pop-n-music
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Pop'n Music's not-great control scheme explained
When Konami announced a Wii version of Pop'n Music that didn't involve a special controller, we saw disaster ahead, of the "ruined franchise" variety. Siliconera's impressions of the waggle-based rhythm game confirm our fears. Instead of a series of nine buttons, the Wii game uses Wiimote and Nunchuk motions to control an on-screen characters hands as they move over a series of five virtual buttons. In reverse, because he's facing you. Move the Nunchuk down and to the left to hit the button on the far left of the screen. Move the Wiimote straight down to hit the button on the middle right. "When I played 'Virtual Insanity' I noticed I unintentionally hit multiple buttons while sliding the remote down/right or down/left to hit the green buttons," Siliconera's Spencer said. "Then I discovered the 'magic swipe' motion, which made Pop quickly smack the green, blue, and red buttons."We want to keep an open mind about this unreleased product and all, but this does not sound good. In no way does it sound better than just pushing buttons.%Gallery-65007%
E3 2009 highlights: The Nintendo roundup
Nintendo E3 2009 checklist: Mario? *check* Zelda? *check* Metroid? *check* Are we missing something? Head past the break to find out!
Konami announces Pop'n Music for Wii, with no Pop'n Music controller
A trademark gave us a hint at a North American release for Konami's arcade music game, Pop'n Music, so we sort of knew it was coming. We assumed that it would be, you know, Pop'n Music, with the nine-button interface that is pretty much the whole point of the thing."Easy and fun to play," according to the game's feature list. "Basic controls move the Nunchuk and Wii Mote up, down, left and right." In which case, it's just a cutesy music game. Why does Konami do this stuff to its music games every E3?This so-called Pop'n Music will be out this fall.%Gallery-65007%
Trademark suggests a classic Bemani music game Pop'n up in North America
One of Konami's pre-Guitar Hero arcade music games may be on its way to the US, according to a trademark found by Superannuation. On May 20th, Konami filed a US trademark for the name "pop'n music" for use in video games.Pop'n Music is an extremely cutesy music game that uses a series of nine large buttons as its input; players hit those buttons in response to falling notes in nine columns. Its colorful graphics and big buttons betray its origin as a "casual play" music game, however, like all Bemani games, Pop'n Music has become ridiculously difficult over the years.If the game does come out as an arcade or console release in North America, Konami will have dozens of games' worth of songs to choose from. Which probably won't matter, as music games rely entirely on licensed popular music now. Oh, well. After the break, check out an appropriately insane Pop'n video.[Via Superannuation]
