News: Miyamoto Muses Over More Wii Music

Posted by Aaron Clegg - Nov 16th 2009 19:37

Could Shigeru Miyamoto's musical pet-project be making a return?

Despite the fairly cool reception from many critics and gamers, it looks like Mr Miyamoto still has a lot of love for Wii Music.

Speaking to ONM, the veteran game designer (who we'd like to wish a very happy birthday to today, by the way) discussed the aftermath of the game's release, and whether it has a possible future.

"I think it sold lower than our expectations but on the other hand it was a really unique game, I have to say. And also, even today, we are receiving several different offers from people in the field of music education, so as far as Wii Music is concerned, I think is still has great potential. And in the future there might be some developments. We may want to think about the possibility of making some improvements, based upon the original Wii Music. Unfortunately we don't have any news we can talk about at the moment, but like Wii Fit Plus, it's not really a sequel to the original Wii Fit - but we have added some features to improve the overall experience. It's a kind of an enhanced version of the original Wii Fit..."

It looks like if we're going to see more Wii Music, it'll be in the form of an expansion of the original concept. We know a lot of dedicated gamers who stand by the original as a fun and addictive experience, but perhaps if Nintendo could focus that core concept, it will reach an ever wider audience?

But what do you think? Would you like to see a refined Wii Music? Or is it one series Nintendo should just leave be. Drop your comments below...


Source: ONM

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Comments

Hellfire Says: 
November 16th, 2009 at 15:42 || Total Comments: 735
I love Wii Music it's crimnially underrated and misunderstood and I hate all the prejudice against it, with better samples, motion+ support, dlc (free dlc of course) and better tracks it would be awesome.
Sariachan Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 16:33 || Total Comments: 326
Great news!
ProtoKun Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 17:53 || Total Comments: 109
Make it a Nintendo games Wii Music game and pretty much most people will go "I want this". I love Wii Music, and I don't own it because there's been an avalanche of games I've wanted, but as soon I get the oportunity to buy it, I will.

Anyway, I always had the feeling Wii Music would return, and gladly, it's going that way.
Darkflame Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 18:50 || Total Comments: 961
WiiMusic is more a toy then a game. (no objective/rules = toy).

But theres nothing wrong with that. I just think poor sales of Music was because people were expecting a structured game with rules, when what they got was something more akin to Lego.

Still, I got more then enough to play, so this isnt for me.
I like storybased games with an ending, but I got no objection for Nintendo making games for others.
Solitanze Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 20:21 || Total Comments: 1655
The Wii series has an average sales amount of 14.73 million units per game released (this includes the provisional figures of Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit Plus):

Wii Play - 24.67m sales
Wii Fit - 22.63m sales
Mario Kart Wii - 18.24m sales
Wii Sports Resort - 6.11m sales
Wii Fit Plus - 2.0m sales

= 73.65/5 games = 14.73 million units sold per release vs 2.68 = 12.05m sales below average.

Wii Music in comparison is an ABSOLUTE FAILURE!

Why Nintendo would even contemplate releasing another Wii Music is beyond me. It simply does not make business sense to waste resources such a reject game that will be spat on by the gaming public like it was the first time...
Solitanze Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 20:22 || Total Comments: 1655
NOTE: I have not considerd Wii Chess above as it is NOT a worldwide release...
Mako89 Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 21:05 || Total Comments: 421
I suggested buying it to my friend for his kids and they loved it. It isn't a game but it introduces kids to music. Sales wise it's a failure I guess.. If they want to build on it that's fine. I don't think they are pumping in tens of millions into production anyway. I see it as Miyamoto's side hobby.
And Sol remember. Miyamoto and Nintendo's method isn't to sit somewhere and try to force ideas into a game. They produce when ideas come up. So if Miyamoto wants to sit there and play music, that's up to him. It's not like they are sitting at a table with a deadline brainstorming. It seems he gets ideas whatever he is doing and will apply them to things he sees fit.
Guardiandevil Says:
November 17th, 2009 at 03:47 || Total Comments: 353
havent even tried the first one...
Auntnadia Says:
November 17th, 2009 at 03:49 || Total Comments: 740
motion plus could definitely make it more playable.
Pod Says:
November 17th, 2009 at 05:11 || Total Comments: 1037
I could see a refined version actually gaining the respect of former critics.

I don't care much for games like Guitar Hero, because you never actually get to be creative yourself, within the confines of actually playing a song.
That's the whole point of Wii Music, though, and if that came across more clearly, and felt more intuitive and rewarding, people just might "get it".
RawkingRawlings Says:
November 17th, 2009 at 06:07 || Total Comments: 344
@Pod

I agree, but Wii Music needs to have an element similar to Guitar Hero/Rock Band where you play songs from different genres and get points for doing so.

With the amount of instruments available, using Remote/Nunchuck you could have a variety of songs to play: Electro, Rock, Pop, Classical etc.

Add in microphones for singing and you would have a winning game.

An online option would be awesome too, imagine taking part in a 40 piece orchestra, and your the guy with the big cymbals....everyones counting on you to do that final clash!
Darkflame Says:
November 17th, 2009 at 06:59 || Total Comments: 961
"Wii Music in comparison is an ABSOLUTE FAILURE!"

Depends how much it costs them to make.
Solitanze Says:
November 17th, 2009 at 08:29 || Total Comments: 1655
The cost for Wii Play obviously is next to zero because it's a recycled tech demo from E3 2006. Ten times the amount of sales at one tenth the price of Wii Music, in theory, the success finance wise would be close on the surfface (as Wii remote cost is covered in Wii Plays price), but going by the lengthy development time of Wii Music though (triple that of Wii Play), the development cost/resources gone into that game would have been higher than Wii Play, hence failure number one for Wii Music;

Wii Fit makes money from its ridiculously high mark-up, has not affected sales though!;

Wii Fit Plus - Next to zero cost again, recycled Wii Fit with 11th hour additions;

Mario Kart Wii - Piece of plastic (Round Wheel 1c manufacturing cost), surpassed San Andreas in sales, feat is debateable though, considering the game falls under the bundled classification due to the bundled Wii Wheel, but it could also be said the accessory is fundamental to the game, rather than the console (like Wii Play with Wii Remote), hence should be counted. Overwhelming majority viewpoint is more consistent with the former argument though (i.e. bundled, hence not really surpassed GTA SA as the greatest selling "home console" game of all time on a single platform NOT bundled);

The only game i'd argue would be of a higher cost and maybe less successful than Wii Music would be Wii Sports Resort. The R&D costs for the Wii Motion Plus accesory would've been fairly high and the game does not have a ridiculously high mark up applied like Wii Fit does so revenues harder to come by...
Hellfire Says: 
November 17th, 2009 at 08:52 || Total Comments: 735
Not that I want to argue Sol, who would do that, but Wii Music's failure needs to be Mythbusted. Did it sell less than Wii Fit and what Nintendo was expecting? Was it a failure? No. It sold 2,5 million copies. The absurd and ridiculous thought that games need to break the 10 million mark to be successful must go away. Most games don't even need to break the million barrier and Wii Music is probably one of those cases.
It's absurd and idiotic to think in absolutes.
Major_tom Says:
November 17th, 2009 at 09:23 || Total Comments: 64
I think Wii Music sort of fell between two stools. It didn't go for the Guitar Hero stance of being able to reproduce your favourite songs note for note, but neither did it really nail the creativity option. That requires more than just collecting a bunch of instruments and throwing them at people, saying here go make some music. You have to teach people about the nuances of each instrument, and give them ideas about how to combine them and make compositions. It's hard work!
Pod Says:
November 17th, 2009 at 11:14 || Total Comments: 1037
Yes, Sol, San Andreas sold 18 million copies on PS2.

Mario Bros. 3 sold 17 million copies fifteen years earlier, on a system with half the installed base.

Nintendogs has sold over 22 million on the DS, and is counting.

These are all significant numbers, but let's look at a few other ones.

Wii Music has sold 2½ times as many copies as Shadow of the Colossus, which was very expensive, yet apparently successful enough to get a very expensive sequel.

Wii Music has sold around the same amount of copies as God of War II, which was a very VERY high profile production.

So while it does poorly compared to other "Wii"-brand games, it does not, by any stretch, do poorly enough to not warrent a sequel.
Fused_King Says:
November 17th, 2009 at 11:42 || Total Comments: 100
I'd say this isn't the way to get people into the beauty that is music.
I know Miyamoto is a passionate man when it comes to music, but I think this (and the band/guitar games) are not to be acknowledged as you being a proper musician. I know they meant it to be that way, but what I'm trying to say is that, if you love music, you're better off practising a certain instrument and form a band or something. IMO that'd be a better way to spend your time than on so-called 'music games'.
Darkflame Says:
November 17th, 2009 at 11:55 || Total Comments: 961
Yes, and its "better" to play real sports then to play WiiTennis, Bowling or what-not.

Its not about replacement, its about providing a easier, cheaper and more accessible alternative. Especially for those without much time.

That said, Id rather they invented new virtual instruments then emulate physical traditional ones.

"but going by the lengthy development time of Wii Music though (triple that of Wii Play), the development cost/resources gone into that game would have been higher than Wii Play"

3 times higher still dosnt necessary mean 2million sales isnt enough to turn a profit.
Nick-tendo Says:
November 17th, 2009 at 16:00 || Total Comments: 8
"Miyamoto muses over more Wii Music."

Somewhere, Redshell messes his y-fronts.
Eraser Says:
November 18th, 2009 at 02:00 || Total Comments: 505
Wii Music Plus, then? :-J
Mako89 Says:
November 18th, 2009 at 09:09 || Total Comments: 421
I'm just happy Miyamoto is willing and allowed to try something different. Sometimes it doesn't translate into sales but it opens up possibilities for new ideas.

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 Wii Music - Click to see game details
Wii Music

System:
Wii

Genre:
Music

Developer:
Nintendo

Publisher:
Nintendo

Release Dates:
Out now
20.10.2008
14.11.2008
Q4 2008

Memorycard:
N/A

Multiplayer:
Unknown

Last updated on:
Jul 19th 2007