Shropshire man hopes for Wii Christmas hit

A Shropshire man hopes to crack the Christmas market with the new must-have game for Nintendo Wii. Ben Bentley reports.

Dad-dancing to rap star Dizzee Rascal . . . funny how some some goals are, at least to those blessed with being born with two left feet and the co-ordination skills of Mr Bean, very easily achievable.

A new interactive Nintendo Wii game developed by Shropshire man Neil Meredith, however, looks set to tempt the whole country – folk both young and old – to get out of their armchairs and shake their booty to Mr Rascal and rap along to his tunes.

And they won't have to wait until the next family wedding disco either. Released on November 11 with the aim of becoming the number one game at Christmas, Now That's What I Call Music! Dance & Sing, is the first Wii package that allows wannabe pop stars to mimic their heroes in song and dance.

The game, which cost around half a million pounds to develop and which is expected to be the ultimate party accessory, stands a pretty good chance of becoming the must-have Christmas game of 2011 too, considering its pedigree and backing.

Released by EMI, the interactive party package features 30 original tracks including 16 number one chart hits of recent months, from artists ranging from Rihanna, Tinie Tempah and JLS to Jessie J, The Wanted and Dizzee Rascal.

The game was created by Telford-based Neil and his colleagues in a collaboration that reprises the development of their 2002 hit computer game Dance UK.

"Getting back together for this was a bit like Ocean's Eleven!" says Neil at the headquarters of his company Digital Goals, at the e-Innovation Centre at Priorslee.

"The opportunity to licence the Now! brand became available and we designed the game, did the choreography for it and picked the tracks. And from a blank sheet of paper came this cool game.

"There are other dance and singing games on the market but this is the first time that people can sing and dance on a Nintendo Wii."

He continues: "The target audience is 13 to 21 but also for the mums and dads and grandparents who might buy it for them. And, of course, they are bound to want to have go!"

Because the team had worked together before, the game was developed rapidly, from original concept to market in just nine months. The concept was tried and tested by focus groups – not to mention by the kids of the developers.

"The general reaction was that here was the best game they had played," adds Neil.

"The Christmas games market is tough market but we think we will be very close. Just Dance 3 is the big dance game, with links to Katy Perry, and you cannot underestimate that.

"But we are careful to be very family friendly with the Now! brand and think we have a good chance."

As part of the development process, Neil and the team did some testing at Abbey Road Studios, where his beloved Beatles recorded their material.

"Sitting on the same staircase as John Lennon! We were like kids, walking across the famous zebra crossing outside . . .

"But if you cannot have fun and be like kids when developing something like this – and getting paid for it – where can you do it?"

Of course, Neil tried the game out on his own kids as part of the market research – which proved important in giving the game's target audience exactly what it wanted.

"It's a good job they did not listen to me," says Neil, "because I really did want the track Carwash on it!"

With the British public showing no sign of satisfying their appetite for talent shows such as The X Factor and So You Think You Can Dance, Neil believes that the game carries all the ingredients of becoming a big hit.

Turning on the Wii, players pick a track from an on-screen menu and in this case it is the original backing track rather than a cheesy karaoke version.

On the television screen before them, song lyrics are flashed up and using a microphone to sing in the style of their heroes, players are given performance points for accuracy of pitch, tone and timing. Also on the screen is an avatar of the artist whose dance movements players have to mimic, with players awarded points for their movement and timing.

And of course, as part of the testing, Neil couldn't resist a few goes himself.

"I love it, it's brilliant," he says. "From a purely dance perspective it's better than anything else on the market.

"Other dance games have dumbed down the skills you need to dance but we have tried to keep the balance between playing and having a competitive edge.

"There are plenty of good dancers who will love it but there are also plenty of bad dancers who think they are good dancers, and when that happens there is nothing funnier," adds Neil.

"As part of the launch we want to find the worst dancing dad in the UK," continues Neil.

"We want kids to film themselves and their families dancing to the game and upload the footage to our site."

There should be no end of takers.

* Now That's What I Call Music! Dance & Sing goes on sale at all major retailers including Asda, Tesco, Sainsburys, HMV, Amazon, Play and Game from November 11.