Music games have become a genre of their own. Players actively participate in these video games as members of a music band or solo performers.
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The Nominees:
ROCK BAND (X360, PS3, PS2)
Developer: Harmonix
Publisher: MTV Games
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Are you ready to rock like never before? That is the main burning question for everyone out there when they go to pick up Rock Band. Relying on a band to perform some of the greatest selections of music ever put into one place is one of the major draws to the game. You have the opportunity to play solo with another band, have just a few friends in place of their favorite instruments or have a full on band to jam out to great songs of the past. You obtain fans for how well you do and lose them if you suck. Will you become the greatest band on the planet or just that band at the local bar?
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GUITAR HERO 3: LEGENDS OF ROCK (X360, PS3, Wii, PS2)
Developer: Vicarious Visions / Neversoft
Publisher: Red Octane
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Shredding the guitar is one of the greatest hobbies you could ever have. With Guitar Hero, you have always had the ability to play some incredibly complex songs with just a few button pushes. Guitar Hero 3 is no different, except with slicker graphics and an insaner track list for you to literally break your fingers without the blood drops from cutting your fingers on the strings. Battling your friends for guitar supremacy has never been more fun. With a new battle mode where you can demolish the playing ability of your rivals increases the player versus player mentality of a rock off like never before.
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DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION UNIVERSE (X360)
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
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Dance Dance Revolution Universe features the same gameplay that we've seen in every DDR game since the beginning: step on the arrows in time with the music. But as anyone who is a serial player of DDR knows, this simple task just doesn't seem to get old. DDR Universe takes advantage of this fact and incorporates your favorite DDR gameplay with some pretty cool new features. Among them were a huge list of new songs, updated graphics, and expanded multiplayer modes. DDR Universe also featured downloadable content via Xbox Live to keep the party going. Songs from this title included everything from "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugar Hill Gang to the theme from Castlevania. Even though, fundamentally, all DDR games are the same, you can really see the progression of the series though the years by its evolving visual style and expanding music library. DDR Universe definitely kept people stepping, and when you're a franchise as well-known as DDR, isn't that all that matters?
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BOOGIE (Wii)
Developer: EA Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
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Could you really boogie to Boogie? Well, that depends on how you get down. Instead of stepping quickly or jumping around on a mat, Boogie helps you get your rhythm fix by waving your arms around to the music. The game challenges you to get a real feel for the songs and move around in a way that reflects the tempo of the song. You can also strike poses and do special flashy moves for extra points. And as if the rhythm-based gameplay wasn't enough of a draw for this game, there's also karaoke. The game comes pre-bundled with a mic so you can sing along to a pretty good song catalog that includes everything from the Jackson 5 to Jamiroquai. Boogie lets players really express themselves by allowing them to both dance and sing. There's even a multiplayer mode that lets players have a dance and sing-off! Does it get better then that?
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JAM SESSIONS (DS)
Developer: Plato
Publisher: Ubisoft
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Jam Sessions lets you rock out in a whole new way by turning your DS in to a virtual acoustic guitar. It's not really a game so much as it's a super fun tool for making your own music and learning how to sing and play other artists' tunes. You can write and perform songs by construct chord palettes with up to 16 chords available per song. There are over 100 different high-quality acoustic guitar chords sampled from a professional musician to choose from. The DS is played by strumming a virtual string on the touch screen and changing chords using the d-pad. Lots of other nice touches including a recording function, the ability to save chord palette configurations, minor pitch adjustments, and even the option to add-in special effects give you a great level of control. Here's one portable songwriting tool you won't want to leave home without.
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