Rock Band

[briand1313]

First Time I have picked up something day of in quite some time. Has anyone else picked it up yet? First impressions are:

 

1. Guitar parts are very easy- and I'm cool with that- I believe it keeps the focus on the band aspect.

2. I suck at drums- If anyone has any suggestions on how to rewire my brain and seperate right arm , left arm, right foot, left foot please i'm all ears.

3. I'm digging the mic more than I thought I would. While I can sing decent my friends who have played are tone deaf. Two have been banned from ever using the mic again.

 

 

 

 

Brian

[Tempest]

3. I'm digging the mic more than I thought I would. While I can sing decent my friends who have played are tone deaf. Two have been banned from ever using the mic again.

 

I was about to say that I bet the mic is the hardest part to play. You can train yourself to be a better guitar player, and with alot of work, you might be able to give yourself some rhythm for the drums, but you just can't make yourself a good singer. Either you have the knack or you don't. You just can't seem to "learn" it.

 

Tempest

[Hyper_Eye]

I played Rock Band for a few hours tonight and I think it's meh. Guitar Hero is a more polished game. Rock Band has things in it that are just kind of annoying. Having to play the same songs over and over sucks. The guitar is not as well made as the Guitar Hero guitar (though you can use the GH guitar with it.) The guitar and bass is not as hard as it is in GH. The mic is alright if you like karaoke but other then that it will get annoying real quick (imagine the pre-teens in Halo that go around cussing... singing.) The only part that I think is really cool is the drums. They are well made and fun to play. Is it worth the bucks? Not when I already have Guitar Hero 2 and 3.

[StormSurge]

I was hoping to get this for Christmas, but I was told I won't be. I'm hoping that it's just a ploy to surprise me. Looks like a blast & the song list is tremendous.

[Shannon]

I've been spending a little time fooling with this (just guitar and microphone for now).

 

I like the animations much better than GH III (easily done), and even the earlier GH's. The footage has more of an MTV/rock concert feel to it. The lead actually sings in synch. Not sure about the drums. Oh and watch the guitar one the close ups. The finger work is pretty realistic. Alot more so than any guitar hero game. The player moves up and down the frets, plucks individual strings, and even bends em! I like how the whole band will jump in the air at certain point too. Cool!

 

I like the fact that star power notes can still be hit when star power mode has been activated. If you nail the solo you get bonus points. I think in multiplayer (band mode) you can play anything you want if you nail the solo 100%. On some songs there is a part at the end where you can jam. To be honest, I just mash the buttons further up the neck as fast as I possibly can for points.

 

Playing the guitar, as everyone said, is ALOT easier than GH. I only tried a couple songs on Expert but I managed to muck my way thru and didn't do nearly as badly as I would on GH. I'm sure I'll be able to get them with some practice.

 

As usual the activate star power sensing is kinda wacky.

 

I have not played much with the microphone. On easy it's fairly easy to manage through a song, even if your messing up the words and singing slightly off key. So it's possible to score good, but sound lousy. Bottom line. The better you know the song the easier it is to stay on key.

Edited November 28, 2007 by Shannon

[Lord Helmet]

The drums are the best part by far IMHO. The guitar parts are really easy. The singing is easy if you know the song...hard if you don't

 

All in all, I'm really digging RB. Especially with 4 players

[Shannon]

Yeah. I think knowing the song helps out a bit. That way you're not stumbling all over the words.

 

I my case there are a handful of songs that split right in the middle of my range. Jumping up and down an octave is not always intuitive.

 

Hehe.. Try singing on expert. Watch as your rock meter plummets down.

Edited November 28, 2007 by Shannon

[Lastblade]

I just "aaaaahhhhhh" through all the lyrics I don't know. Worked okay in Medium, lol.

 

Drum is so much fun, although hard.

 

Guitar's difficulty is right at my alley. GH seems to get progressively harder in each sequel.

[Shannon]

I think the game is too picky about subtle nuance or when you fill your voice out. Two things I have a tendancy to do. I seem to better the more "blander" I sing.

[Lord Thag]

I like it. It needs some polish, but there's lots of content, and the drums and mic are great. The guitars ... meh. Ok, but nothing special.

 

With four people, it's very fun. I won't spend $200 on it though. It's not THAT fun.

[briand1313]

I think the game is too picky about subtle nuance or when you fill your voice out. Two things I have a tendancy to do. I seem to better the more "blander" I sing.

 

I agree it doesn't like for you to get all soulfull at all. It feels as if the biggest factor is getting high marks is ending the vocal phrase on time.

 

I can get through a few songs playing and singing at the same time on expert though it does involve me saving myself from time to time. I can nail Say it ain't so on both. Knowing the song helps a great deal. I can't wait to see what other downloadable content comes out in the future.

 

We should get some people together from here to play. I can play anything but drums. I haven't given those proper attention at all. PM me with your xbox 360 handles if you feel like playing online.

 

Brian

[Shannon]

I don't really have live gold so cannot play with anyone, although it'd be kinda cool. As for downloadable content there already is some available. Here is the list.

 

Metallica Pack 1 - "...and Justice for All", "Blackened", "Ride The Lightning"

Queens of the Stone Age Pack 1 - "3's & 7's", ""Little Sister", "Sick, Sick, Sick"

The Police Pack 1 - "Roxanne", "Synchronicity II", "Can't Stand Losing You"

 

"Bang A Gong" by T. Rex

"Cherry Bomb" by Runaways

"Fortunate Son" by Clearance Clearwater Revival

"Joker & The Thief" by wolfmother

"Juke Box Hero" by Foreigner

Ma ma ma "My Sharaon" - by The Knack

 

Some of these are covers and they are available for the PS3 as well. The pack songs are sold individually as well.

[AtariRocks]

Since they have drums in this game it's too bad there is no Wipeout.

[Gabriel]

I tried it during lunch today.

 

The guitar felt really cheap to me. Maybe it was because it was a store demo unit, but it felt like it was going to break apart at every seam in my hands. The buttons and strum bar didn't have a good tactile feel to me either.

 

The drums looked neat enough.

 

Does the game actually look that staticy? It looked like the days of watching TV on a bad antenna. I know some music videos look like that, but... gah! Or was the store just showing games on a badly adjusted TV again?

[Shannon]

The game uses different video "effects" during the song. Many of which should be familar to anyone who has messed with video effects in video editing software. So most likely that is what it was. For example in one song they switch to black and white with static.

[Lord Helmet]

I tried it during lunch today.

 

The guitar felt really cheap to me. Maybe it was because it was a store demo unit, but it felt like it was going to break apart at every seam in my hands. The buttons and strum bar didn't have a good tactile feel to me either.

 

The drums looked neat enough.

 

Does the game actually look that staticy? It looked like the days of watching TV on a bad antenna. I know some music videos look like that, but... gah! Or was the store just showing games on a badly adjusted TV again?

 

The guitar does feel different. There is no "click" when pushing buttons or strumming. I read somewhere that the developers wanted it to feel less like holding down a button and more like holding a string on a real guitar.

 

 

I like the whammy bar on the RB guitar a ton better.

[cimerians]

Much better than GH III (after all its Harmonix doing Rockband)

 

Im not big on the vocals but I love playing the drums.

 

The guitar is better than the old GH guitars but I dont like the stiff "strum" bar. I guess it takes getting used to.

 

Song selection is great. I love it overall.

[Shannon]

New song packs available on live...

 

Black Sabbath Pack 01 - "N.I.B.*", "Sweat Leaf*", and "War Pigs*"

David Bowie Pack 01 - "Queen Bitch*", "Moonage Daydream", and "Heroes*"

 

Songs with and asterick are cover songs.

[Shannon]

Finally got to try the drum aspect of the game.

 

Although I had to switch it to lefty and mess with the screen lag options since the timing was off.

 

Pretty fun, but the foot petal tends to throw me off a bit.

[Hyper_Eye]

The guitar does feel different. There is no "click" when pushing buttons or strumming. I read somewhere that the developers wanted it to feel less like holding down a button and more like holding a string on a real guitar.

 

 

I like the whammy bar on the RB guitar a ton better.

 

I have played guitar many years and pushing a plastic button is never going to feel like pushing on a metal or nylon string. The GH controller worked fine. Besides, when you strike a piece of plastic (some play soft picks... I play hard picks but either applies) against metal there is feedback in your hand. You can feel and hear a pick or strum of a string. The fact that the Rock Band controller does not have a click when strumming makes it less realistic then the GH controller... not the other way around.

 

Regardless of any of that... I have been playing the drums in Rock Band and it has been a blast. Unfortunately, my red pad is defective. At first it was fine but after no more then a day or two it began to intermittently register 3 hits to a single a hit or it would fail to register. After a few more days the pad began to only have a problem registering and it was much more frequent. Yesterday it stopped registering completely. On Tuesday I filled out the form on EA's site for replacement parts. There are two options for return:

 

• Regular: They send a box to return the defective unit in and they send your replacement upon arrival of the item. The process takes two to three weeks.
  
• Express: You provide a credit card that will have a pre-authorization charge of $120 placed on it which will put those funds on hold (real funds on the case of a debit card) for a month. They send you a replacement part two-day air. You return your defective part in the same box your replacement came in. Then you are done. If they don't receive the defective part after 28 days they charge your credit card the $120 they pre-authorized.
  

 

I chose the express method naturally. I didn't pay so much for a game to have it sitting around defective. I received my tracking number instantly. I have checked UPS and the site still says "Billing Information Received" for that tracking number. So the express option is turning into the regular option but with my credit card added to the equation. So they either don't have the part or haven't been able to make their shipments. Either way I am unhappy about it.

[The MilkMan]

Oh, thats great to hear.....

I got fired my RockBand up last night (12/25). I just solo played a couple a songs with the guitar before I stopped. The game kept freezing! Frustrated, I stopped and put it away for the night.

Hope my drums last then!

 

On another note, my sister in-law got the new party animals Pinata game. She said her game kept freezing too.

Grrrr. Whats the deal!!!!?!!!!

[The MilkMan]

Whew...

I fired it up this morning and it came back to life, how long have i GOT?!?!?!!!

 

Last night, tried RockBand again. Froze right before I could play a gig. Powered down (had to, locked up). Waited, fired it up again and decided to put some tattoos on....froze up. Third time, froze during loading page, 4th time... I got 3 red flashing lights.

After nearly loosing my voice some screaming vulgarities, I powered it off for the night. I thought it was dead.

Before I call Microsoft, I hit the power button this morning, got the green light, and ejected the Rockband disc. Tonight I want to put in other games to see if I get the same results.

I have not had any game of mine freeze or lock-up the system before, so weird!

 

Am I alone so far on RockBand doing this? (or is my console going bad, and it just so happened when I got RockBand)

[moycon]

I have not had any game of mine freeze or lock-up the system before, so weird!

 

I'd send the unit back to them. You'll be without your 360 for a couple weeks, but seriously unless the disk is scratched, why would you want a system that freezes if you play games on it even if it's only one particular game? I had the same issue with Perfect Dark Zero, it would always freeze up on that one game, I sent the system back.

[Hyper_Eye]

Whew...

I fired it up this morning and it came back to life, how long have i GOT?!?!?!!!

 

Last night, tried RockBand again. Froze right before I could play a gig. Powered down (had to, locked up). Waited, fired it up again and decided to put some tattoos on....froze up. Third time, froze during loading page, 4th time... I got 3 red flashing lights.

After nearly loosing my voice some screaming vulgarities, I powered it off for the night. I thought it was dead.

Before I call Microsoft, I hit the power button this morning, got the green light, and ejected the Rockband disc. Tonight I want to put in other games to see if I get the same results.

I have not had any game of mine freeze or lock-up the system before, so weird!

 

Am I alone so far on RockBand doing this? (or is my console going bad, and it just so happened when I got RockBand)

 

It sounds to me like your 360 is on the way out. If it is locking up and producing 3 red lights that would tell me that some solder points on the GPU or CPU are broken and pulling away when the non-broken points get soft from heat. This isn't a symptom of Rock Band. This is a symptom of your system failing over time. It is the common problem. Once enough solder points are broken the non-broken points won't be enough to pull them back to a connection when the heat dissipates. I would call MS and get it exchanged.

[The MilkMan]

...sigh.

 

this figures. I know many have dealt with this before. And I have even read about the blinking red circle of death. But still! I'm angry and frustrated anyway. It's 2007, isn't the technology there? Shouldn't we be passed faulty, flimsy, marginal products? I don't understand why this issue (360's going dead) still persists. Not by you folks here on the forums, but the fact that I'm being told... it's common, you should send it in...really irritates me. Dead 360s should be a rare instance, not common.

Anyway, thanks for the input.

I know. Anger and frustration about this very issue has already been expressed by many, so I guess, end rant. I hope the exchange will be easy and not add fuel to the fire.