Rock Band

[zentraed]

I read last night that Best Buy has Rock Band demos set up, so I stopped in this morning to check it out. They had it set up right next to a crippled GH3 demo. After I played a few songs on the drums, two bystanders jumped in and we did some songs together: me singing, a kid with no rhythm trying to play the drums, and a first timer on the bass. Tons of fun. When I left, another guy put down GH3 and headed for the drumset.

It releases Nov. 20 for Xbox 360 and PS3, and the wiki says Dec. 18 for PS2.

[underdog]

$159 for the PS2, $169 for all the other systems.

It looks like its going to be badass.

[HBox]

So has anyone picked this up?

[TheMojoPin]

My brother did when he was visiting me. MUCH better than the Guitar Hero games, and it's insanely fun with 4 people playing.

My only gripe is that when singing, it's measuring you within your own vocal range, so you can't really try to ape the actually singers...like, if you hae a deep voice like do, you can't belt out a face melter on, say, "Creep" a la Thom Yorke does...you have to do within your own pitch range. It's still fun, but I was kinda let down that you couldn't try to sound as much like the actual singers as possible.

[King Imp]

My only gripe is that when singing, it's measuring you within your own vocal range, so you can't really try to ape the actually singers...like, if you hae a deep voice like do, you can't belt out a face melter on, say, "Creep" a la Thom Yorke does...you have to do within your own pitch range. It's still fun, but I was kinda let down that you couldn't try to sound as much like the actual singers as possible.

Really? I thought the whole point of the singing part was to get as close to the actual singer. That is disappointing.

What if the actual singer played this game? Would it penalize them or would it give a perfect score?

[TooLowBrow]

Shouldn't you have to sing as close to the real singer as possible?

[TheMojoPin]

Shouldn't you have to sing as close to the real singer as possible?

It's not really feasable since nobody else is really going to sound like those singers. What's doing is measuring pitch, so it makes you figure out how to sing within your own vocal range.

[TooLowBrow]

It's not really feasable since nobody else is really going to sound like those singers. What's doing is measuring pitch, so it makes you figure out how to sing within your own vocal range.

how do they test you? do they make you do a 'rock scream'?

[TheMojoPin]

how do they test you? do they make you do a 'rock scream'?

They basically have a pitch meter that you need to match with your voice as it adjust throughout the song. Depending on wha your natural range is, you need to control it accordingly. If you have a higher voice, then you can belt out the screams. If you have a depper voice, you need to sing the approximation in your vocal range. In short, if you have a shitty singing voice, like I do, this just reinforces it.

[angrymissy]

I've had it for a few weeks, haven't gotten a chance to fully dive into it yet. The drums are insanely hard, I hope I don't have a fucked up set

[zentraed]

I've had it for a few weeks, haven't gotten a chance to fully dive into it yet. The drums are insanely hard, I hope I don't have a fucked up set

i managed to break the pedal at best buy. i was trying to play in bloom on expert and i just couldn't get that pedal part down. i haven't picked up the game yet though

[angrymissy]

I also REALLY do not like the new guitar they packaged with rock band. They redesigned the buttons to be flush with the neck and it sucks.

[King Imp]

I also REALLY do not like the new guitar they packaged with rock band. They redesigned the buttons to be flush with the neck and it sucks.

Do you have the PS3 or the Xbox 360? I heard that the Guitar Hero 3 guitars will work on Rock Band for the Xbox 360, but not the PS3.

[Chigworthy]

My wife and I made a special trip to Best Buy to laugh at people singing badly because of this thread. There was just some fat kid mashing his greasy tuber-esque digits into the guitar-thing.

[TheMojoPin]

I also REALLY do not like the new guitar they packaged with rock band. They redesigned the buttons to be flush with the neck and it sucks.

I prefer that new design. Much easier than having the buttons on the front, and these go all the way down the neck.

[HBox]

I just really appreciate that the doesn't guitar look SO MUCH like a Fisher Price toy. And I like the idea of the second set of buttons at the base of the neck even if I can rarely if ever pull that off during solos.

[King Imp]

Out of curiosity, how does this game work if you only have 1 or 2 people? Will the other spots be taken by the CPU to round out your band or do you need 4 people to actually make it work?

[TheMojoPin]

Out of curiosity, how does this game work if you only have 1 or 2 people? Will the other spots be taken by the CPU to round out your band or do you need 4 people to actually make it work?

You can by yourself. Whichever part you pick, the rest simply aren't ranked during the song.

[angrymissy]

Do you have the PS3 or the Xbox 360? I heard that the Guitar Hero 3 guitars will work on Rock Band for the Xbox 360, but not the PS3.

I have the 360 version, I use my old guitars from GH 2/3 to play

[angrymissy]

They basically have a pitch meter that you need to match with your voice as it adjust throughout the song. Depending on wha your natural range is, you need to control it accordingly. If you have a higher voice, then you can belt out the screams. If you have a depper voice, you need to sing the approximation in your vocal range. In short, if you have a shitty singing voice, like I do, this just reinforces it.

If you want to belt it out ala rock scream, you just have to go an octave or two above your regular pitch and it will work

[Snoogans]

You can belt out the screams if you are singing, even if you have a deep voice. If it doesnt work for you, it means you just couldnt stay in key when you tried to get up that high. It probably means you are droppin into Falsetto and thats why it wont come up the same. If you actually know how to sing, you can to the song the way its meant.

[TheMojoPin]

You can belt out the screams if you are singing, even if you have a deep voice. If it doesnt work for you, it means you just couldnt stay in key when you tried to get up that high. It probably means you are droppin into Falsetto and thats why it wont come up the same. If you actually know how to sing, you can to the song the way its meant.

Well, yeah, if you can "control" your sining voice to ay degree like singers actually can, it'll be much easier. I'm just saying for the people like me, who can'tand are clearly not singers in any capacity, it's trickier.

[angrymissy]

As long as I know the song, I also find its much easier to just sing it and not look at the vocal cues. When I look at the vocals on screen, I'm always singing it a second too late

[Snoogans]

Well, yeah, if you can "control" your sining voice to ay degree like singers actually can, it'll be much easier. I'm just saying for the people like me, who can'tand are clearly not singers in any capacity, it's trickier.

thats why they put drums in the box

[DarkHippie]

i would think that starting your own band would be more fun

[Snoogans]

you are right hippie, but thats not always easy. Its hard to find enough people you can get along with and play the right instruments. This you can do by yourself if no one is around.

I'm sure it's fun, and if it's ever around I'm curious to try it, but I would never pay almost the price of a real instrument for a video game

[HBox]

i would think that starting your own band would be more fun

I'd imagine actually doing anything that you do in a game would be more fun, such like playing in the NFL or single handedly eliminating a horde of demons from hell, or racing down the street of Tokyo in illegal street racing cars, or just reaping havoc in a city, doing whatever you want whenever you want.

[Tenbatsuzen]

I'd imagine actually doing anything that you do in a game would be more fun, such like playing in the NFL or single handedly eliminating a horde of demons from hell, or racing down the street of Tokyo in illegal street racing cars, or just reaping havoc in a city, doing whatever you want whenever you want.

I don't think Resident Evil would be too much fun.

[DarkHippie]

I don't think Resident Evil would be too much fun.

Custer's revenge would be great though

[Snoogans]

resident evil would be fun if you knew that when you died you just wake up again. If that was the case, the best game to live in is grand theft auto

[hedges]

you are right hippie, but thats not always easy. Its hard to find enough people you can get along with and play the right instruments.

A'int that the truth. What can be cool about these games, for instance, is I have a friend who has a son--they played Guitar Hero a lot. Now the son is really into learning guitar as an instrument. That's cool.

[Snoogans]

and the drums in this would actually help you when it came to real drums, in terms of timing and doing everything at once. Not like those shitty guitars that do basically nothing

[angrymissy]

I thought I had a bum drum set, but it turns out I just have shitty lag on my TV. I had calibrated it in the past for GH 2/3, but I guess not for the rock band drums.

Now I've been 4starring hard easily.

[EffMeBoobs]

the foot pump hurts my leg after like 20 mins. So far my favorite part is singing. The other night we had Gwen, Reg, Lou and I play all together and it was fabulous!

[King Imp]

I was pleasantly surprised at receiving this for Christmas. Didn't ask for it because of the price, but was wanting it. Man, this is insanely fun!

I have three questions now.

1) For those that are fans of the Guitar Hero franchise, how can GH possibly survive against something like Rock Band? I mean who would buy GH to play one instrument now that you can have 4 at your disposal?

2) How the hell do you pull off the overdrive with the guitar? I know you are supposed to tilt the neck upwards once your energy meter reaches half way, but everytime I try it, nothing happens.

3) Since game manuals these days are absolute crap, they don't go into detail as to what this means. On the guitar there is a switch to choose between wah-wah, flanger, echo, chorus, or none. What do those even mean and what do they do as the manual doesn't explain it?

[angrymissy]

Fuck Green Grass and High Tides in it's fucking filthy asshole.

This takes it for most hated Expert song ever. Worse than Bark at the Moon, Worse than stupid Free Bird, WORSE THAN RAINING BLOOD.

I had the day off and decided to blow through Expert solo tour and this song is BULLSHIT with its 3 minute solos. Plus, it's fucking NINE MINUTES long and I always fail at like 85% and have to start all over.

[HBox]

Fuck Green Grass and High Tides in it's fucking filthy asshole.

This takes it for most hated Expert song ever. Worse than Bark at the Moon, Worse than stupid Free Bird, WORSE THAN RAINING BLOOD.

I had the day off and decided to blow through Expert solo tour and this song is BULLSHIT with its 3 minute solos. Plus, it's fucking NINE MINUTES long and I always fail at like 85% and have to start all over.

I FUCKING HATE THAT SONG! I hate playing it and I hate listening to it even more. They could not have possibly found a more monotonous song to include.

[HBox]

I was pleasantly surprised at receiving this for Christmas. Didn't ask for it because of the price, but was wanting it. Man, this is insanely fun!

I have three questions now.

1) For those that are fans of the Guitar Hero franchise, how can GH possibly survive against something like Rock Band? I mean who would buy GH to play one instrument now that you can have 4 at your disposal?

2) How the hell do you pull off the overdrive with the guitar? I know you are supposed to tilt the neck upwards once your energy meter reaches half way, but everytime I try it, nothing happens.

3) Since game manuals these days are absolute crap, they don't go into detail as to what this means. On the guitar there is a switch to choose between wah-wah, flanger, echo, chorus, or none. What do those even mean and what do they do as the manual doesn't explain it?

1. Guitar Hero will always be cheaper and that goes a long ways.

2. Sometimes you have to tilt it WAY UP. If that doesn't work then you could have a faulty guitar. That's unfortunately very common with Rock Band instruments.

3. All that does is change the sound of the guitar. It doesn't have any other effect on the gameplay.

[SeriouslySuprCJ]

Fuck Green Grass and High Tides in it's fucking filthy asshole.

Even the bass in that song gets so ridiculous. Four minutes in I was like "Well this isn't too bad" but then it just blows up and I failed twice in rapid succession, ruining it for my bandmates.

[angrymissy]

I failed it 6 times in a row at around 85% last night. I wouldn't care so much if the fail point wasn't like 7 minutes into the song. Then you have to restart the whole fucking thing only to fail again 6 minutes in. I had the same issues with Freebird and they use the same stupid progression. Going to have to slow it down in practice mode and play it awhile and hope for the best. I just want to get through it.

[Furtherman]

I failed it 6 times in a row at around 85% last night.

How do you even look at yourself. For shame.

[angrymissy]

In a place you only dream of
Where your soul is always free
Silver stages, golden curtains
Filled my head, plain as can be
As a rainbow grew round the sun
All the stars I've love who died
Came from somewhere beyond the scene you see
These lovely people played just for me
Now if I let you see this place
Where stories all ring true
Will you let me past your face
To see what's really you
It's not for me I ask these questions
As though I were a king
For you have to love, believe and feel
Before the burst of tamborines take you there

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a63/angrymissy/DSC00581.jpg

(chorus)
Green grass and high tides forever
Castles of stone souls and glory
Lost faces say we adore you
As kings and queens bow and play for you

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a63/angrymissy/DSC00580.jpg
Those who don't believe me
Find your souls and set them free
Those who do, believe and love
As time will be your key
Time and time again I've thanked them
For a piece of mind
They helped me find myself
Amongst the music and the rhyme
That enchants you there

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a63/angrymissy/DSC00581.jpg

[underdog]

Rock Band instruments going solo (http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/25/rock-band-instruments-pursuing-solo-careers-february-12th/)

[Dougie Brootal]

Rock Band instruments going solo (http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/25/rock-band-instruments-pursuing-solo-careers-february-12th/)

what does that even mean? there gonna sell thm in single packs i guess, right?

[topless_mike]

what the hell is rock band?

[underdog]

what does that even mean? there gonna sell thm in single packs i guess, right?

Yeah, you can buy the game with just the guitar or just the drums.

[HBox]

Portal fans and Rock Band fans unite and rejoice! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXkNkFLiRQ8)

Coming soon.

[underdog]

My wife bought me Rock Band for my birthday. She's the best!

I'm busy downloading new content now. Huzzah!