Post by: Kairon on May 03, 2007, 10:06:48 PM
Video here (streaming)
*drool* *drool* Will this live up to its potential? *drool*
~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on May 03, 2007, 10:13:18 PM
Post by: Kairon on May 03, 2007, 10:15:48 PM
~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on May 03, 2007, 10:17:02 PM
Post by: Kairon on May 03, 2007, 10:20:25 PM
...all of a sudden I want multiplayer, and or NPC background dancers so I can pull off a thriller...
~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: Mario on May 03, 2007, 10:35:56 PM
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on May 03, 2007, 11:00:57 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Mario
This is gonna be huge. Can't say i'm into dancing, but this is a heaps better concept than Guitar Hero. This could have lots of comedy value involving creating someone like Iwata and pulling off insane dance moves with them.
Although the Guitar Hero series is a great series, I wouldn't say the concept is necessarily that fresh. At least this game is trying some drastically new things.
Post by: Kairon on May 03, 2007, 11:13:45 PM
~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: ShyGuy on May 04, 2007, 02:40:07 AM
Post by: Pale on May 04, 2007, 02:52:16 AM
Post by: Flames_of_chaos on May 04, 2007, 03:02:44 AM
Post by: Ghisy on May 04, 2007, 05:31:18 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: ShyGuy
.... I dont get it.
Ditto.
What are we supposed to do with the Wiimote??
Post by: Ceric on May 04, 2007, 06:23:12 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Pale
i can't help but think it looks like it's going to be extremely boring...
Agree. If I'm just dancing and singing to dance and sing I don't think I could get into it. DDR has the Arrows, Karaoke Revolution has the little bar and dancing if you like, and Guitar heroes has the circles. I enjoy rhythm games I just don't see any screen indicating that is what this will be and how you know to do what.
Post by: Nick DiMola on May 04, 2007, 06:23:46 AM
Post by: Kairon on May 04, 2007, 08:38:30 AM
Seriously guys, don't worry. The game is slated for FALL. That it's playable now in a sort of pre-Alpha is great news. Everything can be worked on from now 'till then. Stop looking for the game in this and start looking for the FUN!
Like accessorizing your Boog, nailing songs, expressing your individuality, multiplayer (please god yes!), switching up camera angles, and coming up with an end result that's uniquely YOU, in terms of performance, style, and sass.
~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: Kairon on May 04, 2007, 08:58:49 AM
~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: ShyGuy on May 04, 2007, 10:27:06 AM
Post by: Kairon on May 05, 2007, 09:35:30 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: ShyGuy
I have no sass. To imply that I have sass is an insult.
Sass. Sassy sass sass. Sassy Sass your Sassafras.
Huh. Now what you gonna do about it?
~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: Ceric on May 05, 2007, 04:18:38 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: ShyGuy
I have no sass. To imply that I have sass is an insult.
I resent that for I'm never without SAS.
Post by: Willi on May 06, 2007, 10:27:41 AM
It seems you only use the Wiimote gestures to shift the characters position. The buttons are used to to toggle through four different dance "styles" so you do not actually get to dance like in the unforgettable Wario Ware boss level.
Disappointment. Next dancing game please.
Post by: The Omen on May 07, 2007, 09:19:58 AM
Post by: Kairon on June 05, 2007, 10:50:34 PM
Post by: couchmonkey on June 06, 2007, 05:27:24 AM
Post by: Kairon on June 18, 2007, 09:00:06 AM
Give me this game.
Post by: UltimatePartyBear on June 18, 2007, 09:46:30 AM
That's the first time I've ever heard that song not performed by the Chipmunks, incidentally.
Post by: Kairon on June 18, 2007, 10:00:59 AM
Here's an HD version you can expand to fullscreen.
Seriously, This trailer gives me goosebumps from the days when the Wiimote first came out and all sorts of possibilities ran through our heads. If that sort of movement... that sort of CONNECTION between controller and character GROOVINESS is real, this will TOTALLY sell me on the wiimote, more so than even GODFATHER.
Post by: Ghisy on June 18, 2007, 10:07:53 AM
Post by: Kairon on July 06, 2007, 08:42:50 AM
LOL @ the guy "spanking it" at 0:32.
Also, Here's a developer interview where they talk about a whole bunch of things and you can see gameplay in the background. They also confirm an 11th hour addition of 3D glasses mode, where even though they don't pack in 3D glasses, you can use your own pair and turn on a mode where they work. I hope they're sincere in how they're saying they had so much fun making the game, because it makes me suspect that the game will turn out quite fun in the end.
Seriously, I'm hoping this game grabs me as well as Bust-A-Groove did back in the day. I don't need a lot of gamer aspects, I just need fun songs and a relaxed fun-centered atmosphere.
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on August 03, 2007, 12:29:43 PM
Post by: SalesBot on August 03, 2007, 01:26:20 PM
Post by: Kairon on August 03, 2007, 10:53:10 PM
Post by: Ghisy on August 03, 2007, 11:17:23 PM
I think I wanna buy the game but I'd rather read a couple of reviews before doing so.
Post by: Kairon on August 04, 2007, 10:16:00 AM
Post by: Ghisy on August 05, 2007, 06:19:45 AM
Must.resist.buying.before.reviews.are.out.
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on August 06, 2007, 04:50:23 PM
P.S. Why is this called Kairon's Boggie hype thread when he is hardly posting and the game comes out tomorrow! I smell a FAKE!
Post by: Kairon on August 06, 2007, 05:03:12 PM
For example, I get the feeling that EA is trying to justify this game's existence when they never had a firm gameplay foundation to build off in the first place. But that's a typical gamer concern when faced with a karaoke/rhythm game.
Other doubts spring from a suspicion that EA pushed this one out the door because they wanted to beat the big name competitor, Singstar PS3, to market, and perhaps they wanted to even beat High School Musical.
And even though I applaud the sort of quirkiness that adds 3D-glasses support to the mix, I wonder whether they ran out of things to do for the game and were trying to squeeze another feature in...
But never fear NWR! I, Kairon, intrepid explorer of third party wilds on Nintendo continents, appreciator of gems in the rough, imitator of anit-Nintendo fanbois the world around, shall take it upon myself to buy this game at launch, play it, and god-willing, tell you just what sort of jig is up.
Post by: Ghisy on August 06, 2007, 09:24:15 PM
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on August 06, 2007, 09:27:43 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Ghisy
So the game is out today, reviews should be popping up everywhere now, right?
Unless it becomes another Alien SYndrome.
Post by: Pittbboi on August 07, 2007, 03:14:37 PM
1Up - 3/10- http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3161802
GamePro - 4/5 - http://www.gamepro.com/nintendo/wii/games/reviews/127849.shtml
Damn, I'm a bit disappointed. I mean, I knew it was a long shot that this game was going to be good (and I knew it was going to be one of those games that tried to do too much and therefore got nothing right), but the second I saw the playlist for this game I really WANTED it to be good. I love Karaoke games, and Boogie has a more compelling music catalog (of what I personally like to listen to) than any Karaoke game made thus far. I think I still might buy it for that reason, and both reviews do say the game is fun in some respects...just not very long.
I don't know how much stock I put into the GamePro review, though. I mean, they pretty much agree with everything bad 1Up (who gave the game an abysmal 3) had to say about the game, but then don't really support and explain why they felt the game deserved a 4/5. 4/5 is a score that, I feel, should be reserved for top of the line games that only have minor flaws that keep them from being 5s. They really don't explain how Boogie is THAT good...
Post by: Kairon on August 07, 2007, 03:57:18 PM
Post by: Smash_Brother on August 07, 2007, 05:41:35 PM
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 07, 2007, 06:14:30 PM
Post by: NWR_pap64 on August 07, 2007, 07:52:13 PM
Not to rag on the game but thinking about it the game feels as if the creators didn't know what type of game to create and mushed it all together.
We'll see how it works out, but I see it as another Wii games that divides the fans apart.
Post by: cubist on August 08, 2007, 06:36:11 AM
Post by: Smash_Brother on August 08, 2007, 08:31:20 AM
Maybe he's still playing it?
Post by: Ghisy on August 08, 2007, 08:37:39 AM
I'm waiting for IGN and Gamespot to post theirs though. Any other site to check for reviews?
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on August 08, 2007, 08:52:02 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Ghisy
Now that I've read the reviews that are available, I don't think I'll be buying the game.
I'm waiting for IGN and Gamespot to post theirs though. Any other site to check for reviews?
I'm waiting for IGN and Gamespot as well (Mainly IGN).
Post by: Kairon on August 08, 2007, 09:35:29 AM
Now to actually play the game...
As an aside, it's really disappointing to me that it costs $60. I recently saw Sony's Singstar for the PS2 for $50 at a Sam's Club... and that included TWO microphones! *grrr*
Post by: Kairon on August 08, 2007, 10:49:22 AM
So I messed around with a little dancing, a little singing (THAT GREASE SONG IS IN HERE! WAHOOOO!!!! ... but no duet support... ARGH!!!) and I beat Bubba's story mode. He's the giant pink starfish, in case you were wondering. It's true when they say you'll beat story mode in maybe 2 hours. 5 songs per five characters' stories (mix of karaoke and dancing in those)... maybe more like 2.5 hours to tackle all of story mode. Incidentally, between the performances they have the characters portraits speak in text to each other, with strange, musical tones instead of speech... The little Boogs themselves have this grating quality to their vocal sounds... I would've much preferred voice because this cost-saving measure doesn't convey the unique character's essences at all.
More to come! Back to the game! Then class!
Post by: NWR_pap64 on August 08, 2007, 08:51:20 PM
Post by: Kairon on August 08, 2007, 09:19:40 PM
Then they came in whilte I had to do MY LEAST FAVORITE SONGS! *CRY*
Post by: Kairon on August 08, 2007, 11:00:39 PM
I've finished all 5 characters individual stories in the story mode. This is important because at the end of their five stages you unlock some of the better songs in the game! Unfortunately, I now can't figure out how to move onto the "final" final stage. *shrug* Did I miss something? Oh well, until I can figure it out, I can at least write some impressions/review-thingies after 4 hours in the game!
Believe the hype. Not that hype, but the hype you feel in your gut. Boogie plays exactly as it looks in the gameplay videos. Though I was overjoyed to find that Grease's "You're the one that I want" is not removed from the game as I originall suspected, the video that used that promised a little bit more than the game delivered. The game plays less like a "use your controller to control your character" and more like move your controller in one of four directions to get the character to do one of a few pre-canned dance moves. Plus, there's no duet support (to do the aforementioned song in karaoke mode, you have to choose which part you're singing).
The gameplay can be described as roughly... oh... Bust-A-Groove with wiimote movements instead of d-pad presses. In Bust a Groove on the Playstation, you tapped the X (or O sometimes) button every measure (4 counts or beats) and you hit d-pad directions between those x-buttons. From those simple commands a game of delightful charm sprung up that was playable for anyone who had a sense of rhythm and who could hold a PS controller.
Boogie strives to be a lot like that, but despite more features, isn't quite cohesive enough. Bust-A-Groove succeeded on not just its charm, but its straightforward simplicity. No one cared that your character was doing pre-canned stuff and you had only 12 pre-canned moves that you could move through in 2 pre-canned paths. The characters were charming and the music was exotic, catchy, and bumpin'.
Boogie tries for the charm, but because at any time you can swing in 4 different directions, in any of three move styles, they string together less fluid than in Bust-A-Groove. Boogie would've been a beautiful showcase for procedural animation and movement blending... if only EA had decided to pump more money into it. But these simple, directional movements that you must do "on beat" build up your Boogie meter so that you can do some special things. Also, beginners will likely wave around their wiimotes haphazardly, but experts will soon realize that determined, discrete movements of the wiimote's NOSE swinging up, down, left, or right, produce the best results. Not sliding your wiimote, not pumping or jabbing or swinging it, but swinging the nose in a slight arc up, or down, or left, or right. Do this, and the game will recognize your movements more often than not.
Also, you switch your character's "style" by pressing the A button (as long as you're not in the middle of a super-move or in the middle of moving across the board) to use new moves, so that despite their being four directions, with the 3 "styles" you have 12 basic moves at your disposal. These are mostly cosmetic though, and though you're encouraged to switch often between styles to not be penalized for stale moves, I found myself absentmindedly tapping A every now and again on automatic, not really thinking about it, sometimes more for aesthetic reasons than anything else.
With a fuller Boogie meter, you can hold B and start draining it. At this point a set of directional instructions appears that you must do without making a mistake, shaking the wiimote on beat in the directions in order to pull off a high-scoring special move. If you mess up, you have to start from the beginning fo the 4 to 6 entry sequence. The directions stay until you complete the move, or until you let go of B to give up, or until you run out of Boogie meter, at which point you can't complete the move anyways. Thiese special moves cycle in order from the lowest difficulty, to the highest, so you have to go through all of them in order during the course of a song, then loop through them again if you can. They also refill your Boogie meter a bit if done right, so if you repeatedly nail them and waste no time, you'll replenish any boogie energy that you had lost and thus can keep on perpetually doing the high scoring moves.
With the Boogie meter having some juice, you can also hold Z on your nunchuck (which is an optional addition, you don't need to swing the nunchuck at all for anything but your own amusement) to enter "strike a pose" mode, an alternate way to score points. In this mode, the camera zooms up close to your character and a target and cursor appear on the screen. The cursor's position on the screen is dependent on the tilt of your nunchuck, if it's held level, the cursor'll be ijn the middle. Tilt right a little and it'll be a little right. Tilt up a lot and it'll be near the top of the screen. Combine these tilts to move the cursor onto ever shrinking targets to score points, with your character posing appropriately in the background. You can also point your character's eyes with the control pad and close and open their mouth with C, but these add nothing to your score and really, the tilting takes so much of your concentration that you don't have time for that. Your Boogie meter is being drained and you need the points from the consecutively sdmaller targets. You exit this mode by releasing Z, or by running out of Boogie Meter.
Oh,m and you can slide around the stage, which really a 9 X 9 grid, with the control stick or the D-pad. This accomplishes nothing aside from a slight change of scenery and camera angle, unless a little Boog gremlin is on the stage carrying a power-up. Then sliding onto them earns you that power up, be it a full Boogie bar, some tokens to shop with, a score multiplier (for your next 2 supermoves) or, I think, the PvP powerups(which I've only read of in the manual so far). If there's no power-up, then the movement actually pauses any meaningful input by yourself, not interrupting your chains of cosecutive on-beat basic moves, but wasting valuable time for you to rack up more points. Also, I was disappointed to find out I could not switch styles while moving, which would have been a very convenient ability.
Also, if you have the optional nunchuck attached, the song will occasionally go into a "solo mode" where it'll zoom up close to your character, and give you scorlling bars, based on the karaoke lyrics, that you simply hold down Z for. This may interrupt you in the middle of trying to pull off a special move, but it practically fills your boogie meter, nets you points, and is pretty easy.
All of this combined makes Boogie more featured and complex than Bust-A-Groove, but not more engrossing. Bust A Groove had a lot of very focused, electronica-stuff-dance-euro-thingies that were all of similar feeling, and ultimately, very safe: if you liked one song, the rest were sure to be decent. But Boogie... is very eclectic! They actually have a ton of really enjoyable songs here, from "It's Raining Men" (as popularized by the Weather Girls) to "Get This Party Started" (as popularized by Pink) and "Tu Y Yo" (Who is Thalia?). Yet with EA trying to hit everybody, there's a lot of songs that DON'T resonate with me... and don't resonate with my very limited vocal range, resulting in a horrible time being had by anyone unlucky enough to be within hearing range, and a rough and demoralizing time for me. But... that's karaoke. Give a guy a song he doesn't know and can't sing and expect pain. So be sure you're ready for eclectic pop if you're looking into this game, and maybe some slightly disappointing renditions. I really didn't dig the cover of "Milkshake," for example. Again, you'll want to beat all the story mode for some of the more exciting songs, and to use your first tokens to buy ervery song you can as well before wasting the tokens on fluff like stages or costumes.
Oh, incidentally... those Song lists online? They're not complete. They might be missing one or two songs. Even NWR's posted song list fails to include that Grease Song, "You're The One That I Want."
Singing itself is a pretty straightforward affair. The included logitech mic is no-nonsense, plugs into the Wiis USB port without any fuss, and has a cord around 10 ft long, more than enough for my dorm room. In karaoke, bars scroll across the screen at varying heights to denote various relative pitches (sing this part higher, this part lower, etc.), lyrics are below them, and when you're singing an arrow tracks you pitch too, so you can see if you're high or lower than the bar, which turns green for good, red, for bad, yellow for "meh." Thankfully, the game is very forgiving on scoring. The included vocal assist is also a welcome addition, I sing, and the singer sings. Then when I make a video, I can cut out my voice completely (or not compeltely, there's a slider to balance my vs. the singer) and we can hear a professional do it with gusto instead of my ham-tonsiled attempt.
While you're singing, your character is basically standing still, but if you have the wiimote in your freehand, you can absentmindedly wave it around for a more interesting show even though it doesn't affect the score. I haven't tried any two-player yet, but I believe there's a mode where one player sings while the other player dances the character for you, achieving both disciplines at once! I haven't tried 2-player competitive simultaneous same-stage score dancing either. Oh! And create-a-video! I haven't tried that either....
Hmmm.... let me get back to Konami's Bust-A-Groove for the PS. It was a simpler game, with less features, but it was a much more focused, directed, and cohesive experience. Who cares if it was limiting, it was fun and relaxing. Boogie doesn't quite achieve that thanks to a song list that is, like all karaoke compilations, composed of both hits and misses, and due to a dancing system that is a little more confusing, and contains some extraneous, "do we really need that" elements(Like the movement along the grid, which wasn't exploited to its fullest, and the "solo part" thing, which, though useful, is ultimately optional and ultimately just pressing and releasing Z). Or maybe I'm biased. There's something inherently off-putting about a Rhythm game with AMERICAN pop music instead of euro dance beats or J-pop. *shrug*
If I were to rate this game, first let me qualify my rating under different rating systems.
For example, NWR and IGN Wii use 5.0 as a purely mediocre game. If I were using that scale, I'd give Boogie a 4.0. It has many flaws, but there's nothing that's actually big. It is, after all, what it says it is: a rhythm and karaoke game, with a great songs.
If I were to use a scale where average games get 6.5 and 7.0 scores all the time, like in some magazines or websites(the rest of IGN, for example), I'd give Boogie a 6.5.
If I were to grade it out of 5, (like the old 5 star ratings that Nintendo Power used to give, or Gamespot's 5 point scale)I'd give it a 2.5.
If I were to recommend you approach to this game, I'd say "rent it." Since it has a microphone though, maybe... "go to a friend's to play it if you know someone." Only die-hard karaoke/rhythm game fans who can overlook features that add little or nothing to the experience need apply.
But EA shouldn't be worried though. It seems like they actually didn't spend too much money (unless the licenses cost them a lot), nor too much advertising the game either. They could've developed the idea further and perhaps achieved a truly wonderful breakthrough rhythm/karaoke game to set the world aflame with a little inspiration and another year of serious development, but as is they've got something quite mediocre right now with some enticing songs.
Post by: Ghisy on August 09, 2007, 09:05:41 AM
I guess I'm not gonna buy it new. I'll just wait for a few months and try to find it used on Ebay at a reasonable price.
Post by: Ghisy on August 11, 2007, 10:40:04 AM
Not that I trust them but yeah...
Post by: Kairon on August 11, 2007, 10:52:19 AM
Oh... I probably won't be buying it for myself, but as a christmas present to a cousin!
Post by: Magik on August 11, 2007, 01:16:58 PM
With that said, I wouldn't be surprised if it still sells well.
