Wii Music reflects on Nintendo's past with playable Famicom

By Chris Greenhough

Nintendo has been happy to think outside the box when selecting Wii Music's line-up of instruments, and over the weekend, the company revealed another unconventional choice: the Famicom. This isn't as weird as the dog suit — there is, after all, a whole scene dedicated to making music from old game sounds (and even household names have dabbled) — but is an interesting and fun addition nonetheless.

The other recently unveiled instrument, the Timbales (there's a video after the break), is less interesting as a result, though Wikipedia (yes, we call this "journalism" — Pulitzer, here we come) taught us that "Timbales" doubles up as a Spanish euphemism for, well, a rude word. Expect much childish giggling in Spanish-speaking households later this year, then.

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Looking for more on Wii Music? You can catch an E3 trailer here, read about our time with the game here, and learn how to play the banjo, steel drum, handbell, trumpet, timpani, acoustic bass, shamisen, harmonica, cello, harpsichord, cheerleader, saxophone, sitar, cowbell, electric bass, drums, dog, accordion, taiko, clarinet, conga, electric guitar, harp, flute, marching drum, violin, piano, guitar, and marimba.

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