Help for a paper I'm writing on music/rhythm games.

I'm writing a paper looking at how music has been abstracted through video games and just wanted to see if you guys could help with something.

um i'm  not sure whenis parappa from? anyway as far as i'm concerned music games are a fad that attracts casuals and is an easy game to make for the dev and allows them to overcharge for perpherials. AND I HATE THEM. goodbye

amplitude, frequency, any Dance Dance Revolution, were big pioneers in the genre. In fact some of the people that worked on amplitude and frequency were the people who created Guitar Hero.

Parappa most definatly. I would look into some of the old Drum Mania arcade titles and how they have infuenced the influx of modern titles. 

Parappa is the earliest one I remember playing.

Don't forget to include Beats for the PSP. That's a pretty interesting one.

"amplitude, frequency, any Dance Dance Revolution, were big pioneers in the genre. In fact some of the people that worked on amplitude and frequency were the people who created Guitar Hero."

To be honest, I think Parappa is about as early as you're going to get when it comes to rhythm games. I could be wrong, but my impression is that the roots of the genre are somewhere near that point in time. If you haven't decided to look into these yet, I'd say go for the Ouendan/Elite Beat Agent games, Pump It Up (if only due to the massive Korean following), Stepmania (a major thorn in DDR's side that eventually got itself incorporated into In The Groove), and maybe even the Rhythm Tengoku/Rhythm Heaven games. It'd be especially interesting to see that last one get put in, since they take rhythm gaming and make the whole thing really abstract. It could make for at least an interesting side note.

Throw in Guitar Freaks -- since, you know, that's the game that inspired Guitar Hero. 

How about, I know you may say WHAT? but karoake revolution?

How about that DK bongo game for the Gamecube?