Music brings gaming to the masses

Over the past several weeks, I've seen more and more moms/women carting around those big Rock Band boxes. It seems like I can't shop happily at Target, Fred Meyer or the local mall without seeing one of those big blue/black boxes bouncing out the door in the arms of some lady, no doubt on her way home to rock hard to The Scorpions, Kiss or whatever. Every time I see that box bobbing its way out the door, I can't help but slip into an imaginary space where there's a woman and her pack of friends screaming, singing and having fun. It's pretty much the fantasy world gamers used to imagine they were in, but got so infatuated with arguing over what graphics engine was best and which 10-button controller is more "l337" than the other, that they lost sight of where the industry they were in was going. While developers and hardcore gamers (and marketoids) kept worrying about how much more they could dump into a game, it took simple ideas like Playschool Toy - quality guitars, DDR pads and Wiimotes to truly advance the industry out of a "shoot 'em up state." I like that, I like watching my wife and kids play Carnival Games on the Wii, I like playing Guitar Hero with friends, and most of all, I really dig the accursed Patapon.

Let's start from the top - I am a rhythmless person, can't dance, can't sing. I've known that from the first day I heard mom playing Elvis on the stereo, and I could barely muster up a toe-tap that kept the beat. So rhythm games and me...we rarely get along. I love them, but God do I suck at them. Guitar Hero is a case in point - I can't make it past EASY, while my nephew torments me via IM, letting me know that he's having a hard time on the very last song of HARD level. So it surprised me that I'm actually having fun with Patapon.

Patapon's pretty simple, but pretty fantastic - you're a sort of God who bangs a drum to specific beats, each beat assigned to an action your little tribal dudes will follow. One pattern puts the cute little buggers on the march, while another sets them into combat mode, where they attack giant piggies (hey, we all gotta collect food!), objects or enemies. It's all good stuff.

Probably the "worst" part of Patapon is the music. It's not "worst" in the negative sense of the word - it's the most addictive part of the game. When you're not playing, you're constantly humming it. A walk to the grocery store becomes a ridiculous vision of me singing "Pon Pon Pata Pon" as I go, eliciting looks from even the craziest people on the street.

It may not be an award winner, but damn, it's fun.