BIT.TRIP BEAT (WiiWare)

News Article

Bit.Trip.Beat Coming To WiiWare On Monday

Posted Thu, 12 Mar 2009 by Corbie Dillard

Give me the beat!

Give me the beat!

Are you ready to get your funk on? You'd better be, because Aksys Game's Bit.Trip.Beat is coming to the North American WiiWare service on Monday, March 16th.

Much like Pong, you still move your paddle around by tilting the Wii Remote, but in this unique WiiWare title you'll have to bounce the blocks off your paddle in rhythm with the pumping musical beats the game makes use of. The sound of the blocks bouncing off of your paddle will even give off musical notes that will blend in with the background music if you time it correctly.

The patterns of the blocks gets increasingly difficult throughout the game, especially during the game's boss battles, so you'll have your work cut out for you if you expect to play through the entire game.

Bit.Trip.Beat is where old school Pong meets modern day rhythm action. While the game was due to hit the WiiWare service in February, we've just received word from CommanderVideo that the game will make its WiiWare debut this coming Monday.

We'll have a full review of Bit.Trip.Beat once it hits the WiiWare service next week. In the meantime why not check out our exclusive interview with Gaijin Games?

Tags: WiiWare, Aksys Games, Release Dates.

Game Screenshots

User Comments

party_on_dude

1. Party On Dude United States 12 Mar 2009, 20:58 GMT

I guess its good news; we haven't got a game comfirmed in quite a while since LIT! ;)
The only question is what VC game will be released with it?! I bet it'll be another sad 1 VC/WW game release day, sigh! :(

corbie_dillard

2. Corbie United States 12 Mar 2009, 21:00 GMT

I'm still trying to decide if I want to underrate this one or overrate it. Maybe I'll just flip a coin. :P

worrybomb

3. worrybomb United States 12 Mar 2009, 21:00 GMT

Yes!

One of my anticipated WiiWare titles is coming soon and I'm ready to be engulfed in the 8-bit tunes covered with Atari 2600 graphics. It'll probably be my third WiiWare title where I will download it instantaneously (being joined by Mega Man 9 and World of Goo). =)

mr_cheez

4. Ricardo91 United States 12 Mar 2009, 21:05 GMT

sweeeeet!

rockbandmonkey

5. Rockbandmonkey United States 12 Mar 2009, 21:07 GMT

Like Worrybomb this is also one of my more anticipated titles. Only since Evasive Space, I don't download games until the review so I'll have to wait. Also is there any info on the price yet?

chicken_brutus

6. Chicken Brutus United States 12 Mar 2009, 21:08 GMT

Chicken Brutus approves.

"[...] if you expect to play through the entire game."
If this is half as good as I'm hoping it is, I expect to play through it many times. :-)

corbie_dillard

7. Corbie United States 12 Mar 2009, 21:10 GMT

We still don't know how many points. :(

silentj

8. SilentJ United States 12 Mar 2009, 21:15 GMT

Yessss!!!

worrybomb

9. worrybomb United States 12 Mar 2009, 21:17 GMT

Well according to an interview with Gaijin Games' Chris Osborn, Bit.Trip: Beat will be under 1000 Wii Points but of course Nintendo has the official last word.

Still if the gameplay meets my expectations, I wouldn't mind shelling out 1000 Wii Points for it.

rockbandmonkey

10. Rockbandmonkey United States 12 Mar 2009, 21:18 GMT

I was actually expecting it to be 1000 points, but hopefully they'll announce it soon.

subzerobf

11. subzerobf United States 12 Mar 2009, 21:19 GMT

Look's good, hope it's less than a 1000 Wii Points though.

rayword45

12. rayword45 United States 12 Mar 2009, 21:27 GMT

I'm guessing anywhere from 500-800 considering only 5 songs are available. Hopefully there'll be DLC.

rockbandmonkey

13. Rockbandmonkey United States 12 Mar 2009, 21:28 GMT

If you put it that way I think 500-800 might be the best thing. But DLC is a must!

zoipi

14. zoipi Spain 12 Mar 2009, 21:30 GMT

Cant wait for their release in Europe... and for the review... I wish this one has an 8 or higher...

toddr

15. Toddr Canada 12 Mar 2009, 21:33 GMT

Isn't Aksys the ones that make the "Family" series?

worrybomb

16. worrybomb United States 12 Mar 2009, 21:37 GMT

Yep. Arc System Works develops the "Family" series (Glide Hockey, Table Tennis) while Aksys publishes it.

metroid133

17. Metroid133 United States 12 Mar 2009, 21:38 GMT

I'm planning on getting this next week, but it depends on how many Wii Points.

wiiloveitonline

18. Wiiloveit United Kingdom 12 Mar 2009, 21:39 GMT

If Europe doesn't get this tonight, then I'll cry :'(

objection_blaster

19. Objection_Blaster United States 12 Mar 2009, 21:53 GMT

I have 700 points and would like this to fit nicely in or under that especially with only 5 songs (?) I hope the DLC (isn't there?) is good and fairly priced.

chicken_brutus

20. Chicken Brutus United States 12 Mar 2009, 21:54 GMT

@rayword45:
"considering only 5 songs are available"

I must have missed that detail...for some reason I expected a much larger song catalogue...

Well, I'm still excited for the game, even if that does come as a slight shock. Something tells me it will be worth coming back to for the gameplay. (After all, Orbient has like, what, two songs in the whole game? It's all in how you use it...)

rockbandmonkey

21. Rockbandmonkey United States 12 Mar 2009, 21:59 GMT

@Chicken Brutus
"I must have missed that detail...for some reason I expected a much larger song catalogue..."

Because of the Wiiware size limit, not too many songs are possible. If you buy songs on Rock Band 2, you run out of room after about 3 songs without an SD card and you have more than 40 megs of space to use there

bahamut_zero

22. Bahamut ZERO United States 12 Mar 2009, 22:02 GMT

I cant wait......... for the review. Im a bit iffy on this, looks very 7/10 tot me.

Guess that Corbie's reviewing it :P

tootie_kicks

23. tootie_kicks Australia 12 Mar 2009, 22:07 GMT

Any news on when PAL gamers get it?

crosses fingers for today

anthonyb

24. anthonyb United States 12 Mar 2009, 22:31 GMT

As soon as I saw the thumbnail with Bit.Trip.Beat for this article, I jizzed in my pants. I can't wait, OMG!

commandervideo

25. CommanderVideo United States 12 Mar 2009, 22:37 GMT

@tootie_kicks:
Sadly, PAL gamers won't get it for a little while yet. I will DEFINITELY post when we know the date. Hang in there!

objection_blaster

26. Objection_Blaster United States 12 Mar 2009, 22:57 GMT

@anthonyb-Like that song? Anyway, I'm excited too! How many points?!

kawaiipikachu

27. Kawaiipikachu Australia 12 Mar 2009, 23:06 GMT

Yes i be looking forward to this one .
Oh wait Monday .
DAMN YOU AMERACANS .
At least it garantees i read the review beforehand unlike Onslaught where i downloaded it beforehand .
This game do look cool & I be wondering what the other games in the Bit Trip series be like .

tony

28. Tony United States 12 Mar 2009, 23:21 GMT

2 good Wii Ware games in a row!!! Hopefully the following week we will get Pop Them Drop Them

pikmin95

29. pikmin95 United States 12 Mar 2009, 23:22 GMT

So getting it (if the review says its good).

gameking23

30. gameking23 United States 13 Mar 2009, 00:15 GMT

Yes finaly a game that I want! Yay! :D

knucklessonic8

31. KnucklesSonic8 Canada 13 Mar 2009, 02:39 GMT

Just as I predicted. Pushed back by a month just like SNOWBOARD RIOT and EVASIVE SPACE. Interesting.

Irregardless of the review, I'm getting this the second it comes out.

accc

32. accc United States 13 Mar 2009, 03:26 GMT

No price announced yet? I think I'll DL it immediately if it's 500 or 600 points and wait for impressions if it's any higher than that.

kenji

33. Kenji510 United States 13 Mar 2009, 04:16 GMT

Oh yeah!!.. one of my favorite type of games im gonna get when it comes out on monday the 16th.. been waitin on this game too and when it hits in the wii shop im gonna get it right away dont care what the price is! :D :D

sean_aaron

34. Sean Aaron United Kingdom 13 Mar 2009, 07:51 GMT

As long as it's actually coming out here (unlike games by a developer that won't be named), I can wait. I actually didn't think this would be the next game I'd buy in the PAL shop, but the past month has been a series of disappointments, so when this is released it will be like finding an oasis in the desert!

chunky_droid

35. Chunky Droid Australia 13 Mar 2009, 12:07 GMT

YES!

That's all I can say.... YES!

popyman

36. Popyman United States 13 Mar 2009, 15:45 GMT

I'm buying this as soon as I can.

markyvigoroth

37. MarkyVigoroth Puerto Rico 13 Mar 2009, 16:19 GMT

Heh, if Mayhem in Monsterland never comes, I get impatient in waiting, or I get convinced not to buy thereof, I may buy this, if the price is right...

(By the way, check out the Bob's Game site!)

nickname

38. Nickname Spain 13 Mar 2009, 16:31 GMT

Whoah i'm so excited about this game I can't wait for its european release!!

anthonyb

39. anthonyb United States 13 Mar 2009, 18:57 GMT

@Objection_Blaster: Hell yeah, I like that song! It's hilarious. There's another SNL music vid that came out recently- just go to youtube and look up "I'm On A Boat (ft. T-Pain)". Have you seen that one? It's ridiculous.

neomega

40. Neomega United States 14 Mar 2009, 00:18 GMT

Um, corbie?
I suggest overating, to get this on the charts...THE POWER IS IN YOUR KEYS!

wariofan631

41. WarioFan63 United States 14 Mar 2009, 02:59 GMT

If anyone's curious, according to the IGN review, this game is 600 points.

taiyou

42. Taiyou Spain 14 Mar 2009, 03:02 GMT

Wow, I DEFINITELY want it for 600 points. I hope it's released soon here in Europe.

knucklessonic8

43. KnucklesSonic8 Canada 14 Mar 2009, 03:11 GMT

@WarioFan63 Was just about to say that. lol.

IGN has reviewed it already. Gave it a solid 8.0. Some highlights to be extracted from the review.

  • "As an odd little "expressionist" inclusion, every button on the Wii-mote will add in other tones, so you can jam along with the game as you play. Random, but we found ourselves missing notes just to play away. It's a slippery road to go down; be warned."

Nice that they added that little feature. It'll definitely make things different each time you play and as you get more accustomed to a song, you could start jamming and warping the original tunes. Sounds great to me!

  • "Unfortunately, while the game's concept is all about high scores, there's no way to upload or share those scores, so each system will have only its own scoreboard to work from. We expect people to upload videos and share scores across the net, but it would have been great to have a way to upload them."

Leaderboards WOULD have been a good idea but nevertheless as soon as this comes out, I plan to record and upload vids of it. :D

  • "On the plus side, however, four player co-op play is included, and it's pretty fun, minus the inherent overlapping of paddles, and the screw-ups that happen because you think you're one place, but actually drifting a bit amidst the slew of sliding lines."

So multiplayer can be confusing. I expected that. Hope it at least plays better than Gyrostarr's multi. Boy is that ever confusion....

  • "Given the style of play, and the inherent lack of space on WiiWare, it would have been nice to have six shorter levels, rather than three longer ones."

Apparently, it would have been better to split them up in chunks rather than have 3 lengthy tracks. I would say the same thing too.

  • "[I]t’s also a great game to boot up for a few minutes between other titles, and a great first step for the Bit.Trip franchise."

Enjoyable in quick bursts, is what they're saying.

  • With that being said, players expecting too much might be let down, as the game is three tracks total (basically 200 points a song, which is the same as any Rock Band DLC really), and it’s all about replaying them and getting better scores.

So this game seems to be suited for a high-score fiend like someone who would play SSR frequently and repeatedly aiming for high-scores. It's shame there aren't more tracks but that's what Bit.Trip Beat 2 will be for - and yes it's confirmed. Or at least another Bit.Trip game is. Can't recall if it was actually BEAT or not.

Source:
http://wii.ign.com/articles/962/962561p1.html

Better than their usual reviews, that's for sure but I couldn't help but coming off a little... underwhelmed still. But then again, I didn't expect much from this review.

corbie_dillard

44. Corbie United States 14 Mar 2009, 04:46 GMT

@ Neomega - Overrated it is. :P
I'm glad you chimed in because I didn't have a coin handy. :)

wariofan631

45. WarioFan63 United States 14 Mar 2009, 07:16 GMT

Or at least another Bit.Trip game is. Can't recall if it was actually BEAT or not.

I believe it was Bit.Trip in general, like 5 or 6 of them, I can't recall. So its basically Art Style all over again, which has me pretty excited. Although itd be nice to know how fast theyll be pumping them out.

objection_blaster

46. Objection_Blaster United States 14 Mar 2009, 07:25 GMT

So the game is $6 for 3 songs/levels? Hmm...

knucklessonic8

47. KnucklesSonic8 Canada 14 Mar 2009, 15:24 GMT

@WarioFan 63: That's correct.
@Objection_Blaster: Yep. Still worth getting, though. It'll give them support to continue with the other games. But like IGN said, it would have been better if the songs were split up into smaller chunks because it seems like they are kinda lengthy. But that's not really a bad thing either. And besides, SSR was $7 for 2 levels and a mini-game so keep that in mind. SSR is a great game, IMO and I'm sure anyone who liked SSR beating high-scores and the like would get a blast out of this.

popyman

48. Popyman United States 14 Mar 2009, 16:27 GMT

Thanks for the link KS8! 600 points FTW!

But...what is SSR?

sean_aaron

49. Sean Aaron United Kingdom 14 Mar 2009, 17:32 GMT

600 points seems really cheap; definitely in Art Style land. I'm not bothered about length, I'm more interested in the music and visual spectacle. I just got Wii Music and love noodling about in the improv part, so the fact that this includes a similar feature is awesome in the extreme.

I hope future Bit.Trip games will also feature music in a similar way.

accc

50. accc United States 14 Mar 2009, 18:35 GMT

Only 3 total songs is disappointing :( I still haven't picked up Cubello, I might buy that instead.

wariofan631

51. WarioFan63 United States 14 Mar 2009, 22:01 GMT

But...what is SSR?

Star Soldier R

crazed

52. Crazed United States 14 Mar 2009, 22:26 GMT

First Comment Ever!

On an actual matter, I predict that Bit. Trip will be a game that jumps onto the top 10 of the top 20 list, maybe even cracking the top 5 this week. Even if Corbie gives the game a low score (when I mean low, I mean 6 or 5 out of 10), the game is only 600 points, it has been anticipated for the last few weeks, it appeals to many different audiences, and features a great (if not a little flawed) pick-up-and-play multiplayer. It will be very surprising if I don't see this game reach the top 10 this week, let alone the charts.

Oh, and just to be clear, I find it unlikely Corbie will give this game a 6 or 5/10, but you never know.

rayword45

53. rayword45 United States 14 Mar 2009, 23:19 GMT

Wow, I swear they said that the credits and intro songs would be playable, but I guess not anymore.

gameking23

54. gameking23 United States 15 Mar 2009, 01:46 GMT

I wish Monday would hurry up and get here. I want to play this game now.

corbie_dillard

55. Corbie United States 15 Mar 2009, 06:35 GMT

I doubt Bit.Trip.Beat will even chart in the same week it's released. It just doesn't happen very often, no matter what score I give it.

dingle

56. Doogle Ireland 15 Mar 2009, 11:18 GMT

Must.Have.This - I really hope Aksys bring this to Europe soon, rather than another one of their crappy "family" games!!!

chicken_brutus

57. Chicken Brutus United States 15 Mar 2009, 16:51 GMT

I'm very excited to play this tomorrow. The small number of songs has been made up for by the ability to freestyle jam while playing.

I can't wait to get my hands on it, and I also can't wait to see what else Commander Video has up his (his?) sleeves.

whoknew

58. WhoKnew United States 15 Mar 2009, 17:05 GMT

Looks like lots of people are excited for this game. And they should. After looking at IGN's 8/10 review, I guess I am excited as well.
See for yourself here: http://wii.ign.com/articles/962/962561p1.html

stokley316

59. stokley316 United States 16 Mar 2009, 02:37 GMT

IM SALIVATING

objection_blaster

60. Objection_Blaster United States 16 Mar 2009, 04:14 GMT

I guess I'm being a bit of a hypocrite here in regards to my concerns of length since I am a LW preacher but I'm very hesitant to pay $6 for 3 songs. Even if each song was "long", what is that, 10min each, maybe? As for the comparison to SSR at $8 for 2 levels, I've already commented on how I think that's a ripoff elsewhere but for some that's enough.

themortalangel

61. themortalangel United States 16 Mar 2009, 08:05 GMT

MUST BUY...sadly will have to wait til AFTER I go shopping with the girlfriend...sigh....such is life.

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