commercials. The arcade game was released in Japan. Arcades in Japan are called Game Center (ゲームセンター), or simply known as ゲーセン (Gēsen). Another early rhythm-based electronic game was the handheld game Simon, created in 1978 by Ralph Baer (who created the Magnavox Odyssey) and Howard Morrison. The game used the "call and response" mechanic, in which players take turns repeating increasingly complicated sequences of button presses. Human Entertainment's Dance Aerobics was an early rhythm-based video game released in 1987, and allows players to create music by stepping on Nintendo's Power Pad peripheral for the NES video game console. The 1996 title PaRappa the Rapper has been credited as the first true rhythm game, and as one of the first music-based games in general. It requires players to press buttons in the order that they appear on the screen, a basic mechanic that formed the core of future rhythm games. The success of PaRappa the Rapper sparked the popularity of the music game genre. In 1997, Konami released the DJ-themed rhythm game Beatmania in Japanese arcades. Its arcade cabinet features buttons similar to those of a musical keyboard, and a rubber pad that emulates a vinyl record. Beatmania was a surprise hit, inspiring Konami's Games and Music Division to change its name to Bemani in honor of the game, and to begin experimenting with other rhythm game concepts. Its successes include GuitarFreaks, which features a guitar-shaped controller, and 1998's Pop'n Music, a game similar to Beatmania in which multiple colorful buttons must be pressed. While the GuitarFreaks franchise continues to receive new arcade releases in Japan, it was never strongly marketed outside of the country. This allowed Red Octane and Harmonix to capitalize on the formula in 2005 with the Western-targeted Guitar Hero. In general, few Japanese arcade rhythm games were exported abroad because of the cost of producing the peripherals and the resulting increases in retail prices. The 1999 Bemani title DrumMania featured a drum kit controller, and could be linked with GuitarFreaks for simulated jam sessions. Similarly, this concept was later appropriated by Harmonix for their game Rock Band. Dance Dance Revolution, released in 1998, is a rhythm game in which players dance on pressure-sensitive pads in an order dictated by on-screen instructions. The game was highly successful both in and outside Japan, unlike games such as GuitarFreaks, DrumMania and Beatmania, though the latter had some success in Europe.