DEATHMATCH
Ultimate Band VS Bagpipes
By Shaun Hatton - December 3rd, 2008
Around lunchtime today I headed up to Dundas Square to check out Disney Interactive Studios’ Ultimate Band for Wii. Think Guitar Hero or Rock Band without the need for a storage locker. Ultimate Band is a music rhythm game that utilizes the Wii controllers you already own to bring a full band experience to your living room. Since there’s no need for custom controllers, it’s really handy for apartment-dwellers. The downside, however, is that instead of looking goofy rocking out to a small plastic guitar, you look goofy shaking the Wii Remote and nunchuck attachments.
When I arrived at Dundas Square, I realized the demonstrations for the game were actually happening outside the Sears entrance of the Eaton Centre. It’s an area with higher traffic, so it makes sense that the game’s PR people would want to take advantage of the additional eyeballs. After all, it isn’t every day you get to walk by people with televisions strapped to their backs!
I played two songs at the demonstration: “Whip It!” and “Beverly Hills.” Due to all the street noise of the busy intersection, it was a little hard to hear the tunes but the game still played quite nicely. Both songs were played on “guitar” mode, so I held the nunchuck in my left hand while strumming with the Wii Remote in my right. The C and Z buttons on the nunchuck are used to control whether players strum a red or purple note. In addition to these two notes, there are prompts for claps (snapping the two controller parts towards each other, emulating a clapping gesture), whammy bar prompts (holding the B trigger on the Wii Remote and givin’ ‘er), or ‘Round the World style strumming that would make Pete Townsend blush (and thankfully, since there’s no physical whammy bar, wrist impaling is not a possibility).
Obviously the game is geared toward a younger audience than titles such as the aforementioned Guitar Hero or Rock Band, but that doesn’t mean adults can’t or won’t enjoy it. One might be inclined to compare it to Wii Music because it uses the console’s standard peripherals to control the action. But this would be unfair to both titles. While Wii Music is simply an open activity with both too much and too little to do, it isn’t really a game despite its packaging (the game’s designer, Miyamoto, seems to only refer to it as “software”). Ultimate Band, on the other hand, is still a rhythm game, meaning it is at times challenging. Meeting these challenges is rewarding, too! I’m somewhat competent at Guitar Hero but had to re-learn a few things for Ultimate Band.
Oh, and since you’re probably wondering about the photo up top, here’s the story: That man was busking just a few metres from where the demonstration was happening. The daylight was causing havoc with the Wii Remotes’ pointer abilities and it was also incredibly windy on the sidewalk. When the event staff decided to move closer to the mall building (thus ensuring less sensor interference and less wind), Mr. Bagpipes yelled at everyone for moving closer to him! Yes, we were on his turf. Rather than resorting to fisticuffs, he stormed inside the mall, presumably to complain about the Ultimate Band demonstrators. Thankfully, I got to play a whole song without bagpipes competing for attention.
So, for those of you keeping score: Ultimate Band is more fun than bagpipes, more challenging than Wii Music, but less challenging than bagpipes.
