Nintendo announces Wii Music date

By Robert Purchese Published 25 September, 2008

Sorts out schedule for end of 2008.

Nintendo has made official noises about releasing Wii Music in Europe on 14th November.

This is the game Shigeru Miyamoto was playing on stage at E3, should you ever forget. Our hands-on impressions of Wii Music can fill you in on the rest.

EA has also locked down a release date for the Wii versions of 21st November for Skate It and Need For Speed: Undercover. We've not heard about the other versions of these, but they're unlikely to be too far from that.

We did hear earlier about Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City arriving in December, bundled with Wii Speak, the new Wii microphone. Worth mentioning again, though.

DS fans can also look forward to a busy festive period. There's Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations on 3rd October (review), and Professor Layton and the Curious Village on 7th November (review).

There's that Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia game on 21st November that Nintendo banged on about at E3, too. And Pokémon always does well.

Nintendo has some hardware treats in store as well, such as pink, green, blue and white Wii wrist straps for 17th October.

Also for October will be various DS Lite bundles: white and black Brain Training bundles, Red Big Brain Academy bundle, Turquoise Cooking Guide bundle and Pink Nintendogs bundle.

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 (37) Latest comment 3 years ago

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

  • Der_tolle_Emil #1 3 years ago

    Finally Professor Layton will get an official release over here. It is about time. Same for Phoenix Wright which I bought from the US quite a while ago.

  • FenderMaster #2 3 years ago

    Wii music is the lamest game Nintendo have ever made, I shall expect that no one here will buy it...

  • viper_h #3 3 years ago

    Ooh pink wrist straps!!!

    /yawn

  • Muddtallica #4 3 years ago

    Even though I'm not very interested in Wii Music, it's good to hear that it and Animal Crossing have been confirmed for EU release in 2008; as uninspiring as the immediate Wii release schedule is, at least it's keeping pace with those of the US and Japan, unlike the DS schedule, which seems to consist largely of games released months ago in other territories.

    Having Wii Music be the system's tentpole release for Christmas 2008 might not be that inspiring, but it's better than finding out that it's actually the tentpole for Spring 2009.

  • Triggerhappytel #5 3 years ago

    I expect Wii Music will be the worst massive-selling game Nintendo have ever produced.

  • LazyDan #6 3 years ago

    What the hell, Professor Layton /still/ isn't out in the EU? Jesus and they wonder why the R4 and friends are doing so well.

    Is Wii Sports Resort meant to be coming out for Christmas? I was looking forward to that more than anything for Christmas - for no doubt excellent multiplayer laughs.

  • coastal #7 3 years ago

    apparently it comes bundled with gran turismo for the psp

  • Gnort #8 3 years ago

    I can't help but think that Wii Music is the final confirmation from Nintendo that they don't need you anymore.

  • Kazzahdrane #9 3 years ago

    Good times for European DS players who don't want to/don't know about importing games! Layton and AA3 are both great games.

  • SharksInYourMouth #10 3 years ago

    Good. Then they can get back to making games.

  • captainrentboy #11 3 years ago

    Oh my god oh my God oh my God oh my God oh my God, new wrist straps!! YES!!

  • smelly #12 3 years ago

    Im a 360 owner.

    Im DISGUSTED by nintendo trying something different. By trying something different they're KILLING GAMING!! The only games which should ever get made should be fps games.

    I also KNOW this will be shit even before i play it or see much of it.. purely because it doesnt have guns in it.

    Right.. Im off to play halo 24.

  • Eraysor #13 3 years ago

    I have Prof. Layton, and it is totally badass.

  • scouserfuller9 #14 3 years ago

    OK this is one game 99% of the public don't want so just forget about it and worry about other games Nintendo are planning for the future.

  • JonFE #15 3 years ago

    Is that Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia the same as the Pokémon Platinum my son has been bugging me for, that was recently released in Japan?

  • Gnort #16 3 years ago

    Im a wii owner.

    Im DISGUSTED by microsoft allowing games with defined objectives and skill-based gameplay to be published on their system. By evolving existing genres they're KILLING GAMING!! The only games which should ever get made should be shit minigame collections.

    I also KNOW their game will be shit even before i play it or see much of it.. purely because it has guns in it.

    Right.. Im off to play mario sports waggle world.

  • Gnort #17 3 years ago

    The above post does not represent my actual opinion, but I don't consider it to be any more offensive than what smelly posted a few entries up.

  • malexous #18 3 years ago

    "I can't help but think that Wii Music is the final confirmation from Nintendo that they don't need you anymore. "

    Are they going to abandon the 3 confirmed "hardcore" titles that they have in production then?

    "Good. Then they can get back to making games. "

    They already are.

    "Ooh pink wrist straps!!! "

    Pretty!

    "Oh my god oh my God oh my God oh my God oh my God, new wrist straps!! YES!! "

    Yippee!!!

    "OK this is one game 99% of the public don't want so just forget about it and worry about other games Nintendo are planning for the future."

    I'm sure that is not true. Have you asked the public?

    "Is that Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia the same as the Pokémon Platinum my son has been bugging me for, that was recently released in Japan? "

    Two different games.

    "The above post does not represent my actual opinion, but I don't consider it to be any more offensive than what smelly posted a few entries up."

    Good, because what you implied isn't true. :o
    Edited by 1 at 25/09/08 @ 21:47

  • CapnCloudchaser #19 3 years ago

    I think I agree with smelly, the 'hardcore' gaming crowd are letting their casual game paranoia get out of hand. Casual games aren't killing gaming, they're making it accessible to non-gamers, but our hate directed at casual games only serves to put off those casual gamers who might want to get involved with the more hardcore games.

    I'm really interested in seeing what kind of reviews Wii Music gets and how it will be received. Oh, of course the casual gaming fans will love it, but I think the more 'hardcore' gamers need to be willing to give it a chance and try it, before blasting it away.

    It might be a poor man's Rock Band, but a lot of people also said Crackdown was a poor man's GTA, and I sure as Hell had a lot of fun with that game. Besides, not everyone wants to pay over a hundred quid just to pretend to play a musical instrument.

  • Canyarion #20 3 years ago

    Looking forward to the new hardware.

  • smelly #21 3 years ago

    @CapnCloudchaser:

    My point is that "heaven forbid" games should be FUN!

    We as gamers, are playing with toys. It doesnt make a difference if that toy is an imaginary gun, running around your back garden with a piece of plastic going "nanananananana" or an imaginary gun in a game, or an imaginary musical instrument.

    Games like "The Sims" are incredibly popular despite having no objectives - because they're fun.

    The same way that toys are too. And dont kid yourselves children - as gamers we are doing nothing more than playing with toys.

    I actually see there being more credibility/fun in a piece of entertainment which is a toy. That implies to me that i'll get endless enjoyment out of it - as opposed to a game with an objective that one i've completed i dont want to go back to. A toy will therefor get more use than a game.

    Take gta for example (not the awful recent one), You can play that as a game, going thru missions, but the REAL fun is to be had treating it like a toy.. just messing about. I still load up vice city and just mess around in the world.. I.e. it becomes a toy with no objectives.

    Forcing objectives onto a player actually is a step backwards from just letting the player enjoy themselves. For example, i'm shit at guitar hero - but i still want to be able to play thru the whole song without the words "game over" appearing no matter how shit i'm doing. For thats the reason why karaoke is fun (I know i'm shit.. but i'm gonna stay singing till the end of the song - as i'm having FUN).

    Games are toys which are meant for PLAYING. You guys may think you're "big grown up hardcore gamers" but the reality is you're still just playing with a toy - no matter how much fake red blood pixels are on the screen. You gain nothing out of it than pure entertainment and play - you're not gonna get so good at playing guitar hero that you can get on stage and perform (well okay.. bad example).. but there is no point to it.. it's just fun..

    People moaning at nintendo for INNOVATING and TRYING something new with a game/toy like this.. Are also the first to moan about nintendo NOT innovating when they release "another" mario game..

    Games machines are TOYS, you are just playing with TOYS.. get over it.

  • SharksInYourMouth #22 3 years ago

    I've played plenty of great games for the wii.

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #23 3 years ago

    I'm reposting my comment from the previous Wii Music new story as I think it's still appropriate:

    /laughs and points at all the macho men who play with digital toy guns and cars criticising a game where you play with toy instruments

    Get some perspective chaps, our hobby isn't manly or macho. It's play, pure and simple.
    Edited by 1 at 25/09/08 @ 23:51

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #24 3 years ago

    Oh and from the Hands On:

    It will probably be misunderstood by many who look for gameplay systems in it rather than suspending disbelief, letting themselves go and expressing themselves through it. Those people love it.

  • Nikanoru #25 3 years ago

    What the hell, Professor Layton /still/ isn't out in the EU? Jesus and they wonder why the R4 and friends are doing so well.

    Hey, the DS is region free you know. No need to pirate. ;) I mean, I don't care if people do, but don't make up bullshit excuses.


    Im DISGUSTED by microsoft allowing games with defined objectives and skill-based gameplay to be published on their system. By evolving existing genres they're KILLING GAMING!!

    lol oh get the fuck over yourself. Nearly all so called hardcore games these days are becoming simplistic linear shitfests. The advent of quicktime events is pretty much a metaphor for the direction the entire industry is going in.

    If things continue the way they have, in a few years time games will essentially be one long cutscene where you're asked to press a few buttons at timed intervals, and idiots will be lauding them as great cinematic experiences that don't bog you down with horrible confusing things such as level navigation.

  • smelly #26 3 years ago

    "lol oh get the fuck over yourself. Nearly all so called hardcore games these days are becoming simplistic linear shitfests. The advent of quicktime events is pretty much a metaphor for the direction the entire industry is going in."


    To be fair, he WAS only retorting to my comments (Which in turn were retorting to the other dicks).

    But I totally agree with you. What the games industry NEEDS is MORE games/toys/whatever LIKE this.. Games/Toys/Whatever where the developers take risks.. try something new.. etc... Just like Little Big Planet (For example, at least i think it is - i still dont know that much about it as i dont own a ps3)

    What the industry doesnt need is more F-ing shooters.

    Can you imagine how quickly we'd all get bored of games if every single game from now on was either a shooter or a new version of fifa?

  • SlackMaster #27 3 years ago

    I hear you on the hate thing but is anyone at all bothered about Wii Music?

    Personally I not into the Guitar hero/Rock Band stuff either. I mean if you're going to buy it with plastic accessoried why not by an actual guitar and learn to play it.
    Edited by 1 at 26/09/08 @ 08:25

  • Gnort #28 3 years ago

    Okay, first of all, I'm not against innovation, and I don't contest that Nintendo is far and away the most innovative company in the games industry at the moment. I just don't like the direction in which they're moving. However, I do realise that there is room in the games industry for this sort of thing, and it doesn't upset me because I know there are still plenty of companies producing games that cater to my interests.

    However, I disagree with certain arguments put forward by smelly and Nikanoru. The first is that games shouldn't try and tell us what to do. I'm sorry, but I don't want to just mess around, I want some sort of objective to work towards, or to have some sort of story being told. Kicking a ball around is fun, but some people would rather play football.

    Another thing I disagree with is the notion that games are toys and we are all like children when we play with them. To an extent, anything which we use for our entertainment can be classified as a toy, but there are different levels. You can't suggest that someone who maintains and tunes a racing car that he uses at trackdays is essentially the same as playing with dolls. An extreme example, I'll admit, but there are degrees of maturity within gaming, and I'd like to see games becoming more mature (and by mature, I don't mean containing more violence, sex and foul language) rather than more childish.

    The final argument is the contention that if companies don't focus on things like the more casual Wii titles, then the only alternative is for them to make another by-the-numbers FPS or the next FIFA game. Surely there is room to innovate without having to "dumb down" (for lack of a better term) existing game styles?

  • robson_wii #29 3 years ago

    Why not allow companies to experiment and maybe find an new genre? Surely that's got to be good for gaming even if you don't like the genre being created.

    Personally, I like games with tasks and objectives and I am not against games without structure but I may choose not to buy them if I don't like them. Wii Music is a risky title but it may appeal to people who don't like sitting down and mashing buttons (or waggling) for fun.

    /expects waggle retorts

  • sneetch #30 3 years ago

    @Gnort

    Very well reasoned, I think. I agree. I've always admired Nintendo's drive for innovation in the past. I've always loved their games, whenever I put in one of their adventures for the first time I sit with the same wide-eyed grin I had when I first played Nintendo, their games do provide me with a sense of sheer joy.

    Recently though they haven't been that innovative in their "core" games with the exception of Super Mario Galaxy and Super Paper Mario I've felt that every Nintendo game I've played on the Wii is just the barest evolution of the previous, Cube version. Take Animal Crossing for example it's, by all accounts, almost a carbon copy of the DS version, which in turn was almost a carbon copy of the Cube version, the innovation is apparently limited to adding voice comm's.

    Wii Music and Wii Fit may well represent huge innovation but, from all that I've read, they do not appeal to me as games. In general I'm hugely disinterested in most of Nintendo's current line-up and focus. But hey, some day they'll announce another adventure, another one of what I consider their "core" games and then I'll sit back up and eagerly await a release date.

    Now, just because I don't care for Wii music does that mean I'm a 360 owner only interested in FPS games? No, (although I am a 360 owner) but I have a PC for Left 4 Dead. ;)

    Just because people don't like or aren't interested in this game it doesn't mean they fit whatever convenient (and rather tired) stereotype people want to label them with.
    Edited by 1 at 26/09/08 @ 12:20

  • spekkeh #31 3 years ago

    OH LAWDIE PINK WRISTSTRAPS, I'M SETTING UP CAMP IN FRONT OF THE STORES RIGHT THIS MOMENT

    /cruisecontrol

  • knocker #32 3 years ago

    This sort of shit is becoming far too common. I went to the Cinema yesterday to watch Hostel 17.

    I was shocked to see that the Cinema was *also* showing some casual shit called "Wall-E". You can see it wasn't aimed at hardcore filmgoers by all the mums and kids in the queue. I wouldn't even call it a film.

    Pixar are killing cinema !

    And don't get me started on bookshops. That bloke Rowling and the casual shit has ruined things for those of us who prefer to read something a bit deeper and a bit more grown up. Usually about football hooligans. Or soldiers.

  • Nikanoru #33 3 years ago

    Surely there is room to innovate without having to "dumb down" (for lack of a better term) existing game styles?


    I think my comment was read wrong by you and some others, I'm merely pointing out that people's so called hardcore games ARE dumbed down, not really that hardcore anymore. They think their shooting/fighting/whatever games are so deep, when they're really becoming simpler and simpler. Playing almost any modern "mature" game today just feels like hitting buttons in sequence when the game tells you to, something designed so even kids can play it.

    But these people just don't see it, because there's big burly men and guns. Or maybe because they're blind fanboys.

  • smelly #34 3 years ago

    @Nikanoru: Agree totally.

    How many games have we all played recently which we havent finished without any real effort?

    Games have been "dumbing down" for years. I look at my "old' game collection from 10 years ago, 99% of the games i havent finished. I look at my modern collection - beat them all within days of buying them.

  • Gnort #35 3 years ago

    You confuse difficulty with depth. Just because Ghosts & Goblins was much harder to complete than Gears of War doesn't make it a more complex game, it just had a more punitive game structure.

  • smelly #36 3 years ago

    "
    You confuse difficulty with depth. Just because Ghosts & Goblins was much harder to complete than Gears of War doesn't make it a more complex game,"


    You're using Gears Of War as an example of a game with depth?

    Oh brother.

  • Nikanoru #37 3 years ago

    Gnort: lol no.

    I'm talking about shit like what you see when you compare the level design of Tomb Raider Legend to the level design of the original TR. One wasn't afraid to let the player think about how to navigate a level on their own. The other was more akin to pushing a toy train along a single track. But oh boy, the shooting controls have improved!

    Or compare Resident Evil 1 to RE4. This series used to be about finding your way in a complex environment filled with all sorts of trinkets and puzzles. But in RE4, anything even remotely resembling level navigation or puzzles was merely cosmetic. You only had to walk the narrow path, you could play the game with your fucking eyes closed if you didn't have to shoot crap. But oh boy, the shooting controls have improved! I don't have high hopes for RE5.

    And there are so many other examples like that, I'm not gonna name them all, but lately I feel I've only been led to disappointment after disappointment when playing any new highly anticipated game. Everything has become an exercise in shoot the fucking targets while basically being carried around by the game. Enjoy your "deep games", lol.