LOS ANGELES -- Look at the happy smiles that Wii Music puts on people's faces!
I swear I didn't mean to, it's just impossible to not laugh as you're hitting drums by shaking your hands like an idiot while somebody is playing air guitar with a Wiimote next to you.
Wii Music is one of the titles that Nintendo talked up at its press conference Tuesday. While we weren't quite sure exactly how it was played before today, we finally have some details now: Rather than challenging players to keep a rhythm or play the correct notes, it's a four-player, free-for-all jam that doesn't penalize anyone for messing up. So it's more like "play," less like a "game."
Does it work? From my hands-on time, it was certainly fun, but I don't know if this particular mode of the game will appeal to serious music gamers. Fortunately, there's a few more modes that look interesting.
The jam mode, shown above, will include over sixty different instruments, each of which is played by using the Wii remote in a different way. I tried playing the trumpet (center), which is the lead melody for the Super Mario Bros. theme song. You hold the Wiimote as if it was a trumpet and press the 1 and 2 buttons. If you press them exactly on beat with the song, it'll sound exactly like it's supposed to. If you press them fast or slow or hold them down, it'll create little grace notes or extend the notes, respectively.
There is, of course, incentive to do well. If you make the song sound good, it'll be more fun for everyone involved than if you're just slamming the buttons with no thought over what you're doing. You can learn little tricks to improvise the music, for example, when to hold a note or when to speed up for a little solo part. You'll be able to trade tracks with your friends online.
Another game mode that I didn't get to try but that Nintendo showed at the press conference was a drum set mode. You put your feet on the Balance Board and use it to hit the bass drum and cymbal, and move your hands in the air to hit the rest of the drums. Nintendo says this will come with a drum training mode, so it could actually teach you rhythm.
And the orchestra-conducting mode that Miyamoto showed off two long years ago at E3 will also be in the game. There will also be a four-player mode in which you have to play at the correct time, so there's some challenge.
I'm not saying I don't appreciate the concept, not at all. I think Wii Music will be really compelling for the casuals (and worth the two extra years of development time the game has had). Just not sure of the appeal to existing music-game fans.
Photo: James Merithew/Wired.com, Screen: Nintendo
