Ugh, no way I'm buying that. I don't like rythm games at all. BTB at least seems (haven't bought it yet, got too many games at once and am still busy giving them at least one try each) like it doesn't require ME to have the rythm, just whoever places the projectiles and all I do is move the paddle to catch them but in this I'd have to follow the rythm (unless holding down 2 is an option). I think I can only follow one icon as it approaches the target position, if too many come at once I can't look at all of them before they pass it and then I can just rapidly whack the buttons as I spot the corresponding icons. In high adrenaline mode I stop listening to the music and my perception of time changes so the mental metronome changes to a different frequency, becoming useless. At that point it turns into target shooting with immobile crosshairs.

Isn't it pretty damn hard to focus at all four edges of the screen at the same time? I don't think the human eye can cover that much with its high detail area.

The World Ends With You had players focus on two entire screens at once, and it was humanly possible for me. Focusing on one screen should be fine.

And Bit Trip Beat is deceptively simplistic. I thought the same but bought it on a whim, and wow is it challenging and fun. I'm confident this one will be the same (from the video, it doesn't look like you can just hold down 2, either).

BTB definitely requires the player to maintain the rhythm in the more difficult passages. Yes, you just move the paddle, but there are different methods to moving the paddle that you will learn and use at different times (hard up/hard down/repeat, two units up/one unit back/two units up/one unit back, and so on...)

It's hard to explain, but the player's rhythm does factor into it, and you do get a much stronger sense of what you're doing once you "master" the song itself.

Also, they do a good job not letting your "mental metronome" become detached from the game as things get hairy...the wiimote pulses on the beats, so you're never going to drift too far mentally from where the song actually is.

It's a great game. If you're not into it, that's okay...but if you ever get curious, or have the chance to play it at a friend's house, it does address some of your concerns.

half of a rhythm game is its music. for focusing, I know with this game (and with other same-direction moving rhythm games like Guitar Hero, DDR, and ITG), I tend to focus on the area just before where the notes/arrows/bits have to be strummed/stepped/caught by the paddle. It's a lot easier if you practice (and you're naturally able to concentrate on the music, i guess ), because you get a feel for when you're going to have to deflect the bits (or step or strum in the other games) by knowing what the music should sound like.

BTB definitely requires the player to maintain the rhythm in the more difficult passages.

I think I just decided to save my 6€.

Blackdragon: That gives too little time to spot the icon, decode it into a button press and then hit the button in most rythm games, I suppose with a paddle that's less of an issue because the icon position is the same as the position of your reaction (I couldn't play Stepmania until I laid the keys out to be in a horizontal line rather than up/down/left/right because that takes less decoding time).

Either way I hate this modern obsession with rythm, it's almost as bad as the forced stealth segments that were all the rage a few years ago.

I didn't focus on both so much as occasionally look at the top screen to see in which direction I have to aim my attacks there and kept hitting the buttons while focussing on the lower screen since that needs more aiming.

That looks crazy! Yes! I love games that make my brain hurt, now that's HARDCORE!!

I really like BTB, but I think I'm going to pass on this one. It looks like it would be too hard to time when the beats are passing and too confusing watching for beats coming in from all sides of the screen, and it feels too constraining to only be able to hit the 4 D-pad directions.

You get used to it after a while. I didn't really ever think about it, to be honest, until a friend of mine (we were both hanging around the DDR machine at the arcade that day) asked me where on the screen I was actually looking at while playing a song. It's not that I ever intended to start off doing that, but that's where I ended up. It's easy enough to hit the right step on a beat with enough practice, but watching all the way up at the start gives you too much information to keep track of in the middle (as you mentioned before) and I tend to forget what I needed to hit after a few steps. watching in the middle but closer to the goal line still lets you watch the actual stepping area out of the corner of your eye (in cases where you have to manipulate a paddle like in BTB) so you can maneuver the paddle into the right position with one part of your brain and keep track of what's coming next with the other.

I don't really know how else to explain it, but eventually you (or me) just settle in to steadily watching the middle of the screen instead of wavering between the starting and ending points. the only rhythm game series this hasn't been true for (for me personally, i can't really speak for anyone else) has been Elite Beat Agents/Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan because that involves no screen movement toward an end or goal line.

The key with this (and with other rhythm games), though, is practice. in the end, the draw is to do better than what you (or maybe your friends :3) did before, and i know that doesn't really appeal to everyone. with all the practice it takes to do well, eventually you end up remembering (memorizing) which kind of movements come at which point of a song, especially if it's a tricky area or it gives you problems every time. it happens gradually, and once you've figured something out, if you leave the game alone for a year and then come back to it, it's just like riding a bike to pick it back up again.

to be honest, me too. it was a lot to concentrate on all at once... it was definitely interesting, but i've already admitted to myself that i'll probably never master it. Using Beat as a partner is the worst, because if you screw up with the cards you get burned... if it wasn't for the fact that you didn't get injured for blindly hitting left or right with him, i don't think i would care.

So your initial concern with the game was that it only required the programmer to have rhythm, not the player. Now you find out that the player IS required to have rhythm and that turns you off, too.

Somehow I don't think you were going to buy it either way.

@DaVeMaN99 @Crazed We did this one in 3 months. We're currently looking at an early summer release. Of course, there are many factors outside of our controls that can delay it (marketing, QA, etc.).

@KDR_11k From reading all your comments, I can definitely suggest purchasing BTB, not perhaps not BTC. Both are technically rhythm games, but think of it this way: you can kick ass in BTB with the music off, but certainly not in BTC. BEAT was an homage to classic paddle games first, just with a music-game twist (just like Rez is a rail shooter first, and a music game second). However, CORE is a straight-up music rhythm game. And if you're not into that genre, no worries Hell, I'm not a rhythm game guy myself! Although I LOVE chiptunes and retro stuff, so that would draw me in even if I didn't help make the damn thing

@theblackdragon Sure enough, we've found the best way to play CORE is to stare directly at the center of the screen and de-focus your eyes. Then, use your peripheral vision to rock the game. Darting your eyes around the edges of the screen is a sure path to failure. And in fact, peripheral vision has been proven to be better at detecting motion (but alas, not color...). This technique has a nice little zen quality to it as well, even if you look like a doof when you're playing!

@iphys We also worried about 4 directions being too limiting (instead of say full 360 control), but trust me, Alex has packed in soooooo much gameplay using just that. Think of it as Guitar Hero with only 4 lanes, but the lanes are perpendicular instead of parallel.

@Chicken Brutus Well luckily you're right, the programmer does have rhythm! If anyone's interested, check out my DJ project here: http://www.myspace.com/floormodels . Check the blog section for a bunch of free mixes!

The game comes off as a musical version of Defender in 4 different directions with a touch of Cosmic Ark thrown in for good measure. I see many classic influences in this one and it's got me excited. I also like the background movement in this one. Seems to feature a bigger range of motion to me. This just jumped up into my most-wanted list and I can't wait to go at this one.

@Corbieid you slightly change your avatar?

I did. Gregg needed a facelift. He got one!

ROFL^^
It looks good for him.tell me when it's his birthday so I can send him some cats.

Gregg's had to lay off the cats lately. Cholesterol and all.

That's good, early summer release!
Now i still have to beat the last level for BTB...
So freakin hard, but i can't put it away!
EDIT
How many games do you think you'l be making in this series?
3,5?

They've said 5. Or it may be that they said 5 more (this was after the first one was released). So 5 or 6. I forget. The more the better!

They will stop when Chicken Brutus lets them stop.

Well Chicken Brutus I hope you tell them that they will be working FOREVER. LOL

i like your style.