Post by Max Power on Jul 13, 2007 21:02:03 GMT -5
(Or, "If you aren't buying this, you're a dork: The Game")
So, you uninformed people out there might be asking: "What the heck is Rock Band? And why should I care?"
And I'd say you better cut the sass before I start cutting you. But I don't. Because I'm a nice guy. And since I'm so nice, I'm gonna tell you what this is.
Those of you familiar with the popular "Guitar Hero" franchise on the Playstation2 and Xbox 360 will find this kind of familiar. And it's not a surprise since "Rock Band" is being crafted by the same developers, Harmonix. With publishing and distributing from MTV and EA Games, and their prior success with Guitar Hero, they've been able to craft an ambitious dream project of a game that is literally one of the most unique ensemble music game experiences ever seen.
Instead of leaving the game to simply one instrument -- to just a guitar, or just vocals, or just drums -- they are combining all the elements of a traditional rock band into one game simultaneously. So you'll now be able to jam with 3 other people on other instruments (out of 4; lead guitar, bass/rhythm guitar, drums, and vocals) either all together in one room with your buddies, or all across the country through the magic of online play.
Guitar controls are basically the same as in the previous Guitar Hero games. You play using this special guitar controller (modeled now after the Fender Stratocaster; larger and more authentic than previous guitar controllers). While holding the fret buttons on the neck of the guitar, you strum with the strum bar to match the scrolling buttons that show up on the screen to match the guitar playing on the song.
The new thing with this controller is that there are now also 5 extra fret buttons higher up on the guitar that are specifically designed for special solo sections. When you use these for solos, you need only rely on hammer-ons and pull-offs; no strumming is required. Very cool, and the controller looks absolutely killer.
The drums are a new thing. With this new, special drum-set designed for the game, you'll drum with included wooden drumsticks. 4 circular pads and a kick pedal make this up, with the left-most pad being the snare and the other 3 being interchangeable from toms to cymbals depending on the song. Essentially it's the same way as playing guitar, with instead striking the appropriate colored pad when the button from it scrolls down the screen, and an orange line indicating when to use the kick pedal. There will also be free-form drum fills sprinkled throughout some songs.
The microphone for the vocals (not pictured) part of the game is similar to another Harmonix game, Karaoke Revolution, except more emphasis on getting the words correctly with a new phenome detector. Although, you still need not hit the incredibly high notes as the game only requires you to sing in the right octave. The mic will also double as a rhythmic tambourine of sorts for you to hit during long stretches of no lyrics.
Most USB mics out now will be compatible for this game, except for some headset mics like the Xbox Live microphone, as it's too low-fi to be accurate for the game (plus you don't see real rock singers out there with stupid-looking headsets; come on!).
So yeah, this game is gonna be pretty awesome. And to cement this claim, here's the 15 (out of 40) currently announced licensed songs for this game:
The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again (master)
Mountain - Mississippi Queen (cover)
David Bowie - Suffragette City (master)
Black Sabbath - Paranoid (cover)
Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper (master)
The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop (master)
Rush - Tom Sawyer (cover)
Bon Jovi - Wanted Dead or Alive (master)
Nirvana - In Bloom (master)
Stone Temple Pilots - Vaseline (master)
Weezer - Say It Ain't So (master)
Foo Fighters - Learn to Fly (master)
The Hives - Main Offender (master)
The Strokes - Reptilia (master)
Queens of the Stone Age - Go With the Flow (master)
Metallica - Enter Sandman (master)
And those are just what's ON THE DISC. Rock Band will be getting downloadable content regularly; from single hits to entire albums. In fact, the entire The Who - "Who's Next" album is confirmed to be one of the first bits of DLC available for Rock Band when it releases. Metallica is also confirmed to have more songs available through DLC later on.
And even still you've got customizable band avatars to personify your inner vocalist/guitarist/drummer, with tons of ways to clothe and even ways to tweak their personality and how they rock out on-stage. You can even craft your own band logo!
Plus there's tons of different effects you can add to your guitar to customize your sound, and you can switch between them on-the-fly with a special switch on the guitar controller.
AND there's entire solo campaigns for each instrument (guitar, drums and vocals; bass doesn't get one), and even a whole campaign for co-op for two, three or four people. So it's like you're getting four games (Guitar Hero, Karaoke Revolution, "Drum" Hero, and Rock Band) in one!
So if you're not stoked for this game yet, check out the official trailer for Rock Band. If you're STILL not hyped... Well I think you're beyond saving. Go on and live your dreary, awesome-free life and let us bask in the warm glow of this upcoming game of epic proportions.
Rock Band's coming for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 later this year during the holidays (and there's rumors of it being ported to the Nintendo Wii later on; nothing solid yet).
How you'll pay for all these accessories is a different matter (which is not required -- remember, the game has online play which allows you to play with people who possess the instrument controllers you don't have, so you can always have a full band to jam with).
But really, who can put a price on something this awesome?
Just thought I would post this to get you all as pumped as I am for this game.
(PS. If you're reading this and think I'm some kind of undercover PR rep for Harmonix/EA/MTV Games, you're wrong. I'm just a needlessly detailing fanboy.)
So, you uninformed people out there might be asking: "What the heck is Rock Band? And why should I care?"
And I'd say you better cut the sass before I start cutting you. But I don't. Because I'm a nice guy. And since I'm so nice, I'm gonna tell you what this is.
Those of you familiar with the popular "Guitar Hero" franchise on the Playstation2 and Xbox 360 will find this kind of familiar. And it's not a surprise since "Rock Band" is being crafted by the same developers, Harmonix. With publishing and distributing from MTV and EA Games, and their prior success with Guitar Hero, they've been able to craft an ambitious dream project of a game that is literally one of the most unique ensemble music game experiences ever seen.
Instead of leaving the game to simply one instrument -- to just a guitar, or just vocals, or just drums -- they are combining all the elements of a traditional rock band into one game simultaneously. So you'll now be able to jam with 3 other people on other instruments (out of 4; lead guitar, bass/rhythm guitar, drums, and vocals) either all together in one room with your buddies, or all across the country through the magic of online play.
Guitar controls are basically the same as in the previous Guitar Hero games. You play using this special guitar controller (modeled now after the Fender Stratocaster; larger and more authentic than previous guitar controllers). While holding the fret buttons on the neck of the guitar, you strum with the strum bar to match the scrolling buttons that show up on the screen to match the guitar playing on the song.
The new thing with this controller is that there are now also 5 extra fret buttons higher up on the guitar that are specifically designed for special solo sections. When you use these for solos, you need only rely on hammer-ons and pull-offs; no strumming is required. Very cool, and the controller looks absolutely killer.
The drums are a new thing. With this new, special drum-set designed for the game, you'll drum with included wooden drumsticks. 4 circular pads and a kick pedal make this up, with the left-most pad being the snare and the other 3 being interchangeable from toms to cymbals depending on the song. Essentially it's the same way as playing guitar, with instead striking the appropriate colored pad when the button from it scrolls down the screen, and an orange line indicating when to use the kick pedal. There will also be free-form drum fills sprinkled throughout some songs.
The microphone for the vocals (not pictured) part of the game is similar to another Harmonix game, Karaoke Revolution, except more emphasis on getting the words correctly with a new phenome detector. Although, you still need not hit the incredibly high notes as the game only requires you to sing in the right octave. The mic will also double as a rhythmic tambourine of sorts for you to hit during long stretches of no lyrics.
Most USB mics out now will be compatible for this game, except for some headset mics like the Xbox Live microphone, as it's too low-fi to be accurate for the game (plus you don't see real rock singers out there with stupid-looking headsets; come on!).
So yeah, this game is gonna be pretty awesome. And to cement this claim, here's the 15 (out of 40) currently announced licensed songs for this game:
The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again (master)
Mountain - Mississippi Queen (cover)
David Bowie - Suffragette City (master)
Black Sabbath - Paranoid (cover)
Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper (master)
The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop (master)
Rush - Tom Sawyer (cover)
Bon Jovi - Wanted Dead or Alive (master)
Nirvana - In Bloom (master)
Stone Temple Pilots - Vaseline (master)
Weezer - Say It Ain't So (master)
Foo Fighters - Learn to Fly (master)
The Hives - Main Offender (master)
The Strokes - Reptilia (master)
Queens of the Stone Age - Go With the Flow (master)
Metallica - Enter Sandman (master)
And those are just what's ON THE DISC. Rock Band will be getting downloadable content regularly; from single hits to entire albums. In fact, the entire The Who - "Who's Next" album is confirmed to be one of the first bits of DLC available for Rock Band when it releases. Metallica is also confirmed to have more songs available through DLC later on.
And even still you've got customizable band avatars to personify your inner vocalist/guitarist/drummer, with tons of ways to clothe and even ways to tweak their personality and how they rock out on-stage. You can even craft your own band logo!
Plus there's tons of different effects you can add to your guitar to customize your sound, and you can switch between them on-the-fly with a special switch on the guitar controller.
AND there's entire solo campaigns for each instrument (guitar, drums and vocals; bass doesn't get one), and even a whole campaign for co-op for two, three or four people. So it's like you're getting four games (Guitar Hero, Karaoke Revolution, "Drum" Hero, and Rock Band) in one!
So if you're not stoked for this game yet, check out the official trailer for Rock Band. If you're STILL not hyped... Well I think you're beyond saving. Go on and live your dreary, awesome-free life and let us bask in the warm glow of this upcoming game of epic proportions.
Rock Band's coming for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 later this year during the holidays (and there's rumors of it being ported to the Nintendo Wii later on; nothing solid yet).
How you'll pay for all these accessories is a different matter (which is not required -- remember, the game has online play which allows you to play with people who possess the instrument controllers you don't have, so you can always have a full band to jam with).
But really, who can put a price on something this awesome?
Just thought I would post this to get you all as pumped as I am for this game.
(PS. If you're reading this and think I'm some kind of undercover PR rep for Harmonix/EA/MTV Games, you're wrong. I'm just a needlessly detailing fanboy.)