Every E3 press conference finishes off with a big, knock-em-dead final announcement, intended to leave the crowd cheering and come away remembering your company fondly. Nintendo had a couple of interesting announcements this year at their press briefing, but their ace-in-the-hole wasn’t an unannounced title — instead, Shigeru Miyamoto made an appearance to give the crowd an extended list of details about Wii Music. Miyamoto, accompanied by fellow Nintendo executives, took Wiimotes in hand to show off a handful of the 50 promised instruments to be included in the new music game, scheduled for release this holiday season.
Wii Music was conceived by Nintendo back before the Wii launched, joining Wii Sports and Wii Fit as mere conceptual twinkles in Nintendo’s eye as they planned out their first-party line of unconventional motion-controlled titles. Following the overall theme of Nintendo’s games, which have proven their ability to hook non-gamers and appeal to broad audiences, Miyamoto reminded E3 attendees that music is a universally appealing medium. Unlike other games which have explored this, however, Wii Music will not be based on precision, or timing, or even general coordination. Using the Wiimote (and Nunchuk) in a variety of different positions and mechanics, Wii Music will simply require players to mimic the motions of the instruments, and based on the players’ own rhythm, movements, and button presses, the game will fill in the rest — inserting appropriate notes into the song and having the on-screen Miis keep pace.
It sounded, honestly, like the game would largely play itself. I may well be a music-game snob after my storied history with titles like Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and others, but on the other hand, this wouldn’t be the first time Nintendo proved they knew better than I do about game design. The ease of entry is, in fact, the actual point of Wii Music — removing the daunting levels of coordination and peripheral mastery so that “everyone can experience the joy of playing music.” Using the simple controls, Miyamoto proceeded to serenade the crowd on the piano, saxophone, violin, taiko drum, and guitar.
Wii Music, however, will also come with something resembling a more one-to-one control scheme, featuring an entirely separate drumming game, where a full drum kit can be assaulted with careful strikes of the Wiimote and Nunchuk. The Balance Board even comes into play, allowing drummers to hit the bass pedals with presses of their feet. A full “drum lessons” module is promised as well, allowing aspiring percussionists to learn the ways of Keith Moon in the comfort of their living rooms (drug overdose optional).
Finally, because no Wii title is complete without multiplayer party-game lunacy, Wii Music features 4-player co-op band play, allowing four virtuosos to fill roles in a six-member ensemble and perform various songs together. This was demonstrated by Miyamoto and company, who waggled their way through the standard crowd-pleaser — the Super Mario Bros. theme. Friendless musicians can get the band experience as well, going back over a song multiple times with different instruments, recording videos of themselves performing the various roles until they have a band filled with clones.
Wii Music launches this holiday. Stay tuned — we have a little something extra from the performance coming up later today. UPDATE: We have it now. Enjoy!
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