Rock Band!!! - Page 3

Yes, I think its a huge selling point. With the DLC you're essentially looking at a game you never get bored with. I'd say its far more important for a game like this than it is to have new tracks in a racing game or new maps in a FPS. In those you're essentially doing the same thing still. But each song is a different experience.

No Wii game, huh? Well, I'm back to Guitar Hero.

Unofficially, they said it's on the way. It's the official word that I'm waiting for.

This game will launch a series of youtube clips featuring tribute bands. Just you wait.

I didn't even hear anything about that. I probably won't even bother with the rest of the peripherals (I don't need a mic, I already sing along when I play guitar), but I want it to play guitar on the songs they already have and the DLC that's to come.

It'll come to Wii, DLC should be possible in the near future with WiiWare coming and so on. At least I'm hoping it'll be possible, since I don't want to buy a 360 just yet and I'm not going to miss out on the DLC.

I like that both GH3 and Rock Band are going to have dueling DLC (although for Rock Band, I'm not so optimistic considering that Harmonix has been the ones in charge of making the oft-delayed GH2 DLC so far). Hopefully the symptoms of free-market competition will step in and actually make both companies price the damned things reasonably.

Nope. That's Activision, I think.

It's technically possible but remember the Wii's internal memory is extremely limited (512MB). The way it currently works for VC games and presumably WiiWare is you can re-download titles you've already purchased and deleted, but that's pretty friggin' inconvenient for dozens or hundreds of songs. I think you'll see much more limited song releases and/or see them bunched together in either downloadable or retail expansions.

Wow, Rock Band is a definite purchase for me, I'll even be ponying up for the bundle. I want the drums, and they have the better wireless guitar, imo.

I know there will be songs on GH3 that will make me want that game too. But GH3 seems like a game-only purchase. The question is when I would feel compelled to get GH3. Depends on how soon I get tired of Rock Band, and if they actually release DLC that frequently...

I dunno if it's all Activision (at least not on the development side). One of the Harmonix graphics designers posts on the Penny-Arcade boards. While he never personally admits to being on the DLC team, he does quite a lot of damage control. If Harmonix wasn't doing the DLC, you'd think he'd be able to dish on whatever's causing the price gouging/holdup.

Uh.. no he wouldn't. It'd be a conflict of interest.

Albums that need to be downloadable:

Motorhead - Overkill
Led Zeppelin - II (will never, ever happen or be about $150)
AC/DC - Back in Black

I hope Appetite for Destruction gets released in its entirety. I want to fucking wail on "Mr. Brownstone."

Also Television's Marquee Moon.

Yeah, I'm expecting them to add some kind of HDD support or make it possible to stream content from an SD card. At least those would be the smart things to do (then again, this is Nintendo).

I hear rumors that Rock Band with have Stairway to Heaven and Comfortably Numb. If this is true Red Octane might as well shit their panties and wallow in it.

I think I'm buying it for Wii. Between this and GH3, my Wii will be very kickin' and even more reasons to invite friends & relatives over to play. I hope the drum gameplay will be as good as guitar, though.

Has it been confirmed that the Rock Band guitar will work with GHIII? That would be a great way for Activision to fuck with Harmonix.

Two things-

1. Last week, or whenever AOTS was doing an E3 wrap-up, their scrolling news dealie said the FULL Rock Band setlist was the 16 or so songs already announced. Is that true?

2. Has anyone written about what the drum skins are made of? Is it a tough plastic, malleable stuff like the Donkey Konga bongos, or something else? Is it tight like a snare drum so you can do rolls?

I can already see myself buying a drum kit stool rather than using the chair I usually sit in when gaming. And a mic stand so I can sing and play guitar at the same time. God, I'm lame.

Hell, if the game is going to get that in depth, might as well go all the way.

It better fucking not be. I'm not paying that much for that game to play 16 fucking songs.

I agree. I think they were mistaken but who knows? Maybe one of the new business partners (MTV or something) figures 16 songs with three separate campaigns (so it's basically 48 parts) is enough for the opening volley.

16 songs on a disk and weekly updated downloadable songs seems like a genius way to make even more money.

Downloadable content should augment the game, not be a necessary purchase.

If GHIII follows the pattern of GHII, you're talking 48 songs in the campaign plus almost 30 unlockable tracks. That's a lot more worth my money than being able to play three instruments and sing on 16 songs, especially with the cost of the peripherals.

It is EA.

I swear I read the expected number of tracks recently but I'm not sure where. It was less than GHIII but it was nothing I balked at.. at least thirty, I'm sure.

Regardless, that E3 wrap-up quote sounds like a misread of the official press release, where they clearly state they're announcing the first 16 Rock Band songs.

40 songs on the disc.

Yeah, the official Rock Band website has been promoting that it is 40 licensed songs from the '60s on. I haven't heard anything saying otherwise.

http://www.rockband.com/home.html

For sake of comparison, Guitar Hero III has been promoting that it includes "over 70 songs". That includes the career songs, and bonus tracks.

There's a question for the peanut gallery: What are the bonus tracks gonna be for GHIII? What was cool about GH 1 and 2's bonuses is that, for the most part, they're bands made up of Harmonix's team members, New England based local bands, or just fun quirky choices no one expects (read: Trogdor and Thunderhorse). The vibe that Harmonix was giving their favorite, beloved underground bands a pseudo-shot at the big time was a big part of the charm, and aside from Made In Mexico, they had good taste. What's Neversoft got in store now that the connection is severed?

It's like Harmonix knew Rock Band was coming before Guitar Hero and saved all their good stuff. I just want to throw money at them.

I'm speechless.

And thus, I fall off the fence.

EA and Harmonix just earned my $200.

Nirvana is not an insta-sell for me, especially considering what the download might cost based on the current pricing.

Yeah, I'd like to have Nevermind, but not enough to pay, say, 30 bucks for it. DLC pricing is going to be a big factor for me.

Now people can finally play bad covers of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", while calling each other faggots, over Xbox Live, just like Kurt would have wanted.

At first I was like "NEVERMIND OH MY GOD YES" and then remembered that, for once, I can actually already play these songs on a real guitar.

Still, sure makes the drums look tempting now.

Rock Band plus all peripherals for $60?

Hurryhurryhurryhurrybeforetheyfigureouttheyfuckedu p

How the hell do I pre-order?

Edit: Looks like they disabled Pre-Ordering and just put "COMING SOON" where it should be. Fuck.

Amazon has pre-orders up. The bundles for both PS3 and 360 are $200, though separately the 360 guitar is indeed $80, while the PS3 guitar is $60.

According to Joystiq, that's because the 360 bundle will contain a wired guitar, while the PS3 will have a wireless one.

Which is bullshit, if true. Thanks, Microsoft.

Shit, $140 for just the game and guitar? Eeesh.

So MS will allow Activision to make a wireless guitar but not EA/Harmonix? I wonder what kind of back-room dealing brought that about.

No, I think there will be a wireless guitar for Rock Band, it just won't be included with the $200 bundle.

The wireless guitar is more expensive because of the MS technology licensing rights.

Well, that's a huge misfire from Rock Band... The 360 bundle has a wired guitar... well, fuck that.

So that removes the bundle from consideration. So that means I have to evaluate the value of each peripheral serperately... Microphone = no, you can use the headset if you want to sing. Drums = maybe, at $80 seperately, now I'll be looking at reviews of how fun it actually is. Wireless guitar = probably, but at $80 if they have none available at launch (like with GH2's seperate guitars), I may end up skipping that as well.

Just make the 360 bundle $220 and include a wireless guitar, dammit (or just include rebates with every product, and let people mix and match what they want). With a package that pricey for ONE GAME, your customer should not be left feeling they got an inferior product.

A wired guitar with the bundle.....Fucking hell.

I'm gonna need two guitars anyways so the plan was to get the bundle and a extra guitar.....but I have no desire for another wired guitar(even with the massive extension cord I have for my GHII guitar).

I put a preorder on stranglehold and bioshock(almost bought the Bioshock faceplate from the manager) yesterday but something told me not to preorder the bundle for some reason....Now that i've read about this i'm glad I did.

I don't think the headset mic is sensitive enough for Rock Band, the game is supposed to detect pitch and phoneme pronunciation. I read a while ago that any ol' mic won't work.

actually, I THINK harmonix commented that the xbox live headset DOES work, but it wont be as sensitive as the official mic.

one place it does come in handy though is singing and playing the guitar at the same time, I believe they confirmed this is a possibility in a recent IGN interview.