Vib-Ribbon

December 9, 1999

Collections

Vib-Ribbon

Platforms

PlayStation PlayStation 3 PlayStation Portable PlayStation Vita

Companies

NanaOn-Sha Sony Computer Entertainment

Genres

Music

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Sony's decision to bring Vib-Ribbon to the PlayStation Network came as a result of Sony Computer Entertainment of America's President and CEO, Shawn Layden, throwing out the name on-stage at E3 2014, unaware that Vib-Ribbon was never originally released in North America. The outcry from fans to release it in North America following the conference spurred Layden to demand a port of it for American consoles.

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person Kitsune Hawk calendar_month March 26, 2017

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subdirectory_arrow_right PaRappa the Rapper (Franchise)

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Masaya Matsuura came up with the idea to allow CD-generated levels in Vib-Ribbon after receiving letters from PaRappa the Rapper fans asking for spin-offs based on their favorite musical genres.

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person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month November 6, 2023

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Vib-Ribbon was conceived after Mercedes-Benz contacted Sony to make a game to market their A-Class car to a younger audience. After the A-Class car failed the elk test, the game was redesigned with a new character in place of the car.

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person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month November 6, 2023

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Vib-Ribbon was not initially released in the US due to Sony Computer Entertainment America being unimpressed by the game's simplistic graphics. Designer Masaya Matsuura encouraged fans to campaign for the game's US release, but this was seemingly unsuccessful as the game did not see a release there until the PlayStation 3 in 2014. Despite this, the game was still featured in Official US PlayStation Magazine through its International Previews section.

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person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month November 6, 2023

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GameSpot article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20141009201357/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/campaign-for-vib-ribbon/1100-2541907/

Official US PlayStation Magazine Issue #31 (April 31, 2000) (page 76 in the magazine) [source provided by Ya Block]:
https://archive.org/details/official-us-playstation-magazine-issue-31-april-2000/page/n73/mode/1up

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According to a Q&A with producer Masaya Matsuura included in the game's European press kit, Vibri's voice was generated with a Speech Synthesizer developed by NTT Communications, and was used because it was capable of not only vocalizing speech, but also singing. He went on to explain the process:

"When a person speaks, the sound waves are transformed continuously. With NTT's system, each sound is picked up from the Database of tiny waves which [are] connected in order to vocalize. Therefore, the part that analyzes a sentence and puts the sounds together and the Database itself are all very complicated in structure. This system is a standard format in terms of sound synthesizing technology, but Vib-Ribbon successfully integrated this system into the game."

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person Ya Block calendar_month November 11, 2024

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Vib-Ribbon European Press Kit:
https://archive.org/details/vib_ribbon_press_kit

Q&A on its own:
https://archive.org/details/masaya-matsuura-playstation-europe-interview_202210/mode/1up

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According to one of several patents filed by producer Masaya Matsuura and programmer John Belmonte for Sony in October 1999, it seems the game was planned to have a split-screen multiplayer mode, with the goal possibly being to see who could get the most points.

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person Ya Block calendar_month November 11, 2024

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Patent with multiplayer concept art:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US6699123B2/en

Additional patents:
https://patents.google.com/?inventor=Masaya+Matsuura&;assignee=sony&before=priority:19991231&after=priority:19990101

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In the 2004 art book "A Universe of Storyboards: Birth of an Image", the Kiri Matsuura section features concept art of an early design for Vibri that resembles a human more than a rabbit, having large beady eyes and eye lashes, hair, a more defined nose and mouth, and sketchy fingers.

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person Ya Block calendar_month November 12, 2024

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"A Universe of Storyboards: Birth of an Image" (page 51):
https://archive.org/details/auo-s-boa-i-preview
https://opactmu.lib.tmu.ac.jp/iwjs0013opc/catdbl.do?pkey=BB00989103&;initFlg=_RESULT_SET_NOTBIB

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In 2020, Minimum Records released the licensed soundtrack for Vib-Ribbon on vinyl, featuring an unused song for the game credited to Laugh & Peace titled "Rainbow". Unlike the other songs on the soundtrack that are sung by Yoko Fujita, the singer on "Rainbow" is Kumiko Ito. It's unknown why the song went unused.

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person Ya Block calendar_month November 13, 2024

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Laugh & Peace - Rainbow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDQshOaKyZg

Archived store page:
https://web.archive.org/web/20201123143105/https://www.minimumrecords.net/shop/vib-ribbon

Discogs listing for the vinyl release:
https://www.discogs.com/release/16210307-Masaya-Matsuura-Laugh-Peace-Vib-Ribbon