Masaya Matsuura made a name for himself when he introduced the Parappa the Rapper series and set off a growing trend in the rhythm-based video game genre. The founder of NanaOn-Sha talks about the potential of the now flourishing game genre and how developers should explore its vast potential. You can read about his interview in the full article after the jump.

Aspiring band leaders who've been hoping to lead their own marching bands now have something to look forward to on the Nintendo Wii, because Majesco Entertainment has announced Major Minor's Majestic March. Creators of PaRappa the Rapper are behind the development of another musical title, so it's something you should check out. More details and concept art await at the full article.

More speakers have been added to the 2008 D.I.C.E. Summit's speaker roster. Joining the roster for next year's event are PaRappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura, who is currently working on a new music title for the Nintendo Wii, and newly-appointed Entertainment Software Association president Michael D. Gallagher. More new speakers at the full article.

Masaya Matsuura and Rodney Alan Greenblat, the men behind the highly-acclaimed PaRappa the Rapper series, are at it again. This time, they're targeting the Nintendo Wii's audience with the announcement of a new Wii-exclusive music-based title. More at the full article.

Masaya Matsuura developing for the Wii? That's the attention-catching matter the Parappa the Rapper creator has stated over an interview during the ongoing Nordic Games conference. Don't hold your breath, though - Matsuura-san stated that his studio (NanaOn-Sha) has only begun the planning stages for the game, and that they hope to officially begin work soon.

Aside from this sliver of a game announcement, the developer also offered his two cents regarding the three current next-generation consoles: The PlayStation 3, the Wii, and the Xbox 360.

On the matter of PS3, Matsuura-san said he thought the reason why the Wii was outselling Sony's console wasn't a matter of its large price tag, but that it was just plain large, size-wise. "It's too big for the Japanese," he stated. Mastuura further commented that the same could be said of the Xbox 360 and its notoriously large (and heavy) AC adapter.

As for the Wii console - the smallest of the trio - Matsuura commented that while he liked the console concept and its games, he also foresaw problems that may arise regarding the motion-sensitive Wiimote. "Players can't spend a long time on gameplay, so this can be tough. So I respect Nintendo's activities, but for software designers like us, it's very hard."

On a last note, the developer hinted on "a very casual, one-button game" that his studio was working on. "Maybe the publisher will announce the release soon. It's a very simple game, but I hope it will be successful." That's all the details we've got for now, as members of the gaming industry speak their mind at this event.

Masaya Matsuura, creator of the PaRappa the Rapper series of video games, was one of the keynote speakers at the recently-concluded GO3 conference in Australia. During his speech, his message was rather simple and direct: the gaming industry should come up with less violent titles and produce games that are more accessible to non-traditional players instead.

PaRappa the Rapper was first released on PlayStation 1 (PSOne) back in 1996 by video game development studio NanaOn-Sha. It is a rhythm-based title and was probably the inspiration behind today's hit Guitar Hero and upcoming game Rock Band (for the Xbox 360 and PS3). However, despite the success of Parappa Matsuura still has some concerns about this genre, especially for his homeland of Japan, since according to him,

It's very difficult to make brand-new systems for music-based games that involve more than just pressing buttons according to rhythm. Of course, we've tried several already, but unfortunately some of them are not successful. Another reason, everyone is buying flat displays. Flat displays have a delay, but sound doesn't delay.

The creator then commented that one solution for this is to come up with various alternatives to audio. However, he also cautioned that the musical game industry collaboration will not be initiated by the artists as most of them are highly conservative and want to do things by themselves, therefore developers may have to take the initiative.

Lastly, Masaya Matsuura couldn't help but applaud Nintendo for its stance during this cycle of the console war. He implied that the industry will not grow if focus will be given on traditional players as they are already a "captured audience." He explained,

Making good games that everybody can play is a very high priority for the game industry, because if we make games like X-rated videos, the industry won't grow. Nintendo is very smart to appeal to a much wider group of people because it is what's required now.