Miyamoto: Other Music Games Are Cover Bands, Wii Music a New Instrument
- October 24, 2008 16:38 PM PST
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GamePro recently attended a roundtable Q&A with famed Nintendo developer Shigeru Miyamoto. Find out what he had to say about Wii Music, other music games, and Nintendo's future titles!
Speaking to a group of gaming media outlets including IGN, GameSpot, Game Informer, EGM, Wired, Nintendo Power, and GamePro, Shigeru Miyamoto shared his thoughts on his latest production, Wii Music. We should have a complete transcript for you this weekend, but we thought we'd give you the highlights now to heighten the anticipation.
Miyamoto rocks out with Nintendo employees Mark Franklin and Bill Trinnen, and Game Informer's Meagan Vanburkelo.
Miyamoto was quite candid about other music games. While he said he enjoys music games like Beatmania and Guitar Hero, he equated those types of titles to "cover bands," stating "My goal wouldn't be to try and lull people to join the best cover band, but rather, to let them move beyond that rather basic level of music training"
Touching on a question he often receives, Miyamoto stated "I don't think it's right to call Wii Music a game; instead I think a better way to describe Wii Music is that it's a new kind of musical instrument.
Regarding the much-maligned track list, Miyamoto stated that many of today's top songs didn't have chord progression conducive to Wii Music, and that the harmony and melody in these songs end up sounding too similar. Miyamoto stated the lack of Nintendo tracks were to due to the game's more casual-friendly appeal, but the developer seemed open to the idea of a follow-ups featuring localized playlists and all-Nintendo songs.
While Miyamoto speaks little of his hobbies nowadays, in order to keep from divulging his next project, Wired's Chris Kohler pointed out that the developer mentioned a fondness for history. While Miyamoto laughed it off, we could definifely picture Miis in powdered wigs and knights armor. Regarding Nintendo's more established franchises, Miyamoto noted that while Pikmin's Lead Designer worked on Wii Music much like Zelda's top talent took on Wii Fit, both developers are now back to working on their classic franchises.
Even though the game features over sixty instruments, Miyamoto had to regretfully axe the mandolin.
Check back this weekend for the full transcript!
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I still have fond memories of composing music to the sound of barking dogs in Mario Paint. Hard to say whether Wii Music will have the same appeal since I haven't played it yet, but I'm willing to give it a chance.
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ultrazilla2000 wrote:
While I think Miyamoto is pretty awesome as Nintendo's Golden Child, it's getting a little silly the way he's trying to pass off this turd of a game to the mainstream.
Maybe you should read the article again. He said it's not a game.
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Miyamoto is swimming in his own arrogance. YOU ARE SO 2 GENERATIONS AGO MAN!
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jstern wrote:
This game debuted at # 1 in Japan
It might not do quite as well here with games like Dead Space, Guitar Hero World Tour, and Gears coming in the next few weeks, but this is a top 5 game for sure. More importantly, games like Wii Play and Wii Fit keep strong sakes, staying in the top 10 month after month. Wii Music will definitely continue the trend.
And game, instrument, whatever you call it, it's still fun. It's not the most well-made game ever, but its one that will put a smile on your face if you're playing with others.
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So about the songs... he's basically saying that Twinkle Twikle Little Star and Yankee Doodle tranlsate better into MIDI than regular rock songs that you'd see on Guitar Hero. THAT AIN'T NO KINDA EXCUSE. I don't know... maybe there is more to Wii Music than meets the eye, but I'll probably never find out.
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eday_2010 wrote:
ultrazilla2000 wrote:While I think Miyamoto is pretty awesome as Nintendo's Golden Child, it's getting a little silly the way he's trying to pass off this turd of a game to the mainstream.Maybe you should read the article again. He said it's not a game.
It's a music intruement (and apparent DOG) simulator played on a video game system, who are you kidding? Should we just call it a toy then?
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Maybe he thinks pop and rock songs that have been in games before, have lisencing issues, and people might buy or not buy Wii Music because of the track list.
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