Wii Music Preview

Wii Fit, Wii Play and Wii Sports all went on to become mainstream hits with millions of copies sold each. These unique titles managed to get many non-gamers (soccer moms, grandparents, etc.) into gaming. They are the primary reasons why the Nintendo Wii continues to sell out nearly two years after the system launched. Nintendo hopes to strike gold for the fourth time in a row with Wii Music. Can the game compete with the giants of the music genre like Guitar Hero and Rock Band? Find out in this hands-on preview of Wii Music for the Nintendo Wii.

Graphics
The visual style is similar to Wii Sports in that the game will incorporates Miis. These customizable super-deformed characters are armless and look a bit ridiculous when they play a musical instrument. The graphics are deemphasized in Wii Music just like Wii Fit, Wii Play and Wii Sports.

Sound
As a music game, Wii Music places more weight in the sound department. The game includes a variety of songs: opera, classic folk and even tunes from Nintendo classic games. While the game includes some good melody, the sound quality is a bit weak when compared to other music games.

Gameplay
Wii Music utilizes the motion capabilities of the Wii Remote and Nunchuck. By moving these controller parts around, you will be able to create music. Nintendo simplified the controls as much as possible to make the game accessible to non-gamers. You will have to do very little button presses if at all. Simply replicating the motion of playing a certain instrument will get the job done most of the time.

Some of the more complex instruments need more than a Wii Remote and Nunchuck. For example, the drum instrument uses the Wii Balance Board as foot pedals while utilizing the Wii Remote and Nunchuck as drum sticks.

Players won't be able to actually play the numerous instruments as Wii Music will take care of the note playing automatically. Thus, it is impossible to mess up in the game no matter how bad the song you are playing sounds in real life. Music enthusiasts will no doubt be a little disappointed upon hearing this gameplay snippet.

Instead of direct control, players can only change the rhythm of a predetermined song by making it faster, slower, skipping certain beats, etc. Players will be basically remixing a certain song.

Aside from jamming to the songs, Wii Music also features a couple of related mode. The game will come with a number of music-related quizzes that will test you knowledge in the field. In addition, you can send recorded videos of your jam sessions to your Wii friends via WiiConnect24. Your friends could then add in their own flavor to the jam session and send it right back to you. Since Wii Music has no online play, this will be the only method to play the game over long distances.

Final Product
Up to four players can play together using over 60 different instruments ranging from a barking dog to a conductor of an orchestra.

Wii Music won't come close to Rock Band or Guitar Hero due to its over-simplified design. While the game will be fun to play at parties, it won't be an engaging experience in other instances. Wii Music will be released in late October for the Nintendo Wii.