Wii Music

[evert]

Since Spain pay no attention to street dates, I have Wii Music at home with me and have been on it for around 4 hours!

If you have looked on youtube at user created videos from this game then you should know what to expect.

The game gives you songs. You change/remix the song anyway you like using any combination of instruments, from 1 to 6 for any song. Given that you can change the speed of the song as well as that, you can create songs that differ HUGELY from the version the game offers you.

It is quite overwhelming at the very start, and not until the first Jam Mastery session do you realise just how varied the possibilities are. After mucking around for a bit , making your own pop videos based on your recordings and improvisations, the game holds your hand through a 6 part song transformation. It shows you how to , instrument by instrument, turn Twinkle Twinkle Little Star from a babyish nursery rhyme to a rock song.

Once you get through that, you then feel suddenly more powerful and creative. My very first recording after my first Jam Mastery session is a speeded up modern version of Long Long Ago complete with hardcore drum beat! I did it with 5 different instruments and listening to my version after the game?s version blows me away,.....mine sounds GREAT! A bit rough around the edges but the fact it sounds so accomplished and unique after playing the game for such a short time proves that for those interested in it, there will be plenty of life in this one.

Learning some of the instruments, like violin and guitars, is not as easy as you would think. Most instruments let you play around with the sound, the piano can do up and down scale flourishes (always in tune of course) you can do twangy effects with the guitars too, but it will take a lot of practice to pull off such stuff at the right time in your recordings.

Lots more to this game than I first thought.

The menu/main game music theme is fantastic, and everytime you are on the menu select screen there is a band playing the tune using different instruments each time. The game lets you join in with the band and improvise along with them on one of the instruments and it is SO addicting!

Saying all that, I think the game is very much an acquired taste, but for me it totally does it for me: a music game that gives you a hell of a lot of freedom , with a very large safety net!

[FreelancePolice]

I also got this the other day.

I do like it but it's not something I'd play for any extended amount of time. It's also not something I'd crack out when mates are round. Finally it's not really a game in a sense that you can do especially badly or succeed (bar the minigames).

However it IS a fun musical toy which always brings a smile to my face when I'm playing it. It IS a bit silly and is full of silly waggleness. It IS perfect for teaching youngsters abotu music - pitch, tone etc. (the excellent third minigame).

As has been explained, you can follow bits of the song by waggleing your merry heart out. Waggle around the main notes and you'll play little notes around the melody as flair. The musical quality is pretty low and bog standard midi affair. The instruments do have a little depth (through the various other buttons on the remote and nun chuk). The gameplay almost reminds me of fooling around with the demo mode on an old casio keyboard.

It's fun and easily accessible but it's much more of a toy than a game.

[prinnysquad]

I'm pleased to read these views because I just had an unsettling experience. The advert on tv was really creepy. Everybody was grinning but didn't really look like they were having fun. Two people seemed to be playing some kind of rat-a-tat boy scout band-style drums, and the other two were toot-toot-tootling to the tune 'The Entertainer'.

I'm not doubting you boys, re, the fun element, but the advert didn't do the game any favours. I just thought it looked cretinous!

[FreelancePolice]

Like I said, it's not blam blam fun fun as say gears of war 2 might be, however it doesn't fail to raise a smile.

The moment you're introduced to the little tutorial guy (who reminded me of the swedish chef from the muppet show) I was grinning - it's very lovingly presented.

I still find the piano to be the most instantly accessibly instrument, hammering out twinkle twinkle little star (yes... really) was surprisingly fun. If you can excuse the lack of 'gameness' and in your face casual waggle, then I'm sure you'll get enjoyment from it.

It's still very much a touch generation Nintendo title and is to Rock Band as Wii Sports is to it's sporting competitors(top spin, tiger woods etc.)

[merf]

this is an odd one, lots of hate around the web but I've just wasted 90mins on it and had great fun.

whist the music is nowhere to the quality of Rock Band or GH what you can do with it i far more flexible and personalised.

the performances feel like yours, especially once you've laid down all 6 parts on a twinkle twinkle rock jam.

I suspect many here will have dismissed this as trash but I suspect its a lot deeper and a lot more fun than many will credit it for.

its a software toy though rather than a game

[Daragon]

So like Wii Fit then?

I'd best get a preorder in if I still can, then ebay it for 6 times the value next month lol

[merf]

after a couple of hours of Mirrors Edge enduced gamer rage I am going back to this, I can't die, just noodle about playing sax versions of German xmas songs and ringing some hand bells.

now that's what I call gaming.

[yesteryeargames]

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wgG_PkDkPc8 my 1st mix song i love this game its great fun to play about with

[merf]

it was interesting to see my 11y old on this over the weekend, the attitude he has with Rock Band or GH is to fly thru the tracklist to see what's next, he sat down with this though and spent 1h doing his own 6 part arrangement to Twinkle Twinkle and loved how he shaped the sound, tempo, instruments.

Its a very tactile piece of software and only review I've read that seems to get what this actually it is has been the UK IGN one.

[crocky-chocky]

I actually love this. It's magic.

Given all the thoroughly negative reviews it's had, I was expecting it to be five minutes of fun at the very most. My first play was an absolute marathon session by my standards...re-arranging tracks and putting my own breaks or builds in there is so addictive. I love how you can dictate how the track flows by easing-up whenever you feel like it...that to me shows great depth and potential for this to be quite a long lasting game.

There's definite limitations, especially with the drums, and it'd be nice if they had a few more Nintendo themes in there. But right now I'm getting a lot more out this than I thought I would. My jazz covers of the Mario Bros theme and Sukiyaki are my greatest triumphs so far...I love that the singers sound like K.K!

I can see it's not for everyone, but as someone who spent hour after hour on the free drumming in Rhythm Tengoku, this is a dreamy game.

[merf]

so does the fact so few people get this make it a hardcore game, with say Fallout, Fable etc being casual ?

[merf]

this is so unloved here

we've just finished the jam mastery sections explaining how the songs are broken into parts, this really helps and also then unlocks a huge slug of music content, and additional lessons on each specific musical style.

armed with my new knowledge i've just spent 45mins creating a really nice super slow jazz version of Madge's Material Girl, i'm quite proud and watched my video several times.

this has a lot to it once you scratch the surface but also manages to stay family group & xmas friendly for non gamer relatives.

I really like this, shame there is so little love for it here.

[MidnightScott]

Wii Music is actually fun to play it with others, but by yourself can get boring. My brother and me are hardcore gamers, yet we enjoy Wii Music. I mean the music selection is blah but with so many different instruments/styles you can make, makes it kind of worthwhile. It's not a bad game, just receive's so much flack because of the music choices.

[gunrock]

Got this for Xmas from my lovely wife and really enjoyed playing it. My wife doesn't like it much, but my 5 year old girl and I just love it. Really good, clean fun.

[Mofoman]

Amazing game, and what a way to teach my daughter musical freedom and expression. I play the guitar, and even I have changed the way I play some song's after mixing something up on this. Outstanding piece of software, and Miyamotot was right, my daughter is now nagging me to show her how to play the guitar!!

Some of the stuff you can do on this is impressive, and I was really impressed by what my daughter has been doing.