Just Dance 2 Developer Interview

Just Dance was a big hit for Ubisoft on Wii so it comes as no surprise that a sequel is in the works and was shown off at E3 last week in all its glory.

We have caught up with the developers to find out what we can expect from the follow-up.

Was the huge success of Just Dance a surprise for Ubisoft?

For Ubisoft it wasn’t a great surprise in the sense that we play-tested the game internally very early in the development process. The creative director and team worked on some early prototypes and everyone just started dancing – men, women, hardcore gamers and casual alike.

I think in terms of its mass appeal the dev team strongly believed that this game was a perfect party starter and that we had something very different and special.

The game, although it looks simple has still a great deal of depth. Girls love it for the dancing, young adults love it for the fitness and fun, parents love it for the range of music, kids love it because for the first time they are allowed to jump and dance all around and of course family and friends love it because it is extremely social.

Hit the link for the full interview.

How do your consumers influence your vision for the next Just Dance title?

The consumers want more moves, more dancing, more music and DLC. We try to work very closely with our Just Dance players and with JD2 we wanted to give them a few more surprises. From a pure gameplay perspective, we learnt about how they reacted and danced together so we can use this to improve the game even more.

We have taken a lot of care into making the game much more immersive, as this year competition will be fierce. We wanted to focus the experience on having fun in a group by adding new game modes and improving detection and feedback for the players.

-          Duet Mode. Created for more interaction and role playing between players. We want them not just to follow what is happening on screen but also be aware of what is happening around them. We want to get people to actually dance together!

-          Dance Battle Mode. This mode will let you play with up to 8 players in a pass the Wii-mote style. Individual scores will count towards the overall result of the team. Thanks to this mode everyone will need to dance for the entire Just Dance party and support their team.

-          Party Mode. The Just for fun mode!  For all the dance fans, it’s as simple as that, you just play as much non-stop music as you want!

-          Just Sweat Mode. Exercise and have fun at the same time! Many people fed back that they were actually using the game to get fit, from young mums to grandparents. So we have taken this feedback into account and added a Just Sweat Meter to measure how much energy you are actually putting into the  dancing and it also includes the option  to define daily and weekly objectives for your dancing sessions to track your progress.

Are you afraid of me-too products? Have you done anything in anticipation of future competitive releases?

There are always me-too products of all successful games. For Just Dance it would be quite an honour to see that we inspire people to create similar games and we just have to keep offering our players more. Music was created to dance to so let’s get everyone dancing!

Was the budget for the development of Just Dance 2 greater than Just Dance and how did that affect the game development?

Sorry I can’t discuss that with you. (THIS IS INTERNAL DO NOT ANSWER Budgets costs ever…)

Will Just Dance 2 ever come to Xbox 360, PS3 or PC?

We are very happy to be one of the very rare 3^rd party teams that have created a new successful IP on the Wii and we love what Nintendo have begun with their controllers and creativity, so we will definitely remain dedicated to it on Just Dance 2.

Will Ubisoft release any titles other than JD2 in the Just Dance brand? Are you planning any Just Dance titles focusing on specific types of music? Or with a specific artist?

You never know; our focus at the moment is to launch Just Dance 2 and get everyone to Just Dance!

What are the key improvements for Just Dance 2?

We have added new game modes, new tracks, more tracks and of course new dance moves.  We have also polished and improved the iconic silhouettes of our dancers and visual feedback for the player.

One major improvement we have worked on is the detection system. We have really worked hard on providing an accessible and balanced experience so that great dancers with rhythm are rewarded for their moves, but so that people with 2 left feet can still have a chance!

Is the movement recognition more accurate than in JD1? How did you improve it?

Yes definitely. It takes into account many more different types and ways of moving, dancing, and handling the Wii Remotes. There is also more precision in the detection frames. It’s seamless for the consumer but there is a lot of work and know how on the technical side in order to enable the proper detection using only the Wii Remote.

Why doesn’t Just Dance 2 support WiiMotionPlus?

This is a game for everyone, we have been working with the Wii since the very beginning, and we have managed to optimise dance detection with just the Wiimote so we didn’t feel it was necessary.

How did you pick the songs for Just Dance 2?

Even if it seems like it might be simple this is one of the hardest tasks: to put together a good playlist that appeals to everyone. There are lot of ingredients and criteria that need to come together to make a strong playlist and also lot of hard work to get it done. Our objective is that when people are playing they feel as though they recognise each and every song and that it means something to everybody.

When the tracklist was created, the creative director really wanted to give players a huge variety of music: to choose hits from every music genre; make the tracklist more fun; make sure there are big beats; find the right balance between energy and melody, between songs with “must have” iconic moves and songs that just make you want to jump around; choose hits from today’s chart toppers whilst also including some good old classics… All these ingredients mixed together ensured there was something for everyone…

Will Just Dance 2 offer a left hand mode?

No, the mirror and detection is built based on the player holding the controller in their right hand. Our game is all about dancing and there is no difference between left or right-handed people when dancing, the only thing is you have to hold the controller in a specific hand!

Will Just Dance 2 offer a career mode with unlockable content?

No, the Just Dance philosophy is all about having fun from the start. Rather than having to build up to become a star we want you to feel like you already are one J

Will Just Dance 2 offer various levels of difficulty?

Every track has its own difficulty and specific moves, so you will need to build up to some of the more energetic tracks or more complex choreographies.

So the game doesn’t really offer different levels as in classical games, but our tracklist has been put together with this in mind. We have kept the short and long version option so you can warm up a little

On Just Dance 1 we could only dance to 32 songs, will there be a greater number of songs on Just Dance 2?

Yes, there will be 40 + songs as well as downloadable content.

Can you tell us more about downloading additional songs?

There will be access on the Just Dance 2 menu to the Wii shop where players will be able to buy and download new songs for the game.

Who are the choreographers for Just Dance 2? Why don’t you partner with any of the actual artists/choreographers?

One of the secrets of Just Dance is our choreography creation method. We are building our choreographies with lots of professional dancers, but there are a few other key people and methods that make our dances unique.

The lyrics will still appear on the screen; will the game support a microphone or video camera?

Not in Just Dance 2, otherwise we couldn’t call it Just Dance .

Do you plan to launch a version including the JD1 and the JD2 songs?

We plan to release the most popular JD1 songs through DLC.

Is the dancing game with MJ announced during the E3 press conference part of the Just Dance brand? Why?

There are definitely some common elements, and after all he is the king of pop and an incredible dancer, so JD was in so many ways inspired by the impact he had on the world of music and dance.