We've been talking about Wii Music lately, and the impression I get is that the audience has a harder time articulating why they don't like it than perhaps we'd all prefer.
The three most common criticisms I'm reading in the comments thread of the first post are these: Wii Music is not competitive compared to Guitar Hero and Rock Band. It's not satisfying to play air instruments as opposed to lifelike peripherals. Finally, it's too childish.
So is it true that all of you only enjoy video games that score you and that have success or failure conditions? Are we saying that this is what we need to have fun? There are plenty of games that depend mechanically on a lack of rules, on experimentation and exploration, so why do they get a pass while Wii Music doesn't?
Second, regarding the peripherals, are we saying that we want simulation and not suggestion? We can play a first-person shooter on PC that uses a mouse instead of a light gun, but we can't play a music game that uses motion suggestion instead of plastic peripherals?
Third, it's childish. Yeah, it is. So is pretty much everything we've ever loved on a Nintendo console. Kirby? Mario? Yoshi? Pokemon? Mario Kart? Those aren't equally cutesy and diminutive?
Don't get me wrong. I'm not defending Wii Music. I'm completely not interested in it either -- but I can't really articulate a reason that feels truthful, that satisfies me. I get the impression a lot of you are in the same boat. I wanna figure it out, yanno? Oh, so please vote in the poll on the right.
I'm also not saying Iwata is necessarily correct in suggesting that we just don't get it -- or more precisely, that Nintendo's failed to adequately communicate it to us. But the response to Wii Music was more than simple disinterest, at least from the portion of the audience for which I write. It was like we were unsettled by it, like we were trying to will it out of existence.
Did we see Wii Music as a betrayal, the most stark example yet that Nintendo had ceased to be a brand we could relate to?
