| Michael Jackson: The Experience | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Ubisoft |
| Publisher(s) | Ubisoft |
| Year released | |
| System(s) | PSP, PS3, PSV, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, 3DS, iOS, Mac OS |
| Genre(s) | Music |
|---|---|
| Modes | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) |  |
Michael Jackson: The Experience 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. 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", "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. It was later released for the Nintendo 3DS, iOS and PlayStation Vita. It was announced that the game would be released on Mac OS X, Wii U and iPad 2. The game sold 2 million units in only two months (these sales figures don't include Japan, which has one of the largest and most passionate concentrations of Michael Jackson fans.)
The Wii, PS3 and Kinect versions of the game feature Just Dance style gameplay. There are three modes of play in both the Wii and PS3 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. The DS version features gameplay similar to Elite Beat Agents. In this version, 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. Also on Nintendo DS version, there is an anti-piracy feature created by Ubisoft that will freeze the game and replace the audio with the sound of vuvuzelas (popularized by the South Africans in World Cup 2010) if the player is playing a pirated or ROM version of the game. It was also revealed that on the Wii version players can play as Jackson or the Back-up Dancers. The game was displayed at New York Comic Con at Ubisoft's booth.