Michael Jackson: The Experience

Michael Jackson: The Experience
Developer(s)	Ubisoft Montreal (PS3, Xbox 360) Ubisoft Paris (Wii) Ubisoft São Paulo (DS/PSP) Ubisoft Quebec (PC, Mac OS X)
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft, Triumph International
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS, iOS (iPad only), PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
Release date(s)	November 23, 2010 Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable & Wii NA November 23, 2010[1] JP November 23, 2010 (PSP) AU 20101125November 25, 2010 EU 20101126November 26, 2010 JP December 8, 2011 (Wii) PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360 NA 20110412April 12, 2011 AU 20110414April 14, 2011 EU 20110415April 15, 2011 JP 20111208December 8, 2011 Nintendo 3DS NA 20111108November 8, 2011 EU 20111111November 11, 2011 iOS NA 20111207December 7, 2011 PlayStation Vita JP 20111217December 17, 2011 NA 20120215February 15, 2012 EU 20120222February 22, 2012 AU 20120223February 23, 2012 Microsoft Windows NA 20120625June 25, 2012 EU 20120626June 26, 2012 JP 20120627June 27, 2012 Mac OS X NA 20121021October 21, 2012 EU 201212December 2012 JP 2013 iPad 2 NA TBA 2012
Genre(s)	Music, Dancing, Singing
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer
Rating(s)	Apple: 4+ CERO: A ESRB: E10+ PEGI: 3, 12 (Wii)
Media/distribution	Nintendo DS Game Card, UMD, PlayStation Vita card, Wii Optical Disc, Blu-ray Disc, DVD, PC-ROM[citation needed]
System requirements List

Michael Jackson: The Experience (マイケル・ジャクソン: ザ・エクスペリエンス) is a music video game based on Michael Jackson's music and songs. It was licensed by Triumph International, developed by and published by Ubisoft, and was released on November 23, 2010 in North America, November 25, 2010 in Australia and November 26, 2010 in Europe for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable and Wii.^[2][3] It was also released on April 12, 2011 in North America, April 14, 2011 in Australia, April 15, 2011 in Europe and December 8, 2011 in Japan for PlayStation 3's PlayStation Move and Xbox 360's Kinect. The game features many of Michael Jackson's hits, such as "Bad", "Thriller", "Beat It", "Billie Jean", "Rock with You", "Smooth Criminal", "Black or White" and "The Way You Make Me Feel". Initial launches of the game included a limited edition replica of Jackson's famous sequined glove.^[4] It was later released for the Nintendo 3DS, iOS and PlayStation Vita. It was announced that the game would be released on PC and Mac OS X in 2012.

Gameplay

There are three modes of play in the Wii version of the game. The first is "Classic" where everybody follows the on-screen Michael Jackson avatar. The second is "Duo" which is used for duets (such as "The Girl Is Mine") or videos with two main characters (such as "The Way You Make Me Feel"and "In the Closet") The player(s) can choose to dance as either Michael or the other character. The third mode of gameplay is "Crew", which features Michael and two backup dancers (five during some songs.) Players can opt to dance as any of the three. After performing songs, players will be able to unlock training videos in the "Dance School" where they are taught some of the more difficult moves from several of Michael Jackson's music videos and stage performances.

Four player multiplayer is available on the Wii and Move enabled PlayStation 3 but the Kinect will be limited to one player at a time. The game will also feature singing on the Kinect version on Xbox 360, and optional on-screen lyrics on the PlayStation 3 with will also feature singing and Wii versions. On the DS version of the game there is a cartoon version of Michael on the top screen and the player follows along by tapping the bottom screen with the stylus to the rhythm of the music, a style similar to the Nintendo DS game, Elite Beat Agents. It is also revealed that on the Wii version you can play as Michael or the Back-up Dancers. The game was displayed at New York Comic Con at Ubisoft's booth.

Kinect features

The Kinect version of the game features full body tracking, and entirely different choreography to the Wii version,^[5] along with several other changes and additions. This version uses a technology called Player Projection, which puts the player's own image in the game allowing them to star in their own Michael Jackson video. The Kinect version includes two game modes: "Solo" and "Party". Solo mode features one player. Party mode features 2-4 players. There are two options in Party mode: "Co-Op" and "Battle". Co-Op mode is a "every player for themselves" mode as players take turns jumping in and jumping out in order to complete the song. Battle mode is a team mode where two teams face off to get the highest score. Battle mode is a little different than Co-Op mode as each team performs the song together and the song gets broken down into two parts in which one player dances and the other player sings. Party mode only features Dance Mode, Performance Mode and Master Performance Mode. There are four symbols to reperesent each player: Michael's glove, Michael's hat, Michael's shades and one of Michael's jackets. Several of the songs in the game will not feature any moves to perform, instead becoming "Singing Only" songs, with "Earth Song" being the first song confirmed as Singing Only. There are certain songs that have moves that can be taught in a practice mode called "MJ School". During each performance, a crown will pop up above the player's head and the player must hit the crown to activate "King Power" before it fades away. The crown will multiply the score by 8x (NOTE: The crown only appears once per song). Similar to the Wii version, you will be scored on how well you sing and dance. You can get five different grades. Perfect, Good and OK increases your score and Almost and Miss make you lose your current score. Your points add up at the end of each song along with the rating of stars you receive and a photo you take during your performance. You can either use the Kinect's built-in microphone or an atttached mic/headset to sing.^[5] The game does include the option, however, to choose a "Dance Only" version of the song, which means the player will not be asked to sing.^[5] The Kinect version will also feature a mode known as Master Performance, which will require the player to both sing and dance to a set of choreographed moves that are harder than the normal moves, and "as close as possible to the videos".^[6]

PlayStation 3 and Vita features

In addition to the singing and dancing functionalities found in the Xbox 360 version, the PlayStation 3 version allows the player to sing or dance at the same time as other players.^[7] There is also the option to record the video clips or take pictures of the player's performance, and allows the player to save or upload them to sites, such as Facebook. The PlayStation Vita version features functions similar to the 3DS version, where the player swipes their finger across the screen to the on-screen notes. The Vita version will also have DLC when it releases.

PC and Mac OS X features

Graphics for PC and Mac OS X will be very similar to PS3 and Wii, and some of the songs for pc(Human Nature, Man in the Mirror, Remember the Time, Black or White, Billie Jean) will be playable in 3D mode. Your webcam will allow you to move around your whole room. Webcam also capture your whole body,very similar to kinect. PC gamers will be able to sing, dance, or sing and dance Michael Jacksons songs while they are playing the game. Karaoke section will be only for PC.

List of songs

See also:^[8][9]

• A "*" indicates that there's a dance teaching video of that song.
• A "**" indicates that there's a three-part dance teaching video of that song.

In the Wii console version of the game, "Money" is incorrectly credited as a song from the album Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix which was released in 1997. This would be true if the song in the game was a remix but it is the original version of the song, released on HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I in 1995.

Aside from all music released prior to Jackson joining Sony Music including the Jackson 5, the international number one "You Are Not Alone", and several of his other singles were absent from the game, yet several non-singles did make the cut. Also, no songs from Invincible were included in the game, though You Rock My World is available as downloadable content for Nintendo 3DS.

Reception

The reviews for the DS and PSP versions were above average, with a slightly better score for the DS version. IGN gave a 6.5/10 for DS^[28] and 5.5/10 for the PSP.^[29] Destructoid gave a 6/10 for the DS version.^[30]

IGN gave the Wii version a 3.5 saying that it does not give clear instructions on how to dance and also criticized the controls.^[29] GameFocus said that they failed at making a masterful game that matches the King of Pop.^[31] Metro gave it 5/10, describing it as "perfectly good party fun if you don’t care that the controls don't work."^[32] Videogamer.com gave the review a 7/10, stating that the music overplays the responsiveness difficulty.^[33] CNET gave the game 5/5, writing that the game is "extremely easy to pick up and play" and "the choreography is amazing"^[34] The Escapist gave the game 4/5, noting that the game "is not meant to be played by yourself."^[35]

Eurogamer thought that the Xbox dance routines "feel a little slower and more simplistic than those in the PS3 game",^[7] while the Daily Star said that "the Move seems a touch more sensitive".^[26]

The game has since sold over 3 million copies worldwide, and is on course for matching sales of The Beatles: Rock Band and has sold an additional millions after the release of the Move and Kinect versions.^[36]

See also

• Michael Jackson-related games

References