Rock Band Rules

[fredr123]

Fixed

Originally Posted by troutman

When I looked carefully, I realized I was having a party where people were sitting around playing video games. And, really, if you are going to play the game with a group of friends for more than a night, shouldn't you just form a real gang? There is something sad about the thought of four teenagers getting Grand Theft Auto for Christmas and spending all of their after-school time pretending to know how to kill people.

In the realm of fakery, I would choose Grand Theft Auto over CSI or over any of the other flimsy truths masquerading as crime dramas. With Grand Theft Auto, you can play as a car thief or a drug dealer and possibly find new ways of appreciating their artistry by being allowed to perform parallel to it. Grand Theft Auto puts you inside the guts of a crime.

[Kerplunk]

Originally Posted by JayP

You're definitely in the minority. The vast majority of people (from everything I've read on the internet) would agree that the Rock Band charts are far closer to the actual song than that of Guitar Hero 3. Guitar Hero 3 may be more difficult, but most of the time it's because they throw in random notes instead of following the song.

I think the main thing is the Rock Band focuses on the group as a whole, and Guitar Hero concentrates on....well....guitar.

Since GH has a single instrument they have to make it a challenge, so they toss in a few extra notes, change the fingering around, and toss it at you.

I've found that RB stays closer to the actual note chart than GH does, which in some cases makes it easier. But since the point is to play as a band, it doesn't really matter. Done with guitar? Go drums for a while and have the damn kick pedal sections smack you around.

I read an article somewhere that most of the people working at Harmonix are musicians, many in their own bands, and that when they come up with the fingering for guitar they try to keep it as close as possible to actual fingerings they would use while playing. I'll see if I can dig it up.

[MarchHare]

I think the main thing is the Rock Band focuses on the group as a whole, and Guitar Hero concentrates on....well....guitar.

Since GH has a single instrument they have to make it a challenge, so they toss in a few extra notes, change the fingering around, and toss it at you.

That theory would only work if Guitar Hero 1 and 2 were also as hard as GH3, but they are not. The real answer is that Harmonix (who made GH1, GH2, and Rock Band) knows how to make a notechart that is simultaneously both fun and challenging, but Neversoft (who made GH3) are a bunch of hacks who think excessive difficulty and unnatural notecharts makes for an enjoyable game. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, if you're in the 0.1% of players who can beat Through the Fire and Flames on Expert, I'm sure you'd prefer GH3. For everyone else, though, Rock Band is a much better game, even when making an apples-to-apples comparison and excluding the drums and vocals portions.

I read an article somewhere that most of the people working at Harmonix are musicians, many in their own bands, and that when they come up with the fingering for guitar they try to keep it as close as possible to actual fingerings they would use while playing. I'll see if I can dig it up.

This is true. Many of the Harmonix bands are featured in the bonus songs in Rock Band and GH1/2. IIRC both Freezepop and Bang Camero have members who worked on the game.

[LeftWing]

Originally Posted by guzzy

I have to disagree. I am guitar player and ... I find GH much more accurate and real.

You do realize you're talking about five plastic buttons and a flipper, right?

[guzzy]

Originally Posted by LeftWing

You do realize you're talking about five plastic buttons and a flipper, right?

You did comprehend that I said i found it more real...if not that means i found GH3 MORE real than rockband.

[Russic]

Can't we all just get along and admire the 84 Master tracks that have been announced for Rock Band 2?

[guzzy]

Originally Posted by Russic

Can't we all just get along and admire the 84 Master tracks that have been announced for Rock Band 2?

That setlist alone might convert me. Not too shabby.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by guzzy

That setlist alone might convert me. Not too shabby.

There are apparently 20 more songs that were meant to be on the disc but didn't make it, so harmonix will be releasing them as download content for free. Throw in dlc from rock band 1 and that makes for a pretty crazy huge # of songs to choose from.

[Saint Troy]

Sweet!!! I also read that the songs on the first disc will be transferable to the second game. Oh, and as mentioned above, Rock Band is a much better game than GH3, and Troutman, I'd get the XBOX 360 as Rockband will be out in september exclusively on that system.

updated http://www.rockband2.com/

[troutman]

Teenage Riot in Rock Band 2? That seals it - I want that game.

[JayP]

500 possible songs by the end of 2008 (Rock Band 1, RB1 DLC, Rock Band 2, and RB2 DLC) - that's pretty crazy. Good on Harmonix for making everything backward compatible.

Has anyone seen that electronic drum kit for Rock Band? I can't really look it up at work, but basically a major electronic drum kit maker cooked up a kit that has the 4 pads and 2 cymbols (mapped to red and green I believe). You can switch the brain in it so it can function like a normal electronic drum kit or your rock band drums.

[ShaolinFlame]

Originally Posted by JayP

Has anyone seen that electronic drum kit for Rock Band? I can't really look it up at work, but basically a major electronic drum kit maker cooked up a kit that has the 4 pads and 2 cymbols (mapped to red and green I believe). You can switch the brain in it so it can function like a normal electronic drum kit or your rock band drums.

I never got into the whole pretending I am playing music thing, but that is a great idea. At least if people get bored of their game they can try to play real music. Smart move developers. Is everything sold separate or together? How much are the drums?

Now when will my duckhunter pistol land me a pheasant?

[JayP]

Originally Posted by ShaolinFlame

I never got into the whole pretending I am playing music thing, but that is a great idea. At least if people get bored of their game they can try to play real music. Smart move developers. Is everything sold separate or together? How much are the drums?

Now when will my duckhunter pistol land me a pheasant?

Most of the info was posted on neoGAF, but that site is basically unusable right now due to E3.

I remember the price being $300 US - I don't know what that includes however. I'd strongly consider buying one if everything was sold together at that price.

[Flaming Choy]

Originally Posted by JayP

Most of the info was posted on neoGAF, but that site is basically unusable right now due to E3.

I remember the price being $300 US - I don't know what that includes however. I'd strongly consider buying one if everything was sold together at that price.

rock band 1 was about $180 when it came out, so i expect RB2 bundle to be the same. There is an optional $300 pro drum kit, which is essentially a digital drum kit that also works with rock band, looks pretty sweet too.

500 songs seems very large (how many songs are avaliable now? 200-250?) As a rough guess that's 250-300 DLC songs from now till the end of the year...

also read it has an exclusive time window on the 360 before the other systems. Seems like a bad idea to me as the new guitar hero is coming out at the same time and a lot of wii owners aren't too happy with the gimped version of RB1 they have.

[Bill Bumface]

That looks rediculously awesome... I can't believe it.

[JayP]

Originally Posted by Flaming Choy

500 songs seems very large (how many songs are avaliable now? 200-250?) As a rough guess that's 250-300 DLC songs from now till the end of the year...

Wikipedia says 214 songs as of July 1st. So add in the 4 DLC last week and The Who pack this week and you're at ~230. If what's been said in this thread is accurate, Rock Band 2 adds 84 tracks on disc + 20 free DLC. That leaves it at 334. They might have to step up DLC, but getting near 500 songs by 2009 shouldn't be too difficult.

[Flaming Choy]

Originally Posted by JayP

Wikipedia says 214 songs as of July 1st. So add in the 4 DLC last week and The Who pack this week and you're at ~230. If what's been said in this thread is accurate, Rock Band 2 adds 84 tracks on disc + 20 free DLC. That leaves it at 334. They might have to step up DLC, but getting near 500 songs by 2009 shouldn't be too difficult.

didn't realize there was that many songs available currently. That still leaves an average of 6-7 songs per week to hit the 500 mark, about double what is currently offered. Hope to see some good stuff in there.

[Russic]

From Kotaku:

The latest Game Informer's rocking a fairly extensive preview of the upcoming Rock Band 2. If you're up for a trip to the local newsagent (or wherever you Americans get your magazines), it's got the game's first screenshots, as well as a ton of information that may or may not be news to you. Pick of the lot, though, is information on the game's "new" drum kits. See, there's two. One's the "standard" kit, which looks a lot like the first game's drums, only now with a number of improvements, like new drum pads that generate "far less noise" (they're also "velocity sensitive"), slots to clip on cymbals (which will be sold separately) and a whopping great metal-reinforced pedal. But the other drums? Oh my. The "other" drums are new to Rock Band 2, and are called the Ion Drum kit, licensed in collaboration with drum manufacturers Ion. It'll be sold separately, and be sold for a lot, because it comes with three electronic cymbals, adjustable pads, what looks like a metal frame as well as the ability to unplug it from the game and use it as a real electronic drum kit. You know, for those who need their Phil Collins Halloween costumes to look just right.

[Bill Bumface]

Anyone tried this? http://andrewrudson.com

It allows you to hook up your drums to your PC and play/record your drumming skills. You can assign whatever drum samples you want to the pads as well.

I've realized I'm useless without scrolling colored bars, but it's fun none the less.

[Flaming Choy]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

Anyone tried this? http://andrewrudson.com

It allows you to hook up your drums to your PC and play/record your drumming skills. You can assign whatever drum samples you want to the pads as well.

I've realized I'm useless without scrolling colored bars, but it's fun none the less.

i tried it a while back, but as a crappy drummer i was lost on the drums without the scrolling color bars telling me what to hit next.