Really interesting overall. Never looked at Stepmania in that perspective (just thought that Stepmania is a portal to more music to me before this), but it definitely gave me something to think about rhythm games in general.
Brings to the question though:
Quote:
Originally Posted by moches
Is there really validity to the comparison between Stepmania and real musicians/real music? What do you guys think?
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Yes, I feel that the comparison between Stepmania and real musicians/real music is valid.
True, rhythm games like Stepmania have the objective of scoring as many points in the game as possible, but even then, it requires accuracy to do. It's similar to trying to perform piano pieces with the score, you still require a sense of rhythm to make sure that the notes/keys you hit are as accurate as possible.
It's not like just some random game where you have to mash every key as fast as possible, because that's similar to just smashing every key on the piano, it ends up as a cluster**** and it isn't really all that pleasant to hear. There's speed, but speed requires accuracy as well, otherwise you wouldn't do well on songs you play on Stepmania, similar like you can play the electric guitar at ~250 BPM or so, but if it sounds messy, it wouldn't sound good.
Basically from a player's perspective it's comparable to how proficient you are at playing an instrument, imo.
From a stepper's perspective (though admittedly I don't step much), like you said, the same song might be portrayed differently by different people with different stepping styles such as Gundam-Dude's IOSYS vocal theory and Kommisar's use of rolls, just like different covers/remixes (with different instruments or programs even) of the same song. Players and simfile artists give their thoughts and opinions about a chart you make, just like how listeners and musicians give their thoughts and opinions about a song you make, and you improve as time goes by. Whether it's a chart or a song.
Simfile charts and songs are pretty similar in general, you have to create it, and chances are it will not be exactly the same as what anyone else has made. It's
YOUR work, and it's definitely a form of interpretation/expression to others.
That's really how I see the relation between Stepmania and music in general, I guess.
On another note this is probably the first time I actually wrote this much on the forums lmao.
EDIT: As for your family bearing the noise of rhythm gaming, there really isn't much of a choice honestly. They wouldn't experience the same thing as you did, they wouldn't understand why you enjoy playing such a "mindless" game. I've gotten better at playing instruments and understanding music better through rhythm gaming as well, but others might see it as you just getting better as you practice more and more with instruments. If you try to tell them that you got better at music proficiency due to Stepmania and you explain how it did, they might not believe you anyway, and it's just an excuse to play more Stepmania. All in a matter of understanding to me, but in the end, they'll probably see it as just some mindless game that destroys keyboards.