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Wii Music | 
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| From: Nintendo
Category: Video Games
List Price: $49.99
Buy New: $39.00
You Save: $10.99 (22%)
New (42) Used (7) from $39.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  88 reviews
Sales Rank: 58
Platform: Nintendo Wii
ESRB: Everyone
Media: Video Game
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Age: 5 - 20 years
Operating System: Nintendo Wii
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 0 x 0.1 x 0.1
MPN: RVLPR64E
Model: RVLPR64E
UPC: 045496901301
EAN: 0045496901301
ASIN: B001DO3NEW
Release Date: October 20, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: factory sealed
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| Features:
| • | Wii Music for Nintendo Wii lets you play musical instruments and make music using the Wii Remote and the Wii Balance Board | | • | Start a band with up to six different band members | | • | Pick a background stage, and shake, move, and press buttons to play up to 60 different instruments for a ton of melodic fun | | • | No need to press a specific button at a certain time; instead you just need to mimic the actions of playing that instrument | | • | Save up to 30 music videos and create playlists among your favorites |
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| Accessories:
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Product Description
When it comes to music and rhythm games, Wii Music stands in a class of its own. Unlike other music games, which penalize players if they don't play perfectly, Wii Music is a musical playground where there are no mistakes. Here anyone can pick up and master the huge array of instruments available, through simple motions like strumming and drumming. Musicians in your band jam by simply playing their instruments to the beat of a song or by improvising to their heart's content. Play faster. Play slower. Skip a beat, or throw in 10 more. No matter what you do, Wii Music automatically transforms your improv stylings into great music. 
Your music, your way | 
Simple pickup and playability.
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Easy controls and learning curve.
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Huge array of diverse instruments.
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Make music by yourself.
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Or with up to 3 friends.
View larger. | Gameplay: Getting Your Band Together
In Wii Music every band has six members: Two play the main melody, two cover the percussion beats, one covers the bass groove and one uses the song's chords to support the melody. As a band, the six members often play their special parts at the same time, though each player can jam however and whenever he or she wants. Play all at once. Take turns in the spotlight. Pair up in creative ways throughout the song. You can bring the band to life by yourself, playing one part at a time-or with up to four players. See game mode below: - Solo Play: When you play by yourself, you can add one part at a time to arrange the whole song exactly how you want. The Tutes are on hand to back up your band in any parts you need filled.
- Multiplayer: When in a band with friends, up to four people can be band members.
- Wii Friends: Using WiiConnect24, you can send your jam videos to Wii Friends who own Wii Music. They can then watch your performance, modify it to their liking and send their jam videos back to you.
Tutes: Your Own Private Back-up Band
When not playing with friends, you can invite jam masters known as Tutes to play with you. They'll join a session playing an instrument that each thinks is strong for a specific song. You can simply enjoy the musical camaraderie, or pick up instrument tips by watching them jam. If you choose to watch, the Tutes will show you lots of techniques for many of these instruments, then ask you to follow their examples. They'll start with the simplest techniques, then as you master each one, show you even more nuanced ones. Key Game Features:
- Easy to Play Improv Jams - All members of your band jam by simply playing their instruments to the beat of a song or by improvising to their heart's content. Play faster. Play slower. Skip a beat, or throw in 10 more. Wii Music challenges you to transform your improv stylings into great music. There are no mistakes and no game scores-just playing for the pure joy of playing.
- Wii Controls Immerse You in the Music - You can play most of the 60-plus instruments in Wii Music using simple motions with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers. Strum to play guitar, banjo and sitar. Drum to play jazz drums, congas and snare drums. Hammer away to play piano, vibraphone and marimba. Unlike most music games, Wii Music doesn't make you use many complex buttons. You only need to imitate playing the instrument.
- Virtually Endless Ways to Make Music - You choose the song and instruments and decide whether to blaze through a rock take on classical songs, put a jazzy spin on folk tunes or transform Nintendo classics like the Super Mario Bros. theme into Latin-flavored numbers. The song list is only a takeoff point-it's how you improvise with the songs that matters.
- Share Your Band Jams With Friends - They'll see your Mii band members, your players' improv styles and your instrument selections. They can watch your recordings, or play over parts of your song, then send their modified recording back to you. So you can send improv jams back and forth over WiiConnect24, changing them again and again.
60+ Instruments
You can play most of the 60-plus instruments in Wii Music using simple motions with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers. Strum to play guitar, banjo and sitar. Drum to play jazz drums, congas and marching drums. Hammer away to play piano, vibraphone and marimba. Unlike most music games, Wii Music doesn't make you use complex buttons. You only need to imitate playing the instrument. Wii Music offers virtually endless ways to make music. Fun Beyond the Jam
Designed with classic Wii gameplay in mind, Wii Music includes many other modes and play options besides the main band jams, including several musical games and an enhanced video playback mode for recorded jams. - Videos Mode: Watch your jam videos in an enhanced playback mode that brings your jams to life with fun environmental effects and dramatic camera angles.
- Mii Maestro: By waving the Wii Remote like a conductor's baton in this mini-game, you'll lead a Mii orchestra through orchestrated songs, such as The Legend of Zelda theme. Make them play quickly, slowly, strongly or gently-the orchestra is at your command.
- Handbell Harmony: In this musical mini-game, you'll play in a handbell ensemble by swinging your Wii Remote and Nunchuk. Everyone on the team has a job to do: play one of your notes only when the tune demands it.
- Pitch Perfect: How good is your musical ear? In this whimsical musical quiz, you'll have to solve challenges, like putting note-playing Miis in order from lowest to highest pitch.
- Drum Mode: In the one mode that uses the Wii Balance Board accessory (sold with Wii Fit), you can feel what it's like to play a real-life drum set. You'll use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk as drumsticks, and place both feet on the Wii Balance Board-which work as virtual pedals for the bass drum and hi-hat cymbal.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 83 more reviews...
 Surprisingly Advanced Game December 4, 2008
42 out of 43 found this review helpful
Potential buyers, please be careful when reading some of the reviews posted here: nearly all of the negative reviews will try to convince you that this game is simplistic, shallow, or aimed at a very young audience. This could not possibly be further from the truth.
First off, this is, perhaps, the only real music game on the market today; yes, there are the Guitar Hero / Rockband games, but, however fun they might be, those games are nothing more than a glorified Simon Says, where you simply hit the correct button on your fake instrument at the correct time as shown on screen.
This game is not simply about performing a part as indicated. Instead, Wii Music puts you more in the position of a band leader: first you select a song, then assign instruments out of the 60 available to different roles, each of which holds different possibilities for what will occur when you play, i.e., a violin assigned to the role of "chord" for a song will follow the main harmonic movement of the song. Assign that same instrument to the "harmony" role, however, and it will notes that are roughly in contrapuntal relation to the main melody, or put it in the role of "bass", etc.
Once you assign instruments, you record each part, one by one, until you have created an entire arrangement. While recording an individual part, you can do whatever you want to change the feel of the song: hold out a note for a suspension, throw in fills and riffs, completely change the rhythm, shake things up for the chorus or bridge of the song, etc. The final recording can be a truly original take on the song, according to the musical vision you carried out.
If you have a musical ear, or at least a musical curiosity and willingness to take the time to be truly creative, this game will offer you more than any other on the market. Most reviewers who are actually trained musicians have praised this game, and rightly so -- don't listen to the voices online who don't understand the point.
Bottom line: if you're looking for a simple, quick game to pick up like Guitar Hero, you won't understand the point of this game, but if you truly enjoy music and would, for instance, enjoy trying to create your own folk arrangement of Beethoven' Ode to Joy for 2 violins and a banjo, buy this game.
Fun for musicians, great for the classroom -- oh yeah, kids can play it too December 26, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
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.
If You Think it Sounds Cool - GET IT! November 3, 2008
23 out of 29 found this review helpful
I'm Who This Game Was Made For. Ever since Nintendo started hyping up this game, I have been excited for it, and I'm so glad that I ignored the reviews and got it anyway.
This game is exactly what i hoped it would be: Addictive and a freaking blast. Any time that I tap a beat on my desk, with a pencil, or just all the little songs that come up during any given day, I think of how to put that in a Wii Music song
Arranging songs is a blast, and it's HARD! I think this game may actually be too hard for some other reviewers that didn't like it; it takes dedication to re-record each part until it sounds just like you want, arranging them into a song that you love. It's complicated sometimes, depending on how your artistic vision is.
I'm so glad that I bought this game; i've had hours and hours of entertainment. It can take an hour or two to make a good six-piece arrangement, and then I record it and put the videos on YouTube where wii music lovers all comment on each other's videos :) It's great!
If you thought you'd like this game before seeing the reviews, you will probably love this game! If you have any interest, get it. It's worth it.
A Very Fun Musical Experience! October 26, 2008
11 out of 14 found this review helpful
This is a very fun musical game/experience. I just bought the game and my 12-year old son and I played for almost three hours. I don't know why two earlier reviewers made comments like "what a joke" or "not for anyone over 5" unless they were expecting a playing experience similar to Rock Band or Guitar Hero. This game is very different--and that is why I like it. You actually have some input into the sounds, rhythm and style. Plus, it's fun using the Wii remote to mimic the playing style of the different instruments.
Five-year olds will love it--but so will a lot of other ages. And, while you can keep things simple (for the five-year olds), you can also make things quite complex if you want. Plus, my son loves watching the videos we create. Overall, this is one of the best Wii games I've purchased or rented.
Amazing game, but probably not what you thought it was November 3, 2008
20 out of 27 found this review helpful
Wii Music is not Guitar Hero. That must be said right away. If you are looking for Guitar Hero or something like Guitar Hero, look elsewhere because you will not enjoy this game.
HOWEVER.....
...if you've ever played music, and/or understand the basic concepts behind jazz improv, or really just want to learn the basic concepts behind music, you will love everything about this game! The concepts of tempo, rhythm and even a little bit of chord structure are all in this game and are done very well. Maybe a little more "educational" than most people want, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
But the best part is the custom jam section. Like I said, this is basic jazz improv, and it's basic jazz improv at its best! Pick a song, a part and an instrument, and then go to town! Just like soloing, the basic chord structure is presented in front of you and you can either play the part as written or play whatever rhythm you want...but you don't have to worry about playing right notes! You just play the rhythm you want and the notes will come out correctly for you! It's awesome!
So if you have ever been in some sort of high school or college band, or any band really, and understand that when a C is written you can either play a C, or a G, or alternate between the two in a basic eighth note triplet pattern, then you will fall in love with this game!
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The Nintendo Wii goes on sale on Sunday, November 19. Thanks to the inclusion of the simple--but infectiously fun--Wii Sports game, the Wii is the first console in recent memory that lets you have fun straight out of the box. Still, there are a few key Wii accessories you'll want to pick up to maximize your Wii experience--especially if you're buying it as a gift.
Extra controllers: Like all recent consoles, the Wii ships with just a single controller (well, one two-part controller: one Wiimote, plus one nunchuk). But the real fun of the system is playing the head-to-head Wii Sports games such as tennis and boxing. To do so, you'll need at least one extra set of controllers--and again, that's one Wiimote ($28.99) plus one nunchuk ($12.99). The Wii supports as many as four, but just the one extra controller set should suffice--at least for Christmas morning.
Rechargeable batteries: The Wiimote takes two standard AA batteries. They're included--with the Wii, and with the sold-separately version of the controller mentioned above--but avid players may find the juice draining pretty quickly, especially if they keep the nunchuk attached (it draws its power from the Wiimote). Instead of buying an endless stream of costly AAs, consider investing in a set of rechargeables. You can score a charger and four rechargeable nickel-metal-hydride batteries for less than $25.
GameCube controllers: The Wii is fully backwards compatible with the Nintendo GameCube, but there's a catch: to play the GameCube games, you'll need a GameCube controller ($15.99). You can even go wireless with the Nintendo WaveBird ($59.99). If you already have a GameCube, your existing controllers will work just fine--just plug them in to one of the four ports underneath the flip-up panel on the Wii's topside. GameCube controllers should also work with the Wii's "Virtual Console" games--which saves you the trouble of having to buy a Classic Controller.
GameCube memory cards: One other annoyance when playing GameCube games: your progress can only be saved to GameCube memory cards, not to the Wii's internal memory or to an SD card (we're hoping Nintendo fixes this with a future firmware update). Like the controllers, your old GC cards will work just fine--there are two slots right next to the GameCube controller ports. If you don't have any onhand (and you want to save your games on GC titles), you'll need to spring for a $26.90 (2GB) memory card.
Wii Points: One of the big attactions of the Wii is its Virtual Console, which lets you purchase classic games that originally came from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), the Super NES, the Nintendo 64, the Sega Genesis, and the TurboGrafx16. By the end of 2006, at least 30 titles should be available, including Donkey Kong (NES), Super Mario 64 (N64), and Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis). To purchase the downloadable titles, you'll need to use a Nintendo currency known as Wii Points (similar to the Microsoft Points on Xbox Live), which currently have an exchange rate of 100 points per U.S. dollar. You can buy Wii Points directly through the console's online store, or use prepaid cards (2000 Wii Points) available in various denominations.
SD card: If you're close to filling the Wii's built-in 512MB of storage with your Virtual Console games, you can always expand your available space with an SD card. Nintendo sells its own, but any run-of-the-mill card will do. Fairly spacious 1GB cards are available for less than $20--even less with mail-in rebates--and they'll work in plenty of other gadgets as well.
Wireless access point: In addition to the downloadable Virtual Console games, the Wii offers online "channels," including news, weather, and even an Opera Web browser (head-to-head online gaming is said to be coming sometime in 2007). You can get online for free via the Wii's built-in Wi-Fi. To do so, of course, you'll need a nearby wireless access point or router. Alternately, you can plug the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector into any nearby PC on a wired network, and the Wii--plus your Nintendo DS--will be able to use it to get online instead.
Component video adapter: The Wii doesn't have the graphical horsepower to handle high-def graphics, but it can do DVD-level 480p video, which will look considerably better on large HDTVs. To see the Wii's games in 480p, you'll need Nintendo's proprietary component video adapter, which should run about $20. |
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www.seeker-wii.com | |
