I'm starting to think the music game bubble's already popped. I initially thought Guitar Hero was a pretty stupid idea... that is until I actually played it at a friend's house. There may have been some "liquid assistance" getting past the absurdity of playing a 3/4 size plastic guitar in front of others... but I did it, and was instantly hooked. When Guitar Hero II came out, I was there again and couldn't remember having that much fun on my PS2 in a long time. I even bought the full version with a 2nd guitar so I'd have a full multiplayer setup. Hell, I even fell for the lamely implemented Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360. I say lamely because I bought it on the promise of someone finally doing Downloadable Content right. More like "Yeah, right". Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360 has really soured me on the franchise and as a probably unfair side-effect, the music game genre altogether. We've received ONE BATCH of DLC comprised of three song packs each containing three oddly bundled songs that were previously available for Guitar Hero on the PS2. So in other words, for a true Guitar Hero devotee, we got jack. And I'm starting to doubt we'll ever see any decent downloadable songs for Guitar Hero II. But hey, we got online leaderboards! We now "officially" know how much we suck.

Enter "Rock Band". The red-headed stepchild of Guitar Hero. Technically it's related, but that relationship seems pretty unwanted. Rumors of $199 "full meal deal" Rock Band packages have set off those same alarm bells that the Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II for the 360 did before. Why should I pay that much money for these specialized controllers that may only be used for one or two games? Should I be excited for Rock Band? This footage sure doesn't do anything for me. If anything, the "atmosphere" of the game has been replaced by an entirely "functional" interface with notes flying everywhere. Maybe if I and three friends had a strong desire to cram into a small space, play fake instruments and sing... but that doesn't really describe me or my friends. Check out this footage and let me know iwhat you think.

[Gameplay Footage Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9b-8LYLGq8)]

Okay, now try Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ITe-Zk0M4w) (until the copyright lawyers attack this one too!)

That's way too expensive. For the 'rumored' bundle price for Rock Band, I could buy 3 games at MSRP!

Rothbart: Video is dead. ;)

No possible way I would pay for that...but then there are plenty of people who pay that much for a steering wheel, and GH is a runaway hit. Heck, I'd love a good racing wheel, but between the price and my wife's insistence that we not have a racing cockpit set up in our living room, it's probably not going to happen any time soon. ;D

Rothbart: Video is dead. *;)

Sucktasticness CONFIRMED!

Let me sum it up for you... *take the fretbar from Guitar Hero, multiply it by three (left being lead guitar, middle being drum, right being rhythm/bass guitar), then take Karaoke Revolution or Singstar and slap that across the top 1/4 of the screen leaving approximately 1/4th of the screen to create any sort of ambiance to the game. *Now jam four people into a space where two might be comfortable (think of a music video where the whole band is playing in a JC Penney's dressing room) and you've got the overall feeling of that video.

UPDATE: Okay, I found another YouTube link that's also soon-to-be-nuked, I'm sure...

(think of a music video where the whole band is playing in a JC Penney's dressing room)

I can't wait to see the youtube videos of people playing this.

Edit: Okay, saw the update, that looks incredibly bad. I'm sure they'll still sell quite a bit of these, though, regardless of whether or not I understand the phenomenon.

In case the 2nd video gets nuked too soon, I grabbed these screens...

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m95/rothbart_photos/xbox360/rockband1.png

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m95/rothbart_photos/xbox360/rockband2.png

I understand Rothbart's entirely correct observations and critique of the Rock band Interface, but he's throwing the baby out with the bath water. I mean come on, who plays Guitar hero for the ambiance??? I've played guitar hero, guitar hero II and GH II for the Xbox 360, and I can't remember ever looking at the "ambiance" one time. I mean If you're rocking the f out to free bird, how do you have time to watch the "ambiance?"

In defense of Rock Band, it will be almost four games in one: singer, drummer, bass guitar and lead guitar. All played separately or co-op or even rumored online co-op and online competitive play... Secondly, the tracks are all rumored to be the original songs and not the dreaded "covers" we've heard in the past... No more jacked up Nirvana, Pearl Jam and butchered Motorhead songs! (Damn you GH for messing up my Pearl Jam!)

$199 probably will be too expensive for yours truly, but if you already have a guitar from GHII, you'll only need the drum machine and the mic for starters...

Damn i'm such a fanboy, but am I wrong?

My only gripe with this game is that, assuming a friend buys it, I'll be the only person capable of singing. And that blows. I don't like singing. I like shredding, damnit. Well, pretending to shred.

...Hell, I'll take an air guitar over a microphone any day.

I understand Rothbart's entirely correct observations and critique of the Rock band Interface, but he's throwing the baby out with the bath water. I mean come on, who plays Guitar hero for the ambiance???

Okay, what was the innovation betwen Guitar Hero I and II? Easier Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs? *Then Guitar Hero II and II on the 360? *Online Leaderboard and over-priced weirdly bundled songs? Then between II and III? Who knows.*Rock Band has the addition of drums and vocals, yes, so on its own, I give it props above GH III, but (keep reading)

In defense of Rock Band, it will be almost four games in one

And it's practically PRICED as such. *$199 (if that proves correct) should give you a hell of a lot more game than the games before it. *I can't help but think if I wanted a singing game that SingStar with its 300+ song SingStore would be the better route to go... they haven't come out and taken a big dump on us DLC-wise yet. *So for me, that leaves this as Guitar Hero with drums.

$199 probably will be too expensive for yours truly, but if you already have a guitar from GHII, you'll only need the drum machine and the mic for starters...

Damn i'm such a fanboy, but am I wrong?

Yes, it is too expensive... at least too expensive given how money-hungry this genre is shaping up to be. *They've already gone on the record saying basically "Yeah, the Guitar Hero guitar will work, but you'll want one of the new ones... being wireless, with the five extra 'solo' frets".

So far the ONLY investment I've felt I got my money's worth out of is the PS2 versions of Guitar Hero. *I could use my guitar from GH I in GH II (and vice versa for multiplayer) and with the upcoming 30-song 80's edition, all of my hardware works there too. *I'm not ready to shell out more money for expensive peripherals that seem to be revised almost annually...

Rothbart, no offense man, but you didn't exactly answer my defense of Rock Band... In the legal world your answer would be stricken as being non-responsive....

Okay, what was the innovation betwen Guitar Hero I and II? Easier Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs? Then Guitar Hero II and II on the 360? Online Leaderboard and over-priced weirdly bundled songs? Then between II and III? Who knows. Rock Band has the addition of drums and vocals, yes, so on its own, I give it props above GH III, but (keep reading)

Wasn't your complaint about Rock Band concerning the "ambiance?" Furthermore, Rockband has the original songs, and the additions of the drums and microphone... plus online co-op and online competitive modes...As far as innovation, i think RockBand has it.


And it's practically PRICED as such. $199 (if that proves correct) should give you a hell of a lot more game than the games before it. I can't help but think if I wanted a singing game that SingStar with its 300+ song SingStore would be the better route to go... they haven't come out and taken a big dump on us DLC-wise yet. So for me, that leaves this as Guitar Hero with drums.

Your complaints about the price are noted, however, anyone that bought a double guitar pack from redocane for 110 bucks when GH I came out knows that the controllers are expensive and Rock Band's drum, guitar and Mic controllers won't be any different, which is why I pointed out that you only needed the mic and drums if you already had the ghIII guitar, which would save you money.

Finally as far as the DLC goes, are you aware that Rock Band and Guitar Hero are made by different companies? Maybe Rock Band will learn from the GH DLC fiasco and sell their wares in a better(cheaper) package?

Lemme know what'cha think.....

It looks fun. But not $200 fun.

Also, wasn't there rumours of GHII DLC this month? They really shit the bed on that one, one of the reasons I snapped up GHII was because I expected loads of extra content. I still love it, but much in the same way I love dating a model despite the fact she's serially unfaithful.

Sigh.

Rothbart, no offense man, but you didn't exactly answer my defense of Rock Band... In the legal world your answer would be stricken as being non-responsive....

Okay, what was the innovation betwen Guitar Hero I and II? *Easier Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs? *Then Guitar Hero II and II on the 360? *Online Leaderboard and over-priced weirdly bundled songs? *Then between II and III? *Who knows. Rock Band has the addition of drums and vocals, yes, so on its own, I give it props above GH III, but (keep reading)

Wasn't your complaint about Rock Band concerning the "ambiance?" Furthermore, Rockband has the original songs, and the additions of the drums and microphone... plus online co-op and online competitive modes...As far as innovation, i think RockBand has it.


And it's practically PRICED as such. *$199 (if that proves correct) should give you a hell of a lot more game than the games before it. *I can't help but think if I wanted a singing game that SingStar with its 300+ song SingStore would be the better route to go... they haven't come out and taken a big dump on us DLC-wise yet. *So for me, that leaves this as Guitar Hero with drums.

Your complaints about the price are noted, however, anyone that bought a double guitar pack from redocane for 110 bucks when GH I came out knows that the controllers are expensive and Rock Band's drum, guitar and Mic controllers won't be any different, which is why I pointed out that you only needed the mic and drums if you already had the ghIII guitar, which would save you money. *

Finally as far as the DLC goes, are you aware that Rock Band and Guitar Hero are made by different companies? *Maybe Rock Band will learn from the GH DLC fiasco and sell their wares in a better(cheaper) package? *

Lemme know what'cha think.....





My complaint applies to Guitar Hero II and III as well. *Guitar Hero I broke ground. *Guitar Hero II did little more. *Now what little we have to create an immersive experience is being hidden behind yet more functional interface. *When playing Quick Play, yeah, when it's not my turn, I do look in the background. *During dead air or memorized spots, yeah, I've looked around a bit. *I'm no "ace" at the games, but I can play most of the songs on Expert mode. *I'm just saying, they're charging more, filling the screen with more "functional" display, and removing (or regressing) from the concert-like experience I'm guessing they've tried to do in the past with the other GH games. *

And yeah, I'm aware that they're different companies. *The big difference being that Guitar Hero II (with Red Octane/Activision) was the one I had hopes on to do DLC right. *Rock Band is coming from the geniuses that try to sell you game videos for Madden. *I have no doubt this'll be another BOHICA situation in that regard.

My next best hope for DLC done right is for a game I'm not even interested in buying... SingStar. *Someone, I don't care who or for what game, needs to come out with something offering for-fee DLC and price it appropriately for what you're getting and be a smash success, showing all these asshats that are trying to ream us what it's supposed to be like. *Give us a decent value and we'll give you our money.

'Nuff said.

'Nuff said.

You got confused by BOHICA, admit it. ;D

I think it is a lame rip off of GH. Who wants to try and sing and play drums and all that other crap. The singing will be hard as hell to work, the drums will get annoying. Why not just leave it at a guitar, easy to pick up and just play right off the bat.

Hey, whenever you can fit in a BOHICA into an argument, I gotta give props.

Fubar, snafu, they got nothing on bohica....

excelsior!

I think it is a lame rip off of GH.

A 'rip'? The team that developed GH (Harmonix) is making this, just not with Red Octane as their publisher. So, not a 'rip', but maybe a copy/paste? ;) But I'm sure it will be okay...just too expensive for me.


Who wants to try and sing and play drums and all that other crap. The singing will be hard as hell to work, the drums will get annoying. Why not just leave it at a guitar, easy to pick up and just play right off the bat.

There's nothing keeping you from sticking with the GH series. :)

I think it is a lame rip off of GH.

A 'rip'? The team that developed GH (Harmonix) is making this, just not with Red Octane as their publisher. So, not a 'rip', but maybe a copy/paste? ;) But I'm sure it will be okay...just too expensive for me.


Who wants to try and sing and play drums and all that other crap. The singing will be hard as hell to work, the drums will get annoying. Why not just leave it at a guitar, easy to pick up and just play right off the bat.

There's nothing keeping you from sticking with the GH series. :)


Derek, you had to come along and ruin all the fun, didn't you?
I am going to quote Doc now.
"Go argue with Roth, it is a God given right."
or something like that...

Who wants to try and sing and play drums and all that other crap.
My wife for one. Quote: "That looks like fun. I'll sing if you get that."

She is incredibly uncoordinated (hence the disdain for GHII, even on Easy mode) but even someone as challenged in the manual dexterity area as she is could join in the Rock Band fun. I think the idea is to make the game accessible for everyone, not just guitar whiz kids. And I personally relish the idea of my wife getting excited about a video game, it beats the rolling eyes I get for playing other games (including GH!). :(

But like I said, $200? That's a lot o' scratch.

For a welcome change, I agree completely with Rothbart.

Bear in mind that not only is THIS game coming, but RedOctane/Activision's Guitar Hero 3 is coming as well and since GH3 will have wireless controllers across the board, it's possible it won't be sold outside of a package. Despite that, if I had to choose between the two, I'd choose GH3. To explain why, I'll be lazy and just copy and paste what I posted over at 2old2play.com:

I'm interested in seeing how this game develops, but I'm not sure I'm going to pick it up. To get the full experience, you have to know people with all the other instruments and then try to coordinate to get them together to play online, or come visit, at a given time. I have a hard enough time trying to coordinate with my GH2 owning friends as to when we can hang out and work on coop songs, I couldn't imagine trying to coordinate with them to get us all online at the same time, playing different instruments.

Then, since, supposedly, the game supports online play beyond leaderboards (a la GH2), there's the big question mark called "internet lag". What happens if you manage to get all of your friends together, but one of them has a horrible ping and is half a second behind everyone else?

I have a lot of faith in Harmonix to deliver a quality game, but I'm going to be watching the development of this one closely. Now if they'd just make an X360 type of Amplitude game, I'd be happy.