The business of rhythm and music games is sort of like the real music industry. Classy little cult hits like PaRappa The Rapper, Vib Ribbon and Ouendan were once the sole territory of the especially hip. You could boast about your Taiko No Tatsujin skills to your rhythm-less pals, or quirk a brow at your uncool peers as you casually hit "play" on your obscure DDR songs during a house party.

Then Guitar Hero and Rock Band happened. Music games are officially big business now, and everyone and their mother (literally) wants in. Next thing you know, you're boycotting the Grammys and defiantly tattooing the word "sellout" on your forehead. Battle of the Bands for Wii is THQ's entry into the rock music arms race—but is it a worthy innovator on the scene, or just a trendwhore leaping onto the bandwagon?

It was with great trepidation that I checked out Battle of the bands for Wii. The logo alone left me feeling like it was going to be a cheap Guitar Hero knock off with it's heavy Metal pointy-ness. What I was shown when I actually played was a somewhat convoluted rock band/battle game that seemed to miss its mark.

They were showing of the multiplayer capabilities of the game which meant I was pitted against one of the game's developers. Each player chooses from a number of "bands" each with its own different style and type of music. Then a song is picked from a rather extensive song list although admittedly I only recognized a few titles like "Mama Gonna Knock You Out" and "One Thing Leads To Another." Once the song is picked you are presented with two Guitar Hero like fret boards with the now familiar scrolling dots representing the notes. But, instead of hitting buttons on a plastic guitar, you flick the Wii remote in rythm the direction of the arrow that the little dot has on it. It seemed a little weak and gave me the same feeling I got when playing Boogie. Rather unfulfilling. Every once in a while you could gather firepower or bombs and a little symbol representing that weapon would appear above one of the moving dots. If you flicked in rhythm at the correct time, you would send the weapon over to the rival band, knocking off portions of their points. By the end of the song, the band with the most points is declared the winner.

If this all sounds confusing and weird to you, welcome to the club. It's exactly the same way I felt after finishing playing. My buddy I was with actually quite enjoyed so I'm sure the game will find an audience somewhere, but certainly not with me.