| Jam With The Band (Nintendo DS) | 
| From: Nintendo
Category: Video Games
List Price: £34.99
Buy New: £7.91
as of 5/9/2010 01:08 EDT details
You Save: £27.08 (77%)
New (23) Used (1) from £7.91
Seller: Amazon.co.uk
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 32
Format: Unknown format
Platform: Nintendo DS
Genre: musical-instrument-games
Rating: Exempt
Media: Video Game
Operating System: No Operating System
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 4.8 x 0.8
MPN: 045496469993
UPC: 045496469993
EAN: 0045496469993
ASIN: B003K1AMFO
Release Date: May 21, 2010
Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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Product Description
Jam with the band is a great new title for the nintendo DS owners and music lover's alike. Jam with the Band will help transform the Nintendo DS family of consoles into a fun, portable music maker allowing all DS owners to get creative with friends. You can write your own versions of famous songs and share them with other players. Or jam to a collection of popular songs from a constantly expanding song list. Jam with the Bans is designed to appeal to a wide range of music lovers. It comes with 50 pre-installed songs, and more will be downloadable via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Users are also able to upload their own 'versions' of tracks which can be downloaded by other users. In addition, there is a dedicated website where players are able to see new and the most popular tracks available. Using the stylus on the Touch Screen of your Nintendo DS family of consoles you can strum at a virtual guitar and there is also a karaoke mode to have fun with your vocal chords, utilising the in-built Nintendo DS microphone. The game will even analyse your singing style to suggest the best music genre to sing in.
And why keep it to yourself? With one copy of the game up to eight people can each take a part and jam together! There is a captivating difficulty mode which takes you from utilising one or four buttons whilst jamming, to eight and ten, or play with the stylus and Touch Screen, in your music-making challenges.
You can also connect your Nintendo DS or Nintendo DSi to your Wii console, a free Jam with the Band Live channel for Wii can be downloaded, meaning you and up to seven friends can enjoy the whole sound of the band from one set of speakers! - Jam with the Band is a music game with a wide variety of features - from rhythm-action gameplay to a music creation mode
- Players can perform music tracks using buttons, the Touch Screen or - in a separate karaoke mode - si
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
 A must Buy!! July 7, 2010
Matthew
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
You would be crazy not to buy this game at such a low price!
The game is a guitar hero style music game, except it uses the face buttons of the DS which makes it more challenging. However I am sure you could find a better description of the gameplay elsewhere.
I am going to concentrate on the multiplayer. Up to 8 DS's can play together from only one gamecard, and the game comes with a download ticket for a designated wii chanel so you can all link up to that and play through the television!
well worth the money!
Jamming with bells on! August 2, 2010
G. Horsham (UK)
Jam with the band is another good Nintendo DS game that allows someone to "play along", with a stylus or the Nintendo keypad, to over 50 different songs. There is a wide selection of instruments too for you to choose from, although they are predictably synthesised in sound.
The basic premise that you chose your ability, select a song and then you will be presented with a rolling screen of notes you need to hit at a specific time. You are then scored on how close you are to hitting the note at the correct time. There are practice sessions as well as scored solo sessions.
This sounds a fairly common theme for Nintendo DS games, such as Cooking Mama. Where this game really scores is the connectivity. Selecting a "Jam Session", up to 8 consoles can be connected using just one game card, so all your friends can join in, choosing their preferred instrument and playing along. As an added bonus, you can download from the Wii shopping channel (free with the Wii download ticket number provided) the "Jam with the band" channel, which then allows 7 different Nintendo's to play together and have their sound played through your television. I was really amazed at the synchronisation between the consoles and the Wii when we tried this - all very clever.
In addition, there are a few other menus to add yet more interest to the game. You can practice your singing technique and it will analyse this and make recommendations for song choice; this too you try in practice mode. Obviously not a genuine analysis for professionals, but it is still good fun.
All in all, a fun game that allows your friends to join in - all from one card - top marks!
 Can I play with Madness? July 20, 2010
C. Hawkins
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
It's perfectly forgivable to initially mistake Jam With The Band for shovelware from some dodgy two-bit publisher hoping to cash in on the Guitar Hero/Rock Band craze. That forgiveness ends right here, though. This comes directly from Nintendo as the sequel to the Japanese DS launch title 'Daigasso! Band Brothers', which attracted a cult following over here but never saw an official release outside of its home territory. And now Nintendo has belatedly and casually slid the 2008 sequel under the European door with a new name and absolutely no fanfare.
As a game with origins back in 2004, this isn't direct competition to the DS Guitar Hero games. There's no use of Activision's peripheral or anything like it (not that that matters to DSi/XL owners). It's all about oldskool rhythm action usage of the d-pad, face and shoulder buttons. Each track has up to eight instruments and these can be taken up by you and seven of your mates via a single game card, or you can jam on your own with any instrument of your choosing. You're guided through the game by Barbara the Bat, a thoroughly atypical Nintendo character whose attitude makes her better suited as one of Sonic The Hedgehog's universally hated friends.
You need to know that all the tracks here are unashamedly twee MIDI covers. This would never do on a home console but in the hands of Nintendo on the DS they has a sublime retro chiptune charm to them. Perhaps the biggest thrill comes from playing Mario, Zelda and F-Zero medleys. Or maybe a rock version of Swan Lake or a NESified take on Beethoven's Sonata Pathetique. Personally, I've become obsessed with mastering all the instruments for Madness' Our House. There are four difficulty levels and the latter two can get very punishing and dangerously (for your DS) frustrating, but with patience and practice I'm on my way to mastering Suggs and the boys' 1980s masterpiece.
The dedicated selection of tracks is as eclectic as it gets but where the game really takes off is in the studio where you can create and share tracks of your own. I would encourage you to search YouTube for 'Daigasso' to see for yourself some of the fine examples of what can be achieved with the tools at your disposal. Not everyone is a musical genius, of course, especially when given a DS and a stylus to write and record on, but even an amateur like me can knock out a competent upbeat salsa take on Chopin's Funeral March. No, really, it's very danceable.
In addition to this we're told we can download 50 extra songs from a current selection of over 200 for free via WiFi. The only catch is there's a problem with the servers preventing us from doing so. Whenever I try to download anything other than the three most recent additions I get the error code 31105. After doing some research, I've discovered it's the same for everyone and has been since launch. There's been no official word on the matter (or even an acknowledgement of the error code) from Nintendo at the time of writing. Will it ever be fixed? Has Nintendo of Europe already washed its hands of this low profile title? I do wonder. This is a pity because the download list teases us with many cherished Nintendo themes and classic (and classical) songs.
This last note clearly puts a dampener on things. On the surface Jam With The Band is an average rhythm action title, but beneath that surface lurks a great deal of depth that could keep you going for ages. It's just that some of that depth is unavailable right now. Regardless, theres plenty to keep us going and if you're the kind of gamer who values playing on a stage in front of cartoon hedgehogs and monkeys, or you're just happy to hear the Mute City theme from F-Zero again, there's a place for this game in your collection.
As a footnote, there's also a singing option that I've conveniently ignored till now. When you sing the trial at the beginning (Queen's We Are The Champions) the game tells you what type of music your voice is best suited to. I'm a shy type as it is, but I bit the bullet and sang like Freddie into the mic as asked, only to be told afterwards that there is no style or genre suitable for my voice. Ouch! This from the same company that told me I was bit dim in Brain Training and out of shape in Wii Fit.
Challenging, but not too difficult August 20, 2010
J. Craig (UK)
I'll have to admit, this didn't sound like the best game ever made when I ordered it, as it sounded like something that would have been made in a shed by middle aged blokes! However, it's not like that at all! This game allows you to either sing or play along to 50 tunes which are included with the game. With the play option, you have to play in time, otherwise a "BAD" or "MISS" will appear and dock you some points. Hence, the objective is to get as many "GOOD" signs as possible. Before the start of each song, it tells you the difficultly rating of each part you have to play along with, such as piano, violin, bass etc. I have managed to master all the easiest parts, but haven't had so much success with the harder parts. Hence, this isn't going to be something which you will be able to complete in a day! Your thumb also gets sore pretty quickly, with all the repetitive pressing of the "A" button
The sing option allows you to sing along with the songs, which the DS picks up using the microphone. Obviously, training the DS to the sound of your voice is beneficial, as everyone sings in a different way. I can't sing at all, so I didn't enjoy this part of the game so much. But I'm sure there are people out there who would prefer this to the play along option, so this really does cater for everyone!
For all the composers out there - yes, you can do that as well! There is the option to compose your own tunes, and then upload them. If they're deemed to be good enough, they might even be published for others to download!
In addition to the 50 pre-downloaded tunes, there is the option to download another 50 free of charge. However, I couldn't do this as the DS doesn't appear to be compatible with WPA2 wireless security settings, although I acknowledge this is a fault with the DS and not the game. What I feel is a major drawback however, is that once you download the songs, you can't erase them, meaning that if you've used all 50 spaces, you're stuck with them! Therefore, there is a point where the challenge will end. (When you've completed all the songs - although the game may get discarded long before that happens!)
So, overall, I feel it's a more exciting game than I would have imagined, however I can't imagine anyone playing it for long periods at a time. Unless you want repetitive strain injury in your thumb, that is... Still, it's worth a punt, because, you never know. You might enjoy it!
Rhythmic Fun! July 21, 2010
Sam (UK)
I have to say in the past I have only ever played a 'Guitar Hero' type game at a friend's house and have not been tempted to enter into the franchise myself as I remained sceptical about the amount of fun one could have when playing this type of game by yourself, however 'Jam With The Band' proves that this type of game can be fun solo.
The game starts off with Barbara the Bat (whom I slightly in love with...) asking you in to perform a gig at the lowest level of difficulty, which is basically pushing any button you like in the required rhythm. Of course for the majority of people (especially those with experience on this type of game) would probably find this an easy enough task, however for someone with as much dexterity as a dead snail I have to admit that I even found this easy stage a relative challenge. There is also the opportunity to sing a song of your choosing and the DS should analyse your vocals and tell you your singing style. This is nothing if not consistent-I tried three times each time coming out with the result that I am a ballad singer and hence should try the Sinatra classic 'New York, New York'. I guess that with these games their success is down to as much as anything else the track-listing and this one is in my opinion pretty decent. There are a selection of well known songs (Material Girl, Lady Marmalade, Stop! In The Name of Love, Our House, Walking On Sunshine are just a few of the 50 pre-selected that spring to mind.) Alongside these pop offerings there are also a number of Nintendo classics-Zelda/Mario themes and classical songs. No the music quality is not the best ever, but does that really matter in a game like this one? I personally don't think it does as long as the melody is clearly there and it is on these. Furthermore there's the option to add a further 50 tracks to the 50 pre-loaded ones and there's a pretty wide variety of choice here too (I'm Like A Bird and What's New Pussycat are two I can think of!). The worst thing about this feature is the inability for the player to delete any of these downloaded tracks-so think carefully before selecting them!!!!
Once you've got over the initial thrill of the game then there is the opportunity to perform in 'Today's Gig', where Babs the Bat selects a theme of the day and a track for you to perform to each day using a different instrument; depending on how well you perform Babs will move you up a star ranking, down a star ranking or leave you where you are. The objective here is presumably to get up to a full star rating. If you do a good job then there will more than likely be an encore with a different theme-if not then the gig ends and although you can play 'Today's gig' as much as you want in a single day the theme does not change (although the actual song invariably does!). In my opinion this brings you back to the game day after day.
There is also the free-play mode where you can play any instrument, any difficulty and also hone your singing skills. I haven't yet tried the multi-player mode but can imagine this would make the game even more fun!
So overall I highly recommend this game-the presentation isn't the best, but it's a darn site more fun than many other games I have bought for the DS. The difficulty level is challenging enough to ensure that even the very best players won't complete the game too quickly and the opportunity for multi-player adds yet another dimension to an already excellent game!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
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