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Korg DS-10
Console
Nintendo DS
Publisher
XSEED
Genre
Music/Rhythm
Developer
AQ Interactive
Release Date
11/10/08
8
ESRB Rating
Everyone
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Posted by:
Ryan Olsen
Reviews Director
REVIEW
Korg DS-10
March 2, 2009 | 5:41 PM PST

Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
Korg DS-10 is not a game. Korg is a tool that uses the DS in a different way than more games dare to dream. Taking a huge risk, XSEED games jumps into the rhythm genre not by adding colorful buttons and recognizable tunes but giving you the ability to march to your own beat.



What's Hot
Like it was said in the "About" section, Korg is a tool for the serious musicians to explore more ways to find sonic bliss. There is some serious horsepower in this cart and can output a lot of sound. Laying beats and melodies with many different effects will give you endless opportunities to create music.

The DS's interface makes creating music easy to do, even if you don't have a great depth of knowledge about mixers and other technical parts of synthesizers. It might not sound like a Beethoven symphony, but the musically challenged can eek out a Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. The layout and flow of the options and menu lends itself well to figuring out things on your own.

What's Not
The DS touchpad is a flexible input method for most games. For Korg, the touchpad is a limitation due to the fact that you can't touch multiple points at once. It would come in handy for the keyboard portion of the tool to make chords rather than hit one note at a time.

The other limitation is whatever is made in Korg, stays in the DS. You can share between any DS carts but forget about exporting your tunes to another device. An option to transfer what you created would have made a world of difference for how useful this is.

Final Word
It would be totally unfair to judge Korg as a game. As a tool, it is surprising powerful and flexible. The limitations will become apparent once you start noodling around with what Korg can and can't do. Gamers who also happen to be musicians will get a lot of use out of the tool and will be in awe of the versatility of the DS.
Visuals
Not flashy but functional.
7.5
Sound
The game is all about creating your own sound.
9.5
Control
The interface is easy to use but the text is a little small.
8.0
Gameplay
Since there isn't gameplay, consider this as how functional the tool is.
8.0
Lasting Appeal
You can fiddle around with settings all day long if you want to.
8.0
Verdict
As a tool, Korg is great but there are some limitations.
8.0
[not an average]
Review Scores Guide

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February 8, 2010
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