Japanese gamer’s feline pet would be blissfully happy as a controller substitute.

Musical rhythm video games can largely be divided into two categories. In one, the player uses some sort of controller modeled after an actual instrument, while the other simply uses standard video game controller buttons or a touchscreen for inputs.

While they’re both games first and foremost, some would argue that the first type is the better choice out of the two. It feels more like actually playing music, and if the simulated instrument is close to its real-life counterpart, like a set of drum pads, it could actually be stepping stone to learning to play the instrument itself.

But it turns out playing rhythm games that use a touchscreen can also teach you valuable skills. As shown in this video from Japanese YouTube user fubuki765, if you’re good at hitting notes on a touchscreen, you’re probably also really good at petting a cat.

In the video, fubuki765’s pet cat stretches out across half of his tablet. On the part of the screen that’s still visible, we can see bars of light representing the notes in a song from Sega rhythm game Chunithm sliding downwards, and fubuki765 skillfully taps and slides his fingertips across the animal’s body while keeping time with the music. Even as the driving beat intensifies, the kitty remains perfectly relaxed, stretching and happily swishing its tail.

But while pet and owner alike are thoroughly enjoying themselves, fubuki765, unfortunately, hasn’t exactly found a way to combine petting a kitty and playing video games. Chunithm is an arcade exclusive, with no home version, so what’s being shown on his tablet isn’t the game running in real time, but a pre-recorded video, with fubuki765 merely pretending to play the game.

Still, his timing is spot-on, which means that touchscreen video game skills still translate into kitty-pleasing finger action, and until someone develops an actual cat-based game controller, this is about as good as it gets for feline-loving gamers.

Source: IT Media
Images: YouTube/fubuki765