VJ Heaven

Masaya Matsurra’s Musika bridges the gap between music visualizer and game, bringing a unique experience to Apple’s iPod. Matsurra, best known as the original creator of the wonderful game PaRappa the Rapper for PlayStation, has used Apple’s tools as a means for creative expression.

The iPod is a natural device for interactive music visualization. The iPod revolutionized music and it is now poised to be a progressive gaming platform. Masaya Matsuura, President of NanaOn-Sha, says “Many years ago Apple’s tools first opened my eyes to the power of music and multimedia, so it’s exciting to release my first game for this device.”

Musika uses your own music library as the basis for the game. It can be a passive experience (just sit back and enjoy the visuals) or an active one in which you can use the iPod’s center button as letters in the song’s title. As you score and advance through levels, you are awarded with additional visuals.

Musika is very easy to play. But if it wasn’t for the fantastic, it would get boring very quickly. The iPod isn’t much of a gaming platform but as a quick conversion, it’s pretty good. Its played with a single button and the use of your own music library is a nice touch. Musika is available for purchase and download from the iTunes Music Store for USD$5.