Wii Music and Wii Sports Resort Revealed

During its press conference at E3 2008, Nintendo officially revealed their next two non-gaming titles: Wii Music and Wii Sports Resort.

This marks the third E3 event in a row where Nintendo decided to spotlight the so-called "non-games" at their annual conference instead of appeasing their long time fans with hardcore titles. Wii Sports was spotlighted in 2006 while Wii Fit was the main game from last year.

Wii Fit and Wii Sports quickly hit it off with the mainstream press and were able to attract people who normally wouldn't play games, from the soccer moms to grand parents. Both titles went on to become the best selling games on the Nintendo Wii. In fact, you can hardly find them on store shelves (Wii Sports is bundled with the impossible-to-find Nintendo Wii) since they sell out almost instantly when Nintendo managed to restock them.

Nintendo decided to double dip this year with two more titles that uses the "Wii" brand name. Wii Sports Resort is the follow-up to the phenomenal hit, Wii Sports. Whereas the first game offers a broad range of sports related games, Wii Sports Resort will be focusing on beach sports. The three games that were shown so far are jet-skiing, sword fighting (where the objective is to push your opponent into the water) and playing Frisbee with your dog.

Wii Sports Resort will come packaged with the Wii MotionPlus accessory. Attached to the bottom port of the Wii Remote (previously used only for a Nunchuck attachment), the little add-on will increase accuracy and precision. The Wii MotionPlus also has a bottom port for the Nunchuck attachment. You can also buy the attachment separately as a standalone product.

Wii Music won't be using the Wii MotionPlus. The music game only requires a Wii Remote for most of the instruments. For more complicated ones such as the violin and drum sets, you will need a Nunchuck and Wii Balance Board.

Wii Music is different from other music rhythm game. In a game like Guitar Hero, you have to imitate the rhythm of the music; for Wii Music, you can go at your own pace. Those looking for an authentic music experience may be disappointed in the game since it looks like the game has been simplified to be as user friendly as possible. Nintendo fans will be happy to learn that some of the tunes from classic games like Super Mario Bros. will be in Wii Music.

Wii Music is planned for release this holiday season while Wii Sports Resort will arrive next spring.