Rock Band 2

[dreamcastrocks]

Where's the hi-hat?
I'll be picking up the newest RB or GH this weekend. Prob RB.

The newest Rock Band (2) and Guitar Hero (4) don't come out until September and November respectfully.

 

[LVG]

After seeing all this, I've decided to place the pre-order for the ION Drum Set. The double bass drum petals and the fact you can hook it into a drum brain and turn it into a real drum set sold me.

Since my instruments will work with both GHWT and RB2, I'll pick up both. But right now, in a head to head fight, RB will still probably win.

 

[Covert Rain]

After seeing all this, I've decided to place the pre-order for the ION Drum Set. The double bass drum petals and the fact you can hook it into a drum brain and turn it into a real drum set sold me.

Since my instruments will work with both GHWT and RB2, I'll pick up both. But right now, in a head to head fight, RB will still probably win.

I don't know if I am going there but I will pick up the new kit either way. I am really curious about the double bass pedal port on the new stock kit. I wonder how this will work.

Also, check this out. Because Harmonix is encouraging 3rd party accessories for Rock Band 2, it looks like they are trying to innovate. Check out these portable drums. They are suppose to work on any surface so you can take them with you.

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Here is the new MIC with buttons this time. Woohoo!!!!!

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[coyoteshockeyfan]

I haven't seen this mentioned, so the game releases September 15th on the Xbox 360. Lesser consoles have to wait until October.

Having all of these 3rd party instrument options is nice and all, but unfortunately most appear to be made by MadCatz, the worst peripheral manufacturer known to man.

 

[Covert Rain]

I haven't seen this mentioned, so the game releases September 15th on the Xbox 360. Lesser consoles have to wait until October.

Having all of these 3rd party instrument options is nice and all, but unfortunately most appear to be made by MadCatz, the worst peripheral manufacturer known to man.

Huge difference. These are officially licensed products that Harmonix supposedly developed and MadCatz is only the manufacturer. There is no way Harmonix didn't set quality standards with the cymbals and stuff like that. Also, the Mic is suppose to be studio quality as well.....I guess we will have to wait and see.

Having said that I don't hold out much hope for the portable drum kit. Usually stuff like this is more gimicky no matter who makes it. I just thought the concept was cool.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Huge difference. These are officially licensed products that Harmonix supposedly developed and MadCatz is only the manufacturer. There is no way Harmonix didn't set quality standards with the cymbals and stuff like that. Also, the Mic is suppose to be studio quality as well.....I guess we will have to wait and see.

Having said that I don't hold out much hope for the portable drum kit. Usually stuff like this is more gimicky no matter who makes it. I just thought the concept was cool.

I have little doubt that the Harmonix peripherals that comes with the game will be quality, but let's just say considering MadCatz's track record on everything else I don't have much faith in their 3rd party materials until proven otherwise.

 

[Covert Rain]

I have little doubt that the Harmonix peripherals that comes with the game will be quality, but let's just say considering MadCatz's track record on everything else I don't have much faith in their 3rd party materials until proven otherwise.

The stuff I have bought from them has no doubt been hit and miss. I have bought stuff from them that did not hold up. Then again, I had a 360 controller from them that I bought my son that has been beat to heck and still functioning perfectly.

I found the same with Pelican and most of the other 3rd party guys. They just don't care the same about quality then the stuff that usually comes "stock".

 

[mojorizen7]

The newest Rock Band (2) and Guitar Hero (4) don't come out until September and November respectfully.

^Oops,Uhhhh....maybe not.

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I don't anticipate having any video game parties so which game would you suggest to someone who values variety in songs and realistic gameplay?
I play guitar and drums in reality so i'm not necessarily interested in banging on a feux kit. I've played GH and thought it was fun.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

^Oops,Uhhhh....maybe not.

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I don't anticipate having any video game parties so which game would you suggest to someone who values variety in songs and realistic gameplay?
I play guitar and drums in reality so i'm not necessarily interested in banging on a feux kit. I've played GH and thought it was fun.

The gameplay is just about the same for either game. As for which one has better songs, its up to your tastes.

Full RB2 track list: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/888/888781p1.html
Partial GH4 track list: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/897/897271p1.html

 

[mojorizen7]

The gameplay is just about the same for either game. As for which one has better songs, its up to your tastes.

Full RB2 track list: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/888/888781p1.html
Partial GH4 track list: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/897/897271p1.html

Thanks i'll look it over.

 

[Covert Rain]

Here is a new preview of the game.

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/puzzle/rockband2/news.html?sid=6196269&page=1

Here are some highlights (some we already knew):

• 20 Free tracks in addition to the on disc content

• Modes--Quickplay, Tour, and Training--along with extras and the music store.

• Quickplay offers four further options--Solo Quickplay, Band Quickplay, Tug of War, and Duel--that let you duke it out with frenemies far and wide.

• Customization, so you'll be able to switch instruments on your custom characters and adjust song lists.

• Tour mode, which now lets you do offline and online touring.

• New set list challenges at each venue

• Crew staffing: You'll now be able to hire different staff to come along on your tour. Staff choices yield different bonuses to your group as you play, like more fans per gig. 14 potential hires, which ran the gamut from mom to a tattoo artist or a publicist.

• Band-centric challenges to test your skills. Band Challenge or Battle of the Bands submodes. Also, Battle of the Bands will offer Harmonix-posted competitions for you to take part in and prove your skills. You'll be pinged when one of your records has been topped, encouraging you to go and set a new one.

• Tour Challenge mode features seven sets of locked challenges that you'll open up by clearing them. Each challenge gets progressively tougher and offers a fun, bite-size bit of action. Cooler still is that some challenges are generated based on the content on your hard drive, so you can expect album-specific challenges to pop up.

• Drum trainer, which actually works as a proper introduction to real drumming.

• Calibration - A/V touch is built right into the game's new guitar peripheral and radically improves the calibration process for the game on HDTVs.

• Jukebox mode lets you play along with your own music.

• Alternates - you'll be able to set up a band with alternates that you can swap as needed

I am really interested in Jukebox mode. I very curious to see how this is going to work and be implemented.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

"Not enough for you? How about a Jukebox mode that allows you to listen to songs without having to play any instruments? Yes, you can now pick a song and kick back with a refreshing drink. Listen to your favorite song and watch your band play without your input. Jukebox mode shows off the refinements in presentation often lost when you're focused on playing an instrument. The camera cuts are smarter, the angles better, and the animations more varied."

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/901/901045p2.html

 

[Covert Rain]

"Not enough for you? How about a Jukebox mode that allows you to listen to songs without having to play any instruments? Yes, you can now pick a song and kick back with a refreshing drink. Listen to your favorite song and watch your band play without your input. Jukebox mode shows off the refinements in presentation often lost when you're focused on playing an instrument. The camera cuts are smarter, the angles better, and the animations more varied."

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/901/901045p2.html

I had read that before which is confusing. The Gamespot writer either didn't write the article very well or he is inferring that you can play along if you want to your own music.

Man, I can't wait for a full blown review of this game in detail.

 

[puckhead]

Exclusive: 'Rock Band 2' offering new slate of full albums

Aug 28, 2008, 07:20 AM | by Shirley Halperin
Categories: Games, Music, Music Biz

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While there's been a lot of talk over the last few years about the inevitable death of the album format, the videogame industry doesn't appear to be listening. On Sept. 12, Metallica will release a gameplay version of their new record, Death Magnetic, through Guitar Hero, and two days later, Rock Band 2 debuts, and with it, the promise of 500 tracks by year's end. Stocking the digital bins, EW.com has learned exclusively, will be seminal full albums by Foo Fighters (The Colour and the Shape), Red Hot Chili Peppers (Blood Sugar Sex Magik), Jane's Addiction (Nothing's Shocking), Megadeth (Peace Sells... But Who's Buying) and Stevie Ray Vaughn (Texas Flood), along with a specially-compiled No Doubt Best Of collection. All are slated to roll out in the coming months, according to MTV Games.
With the first Rock Band game selling over 3.5 million game units and 21 million songs since it first hit the market in November 2007, the appetite for downloadable content seems to be insatiable. The game began offering full album downloads earlier this year, kicking off with Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance and later adding the Pixies Dootlittle and the Cars' self-titled debut album. "We're surprised by how many people opted to get full albums," says Paul Degooyer, Senior Vice President at MTV Games. "But it’s a good value proposition. Talk about something that’s been lost and forgotten."

Link

 

[LVG]

Cover charge for Rock Band 2 song transfers


Link.

All signs point to another epic rock-off between Activision Blizzard's and MTV Games' rhythm games this holiday season, and one of the ways that Rock Band developer Harmonix hopes to rouse crowds in its favor is its vast library of downloadable songs. During this year's E3 Media & Business Summit, Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos promised that more than 500 songs will be available for play in Rock Band 2, thanks in part to the ability to transfer Rock Band tracks to its successor.


However, that much-touted song-transfer ability won't be free. Speaking with MTV's Multiplayer gaming blog, Harmonix public-relations coordinator John Drake said that players will be charged a one-time fee that "will not exceed $5." At cause for the cover charge? According to Drake, Harmonix can't simply export the tunes from one game to another without ponying up extra licensing fees to the songs' rights holders.


Laying out how the exact process will work, Drake said that a patch will be rolled out for the original Rock Band on the day that its sequel is released. The patch creates an Export menu in the original game, and players who select it will then be prompted to input a password provided with the Rock Band 2 disc. After paying the aforementioned fee, Rock Band songs will then be transferred to the player's hard drive, where they can then be accessed in Rock Band 2.


MTV notes that Drake's comments regarding the process and accompanying fee thus far hold true only for the Xbox 360 edition of the game, which sees a timed exclusivity when it launches on September 14.


In other Harmonix news, the developer announced that pioneering prog-rock act Rush will lend its celebrated 1981 album Moving Pictures to Rock Band. Pricing information was not revealed for the seven-song pack, but the full-album DLC will be available for the Xbox 360 on August 26 and the PlayStation 3 two days later.


Of the seven songs in the full-album pack, "Tom Sawyer" appeared in the original Rock Band, though the new release will be a master recording. Tracks appearing in Rush's Moving Pictures are listed below.


Moving Pictures
"Tom Sawyer"
"Red Barchetta"
"YYZ"
"Limelight"
"The Camera Eye"
"Witch Hunt (Part III of Fear)"
"Vital Signs"

I expected this, but not at this price. I thought it would actually be more. This clears up a lot of licensing issues by making you purchase the songs again - and $5 is nothing, IMO.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

$5 allows you to export all of the RB1 songs except for:

• "Paranoid" as made famous by Black Sabbath
• "Run to the Hills" as made famous by Iron Maiden
• "Enter Sandman" by Metallica

Not bad.

 

[mojorizen7]

"Limelight"

That lead is sick.

 

[Linderbee]

$5 allows you to export all of the RB1 songs except for:

• "Paranoid" as made famous by Black Sabbath
• "Run to the Hills" as made famous by Iron Maiden
• "Enter Sandman" by Metallica

Not bad.

I won't miss Run to the Hills.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Review: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/909/909663p1.html

No real surprises, for $60 you get 80+ songs on the disk and some fixes to minor irritations in the first game and otherwise not much has changed. Pretty good deal.

 

[LVG]

Great! My ION audio drum set should be shipping any day now, can't wait to go get RB2 and rock out!

I won't miss Run to the Hills.

I love that song...

 

[Linderbee]

Great! My ION audio drum set should be shipping any day now, can't wait to go get RB2 and rock out!



I love that song...

It's not a bad song...just listening to dcr & his determination to get past it on expert has worn out its welcome (read = try hearing 50 times in a row).

 

[ArizonaSportsFan]

Just picked this up this morning at the GameStop near my place of work. Excited to jam out with the family. I had purchased GH3 Aerosmith (best song on there is She Sells Sanctuary, IMO) last week and my 13YO son beat the hard level on it in a few hours (jerk!). So some new material that should be fun for us - wife on drums, me on guitar/bass, one son on bass/guitar, and one daughter singing. Now if we could get an eight-piece Rock Band 3 we would be in business.

Rock on.

Now I am just missing the groupies....

 

[ArizonaSportsFan]

Update: The early setlist (first 12 songs or so) is MUCH better this time around! Even the songs that I didn't know are pretty good. The "worst" for me was the Nirvana tune, but that is because Nirvana is pretty much just power chords. The difficulty on Hard is just about right for the first time through the list, although it will probably be too challenging for me in another 15 songs or so.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I hope to get this soon.

 

[LVG]

I hope to get this soon.

Tonight, my friend, tonight. Spent last night putting together the ION drum set.

Ssssswwwwwweeeeetttttt!

I won't get to play it until Saturday, though, or my wife will