Wii Music features 14 licensed songs
Thursday, October 16th, 2008 at 2:08pm by Will
Wii Music is supposed to have about 50 songs on the disc when you buy it. Now since there is only 14 licensed tracks you can guess that the other 36 songs are going to either be public domain songs, or songs and themes from popular Nintendo games. Though you would think that Nintendo is smarter than that, and would make a game that is to be enjoyed by everyone.
So of course it was expected that there was going to be some licensed tracks. Though looking back on some games (Elite Beat Agents) that Nintendo has released that had licensed music in them you have to wonder if they will be any different. However, Wii Music is about playing the songs not singing them. So you would have to presume that they are well known tunes that are memorable.
Anyway take a look at the licensed list of songs after the jump.
“Chariots of Fire” theme song by Vangelis
“Daydream Believer” by John Stewart (made famous by The Monkees)
“Every Breath You Take” by Sting
“I’ll be There,” performed by The Jackson 5
“I’ve Never Been to Me,” classic Motown hit by Charlene
“Material Girl,” by Madonna (EBA)
“Please Mr. Postman,” the debut single from the Marvellettes
“September,” from Earth, Wind and Fire (EBA)
“Suriyaki,” a Japanese song popular in the ’60s performed by Kyu Sakamoto
“The Loco-Motion,” another 60s pop song
“Woman” a song by John Lennon
“Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by the illustrious George Michael
“Jingle Bell Rock.” We all know this one.
“Do-Re-Mi” by Rogers and Hammerstein from “The Sound of Music.”
Anyone expecting anything different?
October 16th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Mario Paint had 3 songs and we all still had fun.
October 16th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
You know, I’m not sure I was expecting anything.
I think it’s awesome that they have a list of non-Nintendo themed songs on the disc. 2 EBA songs though; it would have been nice to either add more from EBA or replace them with 2 other songs, but those copied from EBA aren’t that bad, so I’m fine with it.
Can’t wait to get my copy now.
October 16th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Seriously, “Wake Me Up, Before You Go-Go?” They have truly lost touch with reality on this one.
October 16th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Are the (EBA) songs actually the same cover tracks used in EBA, or are you just indicating that these songs were also in EBA?
October 16th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I was indicating that they were in EBA, they aren’t even really covers, they are just the Instrument tracks so you can actually play them.
October 16th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
“Woman” a song by John Lennon
That’s actually very surprising.
October 16th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
All right! Get ready to ROCK!
October 16th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I’m almost as old as their apparent target audience, and my confidence has not been raised.
October 16th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
I like this list and furthermore like how short it is. “Public Domain” is like some kind of scare-label, but a lot of fantastic stuff is IN the public domain, like Mozart and certain opera’s and stuff.
The accusations of being “out of touch” are humorous considering a lot of rhythm games have one or two tracks that most everybody hates. Hell, imagine how Guitar Hero: Aerosmith would appear to somebody who hates the band.
October 16th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Dang, I was hoping Material Girl was going to be on the next GH. I guess we can always hope for it to be released on pay and play.
October 16th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
I’m just expecting a piece of shit of a “game”.
October 16th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
These are exactly the kind of songs that should be featured on Wii Music. Upbeat, light, pop songs. Nintendo aren’t “out of touch” with anything. Just watch the sales for this thing.
October 16th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Seriously who cares? Gears 2 comes out in 3 weeks. Not to mention GH in just over a week.
October 16th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
These songs fit Wii Music quite well.
But I’m still not inclined to care, in any case.
October 16th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
You guys weren’t seriously expecting rock, were you?
I don’t think the song selection is that bad (for this type of game), but I wish there were more. I mean, come on – only 14? I’m immediately reminded of Elite Beat Agents, which had more than this. In EBA, some of the cheesiest songs wound up being the most fun – so I don’t mind playing a game of pop hits. But still, Nintendo could have done more to get my attention. At least EBA had Bowie and Queen.
October 16th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
You know if the game had Queen’s Bohemia Rhapsody… I think I would of got it just for that.
October 16th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
In say we take ign’s advice on this game and have a disk burning. Like a book burning, but for nerds.
October 17th, 2008 at 2:55 am
I wouldn’t dream of dreaming of imagining thinking about possibly day-dreaming of maybe getting this game in my dreams. I’m dead serious.
You just push buttons randomly and it tells you you’re doing great! The whole editing thing is redundant. Ever heard of the World Tour song writer? Anyone? I’ve never even heard of any of these songs! (except Jingle Bell Rock of course) Seriously! I agree with Eons_past.We’ll treat them like the germans treated jewish books!
October 17th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Hopefully they have good remixes of some of the pub domain songs. Like DDR Mario.
October 17th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Hmm… first review is out and 1up gave the game an A-. Almost seems like some of the people trashing this game without having ever played it are full of crap.
It’ll be interesting to see what Jack has to say about this.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
@ ejamer,
I read the 1up review. Very interesting. The one thing that stuck out is the reviewer calls herself “a classically trained musician”. I think this is the target market for Wii Music. Though it might appeal to that group just fine, I am a gamer and not a trained musician. That is where I feel the game will fail. I just wonder how big the trained musician group really is? It just doesn’t sound like a fun game/toy. It sounds like band class all over again. I hated band class. That is why I don’t play the trumpet anymore. Cause it wasn’t fun. Just like I think this game won’t be fun.
If you liked band class and love music theory, this is probably the game for you.
Just my opinion.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Oh and she said “The biggest downfall of Wii Music, oddly, is the music itself. While songs like “Material Girl” or “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” are easy crowd pleasers, Nintendo is still stuck in that horrifying pattern of relying mostly on public domain pablum”
If its a music game, it should have good music. Nintendo failed
October 17th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
@Mark:
Wii Music doesn’t look like a game that will interest me either… but the game could still be interesting and fun for literally hundreds of people who have different interests/opinions than me. The point is that it’s different saying “this game doesn’t appeal to me” and saying “this game is a steaming pile of doo-doo”. Too many self-described hardcore gamers seem unable or unwilling to understand the difference when it comes to discussing games.
Also, the book burning comparison made above was patently offensive. That alone justifies my “full of crap” comment.
October 17th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
@ ejamer,
You are right on. I think people will buy it and like it. It probably will sell a grundle of copies. I’m not sure anyone is arguing that. That’s why I put the disclaimer on the end “just my opinion”. My opinion is I won’t be buying it because it looks like poo to me. That shouldn’t/won’t have any influence on someone that will buy it cause it looks good to them.
I also agree with you about the book burning statement. That is just a cheap shot.
October 18th, 2008 at 10:33 am
It has WHAM!’s hit single?
First day.
October 18th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
“If its a music game, it should have good music. Nintendo failed”
… … No, not really.
If the review thinks the biggest problem was that it didn’t have enough really recognizable pop songs and they still thought it was worthy of a A-, I’d say they succeeded wildly at doing what they set out to. The draw of Wii Music really has nothing to do with the songs, but rather what you do *with* the songs. So yeah, they may have been able to do a little bit better on the song choices perhaps, but that it had such a minimal effect on the review score means it doesn’t matter much.
Also, there’s a rather large difference between “I think it looks like poo, but that’s just my opinion” and “Not for me, but I can see why some people could find it cool even if I don’t think I’d like it.” People are apt to get more pissy over the first one than the second.
October 19th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
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