I've managed to beat my hands into raw pulp on our latest toy, Donkey Konga. Basically, someone over at Nintendo thought, "Percussion karaoke in a video game? Cool. But how would it work? We could splice a game controller into toy bongo drums!" It's cool, and that's coming from me, the one who has what Elie affectionately refers to as "Natural white girl rhythmic ability," which is to say I couldn't keep time if someone beat my skull in with a metronome. In the last three hours, I've beaten my palms nearly bloody drumming out the song "We Will Rock You." That's the song that a couple thousand drunk people at basketball games can beat out on the bleachers with more or less decent rhythm. But me on a set of plastic bongos? Not really.
By contrast, Elie has a Master's degree in Conducting and can take your pulse without looking at a watch. Needless to say, when we get the second bongo controller and go head-to-head, it is going to be a little lopsided. I look forward to being soundly trounced. Donkey Konga is fun as I'll get out.
1 comment:
I have to second her recommendation for the Donkey Konga. If anyone is looking for fun, wholesome, non-blood spilling video games, this really is a load of fun to play. If anyone is near a GameStop, virtually every one I've seen over the last month has a Donkey Konga for you to demo.
If I have only one criticism, it is not with the game, but with the concept. Everyone interprets rhythm differently. Two different individuals playing the exact same piece of music will always differ slightly on rhythms (that's one of the reasons why the London Symphony Orchestra can release a CD with the same music on it as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and they sound completely different). Because of my background in music and I listen to LOTS of jazz (if you're really nice, maybe one day Janet will blog to you about my record collection), I have a tendancy to lay back on the beat, getting an unexpected number of notes wrong in the game. I have to consciously speed up my bongoing to get the points. Frustrating for me, as about 25% of the songs you bongo to are jazz works. As long as I can remember to anticipate the beats, it becomes simply a fun challenge again.
But, if you aren't as finicky about musical performance as I am (and I admit this is a problem only a pro or semi-pro musician might have), this is a phenominal game. I'd say it is even worth the cost of a Gamecube for this game. If you're looking to play something fun with your family or some friends, this is well worth the cost.
Elie
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