2008/12/13: Wii: Rubik's World, Ultimate Band, Wii Music

[Shogun1]

Nintendo should of made a new Mario Paint game instead of Wii Music. With Mario Paint you can compose songs, just look at how popular that is on Youtube. Add some fun mingames and pack in a mouse and maybe a keyboard, maybe give 500 Wii points so people can buy the Opera Internet Browser. I would go for that and it also gives an incentive to buy like Wii Play with the packed in Wii Remote. Wii music just wasn't what it could of been. I do like that Nintendo is trying to make family friendly content and gaming needs a balance of good E rated and M rated titles and I think people miss that point but in Wii Music's case, Miyamoto's vision for the game did not translate to a successful game.

[Crock1]

Thanks for reviewing Wii Music, Critic!  I was debating getting this game as a Christmas present for the kids, but I've been really on the fence.  After reading your review, I think I'll continue to use my money to pay for their real piano lessons instead....

Now, any chance you can get Animal Crossing reviewed before Christmas too :

[voor]

I can't remember who, but it was one of the funniests things I've read on this site.

........


"No offense, sir.....you may take our lives, but you may not take our freedom......not right now".

[BuryMe1]

Thanks for reviewing Wii Music and telling it like it really it. It simple amazes me that Nintendo thought this would suffice as their Christmas "lineup." They really need to get their act together.

[feilong801]

In the spirit of offering an alternative view, let me give some excerpts from Ngamer. They are a Nintendo centric UK magazine, but they are not owned by Nintendo. They'd have no reason to inflate the grade. They gave Wii Music an 89/100, which is a little higher than I would have given it even, and they articulated some thoughts which I think are worth mentioning (emphasis mine):

"Wii Music is an arrangement sim. It is not an instrument simulator. Yes, flicking the remote to play the different guitars imitates strumming, but only a lunatic would equate presses of 1 and 2 with the contortion required to fart a song from the bagpipes. This isn't a bad thing, it just means anyone can do it. Which means Wii Music can get on with the business at hand: being an arrangement sim."
 
-Rob

[VideoGameCritic]

[QUOTE=feilong80]

"Wii Music is an arrangement sim. It is not an instrument simulator. Yes, flicking the remote to play the different guitars imitates strumming, but only a lunatic would equate presses of 1 and 2 with the contortion required to fart a song from the bagpipes. This isn't a bad thing, it just means anyone can do it. Which means Wii Music can get on with the business at hand: being an arrangement sim."

[/QUOTE]

Wow, that's the worst review I've ever read.  What the [expletive] is an arrangement sim?  They toss the term around as if it means anything to anybody.

[feilong801]

[QUOTE=The Video Game Critic]
Wow, that's the worst review I've ever read.  What the [expletive] is an arrangement sim?  They toss the term around as if it means anything to anybody.
[/QUOTE]

From wikipedia, and available from numerous other websites:

The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic structure" (Corozine 2002, p.3). Orchestration differs in that it is only adapting music for an orchestra or musical ensemble while arranging "involves adding compositional techniques, such as new thematic material for introductions, transitions, or modulations, and endings...Arranging is the art of giving an existing melody musical variety".
 
I'm not trying to start a flame war, but I should point out that yes, "arrangement" is a common musical term with plenty of meaning.

I know you are not going to change your mind, but at the very least your readers should have an alternative point of view, since I think the game is at worst a C-, and maybe a B+ at best.

-Rob

[JasonhasRSI1]

[QUOTE=feilong80]Which means Wii Music can get on with the business at hand: being an arrangement sim."
 
-Rob
[/QUOTE]

 Doesn't sound like a very fun game to me.

[Sudz1]

[QUOTE=feilong80]

From wikipedia, and available from numerous other websites:

The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic structure" (Corozine 2002, p.3). Orchestration differs in that it is only adapting music for an orchestra or musical ensemble while arranging "involves adding compositional techniques, such as new thematic material for introductions, transitions, or modulations, and endings...Arranging is the art of giving an existing melody musical variety".
 
I'm not trying to start a flame war, but I should point out that yes, "arrangement" is a common musical term with plenty of meaning.

-Rob
[/QUOTE]

I don't think Dave was trying to say that people don't know what an "arrangement" is, just that the term "arrangement sim" doesn't really mean anything to anyone.  They throw it out there like it's its own genre of games, right along side First Person Shooter or Real Time Simulation.  "Framing" may be a common construction term with plenty of meaning, but that doesn't mean that describing something as a "Framing sim" is going to mean much to many gamers.  If's Wii Music was truly designed to be an 'arrangement sim' they should have called it "Wii Arrangement" instead of "Wii Music". 

Face it, not only does the game blow and the Critic able to defend his every criticism, but any retort has been limited to "you just don't get it".  People either need to come up with a real argument or simply accept that they enjoy something 95% of the population can't stand.  There's nothing wrong with that, but stop making it sound like the problem is with everyone else for being too stupid to be able to rise to a particular level of self-aggrandizement.
Sudz

[NixonTech2071]

This is just another consequence of Competing with Genre's. Ever since Side-Scrollers and platformers popularity boosted to rediculous levels, alot of low-profile developers didnt really pay attention to gameplay quality or originality when it came to developing them.