Miyamoto: Guitar Hero a "cover band"

Nintendo creative star Shigeru Miyamoto believes Guitar Hero is a "cover band" compared to the creativity on offer in Wii Music, which is due out here on 14th November.

"As a game designer, I looked at Beatmania and Guitar Hero. Those games let people be the best cover band they could possibly be. As a musician, I wanted to create a game that lets people express themselves in music, and with Wii Music I think we achieved that," Miyamoto told GameSpot.

"With Wii Music, everyone in the house can pick it up and, within a few minutes, start playing music... Wii Music lets people experience that higher level of musical creation without having to spend years training."

Miyamoto said his latest creation is a "musical arrangement engine" where you can rearrange familiar songs such as "Frere Jacques" for up to six instruments, producing all sorts of results depending on your choices: reggae or rap, classical or death metal (probably).

There are 60 songs and 60 instruments in the full version of Wii Music. Tracks range from videogame themes to "Every Breath You Take" by the Police, and instruments vary from turntables to violins.

But will this, the latest big game from Nintendo designed to appeal to non-gamers, click with the core audience braying for more Marios and Metroids?

"We didn't look at the question of whether or not it would appeal to core gamers or casual gamers," Miyamoto said. "It really depends on one's interest in music, not their interest in games. If you're the type of person who taps your feet to a song, I think this will interest you."

"I think you'll find people who are as hardcore playing Wii Music as any other game. I have found that, as a single player, you can spend over three hours arranging a single song. Since there's 50 songs, simple math tells you that you can spend 150 hours playing it - and that's just by yourself.

"I am actually getting concerned about how much I'm playing it!" he added.

However, Miyamoto did reiterate Nintendo's comments in August when he said, "We're not forgetting we need to keep making Zelda games, though!"

Wii Music is due out here on 14th November. Look out for our review very soon.