Samba De Eugene

Things are getting back to normal in San Diego - my family's back in their home, and friends are getting back to their homes. But, man, if only there was something that could help pull me out of this bleh feeling from the past week. Something that could pierce through the smokey skies and fill me with glee.

Then today, Sega announced that they're releasing SAMBA DE AMIGO for the Nintendo Wii.



Needless to say, I'm geeked.

Sega released the original two Samba De Amigo games for the Sega Dreamcast almost ten years ago - it was a rhythm game that required a set of wired maracas. In the game, you'd have to shake the maracas accurately and in rhythm to the beats of catchy upbeat songs by the likes of Reel Big Fish and Ricky Martin. The game featured wild colors, graphics, and this great south-of-the-border party vibe to it.

And the mascot. Was a smiling MONKEY. With MARACAS.

Now the problem with the game was that the maraca controllers were expensive, and after all that shaking, they would eventually break. I would still be playing mine, except that one of the two expensive maracas controllers broke. "Shake it. Don't break it. Took some Chinese laborer guy nine months to make it."

But with the Nintendo Wii, you won't have to buy expensive extra controllers - you'll presumably just use the regular motion sensor controllers. Oh man. Just looking at that monkey holding a Wii controller makes me happy.

SAMBA! OLE OLE OLE!