Boogie

[Cookyman]

I'd give this a miss fellas

 

Review from 1up.com - Heres the link

 

So, chances are, you've heard of Boogie by now: It's an ambitious mashup of genres, a rhythm/karaoke game for the Nintendo Wii, dosed with a dash of vaudevillian bizarreness. Let's get another thing straight: This is a party game. If you are playing this by yourself, you aren't going to have very much fun. After all, nobody wants to look stupid at home, alone, by herself.

 

But that isn't all. The crux of the game is, almost certainly, to embarrass you. Not that there's anything wrong with that -- I love inviting friends over and asking them to look asinine. But the reason you'll look asinine is, in fact, the fault of incredibly shallow gameplay.

 

And if you've seen any Boogie gameplay videos on the Internet (they're ubiquitous), you probably already know that pulling off dance moves is accomplished by making an obscene sexual gesture with the Wii Remote. No, I am not making this up. This is the sum total of the gameplay. In fact, in this PG-15 segment put together by EA in conjunction with VH1's Best Week Ever (no, seriously, it is provided by EA itself on YouTube), it is unbearably clear that everyone knows this shallow gameplay mechanic is the heart and soul of the game:

 

To be fair, the idea behind this gesture is half-valid: Essentially, your Wii Remote is a metronome, hinged at your wrist -- and as if you are the conductor of an orchestra, you keep time by waving your remote around. But "dancing" and actually keeping the beat seems to be a fairly imprecise science, so that's why the mere act of shaking your hand, crudely and violently, apparently does the trick. What impresses me, and baffles me, is that EA concedes shallow, weird-looking gameplay (again, see video, embedded above).

 

OK, time to get serious: You can, admittedly, get more precision over your dancer's moves, of course, if you attach the Nunchuk dongle and play with both hands. Occasionally, a target or bonus will appear somewhere on the stage area, and you can use the analog stick to stiffly dance over to the target and score more points. It's sort of arcade-esque, and if it didn't feel like you were fighting to step three steps to the side, it would be sort of fun. You can pull off still bolder dance moves by pressing the trigger button underneath the Wii Remote. This shifts you into a timed DDR-ish mode: A series of arrows appears at the bottom of the screen, and you jerk your remote left, left, right, up, or whatever, until you've completed the series and landed the dance move. Which is kind of cool, too, except that the control feels so mushy, it's difficult to pull off properly.

 

Karaoke is a total sham. Granted, I can appreciate that the karaoke mode in Boogie simply won't be as fulfilling as the experience offered in an actual karaoke title. But the USB microphone I was given? I don't know whether the mic distorted the pitch or what, but even the most confident voice trembles and darts along the tablature. You'll discover it's easiest to score Gold by putting your lips directly against the mesh of the mic and just humming into it.

 

And while you can make your character dance while you sing in karaoke mode, you're probably going to need someone to help you out. That's because it's pretty difficult to jerk the remote with one hand and concentrate on singing into the microphone you're holding in your other hand. And don't even get me started on how tough it is to optionally use the Nunchuk dongle in your nonexistent third hand.

 

However, if you are indeed up to the overcomplicated task of singing and dancing at the same time, Boogie sports one spiffy, gratifyingly bizarre feature: editing your own music video. I should disclose that the video editor is fairly rudimentary, but at least it allows you up to 100 cuts, four different footage angles, and a bevy of totally surreal filters and overlays to apply to your video. It's time-consuming, though, and there are limited combinations of weirdness to explore, but I am, nonetheless, irrationally satisfied with this outcome:

 

The antics are fun for a short while, which makes story mode (and you'd better play it, if only to unlock Pink's "Get the Party Started") a bittersweet trudge. Perhaps the game wouldn't seem such a chore if the songs weren't so horrible. Or perhaps I am so begrudging of Boogie because its heinous song list makes me feel like I must be 90 years old.

 

Oh, sure, the catalog of tunes isn't that sparse, per se, but the way the songs have been stacked is a little off-kilter. At the game's start, you've got a scant few karaoke classics -- the Jackson 5's "ABC" and Culture Club's "Karma Chameleon" are among them -- but then you have these momentarily relevant radio hits like Kelis' "Milkshake," Fergie's "Fergalicious," and the Pussycat Dolls' "Don't Cha," among others. And thrill as my heart might at the thought of grown men singing to tripe in adorable shrieks and squeals, the very notion of 12-year-old girls at a Bratz doll PJ party, growling "Don't cha wish your girlfriend was a freeeeak like me" right along with the scrolling lyrics, chills me straight to the bone. No worries, though: Boogie's rated Everyone 10+, so they were careful to cut the word "ass" out of the Pink song.

 

But my motherly horror shouldn't be enough to stop you from buying this game. Oh, no. The fact that this game is fun for exactly 20 minutes, and only in a group of two or more, should keep you from buying this game. In the end, Boogie is light on dancing, light on karaoke -- a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none moment of fluff.

 

 

[Zelda_Rulez]

GamePro gave it 4/5, I wonder why a lot of Wii games get these conflicting scores.

[D-Day]

GamePro gave it 4/5, I wonder why a lot of Wii games get these conflicting scores.

 

Contrasting tastes I guess, but this seems even more extreme than SSX Blur and Red Steel (and those two games had a mass of mixed scores and reviews).

I don't normally go by 1up but then again I don't know what to really make of the game, I guess I'll see as more reviews come in.

[pedrocasilva]

Boogie live-stream:

 

http://player.stickam.com/flash/stickam/stickam_player.swf?userName=gonintendo&webID=45A8B104750FFD8BA824219ED608AC98&userID=174422938&userType=204&skinType=large&userSiteID=1015547&app=stickam_chat_large.swf&langID=en&userIP=127.0.0.1&refUrl=127.0.0.1&playerIndex=1&autoplay=1&hostName=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stickam.com&skinName=large0&defaultMedia=slideShow&photo=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stickam.com%2Fimages%2Fen%2Fdefault%2Fprofile%2Fna_640x480.jpg&sessionType=115&

[Ren of Heavens]

5.5 from Gamespot: http://www.gamespot.com/wii/puzzle/boogie/review.html?sid=6176513

 

"Game is short, easy, and gets old after an hour"

 

Average at best it seems...

[Goron_3]

IGN don't seem to like it at all aswell, judging from their wii-kly.

[pedrocasilva]

I really want to hear forum opinions about it, if it's that bad or just average.

[jammy2211]

The game is clearly not aimed at the typical gamer type thing that these reviewer sites base their scores around.

 

Boogie is going for a Wii Sports type casual crowd, but sites like 1up try and review it based on the same format that they review games like Halo and GTA. Reviewer sites are really struggling to accept that there is a new type of gamer, the sort who don't care about stuff like Halo and GTA, and this game is probably going to be a great game for them.

 

I was expecting the scores to be crap, I know I won't like the game at all, but the fact still remains there are alot of people who will love it and reviewers just don't seem ready to take into account this new type of gamer.

[4q2]

I have a feeling that the best add on to the whole package should have been a few bottles of spirits and a party....I think the whole testing conditions for this game were probably wrong.

[pedrocasilva]

I have a feeling that the best add on to the whole package should have been a few bottles of spirits and a party....I think the whole testing conditions for this game were probably wrong.

Agreed, that's why I want forum opinions, because I know they'll test it right

[4q2]

Agreed, that's why I want forum opinions, because I know they'll test it right

 

Glad you see it the way I (possibly) do...

Imho, this was never a game for a lonesome geek type (and I mean no offence by that comment).

 

I still think this game has a potential that is being missed regardless of the low opinions it is receiving....Rest assured, If I get it on release, me a few pals and a trusty bottle of vodka (or maybe absynth) will make sure my opinion is voiced :P

[Slaggis]

Games radar say

 

Good things

 

* Cute and quirky as hell

* Losing your inhibitions

* An excuse to sing MC Hammer

 

Bad things

 

* No singing and dancing together

* Short and easy single player

* Limited dance moves

 

Overall 7/10, looking forwars to the sequal

[Owen]

Games radar say

 

Good things

 

* Cute and quirky as hell

* Losing your inhibitions

* An excuse to sing MC Hammer

 

Bad things

 

* No singing and dancing together

* Short and easy single player

* Limited dance moves

 

Overall 7/10, looking forwars to the sequal

 

I've played the game for a little while, so cannot really judge as yet, but i would agree with this so far.

 

The singing is better then the dancing in my opinion! I'm actually quite surprised how difficult it is to dance on beat on the medium setting, but it could be because i haven't played it before (i have rythm i swear, lol).

 

Definately a party game, me and my mum were in fits dancing around the room getting both god-awful scores.

 

Better then expected! I espicially like the easy-to use Movie editor.

 

EDIT: Oh and i forgot to say my microphone was black and not white, which was a little dissapointing. It's well built though and doesn't feel cheap.

[Cube]

Games radar say

 

Good things

 

* Cute and quirky as hell

* Losing your inhibitions

* An excuse to sing MC Hammer

 

Bad things

 

* No singing and dancing together

* Short and easy single player

* Limited dance moves

 

Overall 7/10, looking forwars to the sequal

 

 

You can sing and dance together...

[dazzybee]

How have you got it Owen?

[Hero-of-Time]

He has a US Wii, jammy git! I need to get me one of those.

 

In regards to Boogie it doesnt come as a suprise at all regarding the scores coming from reviewers. As for reviewers not knowing how to score these games thats not true at all. Eyetoy, Singstar and Buzz have all been around for a while now and they get reviewed with no problems. Lets not beat around the bush here, it seems that Boogie despite being an exclusive game is just an average one.

[Owen]

How have you got it Owen?

 

I have a US Wii, thankgod for wages, ey?! : peace:

 

I imported this because i adore Singstar type games and it does a pretty good job of competing with them!

 

For some though, this won't be a 'must-have' game i suppose, which is a damn shame!

 

I also must add, that i'm very impressed with the graphics.

 

but yes, HOT may well be correct, Boogie won't win any awards and is overall a good game.

[4q2]

As for reviewers not knowing how to score these games thats not true at all. Eyetoy, Singstar and Buzz have all been around for a while now and they get reviewed with no problems. Lets not beat around the bush here, it seems that Boogie despite being an exclusive game is just an average one.

 

I see what you are saying, but still be inclined to say that maybe they are missing something...The pov's given are in line with what a seasoned gamerlooking for some deeper meaning may agree with. Give the game to a group of 6 teenage girls or a even a group of people who are having a bit of a knees up a home and I am sure at least one group will rate it higher than those averages.

 

Karaoke is and always will be a pretty shallow 'game', but the correct conditions and atmosphere can change that easily, and think that same thing applies with this title.

[Ren of Heavens]

3/10 in Edge.

 

It's comming to PS2 on 15th November.

[Owen]

God...it's getting terrible reviews...feel quite sorry for the game, as it really does try it's best.

 

Still, if your in two-minds people, don't buy it, i think you'll either love it or hate it and with the start of September in a couple of weeks and the start of the biggest amount of games ever to hit within a 3 month period, i would save your cash.

 

I still like it though.

[Hero-of-Time]

Is Boogie heading to PS2? Just read this over at Kotaku.

 

While EA's Boogie for Wii is seeing few game critics singing (and interpretively dancing) its praises, according to a new listing on game rental service GameFly, the game may have another opportunity to underwhelm gamers, this time on the PlayStation 2. The listing, rooted out by Siliconera, shows a November 15th release, making a pre-Thanksgiving cash grab very likely.

 

Obviously, EA has made no such announcement that the one-time Wii exclusive would be coming the Sony platform, so we're calling it rumor for now. But with its relatively simple control scheme and USB microphone support, a release of Boogie on the PS2 makes a Madden bus sized load of sense

[welsh_gamer]

*Bump!!*

 

So did anyone get this? I'm curious to know if it's any good

 

Also noticed that Game had this for £29.99 methinks, if you trade in Wario Ware for it. Pretty good deal there.

[gekko]

I got an email from Amazon this morning saying that it had been delayed by the suppliers so I won't get it until early next week.

 

Is it out in the shops yet? I really wanted it for the weekend (although got a cold now so prob not such a good idea!). I got it for £32.99 off Amazon before they put the price up so reluctant to cancel my order.

[gekko]

Game now arrived so will be playing it tonight. Has anyone else on here (apart from Owen) played it yet?

[DiemetriX]

The European version has a white microphone.

It's was really fun for about one hour... Haven't tested multipalyer or the singing mode jet tough.