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Posts with tag Wii-Music

Miyamoto still hopeful Wii Music will catch on


Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto recently conducted a rather large Q&A with Edge, talking about all kinds of fascinating things. Actually, to tell you the truth, the man could talk about used Q-tips and we'd still find it fascinating. To call it a crush would be a severe understatement.

It's no secret that Wii Music hasn't been selling too well, but Miyamoto still has hope that the game will be a success. "I think a very large audience can enjoy Wii Music," Miyamoto said, adding that when Nintendo demoed the game, "many took to it." That can't really be said for the critics, however, who've not enjoyed the game overall.

"I really appreciate that the gaming media has a different view of anything as new as Wii Music today," Miyamoto stated. He said these scores help show "how different and unique Wii Music is" and that he has this "big ambition" for the game and "that it can eventually be something very influential so that it might be able to influence what music means in the world."

It's a pretty lengthy interview, so click here to read the whole thing. It's always nice to get a glimpse into Miyamoto's mind.

Gallery: Wii Music

Wii has biggest week ever in Australia, thanks to ... Wii Music!

Nintendo of Australia's executives have probably gotten congratulatory phone calls from Japan by now. For Wii Music's launch week (two weeks ago), the controversial musical toy was the top-selling console game in the region, according to a Nintendo press release. The 28,000 copies of Wii Music no doubt helped the Wii have its best week ever in Australia, with 35,000 units sold.

According to the press release, the Wii has passed the 750,000 mark in 102 weeks, the shortest time to that milestone in the history of the Australian games industry. Of course, the DS experienced its own milestones, becoming the console to reach 1.5 million in the shortest time.

Gallery: Wii Music

Wii Warm Up: Wii Music -- and everyone else

It's well-established that most average gamers don't seem to think too much of Wii Music, but what about all the casual and irregular gamers in your life? Do they even know about Wii Music, and if so, what do they think of it? Heard anyone asking for it, or know anyone who's gone out to buy it? Nintendo seems to think the title has a lot of potential in the home stretch, and we want to try to measure that by what you've heard and seen.

Wii Music makes slow start, Nintendo hoping it has legs



As part of its "Touch! Generations" range, Nintendo will hope Wii Music can rack up some dizzying sales figures. Sadly, the maligned music title hasn't made the best of starts in North America, falling a long way short of the launch window sales for other first-party titles, such as Wii Fit. Cammie Dunaway has revealed that the game did "somewhere [like] 65 or 66,000" in its first two weeks on sale, whereas the more expensive Wii Fit shifted 687,000 copies in its opening eleven days.

Nintendo isn't about to panic, however. Rather, Dunaway thinks it could have the same long-term appeal already displayed by Wii Fit, Wii Play, and Mario Kart Wii, all of which regularly show up in the monthly NPD charts. "We're predicting that it's going to be an evergreen title, she told MTV Multiplayer. "And if you look at titles like Brain Age, it's about the same as what Brain Age did during it's first few weeks and went on to sell 2.5 million copies. Wii Fit certainly had a larger launch than that. But I think that people are starting to understand Wii Music."

Gallery: Wii Music

Your shopping accompanied by Wii Music


Attention Wii Music haters: since you didn't purchase the game, your Wii Music hating hobby may currently be limited to your time online. Luckily for you, Nintendo has announced that, for the next two weekends, they are going to hold public Wii Music performances in eight U.S. cities, so if you're near one of the planned locations, you can go and not enjoy one! This promotion may also be of interest to people who are genuinely curious about Wii Music, even if they aren't motivated by a desire to declare it the death of gaming.

Each location will feature a "family trio of music-makers" and a Wii Music station hooked up to a "rockin' sound system" to entertain shoppers who happen to pass by. The list of venues for each weekend is after the break!

Gallery: Wii Music

Continue reading Your shopping accompanied by Wii Music

Wii Warm Up: Living room surfing


Slowly, games are starting to trickle out that allow the use of the Balance Board, for activities like skiing, tilting a maze (and infuriating yourself), controlling a robot, playing the drums, and even moving puzzle pieces. Oh, and riding a moose down a mountain. The potential for non-fitness-related fun is increasing.

Have you taken part in any non-Wii Fit-related Wii wobbling? What did you think of the experience? Do you look forward to any future Board-compatible games?

Gallery: Raving Rabbids TV Party

Miyamoto: Guitar Hero, Beatmania are 'cover band' titles


Shigeru Miyamoto recently hosted a Wii Music roundtable with a select number of websites and magazines (clearly, our invitation was lost in the mail), in which the great man appeared to insult other music games! Shock! Horror! Headlines!

Of course, we understand Miyamoto probably wasn't trying to be mean when he compared playing franchises such as Beatmania and Guitar Hero to being part of a cover band. If anything, we suspect Shiggy was merely explaining how Wii Music is more freeform -- which it is, of course. "My goal wouldn't be to try and lull people to join the best cover band," explained Wii Music's dad, "but rather, to let them move beyond that rather basic level of music training."

He also found time to defend Wii Music's track list, which has come under attack from some critics, including IGN's Matt Cassamassina, who we like to think shifted awkwardly in his seat when Miyamoto brought the subject up. Apparently, a lot of modern songs don't have a suitable chord progression for Wii Music, while the harmonies and melodies of many contemporary tracks came across as too samey. So there you go: Nintendo didn't just choose a ton of public domain songs to save cash.

Gallery: Wii Music

Wii Music not so much of a joke in Japan


People like to poke fun, but if the Japanese are any indication, Wii Music is going to be serious business. The title debuted at the top spot in Japan this week, selling 92,000 copies. And 50,000 of those copies flew off the shelves on the game's first day at retail! But, doing well in Japan doesn't necessarily mean it'll do well in other territories. What do you think?

Gallery: Wii Music


[Via Joystiq]

Looking for more on Wii Music? You can catch an E3 trailer here, read about our time with the game here, and learn how to play the Famicom, banjo, steel drum, handbell, trumpet, timpani, acoustic bass, shamisen, harmonica, cello, harpsichord, cheerleader, saxophone, sitar, cowbell, electric bass, drums, dog, accordion, taiko, clarinet, conga, electric guitar, harp, flute, marching drum, violin, piano, guitar, and marimba.

Amazon using Wii Music as a gateway game

Right now, if you buy Wii Music from Amazon, they'll give you a $20 voucher that you can use on video games. To get the obligatory Wii Music joke out of the way, you can buy Wii Music and another game worth $20 and come out with a total of one game for the price of one.

The deal is valid until Halloween, and the cards will be mailed out within ten days after that end date (yes, they're apparently mailing cards out rather than the sensible option of emailed coupon codes). That means it should arrive just in time for Animal Crossing!

Gallery: Wii Music

Miyamoto talks to Channel 4 about gaming and the current financial crisis


If you were to tell us that Shigeru Miyamoto could see into the future and fire rainbows from his fingertips, we'd totally believe you. We just love the guy so much that we believe he's not even human and some kind of freakish evolutionary leap for our species, as his mind churns out these amazing things on a regular basis. So, it's no wonder that Channel 4 in the UK interviewed him out of all of the prominent figures in gaming about the current financial woes and if they'll have an impact on gaming. He plugs Wii Music a bit, but, for the most part, tells us how Nintendo has and always will make gaming affordable.

Gallery: Wii Music


[Via CVG]

Metareview: Wii Music


We'll say this much for Wii Music: it's probably the game/toy/whatever that has become the most debated release of 2008. It's caught a lot of flak, particularly since E3 and that presentation, but it's also had its fair share of defenders. Unsurprisingly, this uncanny knack of dividing opinion has spread to professional reviewers.
  • GameSpy (70%) concedes that the title isn't for everybody, but thinks it will appeal to families and the chil'n: "It is far from a traditional videogame, and more akin to a tech demo or social audio experiment. The fact that it is so very basic means it's completely accessible to anyone, but at the same time there's not much here to interest regular and core gamers. It'll be a definite hit with younger children and in turn, parents and family members will love to watch the reactions of this demographic."
  • 1UP (A-) was the first online outlet to get its review up, and managed to get us nicely hyped for the game with an absolutely stellar review and score: "Wii Music may have a hard time winning over the skeptics who just want to laugh at it, but give the game the chance it deserves. You just might realize it's pretty damn fun being in on the joke."
  • ... Only for IGN's (50%) Matt Cassamina to deflate our enthusiasm with a fairly crushing verdict: "I think most adults will quickly recognize that Wii Music is little more than a noise maker tied to a series of gestures and grow bored of the experience in a matter of hours, if not minutes. The controls aren't particularly intuitive, but gimmicky, and the selection of music is fundamentally flawed with dated public domain songs rendered in equally dated MIDI."

Gallery: Wii Music

Retail and download releases for the week of October 20th


It's a pretty big week for releases. On top of plenty of games available at retail, there's a couple of imports available on the Virtual Console, as well as one awaited WiiWare release (can you guess what it is?). Head past the break and start thinking about cracking open that piggy bank.

Gallery: Tetris Party

Continue reading Retail and download releases for the week of October 20th

Wii Music shifts 50k on day one in Japan


Don't they look happy? That's because they all bought Wii Music, along with 49,996 others. Yup, you read that right: the Wii Music day one sales data from Japan is in, and according to Famitsu publisher Enterbrain, the magical figure is 50,000 units sold. How does that compare to the Japanese launches of other large first-party Wii games? Not that well, as it happens; hit the break to see for yourself.

Gallery: Wii Music

Continue reading Wii Music shifts 50k on day one in Japan

Wii Music: Disappointed preview talks features, songs




With Wii Music very nearly out, we're starting to see, if not reviews, final pre-review previews. IGN's Matt Casamassina, who often seems quite motivated to stump for Nintendo, may be expected to provide the most glowing of writeups after his hands-on with the toy. That is not what happened. Despite the fact that it's not a review, Wii Music gets evaluated pretty harshly.

But in the process of mentioning that he still doesn't like Wii Music, Casamassina offers a few gameplay details we didn't know. For example, you can randomize the song and lineup for a "quick jam," allowing you to experiment even more freely than your brain allows.

Casamassina also lists some more songs found in the game, including (MIDI versions of) classics "Chariots of Fire, Daydream Believer, I'll Be There, Every Breath You Take, I've Never Been Me, Material Girl, Please Mr. Postman, September, Sukiyaki, The Loco-Motion, Woman, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Jingle Bell Rock."

Gallery: Wii Music

Musicians rock out with Wii Music


The Nintendo Channel updated today with some new videos for upcoming games, like Away: Shuffle Dungeon, Art Style: Cubello, World of Goo and, as seen above and past the break, Wii Music. Above, you can see rapper Cee-Lo rocking out with Wii Music's beatbox instrument. After checking out that video, cruise past the break for some footage of funkadelic artist G. Love enjoying some gameplay.

Gallery: Wii Music

Continue reading Musicians rock out with Wii Music

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