- #WHO WROTE THE WII SPORTS MUSIC FULL#
- #WHO WROTE THE WII SPORTS MUSIC SERIES#
- #WHO WROTE THE WII SPORTS MUSIC TV#
Just by nature of participating and constantly doing it over and over and over again, you realize, ‘Oh, I’m singing along every time I open this menu.’”Ī History of Nintendo Hardware – 1977 to Now “It was one of those things where it just became familiar via playing the game. “I think that musically, one of the indications that the job was done so well, is that you almost didn’t even notice the music, at least at first,” Cornell told IGN. Chiefly, it seems, it’s all about repetition. YouTuber, jazz pianist, and well-bearded pop musicologist Charles Cornell has previously explained the excellence of the Wii’s many musical themes - and seemed the perfect person to talk about why these tracks seem to endure so much. Totaka’s work in making all of these tracks feel so indelible went further than cementing an identity - much of what he wrote has lived far, far longer than the actual Wii channels and games ever did. The Top 25 Switch Games (Fall 2020 Update) It’s not a huge surprise, then, that it was Totaka who was tasked with giving the Wii its musical identity. (Plus a bit of expected magic in the form of Totaka’s song, a 19-note melody he hides inside every game he’s involved with). theme tune” Kondo, Totaka established himself as one of Nintendo’s leading in-house composers, someone who can be trusted to add that little bit of unexpected magic to everything he touches. (Also, weirdly, he’s the voice of Yoshi.)Īfter coming up under the tutelage of Koji “I composed the Super Mario Bros.
#WHO WROTE THE WII SPORTS MUSIC SERIES#
Link’s Awakening, Luigi’s Mansion, and the entire Animal Crossing series were all soundtracked by this single composer. That’s probably largely down to the fact that one man is responsible for almost all of it.Įven if you’d somehow avoided all of the music written for Wii, you’ve likely heard the work of Kazumi Totaka. From the console’s individual menu channels, to the many, many songs written for pack-in game Wii Sports, you get that odd sense that you could identify a Wii track if you heard it. Tracks might differ in style and instrumentation, but there’s a general feeling about it that makes it all feel whole. Music written for the Wii has a singular quality. Which leads us to a fundamental question: “why?” What is it about this collection of bizarrely optimistic tracks that’s helped them live so far beyond the Wii itself? To help answer that question, I spoke to musicians and comedians that have been unexpectedly inspired by music written for the Wii, and even gone on to make their own iconic work out of it. Music written for the Wii has taken on a new life as a cultural touchstone, and inspired people far beyond the confines of the little white wedge it was composed for. Covers and memes featuring music from the Wii are everywhere. Motion controls, Miis, and balance boards have all been removed or diminished as Nintendo moved on, but take a quick look across YouTube, TikTok, or Twitter, and I guarantee it won’t take all that long to hear a Wii track. It’s a design choice that I’d argue doesn’t just stick in the memory - at this point, I’d say the Wii’s music is the console’s longest-lasting legacy. Nintendo, to my lasting displeasure, has copied the Xbox approach for its most recent machines.īut Wii had the temerity to feel somehow… approachable? And that music meant your console wasn’t some cold bit of hardware it was a little portal to somewhere warmer, friendlier, and way more interested in jazz than you’d go in expecting. Microsoft has broadly avoided music altogether, swapping the original Xbox’s bizarre industrial soundscapes for near-total silence in its later consoles. PlayStation’s always opted for a detached, ambient cool - waves of strings and THX synth blares. Not written badly, but just like it doesn’t belong on a regular old games console. There’s just something about music written for the Wii, isn’t there? It sounds… wrong. Other groups might be thinking of possible best-game-ever Super Mario Galaxy, or balance boards, or when Virtual Console was actually good.īut I bet for a great many of you, it’ll be something completely non-visual.
#WHO WROTE THE WII SPORTS MUSIC TV#
For others, it’ll just be Wii Sports, and probably the moment you finally got your old nan to try gaming for the first time, before she accidentally put a Wiimote through your TV (again, wear those wriststraps, kids). Maybe it’s the face of a Mii, those hauntingly cheery digital facsimiles that filled practically every game worth caring about on the console.
#WHO WROTE THE WII SPORTS MUSIC FULL#
What’s the first thing you remember? I’m guessing lots of you are picturing motion controllers - Nintendo’s flailing first attempt to drag sticks full of gyroscopes, accelerometers, and wriststraps we really should have been wearing into the mainstream. Close your eyes and think of the Nintendo Wii.
I’m going to ask you to do something you’ve probably not been asked to do before.
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