What was frustrating about Wii Music is that of the initial concepts for the Wii that were revealed this sounded like one of the most promising. We all let our minds wander not just to a Guitar Hero style rhythm game but also a music creator as well, like a more advanced Mario Paint. The potential was huge and we got excited. The problem was Nintendo wasn't aiming this at core gamers or musicians. This was for casuals. It had a limited scope and was aimed at a very specific audience of which we, who had designed our own very cool Wii Music in our minds, were not part of.
Wii Music also suffered from very unfortunate release timing. At E3 it received the most attention and core gamers were PISSED. You would figure this was a PR goof on Nintendo's part. Gamers pay attention to E3, casuals don't. So it doesn't make sense to give a casual game so much attention. But that Christmas Nintendo had NOTHING ELSE. THAT was the problem. We expected some big game for Christmas and this was IT. And it wasn't for us in the first place. So from a gamer perspecitve Nintendo, and thus the Wii itself, really had nothing for Christmas at all and that did not go over well. Nintendo also had Animal Crossing but that was pretty much NPC Animal Crossing, not enough of a new game to appease gamers who already had the Cube or DS version. Was that Nintendo not really "getting" their audience? I think it might be just that they knew they had nothing for that Christmas so they pushed hard whatever they did have.
Wii Party doesn't interest me at all and it recently came out. Nintendo is probably hoping it's a big Christmas seller with the casual market like they hoped for Wii Music. It is of no concern to me because I have DKC this Christmas. Core gamers have something to look forward to so Wii Party's release is largely irrelevant. Wii Music needed its DKC. That year the Wii needed its DKC.
Wii Music reminds me a lot of Luigi's Mansion. That is not a bad game but it is a pretty short shallow game. It's a good rental. The problem was it was the flagship launch game on the Gamecube and in that role it was inadequate. So the game got a lot of flack. It isn't so much the game that was the problem it was a weak Gamecube launch lineup. Wii Music wasn't the problem, the lack of a big Christmas title was. Wii Music became the symbol of a disappointing E3 and a disappointing Christmas season for the Wii. And then you combine that with the fantasy game we all invented in our heads and how Nintendo intentionally did not make Wii Music that game and it was just a perfect storm of backlash.