, but that's not gunna stop me from raiding more dungeons and caves, and do more unnecessary leveling as much as I can. I'm also doing another run of Far Cry 3 on a higher difficulty, and have mostly been just messing about lately.

19) What future releases are you most excited about?

I do not necessarily hype over new releases. I'll normally get around to playing games once they are discounted enough, or free (Oregon Trail hype!). That being said, I am looking forward to free-to-play games such as Trove, and I think I may be interested in trying out Everquest Next.

20) Do you identify as a gamer? 

Of course I identify myself as a gamer. I play games, and as such can call myself a gamer. I don't go around in public shouting at everyone, "HI THERE I'M A GAMER, MAN IT'S PRETTY WARM TODAY," but that doesn't stop me from enjoying video games on my own time.

Similarly, I don't go around telling everyone that I'm a breather, eater, and a sleeper, but I do all those too. Well, at least the first two.

21) Why do you play video games?

I think that I enjoy participating in an interactive virtual environment, where I don't have to be a professional or perfect to enjoy. If I screw up, oh well - there's a respawn. Overall, it's just something fun to do to escape the realities that exist outside the door, plus I sometimes get to meet some cool people along the way. While I can't say I've met m(any) outside the real door, just chatting or talking to what are allegedly actual humans has been a blast. Sure, it's not traditional human contact, but I figure we'll all be robots in five years anyways.

Buckets for a Cure?

If a picture is worth a thousand words, could a

video be worth...$15.6 million dollars?

So yesterday I was doing my usual perusal of the web (or maybe I was finishing up yesterday's blog post? idk), when I was told to jump on Facebook. I don't really use Facebook as much these days as I may have used to in the past (*grabs walker* back in my day, we had to type a "the" in the front, and only us college folk could use it). Upon loading the page, I noticed that my sister posted a video doing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Well, that's cool. As I watched it, she got to the challengers. Wait...did she just say my name?

Yeppers. I was nominated to complete the challenge (and/or donate to support the ALS Association). Since I'm not in a current financial spot to be donating money, I decided to take on the challenge. I'm no Speaker of the House, but I also decided to add a little context behind the challenge prior to showing the video of dunking myself.

I know a lot of people are extremely opposed to the idea of this challenge. How can dumping a bucket of ice water over your head help - it's just a waste of water! Well, you probably got me on the water bit, though I'm sure there's more water somewhere out there. As for the idea, it started out as a general charity challenge. Eventually, Florida resident Charles Kennedy decided to gear his challenge toward supporting ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease) research on July 15. From there, it took on a life of its own, and has been sweeping across the Internet in a viral sensation.

While it's generally expected that many will additionally donate money to the ALS Association, perhaps not everyone has that same luxury. Still, that didn't stop many from keeping this social media sensation going, spreading from chalengee to the next group of challengers. From what I last heard, the ALS Association had received $15.6 million dollars, as compared to $1.8 during the same time period last year. If it's for a good cause, what's really so bad about spreading awareness through a social campaign craze like this?

People are being entertained, and donating at the same time. If you are not a fan, don't worry - it'll eventually pass just like any online viral sensation. In the meantime, deal with it.

Well, below is my video for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge:

I was pleased with how it came out, other than having to hear my own voice (from what I hear, we all seem to hate hearing our voices recorded). It had been awhile since I have busted out the good 'ol Windows Movie Maker (used to use it when I made videos on Youtube from another era), so needless to say I was pretty psyched when I got to bust out a transition animation (what do you think is more lame, WMM transitions, or Comic Sans font?).

Anywho, just something a little different than gaming for today. If you would like to read more about ALS or should you decide to donate to support ALS research, head on over here.

Have you ever taken on some type of challenge to help support or raise awareness toward a charity/group? How do you feel about these viral experiments? Share below!

A Trove of Voxels

I think I'm falling into the same boat as some other fellow Blaugust participants where daily postings aren't really my thing. It makes me feel a little rushed to make sure and get a post out every day, and some days I just don't have anything I really need to post about. That being said, I will do my best to continue posting daily in August as part of this blogging experiment (check out all the great posts at the Blaugust Anook). Beyond that, I can hopefully keep some form of blogging going - I'd like to say a couple times a week, but perhaps my goal is at least once a week, assuming I have something to discuss. I'd also like to continue doing posts at LOTRO Players, of which I have not been doing much lately (perhaps I've spent some of that time thinking and writing stuff for this blog instead).

So lately I've been trying out a bit of the Trove alpha after someone pointed me to a giveaway on Twitter. This game will be a free-to-play voxel RPG, and is currently in development by Trion (Rift, Defiance, ArcheAge). While I have never played Minecraft, it definitely seems to share many of the same blocky-pixelated aspects. I have also tried a couple hours of Landmark (a more realistic voxel builder in development by SOE), but I was having laggy issues up the wazoo. Fortunately, I have not had those issues thus far with Trove, and seems to operate pretty smoothly on my laptop.

Just like Minecraft, Trove currently offers a couple of ways to play the game. From what I have experienced so far, the combat system is very simple, and seems to work as it should (for the most part). I have gravitated toward the gunslinger class (I generally prefer ranged classes), and have a couple of skills at hand. As it is now (other than the main firing skill), they work on a kind of rudimentary refilling stamina orb. As this is just the alpha, I'm sure it will be developed further, but I would expect it to remain a pretty simple action combat experience.

The other big activity in this game, which gives it a lot of depth and aims toward the creative crowd, is the building system. Simply by hitting the Tab key, you will switch to the building mode. From here, you can use the right mouse key to quickly "harvest" the terrain (or use your attacks from your combat mode to harvest these or other landscape objects). You can then put the terrain blocks on your hotbar and go wild building (there are areas called cornerstones that you can call your own and build there so other players cannot destroy it...essentially the housing system).

Get your hard hat on...master constructor at work!

Crafting is also available in the game by building stations to place in your cornerstone. You can then craft various items for either yourself or decoration items for your housing. I have personally not delved much into crafting, so unfortunately I don't really have anything else to say on that subject.

When I first heard about Trove, I was excited to give it a try. I like to have different "types" of MMOs at my disposal (ex: LOTRO as my story-driven title, Rift as my WoW-esque choice, Neverwinter as an action-driven experience). I have not really tried out a voxel title yet, and I think the addition of the RPG/combat elements is a nice touch to cater toward different types of players. From what I have experienced so far, I'll be happy to add Trove to my collection when it comes time for the live release.

As Trove is currently in alpha, I would expect at least one wipe for whenever it decides to move into the next phase of development. If you wish to give it a try, you can try to sign up on their website. They will sometimes also post alpha keys on their Twitter.

Whozits and Whatzits Galore!

I'm not exactly sure where my desire to "COLLECT ALL THE THINGS!" began. Perhaps it started with Diablo 2, especially when I started to delve into the mods. This normally brought about hundreds of new items, cube recipes, and other random stuff to collect. As game modifications increased storage space, it became much easier to ignore inventory management, and hoard all the shinies.

Since then, if a game I'm playing utilizes some kind of random collectible system, chances were I'd usually be interested in procuring the goods - at least to some limit. There were times that I've had to resort to the wisdom of the Internet to find those last couple collectibles (for example, the packages from some of the Grand Theft Auto games). Others I'd probably be to stubborn to look at a "cheat sheet" (I need to go back to Far Cry 3 and go idol hunting). However you decide to play the collectible game (that is, if you do), it's a system that I think will only grow as developers need to add a little extra mini-game to keep their users playing.

All random collectibles will henceforth be known as...dinglehoppers!

I suppose there are two kinds of collectibles - functional and aesthetic. Functional items work to improve your character or unlock some game feature upon discovery. These are the kind that any player would enjoy collecting, whether they be completionists or gameplay-driven folk. Going back to Grand Theft Auto III, collecting certain tiers of packages will unlock free weapons at your hideout, making it much easier to build up an arsenal. Meanwhile, aesthetic items are there simply to be collected because...they were there. These are directly completionist-driven, and do not go toward character improvement. They may reward an achievement, or perhaps provide background story (think of the audio recordings in the Bioshock series).

Yes, I'd rather collect shiny dots on the ground than animated creatures

As for myself, I will generally prefer the functional collectibles. Rift offers a couple different collection systems. Artifacts (functional) and non-combat companions (aesthetic) are two that come to the top of my head. In general, non-combat pets are not something I'm too keen about having to procure...if it happens, it happens. However, the artifact system in Rift got me really addicted to just running around the landscape in a zone, while scouring the ground for little shiny trinkets on the ground. Some of the lower-level guild quests may have asked me to find 300 artifacts, and I'd happily jump around the zones, finding hot spots with these little suckers.

All in all, you can't go wrong with a good collectible system. I'd say at least including a functional item-collecting system is worth it, as it'll get the players doing a bit of exploring, and be rewarded upon success. Adding an aesthetic system might be considered "fluff" to some players, but the completionists will approve of an additional hunt toward their 100%. Depending on where the items may be hidden, it will also get the players hunting across the entire game map, and serve as another means to extend time spent with a specific title. Give 'em a hook, attach a nice tasty collectible bait, and those fishies will be hoppin'!

How do you feel about in-game collectibles? Are you a completionist? Share below!

That Sweet Beat is a Treat

While checking comments, Welshtroll noted on my bit about Really Big Sky (space shoot-em-up), of which it reminded him a bit of Beat Hazard. Being a rhythm space shooter, it made me think about rhythm-based games in general.

Fortunately, I never really had the same problem as Chris Penn's Footloose character - rhythm has generally been fairly easy for me to attain. This is not to say my ability to dance (or lack thereof) works the same way. Still, identifying a beat has always been pretty fun, and has helped me during my stint with band in elementary, middle, and high school (I was a trumpeteer - we had one job...be louder).

I will note that I've only seriously played two rhythm games, both essentially the same pure rhythm games - Stepmania and Flash Flash Revolution (FFR). If you have ever played Dance Dance Revolution, these two games are cut from the same cloth. They all utilize directional-based "moves" that are associated with the rhythm from the background music. It's one of those games that are easy to learn, hard to master. Oh, and did I mention that the two games are free?

Stepmania

So what is it about these games that I enjoy so much? There's a combination of things going on that when paired together, make a pretty fun gaming experience. First off, there's music constantly going on in the background. Because you can pick from a list of songs on FFR and basically try to find any song on the web for Stepmania, you are basically setting yourself up a playlist. Next, the actual gameplay tests your ability to quickly scan the incoming notes, and react with the appropriate keystrokes (yes, I do play these via keyboard, though I believe you can set a dance pad up for Stepmania). This is an ultimate evaluation of your hand-eye coordination. With practice, it eventually becomes much easier to recognize certain patterns of notes, and react accordingly.

Just one of many pages of selectable songs in FFR

While Stepmania is a single-player offline download, Flash Flash Revolution is a browser-based flash FFR sets you up with an ranking system that lets you compare your account with other users on the site. As a non-competitive gamer, I could care less if someone beats my scores, so fortunately it really doesn't matter what your rank is when it comes to accessing the roughly 2,000 songs on their database. As long as you can access the web and got Adobe Flash, you're good to go.
game. As such,

Stepmania is perfect for those times when you are unable to connect to the web (whether that be by choice or not) and still feel like messing around with some rhythm-based action. It will take a little more effort to start playing, as you will need to build up your own list of songs by downloading them off the web. Fortunately, there are many song packs out there that make it easy to start building up a library. You'll soon have a bustling selection (if you can think of a song, someone probably made a stepfile out of it). If your hard drive isn't all that big, just keep an eye on your folder to make sure you aren't using up too much available space. As each download includes multiple elements (song, step file, often a graphic, etc), you may want to make yourself a limit of songs at one time if space is a consideration.

I have tried my hand at some other rhythm games. For a brief time, I did have my swing at Rockband, which gave me a taste of group rhythm gaming. Whether it was guitar (rhythm hand-eye coordination), drums (straight up beat), or vocals (melody-based pitch contest), any part was generally enjoyable alongside a good group of friends. I believe I have also tried out Audiosurf, which plays on action-based rhythm. This game puts you in control of a ship, and tasks you with navigating a virtual "staff" of notes, creating a path to the rhythm of the song in the background.

Hybrid rhythm-based games always seem to be a pretty unique title, and are enjoyable for me to at least watch. Some of these that I have seem people play over on Twitch (which I won't go on about the new rules about music in VODs thing) include Sequence and Crypt of the NecroDancer. Both play as rhythm RPG games, which appeals to me as a pretty neat hybrid. Sequence is basically a cross between a Stepmania game and any traditional RPG. Enemy encounters consist of an arrow-based Stepmania-esque battle, which you control three screens - one is the enemy attack, which you must match the moves or loose health. The second controls your mana, refilling it if you hit the arrows accordingly. Finally, the third one is your spell window, casting offensive or defensive spells to either harm the enemy or heal/shield yourself. It gets pretty insane early on if you decide to pick higher difficulty battles.

Sequence

You know you're on a roll in Necrodancer when the
floor starts to light up

Meanwhile, Crypt of the NecroDancer is a straight-up rhythm-based dungeon crawler. Sounds neat? Plays even cooler. With a great soundtrack by indie game electronic music legend Danny Baranowsky, you navigate the depths of a labyrinth, slaying all the evils within, and upgrading your equipment with the spoils. Oh, and you must do all of this while moving your character to the beat of the music. If you maintain a "groove chain," you'll rack up plenty of gold to spend at the shopkeepers (who happen to be opera singers?). This is probably one of the coolest and most unique implementations of hybrid rhythm gaming.

Whatever your tastes may be, most people generally enjoy music. This gives rhythm-based gaming a pretty wide audience. Ever been to an arcade and seen one of those DDR machines? They always seem to be right in the front, with a crowd of people standing around and watching someone stepping up a storm. It's an intoxicating blend of music, rhythm, and perspiration (not to mention that food court pizza). Whether you have the aptitude or not to mess around with rhythm gaming, it's an awesome genre to at least participate both visually and aurally.

Do you enjoy rhythm-based gaming? What do you feel it brings to the gaming community? Feel free to share in the comments below!