The problem with Wii Music – there’s no chance of losing

Wii Music is now out in Japan and the U.S., with Europe and Australia due to follow suit in November. But what does it offer potential owners? A sweet-natured alternative to Guitar Hero and Rock Band, or a toy that is fun for five minutes but quickly loses its appeal?

When Wii Music was announced, I was actually quite impressed, and could see myself wanting to have a go on it. After all, what could be better than a rhythm action game that allows you to play over 60 instruments using just your Wii Remote and Nunchuk?

But the reviews have started to come in, and there seems to be one huge problem – the game offers absolutely no challenge to players. Which means it’s fun for all of five minutes but then quickly loses its appeal. Yes, even more quickly than Wii Sports and Wii Fit did.

In the same way as Guitar Hero and Rock Band operate, Wii Music sees the player listening to a song and playing along. But unlike the two aforementioned heavyweight music games, Wii Music doesn’t punish you for hitting the wrong note. In fact, wrong notes don’t exist. That’s right, the game sees you enter an alternate universe where all music is good even if its crap.

I can see what Nintendo is trying to do here: make as much money as possible by creating a game that appeals to absolutely everyone. But by making the game as easy as it is to give young kids and old people a chance to play it, they have completely forgotten one important element to all types of gaming. That is the ability to fail.

None of us like to fail, but when we play a game, failing is what drives us on and urges us to get better at it. If your average videogame allowed you never to die, never to fall off the platform, never to get shot, never to crash your car, etc etc, then who here would actually care about playing them?

Losing is not only an integral part of gaming, it’s an integral part of life. And by wrapping the idea of failure up in a bubble and throwing it out of the window, Nintendo are doing everyone, from young kids to hardcore adults, a disservice.

Wii Music is an experience that probably should be played for an hour or two, but come the end of that period of time, you’re unlikely to ever play it again. And when Nintendo is charging $50 for the privilege of owning this toy, that’s simply not good enough.

• Defending gaming against those NME music Nazis
• Miyamoto defends Wii Music against Guitar Hero and Rock Band
• E3 2008: Nintendo unveils Wii Resort, Wii Music, and Wii Speak
• Video games sales hit record high in UK – more popular than music
• PSP 2 here by Christmas – any chance against the DSi & iPhone?