Rock Band

[Dechipher]

I'm surprised no one has posted about this yet.

It eats Guitar Hero's lunch, like no ones business.

My friends and I played it last night for 5 hours straight, and I've never had more fun. The guitar and Bass are pretty standard, like guitar hero, and both of those players were on expert the whole night. I, being a drummer, was on drums all night, also on expert. What's really cool about that is that it was actually like playing drums, and it challenged me on expert. I kept wanting to add stuff and it would fail me for that. It's a blast though. The vocal one is cool too because it shows you how far off you are and you can correct it if you want. I did vocals on a few songs, like sabotage and epic, where there's not a lot of pitch oriented material.

The only complaint I had is that you keep playing the same songs over and over again. We'd got o new venues and do the mystery setlist and it would ALWAYS be Say it Ain't So by Weezer, followed by In Bloom by Nirvana. I think we played those two songs like 10-15 times, easily. Also, I had a little bit of an issue on the drums with calibration, specifically on Aerosmith's song (which name escapes me right now) and Iron Maiden's run to the hills. I'm playing the correct rhythm but for some reason the game doesn't recognize it.


Anyway, it's a really awesome game, and easily beats out any other game like it.

[Masamune]

Yeah, this game takes a big giant shit on Guitar Hero. It's 6:40 AM, and my friends and I have been playing since 11 PM. Lot's of fucking fun. I love how you can change the words when you're on vocals.

[MasterSwordUltima]

Well in Guitar Hero's defense, that game was focused on Guitars, whereas Rock Band is the Band. Is it any fun to play by yourself though, or is it a Mario Party kinda thing?

Also, how exactly is singing handled?

[rock_nog]

My little bro got a copy... It does indeed rock hard, but only if you have several people to play. I hate the guitar, though. It just doesn't feel right, and I can never tell how hard I have to push the strum bar for it to register. So obnoxious.

Personally, though, I think I'll stick with guitar hero. Besides the fact that I like the guitar hero guitars better, I have neither the money to shell out on Rock Band nor the system to play it on.

[Masamune]

You can use the Guitar Hero guitar on Rock Band, dude. :P

[MottZilla]

Rock band sucks. End of story. Honestly I hate all these music games. DDR was enough, and Guitar Hero was taking it as far as it should go.

[Dechipher]

Have you played Rock Band at all? It's a blast. I'm not sure how it fares on single player, but for multiplayer it's awesome.

[AlexMax]

Frequency was Harmonix's only good game.

[rock_nog]

You can use the Guitar Hero guitar on Rock Band, dude. :P
Unless you have Guitar Hero for the PS2 (last year I got myself a PS2 for pretty much the sole purpose of playing Guitar Hero and Katamari), and your little bro has a 360. :P

[DarkDragoonX]

Rock band sucks. End of story. Honestly I hate all these music games. DDR was enough, and Guitar Hero was taking it as far as it should go.

I completely agree... I always wondered exactly what all the fuss was about Guitar Hero, having never actually seen the game in action. When I finally did, I wanted to hit each and every person who bought the game.

It's just Simon with a fucking soundtrack.

[Dechipher]

I don't know, maybe it's different because I'm a musician or because I am in college or because I have a lot of friends or because I don't really have much time for video games, or because Guitar Hero is great at parties, but I really enjoy playing these games.
Maybe they are just Simon with a soundtrack, but mario is just move and jump with a gorilla.

[Grasshopper]

I always wondered exactly what all the fuss was about Guitar Hero, having never actually seen the game in action. When I finally did, I wanted to hit each and every person who bought the game.

Ok, cool. I'll make sure to smack you real hard next time you like a game I hate. :thumbsup:

[DarkDragoonX]

I get virtual slaps upside the head constantly due to my somewhat unusual taste in games. It's okay, I'm rather used to it.

[Dechipher]

I get virtual slaps upside the head constantly due to my somewhat unusual taste in games. It's okay, I'm rather used to it.

I don't get people who ridicule others for their video game choice. Video game elitists, if you will. If a video game is fun, it doesn't matter to me what kind of people play it or what the concept is. If I have fun, cool. If not, then I won't play it.

[MottZilla]

You're allowed to ridicule people that like "music games". We had a meeting and there was a vote. You lost. Deal with it. DDR is ok, but the music instruments with buttons, come the fuck on that's sad. If you want buttons then get a keyboard.

[AlexMax]

DDR is ok

So virtual dancing is somehow less embarassing than playing virtual guitar?

[Link 101]

I kind of agree with the side of Guitar Hero not being that great. I mean...I've played it once in Gamestop for like a second, and I didn't really like it that much. If I want to play guitar, I'll pick my real one up and play it. If I want to play in a Rock Band, I'll go to band practice. I dunno, I'm not hating on it, just seems like the developers at these companies could put their time into something cooler.

[Grasshopper]

If I want to play guitar, I'll pick my real one up and play it. If I want to play in a Rock Band, I'll go to band practice.

Most of the people I know who play Guitar Hero, actually do play guitar.

But to be honest, I don't understand why people say that comment. I hear it way to often too. Even from people who like DDR. Because if I want to dance, I wouldn't bother playing DDR, I'd do it at a dance club. And expanding on that, why play Madden when you can play real football. If I wanted drive real fast, I'd do it in a real car as opposed to Need For Speed. If I wanted to steal cars, I do it for real instead of playing Grand Theft Auto, and if I wanted to kill people I grab my rocket launcher out of my closet and start a killing spree at the mall instead of doing it in UT3.

The thing is, most people who play games want to play it because it is a game. If someone doesn't like the idea of pressing buttons in sync to music; DDR, Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Pop n Music, Frequency, or whatever type of game it is, then okay. But if someone does like it, it doesn't mean they want to play the real thing. Playing Guitar Hero may be as close to playing a real guitar without knowing how to play or having a guitar, and maybe thats what the big draw is. People who don't want to play guitar can feel like they know how for the 5 minutes they are playing a song, step away and then forget about it.

I play GH, but don't have the time, nor the inclination to go out and by a real guitar and take real lessons. I simply don't want to. I'll stick to playing a couple songs in GH, and then moving on. Its fun for a while, and thats about it. At the end of the day though, its a game and accomplishes what a game should, bringing me enjoyment from it when I play. If it happens to incorporate music into its gameplay, then so be it.

I don't plan on purchasing Rock Band, because of the near $200 price tag, but I can understand why it could be fun.

[AlexMax]

Most of the people I know who play Guitar Hero, actually do play guitar.

But to be honest, I don't understand why people say that comment. I hear it way to often too. Even from people who like DDR. Because if I want to dance, I wouldn't bother playing DDR, I'd do it at a dance club. And expanding on that, why play Madden when you can play real football. If I wanted drive real fast, I'd do it in a real car as opposed to Need For Speed. If I wanted to steal cars, I do it for real instead of playing Grand Theft Auto, and if I wanted to kill people I grab my rocket launcher out of my closet and start a killing spree at the mall instead of doing it in UT3.

Did you seriously think about this correlation for two seconds before you typed it out? You could invest the 200 bucks you spent in DDR or Rock Band in dancing lessons or a real guitar, and the time you spend practicing those two games could easily go towards practicing the real thing. Driving fast cars, on the other hand, is out of most peoples reach, financially, and I seriously cannot fathom why you thought the GTA3 and UT3 comparisons were valid.

[rock_nog]

You know, this reminds me of arguments I'd used to get into with my friends. I have some friends who love watching football, and I would always say, "Wouldn't it be more fun if we went outside and tossed the old pigskin around, rather than watching it on TV?" To this day, for the life of me I can't understand why you'd want to sit around watching a game on TV when you could be outside actually playing the sport, but I've never really been a big sports spectator, so what do I know?

Personally, though, I love Guitar Hero. I'm currently learning the guitar in real life, too, but let's face it, it'll be years before I can shred like that in real life. In the meantime, rhythm games are fun, so what's wrong with a rhythm game that's got a good soundtrack?

That's the issue here, I think. It's a rhythm game. Some people like rhythm games. What's wrong with liking rhythm games? Why is this any different than Parappa the Rapper?

[Masamune]

The fact that they had Pixies - Wave of Mutilation onthere made me extremely happy. And then I realized the Timmy! song from South Park is also on there, both very fun.

[Grasshopper]

Did you seriously think about this correlation for two seconds before you typed it out? You could invest the 200 bucks you spent in DDR or Rock Band in dancing lessons or a real guitar, and the time you spend practicing those two games could easily go towards practicing the real thing. Driving fast cars, on the other hand, is out of most peoples reach, financially, and I seriously cannot fathom why you thought the GTA3 and UT3 comparisons were valid.

Yes, I did think about the correlation for more than two seconds. I feel the price of each individual package is cheaper than the non-game equivalent. If you can get a decent guitar for $80, then congratulations...you proved me wrong. I'm sorry if I so wrongly assumed the prices of guitars. And I guess I deserve that for assuming that you and 3 other friends can buy yourselves some instruments for less than $200, and form a band. The reason I used the GTA and UT3 reference was because the stupidity in saying such things, to me at least, sounds no different than telling people to play real guitar over a game. I thought I made that very clear, but I guess the sarcasm didn't come off like expected. Frankly, you can like music games or hate them, I don't care either way. But I was trying to explain why I think people play music games as opposed to the real thing. Its a game, and thats why people play it. They don't want to play the real thing. So yes, I did think out my post, and I thought I explained it as well as I could.

[rock_nog]

To really simplify, in all really good games, the basic object is that you press the right sequence of buttons at the right time, and you get rewarded with something cool happening, and you progress through the game. What does it matter whether the cool event is Mario jumping on a goomba or a riff from your favorite song playing? I mean, at least that's how I see it. I've played Mario so many times it's hard not to see it as just a series of timed button-presses.

[Archibaldo]

I actually think that games like guitar hero and rock band will incite people to start learning how to play instruments. After playing guitar hero, I want to start playing guitar, I want to be a rock star.

Which is another reason why people play these games, it makes them feel like a rock star with out needing the effort to become one.

[vegeta1215]

I watched a bunch of people play Rock Band last night, and yeah, Dechipher's got it right by saying "It eats Guitar Hero's lunch, like no ones business", cause it does. It's certainly the most fun if you have a whole group, but even if you're just by yourself you have a game just like Guitar Hero.

Still, not my type of game. I'd rather play a real instrument. (and I do)

[Dechipher]

I watched a bunch of people play Rock Band last night, and yeah, Dechipher's got it right by saying "It eats Guitar Hero's lunch, like no ones business", cause it does. It's certainly the most fun if you have a whole group, but even if you're just by yourself you have a game just like Guitar Hero.

Still, not my type of game. I'd rather play a real instrument. (and I do)

I prefer playing my kit as well, but at the same time, after a long day of school and practicing (which is usually when I get to play video games) its easier for me personally to justify playing a video game if I'm actually getting a little bit out of it (essentially the rock band drumset is like doing padwork.)