Be Excellent To Each Other

Is samba de amigo on the wii any good? My wife noticed the advert on the TV the other day and thought it looked like fun, I did too.

I've never played it before but heard about the dreamcast version. I'm tempted to get it... I quite like rhythm games even though my sense on rhythm is pretty poor. (I love ouendan, quite enjoy guitar hero, and am just getting into DS rhythm tengoku)

I loved the DC version and love rhythm games in general, but every review I've seen of the Wii version has criticised it for sloppy controls that make the harder difficulty levels entirely luck based. It's a no-buy from me.

I've only played the US version but I've since picked up a Pal copy of the game with the official maracas (as I read that the unofficial ones don't work properly with the Japanese Samba de Amigo 2000) but I've yet to get them out yet (oo-er).

again! The DC version is.. and always will be... ace!

isn't anyone annoyed by sega's lack of foreign culture knowledge? Samba with maracas and sombreros???

I believe the Wii version is a bit dodgy when it comes to recognising more extreme "shaking" movements and can be played more reliably by just using subtle wrist movements instead ?

If that's the case then it totally misses the point/fun factor of the game, and you should stick with the excellent DC version instead.....(I'm totally ingoring the price difference between the Wii version and the excessive cost of picking up the DC version with official maracas.....).

i have 3rd party maracas with an jap dreamcast version, get them working 50% of the time..

buy this wii version maybe second hand, for two player fun, as ionly have one maracas set, and it cheap to buy an
extra nunchuck..

This dampens my enthusiasm a bit. Thanks for the opinions though.

Has anyone actually played the Wii version themselves? I know they aren't the most trustworthy of boards but the gamefaqs board for the game was full of people defending the controls..... I wish I still had a friend working in Blockbuster so I could give it an extended free trial.

"I know they aren't the most trustworthy of boards but the gamefaqs board for the game was full of people defending the controls"

Gamefaqs is mostly populated by 12-14 year-olds who will defend a bad game they've forked out for to the death, in order to not look stupid for buying it in the first place (it damages thier "street-cred" or something...).

Haven't played the Wii version, and my earlier post about the dodgy controls is purely based on some reviews I've read.
Just wanted to point out that saying "I know they aren't the most trustworthy of boards" about Gamefaqs forums is a gross under-statement....

I know that, I generally try to avoid the boards over there. It's why I asked here - I generally trust people here to give fair views. I suppose I was being (massively) over-generous to them



True, and I've never quite understood that. Wouldn't they be better off not drawing attention to it?

Wouldn't work. The criticising voices they are trying to silence are inside their head anyway.

ape scandal!

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=282904

That's a recognised human condition - our need to defend something if we have invested money or time into it.
I can't think of the name, though.

Cardiganism.

Wasn't there that late-in-its-life Dreamcast socc... er... FOOTBALL title that featured an assort of outrageously offensive stereotypes for each time the likes of which you hadn't seen in gaming since the early 90s?

Also:



YES. FTFW.

Also also, Samba de Amigo is, and was, rubbish.

Cognitive Dissonance

Hello. The control system could be charitably described as "troublesome". It seems to have problems reading the left and right positions, and often (quite often) decides when you employ a gentle high or low flick of the wrist (or "shake" you could say) you actually intended to flail your arms around wildly.

This makes playing the actual game somewhat more of a teeth grinding challenge then you may recall it from the Dreamcast era.

I've got Samba De Amigo + 2000 for the DC (with maracas) and the Wii version.

Yes, the controls are a little bit "niggly" on the Wii version (and you don't get the nice "shake" sound) but there are a few things to note about the differences between the two

1) The control method is actually different from the DC version- in the Wii version you don't lift your arms up (as the DC version used distance sensors in the maracas) you lift your wrists up (or point the controllers in a vertical position). Likewise you need to point them down (instead of dropping them lower) to get the lower positions. Keeping this in mind makes life a LOT easier.

2) The nunchuck seems to be more problematic than the Wii-mote, but guess what? You can choose to have a Wii-mote for each maraca (if you have two, natch).

Both of these points seemed to have been missed in 90% of the reviews I've read. Most reviewers seem to go to the game doing the same "movements" as the DC versions, and using that method (instead of actually pointing them, as it states when calibrating them) then it's much more accurate. Still not as accurate as the DC maracas, but not too bad.

Also, the second point of having 2 wii-motes makes quite a bit of a difference (although it might just be me).

The fact that 2 wii-mote control isn't mentioned in the majority of the reviews I've read really makes me mad. It's like reviewers now cannot be arsed to actually find out what the best control method is. Another example- NiGHTS. Absolutely shit on the wii-mote/nunchuck control method but fantastic on the classic controller (and it makes it better than the Saturn version).

Is it coincidence that both games got average reviews?

Anyway- is it worth it (even if you have the DC versions). Yes. Absolutely. There's a new set of game modes, more songs to unlock and even some DLC. And you can pick the game up for about 25 quid.....

do hope i find it a bit cheap, always loved the game

That conflicting ideals, isn't it? Like a pacifist who loves being in the army, or something.

You're both right. Cognitive dissonance is the uncomfortable feeling of trying to believe two things at once, such as "this game must be ace so I am going to buy it" and "oh, no, that game is shit". We deal with that by artificially reinforcing one position over the other, usually the one we based the initial "buy" decision on. Then, to further reinforce the position we know is weak, we try and force that opinion on others.

Our daily realities are beset by so many decisions that must be made and not agonised over that if we're basically engineered to not regret things. Similiarly, scientists have shown that we always over-estimate risk[1]. Risk-taking was, for most of our history, an excellent way to end up dead so we've basically got an evolved-in sense of caution.

[1] I forget the details of the study, it was in New Scientist. It involved presenting people with data and asking them to estimate risks of common problems, then comparing with personal history.

I'm there is a specific thing for something you've spent money on being better in your eyes that someone who hadn't spent anything on it.

That's pride fuckin' wit choo. Fuck pride.

I have reserved this at Argos after seeing in the bargains thread that it is £17. I have until Monday evening to decide whether it is worth the £17.

Moora has it and has tried it and says it is 'worth it', though I don't know how much 'it' was, as this was long befoer the offer - maybe it was worth more than £17?

Marcus has it and said it is a little troublesome.

Can anyone who has now had it for a while and given it a proper play give me their opinin as to whether it is worth the £17 in Argos, pretty please, as if so I might pop down and pick it up tomorrow or Monday.

thankingyou!

got it really cheap her, so decided to buy it again..