You will have had to have been living under a particularly well sound-proofed rock not to have noticed that music is massive in gaming right now. From SingStar and Lips to Guitar Hero and Rock Band – or other curiosities like Samba De Amigo and Elite Beat Agents – music in gaming is not in short supply.
Now Nintendo, which has already had a pretty darn successful year, has fixed its terrifying gaze on the music video game genre, only with a bit of a twist.
“Wii Music really isn’t like any other music game out there. It allows you to express your inner musical creativity by adapting and transforming 50 different tracks,” Wii senior product manager Rob Lowe tells MCV.
“You can change rhythm, swap instruments round and then share the music videos with your friends – it’s an incredibly unique and satisfyingly rich experience that has many layers of depth, and can be enjoyed at a number of levels by anyone, no matter what age or gaming skill level.”
“With Wii Music, we are trying to give people an experience of playing a musical instrument, without the years of practice and frustration that go into the real thing,” Lowe adds.
But how exactly will Wii Music differentiate itself from the vast range of music titles available on the market? By targeting the non-gamer in true Nintendo fashion. “Although other music titles can undoubtedly be fun, they are still mostly played by more active gamers – and tend to be very difficult for non-gamers to pick up,” Lowe explains.
“They are competitive by nature, and require complicated and ultra-fast button-pressing to master. Wii Music is entirely different.
“It’s a collaborative experience, and when played in a group, needs each person to perform with each other in sync, rather than competing with each other for points. You create a piece together, and admire it at the end.”
And the Wii Remote is absolutely vital to Wii Music, according to Lowe: “The Wii controls allow the instruments to be played in a manner very similar to their real-life counterparts, with the motion controls particularly lending themselves to the violin, the guitars and the drum-based instruments.”
So, Nintendo has released yet another title that is reaching out to non-gamers and gamers alike, featuring a hugely intuitive control system and fun gameplay. Frankly, if that doesn’t have hit written all over it then nothing does.
Nintendo has assured us that musical talent is not required to play Wii Music, which is handy as the extent of the musical talents of the MCV team stretch to a bit of air guitar and singing at the karaoke night down the pub.
Nintendo could already reasonably lay claim to having a staggeringly successful 2008, and retail is already rubbing its hands for the game. Wii Music might just the title that seals Nintendo’s year.
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