Rock Band Rules

[Flaming Choy]

next's weeks songs are out:

"This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race" - Fall Out Boy (160 MS Points / $2)
"Date With The Night" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (160 MS Points / $2)
"It Hurts" - Angels & Airwaves (160 MS Points / $2)
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/02/ro...ngels-and-air/

GH3 also has a rare DLC pack out, but it's awesome!

Now the British trio is getting even more time in the spotlight as Activision reveals a Muse track pack for GH III, featuring two songs from their Black Holes and Revelations album, "Exo-Politics" and "Supermassive Black Hole", along with "Stockholm Syndrome" off of Absolution. The pack will be available on May 8th for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

no word on pricing.

http://kotaku.com/386487/guitar-hero...isits-its-muse

[MaxPower]

That Muse pack looks pretty cool...

[JayP]

Guitar Hero gets Muse and Rock Band gets Fall Out Boy.

Brutal.

[Flaming Choy]

Originally Posted by JayP

Guitar Hero gets Muse and Rock Band gets Fall Out Boy.

Brutal.

yeah, those muse songs would be excellent additions to RB

[Flaming Choy]

double post, but it's sorta new news.

Wii owns will have DLC available, sorta. Can purchase additional song pack cds.
http://www.destructoid.com/rock-band...4668.phtml#ext

Also, Disturbed's new album will have download code for 2 new songs (meh).
http://www.destructoid.com/disturbed...al-84589.phtml

songs for 1/2 price.
http://majornelson.com/archive/2008/...ints-each.aspx

[Russic]

booooo . . . . guitar hero 4 is going all rock band on us.

http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/868/868193p1.html

cymbals on the drums and a redesigned guitar are good things in my eyes (I prefer the RB guitar), but I really like having one series devoted to the guitar and one to the band. Let's not forget the ample amount of space required that I no longer have for all the extra crap. Something tells me "I'm thinking of having two toy drum kits in the living room" wouldn't go over too well with my wife.

Song creator mode sounds pretty neat, but I would be shocked if it even worked decent (I'm a pessimist).

[Flaming Choy]

yeah, i wish all the instruments were compatible between both games.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Flaming Choy

yeah, i wish all the instruments were compatible between both games.

well the Rock Band producers specifically designed the game to allow GH guitars to be compatible, and when it first came out the RB guitar worked in GH3. but Activision released a patch to specifically block that, so blame them, they're the ones who don't want to share

[Gugstanley]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

well the Rock Band producers specifically designed the game to allow GH guitars to be compatible, and when it first came out the RB guitar worked in GH3. but Activision released a patch to specifically block that, so blame them, they're the ones who don't want to share

This is why I am abandoning GH because one can only have so many plastic instruments. If they would play nice I would continue to purchase both games.

[Flaming Choy]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

well the Rock Band producers specifically designed the game to allow GH guitars to be compatible, and when it first came out the RB guitar worked in GH3. but Activision released a patch to specifically block that, so blame them, they're the ones who don't want to share

I thought it didn't full work from the start (gh controllers worked on RB for xbox), and harmonix wanted to release a patch so ps3 owners could use their GH guitars for RB but activision blocked it.

Either way, yeah, activision sucks in this case (which is odd, most of the time EA is the crappy company)

[WhiteTom]

My understanding as well was that Activision was actively blocking a patch, from Harmonix, that would make the incompatible PS3 controllers compatible, the buggers.

As for GH4 having drums and vocals, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it turned out to be terrible, or at the very best a substitute for Rock Band. The reason Activision was able to get GH3 out was that all the infrastructure was already in place, and I would imagine the process of creating new tracks isn't too (relatively) arduous. I don't think that they have what it takes to make something that would be better than Rock Band since they are really just taking Harmonix's idea and trying to replicate it. Of course, we'll just have to see how that pans out.

[Flaming Choy]

only thing i think GH4 has going for it is with Activision and Vivendi Universal merging, they have a large library of music (Universal) that they can make exclusive to the GH series (too lazy to see which artists are covered).

*edit*

picture of the GH drum set.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/14/g...mbals-and-all/

looks like they're copying konami's setup:

[WhiteTom]

Originally Posted by Flaming Choy

picture of the GH drum set.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/14/g...mbals-and-all/

It looks like they are going with the strategy of making the game harder to master. I guess it worked for GH3, so why not.

Also on the music library thing, if I remember correctly, EA was partnered with MTV when they acquired Harmonix. So both of the big contenders have substantial libraries of music to draw from.

[Dan02]

I absolutely hate the RB guitar, i love the Wii GH3 guitar.

[Flames_Gimp]

GH guitars work with rockband right?

[TurnedTheCorner]

Activision has to be smart about this and understand that there is a substantial Rock Band install base on many platforms, and make the game compatible with the existing instruments. Definitely release a version of GHIV with all peripherals, because you will get new consumers who never had Rock Band gear. But ijncompatibility will drive away the core audience who would want GHIV but not want a duplicate set of faux instruments.

I found the GHIII guitar preferable at first, too. But since the Mrs. always uses it, I've come to enjoy the RB guitar. I like the strummer on it better, for sure.

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

GH guitars work with rockband right?

Yes.

[WhiteTom]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

GH guitars work with rockband right?

Only for the Xbox 360 at the moment, at my last recollection.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by WhiteTom

Only for the Xbox 360 at the moment, at my last recollection.

That is correct. Those of us with ps3's have been screwed over something fierce when it comes to peripherals.

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally Posted by WhiteTom

Only for the Xbox 360 at the moment, at my last recollection.

cool.. i can only use the explorer (white guitar from GH2).

[JayP]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

Activision has to be smart about this and understand that there is a substantial Rock Band install base on many platforms, and make the game compatible with the existing instruments. Definitely release a version of GHIV with all peripherals, because you will get new consumers who never had Rock Band gear. But ijncompatibility will drive away the core audience who would want GHIV but not want a duplicate set of faux instruments.

That's the key here.

I'd buy the software for both games in a second if the peripherals were compatible, but I'd have to stick with Rock Band 2 if Activision thinks I'm not only buying another guitar/drum kit, but thinks I have room to fit all the stuff in my living room.

Are there any third party drum kits out yet? I know Nyko just released a guitar that was supposed to be compatible with both games for PS3, but I don't even know if it's worth buying or not. If there are third party drums/guitars available it might be smart to try and sell off Rock Band and simply buy the third party instruments and pick up the software separately.