Wii Music - First Look Preview

The lights go down and the musicians begin tuning their instruments; a Japanese man in tails walks out onto the stage and strikes them up. But this is no ordinary orchestral performance, this is Nintendo's E3 2006 conference in Hollywood, and the Japanese man is legendary game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto. The atmosphere becomes electric almost instantly - it's one of the world's first performances of Wii Music: Orchestra.

Following Miyamoto's maestro-like recital of the main theme from The Legend of Zelda, it was the turn of patient gamers at the main show, where people were greeted with a performance of the drum-playing before braving further queues around Nintendo's popular booth.

Packed into small side-booths at the event, the two-track demo let players experience a taste for what to expect. Following an introduction to the expected tempo of the music, players make the appropriate conductor-like motions in the air with the Wii-mote; more vigorous movements causing the orchestra to play with greater passion, whilst slower actions cause the ensemble to follow suit.

Demonstrating the drum game with two Wii-remotes each, there's no denying the game has immediacy in its gameplay. Who hasn't tapped out a beat during their lives, either with their hands or use an actual drum kit? At the same time Nintendo has yet to announce whether the game will be released at retail or even bundled with the Wii on its release during the fourth quarter of 2006, but it would be difficult to see the value of paying for what really amounts to a novelty title.

If Wii Music follows in the footsteps of Wii Sports with its three plus options, then we're yet to see what the third musical mode will be after the orchestra and drums - Wii Guitar perhaps or some other strumming instrument? At this stage its just guesswork, after all, Nintendo is yet to make an official statement.

So far the orchestra plays The Legend of Zelda theme and Bizet's Carmen, but what other tunes could it play? Super Mario Bros would an unsurprising choice along with so many other Nintendo franchises, but what about other famous pieces of classical music? Like so much surrounding the Wii, there're unanswered questions, and we'll just have to wait until Nintendo decides to release further information.

Another example of what Nintendo perceives the next-generation gaming experience to be like, Wii Music seems to be setting the right tone (groan). Despite the obvious immediate playability, it's also good to note (groan...again) that Wii Music doesn't seem to aim towards providing gamers with long-term gameplay. That said its potential longevity does rest on the number of tracks available to play, or whether it will allow players to conduct their own music.