My wife asked, “Can we get something better than that crappy Wii Music?”

We’re still down on Wii Music around our house.

But this time, my wife was planning out how to keep 20+ people entertained at either end of Thanksgiving dinner this coming Thursday.  She was wondering if there was some Wii game we could get that would help out.

I pondered the new Wii Resort, but decided that the reference to Wii Music ought to focus the search.  So I went about looking into the Wii versions of the popular toy guitar games.

The first step last Monday was to walk over to the tech support department at the office, which is where most of the console gamers reside, and loudly ask the question, “Guitar Hero or Rock Band?”

They looked at me for about two beats and pretty much unanimously said, “Rock Band.”

I am going to guess that there was a certain amount of “pity the old guy and his Wii” in that recommendation because they followed up the response with a lot about Rock Band being easier, having “no fail mode” and such.

Which was the correct reasoning for a recommendation, since what I know about Rock Band and Guitar Hero wouldn’t have filled a thimble at that point.

I left to go look up reviews on Rock Band while they were still talking about sound/screen synchronization and the merits of the stage kit fog machine. (XBox 360 only I’m afraid.)

Some leafing through reviews showed that people thought the instruments with the original Rock Band were “teh suxor,” but most reviews seemed to really like the instruments that came with Rock Band 2.

Rock Band 2 was the choice.

The Choice

(Pictures for this post were all snatched from a Google Images search because, frankly, it wouldn’t have any pictures otherwise.)

So I went over to Amazon.com, forgetting to go through anybody’s web store front yet again, and ordered Rock Band 2. I opted for second day delivery despite the free delivery option being available.  I wanted to make sure we had it by Friday night so we could figure it out before Thanksgiving and I was afraid it might go via UPS, which has a habit of holding packages in their local warehouse until the delivery date has arrived.

Wednesday I got a call at work from my wife.  She told me that Rock Band had arrived, but that this giant box had also been delivered.  In her mind, a Wii game is about the size of a DVD, which she assumed was in the small box we got from Amazon.com.  I explained that the big box was Rock Band because it comes with a guitar and a drum kit.

I think this came as something of a surprise, but she was enthusiastic about it.

The box, about the size of Herve Villechaize’s coffin, was deposited on the floor at one end of our family room, where it sat for over 24 hours without so much as a remark from my daughter, a level of obliviousness that I did not think we would see until the teenage years.  I finally had to ask her, “What’s in the box?” before she looked at it, looked at me, then asked back, “What’s in the box?”

Then I told her she would have to wait until I got home from work on Friday to find out.  That built a level of anticipation in her that lasted for about 2 minutes, then she was off doing something else.  Spoiled child indeed.

Friday night finally rolled around, I got home from work, pizza was ordered, and my wife went off to some girl gathering leaving my daughter and I to unpack and setup of Rock Band 2.

I opened up the outer, then the inner box, and dumped all the bits and pieces onto the family room floor.  Then the impatience began as my daughter wanted to get in there and play right away while I had to do the Christmas Eve parental assembly routine.

This is what you get in the box:

Microphone, Drums, and Guitar

(annotated picture swiped from here just to make sure you knew which was the microphone)

About 30 minutes later, we had just about everything together and were ready to try it out.

The Guitar

The guitar… or the guitar controller, rather… is actually very nicely done.  It does not look or feel quite as much like a toy as other similar controllers I have seen.  It feels solid, if not as heavy as an actual electric guitar, and the buttons on the fret board are nicely colored only on the top of the neck, where you can see them when you’re holding the controller, as opposed to on the face of the fret board, where everybody except you can see them unless you tilt the guitar up.

The strap adjusted enough to accommodate both myself and my daughter at need and we were both able to at least get through the tutorial and an easy song or two right away without screwing up too badly.

The Drums

The drums controller is also reasonably solid.  It stood up to both of us beating on it for a few minutes.  Unfortunately, it only had to endure a few minutes until we gave up in frustration.

The drums are hard.

Or, rather, the drums are not as easy, even on easy mode, as the guitar.  When you select easy mode on the guitar, you only have to deal with three of the five possible buttons.  With the drums, even in easy mode, you have all four pads to beat on and the pedal to mash.  That was more than either of us were ready for on a Friday night.  Add in the fact that hitting the drums was somewhat loud yet unsatisfying and we went anti-drum pretty fast.

So the drums got placed over in the corner of the room, where they have remained untouched.

Mr. Microphone

With two of us playing the game, that left the microphone as the only other option.  My daughter wanted to play with the guitar still, so that left me on vocals, the front man for the group.

So where the drums are hard, even on easy mode, the vocals seemed very easy.  On easy mode I was belting out extremely high percentages and pretty much holding the act together while the audience was booing my daughter off stage.  Show biz is tough.

After having gone through a couple of songs though, I became pretty sure that one of those multi-tone car alarms would score moderately well in easy mode.

Still, it was nice to not be completely out of my depth for a little bit.  I did find that my own natural range (which runs from F-flat to C-you later) was so limited that I had to move straight to a low falsetto in order to keep my pitch on track with the little meter at the top of the screen.

That worked, but I have my usual problem of singing just as badly compounded by doing so while trying to sound like I am in one of the Monty Python “pepperpot” sketches.

The Songs

Rock Band 2 comes with 84 songs.  You can only play a few of them in Quick Play mode it seems, even after entering the alleged “unlock all” cheat code, so I am probably missing something.  Of the list we were allowed to choose from, we favored:

We Got The Beat – A song I chose because I knew the words.  Or I thought I did, anyway.  It can be amazing to find out you’ve been singing along WRONG for 25 years.

Hungry Like The Wolf – Again, thought I knew the words… I didn’t.  Even my wife was surprised at how much the lyrics varied from her own imagination.  Still, manageable on easy mode as long as we leave the drums out of the picture.

Cool for Cats – My daughter’s favorite, the one we have to play over and over.  This is where my daughter and I are of different minds.  She likes to pick a song and, you know, practice and get better, while I just want to turn on “No Fail” mode, crank through the whole play list, shout, “Thank You San Jose!” and call it a night.

We are getting better at it.  I think my daughter likes the song because it implies that cats are cool.  I am certain that she doesn’t understand the actual lyrics.  Hell, I’ve sung it more than a dozen times now and *I* don’t understand the lyrics.  But it is rock and roll, and it is better to sound good than to be good… or something.

Eye of the Tiger – The only other song on the Quick Play list that I knew.  My daughter wasn’t keen on it, despite having “Tiger” in the title.

We did try a few other items on the list, but few were familiar to me at all, so we seem to always end up back at “Cool for Cats.”

Downloadable Content

We went and explored the list of downloadable content for Rock Band 2.  There is quite a long list available.  Since we had some Wii points available, we grabbed Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) because it is the basis for the parody Pretty Fly (for a Dranei).  I was up for it, but it was quickly pulled from our rotation by my daughter because it contains a bad word.

I also threatend to download White Rabbit until I let my daughter listen to it on iTunes first.  That got the axe, which was probably just as well, since the downloadable content uses up a big chunk of the memory on the Wii and we seem to have filled up our SD Card with pictures from Pokemon Ranch.

So I have to figure that out before we can spend any more Wii Points on downloads.

Second Guitar?

After a few days fooling around, what I really want to get is a second guitar.  The guitar controller is the obvious cool aspect of the game.  I would go by Fry’s on the way home and buy one today, if I could find something somewhere online or in the written instructions with a simple title like, “How to add a Second Guitar to Rock Band 2.”

I have yet to find that, and the guitars look to be expensive enough that I’m not going there unless I know it will work.

Overall

So far we are having fun.  We have woken the Wii up from what has been a long summer sleep and we jump around in the family room in front of the TV for 30-45 minutes at a stretch, usually right before bed time.

We’ll see how things play out on Thanksgiving.  Maybe we can get somebody to play the drums.  As for songs I know, my backup plan was in that small box that arrived at the same time Rock Band 2 did.

Seratona a casa di Paolo, gli ingredienti giusti c’erano tutti. Comitiva ancora più giusta, cena rigorosamente ordinata per telefono e film in dvd. Tutto pronto quando Mario si presenta alla porta con Wìì Nintendo Music. L’euforia prende il sopravvento e via alla musica!peccato che nessuno ci ha ripreso, eravamo uno spettacolo!!

La cosa veramente grande è che la Wii Music non utilizza strumenti giocattolo e non richiede precisione e meticolosità come gli altri giochi musicali. Non si devono seguire per forza degli spartiti, si è liberi di improvvisare. Si sceglie lo strumento e dai sfogo a tutto quello che hai dentro. Ci sono più di 60 strumenti, molti dei quali abbastanza intuitivi da utilizzare, per la chitarra basta muovere il braccio come se il Wii remote fosse un plettro, mentre per tamburo e pianoforte sono sufficienti della pressioni sul telecomando o sul Nunchuk.

Sono stato spettatore e (ahimè) protagonista di vere e proprie torture musicali. Fortunatamente c’era anche chi ha salvato la situazione prendendo la chitarra in mano  sapendo cosa farne!!!

Le esibizioni vengono registrate per poter essere riascoltate e lì è successo di tutto…ci siamo resi veramente conto di quello che avevamo combinato e via a prenderci in giro per tutta la sera.

Un vero gioiellino questo Wii Music, che non impone rigide regole di utilizzo ma si presta ad un larghissimo utilizzo.

Bravo Mario, ottima scelta!!!! J

Obviously I love my Wii. We’ve already had that conversation. So it’s only natural that I would get a kick out of this guy dancing to the Wii music. And he rocks.

Ya  todos sabemos de Wii Music, título presentado en aquella “satisfactoria” E3; dicho título no estaba nada mal, no obstante las ventas no fueron del todo aceptadas para Nintendo.

Pese a eso, Shigeru Miyamoto, director creativo de Nintendo, ha declarado que Wii Music no vendió lo esperado, pero es un título único y le gustaria continuarlo.

“Sí, vendió menos de lo que esperábamos, pero por otra parte, es un juego realmente único, tengo que decir.”

Agrega:

“A día de hoy, seguimos recibiendo multitud de ofertas diferentes de gente interesada en el campo de la educación musical, así que, en lo que se refiere a Wii Music, creo que aún tiene mucho potencial por descubrir, y podría haber nuevos desarrollos en el futuro.”

Desde aquí confieso que a pesar de que Wii Music no es mi juego preferido, apoyo a Miyamoto en esto, aunque el juego no haya tenido las ventas previstas no deberian dejar al lado un proyecto por tal motivo, que el exito no llega de la noche a la mañana.

Marconintendo

mucho secreto, originally uploaded by CaitlinKrisko.

On our recent tour to the west coast, the guys and I sipped on our childhood nostalgia like it was fancy champagne, and of course, the beautiful, bejeweled “Star Road” from Super Mario World popped up.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan and supporter of the newer game systems like, and I am willing to admit that I cannot rock out to my favorite Beatles tunes on the SNES…

HOWEVER

Rock Band 3 wasn’t there for me when I was under three layers of bedding as a kid with the chicken pox and a fever skyrocketing me to the moon.

But Mario, and Yoshi (all FOUR colors of him) are friends that have been with me since the first birthday I can remember. They’re my “go to” activity when I need some solid team work accomplished!

Forget Wii Music, give me some Mario Paint, and lets call it a day!

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I am ashamed to say it, but I am enjoying the SHIT out of Wii Music. I just spent an hour and a half jamming on all the instruments of my weird version of the American Parade and totally smiled when watching the resulting video. The muppets, the animations, the ease at which you can “play” instruments, the crowd, the album cover making, everything in this game is POSITIVE. Maybe I just needed that, some positivism towards something I sort of create…

Έχει μέλλον το Wii Music! | byteme

Αυτό τουλάχιστον πιστεύει ο Shigeru Miyamoto ο οποίος αποκάλυψε πως οι δημιουργοί του τίτλου έπεσαν από τα σύννεφα με την υποδοχή που επιφύλαξαν στο παιχνίδι κοινό και Τύπος καθώς περίμεναν κάτι περισσότερο. Το Wii Music δεν απέσπασε διόλου κολακευτικές κριτικές με τον Miyamoto ωστόσο να τονίζει πως μολονότι υπάρχουν παίκτες που έχουν παθιαστεί με τον τίτλο, υπάρχουν άλλοι που τον προσπέρασαν αδιάφοροι με «το κενό μεταξύ των θετικών και των αρνητικών γνωμών να είναι τεράστιο».[next]

Wii Music ha fatto discutere.

E lo fa ancora.

Buona parte dei giocatori sono rimasti indignati, alcuni si sono sentiti “traditi” da Mamma Nintendo, alcuni hanno strabuzzato gli occhi chiedendosi come Myamoto abbia potuto concepire un gioco di quel tipo, il tutto accanto ai confronti con Guitar Hero, Rock Band e simili che fioccano sempre più numerosi.

A tal proposito sorge spontaneo un quesito: ma cosa significa “fare musica”?

Glenn Gould per me è un grandissimo artista.
Alcuni lo odiano per le sue scelte così estreme, altri (come me) lo adorano.

Si può discutere tantissimo sulle sue scelte interpretative, spesso criticate aspramente (specialmente le sue riletture di Mozart, così trasfigurate da risultare, a mio avviso, una interpretazione modernissima del tanto suonato compositore), ma la sua forza, a fianco di una tecnica incredibile, è nella sua chiarezza.

Per me Gould, quando suonava, aveva una idea chiarissima di ciò che stava dicendo, e lo diceva in maniera altrettanto cristallina.

Opinione comune è che l’esecutore non crea.
Si, il compositore crea, ma non l’esecutore. L’esecutore, e il nome lo suggerisce, esegue.
L’azione dell’esecutore, nell’opinione comune, è quella di suonare ciò che ha scritto il compositore, nè più nè meno, ciò che è stato riportato sulla carta viene reso in musica, nulla di più.

Ma cosa è scritto sulla carta?

Abbiamo già parlato precedentemente di quanto ciò che è scritto può essere puntuale, e abbiamo anche già detto come Wii Music sia un sistema con regole ben precise ma che possono essere sfruttare per creare e trasfigurare le melodie originali.

Ma un punto centrale che spesso si sente dire dai fan di Guitar Hero è: “In Wii Music non si suona, si agita a caso il controller, mentre in Guitar Hero occorre dedizione e grande sforzo per imparare a suonare la canzone… E’ propedeutico alla chitarra”.

Tralasciando l’inesattezza dell’affermazione sul controller (la cui mappatura è frutto di un grandissimo e pregevole lavoro di interfaccia sul virtual instrument, che è in grado di rispondere con semplici input basilari a scelte esecutive molto precise, cosa invidiabile da parte dei sistemi professionali), c’è un punto cardine per commentare tale affermazione: cosa si intende per suonare?

Suonare significa, a mio avviso, utilizzare un determinato strumento al fine di organizzare del materiale sonoro, dandogli un senso compiuto.

Se sulla chitarra elettrica voglio suonare la melodia di Fra Martino, dovrò avere alcune conoscenze di base da applicare, nella fattispecie:

a) Tecniche. Devo sapere come si imbraccia una chitarra, le sue connessioni, l’accordatura, dove sono situate le note sul manico, sapere come pizzicare quale corda e con che intensità, quale posizione della mano sinistra e destra è meglio tenere per una buona esecuzione, e molte altre informazioni.

b) Musicali. Devo conoscere le note che compongono la semplice melodia di Fra Martino, devo avere in mano il concetto di “ritmo” (ovvero quando le note devono essere suonate nell’ambito temporale), e così via.

Il suono che ne esce sarà il prodotto di queste due cose, ed entrambi influenzano la resa complessiva.

Una persona può avere una incredibile musicalità e una conoscenza della grammatica musicale molto approfondita, ma se non ha in mano un bagaglio tecnico sufficiente per poter suonare ciò che ha in testa, il risultato non sarà ottimale.

Allo stesso modo, un bravissimo strumentista con una tecnica impressionante potrebbe creare una esecuzione ineccepibile tecnicamente ma povera musicalmente se non ha ben chiaro il pensiero musicale alla base del suo discorso.

Suonare, quindi, implica applicare conoscenze tecniche per esplicare una idea frutto di un pensiero musicale.

Detto questo, Bach tra il 1741 e il 1745 scrisse le Variazioni Goldberg, in onore di Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, maestro di cappella a Dresda.

Sono pagine incredibili, di una bellezza unica, da togliere il fiato…

Quello che è Bach ha scritto è questo:

Gould registrò la sua prima esecuzione per la CBS nel 1955, e suonò questa pagina così:

Nel 1981 lo stesso Gould registrò nuovamente quest’opera poco prima della sua morte, e la stessa pagina venne resa in questo modo:

Scott Ross è un musicista incredibile, strappato alla vita troppo presto, un clavicembalista fantastico. Lui, che tra le altre cose non godeva tantissimo Gould, ha reso così la medesima composizione di Bach:

Come è possibile, se effettivamente ciò che è stato scritto è così preciso, che le interpretazioni siano così differenti?

Come può essere possibile che uno stesso artista proponga prima una versione briosa per poi darne una così riflessiva e matura. Ciò che è stato scritto è esattamente quello, come si può prestare a riletture così differenti.

Perchè, appunto, il discorso interpretativo è ciò che rende unica l’esecuzione e il suo esecutore.

Ogni grande esecuzione è un viaggio attraverso un pensiero umano. Se la musica esiste perchè il compositore l’ha scritta, vive però attraverso il lavoro del bravo esecutore che la interpreta e ce ne consegna una sua visione.

Le Variazioni Goldberg di Gould giovane sono un microcosmo diverso da quello di un Gould maturo, e così entrambe sono differenti da quelle di Scott Ross.

Per venire a Guitar Hero, non vi è nulla di propedeutico musicalmente. Si schiacciano pulsanti più simili a quelli di un pad, e ciò che noi facciamo svela semplicemente una traccia pre-registrata.
E’ un atto che richiede certamente impegno e dedizioni, ma a vantaggio ginnico delle dita, non musicale o altro.

E’ una sorta di Rhythm Paradise dove però non c’è il senso della scoperta e dell’intuizione, perchè tutto ciò che si deve fare è segnalato dai cursori a schermo.

Cursori che non hanno un valore determinato (pertanto totalmente inutili a livello di “solfeggio”), semplicemente occorre imparare a decifrare il loro movimento e premere a tempo.

Guitar Hero va contro il principio fondamentale della musica: la libertà.
Libertà interpretativa.

L’interpretazione non è solo un diritto, è un dovere (e a volte questo non è così piacevole come può sembrare, richiede un grande sforzo perchè occorre dire qualcosa di interessante).

Premere i pulsanti in maniera forsennata, certamente a tempo, ma senza alcun reale scopo musicale e soprattutto senza un corrispettivo risultato musicale, è quanto di più lontano da ciò che si può intendere per “suonare”.

Laddove in Wii Music le note possono essere appoggiate, ritardate, i valori diminuiti o aumentati, dove ogni singola nota può essere staccata, appoggiata, le frasi legate, dove si possono fare acciaccature, dove si può scegliere se swingare, dare un certo piglio interpretativo, dove si può optare per un forte o un piano, o anche un pianissimo o fortissimo (con una interfaccia che risponde perfettamente), in Guitar Hero ciò che si ha è solo lo sfrigolio plastico dei tasti schiacciati forsennatamente in base a regole del computer.

Wii Music è un prodotto il cui valore a livello di propedeutica è fortemente sottovalutato, e questo mi dispiace, specialmente in un paese come l’Italia dove l’educazione musicale è relegata al flauto dolce di plastica, dove si crede ancora che la musica sia solo classica o leggera, dove l’interesse e la conoscenza verso l’arte musicale è così indietro e poco sviluppato.

Forse, giocare un pochino a Wii Music potrebbe dare idea di quel brivido che si prova quando si articola per la prima volta un proprio pensiero musicale.

Certo, può essere bello, brutto, criticabile, però è una manifestazione personale.

Una manifestazione di cui l’unico giudice è il pubblico, l’ascoltatore, e non un computer che calcola se i tasti sono stati pigiati bene…

Un pò come nella musica reale.

Video games were once known as the antithesis of learning and education. Kids loved them because they were fun. Parents detested them because their kids wouldn’t stop playing them. But now with the revolutionary Wii console and its one-of-a-kind capabilities, video games are beginning to show up in classrooms as a learning tool. With the release of their new game “Wii Music”, Nintendo has been collaborating with the National Music Education Association (MENC) to provide the game as an available and educational resource to teachers in the classrooms. One article discusses how “Wii Music” has already made an impact on one particular classroom:

“Wii Music has brought a renewed excitement to music class for students from first grade to fifth, myself and even some of the classroom teachers,” said Helen A. Krofchick, a music teacher at Doby’s Mill Elementary School in Lugoff, S.C. “I love how many music standards can be covered in such a short time. Students also have to use language skills, spatial awareness and hand-eye coordination. We have a school very supportive of the arts and Wii Music has empowered our program even more. Any system that is educational and can add a love of music to children’s lives should be in every classroom.”

The Wii allows its users to physically interact with the game and feel as if they were actually playing a musical instrument. This is rather fascinating because it gives both children and adults who have never touched a musical instrument the opportunity to get a glimpse of what it’s like to be a musician. The article addresses this issue:

“The joy of playing music is something that should be experienced by everyone, regardless of age, talent-level or experience,” said Joe Lamond, President & CEO of National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). “Research shows that more than 82 percent of people who don’t currently play a musical instrument wish they did. Wii Music can help address this by providing a positive introduction for millions of people who might not otherwise be inclined to try.”

Music is a beautiful thing. Because we live in a technologically progressive era, the possibilties that accompany music have broadened and greatly multiplied. Please continue to support music education in every way possible.

While Nintendo still manages to come out on top in terms of console sales with the Wii, the company is still suffering from low software sales for its unique system. And while the Nintendo DS is flourishing in all ways, Video Games Republic has some info as to why its big brother isn’t faring quite as well…

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has admitted that the much hyped Wii Music and Animal Crossing disappointed the company; saying they “did not fulfill our expectations.”

A lack of software sales for Ninty was recently attributed to a lack of big games but most recently Iwata was more specific, naming Wii Music and Animal Crossing as two that failed to live up to the hype.

“Wii Music and Animal Crossing did not fulfil our expectations and only sold through 2.65m and 3.38m copies respectively,” Iwata said at a Q&A.

“Should those two titles have become long-term selling software, we would not have faced a shortage of software titles in the former half of this year.

He also blamed not being able to launch Wii Sports Resort sooner and not being able to “make the software launched in the last holiday season have longer tails.”

The Nintendo boss however remains confident over the launch schedules of Wii Fit Plus and Super Mario Bros. Wii, which will be out this Christmas, which could make a second quarter release of Super Mario Galaxy 2 more likely.

Nintendo will also be banking on its Wii Vitality Sensor, which Iwata hopes will have a “large impact in society”.

Rating: 6.5 Out of 10

Wii Music was released a while back and I finally managed to play one and see what it was like. This game has a wide variety of instruments and is very easy to just pick up and play. It also has a lot of unlockable features which will always have you coming back for more. However, the game is not worth full retail price with not enough game modes and it is just too simple. Overall though, this is still a fun game and you have to at least try it since you probably tried Play, Fit, and Sports already.

Pros:

+ Wide variety of instruments

+ Easy to pick up and play

+ Fun

Cons:

- Not worth full retail price

- Gameplay is too simple

- Not enough game modes

Extras:

# Wii Music Cheat Codes

Guitar Hero, Beatles Rock Band, Iphone, simulador de ocarina, Nintendo DS e Jack Black

Com o passar do tempo, começaram a aparecer os mais derivados jogos com um mesmo plano de fundo: a música

Desde Electroplankton a Guitar Hero, esse estilo se tornou praticamente uma febre.

Guitar Hero’s e Rock Band’s são lançados aos montes para todos os consoles, o Wii aposta com o simples e divertido Wii Music para algo mais casual, Itouch e Ipods estão cheios de aplicativos, iPiano, iGuitar… que já formaram até bandas reais, o tal ” iBand“. Portáteis como PSP e o Nintendo DS então, estão repletos dos mais variados jogos do tipo, como “Elite Beat Agents” e o desconhecido ” Zubo “.

Ainda há os que contam com uma temática musical, como o RPG para DS “The Words Ends With You” e o aguardadíssimo Brutal Legend, que conta com a dublagem (e um pouco da aparência) mais que especial de Jack Black.

Trailer do Brutal Legend:

Bem, outro trailer MUITO bom divulgado foi o do Beatles Rock Band

assim como o Guitar Hero lançou a tradição de especiais (Aerosmith, Metallica…), Rock Band lança seu Beatles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvhreK9sDdw

Incrível como eles capturaram toda a essencia dos Beatles nesse trailer, passando pelas fases e música, até o clímax licérgico do final.

E bem, para fechar alguns dos melhores games e aplicativos musicais por ai:

Elite Beat Agents (DS)

Guitar Hero Series

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwV3ON9uqk0

Rock Band

Wii Music:

Guitarist (Iphone):

Electroplankton:

Smule (Ocarina para Iphone)

With my Peggle problem mostly behind me, I can finally turn my attention to more pressing matters.

MadWorld has been a disappointment thus far. Its style is consistent and arresting, but the game’s general gameplay mechanics immediately show their lack of depth. All of the Wiimote motions translate well to onscreen actions, but there just aren’t enough of them. All of the QTEs are interesting and good-looking, but there just aren’t enough of them. The environmental structures enable some great kills, but there just aren’t… well, you get the idea.

What is there is pretty cool (and generally well designed), but there just isn’t enough meat to cover MadWorld’s bones. This is reinforced by the game’s forced and utterly repetitive commentary. Greg Proops and John DiMaggio have a few funny lines, but they are recycled so frequently that what is originally shocking and fresh eventually becomes really annoying. I ended up turning them down completely so that I could hear the music, which, like the rest of the game, is fundamentally good but ultimately repetitive.

Amazon had a deal on Wii Music the other day, and I just couldn’t help myself. I like what I’ve seen so far, though I’m sad that I won’t be able to take advantage of the game’s song sharing mechanics (since none of my friends have the game). I don’t think this is a game that I’ll put big chunks of time into, but I hope it proves to be an interesting thing to come back to every now and then.

When my sister and I were first testing out Wii Music last year, we decided to try out Turkey in the Straw for kicks. The default tempo is a little bit slower than we were hoping for, so we adjusted that in the settings.

Of course, that meant we now had to play the song much faster than our tired thumbs would let us.

But no more!

You too can create a hilarious video featuring the likenesses of you, your boyfriend, your immediate family and a guest Mii you added for reasons we’ll get to later with a greatly reduced likelihood of mistakes by (jarring chord) beating the system! *insert maniacal laughter here*

Say you want to make a video featuring one of Wii Music’s faster songs, or want to speed up a slower song, but are having a hard time performing at your desired tempo. By selecting the “tempo” menu in the settings, you can set the song’s speed to suit your comfort level. All you have to do is move it back to your desired final tempo before you record your last track — so if the tempo you really want makes playing the song tricky, make sure that last track is an easy one!

There are several sites with a one-time joining fee that allow you to download unlimited Wii games on the Internet. Downloading a Wii game is extremely fast and simple, even for the novice user. Anyone with a Nintendo Wii should subscribe to one of these sites to take full advantage of these amazing services. Below is a “how-to” to quickly and easily enjoy these services.

Many people are concerned that this may be a difficult process but it is quickly and easily learned by even the novice user. I was talking to a friend about possibly joining one of these sites and telling him how much fun my friends and family and I were having. After explaining to him the easy step-by-step process his reluctance soon turned into enthusiasm. He saw how easy it is to download unlimited Wii games and to get more out of his console saving him both time and money.

This article was written to tell people that may be interested in such a service, but are concerned about their technical prowess in such an endeavor. To squash any fears and explain how simple this is, I will walk you through the step-by-step process to download unlimited Wii games.

Step one: You first need to login into the unlimited Wii gaming download site of your choosing. Then you need to decide which of the unlimited Wii game sites you wish to join. You definitely want to choose a site that has a one-time fee! This small one-time fee will allow you to gain access to free Wii media for life. We have put together a comprehensive review of the top three unlimited Wii games download sites. They can be found here at Download Unlimited Wii Games

Step two: Many of these sites, not only provide Wii games, they also provide media, music, movies, TV shows and additional software. All of these can be accessed for a one time fee.

Step three: After you login to the unlimited Wii games site, you will gain access to a search bar where you will input the media name of your choosing. Again, remember at this point you will be able to choose from the media mentioned above, i.e. media, software, games, movies, etc. The unlimited Wii games services we have reviewed on our site have massive databases for you to search through to find exactly what you are looking for..

Step four: After you find what you’re looking for, simply double-click to download the file. Next you will need to transfer the file to a CD, DVD or SD card and save it to your computer. This is a very, very simple process and the three sites we recommend have tutorials and software built in to accomplish this.

Step five: Take your newly created DVD, CD or memory card and plug it into your Wii console and enjoy.

It is really that easy, hopefully you now see how easy this is to accomplish and will be enjoying your Wii much more in the near future.

Download Unlimited Wii Games

There are a lot of great games for the Nintendo Wii. Although, most of the games that come out for the Wii are good, there are some that are considered the best. So, what I’m going to do is share with you a list of the best Nintendo Wii games.

That way, you will know which Wii game to get next and where you can download them from.

1. No More Heroes. This is a great game. If you like games that are gory, you will love this game. It’s one of the best gory games for the Nintendo Wii.

2. Super Mario Galaxy. This is another great game. I highly suggest you get this game. If you have played any of the Super Mario games before and liked them, you will love this game.

3. The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess. If you like LoZ, you will love this game. It’s a great game.

4. Wii Fit. If you want to have fun and workout at the same time, you should get this game. This game is fun and is for anyone in your family.

5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This is another great game. You can play this alone or with multiple players. It’s fun if you play alone, but it’s so much better if you can play it with other people.

6. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2009: Hands down the best golf game ever made to date. Very nice motion detection in this game.

This is a list of the best Nintendo Wii games. If you haven’t played these games yet, I highly recommend you get them and play them now. If you want to download them and start playing the games mentioned above or any game that you want for your Wii, check out the link below.

To download all the top games for the Wii and start playing them now, click on the link below:

Best Nintendo Wii Games

When Nintendo launched the Wii in 2006, many industry gurus were
critical of Nintendo, for falling behind Sony and Microsoft in game
consoles. Most Americans had no idea it would become the phenomenon it has.

Even three years after launch, Wii consoles are often in short supply.

While Wii games have become amazingly popular among younger players, many Wii games have ratings appropriate for the entire family. Including Mom, Dad and even Grandma. Wii game ratings clearly indicate whether games are for teens, for mature adults, for children or suitable for all ages.

The company’s choice of spelling, “Wii” (with two lower-case “i”
characters) is meant to resemble two people standing side by side. As
well as to represent the Wii controllers (Remote and Nunchuk).

While the Wii has brought Nintendo massive annual profits, in 2009 dark economic skies now hang over the entertainment industry. Many Wii gamers are seeking new ways to save money on Wii games. With costs per-game upwards of $70 for new releases. In a tough economy, entertainment expenses are often the first to be cut on the family budget. So saving money on Wii games has increasing importance for many players.

Although attractively packaged and with sophisticated in-store
marketing, Wii games are essentially a digital product (one ideally
suited to obtaining over the internet). For this reason, many designers
and providers of Wii games have realized the huge potential. And most
are releasing “sneak preview” or sample games to devoted Wii gamers – who don’t want to wait for the retail-packed physical version to be
released.

Why stand in line?

Wii game downloads are becoming very common across the web. Over 25 new online download services are making new games available online. And free, legal download games for the Nintendo Wii are readily available
(if you know where to look).

Wii game downloads are typically offered on websites in two formats;
NTSC for North America, and PAL for European players. Both formats are available online for download. This means you must be careful to get the right version for your location. Or your Wii will not play the game correctly.

Like regular Wii games, Wii game downloads have the ability to be saved at different stages. To come back later to pick up where you left off. A practical accessory gift for Wii gamers is a SD card, which allows
players copy their “saves” from the Wii’s internal memory and play on
their friends machine.

Some sites offer trial downloads for a fee-per-download or monthly
charge. But the most recommended sites offer unlimited downloads for a small, one-time setup fee.

More users see these downloads as a way to try actual games before
purchasing them in stores. Others explore trial versions in place of
purchasing games entirely (which often are only played once or twice – then never see the light of day again).

While many Wii game download sites are fast, many come with no service guarantee. So be cautious which site you choose to sign up with. Some locations often take so long to finish downloading that the player gets disconnected and has to start from the beginning. Very frustrating!

When considering ways to save money on your Wii games, it’s important to know that only a few are proven safe and effective. Look for trust elements such as membership in game developer organizations such as the Entertainment Software Review Board or similar industry group.

These specialized online download sites can provide excellent customer service in the form of online chat and videos showing you what to do. Some sites are free and others require a small one-time setup fee. It follows that the sites with the small setup cost have the best online support, which is important if you get stuck.

A casual search online reveals Nintendo is beating Sony’s PS3, and
Microsoft’s XBOX for popularity. For example; Amazon offers 4,299 Wii
products. While XBOX 360 is at 3,045 items available and PS3 following up the rear at 2,391 related items.

The rising popularity of Nintendo Wii ensures that live downloads of
full new games from Nintendo itself are coming soon. The internet is
such a convenient vehicle that it can’t be long before we see Nintendo moving into the space currently occupied by these new download services. Apple and Microsoft are slightly ahead of Nintendo in this respect. But given their prior success at astounding their critics after being seen as falling behind, it’s likely Nintendo will soon be offering their own
expanded web download service by 2012.

Visit Wii Game Secrets at;  Nintendo Wii Downloads for Nintendo Wii tips and games.

Earlier this evening we went to the store as a family and purchased Wii Music. We didn’t just buy it on an impulse. It wasn’t cheap! But we saved a little here and a little there since November (and it’s been tight this year). We finally got to go get it – as a special relished treat. It was cool to tell the clerk (in front of the children – of course – saying this is for their benefit) that we’d been saving for it.

After the first lesson was finally over – we “jammed” as a family, again and again – until we dragged the children off for bedtime.

I savor that we have a new game to play as a family and that (hopefully) my children are learning that saving for purchases and patience are valuable. (Or maybe they just like the game…)

Los pedagógos del Museo Interactivo de la Música de Málaga (MIMMA) han encontrado un nuevo aliado para inculcar el gusto por la Música a los más pequeños: los videojuegos. En el centro han encontrado posibilidades pedagógicas al título y del 21 de febrero y hasta el 1 de marzo enseñan con él como instrumento.

“La gente llega al Museo preguntando por el ‘Wii Music’ y salen de las clases muy satisfechos porque tienen la sensación de saber un poco más de música de lo que sabían al sentarse en el aula. Me llena de orgullo poder decir que incluso uno de los niños que han venido a los talleres, al acabar le pidió a su madre que le apuntara a una escuela de música”, ha asegurado.

“Cada niño elige una parte de la canción -la melodía, la armonía…- y un instrumento, y entre todos decidimos qué canción interpretar. Repetimos la misma actividad con tres o cuatro grupos más para que puedan participar cuantos más mejor“, ha contado Torralvo.

Fuente

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Primer episodio de este podcast que trata sobre cine, videojuegos y todo lo que se nos ocurra.

El planteamiento del podcast no es más que el de dos amigos, por un lado Juanjo y por otro yo (Carlos), sentados en una mesa hablando de noticias y otras coserias que vamos viendo por internet.

Sentimos, eso sí, la horrible calidad del audio, en el que muchas veces no se nos entiende a ninguno de nosotros ya que tiene muchas bajadas y subidas. El responsable no es otro que el cutre-micrófono con el que estamos grabando el podcast, fabricado por EA sacado del juego Boogie, lo que produce un audio psicofónico.

En este primer episodio hablamos de:

VIDEOJUEGOS:

¿Qué consolas tenemos y cuáles son nuestros juegos favoritos?
Juegos de calidad para Wii
Nuevo trailer de Wii Music

CINE:

Dragon Ball Teaser

Descargatelo por aquí.

Toda la música de este episodio es del grupo Killing Jazz, de su disco Second Round sacado de Jamendo.es