Rock Band for Wii

[btp2k2]

Today is the day that Wii owners finally get Rock Band.

I pre ordered....waited 6 weeks for it to come out....

Rocked out with my wife and kid for about 30 minutes and the damn guitar is already broken!

The red button is permanently stuck on and will not turn off.

What a piece of junk

[AtomSmasher]

Wow, that really sucks.  The guitar hero and rock band controllers I have for other systems have all proven to be extremely well built, so I'm quite surprised they screwed up the Wii controller.  At least owning it for one day means its still under warranty   

[shmokes]

I really want Rock Band, but I won't buy it for Wii.  It's too much money IMO to sacrifice downloadable content.  The DLC, in my opinion, is what justifies the price of the game/hardware.  It has practically unlimited replay value because new songs are always being released.  Maybe Nintendo will sort out the storage problem on Wii -- support USB hard drives for example.  Until then I'll just have to wait until I own a PS3 before I consider buying Rock Band.

As an aside  , sorry about your controller.  That really sucks.  Hopefully there are no real quality issues.  There's always a few bad apples, so hopefully you just got unlucky and your replacement guitar will work fine.

[pointdablame]

That sucks -- hopefully it's just a fluke and not a sign that the Wii controllers are any less reliable than the rest.

There've been a few problems with controllers, but I personally have had good luck.  My Rock Band and GH stuff easily has 100+ hours on them and they're still going strong.

[Hoagie_one]

any idea if the guitar hero controller works for the wii version?

[btp2k2]

any idea if the guitar hero controller works for the wii version?

No they do not =(

[DaveMMR]

You know what though - they don't even need to have DLC.   If they just released cheap expansion discs of some sort it would almost be worth it (I remember them discussing this for the PS2 version to compensate).

[versapak]

You know what though - they don't even need to have DLC.   If they just released cheap expansion discs of some sort it would almost be worth it (I remember them discussing this for the PS2 version to compensate).

Nah...

I guess that is something, but it nowhere near the greatness that having downloadable content is.

With expansion discs you will only get some content, it won't be content of your choosing, and it will most likely be long after it was available for d/l before it is released.

Meanwhile, with DLC, the game is ever improving with only music I like and want to add to the game, and it is released on literally a weekly basis.

I have been staying at a friends house, and they only have Rock Band for the PS2. It feels extremely limited to me, since on my 360 version I have already added considerably more in downloadable content than was even included on the disc.

[btp2k2]

They are releasing expansion disks....the first one comes out next month.

Eventually they will have all the songs available for download on the expansion disks.

The expansions have 20 songs on them and sell for 29.99....that comes out to 1.49....about 50 cents cheaper than songs via DLC

[versapak]

They are releasing expansion disks....the first one comes out next month.

Eventually they will have all the songs available for download on the expansion disks.

The expansions have 20 songs on them and sell for 29.99....that comes out to 1.49....about 50 cents cheaper than songs via DLC

I already have more than 4 expansion discs worth of content (85 songs), and there is still a ton more that I don't have, plus there is more literally every week.

I highly doubt that all the songs available for download will make it to expansion discs.



One thing about your value break down, is that with downloads you only get what you want, while on the discs you get whatever is bundled. If everything on the disc is something you want, then that is a better value, but I doubt that will be the case.

Plus all your music would be broken up into little mini Rock Bands. Lots of disc changing FTL. 130 songs from one disc FTW.


Either way...

Since we are talking Wii, it is great that they won't be completely shafted on the extra content, but if the choice is there to get the game on 360 or PS3, then they are indeed the better option.

[massive88]

Plus consider the casual users who dont want more than 5-10 of their favorite songs added to the game.  With DLC you could snag that easily, if its on discs, you could be talking about all sorts of additional costs.

[DaveMMR]

They are releasing expansion disks....the first one comes out next month.

I thought I heard that somewhere.  Cool, I suppose.

Nah...

I guess that is something, but it nowhere near the greatness that having downloadable content is.

With expansion discs you will only get some content, it won't be content of your choosing, and it will most likely be long after it was available for d/l before it is released.

Meanwhile, with DLC, the game is ever improving with only music I like and want to add to the game, and it is released on literally a weekly basis.

Honestly though, as it's pretty much my only option (I'm not buying an Xbox 360 strictly for Rock Band), I'm not poo-pooing having to buy expansion discs instead of having proper DLC.

The way I see it, I've been opened-up to tracks I either never heard of or haven't been keen on listening to by having to play through them in Guitar Hero III.  It's been the best way to discover music I've missed.  At least with the expansion discs, I'll get to hear tracks that, while I wouldn't download on my own, may turn me on to something.

Yeah, not having DLC does make playing to my favorite tracks much harder to accomplish.  But, to me, Rock Band and Guitar Hero are games first (I have a music collection if I need to hear a song I like) and just being able to expand your purchase with new tracks is satisfactory enough.   But...

if the choice is there to get the game on 360 or PS3, then they are indeed the better option.

I have to agree with that.   DLC is still better than expansion discs.   But I'm personally not terribly bothered by the limitation.   

[ahofle]

Are the drums improved at all over the PS3/Xbox360 version?  The one time I tried Rock Band I remember being very annoyed with the clickety thumping coming from whoever was playing the drums.  I think it's dumb that you have to 'mod' your drum set from a $170 game to not be annoying.

[versapak]

Are the drums improved at all over the PS3/Xbox360 version?  The one time I tried Rock Band I remember being very annoyed with the clickety thumping coming from whoever was playing the drums.  I think it's dumb that you have to 'mod' your drum set from a $170 game to not be annoying.

I think it's dumb that you had your volume so low that it mattered.

This isn't Library Band.



j/k...

I personally have never been bothered by the sound of the drums, and when the drummer is actually doing a good job the sound is an assistance to everyone else. It is after all a rhythm game.

I'd rather it be $170 and those that need some kind of dampener can get them extra, than it be $190 and me have to pay for dampening that I couldn't care less about having.


All that being said...

I dunno if they are quieter. I thought I read somewhere that they were, but heck if I can find where, and I haven't personally tried them. I also imagine that anyone buying the game for the Wii, doesn't have much real experience with the drums on one of the other platforms.




[EDIT]

Found it. It was in the IGN review:

http://wii.ign.com/articles/883/883962p1.html

It says the drums are actually sturdier and quieter.

[lcddream]

Accourding to this guitar hero world tour will be able to save songs to and play songs from the wii sd card.

It's definitely possible - if you've played Excite Truck then you know you can have a custom soundtrack on the sd card.

[ahofle]

Are the drums improved at all over the PS3/Xbox360 version?  The one time I tried Rock Band I remember being very annoyed with the clickety thumping coming from whoever was playing the drums.  I think it's dumb that you have to 'mod' your drum set from a $170 game to not be annoying.

I think it's dumb that you had your volume so low that it mattered.

This isn't Library Band.

Oh the music was quite loud and I could still hear the sound of cheap plastic knocking together.  Just kinda ruined the 'realism' of it a bit.  I can't see how you wouldn't be annoyed.  Do you make the drummer sit way off in the corner or something? 

[versapak]

Are the drums improved at all over the PS3/Xbox360 version?  The one time I tried Rock Band I remember being very annoyed with the clickety thumping coming from whoever was playing the drums.  I think it's dumb that you have to 'mod' your drum set from a $170 game to not be annoying.

I think it's dumb that you had your volume so low that it mattered.

This isn't Library Band.

Oh the music was quite loud and I could still hear the sound of cheap plastic knocking together.  Just kinda ruined the 'realism' of it a bit.  I can't see how you wouldn't be annoyed.  Do you make the drummer sit way off in the corner or something? 

It is no more annoying to me than the sound of the strum bar on the guitar.

I've been playing these toys since Guitar Hero first came out on PS2, and the clickety clack is just an excepted part of these games to me.

As long as the drummer isn't all out retarded throwing everyone's rhythm out of whack, then it is all good.

Even with dampeners on you will hear the toy drums through the music. Unless you are hitting pillows with marshmallows, it is just something you need to learn to live with to play these games.

[ahofle]

Have you tried the dampeners?  From what little I've read, they seem to help a lot.  If the drums were as quiet as the strum bar I think it would be perfect.

[versapak]

Have you tried the dampeners?  From what little I've read, they seem to help a lot.  If the drums were as quiet as the strum bar I think it would be perfect.

Yep, I have played with them.

Sure, they do help dampen the sound, but you are still going to hear them quite a bit, and yes, they are much louder than the strum bar.

If neighbors are complaining, then dampeners are a great idea.

If the clickety clack is scaring you by being so loud, then dampeners are a great idea.

If you are bothered by the sound being clickety clack instead of real drum sounds... You will be getting no relief from the dampeners.

[pointdablame]

Have you tried the dampeners?  From what little I've read, they seem to help a lot.  If the drums were as quiet as the strum bar I think it would be perfect.

Yep, I have played with them.

Sure, they do help dampen the sound, but you are still going to hear them quite a bit, and yes, they are much louder than the strum bar.

If neighbors are complaining, then dampeners are a great idea.

If the clickety clack is scaring you by being so loud, then dampeners are a great idea.

If you are bothered by the sound being clickety clack instead of real drum sounds... You will be getting no relief from the dampeners.

The foam sound dampeners I bought and installed on my 360 drum set is night and day compared to the drums alone.  You will absolutely get relief from them if the clack bothered you before.  It didn't particularly bother me to begin with, but folks I play with are amazed at how much quieter they are compared to the stock set.  Even with my stereo pumping you could hear the clack of the drums if you were looking for them, but with the foam installed it is much better.

If you focus solely on it, you can still hear it, but I'd say you get some MAJOR relief from them compared to stock.

[versapak]

The foam sound dampeners I bought and installed on my 360 drum set is night and day compared to the drums alone.  You will absolutely get relief from them if the clack bothered you before.  It didn't particularly bother me to begin with, but folks I play with are amazed at how much quieter they are compared to the stock set.  Even with my stereo pumping you could hear the clack of the drums if you were looking for them, but with the foam installed it is much better.

If you focus solely on it, you can still hear it, but I'd say you get some MAJOR relief from them compared to stock.

Yeah, I am not saying that they don't dampen the sound.


Just that it is still loud enough for everyone to hear, and it is louder than the strum bars.

[pointdablame]

Sometimes I wonder if they're actually louder than the Les Paul strum bar.  Man that thing is clicky now that I almost exclusively use the Rock Band guitar.  heh.