Piano / MIDI Keyboard Games?

[Tom-Lynx]

I imagine this topic will be interesting to a very limited audience.

 

I play piano and own 14 keyboards with all various MIDI equipment, and one of my favorite arcade games of all time is KeyboardHeaven. It had two 2-octave keyboards built in so two players could even play head to head. It was a music game piano-style.... colored bars would drop to a line on the bottom of the screen and you would have to hit the appropriate key at the right time. Just like Rock Band, but you definitely had to be an experienced keyboard player to play the game with some of the advanced rhythms.

 

If it was up to me, all the Rock Band editions would have an aditional option to add a player via MIDI on Synthesizer

 

So my question.... was there ever a PC or home gaming console package made for keyboard players like this?

 

Thanks.

[Tom-Lynx]

A pic of the KeyboardHeaven game I am referring to (hard to find by the way)

[intvnut]

I imagine this topic will be interesting to a very limited audience.

 

I play piano and own 14 keyboards with all various MIDI equipment, and one of my favorite arcade games of all time is KeyboardHeaven. It had two 2-octave keyboards built in so two players could even play head to head. It was a music game piano-style.... colored bars would drop to a line on the bottom of the screen and you would have to hit the appropriate key at the right time. Just like Rock Band, but you definitely had to be an experienced keyboard player to play the game with some of the advanced rhythms.

 

If it was up to me, all the Rock Band editions would have an aditional option to add a player via MIDI on Synthesizer

 

So my question.... was there ever a PC or home gaming console package made for keyboard players like this?

 

Thanks.

 

 

How about the Intellivision's Melody Blaster?

 

The Intellivision had a 4-octave piano keyboard attachment, and Melody Blaster was an attempt to put a game around it. It wasn't head-to-head like the game you mentioned, but it sounds somewhat similar in concept.

Edited September 4, 2009 by intvnut

[Tom-Lynx]

How about the Intellivision's Melody Blaster?

 

The Intellivision had a 4-octave piano keyboard attachment, and Melody Blaster was an attempt to put a game around it. It wasn't head-to-head like the game you mentioned, but it sounds somewhat similar in concept.

Cool...never knew about that game. I don't have an Intellivision but I'll look into this more, especially if there was an actual keyboard peripheral made.

[atarian1]

Piano Wizard is the closest that I can think of to a videogame using a keyboard.

 

There's also the old Miracle Keyboard Learning System on the NES and PC. Hated that thing because they falsely advertise "full-sized" keys when in fact, they were mid-sized keys. I wonder if anyone actually learned with that thing, only to get a rude awakening when they use a real piano, they end up hitting the wrong keys.

[Tom-Lynx]

Piano Wizard is the closest that I can think of to a videogame using a keyboard.

 

There's also the old Miracle Keyboard Learning System on the NES and PC. Hated that thing because they falsely advertise "full-sized" keys when in fact, they were mid-sized keys. I wonder if anyone actually learned with that thing, only to get a rude awakening when they use a real piano, they end up hitting the wrong keys.

Yes, I'm aware of the Miracle Keyboard system and some of the teaching systems out there. I was hoping for something more challenging in game format for full piano scores.

 

Thank you though.

[intvnut]

How about the Intellivision's Melody Blaster?

 

The Intellivision had a 4-octave piano keyboard attachment, and Melody Blaster was an attempt to put a game around it. It wasn't head-to-head like the game you mentioned, but it sounds somewhat similar in concept.

Cool...never knew about that game. I don't have an Intellivision but I'll look into this more, especially if there was an actual keyboard peripheral made.

 

Here's a picture of someone's system that I found with some quick googling. I also have the "synthesizer keyboard." I should try playing it some time. I'm not much of a pianist. (As in, I can maybe play Chop Sticks, and can stumble through a little of Heart and Soul.)

[Tom-Lynx]

Here's a picture of someone's system that I found with some quick googling. I also have the "synthesizer keyboard." I should try playing it some time. I'm not much of a pianist. (As in, I can maybe play Chop Sticks, and can stumble through a little of Heart and Soul.)

That's EXACTLY the type of peripheral (or MIDI adaptor so I can use my own keyboards) and game system I wish the newest generation of consoles offered.

 

*sigh*

[Video]

Cool, I suck at the timing on the strumming and buttons on GHtype games (bad enough that I failed out of the "how to" part of the game 0

 

Something like this looks like it would be cool though, simple 1-1 keys, no weird unmatched patterns accompanied by an unneccesairy extra strum or whatever.

 

To bad it's so rare. I might look into it though.

[BigO]

Especially while I was studying piano and using flash cards to build my music reading abilities, I've often thought that a console-based game that played like GH, etc. with MIDI instruments would be a natural. Unlike the current crop, one could actually learn to play or refine skills applicable to a real instrument.

Edited September 8, 2009 by BigO

[Tom-Lynx]

Especially while I was studying piano and using flash cards to build my music reading abilities, I've often thought that a console-based game that played like GH, etc. with MIDI instruments would be a natural. Unlike the current crop, one could actually learn to play or refine skills applicable to a real instrument.

You think?!? It seems so obvious that it would be a no brainer.

 

Guessed I'm biased as a keyboard player though

[BigO]

Activision Ponders Keyboard Hero, Wired August 27, 2008

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2008/08/nullsoft-consid/

 

I imagine they wouldn't support Midi instruments directly if they did release something like this. That would mean less income from proprietary controllers, though they could make even more money releasing a proprietary keyboard AND midi adapters.

 

To me, a game console in the living room would be much more conducive to playing something like this, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to find that a MIDI keyboard video game exists for a PC given the common nature of PC MIDI interfaces.

[EDIT]:"Note Attack!" http://www.musicmasterworks.com/midi_video_game_sheet_music.html looks like something similar. Though if their choice of screenshot represents the most exciting aspect of game play, I think it's gonna be hurtin' for an audience amongst Guitar Hero fans.

Edited September 9, 2009 by BigO

[Max-T]

I remember reading before Guitar Hero: World Tour came out that they had initially planned to have a keyboard in the game, but that it was removed during development because the designers thought that adding an extra instrument would make the game too complex (and probably too expensive as well). But the GH: WT drum set does have a MIDI port, and both World Tour and Guitar Hero 5 have you occasionally playing synthesizer lines using the guitar controller, so maybe there is hope. As someone else who owns a number of MIDI synths, I'd love to be able to use a professional keyboard with a nice action to play one of the future GH or Rock Band games, but even if they made you buy a cheap plastic controller to play the game I'd still be in.

[Bruce Tomlin]

There's also the old Miracle Keyboard Learning System on the NES and PC.

For what it's worth, the Miracle Keyboard software actually talks to the keyboard using MIDI commands. However, it uses RS-232 serial (for PC/Mac) or the NES serial-clocked TTL protocol (even for Genesis). So you can't just drop in any old MIDI keyboard.