Nintendo has announced that Wii Karaoke U will launch in Europe on October 4 as a free download, with over 1,500 songs. But while the “game” is free to download, it’s not free to play: in order to play the game, Nintendo is taking a somewhat unorthodox approach.
After downloading the game, if you actually wish to make a fool out of yourself and “play” it (i.e. sing), you’ll have to purchase “virtual tickets” for the game.
A one hour ticket costs £1.79, and will let you sing for an hour. A 24-hour ticket costs £4.49, and a 30-day ticket costs £13.49. Don’t worry though, there is a free one-hour ticket included. If you buy the Zelda Wind Waker HD bundle in Europe, you’ll get a 7-day free pass.
Developed by Joysound, Wii Karaoke U features tons of songs and three different “game modes”: Karaoke Battle, Standard Rating mode, and Online rating mode. Whatever those are. There’s no word on the North American release. It might not even be released here — Nintendo might just want to spare us the embarrassment.