Disney Interactive Studios sends news about some new venues and of course more songs that will be on Ultimate Band for the Nintendo Wii. The latest additions to the long song list includes Complicated, Get the Party Started, 9 in the Afternoon and more.
A pirate cove. An Aztec temple. A Viking castle. No matter where you play in Ultimate Band, you’ll have a stage like no other. “When we sat down to imagine Ultimate Band’s venues, we enjoyed a creative license that real-life set designers can only dream of,” says Lead Designer Manfred Neber.
Creating Ultimate Band’s eight venues was a major collaborative effort for the team at Disney’s Fall Line Studio in Salt Lake City. “We began by brainstorming ideas to come up with a long list of potentially eye-catching places and themes,” Manfred explains. “Our concept artists then sketched out how they thought these ideas would translate into pixels. Sometimes, we combined concepts, like the aquarium and pirate motifs that eventually became Gold Saber Cove. Ultimately, the best of the best, including Jamhalla, Aztec Palace, and Dome Debut got the green light. And that’s what you’ll see when you take the stage.”
In the Disney tradition, the creative team didn’t just design the venues– they animated them.“We wanted the Ultimate Band stages to be characters in their own right, to feel alive and keep changing throughout the performance,” Manfred says. “But we also wanted to reward great playing.
So we designed a series of ‘stage breaks’: special events that only happen when musicians are in their groove. In Jamhalla, for example, a dragon appears toward the end of your song. If you’re just playing OK, he just shows up. But if you’re playing well, he blasts flames. We figured there’s no better accompaniment for a smoking guitar than a little dragon fire.”
The Ultimate Band Song List Keeps on Growing
The latest additions:
* Complicated
* Won’t Go Home Without You
* Get the Party Started
* First Date
* When Did Your Heart Go Missing?
* The Take Over, The Break’s Over
* 9 in the Afternoon
