14 DAY TRIAL // Wii Music, which was released last year, has not been one of the biggest hits for Nintendo. Titles like Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit are still selling well, while the music simulator for the Wii seems to have faded into obscurity and slid out of sales charts. But its creator might not yet be prepared to let go of the idea to simulate a variety of music instruments in a videogame that uses motion tracking.
Shigeru Miyamoto, the man who has created hits like Zelda and Wii Fit, has told the Official Nintendo Magazine that Wii Music “was a really unique game, and even today, we are receiving several different offers from people in the field of music education,” adding that “I think it still has great potential.”
Miyamoto repeated what he previously stated about Wii Fit Plus, saying any further iteration of Wii Music must be seen like a version 2.0 of a software rather than as a sequel, as the developer would add “some features to improve the overall experience,” creating an enhanced version that would rely on the same core mechanics.
Currently, the music simulation business is dominated by the Rock Band brand from Harmonix and MTV Games, and by the Guitar Hero franchise from Activision. The two are launching about one title a year and also put out a variety of downloadable content packs for the titles, covering a wide variety of music tastes.
By contrast, Wii Music aimed to offer a more limited experience with the player actually trying to master one of the many instruments simulated using Nintendo’s famous console. It seems that the more social and complex nature of Rock Band and Guitar Hero is seen by players as more of an advantage than the bigger number of instruments in the Nintendo game.