Wii Music, workout game due this fall?

April 12th, 2007, 22:56 Posted By: wraggster

via gamespot

Source: Greek gaming site Contra.gr.

What we heard: Before the lights dimmed at Nintendo's press briefing at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo, the audience was already excited. However, when Shigeru Miyamoto took to the stage, the crowd, as they say, went wild.

Adding to the excitement was the fact the legendary game designer was in a full tuxedo with tails. Using a Wii remote, he conducted an orchestra of Mii avatars performing a symphony on a gigantic screen, evoking thunderous applause. Later, the game, titled Wii Music, was demoed on the E3 show floor, and reportedly appeared in European Nintendo release schedules as coming out sometime this year.

However, four and a half months into 2007, the exact release dates of many high-profile games, such as Super Mario Galaxy, remain unknown. For Wii Music, though, the window may have closed somewhat. According to an interview on Contra.gr partially translated by a Joystiq reader, a Greek game executive pegged Wii Music as arriving at the "end of the year." He said the game would allow players to conduct the entire orchestra as well as control individual musicians. Players can reportedly create their own songs which "might" be sharable with others via the WiiConnect24 online service.

The Contra.gr interview also apparently reveals a new hybrid game/network service called the "Health Pack." It claims the game will act as a personal trainer of sorts, guiding users through specific exercises. It will also apparently collect "biometric" data which will then be uploaded to an as-yet unannounced Wii Health channel. According to the story, said data will then be uploaded to "hospitals" contracted by Nintendo to provide "checkups." Summaries of the checkups would then be sent back to the Wii user WiiConnect24.

The official story: When contacted by GameSpot, Nintendo of America reps claimed to have "no information" on either game and declined comment.

Bogus or not bogus?: Given its obvious mass appeal, a holiday release date for Wii Music is a no-brainer. As for the Health Pack, the notion certainly fits into Nintendo's current Wii-as-workout messaging, most recently evidenced by the company's donation of the scarce console to YMCAs. Also, if the "checkups" are simple physical fitness assessments of weight-height ratios--which can be easily entered via a few data points--such a service is perfectly plausible.

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