E3 impressions - Wii Music

I think Miyamoto is a brilliant man. He looks at things in ways that most of us can’t even fathom. Having said that, every genius has their mediocre moments. I feel that Wii Music is Miyamoto’s moment.

Wii Music doesn’t really seem to have all that much to it. You select one of over 60 items, you mess around with the Wiimote and Nunchuk, and then you play along with a song. You can change pitch and speed depending on how you hold the controllers…but that’s about it. You never get notes wrong or anything like that…it’s just about playing music. There’s no score, no objective…just waggle away and play a familiar song.

The instrument variety is nice, and some of the choices are silly…but for me, I can’t see enjoying this for more than a half hour or so. There are lessons that you can take for instruments, but what can you really learn when you aren’t truly playing anything? The drum kit section looks to offer the most in-depth, realistic experience…but still, that is only one aspect of the game. I can only play the Super Mario Bros. theme with dog barks so many times before it turns from funny to annoying.

While I don’t feel that this game is for me, I can definitely see young children having a blast with it. Even Miyamoto himself said that Wii Music would be great for music programs for younger kids. I couldn’t agree with him more. I think a kindergarten class, even up through first and second grade, they all could really benefit from a game like this. It teaches children about instruments, gives them basic ideas of how they are held and what they sound like, and even gives them a chance to play and enjoy the sounds of music. At that age, you aren’t really looking to learn how to play an instrument, but instead, just to learn about them.

Wii Music has a purpose for the right age group, and can be a fun novelty as the age group goes higher. I don’t see anyone over the age of 10 really getting much out of this title. As long as Nintendo pushes it as a piece of software for the groups I mentioned above, I have no problem with it. If they are going to take an all-ages approach, I have to disagree. Anyone of any age can play this, but there are many, many age groups that will quickly tire of it. Perhaps that says something about us as gamers/people, perhaps not. All I know is, Wii Music didn’t really catch my eye…or ear.