Fils-Aime: Wii Music is difficult actually

By Robert Purchese Published 6 October, 2008

"We made it appear too simple."

Nintendo US boss Reggie Fils-Aime has admitted doing Wii Music an "injustice" by underselling its complexity at E3.

Furthermore, he believes the quirky rhythm action game will prove popular enough this November to become one of the "best sellers" on the system.

"What's powerful in Wii Music is this juxtaposition of something that looks so simple but is wonderfully difficult to master," Reggie Fils-Aime told VentureBeat.

"We may have done that title an injustice at E3 by showing something that looked so easy. We made it appear too simple. Now we're showing the tremendous variety of instruments and tones and how challenging it is to make music that sounds good.

"We don't publicly talk about sales targets but our expectation is it will be one of our top sellers," he added.

The Wii recently lost its crown as the cheapest console on the market after Microsoft reduced the Xbox 360 Arcade price to GBP 129.99.

Reggie's not worried, though, and has no subsequent pricing manoeuvres of his own to reveal.

"They're trying to get their consumer value proposition in line," said Fils-Aime of Microsoft.

"Today, I have no need to adjust my prices. Consumers are voting with their wallets and pocketbooks. The Wii and DS are tremendous values."

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (20) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Razz #1 3 years ago

    Fils-Aime: Wii Music is "shite" actually

  • Gnort #2 3 years ago

    If it's difficult to make music which sounds good, then the core audience of the Wii isn't going to like it, and Nintendo know that.

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #3 3 years ago

    The EG preview was encouraging and, unlike 90% of the posters that'll follow, I'm prepared to wait and see what the reactions from people who actually played it before slagging it off.

  • Waffleaber #4 3 years ago

    It could be good if it followed an Um Jammer Lammy system of scoring points for both accurate and stylised interpretations of a piece of music.

    Nothing i've seen indicates this is the case though.

  • Darkedge #5 3 years ago

    It's really hard - if you have no rhythm or frontal lobes I'm sure...

  • rock27gr #6 3 years ago

    @ Razz

    I don't kmow about that; it looks to be a laugh at the very least.

  • jaluuk #7 3 years ago

    Does anyone actually have "pocketbooks" any more?

  • captainrentboy #8 3 years ago

    Do the majority of Wii gamers out there like really hard games though? Surely a big selling point of the console is its ease of use and largely simplistic titles :/
    Not taking the piss by the way, before the Nintendoids go facking berzerk.
    Edited by 1 at 06/10/08 @ 19:28

  • HammyWammy #9 3 years ago

    Reggie knows deep down that wii music is 1 big f***up.
    This wii music game produced more cock-ups than viagra

  • Progguitarist #10 3 years ago

    At first I thought this would be garbage but after reading some more previews I think it has some potential. If it does actually give you the freedom to improvise a little more than other rhythm action games it could be alot of fun.

  • Tehren #11 3 years ago

    "They're trying to get their consumer value proposition in line," said Fils-Aime of Microsoft.

    Smarmy bastard. Once the hype evaporates, the exact inverse is true.

  • Capn #12 3 years ago

    Good =D I was a little..Downed by the E3 movie. It didn't look challenging at all - BUT. I can kinda look forward to it, if I know it won't be a 10 minute doss around - And it'll take a little more practice, skill, etc.
    Kinda like Rock band.

  • yagisencho #13 3 years ago

    I played it in August at PAX.

    The most immediately disappointing aspect is the lag that all stringed instruments suffer. You wag the controller to strum, so part of the learning curve is anticipating the strum. Basically, you often need to play the note before it is played in the song. Not all of the instruments are affected by this though, and I imagine it becomes second nature given enough practice.

    We have a preschooler in the house though, and I'd be robbing her of a brilliant toy if I didn't buy a copy.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #14 3 years ago

    "Do the majority of Wii gamers out there like really hard games though? Surely a big selling point of the console is its ease of use and largely simplistic titles :/
    Not taking the piss by the way, before the Nintendoids go facking berzerk"

    Consoles are toys.

  • Canyarion #15 3 years ago

    Let's hope he's right about Wii Music. We already know he's right about the Wii's price.

  • BartonFink #16 3 years ago

    So Fils works for Microsoft now o_O

  • BartonFink #17 3 years ago

    Anyhew looks like bollox tbh.

  • smelly #18 3 years ago

    ""Do the majority of Wii gamers out there like really hard games though?"

    I'd argue that some of the wii's highest scoring games (metroid, mario galaxy, etc) are harder than most games on the 360.

    I *still* havent totally beaten mario galaxy, and metroid took me AGES. But yet most of the big 360 games (halo 3, bioshock, gow) i completed within a few days - with exception of gta4 (which i stopped playing, not because it was too hard - but because i was bored) and skate (which is the best game i've played in years).

    But pretty much ALL games nowadays are MUCH easier than they were years ago when nintendo ruled big style. Modern gamers on ALL platforms LIKE easy games that everyone can complete without too much hassle (halo 3, bioshock, etc). Although bioshocks lack of "death" and subsequently lack of any real challenge was taking the piss on the "easiness" front.

  • Hamflank #19 3 years ago

    Today, I have no need to adjust my prices.

    Oh my, Reggie is Nintendo.

  • Dan234 #20 3 years ago

    "Today, I have no need to adjust my prices."

    "The Wii and DS are tremendous values."

    "You know what you doing."

    "Move 'ZIG' for great justice."