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Just Dance 4 Preview for Wii U

Just Dance 4 Preview for Wii U

The Age Of Trolling Has Come

The age of trolling has arrived! Gone are our silly notions of family friendly gameplay and mutual respect between players, replaced instead with opportunities to force our friends to make complete fools out of themselves in front of everyone in the room. The Wii U is leading the charge in this army of grief, and no game shows off the Wii U’s troll capabilities better than Just Dance 4 from Ubisoft. This game takes the already embarrassing Just Dance formula and kicks it up to the next level by including more player interaction. What Nintendo calls asymmetrical gameplay, I call a golden opportunity to make my friends hate me.

Just Dance 4 Screenshot

So here’s the deal: Just like every other Just Dance game, Just Dance 4 allows any number of people to hold onto a Wiimote and strut their stuff in front of the screen. However, the big difference this time around is the master of ceremonies, i.e. the puppet master, i.e. the jerk who is holding the Wii U gamepad and choosing not to dance. This guy gets to essentially choreograph your entire dance routine. He is given a selection of dance moves every couple bars of music, and selects one by tapping it. Then, everyone else in the room has to perform it at his whim. Similarly, there are points in the song where this “puppet master” gets to choose poses for the dancers to hold for a very long, rather uncomfortable time.

Obviously, someone like me with a GamePad in hand would attempt to craft the most fun dance experience for all involved and… No, I’m just kidding. I trolled the heck out of my dance group.

Just Dance 4 Screenshot

My first selection criterion was how embarrassingly sexual the dance moves were. If I could get the random E3 attendees to pelvic thrust the air, I jumped all over it. Given a lack of overt sexual embarrassment, I would routinely choose the dance step that was the most physically painful to perform. I would similarly choose poses that would cause people to stand awkwardly on one foot, or any similar pose that would cause an incredible amount of muscle fatigue. I was crafting the dance from hell, and it was too much fun.

And that’s not all. If crafting the demon’s dance doesn’t give you your kicks, the integrated social media aspects certainly will. According to the booth rep, the GamePad player will be able to snap photos of the dancers with the Wii U Game Pad’s camera and share these pictures on social media sites like Facebook, or on the Wii U’s own connected social sphere, Miiverse. The puppet master can also apparently write messages on the touchpad to send to the television as well. I’m not entirely sure what troll purpose this can serve yet, but I’ll figure it out.

Just Dance 4 Screenshot

Just Dance 4 will launch with over 40 new tracks including:

  • Carly Rae Jepsen – “Call Me Maybe”
  • Rihanna – “Disturbia”
  • Flo Rida – “Good Feeling”
  • Nelly Furtado – “Maneater”
  • Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera – “Moves Like Jagger”
  • Rick Astley – “Never Gonna Give You Up”
  • The B-52’s – “Rock Lobster”
  • P!nk – “So What”
  • Nicki Minaj – “Super Bass”
  • Barry White – “You’re The First, The Last, My Everything”
  • One Direction – “What Makes You Beautiful”
  • Will Smith – “Wild Wild West”

  • And more are set to be revealed in the coming months. The game is set to launch in October for the Wii, Kinect, and Move, but obviously these versions of the game don’t come with the trollerific puppet master mode. The superior version of Just Dance 4 will hit the Wii U as a launch title.

    Just Dance 4 Screenshot

    My final verdict on Just Dance 4? It’s fun! In fact, it’s loads of fun. I was never a fan of the Just Dance series because it always felt like a poor imitation of Dance Central. However, the ability to control the dance routines your friends perform, all while taking pictures and generally embarrassing them, is certainly unique. It offers something that no other dance game has offered before. Maybe Nintendo really is on to something with this asymmetrical party gameplay thing. Be on the lookout for Just Dance 4 when the Wii U launches later this Holiday season, and remember to run like the wind when your friends tell you it’s your turn to dance.

    P.S. At E3, the dancers included the Power Rangers, Solid Snake, some guy in a pink jumpsuit, and more. It just made the trolling that much more delicious.

    Game Features:

  • Choreograph your friend’s movements.
  • Take pictures of them and spread them to social media sites.
  • Write messages on the TV screen.
  • Choose from 40 new tracks.

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