As if the fact that it's only being released in Japan (as of yet) and the J-idol theme aren't enough clues, Happy Dance Collection is a very Japan-focused game. Namco Bandai is aiming squarely at the female Japanese audience with this game, which does contrast a bit to the variety of J-pop, European dance and other stuff usually found in the Dance Dance Revolution series. There's no E-rotic to be found here, for example.
Siliconera has posted a translated list of all the known J-pop songs appearing in Happy Dance Collection, which includes recent releases like Orange Range's "Ikenai Taiyou," and Greeeen's "Ai Uta" as well as more "classic" songs like Morning Musume's "Love Machine" and Koda Kumi's Cutie Honey theme (well, 2004 is kind of in the past, right?)
The next Boogie is only rumored to include Balance Board support, but a dancing game is coming out in Japan that features a style perfect for the Wii Fit peripheral: hula. That's right, you'll now be able to seductively wiggle those hips of yours and call it a game. So many Japanese Wii owners have Wii Fit that we don't see userbase being an issue, as the peripheral will be required (not optional) to play this title.
Keep in mind, though, that the game's publisher (Milestone) didn't officially announce Hula Wii: Minna de Hula wo Odorou (Dance Hula Together); a listing was discovered on a Japanese online retailer's site, revealing the release date as September 25th.
In just a few hours, Amazon will begin another day filled with Gold Box deals on video games, this time for "rhythm/music" titles. The sale event follows a familiar format: one Deal-of-the-Day bargain posted at 12:01 AM PST, then four Lightning Deals trickled out at 6:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 2:00 PM, and 6:00 PM PST, each one available for only four hours or while stocks last.
So, which Wii rhythm games are you expecting? There's a decent-sized list of possibilities, but, uh, not many of them would be considered "decent" themselves:
What does this woman think she's doing? We have seen some terrible outfits before, but this woman is crazy enough to wear hers with a smile. She should be ashamed just to have these embarassing pieces in her wardrobe, let alone actually on her, in public view. What excuse does anyone have to ever own checkerboard-patterned thigh-highs?
In case you missed the news from last week, Konami is following up its previous DanceDanceRevolution Hottest Party game with DDR Hottest Party 2, promising Mii support, new gimmicks like the "triple stomp," more Wii remote interaction in the Dance n' Defend Battle Mode, new stages, and new characters, such as the unfortunate looking woman mentioned above. The rhythm title will also support a new soundtrack including "smash-hits from the last 4 decades," like Rihanna's immensely annoying "Umbrella" (ella, ella, ay, ay, ay) and Michael Jackson's least exciting single, "Black or White."
But let's get back to what's really on every gamer's mind -- how do these people live with themselves dressing in these clothes? This lady thinks she can get away with wearing a Zebra-print cap with matching hot pants and boots. Protip: it's best to pair a loud print with a neutral piece, rather than mixing or matching it with more loud prints. Now you know.
For a while, we've been hearing that EA planned to support the Balance Board in the sequel to their rhythm game Boogie. According to Cubed3, NGamer magazine is reporting that this functionality has been confirmed for Boogie Superstar, possibly to add difficulty for toddlers. What is interesting is that, if NGamer's description of the game as a "board-based dance-a-thon" is accurate, Balance Board support may be more than just an optional extra.
It's no surprise that EA is supporting the new controller: their recently-announced Skate It simulates a skateboard with the Board, and there's some kind of exercise game on the way that will use it extensively. But if EA really is building a sequel to an existing (if somewhat unloved) franchise that requires $90 hardware the previous game didn't, they must really like Wii Fit money the Balance Board.
Thanks to Famitsu, we now know a little more about how the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya dancing game works. It'll feature the Hare Hare Yukai dance, of course, but it will also feature new dances! Dancing through the main game will unlock options for the "free mode," including costumes, locations, and songs. In free mode, you can play the song of your choice. This is also where the three-player multiplayer is available. This mode is also being touted as enabling exercise, though we don't know if that means some kind of exercise/health-related (calorie count, etc.) will be included. It is also currently unknown whether the two remaining SOS Brigade members will be playable, but they're male and therefore a low priority.
The SOS Brigade icon in the corner of the screen reads "Action!" to alert players to the start of a stage. The life bar starts at full and decrements along with missed movements. Moves are to be performed while move icons are inside a generous red bar, which makes the game look fairly easy.
The mega-popular anime series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is now being made into a Wii game, after success on the PS2 and PSP (mostly as vectors for delivery of exclusive Haruhi figurines). The Wii game, we predict, will be the biggest success of all, because
it also includes a Haruhi figurine, and
it's based on the dance sequence from the anime's ending, which has become an Internet phenomenon
Up to three players control Haruhi, Yuki Nagato and Mikuru Asahina in a motion-based dance game, which seems to involve mimicking poses with Wiimote positioning. In addition, it also contains the standard anime-game adventure component, featuring a new storyline.
Konami wrote themselves into a corner with the title of their Wii Dance Dance Revolution game. If DDR Hottest Party is really the hottest party, what will the inevitable sequel be? Will it be a different superlative -- the coolest party, or the freshest party, or the most Chex-Mix-having party? Will it be the Hottest Party For Real This Time -- Last Time Was the Hottest to Date, But This Time's Even Hotter Than That?
Well, if the title of the new game found on Gamefly's site (with a release date of September 30th) is the real title, it'll just be DDR Hottest Party 2. It worked for Final Fantasy.
A caution to our readers: anyone with a conscience or refined sense of humor may want to stay far away from the above video, which features a host of "rejected" Wii Play minigames to hilarious effect. It even includes Ribbon Dancing Revolution, which we called back in August of '06. The excellent reproduction of the Mii's simplistic style is alone worth the price of admission, so go ahead, click on the play button.
Not the official name, of course, but damn if we shouldn't take up careers in marketing. Rayman Raving Rabbids, a game noted for being rather dichotomous in quality, will be receiving the sequel treatment on both the Wii and the DS.
Alas, the style of the game seems to be untouched: perform in various minigames and encounter some marginally bearable screaming lagomorphs en route. We're hoping that with familiarity comes refinement: this may be the first direct sequel of a game released for the Wii, and thus familiarity with programming the motion controls may bring a more natural and elegant experience. If not, Ubisoft, prepare to get market slapped, because we're kind of getting sick of minigames.
Finally, we can see one of the most important aspects of EA's Boogie: the dancing. Our Featured Friday Video for this week shows off the new rhythm title in motion, and the best description we can think of is "spastic, but in a good way." Also on display: the characters, called Boogs, who can be customized (another EA game that uses cutesy customizable avatars, but notMiis?), and who don't all look likeEarl.
The factsheet for the game mentions minigames (wouldn't be a Wii game without 'em) and a music video mode that lets players save their performances with added voice and custom camera angles and effects. Unfortunately, you have to check the site for the video, since we can't embed the Vooks player. We do have screens, though, after the break.
Posted Mar 26th 2007 11:15AM by JC Fletcher Filed under: News
MTV's Stephen Totilo got a chance to test EA's Boogieat an SSX Blur launch party, and has only now had an NDA lifted, so he can talk about it. The most shocking thing from his impressions is that it sounds really innovative.
Rather than going down the Bemani/DDR "push buttons in time with the music" route, EA Montreal has created an improvisation-based game where you use controller gestures to try to satisfy the audience with your dance moves. The Nunchuk moves the alien guy's body while the Wiimote controls where his head is pointed. Success in the game is a matter of using a variety of dance moves and somehow being "stylish." There are no onscreen indicators of what to push when.
Our first instinct is to rail against the game for being too dumbed-down and lacking any of the precision of pretty much any other music game, but that doesn't seem to be the right way to think about it. This may be a game about dancing in time to music, but it is a different kind of music game. And until we have conclusive proof that it's not good, we're going to be excited about the prospect of EA of all people expanding our favorite genre.
Note: you may have to scroll down to find this article: individual MTV multiplayer stories can't be linked.
Posted Mar 22nd 2007 1:30PM by Eric Caoili Filed under: News
After several weeks of hushed rumors about Electronic Arts' rhythm-based game for the Wii, the video game giant finally pulled the curtains back on its gossiped project, Boogie. The new IP will take advantage of the Wii's unique controls, encouraging gamers to sing and sway along with the karaoke/dance game. The reports of a microphone peripheral for the Wii remote seem indisputable now, but we're puzzled as to how it will work since the nunchuck will already be attached to the controller's bottom port.
Players will be able to customize their characters and even "[star] in their own music videos." We're not sure if that means Boogie will allow us to import our Miis, but it would be a criminal oversight if the game didn't. Judging by the screenshots released so far, it would pain us to hear that our character selection would be limited to SpongeBob rejects with chest hair.
EA Montreal (SSX Blur) is handling development for this Wii-exclusive game, and they expect to release the title worldwide later this year. Check out the first screenshots for Boogie after the post break!
If you're one who enjoys Dancing with the Stars (don't lie, we caught you dancing the moves while watching it) then, during last night's season finale, you saw the first Wii commercial. We've done our usual thing and embedded it into the post, after the break, for your viewing pleasure.
The next Boogie is only rumored to include Balance Board support, but a dancing game is coming out in Japan that features a style perfect for the Wii Fit peripheral: hula. That's right, you'll now be able to seductively wiggle those hips of yours and call it a game. So many Japanese Wii owners have Wii Fit that we don't see userbase being an issue, as the peripheral will be required (not optional) to play this title.
In just a few hours, Amazon will begin another day filled with Gold Box deals on video games, this time for "rhythm/music" titles. The sale event follows a familiar format: one Deal-of-the-Day bargain posted at 12:01 AM PST, then four Lightning Deals trickled out at 6:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 2:00 PM, and 6:00 PM PST, each one available for only four hours or while stocks last. 
For a while, we've been hearing that EA planned to support the Balance Board in the sequel to their rhythm game Boogie. According to Cubed3, NGamer magazine is reporting that this functionality has been confirmed for Boogie Superstar, possibly to add difficulty for toddlers. What is interesting is that, if NGamer's description of the game as a "board-based dance-a-thon" is accurate, Balance Board support may be more than just an optional extra.
Not the official name, of course, but damn if we shouldn't take up careers in marketing. Rayman Raving Rabbids, a game noted for being rather dichotomous in quality, will be receiving the sequel treatment on both the Wii and the DS.
MTV's Stephen Totilo got a chance to test EA's Boogie at an SSX Blur launch party, and has only now had an NDA lifted, so he can talk about it. The most shocking thing from his impressions is that it sounds really innovative. 
