Rock Band 2

[SirFozzie]

Figured with RB 2 coming out in a few hours, its time for a new thread.

I'm pissed that noone around here is doing a midnight release for Rock Band 2, in fact, the local Gamestop won't open till its normal hours of noon-six.. ie "Most of the hours when Foz is asleep"

But, if you're bored tonight, they have an infomercialsih show on Spike Tonight, called 30 minutes to midnight (a lot of places will do midnight release, featuring three top user created bands, featuring the music of Cheap Trick, Judas Pries, and Disturbed, and a man trying to do the impossible.. play all four instruments at one time.

Speaking of Cheap Trick.. they have not aged well.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/2008/09/custom_1221307928124_cheaptrick.jpg

[saldana]

dont you have a 24hr walmart?

[kingnebwsu]

My local Lackluster is open til 1 AM and I'm getting it there. Not a normal place you'd think of to get a hot new game, but my store got 1 copy for sale.

4.5 hours to go!!! :D

[hawk4669]

No midnight releases here where I am either (far Northern California). Got it reserved and paid for already....now it's just the waiting game.

Cheers!

[CraigSca]

Figured with RB 2 coming out in a few hours, its time for a new thread.

I'm pissed that noone around here is doing a midnight release for Rock Band 2, in fact, the local Gamestop won't open till its normal hours of noon-six.. ie "Most of the hours when Foz is asleep"

But, if you're bored tonight, they have an infomercialsih show on Spike Tonight, called 30 minutes to midnight (a lot of places will do midnight release, featuring three top user created bands, featuring the music of Cheap Trick, Judas Pries, and Disturbed, and a man trying to do the impossible.. play all four instruments at one time.

Speaking of Cheap Trick.. they have not aged well.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/2008/09/custom_1221307928124_cheaptrick.jpg

Cheap Trick played at our company's sales conference last year. While I personally wasn't a big fan of their music, they were absolutely awesome at the event. Really played to the crowd and it looked like they had a good time. You'd think the last thing you'd want to do is play in front of a corporate crowd as aged rock stars, but they seemed to have a really good time.

[Raiders Army]

Singer looks like a lighter Sam Kinnison (DEAD).

[SirFozzie]

dont you have a 24hr walmart?

nope

[saldana]

nope

wow...i didnt realize such places existed.

[fantom1979]

Walmarts are not 24 hours in my area either. I have Meijer for my 24 hour gaming needs.

[sterlingice]

It was weird coming here to Richmond. In Lawrence, there was a 24 hour WalMart on the other side of town. But we also had 2 grocery stores within 1 mile of where we live (Hy-Vee and Dillons) which were 24 hour. We have none of that here :(

SI

[Fidatelo]

24 hour wal-marts are evil. I think 16 hours should be about the max any store is open, if you can't find a way to plan your life around 8am-midnight shopping you have some serious problems.

[fantom1979]

Ever work the 1-10pm shift? 24 hour stores come in handy. Midnight would probably work, but I didn't see the inside of a bestbuy for 5 years while I was on that shift.

[Fidatelo]

So wait, you worked from 1-10 and couldn't find time to head to a store between 8-1 or 10-12? If that's the case, then it wasn't that important to buy whatever item you otherwise might have purchased at 4 am, no?

[fantom1979]

I slept from 3am to about 11am, so no the morning was out. I cannot sleep as soon as I get out of work (as most people don't that work a morning shift). As I said, the midnight closing would be ok, but most retailers around me close at 9 or 10pm.

[stevew]

This is the most annoying thread title ever.

[Greyroofoo]

So I've never owned rock band or a guitar hero game but i'm thinking of getting rock band two. Should i get the rock band 2 instruments or should i get the rock band 1 instruments at a lower price?

[SirFozzie]

The bundle won't be out till next month, there are third party guitars and drums out now.

[hawk4669]

The wife and I just finished a Rock Band 1 marathon (me on guitar and she on bass) and finished up a few achievements (not all of 'em by a long shot)...like the Hall of Fame induction show.

We are now sufficiently warmed up for RB2 tomorrow!

Cheers!

[SackAttack]

Shouldn't this be ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCK BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! ?

[SackAttack]

The bundle won't be out till next month, there are third party guitars and drums out now.

There also be official drums coming out tomorrow. I know because we had them in the warehouse today.

[Lonnie]

Picked mine up at Target today. They had six copies left. I'll be on throughout day as DarkJoker.

[Greyroofoo]

There also be official drums coming out tomorrow. I know because we had them in the warehouse today.

Are the new drums worth the extra price over just buying rock band 1 drums?

[LionsFan10]

Are the new drums worth the extra price over just buying rock band 1 drums?

Depends on the quality when you buy them. There's been a lot of conversation about "cross-talking" (I believe that's the term being used) where, when you strike one pad, it registers on that pad and the pad next to it. In-fact, the Rock Band message board is FULL of posts about this problem.

If you get a kit that doesn't have this problem, the drums are much, much quieter than the RB1 drums. And I'm pretty sure they carry the expansion slots for the cymbals when they're released later this year. The foot petal is also reinforced with metal, so no more snapped kick petal.

It's a great set, if you don't get a kit with the "cross-talking" problem.

[hawk4669]

Got our copy about an hour ago....but my son has a buddy over for the afternoon and they're too young for RB right now. They'll be dominating the TV with Lego Indiana Jones until a little bit later.

Then...it is on. :D

Cheers!

[SirFozzie]

Any 360 folks want to start a band and needs a guitarist?

[Ironhead]

Any 360 folks want to start a band and needs a guitarist?

I'm still down for drums in an FOFC band. Have some stuff do for work tonight but should hop on again later tonight around 11 pm.

[DanGarion]

What do you gain by getting RB2? Can I still use my songs from RB1? Are there more songs, etc?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

What do you gain by getting RB2? Can I still use my songs from RB1? Are there more songs, etc?

Obviously, a whole new song list is available for RB2. You can transfer your RB1 songs over to RB2. Also, the instruments for RB2 have been redesigned, taking into account the problems with the first set of instruments.

[MikeVic]

So do you think it's possible to buy the entire package of Guitar Hero (since I prefer the guitar), then buy the Rock Band 2 disc separately, and use the drums, mic, and guitar on both games? Or is teh guitar the only one guaranteed to work?

[Phototropic]

I got the drums and game today after having the first game only. I am pretty impressed with the drums, and they are working well so far.

[MacroGuru]

Is it released for the Wii yet?

We have the original and were up until 3 am jamming out. (Mrs. MacroGuru and Me)

[Mantle2600]

So do you think it's possible to buy the entire package of Guitar Hero (since I prefer the guitar), then buy the Rock Band 2 disc separately, and use the drums, mic, and guitar on both games? Or is teh guitar the only one guaranteed to work?

I read that Activision said the RB drums would work in GH4 and i'm pretty sure it's the other way around also.

[Ironhead]

Is it released for the Wii yet?

We have the original and were up until 3 am jamming out. (Mrs. MacroGuru and Me)

Only Xbox 360 is out right now. I don't think the other consoles have the game come out until November-ish.

[cartman]

Only Xbox 360 is out right now. I don't think the other consoles have the game come out until November-ish.

Nov. 17th is the date I've seen.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Only Xbox 360 is out right now. I don't think the other consoles have the game come out until November-ish.

Incorrect. Here is the release schedule.........

Xbox 360: September 14th
PS3: October 19th
Wii: November 18th

It should be noted that these release dates are only for the individual RB2 game and individual RB2 instruments. The bundles for the consoles will be released on the same date.

[Ajaxab]

Obviously, a whole new song list is available for RB2. You can transfer your RB1 songs over to RB2. Also, the instruments for RB2 have been redesigned, taking into account the problems with the first set of instruments.

Just to pick up on this comment, I didn't have to do anything to transfer my downloaded songs over to RB2. As soon as I unlocked the 'choose your own setlist' (which happens pretty quickly in the first venue), all of my dlc songs were on the list. Didn't have to do anything at all as they just appeared.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Just to pick up on this comment, I didn't have to do anything to transfer my downloaded songs over to RB2. As soon as I unlocked the 'choose your own setlist' (which happens pretty quickly in the first venue), all of my dlc songs were on the list. Didn't have to do anything at all as they just appeared.

That's only correct for the DLC songs. If you want to transfer the RB1 disc-based songs over to be used in RB2, there's a 400 point charge on Xbox Live to do that transfer.

[Ajaxab]

That's only correct for the DLC songs. If you want to transfer the RB1 disc-based songs over to be used in RB2, there's a 400 point charge on Xbox Live to do that transfer.

Thanks for the info. I didn't know that was possible as I hadn't connected to Xbox Live yet since putting in RB2. That makes the game all that much better.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Thanks for the info. I didn't know that was possible as I hadn't connected to Xbox Live yet since putting in RB2. That makes the game all that much better.

Yep, even with the small charge, it's well worth it. Really expands the library.

[Ironhead]

Dark Joker and I started up a World Tour last night. Some microphone issues notwithstanding it was a lot of fun.

Ping! Skydog could use another guitarist and/or singer for anyone interested.

[Doug5984]

That's only correct for the DLC songs. If you want to transfer the RB1 disc-based songs over to be used in RB2, there's a 400 point charge on Xbox Live to do that transfer.

I picked up Rb2 last night and could not figure out how to do this, where do you find it. Assuming its not in the game but on marketplace somewhere...

[sterlingice]

Stupid question since I haven't been paying attention: Is RB2 for the Wii as neutered at RB1 was (i.e. no online tour and no dlc)?

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Stupid question since I haven't been paying attention: Is RB2 for the Wii as neutered at RB1 was (i.e. no online tour and no dlc)?

SI

It's supposed to have online play and DLC. I believe that the inclusion of those features is the reason the Wii version isn't coming out until November.

Rock Band 2 for Wii won't skimp on features - Joystiq (www.joystiq.com/2008/08/06/rock-band-2-for-wii-wont-skimp-on-features)

[sterlingice]

So maybe it will finally be worth it for me to actually get into RB ;)

SI

[Icy]

As a former real rock band guitar player that can also play real bass and drums, i wonder if i would find this fun and challenging or if it is just a toy for people that have not ever played a real instrument.

For what i have read, the drum is the most similar to playing a real drumkit as you have the foot kick, etc. What about the guitar? is it like the guitar hero one where you have just 4 buttons to press?

Can any musician playing this comment? skydog?

If i end buying it will be mainly to play drum i guess, i enjoyed playing it when my band's drummer was not around to complain at us playing with his "baby" :)

As for guitar, i still have a real one around so i can just play over my fav CD's and i guess that is more fun than playing it in rockband.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

As a former real rock band guitar player that can also play real bass and drums, i wonder if i would find this fun and challenging or if it is just a toy for people that have not ever played a real instrument.

For what i have read, the drum is the most similar to playing a real drumkit as you have the foot kick, etc. What about the guitar? is it like the guitar hero one where you have just 4 buttons to press?

Can any musician playing this comment? skydog?

If i end buying it will be mainly to play drum i guess, i enjoyed playing it when my band's drummer was not around to complain at us playing with his "baby" :)

As for guitar, i still have a real one around so i can just play over my fav CD's and i guess that is more fun than playing it in rockband.

I've played bass guitar. I love the guitars on these games. It's not exactly the same thing, but the basic premise that the lower notes are on the lower frets and the higher notes are further down the neck are still there.

FYI.....if you're a drummer, you probably would have a great time with this game with the advanced peripheral.

Drum Rocker (http://www.drumrocker.com/)

It's basically a full drum set with cymbals included. They have the 360 version available now and the PS3 and Wii versions are supposed to be ready when each of those versions is released.

[Doug5984]

To answer my own question- and incase anyone else was wondering and to lazy to google it like myself.....

1. Inset Rock Band 1. This installs a small update.

2. Choose Options from the startup screen. Look for the Export Songs Option

3. Pay 400 Microsoft Points (5 dollars, and thats not for MS it’s the royalties for the songs).

5. Download Export Key. This is just done by pressing X to continue.

6. After the Export Key is downloaded, hit Continue again to start the process.

It takes 1.4 gigs or so (that’s my recollection anyhow) on your hard drive. It brings in all the songs save 3 - The bad cover of Paranoid, Metallica’s Enter Sandman (damn) and Iron Maiden tune (Run for the Hills maybe, I forget). All of your purchased songs work. Now you can rock out to any and all songs from both games (minus the 3 mentioned). Not bad for 5 dollars.

[Lonnie]

Dark Joker and I started up a World Tour last night. Some microphone issues notwithstanding it was a lot of fun.

Ping! Skydog could use another guitarist and/or singer for anyone interested.

Yeah our original RB1 guitar is crapping out. The mic doesn't work with it, the spring is broken on the whammy bar, and the tilt sensor doesn't work. I guess it's time for a new wireless model.

[SirFozzie]

depending on the time frame, sounds like fun

[hawk4669]

Finally grew a pair and started playing on hard and expert. The wife has also increased her difficulty.

Let me say that I believe the green-orange chord to be Satan.

That is all.

Cheers!

[Blade]

Picked it up yesterday...I have to say, I was starting to get a bit tired of Rock Band, but after starting up #2, I am in love again!!!

So much fun, and nice to see I can continue to use my DLC...

Anyone tried the Battle of the Bands mode yet? So far, I have just been working through the challenges, but I am curious about this Battle of the Bands even though I know I probably have no chance to beat others out there.

[Lonnie]

It's just against a set score when you play. Then they show you your ranking.

[Phototropic]

Does anyone know if there are band pages for RB2? I've seen the RB1 bands, but as far as I can tell they don't have anything setup online for the new game.

[Ajaxab]

How are people feeling about the song choices? Music is obviously a personal thing, but I'm finding a lot of the songs in RB2 pretty obscure. It could be that my tastes are more mainstream, but I'm not sure I care for a lot of the tunes on the disc. Hopefully, DLC will save the day here. I'm wondering if Harmonix chose songs that fit better with gameplay rather than for their inherent musicality.

[fantom1979]

3. Alanis Morissette “You Oughta Know” 1990’s
4. Alice in Chains “Man in the Box” 1990’s
8. Beastie Boys “So Whatcha Want” 1990’s
9. Beck “E-Pro” 2000’s
11. Billy Idol “White Wedding Pt. I” 1980’s
14. Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer” 1980’s
22. Fleetwood Mac “Go Your Own Way” 1970’s
23. Foo Fighters “Everlong” 1990’s
28. Jimmy Eat World “The Middle” 2000’s
35. Linkin Park “One Step Closer” 2000’s
36. Lit “My Own Worst Enemy” 1990’s
44. Nirvana “Drain You” 1990’s
45. Norman Greenbaum “Spirit in the Sky” 1960’s
48. Pearl Jam “Alive” 1990’s
49. Presidents of the USA “Lump” 1990’s
52. Red Hot Chili Peppers “Give it Away” 1990’s
56. Smashing Pumpkins “Today” 1990’s
59. Soundgarden “Spoonman” 1990’s
63. Survivor “Eye of the Tiger” 1980’s
64. System of a Down “Chop Suey” 2000’s
71. The Guess Who “American Woman” 1970’s
73. The Offspring “Come Out & Play (Keep ‘em Separated)” 1990’s
75. The Who “Pinball Wizard” 1960’s


These are the songs that off the top of my head, where I can think of the lyrics/beat. I am sure there are others on the original list that I know, I just cant think of them right off the bat by looking at the title.

[gstelmack]

One thing I liked about RB1 was I discovered I liked some songs that I probably never, ever would have even bothered trying to listen to without it. I mean, I still hate Metallica and Iron Maiden and Beastie Boys as much as I ever did, but I was surprised to find that I enjoyed some songs from the Ramones, the Foo Fighters, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. So I'm looking forward to the RB2 set list. Especially now that I know how to transfer over all the RB1 songs (which is particularly awesome).

[Subby]

Thank you for editing the world's most irritating thread title.

[Phototropic]

I found an update on the new website. It should be ready in the next week or two... http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82614

[Bearcat729]

picked this up today, I had forgot how hard the game is on my voice

[JonInMiddleGA]

How are people feeling about the song choices? Music is obviously a personal thing, but I'm finding a lot of the songs in RB2 pretty obscure. It could be that my tastes are more mainstream, but I'm not sure I care for a lot of the tunes on the disc. Hopefully, DLC will save the day here. I'm wondering if Harmonix chose songs that fit better with gameplay rather than for their inherent musicality.

fantom's quick list made me curious, so I decided to look at the list the same way.

From the 84 songs on the on-disc list I found:
31 -- That I immediately recognized. Of these, two might be fairly considered obscure (but I knew them anyway)

11 -- That I felt like I should know by song but couldn't immediately place.
Mostly 70's through 90's stuff. 2 or 3 of these might be fairly obscure unless you were into that era and/or group.

9 -- bonus songs that are obviously pretty obscure IMO (although I knew one by artist). I'm also counting the new Guns & Roses in this segment.
Hard to be familiar when you haven't been released yet.

8 -- That I didn't know myself but recognize the artist and/or title well enough to feel like they should be familiar to more mainstream listeners.

18 -- Unknown to me by song. Artists vary but I suspect they could be considered obscure since I have zero recognition of the title whether I'm familiar with the artist or not.

7 -- Complete obscure in that I've can't place ever hearing the song nor even hearing the artists name. For those keeping score at home, those would be:
10. Bikini Kill “Rebel Girl” 1990’s
33. L7 “Pretend We’re Dead” 1990’s
36. Lit “My Own Worst Enemy” 1990’s
37. Lush “De-Luxe” 1990’s
47. Paramore “That’s What You Get” 2000’s
53. Rise Against “Give it All” 2000’s
72. The Muffs “Kids in America” 1990’s

So, that adds up to:
About 9 intentionally obscure
Around 40-50 that I think should be familiar to the majority of gamers.
The other 20-30 that I'd call obscure until someone could prove otherwise.

FWIW, coming from a 41 y/o male.

[DanGarion]

10. Bikini Kill “Rebel Girl” 1990’s
33. L7 “Pretend We’re Dead” 1990’s
36. Lit “My Own Worst Enemy” 1990’s
37. Lush “De-Luxe” 1990’s
47. Paramore “That’s What You Get” 2000’s
53. Rise Against “Give it All” 2000’s
72. The Muffs “Kids in America” 1990’s


Out of those I know over half of them.

L7 was played a lot on Alt Rock in the 90s along with Lit
Paramore is played a lot now on Alt / Pop Rock
Muffs, played quite a bit on Alt Rock back in the 90s too.

[stevew]

Thank you for editing the world's most irritating thread title.

yep

[SirFozzie]

*rolls eyes* Ok.. so the last Rock Band Thread title. Not irritating. By slapping the word two to it. "OMGZORS world's most irritating". Yup. Uh-huh.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Out of those I know over half of them.

Heck, I thought L7 might be the group from the Chris Rock faux rapumentary ;)

Most likely obscure is going to be in the eye of the beholder on something like this. I figure if I recognize over half the songs, given my distance from the target audience, then it probably isn't too far off the mark.

Besides, the game is called ROCK band, not CHEESY TOP 40/CHR band ;)
So the obscurity is almost certainly higher if someone looks at the list from a mainstream radio hit perspective instead of a rock oriented format perspective.

[stevew]

*rolls eyes* Ok.. so the last Rock Band Thread title. Not irritating. By slapping the word two to it. "OMGZORS world's most irritating". Yup. Uh-huh.

that one was annoying as crap too.

I'm not trying to get into a flame war, so I just agree to disagree.

[SirFozzie]

My friend Mike and I did a battle today, defeating "Spoonman FOFC" in a three song showdown, it was fun.

Here's hoping SackAttack gets his game by the time he gets back.. there's a challenge in Montreal with five songs you need a vocalist for..

[DanGarion]

I got RB 2 yesterday. Would love to play with some people. If anyone wants they can add me as a friend DanGarion.

I do guitar and can sing (depending on the song, having some trouble with songs I'm not familiar with).

[MizzouRah]

Well.. interesting.. the wife comes in the computer room/office last night and says... can you pick up Rock Bank 2 tomorrow?

I've been so happy with RB1 that I immediately looked up RB2 and had no idea there are 84 songs!!!

So, I sold my RB1 drums for $30 today and picked up RB2 and the wireless drums... I can't wait to get home tonight!!!!!

[gstelmack]

Don't forget to move all the RB1 songs over as DLC per the instructions in the manual (you have to put RB1 in, let it update, then select an option in the menu).

[SirFozzie]

It's a paid update ($5), but it's so worthwhile

[SackAttack]

My friend Mike and I did a battle today, defeating "Spoonman FOFC" in a three song showdown, it was fun.

Here's hoping SackAttack gets his game by the time he gets back.. there's a challenge in Montreal with five songs you need a vocalist for..

And you want me to sing, WHY, exactly? :)

[SirFozzie]

Because I want you to suffer like I did the last few nights?

(heheheh. I got them back.. I left my mic live for an entire performance of the Go-Go's we got the beat) :D

[sterlingice]

Don't forget to move all the RB1 songs over as DLC per the instructions in the manual (you have to put RB1 in, let it update, then select an option in the menu).

I know I should know this, but do we know if the Wii is going to allow for this as well?

SI

[MizzouRah]

Don't forget to move all the RB1 songs over as DLC per the instructions in the manual (you have to put RB1 in, let it update, then select an option in the menu).

Weird.. all my DLC songs showed up without me having to do anything and we played some of them last night.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Weird.. all my DLC songs showed up without me having to do anything and we played some of them last night.

The DLC songs will show up just fine. He's talking about the RB1 songs on the disc, which you have to pay $5 to import into the RB2 game.

[gstelmack]

Weird.. all my DLC songs showed up without me having to do anything and we played some of them last night.

DLC, yes. Songs on the actual RB1 disc you have to pay $5 for to have them converted to DLC so they also appear. The key here is that EVERY RB1 song, including those on the disc, can be transferred to RB2, of you already own RB1.

[cartman]

DLC, yes. Songs on the actual RB1 disc you have to pay $5 for to have them converted to DLC so they also appear. The key here is that EVERY RB1 song, including those on the disc, can be transferred to RB2, of you already own RB1.

Not quite every song. There are three songs off of the disc that don't transfer:

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

I didn't much care for the cover songs, so I didn't miss them much. I'll get over not being able to transfer the Metallica song, as it wasn't one of my favorites anyway.

[gstelmack]

Yeah, sorry, I hate those three so I keep blanking on them whenever I think of RB1...

[MizzouRah]

The DLC songs will show up just fine. He's talking about the RB1 songs on the disc, which you have to pay $5 to import into the RB2 game.

Ahhh.. ok, thanks!

I'll have to do that tonight!!!

[cartman]

Smoke and Light machine coming out soon to draw closer to the real experience!

Get closer to 11 with Stage Kit for 'Rock Band 2' | Crave, the gadget blog - CNET (http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10065418-1.html?tag=newsBlogPromoArea.0)

[MizzouRah]

I don't see "Enter Sandman" in my Rock Band 2 after the import from Rock Band 1. Does anyone know which songs do not import?

[SirFozzie]

Enter Sandman, Run To the Hills, and Paranoid (had to look it up in da Wiki)

[Pumpy Tudors]

Enter Sandman, Run To the Hills, and Paranoid (had to look it up 5 posts above)

:D

[SirFozzie]

Bah. I just woke up :)

[MizzouRah]

Thanks guys.. that stinks!

[cartman]

The list of free DLC songs has been released:

http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2008/10/22/rock-band-2-free-dlc-tracks-revealed

* The 88 - "Sons and Daughters"
* Authority Zero - "No Regrets"
* Between the Buried and Me - "Prequel To The Sequel"
* The Cab - "Bounce"
* The Chevelles - "Get It On"
* The Cocktail Slippers - "Give It To Me"
* Dealership - "Database Corrupted"
* Endeverafter - "I Wanna Be Your Man"
* The Ghost Hounds - "Ashes To Fire"
* Hollywood Undead - "Young"
* Kutless - "The Feeling"
* The Len Price 3 - "If I Ain't Got You"
* Lesley Roy - "I'm Gone, I'm Going"
* Opiate for the Masses - "Burn You Down"
* Semi-Precious Weapons - "Magnetic Baby"
* Shaimus - "Like a Fool"
* Thenewno2"- "Crazy Tuesday"
* Tickle Me Pink - "The Time Is Wrong"
* Underoath - "Desperate Times, Desperate Measures"
* X Japan - "I.V."


I'm pretty underwhelmed by that list. I was hoping for some more mainstream, popular stuff. I guess I still have to wait for 'Sultans of Swing'.

[SackAttack]

The list of free DLC songs has been released:

http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2008/10/22/rock-band-2-free-dlc-tracks-revealed

* The 88 - "Sons and Daughters"
* Authority Zero - "No Regrets"
* Between the Buried and Me - "Prequel To The Sequel"
* The Cab - "Bounce"
* The Chevelles - "Get It On"
* The Cocktail Slippers - "Give It To Me"
* Dealership - "Database Corrupted"
* Endeverafter - "I Wanna Be Your Man"
* The Ghost Hounds - "Ashes To Fire"
* Hollywood Undead - "Young"
* Kutless - "The Feeling"
* The Len Price 3 - "If I Ain't Got You"
* Lesley Roy - "I'm Gone, I'm Going"
* Opiate for the Masses - "Burn You Down"
* Semi-Precious Weapons - "Magnetic Baby"
* Shaimus - "Like a Fool"
* Thenewno2"- "Crazy Tuesday"
* Tickle Me Pink - "The Time Is Wrong"
* Underoath - "Desperate Times, Desperate Measures"
* X Japan - "I.V."


I'm pretty underwhelmed by that list. I was hoping for some more mainstream, popular stuff. I guess I still have to wait for 'Sultans of Swing'.

It's like I told SirFozzie. If the 20 freebies were anything hugely major, we would have heard about them sooner to blunt the sales of Guitar Hero World Tour.

[ArlingtonColt]

I'm really excited about the Underoath and the Between the Buried and Me tracks... the rest I have no clue about, but I have been impressed with other songs they have added that I had no clue about before so maybe there will be some gems in there...

[fantom1979]

I am pretty sure I have never heard a single song on that list

[Mota]

I like it. I'm much more excited about the potential to find good new music rather than get ANOTHER Weezer song or something that's already been done with a previous rhythm game.

[moriarty]

Count me in as someone who hasn't heard of any of these songs ... but then again I wasn't really expecting much (well... part of me was secretly hoping the AC/DC download disk would be free to RB2 owners).

Hoping I discover some new songs I like as I have w/ several of the RB2 tracks.

[cartman]

This sounds promising!

Beatles License Songs to Viacom Videogame Unit :: Hollywood Newsroom (http://www.hollywood-newsroom.com/tech/beatles-license-songs-to-viacom-videogame-unit/)

The Beatles have licensed songs to MTV Networks’ Rock Band videogame series, according to several people familiar with the matter, a coup for the Viacom Inc. unit in its battle with rival Activision Inc. for supremacy in the world of rock and roll video games.

The deal, which is set to be announced Thursday by Viacom’s MTV and the band’s own Apple Corps Ltd., makes the Beatles the next and biggest major band to license its songs to a music-oriented videogame, joining Aerosmith, Metallica, AC/DC and others.

Rock Band and Activision’s Guitar Hero have engaged in heated competition over exclusive rights to use music by major acts.

The games Rock Band and Guitar Hero let players use miniature plastic game controllers, shaped like musical instruments, to play along with recorded rock and pop songs to test the players’ level of skill. The game publishers have entered a handful of multimillion-dollar licensing agreements with some of the biggest names in the business.

The Beatles represent by far the biggest prize to date in the category. Not only do they have the best-selling album catalog any band, they have not yet licensed their music for sale by download services such as Apple Inc.’s iTunes Store.

[Pyser]

HOLY.

SHIT.

!!!

[Chubby]

sweet!

[kingnebwsu]

Just waiting for the official announcement tomorrow morning but wow. This is huge. Most music fans have only dreamed about this and now it's going to happen. It's definitely going to be overpriced but it will be worth it. I think just releasing a Rock Band: Beatles expansion with 25 songs for $60 would sell several million copies.

Hopefully they release more specifics tomorrow :)

[DanGarion]

Wow that's sweet!

[cartman]

Here's a little more info:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081030-dig-it-mtv-harmonix-announce-standalone-beatles-game.html

[Chubby]

AC/DC today bitches!!!

What is to stop anybody from:
1) Buy AC/DC Track Pack
2) Rip all the songs on to your hard drive with the code in the manual
3) Go back to WalMart and get replacement disc saying yours doesn't work
4) Later go back to WalMart for refund (since you now have an unopened copy)

I will be ripping the songs and trading it in at Gamestop for credit, I can't bring myself to do the above but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

[DanGarion]

AC/DC today bitches!!!

What is to stop anybody from:
1) Buy AC/DC Track Pack
2) Rip all the songs on to your hard drive with the code in the manual
3) Go back to WalMart and get replacement disc saying yours doesn't work
4) Later go back to WalMart for refund (since you now have an unopened copy)

I will be ripping the songs and trading it in at Gamestop for credit, I can't bring myself to do the above but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
I'm confused why they had to waste all these resources on making a physical disk.

[Chubby]

I'm confused why they had to waste all these resources on making a physical disk.

I have no idea. Espcecially since you don't import the songs off the disk like you do with RB1, you put in the code and it downloads them off your internet conenction.

If anybody else wants to rock out on PS3 my tag is Chubby3434. I play a mean expert drums on most of the AC/DC songs :)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

If anybody else wants to rock out on PS3 my tag is Chubby3434. I play a mean expert drums on most of the AC/DC songs :)

I finally ponied up and picked up the game for the PS3. I'm brand-new to the series, so I'll likely have to put in a bit of time before I'm up to your standard.

[Chubby]

I finally ponied up and picked up the game for the PS3. I'm brand-new to the series, so I'll likely have to put in a bit of time before I'm up to your standard.


Well the gf plays on easy/medium guitar so I'm not one that cares what other's skill levels are at. I'd rather rock out and have fun that go for high scores :)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Well the gf plays on easy/medium guitar so I'm not one that cares what other's skill levels are at. I'd rather rock out and have fun that go for high scores :)

Ah, I didn't realize you could vary the difficulty for each person. If so, then I'll likely be online most nights after 8:00 PM CST (depending on if wife is working that night). Handle is limelicker.

[Danny]

So, I've never played GH or RB much, but was considering asking for RB (Assuming the Wii edition checks out like the others) for Christmas since I've preferred that one based on my short time playing while in Best Buy. However, I had a couple questions.

Do the instruments hold up pretty well? Can you get them replaced for a while after you buy in case they break?

Is the way you play the digital instruments somewhat representative of playing an actual instrument? At some point in the future, I'd actually like to learn to play the guitar, so will this game give me any sort of better understanding of this or is it pretty much notes and things tacked on to make the song challenging?

How's the singing part of the game? In general I like to sing along to songs, but for the game, will actually trying to sound good work or do you need a very technical robotic way of singing?

[JonInMiddleGA]

{grunt} me no likey more sensitive/must-hit-dead-center drum pads

[SackAttack]

{grunt} me no likey more sensitive/must-hit-dead-center drum pads

I still have all my old Rock Band 1 instruments, so I can use either whenever. Which is nice.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I still have all my old Rock Band 1 instruments, so I can use either whenever. Which is nice.

Alas, our RB1 was PS2, so no dice with the new 360 :(

[SackAttack]

Alas, our RB1 was PS2, so no dice with the new 360 :(

Also, double whammy - you can't extract the Rock Band 1 songs to your hard drive for play with Rock Band 2 unless you spend $10 ($5 to rent the game, $5 for the license). Bummer.

[wade moore]

So. I got this for Christmas.

I saw one post early about the "cross-talking" and nothing else. Is there anything that can be done about this? It is causing serious frustrations.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Also, double whammy - you can't extract the Rock Band 1 songs to your hard drive for play with Rock Band 2 unless you spend $10 ($5 to rent the game, $5 for the license). Bummer.

I just bought a used copy of the game for $25. It's actually a pretty good move if you want all of the music to transfer to RB2. You can play RB1 and the sell-back price is very good right now because of the demand for a used copy to transfer songs.

[cartman]

Sweet! Roy Orbison coming to DLC this week!

http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2009/01/05/roy-orbison-adds-some-style-to-rock-band

[Pyser]

you got it!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Okay, one more time like I'm stupid (which I'm starting to think I am).

-- We own RB2 & the full instrument package for the XBox 360 (including the cymbal expansion which hasn't even been taken out of the box yet).

-- Everything I've read here & at least a couple of dozen blog entries online since E3 lead me to believe that I should be able to get a 360 copy of GH:World Tour and play it just fine with the RB2 instruments.

Am I nuts?

Or is every employee at four different stores in Athens, GA completely clueless ... including many who are in the target demographic for both games and should know damned well what works with what. Each & every discussion has gone the same way - bewildered looks when I talk about the compatibility issue being resolved for both P3 & 360 with truce between the two companies (albeit a lukewarm one on Activision's part).

Inquiring minds would really like to know because I'm starting to think I'm losing my mind, hallucinating, or something. And I can't quite bring myself to spend $60 on game-only copy of GH:WT to find out the answer to that question.

[Lonnie]

Jon,

I just got GHWT and my Rockband instruments work fine with it.

[SackAttack]

Okay, one more time like I'm stupid (which I'm starting to think I am).

-- We own RB2 & the full instrument package for the XBox 360 (including the cymbal expansion which hasn't even been taken out of the box yet).

-- Everything I've read here & at least a couple of dozen blog entries online since E3 lead me to believe that I should be able to get a 360 copy of GH:World Tour and play it just fine with the RB2 instruments.

Am I nuts?

No. You're not nuts. Where you would have problems would be if you had the RB1 360 instruments. RB2 will work fine.

Or is every employee at four different stores in Athens, GA completely clueless ... including many who are in the target demographic for both games and should know damned well what works with what. Each & every discussion has gone the same way - bewildered looks when I talk about the compatibility issue being resolved for both P3 & 360 with truce between the two companies (albeit a lukewarm one on Activision's part).

They are clueless. Although with the confusion there in the first place I wouldn't judge them too harshly. Hell, I didn't even know until two weeks ago that you needed a Wii remote for every instrument on GHWT. Info slips through the cracks when shit like this happens.

[JonInMiddleGA]

They are clueless. Although with the confusion there in the first place I wouldn't judge them too harshly. Hell, I didn't even know until two weeks ago that you needed a Wii remote for every instrument on GHWT. Info slips through the cracks when shit like this happens.

Thanks for the info, both you & Lonnie.

Oddly enough, as luck would have it, the fifth store tonight turned out to be the charm & I actually found the only other person in Athens who actually knew wth I was talking about at our rarely used mall Gamestop (a former EB storefront locally) As he put it, I'm not surprised no one else knew "I make my living doing this for the past eight years, most everybody else in the stores here is just working their next job".

Of course, I'm an evil SOB of a parent ... I told Will he had to actually, you know, play some RB2 before he needed to add GH:WT to the pile.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Y'know what needs some DLC love?

Dio

Specifically Rainbow In the Dark.

[Mota]

Yeah the DLC lineup has been pretty weak recently. REALLY niche stuff. Country, Orbison, The Dead, etc. I'm anxious to see more ROCK stuff put on there again, I appreciate the variety that they're making available but a lot of this stuff ain't for me.

[thesloppy]

Y'know what needs some DLC love?

Dio

Specifically Rainbow In the Dark.

When there's lightning, you know it always brings me down.

[thesloppy]

On a similar note, you know what sucks?

Pretty much the entirety of 'Dr. Feelgood'. I was playing RB2 over at a buddy's house, and he had purchased that pack....there's nothing like working through a dozen Dr. Feelgood album tracks. "WHOO! Rattlesnake shaa-aake!" I FEEL LIKE I'M VINCE YOUNG, MAILING IT IN RIGHT NOW! Now, if they had 'Shout At The Devil' on there, we'd be getting somewhere.

[gstelmack]

Yeah the DLC lineup has been pretty weak recently. REALLY niche stuff. Country, Orbison, The Dead, etc. I'm anxious to see more ROCK stuff put on there again, I appreciate the variety that they're making available but a lot of this stuff ain't for me.

Well, I don't know that you could call Country niche, given its popularity. Frankly I'd rather play the Country stuff that some of the hard metal Metallica bits.

But to start a rumor, notice how they also have some kids stuff on there? Makes me wonder if they aren't evaluating the popularity of some other genres for "Country Band" or "Kids Band" or who knows what else for the future? I'd love to be playing "Kiss the Girl" or "Hakuna Matata" with my kids. My daughter would definitely be singing right along...

[cartman]

Funk is making an appearance in DLC. I wish they were able to get a couple of Parliament songs in there, but hopefully those will come in a future release.

Average White Band- “Pick Up the Pieces”
Earth Wind & Fire- “Shining Star”
James Brown- “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine - Pt 1”
Against Me!- “Thrash Unreal”
The New Pornographers- “All the Things That Go to Make Heaven and Earth”
The New Pornographers- “Use It”
Papa Roach- “Last Resort”
Papa Roach- “Lifeline”

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Well, I don't know that you could call Country niche, given its popularity. Frankly I'd rather play the Country stuff that some of the hard metal Metallica bits.

But to start a rumor, notice how they also have some kids stuff on there? Makes me wonder if they aren't evaluating the popularity of some other genres for "Country Band" or "Kids Band" or who knows what else for the future? I'd love to be playing "Kiss the Girl" or "Hakuna Matata" with my kids. My daughter would definitely be singing right along...

Disney already has a band game in development for the Wii. I'm assuming you'll find many of those songs on that game. I think it's called Disney Ultimate Band if I remember correctly.

[Pyser]

yeah! thrash unreal is AWESOME!!

[wade moore]

Anyone dealt with a busted bass pedal?

[path12]

Anyone dealt with a busted bass pedal?

Oh yeah. I found a replacement made from metal for like $25 or so at Best Buy. Can't remember the name of it right now but it has been awesome.

[path12]

Dola, it's along the same lines as this: http://www.nyko.com/nyko/products/?i=147

Though mine doesn't have the cool skull motif on the pedal.

[wade moore]

Works for me - thanks path!

[Mike1409]

DLC Week of 4/21 - Styx, REO Speedwagon and Hautewerk - Rock Band Forums (http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135416)


Hey gang,

Take a gander at the DLC coming out on the week of 4/21! To tie in with one of the current Rock Band sponsored tours, there's a sweet 7 track pack of REO Speedwagon and Styx songs to whet your classic rock whistle. Not enough? Top it off with a Hautewerk 3 pack for dessert! Here's the track listing:

REO Speedwagon - Riding the Storm Out
REO Speedwagon - Roll with the Changes
REO Speedwagon - Take It on the Run
Styx - Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)
Styx - Renegade
Styx - Too Much Time On My Hands
Styx / REO Speedwagon - Can't Stop Rockin'
Hautewerk - Alone in My Head
Hautewerk - I Know Where You Came From
Hautewerk - Stop Start Again

All tracks are master recordings. The Styx tracks are recent re records, and the Styx and REO Speedwagon collaboration Can't Stop Rockin' was recorded in anticipation of their tour together this year.


Release Dates:
Tuesday, April 21, 2009 (Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360®)
Thursday, April 23, 2009 (PlayStation®Store)

[DataKing]

If anybody on Xbox Live needs a guitarist/bassist, give me a shout. Gamertag is DataKing1. Any difficulty level.

[BigDawg]

Hey gang, nice Alice Cooper pack last week.

anyone looking for a drummer for xbox 360 give me a shout

GT - xPURPLExHAYESx

[JonInMiddleGA]

Iron Maiden highlights this week's tracks.

Tuesday June 9th releases (tied to the release of the Flight 666 rockumentary)

FLIGHT 666 TOUCHES DOWN JUNE 9 ON ROCK BAND | Game Development | Press Release by Develop (http://www.developmag.com/press-releases/48161/FLIGHT-666-TOUCHES-DOWN-JUNE-9-ON-ROCK-BAND)

(All tracks are original master recordings)

Track Album
“Aces High (live)” Flight 666 (2009)
“2 Minutes to Midnight” Powerslave (1984)
“The Trooper” Piece of Mind (1983)
“Wasted Years” Somewhere in Time (1986)
“The Number of the Beast” The Number of the Beast (1982)
“Run to the Hills” The Number of the Beast (1982)
“Can I Play With Madness” Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
“The Clairvoyant” Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
“Powerslave” Powerslave (1984)
“Hallowed Be Thy Name (live)” Flight 666 (2009)
“Fear of the Dark (live)” Flight 666 (2009)
“Iron Maiden (live)” Flight 666 (2009)

The Iron Maiden tracks will be available for purchase as part of the“Iron Maiden Pack” or as individual tracks for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 system. These tracks will be available for purchase as individual tracks only for Wii.

Release Date: Tuesday, June 9, 2009
(Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360® and in-game Rock Band 2 Music Store for Wii)

Thursday, June 11, 2009
(PlayStation®Store)

** Dates for Rock Band game tracks are tentative and subject to change **

Price: $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) for Xbox 360 per track
$19.99 (1600 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for“Iron Maiden Pack”
$2.00 (200 Wii Points) per track

[hawk4669]

Iron Miaden hilights this week's tracks.

Tuesday June 9th releases (tied to the release of the Flight 666 rockumentary)

FLIGHT 666 TOUCHES DOWN JUNE 9 ON ROCK BAND | Game Development | Press Release by Develop (http://www.developmag.com/press-releases/48161/FLIGHT-666-TOUCHES-DOWN-JUNE-9-ON-ROCK-BAND)

(All tracks are original master recordings)

Track Album
“Aces High (live)” Flight 666 (2009)
“2 Minutes to Midnight” Powerslave (1984)
“The Trooper” Piece of Mind (1983)
“Wasted Years” Somewhere in Time (1986)
“The Number of the Beast” The Number of the Beast (1982)
“Run to the Hills” The Number of the Beast (1982)
“Can I Play With Madness” Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
“The Clairvoyant” Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
“Powerslave” Powerslave (1984)
“Hallowed Be Thy Name (live)” Flight 666 (2009)
“Fear of the Dark (live)” Flight 666 (2009)
“Iron Maiden (live)” Flight 666 (2009)

The Iron Maiden tracks will be available for purchase as part of the“Iron Maiden Pack” or as individual tracks for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 system. These tracks will be available for purchase as individual tracks only for Wii.

Release Date: Tuesday, June 9, 2009
(Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360® and in-game Rock Band 2 Music Store for Wii)

Thursday, June 11, 2009
(PlayStation®Store)

** Dates for Rock Band game tracks are tentative and subject to change **

Price: $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) for Xbox 360 per track
$19.99 (1600 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for“Iron Maiden Pack”
$2.00 (200 Wii Points) per track

Seriously. You just made my day. Despite what anyone else thinks....I seriously loves me some Maiden.

Good bye another $19.00 for the download.

Cheers!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Seriously. You just made my day. Despite what anyone else thinks....I seriously loves me some Maiden.

Up The Irons !!!

[BigDawg]

Awsome, Cooper now Maiden. Their starting to get some better music up.

Now lets go all the way with some DIO or dare I say it.... ZEPPELIN

Foghat, Nazerith, Floyd :devil:

[dawgfan]

Is it just me, or is the jump on guitar from Medium to Hard bigger than the one from Easy to Medium?

[SirFozzie]

hell yes. That fifth button is where you have to start learning to move your hand (the jump from easy to medium just brought the fourth finger in). If you can't master moving the hand to orange and back, you will find the jump impossible.

BTW, Sack, myself, and one of our friends are currently planning to rock at around 11:30 tommorrow night EDT. Anyone interested in a fourth? (probably drums or vocal will be needed)

edit: I hope, some day, Rock Band releases Lordi's Hard Rock Hallelujah as DLC ;)

[DataKing]

The 5th key is definitely the most difficult part about moving up the difficulty progressions on the guitar. If you're having trouble sliding, try covering both green and red with your index finger...that helped me at first.

[DanGarion]

The 5th key is definitely the most difficult part about moving up the difficulty progressions on the guitar. If you're having trouble sliding, try covering both green and red with your index finger...that helped me at first.

I have a hard enough time on medium, I don't think I'll ever advance, my fingers/hand just doesn't work that way, my pinky and ring finger are too connected to each other. I'll stick with singing.

[wade moore]

I get frustrated because I get 99%-100% on Medium, but I'm a COMPLETE disaster on hard..

[Icy]

I'm thinking about finally getting into this new bandwagon but i have some questions for you veterans:

What better RB2 or GHWT (or Guitar Hero Metallica)?

I'll play mainly alone, either guitar or bass or maybe drums, i have zero interest on singing so i prefer the game with the best single player, specially guitar playing, and the better career mode.

Also I have been a real life rock band guitar player for over 10 years, but i don't know if it will help or not playing the game guitar with buttons instead of strings. At least i guess i'll have the stroking sense and the agility in my fingers. Any of you play also real instruments? how do they compare? challenging enough?

About the drums, i think i have read somewhere that they are not played like a real set, for example in real life, a righty would cross his hands to play the hi hat/snare but i have read it's not that way in RB or GH, is it?

Which one has the better built in and downloadable content if you like metal/hard rock but are not into pop or country or other music styles?

What about the instruments? which ones are more quallity? (i could also buy the standalone game and then an used guitar/drum from either game as i have seen a lot for sale).

What are the differences between the PS3 and wii versions?

[MJ4H]

What better? To me GH, but most people here will say RB2.

I play many real instruments. It helps a ton in having the basic coordination and rhythmic sense that you will need to do well in this game. And yes, the game is still very challenging, even for the best players.

Not exactly like the real thing, no, but it is much more similar than the real guitar-plastic guitar comparison. The coordination amongst your 2 hands and feet you have in playing a real set will put you way ahead of the game in plastic-rock games.

Downloadable content, in my experience, is much better on RB games.

Differences between PS3 and Wii versions? Better graphics and more/easier to access space for downloadable content (built-in hard-drive vs. SD cards).

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I chose RB2 over GHWT a couple of months ago. Very pleased with my choice. I like the RB guitars much better. I bought the cymbal expansion on the drum set too and have been very happy with that.

One thing I have found is that I've purchased far more downloadable songs than I ever thought I would. I'm glad I have the PS3 version for that reason. I've probably dropped $150 just on songs, which does take some space. But I've enjoyed it quite a bit.

FYI......if you buy Rock Band 2, be sure to rent a copy of Rock Band and copy all of the songs over to RB2. It's only $5 to transfer the songs, which is well worth it.

[gstelmack]

I got Guitar Hero III after getting Rock Band (in part for the extra guitar, and because the guitar was a bit better than the RB1 guitar) and I'll never buy another GH game. The UI is much worse: the note scrolling is funky and hard for me to judge timing on (I think the scale is "shallower" and less vertical and the scroll speed is not constant as a result), and the various HUD indicators are scattered around the screen where RockBand has them right next to your note scale. For example, when you are "charging up", I can track my status in RB easily, while I have to take my eyes off the scale in GH so I almost never do.

Rock Band is a much more solid experience than GH is.

[wade moore]

I think some argue back and forth over which guitar/interface they like better (I personally prefer RB2), but if you're interested in a solid career mode I don't see how anyone can say GH over RB2.

GH has a list of songs and you play through them, trying to get enough stars to "pass" that song. The end. That's the career mode.

RB2 you start a band, you get money and travel different cities, you slowly gain fans, can get tour buses, etc, etc as it opens up songs. It has an actual career mode, unlike GH.

[DataKing]

I cut my teeth on GH2 and GH3, then went to RB2 and I haven't set foot back in the GH franchise since. In particular because of all the DL content available and the career mode. Believe me when I say I've played ALOT, and I still don't have all the guitars, accessories, etc you can get in the game.

[Icy]

Ok, it will be RB2 then, i guess the career mode can be played alone, am i right?

Also i can't see any rock band+guitar pack in Spain, so if i buy the guitar separated from the game, which one to buy? GH or RB2 one? any third party?

[Ajaxab]

Ok, it will be RB2 then, i guess the career mode can be played alone, am i right?

Career mode can be played alone and you can switch between different instruments at any point which is a plus.

[SackAttack]

I get frustrated because I get 99%-100% on Medium, but I'm a COMPLETE disaster on hard..

I've got the fingering dexterity down, but I cannot get the rhythm of the rapid strumming sections. Hard and the easier songs on Expert end up being my glass ceiling.

[DataKing]

One bit of advice for playing career mode solo. Create stand-ins for the other three members of the band and assign them as defaults. Otherwise every gig the game will randomly assign stand-ins for the other members of your band...completely screws with your immersion IMO.

[dawgfan]

The 5th key is definitely the most difficult part about moving up the difficulty progressions on the guitar. If you're having trouble sliding, try covering both green and red with your index finger...that helped me at first.
I think for me it's the combination of having to slide to cover the 5th note plus what seems to be a lot more notes period, including a lot more hammer-ons.

It gets a little frustrating in the game when you actually hit the right notes, but you are slightly off in timing (according to the game). And yes, I've calibrated, so there shouldn't be any significant lag - it's just that with the rapid notes, I don't always seem to stay in rhythm with the game.

I guess I'll probably go into practice mode and start working my way through some of the easier songs on "Hard" difficulty and get my skill level up. I can't help but think that I should really be practicing playing a real guitar with all the time I spend playing RB2...;)

[DataKing]

I guess I'll probably go into practice mode and start working my way through some of the easier songs on "Hard" difficulty and get my skill level up. I can't help but think that I should really be practicing playing a real guitar with all the time I spend playing RB2...;)

Right there with you. I've actually been eying a Fender starter kit recently.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

FYI.......great deal on Rock Band 2 Bundle if anyone's looking. Closeout over at Gamestop.com. Use code CAG16 to get it for $80.

http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?sku=930995&affID=77777&sourceID=lw9MynSeamY-6zz.OEQLGY40BkzZnI_kZw

[kingnebwsu]

Everyone has different preferences. I like the Guitar Hero 2 guitar best (though it doesn't have the fret buttons). But I love Rock Band versus a mild dislike of the Guitar Hero series. To each their own.

All bets are off when Rock Band Beatles hits in 3 months. I can't wait...seriously. My friends & I are taking that week off to rock out :)

[wade moore]

Oh - and I use the GH guitar with Rock Band - for whateve reason I like that guitar better. IMO the fret just feels better.

[MJ4H]

FYI.......great deal on Rock Band 2 Bundle if anyone's looking. Closeout over at Gamestop.com. Use code CAG16 to get it for $80.

http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?sku=930995&affID=77777&sourceID=lw9MynSeamY-6zz.OEQLGY40BkzZnI_kZw

PS3 only?

[kingnebwsu]

360 is on there, too.

[sterlingice]

No Wii. Oh well. I have GH:WT instruments and a copy of RB2 so good enough.

Speaking of which, anyone playing the Wii version of RB2? I'd love to play with others but, well, it's not compatible between versions :(

SI

[Bigsmooth]

FYI.......great deal on Rock Band 2 Bundle if anyone's looking. Closeout over at Gamestop.com. Use code CAG16 to get it for $80.

http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?sku=930995&affID=77777&sourceID=lw9MynSeamY-6zz.OEQLGY40BkzZnI_kZw

Wow, thanks for that! I've been looking to make this purchase for months and this made me take the jump. Awesome.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

PS3 only?

Sorry, I saw that the GHWT deal was only for PS2/PS3 so I assumed the RB2 deal was the same way. As someone mentioned, the 360 version of RB2 is at the same price.

[MJ4H]

I was just interested in whether or not the Wii version was also that cheap.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I was just interested in whether or not the Wii version was also that cheap.

No, the only thing they had for the Wii was GHIII with guitar for $34 after coupon.

[SirFozzie]

I think this should throw warning flags up for Activision/Harmonix. Looks like the guitar/drums market is now officially sautrated.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I think this should throw warning flags up for Activision/Harmonix. Looks like the guitar/drums market is now officially sautrated.

I think that they're dumping the Rock Band bundles in preparation to sell the new Beatles instruments. I'm sure GH instruments are selling cheap to prep for the next bundle this fall for them as well. Everybody needs new plastic!

[MikeVic]

Ships to U.S. only, great. :p

[MJ4H]

Not everybody. I seriously would never consider paying anything at all for better looking plastic guitars??? Weird concept to me.

[wade moore]

Not everybody. I seriously would never consider paying anything at all for better looking plastic guitars??? Weird concept to me.

I can see the appeal for kids... Going over to each other's house's to play, lookin' cool, etc.

As a 30 year old guy that plays for fun - yeah.. if you're just talking about a change in look and not function, i've got no $$$ for you.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Not everybody. I seriously would never consider paying anything at all for better looking plastic guitars??? Weird concept to me.

Your sarcasm detector is broken. You might want to get that fixed.

[MJ4H]

Hardly, I see people lusting after the beatles RB gear all the time. My current stuff works just fine tyvm.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Hardly, I see people lusting after the beatles RB gear all the time. My current stuff works just fine tyvm.

Oh, I'm definitely with you. I've got enough of the old plastic to keep me busy.

[dawgfan]

Hardly, I see people lusting after the beatles RB gear all the time. My current stuff works just fine tyvm.
Having a brother that plays guitar and seeing all the various guitars he's had over the years, I don't find it unusual to see people being interested in the various guitar & bass versions out there - there are a lot of interesting guitar and bass designs out there, and it's cool to see nicely done recreations like the ones for Rock Band. I like my Strat and P-Bass just fine, but I admit that the old Gretsch & Rickenbacker guitars and the Hofner bass are very appealing recreations (it would also be cool to see a Rickenbacker bass like McCartney favored in the latter part of the Beatles). If my Strat were to break (I've already had one fail due to a bad strummer) I'd seriously consider buying one of the Beatles versions if they are available separately.

[dawgfan]

So obviously the Rock Band: Beatles release will be huge, the biggest band-specific release yet in the genre.

Which begs the question, are there any others that would be as big or even bigger? I can only think of 2 realistic contenders:

Led Zeppelin
U2

And for various reasons, I'm not sure either one would be as interesting from an overall standpoint (though strictly from a musical perspective, a Led Zeppelin game would surpass the Beatles game IMO for being fun to play).

[thesloppy]

Wow, thanks for that! I've been looking to make this purchase for months and this made me take the jump. Awesome.

Me too! Tanx!

[DataKing]

Maybe I'm not thinking things through, but isn't the Beatles game going to be exceptionally easy compared to Rock Band 2, GH: Metallica, etc? I'm strictly a guitar guy, and I'm racking my brain trying to come up with a single Beatles tune that is going to be challenging to play.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I'm going to get the Beatles Rock Band game just because I have an insomnia problem and some slow ass Beatles music might just fix that issue.

[dawgfan]

Maybe I'm not thinking things through, but isn't the Beatles game going to be exceptionally easy compared to Rock Band 2, GH: Metallica, etc? I'm strictly a guitar guy, and I'm racking my brain trying to come up with a single Beatles tune that is going to be challenging to play.
It won't match the tougher Metallica songs and the like, but I think you're downplaying the guitar work. Think of the Harrison's lead guitar in a song like "Taxman" - in a hard or expert mode, that's a lot of quick notes to match...

That said, I'd bet a non-insignificant portion of the people buying this one will be newcomers to these games, older folks for whom the Beatles will be incentive enough to buy the game, and who probably are old enough that they don't want an extremely hard game...

[BigDawg]

absolutly ZERO interest in RockBand Beatles, I rather get LEGO ROCKBAND

I also have no problem paying 100 bucks or more for LEDZEP, I have already ran the whole ZEP library thru the drum practice mode and played along with them all.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I rather get LEGO ROCKBAND

Heh.

I only became aware of this upcoming release earlier tonight while picking up a gamercard to buy the Maiden with (and pre-ordering NCAA Football 2010). Guys at Gamestop said they were already catching hell from people about even the notion of it.

Not sure why people give them hell about what gets developed but that's the buying public for ya I guess.

[sterlingice]

absolutly ZERO interest in RockBand Beatles, I rather get LEGO ROCKBAND

Gotta agree, personally. But GH:Metallica is something I'll be able to sink my teeth into when I get it

SI

[dawgfan]

Yeah, and this is why I think the Rock Band: Beatles is going to be so important for the franchise - I think it will kind of be the software version of the Wii, i.e. a game that will entice many people that normally wouldn't normally buy Rock Band to jump in and thus expand the range of people buying into the franchise.

IMO, Led Zeppelin would be a big disk seller, but not as many complete packages as there would be a much bigger overlap with people that already have the instruments. Same with U2.

I'm sure there are a lot of people in the current Rock Band demographic that aren't big Beatles fans, or not big enough to buy the disk. But I'll bet a lot of older people that bought a Wii will be enticed to buy this version when they otherwise wouldn't have bothered with the franchise.

[Icy]

I can't find any RB2 guitar standalone, i just find "RB guitar", how can i know if it's the new model for RB2 or the first one?

Is the RB2 guitar better than the GHWT one? RB2 one looks more fun with the double set of buttons, with the one closer to the neck for tapping and soloing better, am i right?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I can't find any RB2 guitar standalone, i just find "RB guitar", how can i know if it's the new model for RB2 or the first one?

Is the RB2 guitar better than the GHWT one? RB2 one looks more fun with the double set of buttons, with the one closer to the neck for tapping and soloing better, am i right?

The guitar is the same guitar when buying stand-alone. There's not multiple models.

Personal preference is big regarding guitars. I prefer the Rock Band guitar. It's a lot easier on the fingers. Just feels better.

[Samdari]

Yeah, and this is why I think the Rock Band: Beatles is going to be so important for the franchise - I think it will kind of be the software version of the Wii, i.e. a game that will entice many people that normally wouldn't normally buy Rock Band to jump in and thus expand the range of people buying into the franchise.

I definitely fit this category. I have had zero interest in either the GH or RB franchises. It is already decided my family is getting the Beatles version for Christmas. The Beatles being attached is pretty much the only thing that could have made me interested.

Which begs the question, are there any others that would be as big or even bigger? I can only think of 2 realistic contenders:

Led Zeppelin
U2

I think the Rolling Stones would be bigger than those two. How do they not even make the list for discussion? That said, I don't think it is possible for anything to be as big or bigger than The Beatles. I guess realistically the one with the best shot at selling more units would be RB: Hanna Montana.

[Kodos]

But are they bigger than Jesus?

[dawgfan]

I think the Rolling Stones would be bigger than those two. How do they not even make the list for discussion?
I dunno - in a way, I think the Rolling Stones are worse off for having continued touring into their late '60's and basically being an oldies revival band, albeit with a way more fanfare than most.

I think a Rolling Stones branded RB/GH game would be big, don't get me wrong; but I think the Beatles hits a bigger demographic and has more pull. I think Led Zeppelin would not draw as many new fans into the genre as the Beatles, but they would be a pinnacle for many, given that they are frequently thought of as the best of late '60's and '70's hard rock, and their catalog would be a ton of fun to play along to.

U2 is the current kings of the rock music landscape and have a huge legion of fans as well, but I don't think they'd have as nearly as much pull as the Beatles or Led Zeppelin. I think they'd pull more than the Rolling Stones though...

[dawgfan]

Dola -

Is there a trick for getting all the songs within RB2 to show up as playable in Quickplay mode?

[DanGarion]

I dunno - in a way, I think the Rolling Stones are worse off for having continued touring into their late '60's and basically being an oldies revival band, albeit with a way more fanfare than most.



Have you actually listened to their last couple albums? They still make pretty good music. Plus they constantly sell out huge venues and are near if not the top of the draws year after year.

[dawgfan]

Have you actually listened to their last couple albums? They still make pretty good music. Plus they constantly sell out huge venues and are near if not the top of the draws year after year.
I haven't been overly impressed with anything the Stones have put out since Tattoo You, and even that was mainly "Start Me Up" and "Waiting on a Friend" and filler.

The Stones have a tremendous catalog of music, and are one of the most important bands in rock history. But I just don't see them as having the same kind of air about them that would pull baby boomers like the Beatles, nor the hard rock attraction of a Led Zeppelin.

Just my opinion of course, and it may well be that the Rock Band: Beatles release might open up a greater market for a Rolling Stones branded release.

[BigDawg]

Some news I read today...

GH:VanHalen

No Hagar or Anthony sorry folks

Alex, Eddie, Roth, and Eddies kid whats his name?

Question arose and was not answered but looks like their will be no Van Hagar songs on it just the Roth stuff.... which means I probibly skip it I am a HUGE Hagar fan.

Checkout Hagar's new band this summer..ChickenFoot
Song I heard on radio was preaty good.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Hagar + members of Van Halen wasn't VH as far as I'm concerned (more like a mistake on everyone's part, from DLR's to VH's to Hagar's) so that's no loss.
But pretending to do any sort of VH history without Anthony is pretty ridiculous.

But it's no surprise either, considered they even redid the art for old albums to be re-released.

[dawgfan]

But pretending to do any sort of VH history without Anthony is pretty ridiculous.

But it's no surprise either, considered they even redid the art for old albums to be re-released.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if this was just a continuation of the bitter, petty fighting between the two camps.

But it's also possible that VH simply didn't have good master tapes anymore from the classic records and had to re-record them for the GH release (although that would also mean inferior versions of the Roth vocals, as I doubt his pipes are in as good a shape anymore...)

[PilotMan]

I can't find any RB2 guitar standalone, i just find "RB guitar", how can i know if it's the new model for RB2 or the first one?

Is the RB2 guitar better than the GHWT one? RB2 one looks more fun with the double set of buttons, with the one closer to the neck for tapping and soloing better, am i right?

Speaking of that, are the guitars interchangeable between the two games? I have a RB one game, but what other games will that controller work with?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Speaking of that, are the guitars interchangeable between the two games? I have a RB one game, but what other games will that controller work with?

The Rock Band guitar will work with two other games actually. It works with Konami's Rock Revolution game and all of the Guitar Hero games.

[BYU 14]

It wouldn't surprise me at all if this was just a continuation of the bitter, petty fighting between the two camps.

But it's also possible that VH simply didn't have good master tapes anymore from the classic records and had to re-record them for the GH release (although that would also mean inferior versions of the Roth vocals, as I doubt his pipes are in as good a shape anymore...)

Plus the loss of Anthony's backing vocals, which quite honestly were very underrated. I have to put most of this on EVH, while I am sure Roth could be obmoxious, I just can't believe it is never Eddie's fault when the only one he can continually get along with in the band is his brother.

[Samdari]

, given that they are frequently thought of as the best of late '60's and '70's hard rock, and their catalog would be a ton of fun to play along to

You see, I would say this applies more to the Stones than Zeppelin.

You make a good point about U2 being more current, although I am not sure how you come up with that helping U2, but hurting the Stones.

[wade moore]

You see, I would say this applies more to the Stones than Zeppelin.

You make a good point about U2 being more current, although I am not sure how you come up with that helping U2, but hurting the Stones.

I believe that with anyone under 40 Zep has much more sway. And let's face it, RB2 is going to sell to a lot more under 40 than 40+.

[BigDawg]

I believe that with anyone under 40 Zep has much more sway. And let's face it, RB2 is going to sell to a lot more under 40 than 40+.

Not to sure, I always seen GH for the under 30 crowd and RB for us older folks since GH seems to me to be more cartoony.

I am 46 and have freinds over 40 that love rock band but around the neiborhood all the kiddies play GH. and how many under 40 even know who the beatles are..LOL

[dawgfan]

You see, I would say this applies more to the Stones than Zeppelin.
Well, music definitions are not concrete of course, and hard rock to person A may not be hard rock to person B.

That said, I don't consider the Rolling Stones to have ever been a hard rock band - they were a rock band, with a strong blues influence and periods of country rock flirtation, but mainly a straight-ahead rock band.

Led Zeppelin was a lot more varied in their sound than a single definition gives them credit for, but there were more of a hard rock band than the Stones. Nothing in the Stones catalog has the heaviness of Immigrant Song, Achilles Last Stand or Black Dog, and none of the blues-inspired songs the Stones did were as heavy as Whole Lotta Love.

You make a good point about U2 being more current, although I am not sure how you come up with that helping U2, but hurting the Stones.
The Rolling Stones might do a better job of bringing new customers into the genre, but I think U2 would sell a lot more copies to people who already have gaming systems - whereas the Stones are generally thought of as dinosaurs to current 18-35 year olds, U2 is much more relevant to that age group.

Maybe marketing research would prove me wrong in that, but I think U2 would pull more sales than the Stones.

[Samdari]

The Rolling Stones might do a better job of bringing new customers into the genre, but I think U2 would sell a lot more copies to people who already have gaming systems - whereas the Stones are generally thought of as dinosaurs to current 18-35 year olds, U2 is much more relevant to that age group.

Maybe marketing research would prove me wrong in that, but I think U2 would pull more sales than the Stones.


My point was that you said the Stones would be hurt vs Led Zeppelin because they have toured more recently - they are more current.

You also said that U2 would to better than the Stones because they were more current.

These thoughts seem inconsistent.

[dawgfan]

My point was that you said the Stones would be hurt vs Led Zeppelin because they have toured more recently - they are more current.

You also said that U2 would to better than the Stones because they were more current.

These thoughts seem inconsistent.
I can see how it would come across that way. I guess my point is in how the two bands are viewed by the general public.

U2 tours with a lot more (and much better IMO) new material. U2 I would suspect is thought of much more so as still a current band than the Stones. While the Stones do put out some new material still, it's not the main portion of their shows, and it's not really up to par with their older material.

I'm sure many people would say the same thing about U2, but I think there's far more people that view the Stones as an (incredibly successful) oldies act than U2.

[JonInMiddleGA]

but I think there's far more people that view the Stones as an (incredibly successful) oldies act than U2.

I wouldn't give you fifty cents for either of 'em (hell, for the two combined) but I can't imagine how there could be any argument about that point.

Stones last broke the top 20 on any US chart in 1998, when they managed to get to #13 on the Mainstream Rock chart with Saint of Me and have only gotten anything to chart at all anywhere 9 times since then and three of those were remixes.

U2 had a top 5 hit on Modern Rock charters earlier this year and have had a total of 7 top 10 tracks this decade.

In the past 12 years (trying to help them here by stretching back further) the Stones have released two studio albums that sold less than 4 million copies combined & 4 compilation/hits packages that sold less than 8 million combined. In that same 12 years U2 released three studio albums that sold over 7 million in the US (and another 9 million in the UK) with almost 4 million in just the past five years.

Like I said, I don't care one bit for either of them but it's clear that one is a nostalgia act at this point in their career while the other may be approaching that status but isn't there yet.

[DanGarion]

I wouldn't give you fifty cents for either of 'em (hell, for the two combined) but I can't imagine how there could be any argument about that point.

Stones last broke the top 20 on any US chart in 1998, when they managed to get to #13 on the Mainstream Rock chart with Saint of Me and have only gotten anything to chart at all anywhere 9 times since then and three of those were remixes.

U2 had a top 5 hit on Modern Rock charters earlier this year and have had a total of 7 top 10 tracks this decade.

In the past 12 years (trying to help them here by stretching back further) the Stones have released two studio albums that sold less than 4 million copies combined & 4 compilation/hits packages that sold less than 8 million combined. In that same 12 years U2 released three studio albums that sold over 7 million in the US (and another 9 million in the UK) with almost 4 million in just the past five years.

Like I said, I don't care one bit for either of them but it's clear that one is a nostalgia act at this point in their career while the other may be approaching that status but isn't there yet.

The Voodoo Lounge Tour was a 1994-1995 concert tour by the Rolling Stones to promote their 1994 album Voodoo Lounge. This was their first tour without bassist Bill Wyman. The tour grossed $320 million, becoming the highest grossing tour at the time. It is The Rolling Stones second highest grossing tour behind the A Bigger Bang Tour[1]

The Bridges to Babylon Tour was the largest Rolling Stones tour at the time, exceeding sales of their record-breaking 1994-1995 Voodoo Lounge Tour. It was believed 4,577,000 people attended the tour over the 108 shows - 2,020,000 in Europe, 2,009,000 in North America, 348,000 in Argentina/Brazil and 200,000 in Japan. The tour reached 25 countries and is the second largest North American tour of all time - second to the Rolling Stones' subsequent A Bigger Bang Tour. Rolling Stones "Bridges To Babylon/No Security Tour" 1997/1998/1999 $339 million GROSS.


5. Rolling Stones "Licks Tour" 2002-2003 $300 million GROSS.

The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang Tour was a worldwide concert tour which took place between August 2005 and August 2007, in support of their album A Bigger Bang. It has become the highest grossing tour of all time with $558,255,524 earned.[1]

Yes most definitely a oldies band... $1,500,000,000 in 15 years from concerts ain't too shabby

[JonInMiddleGA]

Yes most definitely a oldies band... $1,500,000,000 in 15 years from concerts ain't too shabby

But the two things aren't mutually exclusive of one another. Nobody bought a ticket thinking "Oh God, I can't wait to hear their new song".

I don't think anybody is saying they aren't a commercially viable nostalgia act, but they are what they are.

[chesapeake]

Also, no one is arguing that the Stones aren't relevant to this discussion. They are a hugely influential band that would sell a lot of copies of the hypothetical RB2:The Stones. But I agree with Jon, U2 is more current that are the Stones and would appeal to a lot more people that play video games because of it.

I would even go further and say that I think a U2 compilation would outsell the Beatles significantly because of their stronger direct appeal to younger gamers.

Based on the premise that getting the rights to the Beatles music was very expensive for Harmonix (I don't know if this is true or not), I would be curious to know if they will sell enough product to make it really worth their while. The band broke up in 1970, just after I was born. How big can the customer base that would buy into RB2 because there is a Beatles product actually be? It is a pretty old demographic, and I suspect not one that purchases a lot of video games for themselves.

[gstelmack]

I'd rather play Beatles songs than half the crap on the existing RB discs (sorry, just not a Metal fan), so I may buy it just because I'll enjoy the music more.

[DanGarion]

I'd rather play Beatles songs than half the crap on the existing RB discs (sorry, just not a Metal fan), so I may buy it just because I'll enjoy the music more.

Personally I'd play a Rock Band: Jimmy Eat World, till my fingers bleed and then start singing till my voice was dead, and then start drumming till I couldn't drum no more.

But yeah, I'm really looking forward to the Beatles RB, it's going to be sweet.

[JonInMiddleGA]

It is a pretty old demographic, and I suspect not one that purchases a lot of video games for themselves.

So it'll be a hit on Wii then :D

[chesapeake]

The question I am posing isn't whether it will be a hit. I'm sure it will sell. But assuming that the rights to the Beatles music came at a very high price, I think this is the video game equivalent of movie that cost $200 million to produce. Given the age of the catalog, maybe I'm overestimating the licensing costs.

[dawgfan]

The question I am posing isn't whether it will be a hit. I'm sure it will sell. But assuming that the rights to the Beatles music came at a very high price, I think this is the video game equivalent of movie that cost $200 million to produce. Given the age of the catalog, maybe I'm overestimating the licensing costs.
My theory is that RB: Beatles will add a lot of new customers to the RB series, paying the big bucks to buy the entire bundled package with drums, guitar, bass and 3 mics. And those new converts to RB will now be much more likely to start buying DLC and the other RB disks, since they will have already made the major initial investment in the instruments.

So based on the presumed major markup on the instrument controllers, plus the assumption that those new customers buying in to RB because of the Beatles will buy some new songs and maybe the older disks, I'd bet Harmonix comes out well ahead on this deal.

[dawgfan]

So it'll be a hit on Wii then :D
Yeah, I bet it will. My parents are a great target - my dad bought a Wii last year, and has seen my Rock Band game in action. The RB: Beatles release might just be the trigger to get him to buy in to the franchise.

[path12]

But the two things aren't mutually exclusive of one another. Nobody bought a ticket thinking "Oh God, I can't wait to hear their new song".

I don't think anybody is saying they aren't a commercially viable nostalgia act, but they are what they are.

Word. I was at a show last year that Steve Winwood opened.........and proceeded to play 2/3 of his new album and only a couple of his old songs. Sucked ballz, and actually had the crowd calling for the headliner.

[path12]

Yeah, I bet it will. My parents are a great target - my dad bought a Wii last year, and has seen my Rock Band game in action. The RB: Beatles release might just be the trigger to get him to buy in to the franchise.

The only thing my mid-late 40's crowd does regularly anymore is get together for Rock Band nights. On the Wii of course. I doubt we're the only ones.

EDIT: Well, they're fond of trivia nights as well. But it's been all Rock Band all the time for the past year or so.

[thesloppy]

FYI.......great deal on Rock Band 2 Bundle if anyone's looking. Closeout over at Gamestop.com. Use code CAG16 to get it for $80.


Tanx again bunches for this link MBF! Just got it today. $100 discount is the only way I could afford it.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

I just picked this up from the gamestop link and am having a blast. I had a quick question though. Since I bought Rock Band 2, can I buy Rock Band one and have the songs from that disc integrate with Rock Band 2? By that I mean, play them in setlists with RB2 songs with my RB2 band. I kind of remember hearing about that before, but I wanted to check.

[wade moore]

I just picked this up from the gamestop link and am having a blast. I had a quick question though. Since I bought Rock Band 2, can I buy Rock Band one and have the songs from that disc integrate with Rock Band 2? By that I mean, play them in setlists with RB2 songs with my RB2 band. I kind of remember hearing about that before, but I wanted to check.


There's some nominal fee ($5ish).

The recommendation I've heard here (haven't done it yet) is to try and go to Blockbuster, rent it, load it up, import the songs, return it.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

There's some nominal fee ($5ish).

The recommendation I've heard here (haven't done it yet) is to try and go to Blockbuster, rent it, load it up, import the songs, return it.

I think the original Rock Band is also down to around $14.99 used at Gamestop. That's not a bad price to buy, though renting works if you just want to get the songs.

[MrBug708]

Personally I'd play a Rock Band: Jimmy Eat World, till my fingers bleed and then start singing till my voice was dead, and then start drumming till I couldn't drum no more.

But yeah, I'm really looking forward to the Beatles RB, it's going to be sweet.

This!

[path12]

BTW, I downloaded Last Train to Clarksville last week. I have a newfound respect for the Monkees. That's a tricky song.

[dawgfan]

BTW, I downloaded Last Train to Clarksville last week. I have a newfound respect for the Monkees. That's a tricky song.
You mean you have a newfound respect for the studio musicians that recorded the music for that song?

;)

[path12]

You mean you have a newfound respect for the studio musicians that recorded the music for that song?

;)

Hey now, don't go hatin' on the Monkees. I was a big fan as a little kid. :)

[dawgfan]

Hey now, don't go hatin' on the Monkees. I was a big fan as a little kid. :)
Just playing with you. The Monkees actually did a lot of their own playing on records in later years. That song though was significantly augmented by studio musicians.

[DataKing]

Just curious if anybody out there has any DLC to recommend. I'm always looking for good stuff.

My personal favorite is the Stevie Ray Vaughn set (Texas Flood). It's difficult, for sure, with some crazy hammer-ons and pull-offs, but I like that sort of thing. The Motley Crue Dr. Feelgood set has some good ones too (Kickstart My Heart is a blast).

[Samdari]

So, if I buy Rock Band: Beatles, do I get to download Motley Crue songs?

[kingnebwsu]

So in preparation for Rock Band: Beatles, I purchased a mic stand from Gamestop tonight. Pretty simple and it was only $20. I've played guitar & sang (using the 360 headset) before and it was pretty cool. But I have to say that playing guitar and singing into an *actual* microphone is one of the coolest video game experiences I've had in years. I only did 2 songs. The first one I didn't know very well and it was just okay. The 2nd song was "Peace of Mind" by Boston, which is one of my all-time favorite songs. I had an absolute blast and scored a 98% on Hard Guitar plus 100% on Medium Vocals. I got done and was grinning like a little kid. It was so fun to sing "like the rock stars do" or something.

This is my plug for a mic stand. With Rock Band: Beatles and the upcoming 3-part harmony, a $20 mic stand is definitely a good investment. Plus it makes singing & playing a helluvalotta fun :p

[MizzouRah]

I just might have to get that mic stand, thank you!

[CleBrownsfan]

Can you use RB equipment for Guitar Hero games?

[Lonnie]

Yes

[CleBrownsfan]

Yes

Stupid kid @ Blockbuster told me I couldn't :crazy:

[CleBrownsfan]

RB: Beatles less than a week away!!!!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

RB: Beatles less than a week away!!!!

Yeah, Guitar Hero 5 has been getting pretty underwhelming impressions. I'm glad we have the Beatles game coming to make sure we have at least one great band game for the holidays.

[path12]

I'm trying to figure out exactly how to handle the extra microphones for Beatles Rock Band. My Wii USB hub has only four spots.

Can I use a splitter on one of the slots, or do I need to get a hub with more than four? My google-fu has been failing me here.

[dawgfan]

I'm trying to figure out exactly how to handle the extra microphones for Beatles Rock Band. My Wii USB hub has only four spots.

Can I use a splitter on one of the slots, or do I need to get a hub with more than four? My google-fu has been failing me here.
I'm having a hard time imagining that using a splitter on one of the hub spots would be a problem. Isn't one of the big advantages of USB the ability to daisy-chain connections effectively?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I'm having a hard time imagining that using a splitter on one of the hub spots would be a problem. Isn't one of the big advantages of USB the ability to daisy-chain connections effectively?

Yes. I have a splitter on my PS3 that has 4 existing ports. It's a 4-way splitter, so my PS3 actually recognizes 7 ports when I plug the 4-way splitter into one of the ports. I'm almost positive that the Wii works the exact same way.

[dawgfan]

Dola -

This just in - the jump from "Medium" to "Hard" difficulty level is still a big one.

I've been retraining myself on guitar lately to better handle the jump. I had originally trained myself to be able to play without moving my fret hand and just using all four fingers, with index mapped exclusively to green, middle to red, etc.

Over the last few weeks I've been retraining to slide my fret hand and always play chords with the first note using my index finger so that I'll be better able to handle the 5 buttons (plus, it seems like this is closer to how actual guitarists play).

But man, I'm still not prepared for how many more notes there are in hard mode. I was playing "Tangled Up in Blue" last night in hard, and the jump from medium is significant - lots of rapidly strummed chords but with the added trick of one of the notes in the chord being dropped off periodically. And "Spoonman" - holy crap that song is all over the fret board and with a lot of notes.

I was able to get through a set of songs in hard mode without failing out, but it's quite a shock to go from consistently hitting 98% or better of notes in medium to 60% (and sometimes lower) in hard.

I can't even fathom playing "expert" mode at this point...

[Samdari]

I'm having a hard time imagining that using a splitter on one of the hub spots would be a problem. Isn't one of the big advantages of USB the ability to daisy-chain connections effectively?

In theory, yes. In practice, the total power coming from a single USB port is fixed, and everyone who designs a device uses all of it.

[DataKing]

Dola -

This just in - the jump from "Medium" to "Hard" difficulty level is still a big one.

I've been retraining myself on guitar lately to better handle the jump. I had originally trained myself to be able to play without moving my fret hand and just using all four fingers, with index mapped exclusively to green, middle to red, etc.

Over the last few weeks I've been retraining to slide my fret hand and always play chords with the first note using my index finger so that I'll be better able to handle the 5 buttons (plus, it seems like this is closer to how actual guitarists play).

But man, I'm still not prepared for how many more notes there are in hard mode. I was playing "Tangled Up in Blue" last night in hard, and the jump from medium is significant - lots of rapidly strummed chords but with the added trick of one of the notes in the chord being dropped off periodically. And "Spoonman" - holy crap that song is all over the fret board and with a lot of notes.

I was able to get through a set of songs in hard mode without failing out, but it's quite a shock to go from consistently hitting 98% or better of notes in medium to 60% (and sometimes lower) in hard.

I can't even fathom playing "expert" mode at this point...

The 4- to 5-fret change is the biggest hurdle most people face. Alot of folks (myself included) find the jump from Medium to Hard more difficult than going from Hard to Expert.

That being said, there are still a few songs I haven't been able to complete on Expert (haven't played in a couple of months, I think). Green Grass and High Tides remains my personal Moby Dick.

[path12]

I'm having a hard time imagining that using a splitter on one of the hub spots would be a problem. Isn't one of the big advantages of USB the ability to daisy-chain connections effectively?

Yes. I have a splitter on my PS3 that has 4 existing ports. It's a 4-way splitter, so my PS3 actually recognizes 7 ports when I plug the 4-way splitter into one of the ports. I'm almost positive that the Wii works the exact same way.

This is what happens a) when you get old and b) when you don't think through the question your significant other is posing to you. We're covered. Thanks!

[path12]

Let me echo the Medium/Hard difficulty jump. I mostly play drums and can go 90+% on pretty much anything on Medium, but man, those kicks just get nasty on Hard. I can do songs with 0-2 star difficulty but only a few higher than that.

I need to play guitar on hard, but I'm scared of the orange button. Maybe I'll try it on bass first.

[dawgfan]

I need to play guitar on hard, but I'm scared of the orange button. Maybe I'll try it on bass first.
I would say the orange button is less of an issue than the increase in the number of notes you have to strum and the more complex chords and chord changes.

With the speed at which the notes come at you, if you ever find your hand out of position you can get out of synch and in real trouble really quickly.

[Mota]

I went from Medium - Hard on guitar pretty easily, but am having a harder time going to Expert. I can still pass most songs but the solos kill me. The thing I don't enjoy about Expert is that I feel that practice is necessary. And I ain't really into that, if I'm going to practice I'll pick up my real guitar and learn a real song. I enjoy playing RB to relax.

I am enjoying GH5 quite a bit, and I'm a hardcore RB fan. The interface in GH5 is great, they make it easy for the casual fan to jump in and play. My friend was playing guitar and I plugged in the drums ... instantly the drum path popped up on the screen and I just needed to hit a button to start playing. Very cool. The guitar player unplugged and her path instantly disapeared. Great for parties.

I can't wait for Beatles to come out next week, my wife is a huge Beatles fan and whatever I can do to convince her to game with me is a good thing.

[Carman Bulldog]

Yeah, count me in as someone who would love a tier between medium and hard that includes the fifth fret button.

I can play about 90% of the songs on hard at a high 4 or a 5 star range but suck at the late in World Tour songs such as Battery by Metallica, etc.

At the same time, I hate the idea of having to knock out one of the fret buttons to get those songs done. I'd rather play with the fifth fret and have a few notes removed and the pace slowed down.

[SackAttack]

Copy of Beatles Rock Band showed up today, but it'll be Monday before I can get the band together, especially since I'm apparently not allowed to play it online until the 9th.

[Voo]

Copy of Beatles Rock Band showed up today, but it'll be Monday before I can get the band together, especially since I'm apparently not allowed to play it online until the 9th.

Can you tell me how the game works with the multiple mics? Is it just a matter of usb ports? do you still need a controller for all the mics? Basically I want to know if I can get away with just buying the game and then an extra mic if necessary as opposed to the "special edition".

[SackAttack]

Can you tell me how the game works with the multiple mics? Is it just a matter of usb ports? do you still need a controller for all the mics? Basically I want to know if I can get away with just buying the game and then an extra mic if necessary as opposed to the "special edition".

I'll let you know on Monday after I get the band together.

Hunch? Either each mic needs a controller, or only the 'lead singer' does.

Since it's Beatles Rock Band, I suspect there won't be a lot of avatar customization, so that might cut down on the need for the controller.

Let you know in a day or so.

[CleBrownsfan]

Copy of Beatles Rock Band showed up today, but it'll be Monday before I can get the band together, especially since I'm apparently not allowed to play it online until the 9th.

How do people get games days before release date?

[SirFozzie]

he got a review copy for GN

[SackAttack]

How do people get games days before release date?

Some folks find retailers who break street.

I do game reviews. Even so, it's pretty unusual for me to get games "days before release date," because typically that requires having access to debug kits, which I haven't got.

So it requires either a publisher like Atlus shipping out "green copies" that are playable on retail units (which is what happened last week and why I have "Demon's Souls" even though it's still three weeks away), or the retail copies have to be ready soon enough before launch for the PR companies to send 'em out. That's what happened with TBRB.

[CleBrownsfan]

So how is it SackAttack? Can't wait to get started playing me some Beatles tomorrow!

[path12]

I am way more excited about this than any 47 year old man has a right to be. Game Stop has confirmed my preorder will be ready to pick up tomorrow on the way home from work.

[Samdari]

I am way more excited about this than any 47 year old man has a right to be.


Me too. But I'm only 40. And have been beligerently uninterested in any 'rhythym' game heretofore (pehaps due to my lack of rhythym).