Wii Music launched in SA
WII MUSIC: Musical game launched in South Africa
Wii Music — the latest add-on for the Wii console, was launched on the South Africa market today offering Wii fans the chance to broaden their musical horizons and discover their inner beat.
Wii Music contains the sounds of over 60 instruments and comes with 50 included tracks. It features music of all styles, from the best of the classics to cult pop and even some popular gaming tunes like Super Mario Bros.
Instruments include steel drums, bass guitar, the saxophone and more; and, in keeping in a truly Japanese spirit, even offers the ‘instrumental’ sounds of a barking dog.
Game modes
‘Jam’ is the main game mode in Wii Music for creating your musical masterpieces. This is split into ‘Improvise’, ‘Quick Play’ and ‘Custom Jam.’ Muso wannabes can play as part of a six-member band, with the remaining instruments being controlled by the Wii as ‘Tute’ characters.
‘Improvise’ allows one to rehearse and master playing styles, while ‘Quick Play’ creates a totally randomised performance where all aspects of the set are chosen by the Wii.
‘Custom Play’ gives you full control, from choosing a musical style for the Tute accompaniment, to setting the speed, to choosing the instruments, to deciding where to perform.
Virtual Drum Kit
The ‘Virtual Drum Kit’ is a popular feature which mimics a real set of drums. Using the Wii Remote and Nunchuck as drumsticks and the Wii Balance Board as foot pedals, almost every aspect of a standardised drum kit can be simulated including bass drum, cymbals, snare and hi-hats.
Wii Music offers 15 interactive drumming lessons, free play, and a one-player jam session with any of the 50 featured tracks.
Pitch Perfect
If you know bugger all about the fundamentals of music and sound, are tone deaf when it comes to comparing pitches, constructing basic harmonics or telling the difference between consonance and dissonance, Wii Music offers a Pitch Perfect music quiz.
It has eight difficulty levels which test the contestants on a range of tasks such as choosing or sorting notes by their pitch, identifying matching sounds, and spotting the wrong note in a piece of music.
Starting your own record label
Once a song is mastered into what you see as fit, it can be saved as a video clip, personalised with its own record sleeve, and uploaded and shared with friends and family over WiiConnect24.
In order to help players become more accustomed to certain styles of music, Wii Music offers numerous tutorials for tightening playing techniques, arranging tracks, playing drums and aural training.
The Wii Remote and Nunchuk can also be used to produce remixes.
Conduct an orchestra
Using the Wii Remote like a baton, up to four players are able to conduct a digital orchestra. Players are able to control the speed and volume of the rendition, and conductors need to remain synchronized to ensure a high score is awarded for the performance.
It doesn’t seem to matter what your musical or gaming experience is, Wii Music offers complete musical freedom and is an engaging and fun way for all the family to learn more about musical instruments and styles.
- Recommended retail price: R549
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My family got this game for Christmas and we’ve been playing it almost constantly since we unwrapped the box. We’re musicians, so we may be biased in favor of it — but that also means that we can see the potential in the game.
To play the basic form of this game, you choose a piece of music and an instrument each for up to four players. The number of available songs and instruments increases as you play — we’ve just added a sitar to our collection. Players are divided up into melody, harmonies, and percussion (if you choose — you can also do “Ode to Joy” on Dog Suit and ukelele if you want to) and everyone plays. You can have “sheet music” to guide you if you like, but in any case, all players can control tempo and phrasing of the piece and otherwise add their own creative touches.
You can play with friends or lay down multiple tracks and put everything together to make videos. You can conduct the orchestra of Miis — several conductors together can work to achieve “chemistry” together, too, a surprisingly challenging task. There are also games to work on pitch and rhythm, all of which were fun and which would also be excellent for ear training or music classes.
There are options involving the Wii balance board, too — that’s an addition to our wish list, for sure.
As you play, “lessons” are offered to you. Doing well with them leads to more options in the game. I assume that this means the game will grow with the players.
Kids can certainly play this game, adults will find the skill tests challenging, and trained musicians will get a kick out of it.
Sounds like such a bundle of family fun! I never thought musicians would find the game so appealing. I always thought music professionals would find something like this as a bit of a joke. But then again, I play guitar and am mad for Guitar Hero!