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PAX 07 rock-on: Jam Sessions
When a friend alerted me that Ubisoft was demonstrating Jam Sessions near one of the lounge areas at PAX, I got over there ASAP. Jam Sessions has been one of my most anticipated DS games, and it's not even a game. In fact, it was one of the games I was really hoping to see at the show, because I am crazy about DS weirdness. I found a stage, upon (or near) which an Evil Avatar writer was strumming away, accompanied by an Ubisoft employee on bass and some guy who just showed up with a harmonica. The DS was running through a Fender amp, and sounded great. The greatest consideration for any musical instrument is how it sounds, and Jam Sessions is nearly indistinguishable from a real guitar. The guy playing had skill, as well, meaning that all in the handheld lounge were being treated to some very lovely improvised music. Until I took my turn, that is.
Song list for Jam Sessions reveals Beck, Bob Dylan, and others
Ubisoft has announced the official track list for Jam Sessions, the DS guitar simulator known formerly as the hard-to-swallow Hiite Utaeru DS Guitar M-06.Songs include Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," Beck's "Jackass," and Coldplay's "Yellow." The 17 tracks feature a solid range from mainstream pop, to reggae, to good ol' rock & roll. Like M-06, Jam Sessions will step players through the chords of each song, allowing them to rock out with their whatevers out. Of course, Jam Sessions will still feature the free-play modes that made the original such a viral sensation. After an initial delay at the start of the summer, Jam Sessions is currently scheduled release on September 11th, and we can't wait for it. Check out the full song list after the break.
Jam Sessions contains Best Buy-exclusive songs
The song list for Ubisoft's Jam Sessions has been revealed, and it's pleasant enough to be worth checking out when you get tired of randomly making noises. There are some great selections, like "The Man Who Sold the World" and Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry" as well as a lot of stuff that we're too old and lame to know anything about. There are a few songs like Beck's fantastic "Jack-ass" that don't seem to have that much guitar in them, which leads us to question their appropriateness for this game. On the other hand, it's (sheet music providing instructions for playing) a Beck song in a video game. That's awesome.We also have to wonder how Ubisoft decided to categorize covers by artist: for example, "Life Is A Highway" on the card is billed as the Rascal Flatts version rather than the original Tom Cochrane version, and the aforementioned "The Man Who Sold the World" is billed as Nirvana and not David Bowie, despite the guitar arrangements being identical in both cases and therefore indistinguishable. Oh, right, marketing. We should learn not to think too deeply about these things.Speaking of marketing, Ubisoft is including a bonus that is either awesome or infuriating, depending on your proximity to a Best Buy. Three exclusive songs will be on copies of the game sold at Best Buy, including Jimi Hendrix's "Wild Thing" (what were we just saying about the covers?). GameStop shoppers will get a preorder bonus that doesn't require a separate pressing of the game: a free subscription to Spin magazine. The full song list is available after the break.
The day the music died: Jam Sessions' EU boxart
We were kind enough to call out the emperor on his new clothes, tapping Ubisoft's shoulder and explaining how we felt about its awful Jam Sessions advertisement, but the company ignored our advice and went on to use the promotional photo for the game's packaging art across the Atlantic. In short, Jam Sessions' European boxart is absolutely repulsive.It's already unfortunate that all titles under the PEGI's rule must bear the rating system's unsightly standard, but Jam Sessions' cover has to also suffer this guy's contorted expression. As excited as we are about the guitar trainer, we can't believe Ubisoft would use this for its boxart. Jump past the break to compare the design with Jam Sessions' North American and Japanese covers.
Actual talent not required for Jam Sessions
While Jam Sessions' print advertisements leave much to be desired, Ubisoft has otherwise done a great job hyping up the guitar sim with videos of people who aren't complete tools. Our favorite demonstration clip we've seen so far was the one that accompanied Ubisoft's localization announcement, in which producer Carl Delallana strummed Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'."Carl has returned again with another promotional short to remind us that you don't need to already be a musician to enjoy Jam Sessions; there are plenty of included tutorials and lessons that'll have you rockin' out in no time. Stage dive past the post break for the embedded movie.
Jam Sessions gets the demo treatment
Advertising for Jam Sessions may be somewhat less than good, but that doesn't make the title less worthwhile -- nor does it detract from this hilarious E3 demo! We've tucked it away after the jump, but first you have to run the screenshot gauntlet. We're bad, bad people.We do find some of the screens a little disturbing, however. Is that redheaded chick puking? We really only need so much rock-and-roll realism in our video games, thanks ....%Gallery-3427%
Promotional Consideration: Come As You Are
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.If you missed our spotlight on Leo Burnett's "Communion Day" ad last Sunday, make sure to give it a glance. Even if you've already skimmed through our words on the award-winning piece, we've updated our summation with some insight from art director Rosemary Collini Bosso.This weekend's installment of Promotional Consideration takes a critical eye to an unconvincing ad that might actually drive away consumers. Read on for more details.
Conjecture Countdown: One more day!
With only one more day of waiting before the debut of the diminished E3, we've decided to get serious and offer up some real predictions about what we will -- and won't -- see at the show. Check after the jump for the breakdown, by writer, of the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of our E3 hopes and fears.
Jammin' Guitar Pick stylus lets us shred our touch screens
We've seen a GameStop.com listing for a product called the "Jammin' Guitar Pick" for a while, but we've been patiently waiting for a picture to show up. Today, one day before the product's release, one has surfaced. It's a very simple idea: a guitar pick with a stylus stuck to it, and it comes in a pack of three for $8. Oddly, the pointier part of the pick doesn't appear to be the part where the stylus is attached.We're just thrilled that someone at Naki thought Jam Sessions was going to be big enough to call for its very own third-party accessory. Too bad the picks are coming out just as word comes out of the game's delay. We're thinking about picking up the accessory now in anticipation, and so we can pretend we're giving one of them sexy solos while we're playing Meteos.
Jam Sessions delayed until September
Ubisoft's Jam Sessions, which would officially be our personal most-anticipated game if it were a game, was originally slated for a summer release in both Europe and the US. It was going to be a beautiful summer of trying to play metal on a fake acoustic guitar. But fate (or Ubisoft; the two are interchangeable) had other plans.Cubed3 reports that Ubisoft has confirmed a delay for the European release of Plato's guitar simulator, to September 28th. We don't have an official word on the US version, but GameStop lists the release date as September 11th, which is corroborated by Ubisoft's website. How long does it take to translate guitar notes?
Nintendo Media Summit: Jam Session impressions (DS)
One of the many quirky little games on display at last week's Nintendo Media Summit was Ubisoft's Jam Sessions for the DS. The title is described as a "music experience" that turns the DS into a guitar that musicians of any level can use to improve their skills. It also allows for players to create their own songs by strumming the touchscreen and selecting chords with the d-pad, or play along with popular songs for practice. It even allows for you to save anything you play, a nice little touch for when you really rock it out.It's kind of hard to call Jam Sessions a game -- in fact, it's impossible. That's not saying it's a bad thing though; it displays Nintendo's push to expand the software line-up on the DS beyond the core gaming market. It just makes it harder to approach the title from a preview perspective. There's no story to talk about, no real graphics to talk about, no real gameplay, yet it still remains a fascinating piece of software.%Gallery-3420%
Friday Video: NMS round-up edition
This week, it's all about the Nintendo Media Summit, and we thought we'd wrangle all the videos into our weekly spotlight, even if it does get a little crowded in here. See what we're willing to sacrifice, just to bring you videos?Okay, okay, you caught us. We like watching the videos too, so it's not much of a sacrifice at all. The overview is particularly nice, as we get footage and discussion of so many forthcoming Nintendo titles. Check 'em all out after the jump.
Jam to these new Jam Sessions screens
GameSpot got their grubby little mitts on some new screens for Ubisoft's upcoming rhythm-based game Jam Sessions. As you already know, we're pumped to get our hands on the final product, having seen video and screens of the game before. These latest screens don't show much in the way of new as far as the game goes, but having covered it for quite some time, we basically know what we're getting into by now.You'll be able to get your jam on once the game releases come this Q3.
Just because: Jam Sessions video
This Jam Sessions video is just too great -- we love the way it's shot, so that it looks like the guy is actually playing a guitar, and then ... oho! Behold, for it is a DS Lite. What can't the DS do? We keep waiting for it to just take over the world. While we await our new DS overloards, hit the jump for the video.
We're hot for the Van Halen-style DS
Now this is how you play Jam Sessions. Flickr user Mr. Atrocity and his girlfriend gave their DS systems (both Phat, and we're happy to see people sporting them) custom paint jobs-- his a replica of Eddie Van Halen's guitar finish, and hers a lavender with gold details. Not only does the gallery contain pretty pictures of modded systems, but it is a great tutorial for spraypainting your own DS, which is exactly the kind of thing you should have a tutorial for, unless you want to play New Super B Button Is Stuck Down Bros. or Trauma Center: Under the Red Blob.
DS Daily: We just want to talk about Jam Sessions some more
It's been a popular topic of discussion lately-- the DS guitar simulator/toy/thing that Ubisoft is surprisingly localizing for a US audience. For some of us, weirdly enough, it was the biggest story to come out of GDC. We're still actually not sure why Ubisoft, a company generally known to play it safe and never release anything that hasn't already been released on other systems, decided to pick up something that isn't even a game. A misguided attempt to jump on the Guitar Hero bandwagon, perhaps?Whatever the reason, we heart Ubisoft for doing it. We haven't made any attempt to hide it: we are eager to try Jam Sessions. We want it to be out right now. We don't care that it isn't a game, or whatever.So what about you commenters? Are you ready to strum-- but not solo-- on a virtual guitar doodad? Have you learned to stop worrying and love the non-game?
Get your jam on with this Jam Session video
Maybe you thought, after first hearing about the game, that such a title would be near impossible to play effectively. For those of you wondering what the game might look like, we already covered that. Maybe you're the type of person who needs to see some video? Well, past the post break, we have got you covered.
We love non-games now: Jam Sessions preview
We know Electroplankton sort of covered the musical DS toy thing, but we are so impressed with every aspect of Jam Sessions. It sounds great, it looks fun, the interface, while a little homebrew-looking, is just ... pleasant. Look at that floral background!We now know a little more about Jam Sessions, like that it will come loaded with 20 licensed songs to play along with, complete with lyrics, and that your playing is limited to strumming rather than picking individual notes-- sorry, no solos. You can also change the sound of your guitar, adding distortion and delay effects. There's still no game attached, just songs you can play along with, or freeform strumming.This game (well, toy) just goes so far against what usually gets released in the US in so many ways. It looks totally fun and totally relaxing.Check out a couple of screens after the break.[Via GoNintendo]
From Eigo Zuke to Jam Sessions
Newsweek's N'Gai Croal, who reported the news that Ubisoft would be localizing Hiite Utaeru DS Guitar M-06 as Jam Sessions, has posted an interview with Seth Delackner of Plato, the director of the "game". The story of how Delackner got to create a guitar simulator is pretty surprising: he was hired to program a sequel to the English training game Eigo Zuke. But Nintendo decided to handle the programming themselves as they had for the first game, leaving Plato with a DS programmer, a DS development kit, and no projects. The team brainstormed new ideas, and came up with a music game.As a demo, Delackner put together a little program that allowed the user to "strum" over a line on the touchscreen to play guitar samples. Plato loved it, Nintendo loved it, and Hiite Utaeru DS Guitar M-06 was born.It's no secret that we love music games, so expect more on Jam Sessions as we hear it. We want the story on that beautiful, but random boxart.
Ubisoft is going to publish Jam Sessions
Remember that Guitar-type game on the DS? Well, we're happy to inform that Ubisoft is going to be publishing the title stateside, allowing all of us to live the dream of being a rock star whilst still getting our gaming fix. It's like a delicious sandwich that is chock full of peanut butter (that would be Jam Sessions) and fluffer nutter (and that would be the DS Lite). Wait ... what would that make the bread, then? You? We didn't really think that through and are, honestly, kind of hungry right now ...Grumbling stomach aside, the game will be releasing in June. For those unaware, the game turns the DS into a tiny guitar, where the stylus is used to pluck strings and create music. Using the d-pad and shoulder buttons, you can switch the tone of the notes you're playing, allowing for a wide variety of different tones from your virtual guitar.
