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Game Music

Wii Music Review: Finally, (Insert Joke About Waving Your Wii Here)

October 20, 2008 | Jayson Napolitano | 5 Comments Share this

I remember back at E3 2006 when the Wii was first shown, and what was effectively a technical demo titled “Wii Music” was on the floor. It featured simple yet addictive orchestral conducting gameplay, and I was immediately excited about the prospect of interacting with Nintendo’s classic game tunes. However, as Wii Music took shape at this year’s E3 as a free-for-all music experience, I think I was with many of you out there in being skeptical of Nintendo’s approach.

If you haven’t kept up on the details, the idea behind Wii Music is that there is no right or wrong way to perform a song. You’ll basically hold the Wii remote and nunchuck and simulate the motions of a slew of instruments, triggering notes whenever you’d like that match the pitch of the rest of the instruments being played. This is definitely not a conventional approach as it effectively removes the “game” out of Wii Music, but is this approach merely a gimmick or does it provide a truly innovative musical experience?

Read our full impressions of Wii Music after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

Wii Music Dated for October 20, Gamers Still Excited About Dog Instrument

September 18, 2008 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

Who knew we were only a little over a month away from getting our grubby little hands on Nintendo’s stab at the rhythm game genre? I was expecting them to announce Wii Music for the holiday season, but I guess we’re going to be playing the dog instrument and more than 60 other instruments before Halloween instead.

While everyone laughs at me when I say it, I think the drums that make use of the balance board look pretty cool. I just pray and hope that the game doesn’t feature the general MIDI sound that it was sporting at E3 this year… but I’m pretty sure it’s not going to change.

Do you think Nintendo is taking the right approach on this one? Are you excited about the finally being able to “improvise jams on the fly” and share your creations with your friends around the world?

Read the official word from Nintendo and check out some always-amazing lifestyle shots after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

Rhythm Tengoku Complete Music Collection: 140 Tracks of Heaven

September 11, 2008 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

And it’s not a Club Nintendo release!

I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t been following all the buzz around the Rhythm Tengoku series. I am really interested in learning more, however, as the music minigame-based gameplay sounds like a really cool idea. Last week we discussed how Nintendo was dissing fans with the Touch! Generations album featuring music from Wii Fit and the like, but this one is a general release available to the public.

It’s going to feature approximately 140 tracks from Masami Yone and Mitsuo Terada, and will be released on October 15, 2008. I know some people who are going to crap themselves over this one, but still… can I PLEASE have my Metroid Primes, Nintendo?

[Via SEMO]
Game Music

Wii Music to Allow Gamers to Play the “Puppy” Instrument… uh, What?

September 9, 2008 | Jayson Napolitano | 4 Comments Share this

That’s right. For all the casual gamers out there who have been dying to get their hands on the upcoming Nintendo title Wii Music, the wait just got a whole lot harder. Along with the traditional guitar, piano, percussion, and maribma instruments that were featured at E3 this year, Nintendo has been slowly revealing new instruments that will be featured in the game.

So, you can play the dog. Whatever that means. I think you’ll just have to watch the video to understand. Well, understand might be the wrong word, as I don’t think anyone really understands this.

Are you looking forward to seeing what else Nintendo has in store for Wii Music? Do you think the dog instrument can be topped by something else that’s even more ridiuclous?

[via Destructoid]
Game Music

Nintendo to Release Wii Fit Music on CD, Skips Everything Good

September 5, 2008 | J.P. Arevalo | 16 Comments Share this

It’s no secret that Nintendo is going the way of the casual gamer. Further evidence comes in the form of the latest CD gift for Club Nintendo members in Japan. Dubbed, Touch! Generations Sound Track, the CD features 25 selections from the various Touch! Generation titles released by Nintendo on the DS and Wii. This lineup includes games like, Nintendogs, Wii Fit, and Brain Age among others.

With so many excellent soundtracks in recent times, including Twilight Princess, Super Paper Mario, and Metroid Prime 3 (all of which did NOT receive official soundtrack releases), this borderlines on madness.

Hit the jump for a detailed tracklist of what you can expect from this welcome(?) addition to the Club Nintendo library. (more…)
Game Music

Wario Land: Shake It!: An Upbeat Score From A Musical Mind Behind Ganbare Goemon

August 29, 2008 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Wario Land: Shake It!: An Upbeat Score From A Musical Mind Behind Ganbare Goemon Share this

Here we are once again on the verge of the release of another big Nintendo title. Wario Land: Shake It! looks pretty awesome (I love the Yoshi’s Island targetting mechanic), and the music, presumably by ex-Konami Kukeiha Club member Tomoya Tomita sounds pretty groovy as well.

The game apparently sports a “Jukebox Mode” to listen to the game’s tunes. Check out “BGM 02” and “BGM 09” in particular. This is some awesome synth pop/funk. Tomita worked on the Ganbare Goemon series, and this music is as fun and upbeat as one would expect from that equally comical franchise (“BGM 31” could be right out of a Ganbare Goemon title) , so here’s hoping that they release a soundtrack album for the game!

What do you think about the audio clips in the above video? Do they remind you of the good ol’ Ganbare Goemon days?
Game Music

The Disambiguation of Kenji Yamamoto

August 9, 2008 | Patrick Gann | 8 Comments Share this The Disambiguation of Kenji Yamamoto

Thanks to a certain user-friendly information database that has changed the face of the Internet, the world has been introduced to one of the coolest words ever to grace the English language: disambiguation. Seriously, don’t you wish you had known that word much earlier in life? It would have made explaining certain things so much easier.

But there’s one thing it may not so readily help us with: the m(a/e)n, the mystery, the Kenji Yamamoto. After the jump, learn more about the man/men who composed the music for Metroid and Dragon Ball Z. (more…)