After spending some time with Wii Music, I wonder how many people who dismiss this title have tried it … or more appropriately understand it.

Wii Music is NOT a simple rhythm matching game like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. It gets compared to those two titles, usually negatively by the American gaming press. But Wii Music is a different entity.   

The main object of GH and RB is to match the notes for score – objective standards (music studio functions are relatively new and limited to certain releases). The object of Wii Music is to match notes to create an arrangement of a song that the player “likes” – (highly) subjective standards.

GH and RB use special proxy instruments. It started with guitars and has moved on to drums and microphones. Wii Music uses the existing controller to simulate the rhythm of various instruments.

Finally, GH and RB are ethnocentric. They are geared toward a Western audience. The music tends to be American/British rock (or some variation thereof) As such, they have sold very well in the Americas, usually 2x to 3x to sometimes 5x what they sell in Others (Europe/Australia). Sales of these titles in Japan are almost non-existent (even though other music/rhythm games have done well in that market in the past). Wii Music is open-to-all. As a result, the music may be sometimes be thought of as being more pedestrian. But the songs are generally ones recognizable to everyone. As a result, the sales have been more balanced between Americas and Others and there have been measurable sales in Japan (something that GH and RB have not been able to do).

This last point is where Wii Music runs into trouble. The loudest negative comments seem to come from two groups: American videogame “journalists” and “hardcore gamers.”  The first forget there is more to the world than the United States. The second think that pretending to be a rock star is a “hardcore” game.

In conclusion,this game is not for everyone. No game is. But I was not surprised to see that Wii Music was going to be used to teach music in schools (http://www.vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=56676). While players don’t have a lot of control over pitch, it does teach rhythm and styles and arrangements. Plus, there are ways to shorten and extend notes for different effects. And you do not have to be a screaming cat, dog or cheerleader (like Matt at IGN), unless you want to.

Mike from Morgantown

I personally haven't played Wii Music yet ...

I grew up playing the Piano and play the drums as an adult, and I have found that there is a critical element of music which is completely ignored by music games like Guitar Hero and RockBand ... Creativity.

While I doubt that Wii Music is a particularly great at capturing creativity, it does seem like that was the core focus of the implementation.

The problem is not that people don't understand Wii Music. The problem is that Microsoft concluded their E3 press conference with Final Fantasy XIII and everybody thought Nintendo was going to unveil something just as show stopping most likely the announcement that Kingdom Hearts 3 was coming to the Wii, and when Reggie said, "We've got one more game to show you," people were thinking, "Here it is the new Zelda unveiling, Kingdom Hearts 3, Kid Icarus, they're finally bringing Mother 3 out here in America on the GBA, or something equally spectacular." Then instead, it turns out to be something like Wii Music instead. When, you're trying to compete with Final Fantasy with its mass appeal and generally staggeringly high critical receptions, and all you unveil is a music game that has to have lengthy explanations created to justify why people should buy it, you fail instantly.

I enjoyed Wii Music, still play it from time to time.

The downside to me is the selection of the music itself. I would have prefered a more classical line up, not expecting (or wishing) for rock.

That's a reason to hate Nintendo's E3, but not a reason to throw abuse at the game now.

^Agreed, basically BT's argument is that the game is at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The problem with Wii Music is that it's badly in need of real downloadable content, and a MIDI studio mode. With the addition of those two features, it would be an awesone game with endless content. Without them, it's a shallow noise maker that starts to get old after an hour.

     Well, maybe they can dislike Wii Music for the fact that it exists while one of those guaranteed crowd pleasers that I mentioned don't.

"Well, maybe they can dislike Wii Music for the fact that it exists while one of those guaranteed crowd pleasers that I mentioned don't."

Not announced is not the same as not existing. It's BS thinking like that which contributed to trestres being banned.

I don't think Wii Music needs a MIDI editor.  This page illustrates just some of its many creative possibilities with the available input options:

http://us.wii.com/iwata_asks/wii_music/staffclips.jsp

Wii Music may not be for everybody, but it certainly isn't a "shallow noise maker."