Finally, a game where waggling a Wiimote is used to simulate the actual act of waggling something! GameCyte took a moment to sample Sega’s Samba de Amigo for the Wii on the show floor at E3 2008, and we’ve got impressions for the maraca enthusiast in all of us.
A representative was on hand to show off Gearbox’s adaptation of the arcade/Dreamcast music game of old. Those of us who actually played Samba de Amigo will remember crouching and stretching as we rattled our maracas at varying heights in order to keep the music going. From here on out, though, these memories will be all that remains — there is no longer a need to reach up or down when shaking the Wiimotes, which now stand in for the festive red peripherals. The original game depended on height-sensors in order to verify your position, and Nintendo’s Wiimotes have no such technology. So, instead, the up/mid/low shakes are handled purely through the direction of the Wiimote. Holding the Wiimote upright triggers the “up” position, holding it level with the ground will hit the middle, and pointing it at the floor handles the low end.
This is a pretty dramatic change, and it took me quite a while to get used to it, but I realize that having any experience with the Dreamcast original puts me squarely in the minority. The demonstrator promised us that new players will adapt quickly and easily to the game’s controls, thanks in large part to an included tutorial section.
Gearbox has added some other nice wrinkles to the new Samba de Amigo. Beyond the game’s improved graphics, Samba de Amigo for the Wii will allow players to put their scores on an online leaderboard, and download new songs as well. The game will have three new tunes available as DLC at launch, and they were revealed on the floor: “Mambo Mambo” by Lou Bega, “I Want Candy” by Bow Wow Wow, and “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” by Jet. No word on pricing was available.
Samba de Amigo is scheduled to launch for the Wii in September.
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