Rock Band: Harmonix tops itself

[sephfire]

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2007-04-01-rock-band_N.htm

In short, Harmonix, EA and MTV are teaming up to bring us the successor to Guitar Hero: a full band variant featuring not only guitar and bass, but singer and drummer. With original artists instead of cover bands. And internet multiplayer support.

This is the most important thing that has ever happened. 8-O

[Fenrir]

Oh wow .

[NeoForte]

Yea....I hope they pull this off well. I love Guitar Hero. I'll be the bass if any band needs me :P lol

[watkinzez]

This is why I said it was good that Harmonix shed itself of the Guitar Hero licence- give them the freedom to make the next step.

[Brushfire]

This stinks of April Foolery....

BUT!!

If it is real, than freakin sweet~!!

[Tenucha]

This stinks of April Foolery....



I totallly agree with you there

[CE]

It's real, they've been working on it for a while.

Also OLD

Seriously people, if it gets here after Kotaku has it, it's old.

[Dhsu]

Well, it's not that farfetched. And it's about time they let you sing to the tunes you're playing, because let's admit it, we all do it anyway. ;)

[chrono26]

Well, it's not that farfetched. And it's about time they let you sing to the tunes you're playing, because let's admit it, we all do it anyway. ;)

"CARRY ON MY WAYWARD SOOOONNNNN!!!!!"

[Bahamut]

I fear for the song selection.

[Super-Duper Sombrero]

I fear for the song selection.

Agreed, but I'll still probably get it anyway...

Singing?

Gansgsta rap hero, anyone...?

[EpicPoster]

oh man i wonder how they will ever do it maybe they will put all the different intraments as differerent tracks or something and then you can like do so much of one track and then move on to the next track...you'd have to like play all tracks and then all the songs would be by the original artists and stuff and then you could like even remix the songs wouldnt that be a sweet game

oh wait they did that before its called amplitude you bitches should play it

[The Unsung Plumber]

"CARRY ON MY WAYWARD SOOOONNNNN!!!!!"

THERE'LL BE PEACE WHEN YOU ARE DONE!!!


>.>
<.<

Sorry. anyway, this does look really cool.

[Toadofsky]

Just hope they pick songs that are played 1 million times a day on the radio stations in my area...

[sephfire]

You realize what this means: official OCR Rock Bands. We've even got pixie for killer vocals. It's too perfect.

[The Unsung Plumber]

You realize what this means: official OCR Rock Bands. We've even got pixie for killer vocals. It's too perfect.

And we have Jesse(Vig) to yell at all us N00B guitar players.

[Soma]

Sounds really expensive. Guitar hero is awesome but 90 bucks is kind of pushing it. I was hoping GH for wii will be less expensive because i'm hoping the wiimote plugs into some kind of empty guitar shell. So how are they going to package this game? 3 different skus?

[ILLiterate]

The obvious problem would be the drum set. The only good drumset game I can remember was DrumMania, and the set up was pretty big. Also the game is heavily missing keyboards. Damn, I really never liked this game, I'm such a Bemani loyalist

[ifirit]

This is a very interesting concept, i.e. "greatest thing ever," and provided that Harmonix can fine tune it, I'd definitely pick it up. Next thing we'd need are "Rock Band" battles. Band against band; brother vs. brother; rock apocalyse the likes of which karoke bars or high school auditoriums have never seen before.

Ok, I'm getting carried away, but it's still a cool idea.

[Dhsu]

Agreed, but I'll still probably get it anyway...

Singing?

Gansgsta rap hero, anyone...?
You can't really judge rap with a computer because there's no set pitch for the lyrics.

[chrono26]

You can't really judge rap with a computer because there's no set pitch for the lyrics.

unless you're nelly (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwU-N_rfIfg)

[Strike911]

Geez, if EA has its grimey omnipotent hands on the track list the game is doomed...

*nightmares of EA Trax from the past*

Harmonix needs to be in charge, seriously. They've done well with picking songs in the past.

[sephfire]

Geez, if EA has its grimey omnipotent hands on the track list the game is doomed...

*nightmares of EA Trax from the past*

Harmonix needs to be in charge, seriously. They've done well with picking songs in the past.

It sounds like Harmonix is the main creative force here. EA and MTV are just opening up some new possibilities Harmonix couldn't access before (and I imagine EA will be publishing the game as well). I may be wrong, but I'm not too worried about it.

[Antipode]

The price of this game is going to be ridiculous with all the peripherals...

Also, though that article only said PS3 and 360, IGN says that the harmonix ceo writes it will "absolutely be on wii". (http://wii.ign.com/articles/777/777553p1.html)

[Guy In Rubber Suit]

This is exactly what I was wishing for future Guitar Hero installments. I enjoyed the GH games but for some reason, despite how awesome they were, always felt like they were lacking something. This game sounds like it's going to be the answer for everything.

So what bands do you hope they get? I hope for more Megadeth (Holy Wars and Tornado of Souls please!), old Metallica (Orion or Fight Fire With Fire would be sweet), Slayer (Raining Blood!), more Pantera, more Jimi Hendrix, some AC/DC, and if they can some Death but I doubt that.

[Bahamut]

This is exactly what I was wishing for future Guitar Hero installments. I enjoyed the GH games but for some reason, despite how awesome they were, always felt like they were lacking something. This game sounds like it's going to be the answer for everything.

So what bands do you hope they get? I hope for more Megadeth (Holy Wars and Tornado of Souls please!), old Metallica (Orion or Fight Fire With Fire would be sweet), Slayer (Raining Blood!), more Pantera, more Jimi Hendrix, some AC/DC, and if they can some Death but I doubt that.

Hell, we need some more power & progressive metal here, and some more prog rock too. Electric blues would be fun too, but I doubt the tracklist would be all that great - GH 1 had a bunch of crap tracks, and GH 2 was even worse with that, so if the short term trend is any indication, the tracklist will get even worse as the idea has already hit gaming mainstream.

[Murmeli Walan]

Hell, we need some more power & progressive metal here, and some more prog rock too. Electric blues would be fun too, but I doubt the tracklist would be all that great - GH 1 had a bunch of crap tracks, and GH 2 was even worse with that, so if the short term trend is any indication, the tracklist will get even worse as the idea has already hit gaming mainstream.

Your opinion, of course. I thought the tracklists were fantastic for both games.

[Alex Auldron]

Hell, we need some more power & progressive metal here, and some more prog rock too. Electric blues would be fun too, but I doubt the tracklist would be all that great - GH 1 had a bunch of crap tracks, and GH 2 was even worse with that, so if the short term trend is any indication, the tracklist will get even worse as the idea has already hit gaming mainstream.

Obviously, you care not for actual good music, but everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

Truly, this sounds like a complete mess really. I can understand Bass and Electric, but drums and microphone in the same game? I see WAY too many accessories and WAY too much money beng spent on it. I can't see myself spending $50-$60 for the game, $30-$40 extra for a special guitar for that game, another $40 for the mic, then the drum set, yeah, bad idea to me.

[Strike911]

i dunno, microphones can be integrated into things. Perhaps they'll release a guitar with modules to turn into a mic, or drum sticks. *shrugs*

That's a good question though, how exactly are they going to sell this in stores. hm.

[TCK]

Wait, I thought topping oneself was a bad thing?

[Bahamut]

Obviously, you care not for actual good music, but everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

Wtf?

I know many who don't like much of the GH2 tracklist, all with pretty wide musical backgrounds - most of my friends have been modding their GH2 and replacing the songs with better ones simply because the tracklist is pretty bad in general, although there are a few good ones in there.

Makes me wonder what atrocities you consider good music.

[Brushfire]

How will they pull off the multiplayer anyway? There is no way someone will be able to keep up with their section if all of everyone's notes are crowding the screen.

I sense a system link gimmick...

[Dhsu]

Wtf?

I know many who don't like much of the GH2 tracklist, all with pretty wide musical backgrounds - most of my friends have been modding their GH2 and replacing the songs with better ones simply because the tracklist is pretty bad in general, although there are a few good ones in there.

Makes me wonder what atrocities you consider good music.
For a mod, you sure troll a lot.

[Avatar of Justice]

Am I the only one who is starting to find the concept a little over the top. A whole fake video game band? If you can get people together enough to play the game to make all the hardware worth your money, it seems like you should go form a band (which would require learning how to play music). I'm sure it'll be fun, but it will be absurdly fun.

I own Guitar Hero 1 (I didn't like the playlist of the 2nd one at all). Does this make me a hypocrite?

[Bahamut]

For a mod, you sure troll a lot.

More like I got trolled :?

[Dhsu]

I believe you started it, sir.
GH 1 had a bunch of crap tracks, and GH 2 was even worse with that, so if the short term trend is any indication, the tracklist will get even worse as the idea has already hit gaming mainstream.
I don't see how you could've expected any form of constructive discussion to come from that post.

[Bahamut]

I believe you started it, sir.

I don't see how you could've expected any form of constructive discussion to come from that post.

Simple, I wasn't naming particular songs. But anyone play the first two a lot? How many songs would you actually play over again? I know I stuck to only a handful since either I couldn't stand a lot of them (after the obligatory one time play of course) or they weren't fun to play through, and most of my friends were the same. I think that warrants calling the majority crap songs.

[CE]

People, people, calm down.

It's not the songs, it's the rock out factor. And since you have a plastic guitar, the songs could be failed jam sessions and still ROCK OUT.

[Dhsu]

Simple, I wasn't naming particular songs. But anyone play the first two a lot? How many songs would you actually play over again? I know I stuck to only a handful since either I couldn't stand a lot of them (after the obligatory one time play of course) or they weren't fun to play through, and most of my friends were the same. I think that warrants calling the majority crap songs.
No, it warrants saying that you couldn't stand a lot of the songs. :P If you had done that in the first place instead of flamebaiting, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

But since you asked, here's the songs I play through on a regular basis:

"More Than a Feeling" - Boston
"Take Me Out" - Franz Ferdinand
"Sharp Dressed Man" - ZZ Top
"Killer Queen" - Queen
"Symphony of Destruction" - Megadeth
"Ziggy Stardust" - David Bowie
"Fat Lip" - Sum 41
"Cochise" - Audioslave
"Spanish Castle Magic" - Jimi Hendrix
"Higher Ground" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
"No One Knows" - Queens of the Stone Age
"Crossroads" - Cream
"Godzilla" - Blue Öyster Cult
"Texas Flood" - Stevie Ray Vaughan
"Frankenstein" - The Edgar Winter Group
"Cowboys from Hell" - Pantera
"Bark at the Moon" - Ozzy Osbourne
"Cheat on the Church" - Graveyard BBQ
"Even Rats" - The Slip
"Get Ready 2 Rokk" - Freezepop
"Cavemen Rejoice" - The Bags
"All of This" - Shaimus
"The Breaking Wheel" - Artillery

Hardly a handful, and that's just from the first game. I actually like most of the other songs, but these are my favorites. And some of them I left off because I actually played them way too much (i.e. all of tier 1).

My GH2 list is even longer (which actually surprises even me). Probably because the good/bad ratio admittedly seems a little bit lower.

* "Shout at the Devil" - Mötley Crüe
* "Mother" - Danzig
* "Woman" - Wolfmother
* "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight" - Spınal Tap
* "Strutter" - KISS
* "Heart-Shaped Box" - Nirvana
* "Message in a Bottle" - The Police
* "You Really Got Me" - Van Halen
* "Carry On Wayward Son" - Kansas
* "War Pigs" - Black Sabbath
* "Cherry Pie" - Warrant
* "Sweet Child O'Mine" - Guns N' Roses
* "Killing in the Name" - Rage Against the Machine
* "John the Fisherman" - Primus
* "Freya" - The Sword
* "Last Child" - Aerosmith
* "Crazy on You" - Heart
* "Rock This Town" - Stray Cats
* "Jessica" - The Allman Brothers Band
* "Psychobilly Freakout" - The Reverend Horton Heat
* "YYZ" - Rush
* "Beast and the Harlot" - Avenged Sevenfold
* "Misirlou" - Dick Dale
* "Hangar 18" - Megadeth
* "Gemini" - Brian Kahanek
* "Less Talk More Rokk" - Freezepop
* "Jordan" - Buckethead (although I never actually beat it ;_;)
* "Six" - All That Remains
* "Soy Bomb" - Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives
* "Thunderhorse" - Dethklok
* "Trogdor" - Strong Bad

I'd play Freebird more often, but it's too dang long. :P

[Bahamut]

No, it warrants saying that you couldn't stand a lot of the songs. :P If you had done that in the first place instead of flamebaiting, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

But since you asked, here's the songs I play through on a regular basis:

"More Than a Feeling" - Boston
"Take Me Out" - Franz Ferdinand
"Sharp Dressed Man" - ZZ Top
"Killer Queen" - Queen
"Symphony of Destruction" - Megadeth
"Ziggy Stardust" - David Bowie
"Fat Lip" - Sum 41
"Cochise" - Audioslave
"Spanish Castle Magic" - Jimi Hendrix
"Higher Ground" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
"No One Knows" - Queens of the Stone Age
"Crossroads" - Cream
"Godzilla" - Blue Öyster Cult
"Texas Flood" - Stevie Ray Vaughan
"Frankenstein" - The Edgar Winter Group
"Cowboys from Hell" - Pantera
"Bark at the Moon" - Ozzy Osbourne
"Cheat on the Church" - Graveyard BBQ
"Even Rats" - The Slip
"Get Ready 2 Rokk" - Freezepop
"Cavemen Rejoice" - The Bags
"All of This" - Shaimus
"The Breaking Wheel" - Artillery

Hardly a handful, and that's just from the first game. I actually like most of the other songs, but these are my favorites. And some of them I left off because I actually played them way too much (i.e. all of tier 1).


Well, I can't really say about GH 2 myself (my copy of the 360 one comes in today actually), but I was just reiterating what my other friends have said, and they play both games quite a bit (although 2 more because they made it quite harder than the first one).

But about 1, the only ones I'd keep from that list is the Boston, Queen, Megadeth, Hendrix, Blue Oyster Cult, Vaughan, Edgar Winter Group, Pantera, Ozzy Osbourne, Graveyard BBQ, and Freezepop songs, and also the Judas Priest song. The others got boring fast or just didn't have enjoyable patterns to match the song itself - my friends who have the game are all in agreement, and most don't even really talk to each other (of those who have the games of course). But seeing those songs, that's only 12 of 40 songs? I'm not even saying my thoughts of those songs I kept, because I don't think highly of a few of them, but I enjoy playing them, just as I enjoyed playing Elite Beat Agents.

[RealFolkBlues]

Can't say I didn't expect this, though I am happy they decided to go for all current-gen consoles on this one. As for drum games that were successful translations of drumming, I might point out Donkey Konga and Taiko Drum Master. Both simplifications of the actual musical instruments, obviously, but then again, so are the guitar controllers.

As for the song list, they're probably going to have to branch either farther into pop then they have thus far gone, since the focus of these games isn't exclusively the guitars. We'll see.


Having said all that with some constraint, this is fucking awesome. I have a chubby.

[Fire in the Hole]

Can't say I didn't expect this, though I am happy they decided to go for all current-gen consoles on this one.

ctrl-f "Wii"

No matches found?

[Trenthian]

game confirmed legit.

Ill drum or guitar for anyone who wants to form an OCR Rockband.

This is the only thing in teh world that would gt me to spend money on a xbox 360. Even THIS game couldnt make me shell out for a P Shit 3


edit:
Vig, Zircon, I and Star Salzman shuold form a super group.

[JoeFu]

ctrl-f "Wii"

No matches found?


I guess your control+F is broken.

The price of this game is going to be ridiculous with all the peripherals...

Also, though that article only said PS3 and 360, IGN says that the harmonix ceo writes it will "absolutely be on wii". (http://wii.ign.com/articles/777/777553p1.html)

[Trenthian]

oh, if its on wii, I dont need a 360. JOY

[wormguy]

This game had better be fucking incredible.

[Fire in the Hole]

I guess your control+F is broken.

You expect people to read anything on the first pages other than the OP? :roll:

[RealFolkBlues]

You expect people to read anything on the first pages other than the OP? :roll:

Enough not to make snide posts, I guess. Meh. This subdiscussion is silly.

A friend brought up a point; playing over the intarwebs means little kids on vocals. Obviously, that is lame. So, hmmm.

[Bahamut]

Enough not to make snide posts, I guess. Meh. This subdiscussion is silly.

A friend brought up a point; playing over the intarwebs means little kids on vocals. Obviously, that is lame. So, hmmm.

Just play with friends? That's what I'd probably do.

[RealFolkBlues]

Just play with friends? That's what I'd probably do.

That's pretty much what I said. Also, if they have lobby chat, which they should, just ask who will do vocals. If some little kid swears up and down he does the world's best Ozzy Osbourne imitation, leave and find another game.

[Bahamut]

That's pretty much what I said. Also, if they have lobby chat, which they should, just ask who will do vocals. If some little kid swears up and down he does the world's best Ozzy Osbourne imitation, leave and find another game.

That makes me happy that I have XBox Live - you talk via mic so you'd hear what the guy sounds like before he actually starts singing.

[AMT]

Wow, I'm surprised so many people here are excited for this, given the fact that this is a music based community. Guitar Hero was definitely a fun game, but assuming a similar price range for the rest of the instruments, and the task of finding other people to play with, it seems like it would be so much more productive to just start an actual band. The songs already take time to practice, and I'd rather spend the time practicing playing the real song instead of a simplified version of it on a plastic instrument. Anyone else feel the same way?

[sephfire]

The practice you have to put into these games is nothing remotely close to amount of time and dedication you'd have to put into mastering a real instrument (and nowhere near as expensive as trying to equip and run a decent band). These games allow even the casual music lover to get a taste of the thrill of nailing a huge solo in front of a cheering crowd. Even most start-up bands don't ever get to experience that.

[Citris]

The practice you have to put into these games is nothing remotely close to amount of time and dedication you'd have to put into mastering a real instrument (and nowhere near as expensive as trying to equip and run a decent band). These games allow even the casual music lover to get a taste of the thrill of nailing a huge solo in front of a cheering crowd. Even most start-up bands don't ever get to experience that.

Exactly. I am very excited to see where this game goes.

[RealFolkBlues]

Well put, sephfire. Combine this with just a little sense of the theatrics (playing behind your head, behind your back, etc.) and you can be fairly impressive to a lot of folks in a fraction of the time it would take to not look like a jackass with a real instrument.

Also, distance is lame. Sure, we could trade tracks across the intarweb and so on, but ultimately we would pretty much have to meet up, and that can get tricky. So, this seems like a good alternative for a lot of folks.

[Domukaz]

Still doesn't beat making your own music.

[sephfire]

Still doesn't beat making your own music.

It often comes veeeeeery close. And during those writer's-block days, it's twice as good.