Guitar Hero? --- Heck NO!!! --- Rock Band FTW!

[versapak]

I have been a huge fan of Guitar Hero since the first second I played the original one standing in Best Buy 2 years ago.

It is now nothing to me.

Rock Band is THAT much better.


I can't really speak for any of the solo play yet, but the co-op play is some of the most fun I have ever had in local multiplayer, and even in Guitar Hero III single player isn't really all that great.

These games are definitely best played with company, and on this site, there is no doubt many of us that remember when multiplayer was all about several of us sitting around the same console.

All those great times...

Rock Band brings it all back in a very amazing way.


My son is only 8, and it is pretty tough to find games that we can both play together where we are each getting a full experience (Too complicated for him, not complicated enough for me, etc...). This was never even remotely an issue in Rock Band, because each player picks their own difficulty to play at, but there is never a feeling that they aren't able to contribute their all.

Even my 9 year old daughter, who usually hates video gaming, is able to get in on all the fun, because she happens to love Karaoke.

[ChadTower]

Heh... sounds great.  We just got to multiplayer gaming in our house (kids are 8 and 6), so the group around a console is new for us.  Because of their ages we're playing mostly on the N64, games like Mario Party and Mario Kart.  Good times now that the younger one actually finishes races rather than just driving around randomly.

[shmokes]

I hope it comes out for Wii.  I'm dying to play it, and I don't see a PS3 or 360 in my immediate future.  I've actually still never played Guitar Hero.

[ChadTower]

I hope it comes out for Wii.  I'm dying to play it, and I don't see a PS3 or 360 in my immediate future.  I've actually still never played Guitar Hero.

I've only played the arcade version of Guitar Hero (can't remember the name).  One of these days I'm going to get off my wallet and pick up a copy of GH and the guitar.

[AtomSmasher]

I hope it comes out for Wii.  I'm dying to play it, and I don't see a PS3 or 360 in my immediate future.  I've actually still never played Guitar Hero.

I love Guitar Hero, but I'm in the same boat as you hoping it comes out for the Wii.  I keep thinking I'll eventually get a PS3 or 360, but I never do and probably won't for some time.

[ChadTower]

I seem to remember both of you saying in the past you had PS2s... I know shmokes has one.

[versapak]

I seem to remember both of you saying in the past you had PS2s... I know shmokes has one.

...and Rock Band is available for the PS2.


Though I doubt that one supports any of the downloadable content, which is one thing that is going to keep this game going for quite some time in my house.

[AtomSmasher]

I seem to remember both of you saying in the past you had PS2s... I know shmokes has one.

I do have a PS2 and I have every copy of Guitar Hero there is (1, 2, 80's encore, and 3).  When I said I was in the same boat as shmokes, I was refering to him saying he hopes it comes out for the Wii.  

Wait, you could be saying that Rock Band is coming out for the PS2.  I didn't think they would release it on the last gen console, which is why I assumed the Wii was my best chance to play it.  Is it coming out for the PS2?

*addition: since versapak responded while I was typing this*  Awesome, I had no idea it was coming out for the ps2.

[versapak]

It comes out a little later (next month), but it is $10 cheaper.


http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=281841



[EDIT]

Actually... Release date isn't announced yet, so...

It is coming though.

[shmokes]

I know shmokes has one.

Nope . . . I've never owned a PS2.  I only had an Xbox and Gamecube in the last generation.  That's one of the main draws of the PS3 for me, cos I missed out on a few crazy good games like Shadow of the Colossus and Ico and God of War (of course, it looks like backwards compatibility is on the chopping block so it may become a non-issue).  Wii is my only hope.

[ChadTower]

So all this time you've been arguing the mass of quality games on the PS2 without ever having owned one?   

[RTSDaddy2]

Having just seen the drum set in use on Sunday, I thought "Cool!" and my next thought was "Where's the Wii version?"  I didn't learn until later that the drums were only a part of the whole picture.

I've not played it yet, but I am estatic as a musician and educator that efforts like Rock Band and Guitar Hero are successes.  Kudos to those of you who share this with  your kids. 

[Wiibound]

I was really disappointed that GH3 had basically NO innovation or evolution other than those guitar battle thingies..

I mean good lord they need to get the ball rolling on some new features with GH3

[ChadTower]

Question... are there modes where you can play with only a couple, or even one, of the instruments?  If you only have two people present, can you choose which instruments to use and play with just those two? 

[shardian]

Question... are there modes where you can play with only a couple, or even one, of the instruments?  If you only have two people present, can you choose which instruments to use and play with just those two? 

Yes.

[ChadTower]

Cool.  I could see playing with the kids, but they're young, so they wouldn't do so well... but no one would want to sing, pretty much ever. 

Plotting it out a bit, just in case, maybe Santa brings a 360.

[versapak]

Cool.  I could see playing with the kids, but they're young, so they wouldn't do so well... but no one would want to sing, pretty much ever. 

Plotting it out a bit, just in case, maybe Santa brings a 360.

Yeah, you can choose between guitar, drums, vocals, or bass, and you can have anywhere from 1 to 4 people playing.

The drums are the hardest thing to play. My son can manage to stay in the songs on easy with them, but my daughter pretty much...

Well, my daughter sings.


The bass guitar is no doubt the easiest instrument part in most cases.

The vocals can actually be pretty darn easy on easy. My 4 year old is actually able to finish "Blitzkrieg Bop" on easy vocals.

[shmokes]

Chad, difficulty level is per instrument, too.  So, unlike most games that you play with your small kids where it's either way too easy for you, or way too hard for them, you can play together and the whole gang has a ball.

Also . . . yeah.  I've played PS2, you know a couple dozen times.  But most of my arguments against PS2 bashers was based on objective data and common sense.  PS1 is another story, though, and I'm thinking that you might be combining separate PS1 and PS2 arguments.  I'm pretty sure I remember a PS2 one after you mentioned that you got one and ditched it like a week later, but I've had to defend PS1 against the Nintendo fanboys loads of times (and I am a Nintendo fanboy).  I did own a PS1.

[shardian]

Just curious, how does the microphone thing work?

[ChadTower]

Chad, difficulty level is per instrument, too.  So, unlike most games that you play with your small kids where it's either way too easy for you, or way too hard for them, you can play together and the whole gang has a ball.

That is a key thing to know.  Cool.

[versapak]

Just curious, how does the microphone thing work?

Have you ever played Karaoke Revolution?


It is pretty much ripped straight from those games. You have a pitch line that scrolls with the words, and you need to time your words and pitch accordingly.

On easy it is not very strict and you can fake your way through a lot of it by just throwing anything out trying to match the pitch. On Expert you better know what your singing, and how to do it.

[Dartful Dodger]

I was planning on buying a Wii after Christmas. Until I played Rock Band.

A friend of mine bought it for his PS3 last weekend.  We were up until 3am Saturday, and until 2am New Years eve.  It was 12:30 when we realized we missed the New Year countdown.

He downloaded a few Metallica songs on Sunday, and when we were playing the Tour Bus competition it made us play 2 of them.  My eyes were tearing like faucets. I thought those songs would never end.  We assumed the harder songs get unlocked as you go, but since he bought the more difficult songs they ended up in our playlist.  He’s promised not to buy any new songs until we’re better at the game.

My current system is a PS1. The sound is going in it so I figured it’s time to upgrade.  The Wii was my first choice because it’s a great group gamming system that's easy to play and it’s a one size fits all console.  Now that I’ve seen the light I’m going to get a PS3.  I haven’t spent any time looking into the PS3 so I don’t know what I need.  I’m only going to be playing Rock band and first person shooters on it.  Is the 80 gig necessary, or can I get the smaller/cheaper PS3? 

Friday is payday and the voices in my head are screaming for Rock Band.  Thanks for any advice.

[ahofle]

So what's the word on it coming to the Wii?  The only articles I can find are 6+ months old and most of them saying it's definitely coming for Wii.

On a side note, I attended a similar new years eve party as Dartful but we all played GH3 on the Wii (first time I've ever played one of those games).  It was a blast.  I am totally loving this trend of games that normal women like to play.

We also played a little of that Mario and Sonic Olympics game.  Man that game is a total wank fest.  Most events have you jerking the wimote up and down and in some cases forward and backwards.  Needless to say the women all went into the other room at that point.  I won most of the events, probably because I have been married the longest of the group. 

[ChadTower]

I need more playtime on GH, I think... the only person I know that has it is my brother in law, and every time we try to play, his father starts yelling to put the Sox' 2004 World Series DVDs back in.

[shardian]

I got GHIII and two guitars for Christmas. The wife bugged me all week to play it with her. She absolutely loves it. It is really neat that each person can pick their difficulty, and can pick from  guitar or bass parts.

The guitar battle thing is kinda silly though. It took me a while to get the battle down pat to beat the first solo player battle. I also played the wife in a few, and she was able to beat me while I was on medium and her on easy. I thought that was kind of screwy that she had already earned an attack before my harder part had even offered me a chance to get one.

I was disappointed by how short the game appears to be. We "beat" the game, and there was only like 5 cut scenes total.

[SirPoonga]

Here's a review I did for someone

I picked up Rock Band this last weekend, just the game.  I love it.  Over Christmas I played Guitar Hero with my sister.  She liked it and she came up with the same conclusion I did, GH2 is better than GH3 yet the songs in GH3 are better.  GH2 is not so difficult that you have fun playing it.  GH3 is more difficult and requires much more concentration.  I do not find that as much fun.  I can't relax and groove with the songs like in GH2.

I  heard Rock Band was similar to GH2 in difficulty.  I picked it up last weekend and now I don't know if I will touch Guitar Hero again.  Rock Band is almost perfect.  The note mapping and song selection is awesome.  The downloadable songs are great.  The only thing I wish Rock Band had was a play comparison at the end of the song like GH2.

I like the game mechanics of Rock Band.  Having an obvious solo section is cool.  The rock ending is neat, wish I had the les paul for that.  The hammer on and pull offs are a little harder to recognize though.  I also like hte presentation of Rock Band.  The globe to navigate cities.  During the song it feels like you are at a concert more than Guitar Hero.

Chad, to expand on some of your questions.  From what I can tell if you use the 360 version you can have guests.  This means if you have a guitar and drums setup you can have a friend or family member join you with online play.

You don't need all of the instruments to play.  I use my wireless GH3 controller.  From the sounds of it many people prefer that controller anyway.  But there are also people who love the les paul.  The unanimous complaint about the les paul is the strum bar doesn't feel the same as previous guitar controllers.

You can use a 360 headset or any usb mic for the mic.  For the 360 headset it needs to be on it's own controller, you can't plug it into the guitar and use it as a game mic.

The DLC for Rock Band is cheaper than GH3, and I think it is better.

One reason I think Rock Band's songs are better is because they had to pick song people would have fun singing.  So this means songs that many people know or songs that are catchy and easy to learn.  I can put the game on random and like what I get.  There are only a couple of songs I will skip.

I wish there was a bass solo tour.  So, since I play bass in real life I would like to play bass in the game.  The only way to play bass is either world tour or online.  That means if I want to customize a bass player profile I need to play solo tour as something else.  Stupid.

NSFW - This video review of GH3 sums up my feelings as compared to previous GHs.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation/2716-Zero-Punctuation-Guitar-Hero-III

[SirPoonga]

shardian - there are 63 songs in solo tour for Rock Band.  I am not sure if that counts the bonus tracks or not.  Also there is currently about 20+ songs to download.

I forgot to add another thing.  You can sort the song list in Rock Band.  You can sort it by difficulty, alphabetically by song name, alphabetically by group name, and by genre.

[versapak]

shardian - there are 63 songs in solo tour for Rock Band.  I am not sure if that counts the bonus tracks or not.  Also there is currently about 20+ songs to download.

I forgot to add another thing.  You can sort the song list in Rock Band.  You can sort it by difficulty, alphabetically by song name, alphabetically by group name, and by genre.

and by decade.

[pointdablame]

Just a note in case it confuses anyone (and because I have OCD)

SirPoonga talks about the "les paul" from Rock Band having a different strum bar.  The Les Paul is actually the Guitar Hero 3 guitar and is (for most purposes) identical to the first bunch of GH guitars.  The rock band guitar is a Fender Stratocaster and is larger than any GH guitar, has the different strum bar, and has the set of solo buttons.

And yes, it seems like most people have a very strong feeling about the new strat.  People seem to love it or hate it with no in between.  I personally love it and thnk its the best way to play either GH or Rock Band and I think the new softer strum bar is fantastic.  Once the wireless version comes out, I'll probably consider it the perfect guitar for these games.

[versapak]

Just a note in case it confuses anyone (and because I have OCD)

SirPoonga talks about the "les paul" from Rock Band having a different strum bar.  The Les Paul is actually the Guitar Hero 3 guitar and is (for most purposes) identical to the first bunch of GH guitars.  The rock band guitar is a Fender Stratocaster and is larger than any GH guitar, has the different strum bar, and has the set of solo buttons.

And yes, it seems like most people have a very strong feeling about the new strat.  People seem to love it or hate it with no in between.  I personally love it and thnk its the best way to play either GH or Rock Band and I think the new softer strum bar is fantastic.  Once the wireless version comes out, I'll probably consider it the perfect guitar for these games.

I agree.

A lot of the problem with the strum bar was that there was an actual design flaw with the initial batch of Strat controllers, and the strum bar is now an entirely different mechanism (went from leaf switches to magnetic ones).


I prefer the flush fret buttons in a big way, and really like the solo buttons and effect toggling.

I can't wait for the wireless.

[Zero_Hour]

I haven’t spent any time looking into the PS3 so I don’t know what I need.  I’m only going to be playing Rock band and first person shooters on it.  Is the 80 gig necessary, or can I get the smaller/cheaper PS3? 

Friday is payday and the voices in my head are screaming for Rock Band.  Thanks for any advice.

The 80 Gig is really only necessary if you plan on picking up PS2 games for it, as the 40 Gig version does not support any backwards compatibility. The 40 Gig also has fewer USB ports - don't know if that impacts Rock Band or not.

I Just Picked up GHIII and am loving it (never played any of the others), if I had anyone who actually came over to game, Rock Band would be on my must list for sure.

[shardian]

Anyone else happen to watch Conan Obrien last night? He had a segment where he passed the time during the break carrying around a portable amp and annoying the hell out of staffers by playing right next to them the same riff over and over.
He then walked in on a group playing rock band and joined in playing for real. I thought that scene was hilarious. To tell the truth, I found the show to actually be funnier without the writers. I supposed that won't last though.

[ChadTower]

Is he allowed to write his own stuff during the strike?  He's probably a better writer than anyone on his staff.  Nevermind his SNL stuff - dude wrote the Simpsons episode about the Monorail.  That right there makes him a legend in my eyes.

[shardian]

That's the thing I don't get about the NBC guys. They "claim" they aren't writing anything. Leno did a monologue with "jokes he had written beforehand".
Technically, Conan did a monologue discussing his beard (which is so wrong it is right BTW). However, someone had to "write" the idea to do the camera action that they did to make it funny. I think the writers guild is witholding judgement on Leno and Conan, but they could decide to blacklist them if they deem they crossed the writing line.

[ChadTower]

What exactly is the "writing line"?  I mean, dude is out there on live TV - he has to do something.  If he's not one of the "writers" then he should be able to "write" his own content just fine.  He is one of the best there is - and he should be able to step in to keep his show going when his employees are on strike.  That's what happens in any other business. 

[shardian]

What exactly is the "writing line"?  I mean, dude is out there on live TV - he has to do something.  If he's not one of the "writers" then he should be able to "write" his own content just fine.  He is one of the best there is - and he should be able to step in to keep his show going when his employees are on strike.  That's what happens in any other business. 

He's a member of the writers guild. If he so much as lifts a pen, he can be kicked out and that qualifies him as being blacklisted. You could say " who cares, he is locked down for the Leno gig". The studio could rethink that one considering the show would be boycotted by most big name celebrity guests.

[ChadTower]

I wasn't talking about Leno, just to be clear.  Leno is a big pile of suck with runny camel ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- on top.  I was talking about Conan.

Of course, I haven't watched Conan more than twice in the past 18 months, so it really doesn't impact me at all.  The primary written TV I watch still has all of its writers in full swing and is unaffected by the strike.

[shardian]

I wasn't talking about Leno, just to be clear.  Leno is a big pile of suck with runny camel ---Cleveland steamer--- on top.  I was talking about Conan.

Of course, I haven't watched Conan more than twice in the past 18 months, so it really doesn't impact me at all.  The primary written TV I watch still has all of its writers in full swing and is unaffected by the strike.

I wasn't talking about Leno either. NBC made a deal that they are kicking Leno out by the end of 2009 and that Conan will immediately take over the "Tonight Show". They had to make the deal because Conan was going to jump ship.

Oh, and I haven't watched Conan regularly since Andy Richter was his co-host if that tells you anything. I still do the "in the year 2000" schitck with the wife and she has no clue what I am talking about.

[ChadTower]

Ah.  I'm still trying to figure out why pro wrestling writers aren't in the union.  Just the WWE writers alone produce 2 live hours and 3 pretaped hours of content every week.

[Cakemeister]

I have the red guitar for the PS2 and the white guitar for the 360. I like the red guitar's strum bar much better. GH3 for the two platforms plays pretty much the same. If you are a Bret Michaels or Poison fan he is on the 360 version but not the PS2 version, although he did the singer's motion capture. Haven't played Rock Band yet.

[Dervacumen]

The Wii was my first choice because it’s a great group gamming system that's easy to play and it’s a one size fits all console.  Now that I’ve seen the light I’m going to get a PS3.

Based on your preferences to play Rock Band, FPS, and group gaming, I'd say if you had to buy one or another right now the PS3 is the best choice.  I do think, however, that in about a year you'd wish you purchased the Wii.  I think developers have taken note of the control scheme and it will truly be a Revolution for gaming.  And Nintendo is very good at staying at the top of the crest.

[AtomSmasher]

Anyone else happen to watch Conan Obrien last night? He had a segment where he passed the time during the break carrying around a portable amp and annoying the hell out of staffers by playing right next to them the same riff over and over.
He then walked in on a group playing rock band and joined in playing for real. I thought that scene was hilarious. To tell the truth, I found the show to actually be funnier without the writers. I supposed that won't last though.

I just happened to come across the video, the guitar part starts about 1/2 way into it.
http://www.videosift.com/video/Conan-OBrien-Back-With-a-Beard-and-a-Guitar

[Daniel270]

I kinda like the idea that when the shows are more "spontaneous", they're actually better than when they're scripted....  very much like the videos were in America's Funniest Home video (sans voice-over dubbing)...

[shardian]

I just happened to come across the video, the guitar part starts about 1/2 way into it.
http://www.videosift.com/video/Conan-OBrien-Back-With-a-Beard-and-a-Guitar

Cool. I looked everywhere for the video when I first posted, but it wasn't online yet.

[Howard_Casto]

Ah.  I'm still trying to figure out why pro wrestling writers aren't in the union.  Just the WWE writers alone produce 2 live hours and 3 pretaped hours of content every week.

I *think* the wga only applies to network television.  Attack of the show also does a daily live broadcast and they aren't on strike either.  Then again, in terms of the wwe, I don't think they have had formal writers in years.  They have guys who write stuff like "HHH complains about something for 20 minutes" but actual lines aren't written down.  So it's doubtful they have union writers.  Heck, dusty rhodes is one of the head writers now and I'm not even sure if he can read, much less write a full script. 

[AtomSmasher]

Looks like Jay Leno is getting in trouble with the WGA
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/jay-leno-could-face-disciplinary/story.aspx?guid={9FD693C4-62EB-4787-A6A3-F122392AE614}&dist=hplatest

[ChadTower]

I *think* the wga only applies to network television. 

If it helps, Smackdown has been on network television for many years.

[Howard_Casto]

I know the cw/upn/wb/whatever claims it's a network as to if it actually is or not, I dunno. 

Serously though I had forgotten about that, so I guess our answer is that either their writers are non-union, or they don't exist.

[shardian]

WWE is an in-house company. No unions at all.

Besides, who else would hire a WWE writer anyways?

[ChadTower]

Oh they're definitely nonUnion, probably because Vince would fire them instantly if they tried to be union.  That and the writers change at his and his daughter's whim.

It is an interesting question, though, as when they publish job listings for writers they usually have requirements of having written for television in the past.  I wonder if they're requiring that those people leave the union.

[Dartful Dodger]

Tips for RockBand:

To silence the drums I've used this do it yourself:

Time for Rock Band Arts & Crafts

This helped A LOT!

One change to the fix though...
the author says:

Four sheets of 9" x 12" self-adhesive foam rubber, any color

This isn't true.  I used black the first time and it made the yellow felt look dirty.  I redid it in white and that looks great.

I've also made the white foam fit snuggly inside the rim of the drums and made the felt bigger, so it over covered the inside lip of the drums.
Like the author says make paper templates and test fit it.

has anyone tried to play with practice drumsticks ( the ones with rubber tips)?

I want to know what size/brand and how well they work.

[shardian]

I finally played Rock Band at Best Buy the other day and I have to say, I like the guitar ALOT better than the wireless ones I have for PS2. The buttons and strum bar are spring loaded or something and just feel better, you know? The length of the guitar was much more comfortable also.

[Cakemeister]

Woot! The wife got me Rock Band for my birthday! (360 version)

My thoughts:

I like the Strat's strum bar. There's a ridge on it that helps prevent slips. I much prefer it to the white guitar that came with GH3 for the 360. I don't really care one way or the other about the flush fret buttons.

IMO the song selection is very weak compared to GH3.

The fun factor is definitely there. It's something the whole family can enjoy.

[somunny]

Tips for RockBand:

To silence the drums I've used this do it yourself:

Time for Rock Band Arts & Crafts

This helped A LOT!

One change to the fix though...
the author says:

Four sheets of 9" x 12" self-adhesive foam rubber, any color

This isn't true.  I used black the first time and it made the yellow felt look dirty.  I redid it in white and that looks great.

I've also made the white foam fit snuggly inside the rim of the drums and made the felt bigger, so it over covered the inside lip of the drums.
Like the author says make paper templates and test fit it.

has anyone tried to play with practice drumsticks ( the ones with rubber tips)?

I want to know what size/brand and how well they work.

I used this tutorial and modified my drum set last weekend.  Adequately reduced the noise, which I found distracting when playing.  Anyway, I used red, blue, yellow and green felt to match the corresponding button colors and found everything I needed at the local Michael's.

[Dartful Dodger]

I used this tutorial and modified my drum set last weekend.  Adequately reduced the noise, which I found distracting when playing.  Anyway, I used red, blue, yellow and green felt to match the corresponding button colors and found everything I needed at the local Michael's.

It made the drums quiter, but I want them silent.  It’s distracting when you can’t hear the song’s drums.  I'm going to pick up some practice drum sticks from guitar center this weekend.  Two weeks ago I had to buy replacement sticks because the ones that came with the game started to widdle down to sharp points(this was before I added the foam and felt).  I was going to ask the guy at Guitar Center what he would suggest, but when I got there and saw all the real drummers playing the drums I felt foolish about asking about drum sticks for a video game, so I just bought a pair that looked good. Practice drum sticks have rubber tips, I'm not sure if they are going to soften the blows to the point where they stop registering though, I'll let you know after I get  them.

Don't download the Metallica pack.  It takes a while to unlock Metallica’s Sandman, but for good reason, those songs are hard to play on easy and if you download them they are automatically unlocked and the program will always pick them when it randomly picks songs.

Juke Box Hero, My Sharona and the Last Train to Clarksville are worth downloading.

[ChadTower]

[AtomSmasher]

Looks like Rock Band has officially been confirmed for the Wii, although it won't be released for another year and there no word if it will have downloadable content.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6185448.html?part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6185448

[ahofle]

A year?! 
I imagine its release day will be about as climactic as the PC Halo 2 release.

[shmokes]

I find it difficult to believe, or at least to understand, why in god's name it would take a year.  A dedicated team could put it together from scratch in a year.  They already have the vast majority of resources in place.  The PS2 version is already out.  That's 95% of the artwork, the songs, etc. etc.  And, surely they've already been working on it before now.  I can't imagine the brisk sales of the Wii could have gone unnoticed by EA over the last year.

Let me be the first to say, though, thank you god in heaven for this.  Rock Band and GTA IV are the two games that I was planning to be ultra depressed about not being able to play over the next year or two.  Restraints on my free time and finances make getting a PS3 before then virtually impossible.  But if Rock Band is out for the Wii by August or December I can hope for it as a birthday or Christmas present.  We shall see.

BTW,it will have downloadable content.  If Guitar Hero III hadn't already been released for the Wii, maybe up to a year earlier than Rock Band, EA might be able to get away with leaving that feature out.  But if Guitar Hero can do DLC on the Wii, there's no reason Rock Band can't.  Color me excited.

[spookymuffin]

Isn't Gutar Hero for the Wii only one player? I heard that somewhere, or that you couldn't buy an extra guitar or something.

[ahofle]

It supports coop and head to head play, but currently no one sells a separate stand alone guitar controller.  So for now you'll need to know someone else with the game and use their guitar.  With the Wii's success going on well over a year now, I simply can't believe that these gaming companies are so fricking retarded at this point.  Are they deliberately trying not to make money? 

[versapak]

It supports coop and head to head play, but currently no one sells a separate stand alone guitar controller.  So for now you'll need to know someone else with the game and use their guitar.  With the Wii's success going on well over a year now, I simply can't believe that these gaming companies are so fricking retarded at this point.  Are they deliberately trying not to make money? 

Well...


It isn't like it is some Wii specific problem. You can't buy an extra Guitar Hero III Les Paul controller for any system yet.


The other systems simply have the advantage of prior Guitar Hero releases.

[Dartful Dodger]

The Wii is for families with small children. 
The majority of songs currently in Rockband aren’t suitable for preteens.  It’s probably going to take EA a year to replace all those songs with songs from Hanna Montana and High School Musical.

[AtomSmasher]

The Wii is for families with small children. 
The majority of songs currently in Rockband aren’t suitable for preteens.  It’s probably going to take EA a year to replace all those songs with songs from Hanna Montana and High School Musical.

[chopps]

finally played this tonight... awesome game.. so much fun..   

[Cakemeister]

Well, I've finished the solo tours on expert difficulty on vocals and guitar, and medium difficulty on drums. Currently I'm working on hard difficulty on drums.

What a fun game! Although it's quite a bit easier than Guitar 2 and 3. The hardest guitar song is Green Grass and High Tides, which is slightly easier than Free Bird in difficulty. There were a couple of vocal songs which were tough only because I don't know them.

I played a couple of songs on expert vocals and expert guitar at the same time. I could only do that on songs I know. (Run to the Hills, Tom Sawyer, the Who song) That's fun, too.

[shmokes]

I wish I could do that.  I really love singing, but I'm pretty awful.  I have Karaoke Revolution on my Xbox, and if I set the judging to easy, I can do well (even scored a perfect score on Twist and Shout), but if I put it to anything realistic . . . . oh the humanity!  My voice is not so good, unfortunately.  What can you do about bad genes? 

Sad thing is, if I'm bad, my wife is awful, so my poor little girl has no hope at all.

[Cakemeister]

Hehe, I don't sing. I either hum or squeal.

The kids laugh at the "eeeee--oooooo-aaaaaaaaa" coming from the family room, but it is effective.

[Dartful Dodger]

Hehe, I don't sing. I either hum or squeal.

The kids laugh at the "eeeee--oooooo-aaaaaaaaa" coming from the family room, but it is effective.

lol!

I can't control my pitch at all.  I'm the worst, I get booed off on Country Karaoke PS2 within seconds of the song, and it’s one of my favorite songs.  (Toby Keith’s; As good as I Once Was).
I've done pretty well with Rockband's vocals on easy by "eeeee--oooooo-aaaaaaaaa"-ing too.  I live alone but the thought of my neighbor’s walking by and hearing me “singing” has stopped me from going too far on it.

Playing most guitar songs on hard is impossible for me. I’ve started to lose my patience with the game.  I was thinking you'd have to spend hours memorizing the patterns before you could be any good and that doesn’t sound fun.

 Is that what you've done?  Memorize finger patterns or can you actually hit the buttons as you see them?

I think my guitar is screwed up too, my up strokes don’t consistently hit so I’ve gotten use to playing with just using down which makes my fingers numb during those long streaks of repetitive notes.

[ChadTower]

I was thinking you'd have to spend hours memorizing the patterns before you could be any good and that doesn’t sound fun.

That's how you actually play music, yes?

[shardian]

I was thinking you'd have to spend hours memorizing the patterns before you could be any good and that doesn’t sound fun.

That's how you actually play music, yes?

 

I can sight play all the medium songs on GH3, but the difficulty level ramps up thru the roof from medium to hard. I'm usually out within seconds on hard the first time I see it. That is why they put in the practice mode where you can slow the song down.

I keep telling my wife we need to deck out in 80's hair band outfits, memorize a hair band song, then make a video like we used to do when we were kids.

[ChadTower]

[Dartful Dodger]

I was thinking you'd have to spend hours memorizing the patterns before you could be any good and that doesn’t sound fun.

That's how you actually play music, yes?

No.  You memorize the music and play the cords that make that make it.

The buttons aren’t making the same music, so you can’t anticipate the next button.

Playing music is like talking.  To speak you don't have to memroize the letetr odrer in evrey wrod you say.

[ChadTower]

No.  You memorize the music and play the cords that make that make it.

It's not all chords.

[Cakemeister]

Playing most guitar songs on hard is impossible for me. I’ve started to lose my patience with the game.  I was thinking you'd have to spend hours memorizing the patterns before you could be any good and that doesn’t sound fun.

 Is that what you've done?  Memorize finger patterns or can you actually hit the buttons as you see them?

I think my guitar is screwed up too, my up strokes don’t consistently hit so I’ve gotten use to playing with just using down which makes my fingers numb during those long streaks of repetitive notes.

I just hit the buttons as I see them. I don't memorize anything. I tried playing in performance mode (note chart off) and it was really tough! It took a few hours just to pass "Strutter" on hard difficulty in performance mode.

I find that I can't look at both the vocal and the guitar parts at the same time, so the only songs I can play both parts on are songs that are either familiar or easy.

I only use up-strumming where it is obviously necessary

[Dartful Dodger]

I just hit the buttons as I see them. I don't memorize anything.

...

I only use up-strumming where it is obviously necessary

You're only saying that so I’ll waste more hours of my life trying to solve it on hard.  ...and now I will.

Can you play any song on expert?   ...consistently?

When I've played online and the other guy is playing on expert I half believe it's an EA trick and he's really just an AI getting a barrage of random colors because at the end of the song this AI always gets a 98%.

[AtomSmasher]

I just hit the buttons as I see them. I don't memorize anything.

...

I only use up-strumming where it is obviously necessary

You're only saying that so I’ll waste more hours of my life trying to solve it on hard.  ...and now I will.

Can you play any song on expert?   ...consistently?

When I've played online and the other guy is playing on expert I half believe it's an EA trick and he's really just an AI getting a barrage of random colors because at the end of the song this AI always gets a 98%.

Well I don't know about Rock Band since I don't have it yet, but I can 5 star most of the songs on Expert in all of the Guitar Heroes and I don't memorize any of them either and I only strum down unless it is a really fast section.  When I played through Guitar Hero 3, I actually 5 stared almost half of the expert songs on my first try.  To be fair though, there are still 3 songs on expert that I can't even come close to beating.

[Cakemeister]

Personally I prefer playing hard to playing expert, but my daughter gave me some comment like, "If you were cool you'd play expert like my friends do.", so now I have to play expert.

There are a couple of songs on each game, (other than Rock Band) that give me trouble, and a few I can't pass. (Jordan, Six, Play With Me, Raining Blood, One, Take This Life, a couple others on GH3) I usually get 5 stars on the first few tiers and 3 stars on the last few tiers.

There's one song that (Through the Fire and Flames) I fail in about 3 seconds every time.

[AtomSmasher]

There's one song that (Through the Fire and Flames) I fail in about 3 seconds every time.

Haha ya, thats about how long I make it into that song too.

[pointdablame]

Rock Band as a whole is much easier than Guitar Hero 3.  I sight read all Rock Band and Guitar Hero songs and its rare to find a song that I can't beat (though possibly poorly) on the first time.  Most of the songs mentioned are rough for me too heh.  TtFaF is so hard... I can' get to about 45% though, not that that is anything to brag about.

You definitely do not need to memorize patterns to complete songs on Hard or Expert.  It may just be more difficult for you, or you might not have played hundreds of hours of all the Guitar Hero games like nerds like me 

[shmokes]

 I get booed off on Country Karaoke

If it's any consolation, I'd be booing you if you sounded just like the originals.  Hmm . . . especially if you sounded just like the originals. 

[RecycledPast]

My 2 cents...
I've owned GH1 & 2 for the PS2, GH3 for 360 and RB for 360.

Rockband blows GH out of the water, it improves upon just about everything.

* I like how the RB guitar has a little lip so when you slide your hand down to the orange button you know when to stop.
* There are tons of little differences that make RB better.  You could spend all day just designing your band logo or tattoos for you body. 
* I like that they put your band name all over the place,  on the side of a bus on the loading screen, and on the big screen behind you when your on stage. 
*You can get additional "star power" while your in the middle of using star power, in GH once you initiate star power all star power notes disappear.
* The "tour" theme gives you lots of mini goals instead of just one big one of finishing the game as in GH.
* The graphics look a lot better in RB then GH, I like how they freeze frame each band member with their name right before you play.
* I like how you can bring a failed member back from the dead with star power.

GH for the 360 has dropped the ball in DLC, RB has ripped my wallet open.

My wife got frustrated with GH but she loves singing when I play RB, which means I get to play a whole lot more since she gets to participate.

[AtomSmasher]

* I like how the RB guitar has a little lip so when you slide your hand down to the orange button you know when to stop.

I just picked up Rock Band for the 360 and I haven't been able to play it yet since my 360 is still in the mail from the store, but I just had to say how much cooler the Rock Band guitar is over the guitars for the PS2 versions of Guitar Hero 1 & 2.  I'm in awe of how great it looks.

[Level42]

Mmmmm, I doubt it beats Samba d'Amigo. But then, I'm a percussionist/drummer

[versapak]

Mmmmm, I doubt it beats Samba d'Amigo. But then, I'm a percussionist/drummer

Then I assure you it absolutely beats Samba d'Amigo.

You are aware that one of the biggest features of Rock Band is drumming right?

You only have 4 pads and a kick, but on expert you are hitting every beat of the actual songs, plus you can have 3 other people playing along side you on the bass, guitar and vocals.

I love the game single player, but multiplayer Rock Band is an ultimate gaming experience.

[shmokes]

Mmmmm, I doubt it beats Samba d'Amigo. But then, I'm a percussionist/drummer

Wow . . . that's just awesome.  Level42, this one somehow slipped past you.  Here's some pictures of the Rock Band accessories. The drums are played with standard, real drum sticks.  (Note . . . I've never played it.  The guys in the picture are members of a band called Cartel that I've never heard of, but must be big enough to be hanging out in MTV Studios).

[somunny]

* I like how the RB guitar has a little lip so when you slide your hand down to the orange button you know when to stop.

I just picked up Rock Band for the 360 and I haven't been able to play it yet since my 360 is still in the mail from the store, but I just had to say how much cooler the Rock Band guitar is over the guitars for the PS2 versions of Guitar Hero 1 & 2.  I'm in awe of how great it looks.

It definitely looks cooler but I prefer the feel and responsiveness of the GH3 axe.  I didn't particularly care for the sponginess of the strum bar and the "solo" frets seem to be useless if you have larger than average fingers.   If you've previously played Guitar Hero, you may be disappointed with the Rock Band guitar.

[pointdablame]

I find the Rock Band guitar to be superior in just about ever aspect compared to the GH3 guitar.  If the RB guitar were wireless, I doubt I'd have any complaints at all.

[Cakemeister]

I like the RB guitar much better, too.

The only complaint I have about the RB guitar is that the back of the neck is squared off instead of rounded like the red PS2 guitar. This makes it less comfortable to play because the corner digs into my palm.

[somunny]

Different strums for different chums... 

[Level42]

Mmmmm, I doubt it beats Samba d'Amigo. But then, I'm a percussionist/drummer

Wow . . . that's just awesome.  Level42, this one somehow slipped past you.  Here's some pictures of the Rock Band accessories. The drums are played with standard, real drum sticks.  (Note . . . I've never played it.  The guys in the picture are members of a band called Cartel that I've never heard of, but must be big enough to be hanging out in MTV Studios).

Looks fun !

But I still like the dancing/looking completely stupid when playing Samba.....
This is a bit more serious I guess....but since my most modern games machine IS the Dreamcast  ...............

So what's the music like ? Is it all "hard" rock ? Why isn't there any jazzy or funky stuff on those games ?

[shmokes]

I think there's some Chili Peppers.  That can get a little funky.  They do downloadable content, so theoretically it could eventually have all types of songs.  But it is called "Rock" Band, so it'll probably always have Rock leanings.  Also, I think the songs they choose tend to be songs that have interesting parts for each instrument to play.  It's a party game.  It doesn't make for a very good party if they include a song with no drums or a boring bass part.  They want to keep everyone doing interesting stuff as much as possible, I'd imagine.

[Dartful Dodger]

I heard the designers of the game interviewed on a radio show.

shmokes's reply pretty much covered it.

They were asked if they were going to have other music types and they said no.  They said rock was thy only type of music that had equally fun parts in their songs and they could be played with just guitars and drums.

This was an interview when Rock Band first came out.  Now that it's become a hit they'll hopefully try and cash in on the other music types. 

I want a Country Band add-on that comes with a fiddle and/or banjo.

[AtomSmasher]

I want a Country Band add-on that comes with a fiddle and/or banjo.

How about Chamber Music Hero?    http://www.gocomics.com/foxtrot/2008/02/17/

[Level42]

I think there's some Chili Peppers.  That can get a little funky.  They do downloadable content, so theoretically it could eventually have all types of songs.  But it is called "Rock" Band, so it'll probably always have Rock leanings.  Also, I think the songs they choose tend to be songs that have interesting parts for each instrument to play.  It's a party game.  It doesn't make for a very good party if they include a song with no drums or a boring bass part.  They want to keep everyone doing interesting stuff as much as possible, I'd imagine.

Boring bass part ? Never listened to any Level 42 did you ? 

[versapak]

I think there's some Chili Peppers.  That can get a little funky.  They do downloadable content, so theoretically it could eventually have all types of songs.  But it is called "Rock" Band, so it'll probably always have Rock leanings.  Also, I think the songs they choose tend to be songs that have interesting parts for each instrument to play.  It's a party game.  It doesn't make for a very good party if they include a song with no drums or a boring bass part.  They want to keep everyone doing interesting stuff as much as possible, I'd imagine.

Boring bass part ? Never listened to any Level 42 did you ? 

You seem to be missing the point though.

It isn't just about one instrument being interesting. They don't put songs in that have interesting bass to play. They put songs in that have interesting bass to play AND interesting guitar, drums & vocals.

There are 4 aspects to Rock Band play, and they want the songs to be enjoyable regardless of which "instrument" you choose to play them with.


I have never heard of Level 42 before, but I did youtube them. There is some very heavy synthesizer dominance, and that alone would kill any enjoyment it would have in Rock Band, where synthesizer play isn't an option.

[somunny]

There are 4 aspects to Rock Band play, and they want the songs to be enjoyable regardless of which "instrument" you choose to play them with.

Still, they didn't see fit to add a solo tour mode for the bass.  Not that I care - I find playing bass on most songs pretty tedious.

[Level42]

I think there's some Chili Peppers.  That can get a little funky.  They do downloadable content, so theoretically it could eventually have all types of songs.  But it is called "Rock" Band, so it'll probably always have Rock leanings.  Also, I think the songs they choose tend to be songs that have interesting parts for each instrument to play.  It's a party game.  It doesn't make for a very good party if they include a song with no drums or a boring bass part.  They want to keep everyone doing interesting stuff as much as possible, I'd imagine.

Boring bass part ? Never listened to any Level 42 did you ? 

You seem to be missing the point though.

It isn't just about one instrument being interesting. They don't put songs in that have interesting bass to play. They put songs in that have interesting bass to play AND interesting guitar, drums & vocals.

There are 4 aspects to Rock Band play, and they want the songs to be enjoyable regardless of which "instrument" you choose to play them with.


I have never heard of Level 42 before, but I did youtube them. There is some very heavy synthesizer dominance, and that alone would kill any enjoyment it would have in Rock Band, where synthesizer play isn't an option.

True, there's a good part of it in there. Also, you probably saw all the "hits". those are the more commercial songs. To understand Mark King's bass playing take a look at this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yioVmqlt2Fk[/youtube]

or (this is from 1985):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR-yS7z9Qdw&feature=related[/youtube]

Anyway, I understand the limitations of a game like that, but I usually feel that US rock music is ......well not my thing....with exceptions like Toto etc.

[ChadTower]

Toto.   

[Level42]

Hey......this is an 80s forum right ?
 

[ChadTower]

Yep.  Yesterday morning driving my kids to their vacation day camp, I asked them what songs they wanted to hear on the way.  The boys are 6 and 8.  Their answers:

"Smoke on the Water!"
"Hey Joe!"

 

[Level42]

It's all in the up-bringing my man

[AtomSmasher]

I finally got my 360 today and Rock Band is great so far.  I'm really liking the drums, and I got used to the new guitar pretty quick.  I played about 5 songs on solo, then I fired up my very first ever online console game.  I choose the quick game option, and was quickly matched up with another player, he choose extreme difficulty and a song that I've never heard of, and I proceded to beat him by a few thousand points   He then chose a second song that I recognized, but never played, and I beat him again by an even bigger margin.  Good times.

I played a few single player songs with the microphone on medium difficulty and was able to beat them even though I sounded like an idiot, but I think I'm going to ignore that part of the game from now on.  It's just not my cup of tea, but it's nice that its there for people who do enjoy it.

[Dartful Dodger]

That’s what I thought too.  I sang enough songs to get Davey Jones a jacket.  It was very awkward and I figured once he matched the rest of the Monkees I’d never sing again.  But drumming takes a lot out of you and sometimes you don’t even want to play guitar.  Singing is a great choice if you are having a Rockband party and you’re too tired to play an instrument.

When you're having friends over I recommend doing shots of whiskey.  It makes everyone sound/sing better.

Does anyone know when they are going to be selling guitars separately for Rockband?

According to the last thing I read they should be selling them by now.

[ChadTower]

Does anyone know when they are going to be selling guitars separately for Rockband?

Check Gamestop.  They sell used guitars separately for GH... likely for RB too.

[AtomSmasher]

I remember after I my first day of owning Guitar Hero a couple years ago my fingers were really sore and cramped up from playing too much, well today after playing Rock Band a bunch yesterday, my shoulder is extremely sore from the drumming.  I figured it would be my calf from the pedal or my forearms, but they are both fine, apparently my shoulder moves a lot more then I thought.

It's definately a lot of fun though.  Also, I played the guitar online again and was throughly beat in a tug-o-war match.  I guess I have some practicing to do 

[ChadTower]

Ultimate Band.

[versapak]

Ultimate Band.

FTL


"And whether they choose guitar, drums, bass or front man, members don’t need to buy costly, single-function peripherals to play their way through Ultimate Band’s deep song list, dynamic venues, and customizable characters. The Wii Remote and DS stylus are the only tools they’ll need to reach rock stardom in Ultimate Band."

 

Those costly single function instruments are a huge part of the appeal.

[ChadTower]

I agree - but $170 is too much for a lot of people.  There has to be some people in between who want to play the game but won't choose Rock Band over 4-5 other recent games.  The question is how many?  Or, perhaps, for those who like Rock Band but only have a Wii.  I'd like Rock Band but I have no plans for a 360.

[Dartful Dodger]

Rock Band is a tough game to play.  I'm assuming Guitar Hero is just as tough.  My Nieces and nephews love it, but they can't finish a song.

I've said this already in this thread.  The Wii is for little kids, if watered down enough Ultimate Band will do better on the Wii than Rock Band and Guitar Hero.


A really bad think about this is that Disney probably won't allow any Hanna Montana songs for my Rock Band.

[shmokes]

. . . or front man, members don’t need to buy costly, single-function peripherals

How exactly are they gonna manage that?  There's no mic on the Wii remote . . . only a speaker.

[ChadTower]

What, you never used your headphones as a mic as a kid?    

[ChadTower]

Rock Band's wikipedia page says EA's CEO confirmed plans to launch a Nintendo Wii version.

 

[AtomSmasher]

Rock Band's wikipedia page says EA's CEO confirmed plans to launch a Nintendo Wii version.

 

Yup 

Looks like Rock Band has officially been confirmed for the Wii, although it won't be released for another year and there no word if it will have downloadable content.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6185448.html?part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6185448

[Cakemeister]

I saw the guitarist look at his watch during the long keyboard part in the Who song. Pretty funny.

[ChadTower]

BYOAC Guitar Hero Tour Group

[Dartful Dodger]

Do you even own RockBand?

[Cakemeister]

BYOAC Guitar Hero Tour Group

What's that? People who play online?

[ChadTower]

What's that? People who play online?

Yes.  Online tournaments.

[ahofle]

OK how exactly does that work?  Looks like a great idea!

[AtomSmasher]

I would join, but I only have online muliplayer with rock band, not guitar hero   

[ChadTower]

Do you even own RockBand?

I didn't say Rock Band.

I have Guitar Hero III coming in the mail and figured some of us may want to group up.

[Dartful Dodger]

Do you even own RockBand?

I didn't say Rock Band.

I have Guitar Hero III coming in the mail and figured some of us may want to group up.

Sorry, I'm at work so when the webpage opened up I quickly closed it.  It looked like the Rockband website, and that website maximizes when open and has audio.  I work in an open office so it's hard to pretend to be working when a full screen website with probe light-ish animation is on my screen.

[ChadTower]

Tell them you have discovered new methods - you are now so efficient that you have background music and flashing lights - like John Travolta.

[Dartful Dodger]

Tell them you have discovered new methods - you are now so efficient that you have background music and flashing lights - like John Travolta.

I don't want to bring any unnecessary attention to myself.  I'm just keeping a low profile until I can get out of here. 

As long as I look busy they don't ask me to do anything. 

[Cakemeister]

After further review, I like the 360 GH3 guitar better than the RB guitar. The RB guitar has the sharp edge on the back of the neck and the frets are just too far apart for my average-sized hands. I still am not crazy about the 360's guitar's sloppy strum bar and clicky buttons, but I am five-starring songs with that guitar that I could only four-star with the RB guitar.

[Dartful Dodger]

...the frets are just too far apart for my average-sized hands.

...but I am five-starring songs with that guitar that I could only four-star with the RB guitar.

^{your wife is lying to you.}

You can use the kiddie average-sized buttons that are low on the neck.

I need to replace my RB guitar.  I think the strummer switch is registering double hits when I play the faster songs.  I can't get through any hard songs on expert.  (when in doubt, blame the instrument)

[AtomSmasher]

Shredz64 for the Commadore 64   

http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/10/shredz64-is-very-real-and-very-shredding/

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52gcC3Sn-Gw[/youtube]

[ChadTower]

That is so awesome it bent my wookie.

[ChadTower]

Possible Beatles Guitar Hero coming.

Am I the only one who would rather see these band specific games be downloadable content instead?

[ahofle]

Am I the only one who would rather see these band specific games be downloadable content instead?

Nope.  I was wondering who in the hell would buy an Aerosmith only guitar hero?  Beatles maybe, but still.  Mix it up a little.

[ChadTower]

I would love to have it but not at the cost of a full game price.  Of course, I will be playing on the Wii (GHIII arrives today according to UPS), so no soup for me.

[shardian]

I would get the Beatles GH for sure. I wouldn't pay more than $20 for it though.

[Dartful Dodger]

Possible Beatles Guitar Hero coming.

Am I the only one who would rather see these band specific games be downloadable content instead?

I'm not sure how guitar hero plays, but a band themed game sound like a good idea.  As long as you can add the same downloadedable content to it.

[genesim]

From what I understand it still won't be entirely Aerosmith.   There will be other stuff mixed in...still, they do have alot of great songs!

[jfunk]

Guitar Hero DS!!!

Finally, a console I own will have Guitar Hero!! 

The attachment looks pretty cool.  I'm shocked it looks to be as much fun as it does....

[chopps]

Guitar Hero DS!!!

Finally, a console I own will have Guitar Hero!! 

The attachment looks pretty cool.  I'm shocked it looks to be as much fun as it does....

I think that will get really old, really fast.  the guitar controller and "rocking out" is what makes the game.   

[ChadTower]

So Guitar Hero III arrives last night.  I bust it open, play it for a couple hours after the kids went to bed.  It's fun but I'm not feeling whatever makes it a world class hype game.  I made it through the first 10 or so songs in career mode without going under 90% once, 5 starring a couple of them on the first try.  I imagine it gets a lot harder quickly, though.  Wouldn't be much good if you could 95% a song you've never heard before on the first try on everything.

Then my wife tries it and can't get out of the sustained notes tutorial, gets pissed at me about it, and I end up with the frosty treatment all night.   

[shardian]

Then my wife tries it and can't get out of the sustained notes tutorial, gets pissed at me about it, and I end up with the frosty treatment all night.   

Were you playing easy or medium?

HA HA!

I've never even played easy, because it is too easy.
I can ace almost every medium song on the first go. Of course, I have already played air guitar for years to most of them so I have an unfair advantage.
The real challenge is going from medium to hard. It is a completely different ballgame.

As to the wife, she does pretty good on medium.

[ChadTower]

Were you playing easy or medium?

Easy.  I figured if it's the first time you've ever played it for more than 30 seconds, easy is where you start.  Plus I have to unlock the rest first, don't I?  I wish I could hear what I'm playing better.  I can hear the song, and see the notes, but there doesn't seem to be an obvious result from hitting a note properly.  If you miss it most of the music goes away until you hit the next one, but it doesn't really feel like I'm producing music.  It feels like I'm preventing music from stopping.

[shardian]

You can play on any difficulty you want at any time. I would have died of boredom on easy. Medium is the perfect difficulty to balance your fun level and skill level - easy enough to prevent frustration and be fun, hard enough to keep you engaged.

[ChadTower]

I'm taking a look at Frets on Fire, too, now that I have a guitar.  Might give that a shot this weekend.

[HaRuMaN]

hard enough to keep you engaged.

Usually, wives like it when its hard enough to keep them engaged 

[ChadTower]

...but only until the engagement is over, one way or another.  After that they don't have any use for it.

[Dartful Dodger]

It's fun but I'm not feeling whatever makes it a world class hype game.  I made it through the first 10 or so songs in career mode without going under 90% once, 5 starring a couple of them on the first try.

I am the same way with RockBand's solo mode.  If I do play in solo mode I'm playing for practice so that I can play the songs on expert with either of the instruments when I'm playing in band mode.  Although I'm content with singing on easy.

Playing with a group is worth the hype.   You don't even have to be playing to enjoy it.

Unlike watching your friends play other games where you’re secretly hoping they make a mistake so their turn ends, in Rockband you actually enjoy watching as much as playing.

On medium it starts to feel like playing.

A tip I read that helped me is when you're playing on easy, play with just one finger(pointer), so you learn to move up and down the neck.

[ChadTower]

Cool, thanks for the tip.

My God, looking at these songlists for Frets on Fire, why the eff are we paying so much to play on consoles?

[versapak]

Cool, thanks for the tip.

My God, looking at these songlists for Frets on Fire, why the eff are we paying so much to play on consoles?

Frets on Fire is not quite the same thing.

You aren't really "playing the music" in Frets On Fire. It is more like Dance Dance revolution, in that your controller input doesn't at all effect what you actually hear played.

In Guitar Hero/Rock Band, if you don't press the buttons/strum, you don't hear any music from that instrument.


If all your fun from the game is just hitting the buttons at the right time, then it is  probably just as good, but if part of the fun is having it feel like you are actually playing the music, then it is a huge bit of detachment from the game.

[Dartful Dodger]

I didn't think the PS3 guitar would work in a PC.  I had no reason to try it, but that Frets on Fire got me curious.  I did a quick search on Google and it looks like it does work.


RockBand’s songs are mostly newer ones.  I must be too old, because some of those songs are too loud.

Let me know what you think of Frets on Fire.

[ChadTower]

In Guitar Hero/Rock Band, if you don't press the buttons/strum, you don't hear any music from that instrument.

Sure doesn't feel that way on easy.  You barely hear anything from what you're playing.  I'll have to see if that improves when I go to medium.

[pointdablame]

You still hear a good amount of the song on Easy because most of the notes in the song just aren't being played by you.

I actually do much worse on Easy than on any other difficulty because I HEAR all the notes of the song, but the game winds up asking me to play every 3rd or 4th note at times and I just screw up.  It's a bit different on higher difficulties as far as how much it seems like you're actually playing the song.

[AtomSmasher]

when I first started playing GH, I only played maybe 5 songs on easy before switching to medium difficulty.  Easy mode mainly seems to be there so little kids and people with no coordination can still play the game.

[ChadTower]

Heh. I thought you had to play through Easy in order to get to Medium.  I may do it anyway because my damn left hand keeps getting tired and my scores start decreasing.

[versapak]

Heh. I thought you had to play through Easy in order to get to Medium.  I may do it anyway because my damn left hand keeps getting tired and my scores start decreasing.

Nope.

You play any difficulty you choose right off the bat.

Imagine how not loved the game would be if all of us, that have been playing these games from the start, were stuck playing through the too easy (thus boring) low difficulties before we got to play at our appropriate skill level.

[ChadTower]

How much of a pain in the ass would it really be?  It would only take an hour.

[versapak]

How much of a pain in the ass would it really be?  It would only take an hour.

Yeah, I could bust through easy in no time (If no time = 40 songs times about 3.5 minutes), 5 starring every song and perfecting most of them on the first try, but it would be silly for that to be a requirement.

Once you play on hard/expert regularly (probably even medium), playing on easy is boring and not at all fun. It would be silly if that were a requirement.

[pointdablame]

How much of a pain in the ass would it really be?  It would only take an hour.

A huge pain in the ass actually.  First, there are ~40 songs in career mode of GH3 so an hour is WAY underestimated.  Plus, if I had to sit though Easy and Medium to simply get to the difficulties I want to play, I'd frankly be much less interested in playing the songs over again just due to the annoyance.

I'm very thankful that I don't have to pour 4+ hours into GH3 being utterly bored just to play what I want.  It would really really suck.

[Dartful Dodger]

Once you've mastered easy with one finger you should skip medium, because it'll teach you bad habits, get you use locking your hand in one position.  This will make it more difficult to adjust to using all 5 fret buttons.  I of course learned this after I mastered it on medium, which is why I thought hard was impossible and I figured there was some ‘trick/cheat’ to playing it on expert.

After I re-mastered easy with one finger expert became playable.  I haven’t mastered hard yet, but I am bored with medium and easy.



Yesterday Rockband released a patch that makes the crazier songs playable and stops the game for constantly putting in Metallica songs whenever you play a random song set.  This should revive the game for me, since my friends and I thought we maxed out with our combined abilities.

[ChadTower]

I need to learn not to hold the neck like I'm squeezing water out of it.  I think that is why my hand gets so tired.

[Dartful Dodger]

From the RockBand's forum.

Wii Will Rock You!
MTV Games, Harmonix and EA Announce Rock Band™ for Wii on June 22, 2008

The number one selling game in February 2008 is coming to Wii!

Cambridge, MA – March 24, 2007-- Harmonix, the leading developer of music-based games, and MTV Games, a division of MTV Networks, which is a division of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), along with distribution partner Electronic Arts, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced plans to release the award-winning music video game Rock Band on the Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo in the U.S. and Canada on June 22, 2008 for the suggested retail price of $169.99.

Rock Band for Wii will be released as a Special Edition bundle including the software, drums, microphone and a wireless guitar. Stand alone instruments will also be available on June 22nd for people who want to build their band one instrument at a time or want to play the drum versus drum game mode. The game will feature 63 songs including five bonus songs for Wii gamers to enjoy.

“The Wii’s success among casual and core gamers of all ages makes it an ideal match for the cross-generational appeal of the music featured in Rock Band,” says Bob Picunko, Vice President of Electronic Games and Interactive Products, MTV

“The social interaction and addictive nature of the Rock Band experience is a perfect fit for the Wii and will undoubtedly be fun for the entire family,” says Steve Singer, licensing VP from Nintendo.

Rock Band is an all-new platform for music fans and gamers to interact with music like never before. The game challenges players to put together a band and tour for fame and fortune – all while learning to master lead/bass guitar, drums and vocals. Featuring the most master recordings of any music game ever by the world’s biggest rock artists, Rock Band includes tracks that span every genre of rock ranging from alternative and classic rock to heavy metal and punk. Rock Band has garnered over 40 awards this year including Game Critics Award: Best of Show E3 2007 and three awards at The 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards including Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, Family Game of the Year, and Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack.

Rock Band is rated “T” for Teen (lyrics, mild suggestive themes) by the ESRB.

Rock Band is currently available on the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, and on the PLAYSTATION®2 computer entertainment system.

EA is the exclusive distribution and marketing partner for Rock Band.

For more information on Rock Band and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.rockband.com and www.harmonixmusic.com.


#####

About MTV Networks
MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with more than 150 channels worldwide, owns and operates the following television programming services - MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, VH1, mtvU, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN/THE N, VH1 CLASSIC, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, all of these networks trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 300 interactive properties worldwide, including online, broadband, wireless and interactive television services and also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.

About MTV Games
MTV Games is dedicated to creating, marketing and publishing high-quality, innovative interactive products that are relevant to the MTV audience and complement the core values of the MTV Networks brands.

About Harmonix Music Systems, Inc
Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., based in Cambridge, MA, and established in 1995, is the leading developer of groundbreaking music-oriented videogames. Harmonix was founded by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy, who formed the company to invent new ways for non-musicians to experience the unique joy that comes from making music and have pioneered music and rhythm gaming in the US. For more information please visit: www.harmonixmusic.com

About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA™, EA SPORTS BIG™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2007, EA posted revenue of $3.09 billion and had 24 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG, and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.


© 2007 Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Harmonix, Rock Band and all related titles and logos are trademarks of Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., a MTV Networks company. Rock Band developed by Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. MTV: Music Television, MTV Games and all related titles and logos are trademarks of MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. "PlayStation" and "PLAYSTATION" are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox and Xbox 360 are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

Wii and the Wii logo are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2006 Nintendo.

[shmokes]

God, I really want this.  I don't see it happening anytime soon, but I can always hope.  My birthday is in August.

[ahofle]

I don't see it happening anytime soon, but I can always hope. 

You don't believe them about the June 22nd date?

[chopps]

I just hope the Wii version has downloadable songs.  Ive been holding off on buying it for the ps2... hopefully im not waiting for nothing.

[somunny]

I just hope the Wii version has downloadable songs.  Ive been holding off on buying it for the ps2... hopefully im not waiting for nothing.

Looks like the dl content is a big maybe right now.

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/24/rock-band-wii-drum-kit-pictured-nagging-questions-answered/

[ChadTower]

Sounds great but I think we're set with GHIII for now.  There probably isn't enough room in our living room for four instruments anyway.

I can't beat the Devil on Easy.     Tried to enter an online tournament but I don't seem to have any of the songs they listed.  Maybe they are bonus songs I haven't earned yet?

[shardian]

I can't beat the Devil on Easy.   

Must...stifle....laugh...

Just kidding! You'll get better with practice.

[ChadTower]

Can't practice that particular song... not available in that mode.     I can 5 star the bonus songs first time playing them but can't beat the devil just yet.

EDIT:  beat the devil.  Guess I was much closer than I thought - you "win" about 75% of the way into the song.

[shmokes]

I don't see it happening anytime soon, but I can always hope. 

You don't believe them about the June 22nd date?

Heh . . . I believe the date.  My problem is lack of gainful employment. 

[Dartful Dodger]

Not sure what they are going to do with the Wii, but you can buy the game and a drum set separately for the PS3.  If Activision can't stop people from using the GH guitar for RB on the Wii you might be able to buy just the pieces you want for cheap.

[ChadTower]

Is there a way to visually tell which notes you can hammer or pull?  I've seen a couple of references to a black halo that is or isn't around the note but I'm not seeing it on the Wii.

[shardian]

Is there a way to visually tell which notes you can hammer or pull?  I've seen a couple of references to a black halo that is or isn't around the note but I'm not seeing it on the Wii.

Those notes have a glowing white center.

Since you brought that up, I have to say that the hammeron/pullof was poorly implemented. It seems either a song uses it a ton, or not at all. playing thru on Medium, there were only like 5 or so songs that even used it.

[ChadTower]

Those notes have a glowing white center.

Since you brought that up, I have to say that the hammeron/pullof was poorly implemented. It seems either a song uses it a ton, or not at all. playing thru on Medium, there were only like 5 or so songs that even used it.

Thanks, I'll have to look closer at that.

Which game?  I'm working through medium now on GHIII - either some of these songs use a lot of it or I have tons and tons of work to do.

[AtomSmasher]

Is there a way to visually tell which notes you can hammer or pull?  I've seen a couple of references to a black halo that is or isn't around the note but I'm not seeing it on the Wii.

Those notes have a glowing white center.

Since you brought that up, I have to say that the hammeron/pullof was poorly implemented. It seems either a song uses it a ton, or not at all. playing thru on Medium, there were only like 5 or so songs that even used it.

On extreme difficulty, the hammerons and pulloffs are in every song and are pretty much required if you want to pass some of the songs.

[Dartful Dodger]

Those notes have a glowing white center.

Since you brought that up, I have to say that the hammeron/pullof was poorly implemented. It seems either a song uses it a ton, or not at all. playing thru on Medium, there were only like 5 or so songs that even used it.

Thanks, I'll have to look closer at that.

Which game?  I'm working through medium now on GHIII - either some of these songs use a lot of it or I have tons and tons of work to do.

It must be for GH, RB's hammerons are smaller notes.

Hammerons stink on RB too.  It's hard to tell them apart, plus I've gotten use to strumming each note so it's like I have to remove it from my muscle memory.

[Cakemeister]

Right, on the GH games the notes which you cannot HO/PO have black rims. On RB the notes you cannot HO/PO are larger. It's harder to tell them apart when star power is activated, but they are different there, too.

On medium you should be able to strum just about every note.

I've got two recommendations for Chad for medium difficulty:

1) Try doing some "alt-strumming" (alternately pressing the strum button up and down) on passages which you have a sequence of the same note. It's not necessary for passing (or even 5-starring) medium, but it will help you later.

2) Get used to moving your hand from what I call "first position" (index finger on green and pinky on blue) to "second position". (index on red, pinky on orange). Again, not strictly necessary for medium, but useful. You can practice this when you have a green note followed by a red. Play the green note normally with your index finger, then shift your hand slightly and play the red note with your index finger, too.

[AtomSmasher]

Just thought I'd let everyone know that right now the song Still Alive (the end credits song from the game Portal) is now available for download for free from XBox Live for Rock Band. 

[Dartful Dodger]

Just thought I'd let everyone know that right now the song Still Alive (the end credits song from the game Portal) is now available for download for free from XBox Live for Rock Band. 

Have you downloaded and played it?

I saw it posted on the Rockband site yesterday, I figured it was going to be some kind of April fools joke.

[AtomSmasher]

Just thought I'd let everyone know that right now the song Still Alive (the end credits song from the game Portal) is now available for download for free from XBox Live for Rock Band. 

Have you downloaded and played it?

I saw it posted on the Rockband site yesterday, I figured it was going to be some kind of April fools joke.

Downloaded and played it this morning.  I also thought it was an April fools joke when I first read about it, which is why I went to make sure it was real before posting.  It looks like it will be available for free on the PS3 later this month.  Also, I don't know if it will only free for one day or forever, so I would download it as soon as you can just to make sure you don't miss it.

[Dartful Dodger]

Cool, the reasoning behind PS3 delaying the release sounded fishy, so I assumed it was going to be a practical joke and Sony didn’t have a sense of humor so they weren't going along with it.

[AtomSmasher]

Just thought I'd mention that the Wii version of Rock Band comes out in a few weeks and it looks like they made some improvements to the drums.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/07/rock-bands-drum-kit-for-wii-tested-actually-a-bit-different/

It's wireless, and has "softer drum pads and a strengthened kick pedal."  Almost makes me wish I waited for the Wii version to come out before buying it 

[ChadTower]

For those of us with modded Wiis, the Rock Band content has been available for quite some time.  There are tons of hacked versions of GHIII out there with songs from both Rock Band and the other GH games inside.  The arrival of those hacks pretty much opened up on the Wii all of the dl content from Rock Band (guitar, obviously) and GH on any platform.

[Dartful Dodger]

Rock Band 2 Announced

I hardly play the game now.

But this might get me to buy the CD only:

- Backwards compatibility with Rock Band downloadable music content. All previously purchased tracks will immediately load into your Rock Band 2 song list. No need to re-purchase or re-download.

... and ...

- all fully compatible with the original Rock Band instruments.
And much more.

[versapak]

Rock Band 2 Announced

I hardly play the game now.

But this might get me to buy the CD only:

- Backwards compatibility with Rock Band downloadable music content. All previously purchased tracks will immediately load into your Rock Band 2 song list. No need to re-purchase or re-download.

... and ...

- all fully compatible with the original Rock Band instruments.
And much more.

Never had any doubts. They have said it would be all along, and there was precedent set by them previously with Karaoke Revolution.

[Cakemeister]

Awesome!

I just paid for and downloaded a bunch of songs so the backward compatiblity is great.

The Metallica songs are pretty challenging!

[Dartful Dodger]

To many Guitar Hero/Rockband threads.  Since this is a Rockband question I figured this was right one.


When I first bought Rockband I would check the forum every week to see what DLC was being released and I would get at least one song every other week.

Since I heard there was a Rockband 2 (or GHWT) I've stopped looking/downloading.  I was bored so I checked to see if there were any good releases.  There were a couple that looked good and 2 that would have been must buys, but I'm still going to wait for RB2(or GHWT).

Has this interrupted anyone else’s RB download purchases?

[pointdablame]

Since I know my downloads from Rock Band are going to carry over, it hasn't stopped my downloading at all.

[Dartful Dodger]

I know I'm going to be buying one of the next version of band games.

If I get RB2 then the RB1 downloads I have will do, but I’d rather have the RB2 versions of the songs I don’t have.

If the difference is extreme enough between the two versions I'd get the latest version of the "must have" songs, which means the RB1 version will be a waste.  I'm not even sure if having two versions of the same song will screw up the game.

[versapak]

I know I'm going to be buying one of the next version of band games.

If I get RB2 then the RB1 downloads I have will do, but I’d rather have the RB2 versions of the songs I don’t have.

If the difference is extreme enough between the two versions I'd get the latest version of the "must have" songs, which means the RB1 version will be a waste.  I'm not even sure if having two versions of the same song will screw up the game.

What do you mean the Rock Band 2 versions?


They are the same.


It isn't like there is a conversion for content, or the need to redownload it. The content that has already been released will natively appear in Rock Band 2 just as it does in Rock Band now.

[pointdablame]

That's right -- the whole point of this process is that the song data that you already have will import directly into RB2.  There won't be a RB and RB2 version of songs -- the data for the songs will be imported and you can play them in either game.

Any graphical changes in RB2 will be there as the only thing that will import will be the song audio and notes.  The gameplay between RB and RB2 is not going to change drastically enough to warrant different versions, such as new instruments or similar.

[Dartful Dodger]

The content that has already been released will natively appear in Rock Band 2 just as it does in Rock Band now.

...but RB2 content wont play in RB1.

RB2 has an extra symbol which would give the drums 6 inputs.  If RB1 songs are programmed for 5 inputs then those songs wouldn't be utilizing the 6th input in RB2.

I don't know what changes there are in the vocals and guitar, but any features added to them won’t be added to RB1 songs.


It's like buying a ps2 RB for your ps3.

[versapak]

The content that has already been released will natively appear in Rock Band 2 just as it does in Rock Band now.

...but RB2 content wont play in RB1.

RB2 has an extra symbol which would give the drums 6 inputs.  If RB1 songs are programmed for 5 inputs then those songs wouldn't be utilizing the 6th input in RB2.

I don't know what changes there are in the vocals and guitar, but any features added to them won’t be added to RB1 songs.


It's like buying a ps2 RB for your ps3.

No. There isn't a 6th input, in the that it will be a totally unique input. It will simply be an alternative point to hit for a more realistic feel to your drumming.

Red cymbal and red pad = the same thing as far as the game is concerned.


As for the content. Again... There is no separate content. Rock Band downloadable content is rock band downloadable content. The content that is released now will work in Rock Band 2, and the content released after Rock Band 2 will continue to work in Rock Band 1.

[pointdablame]

Yup, Versapak is correct.  There's no need to stop buying DLC if you want it -- it will work just fine and in EXACTLY the same way, regardless of game.

[Dartful Dodger]

Weird, I thought I modified my last post. 

After posting I looked it up and realized I was confusing RB2 with GHWT.

GHWT's drum kit will have 6 inputs but it can use RB1's drum kit.  The game will combine the two symbols to the same input  if it detects only has 5 inputs.

The extra input on the drum kit makes me even more inclined to wait for GHWT.

I first thought having the double set of buttons on the RB1's guitar was a great feature, but when playing I don't bother using the lower buttons, even during a guitar solo.  It's too much of a pain to reposition my hand.

If it’s anything like the guitar having double symbols sharing the same input will be a novelty that’ll wear off instantly.

[Dartful Dodger]

I'm not going crazy(er).
I made the correction in the other Guitar Hero/Rock Band thread.

[Cakemeister]

GHWT's drum kit will have 6 inputs but it can use RB1's drum kit.

Good news, they just made a sale!

[Dartful Dodger]

Rockband Live Tour

"Be one of the lucky few who get to compete on stage!"