Rant: Unlockable Content

[DerekS]

I am really getting sick of purchasing games and only having access to 1/2 the available content (or less) without spending a lot of time "unlocking" it through endless career modes.

This is what killed my interest early on GH2 and on GH3.

Why do game companies always meter out the content like this? I paid for 100% of the game, and I want access to all 100% songs from day one.

Does this (very common) game design decision irritate anyone else? Is there a reason for it?

[phulcrum1984]

Every game is like this.

There is a cheat for GH that unlocks all songs.

There is also one for RB that unlocks all songs but you won't be able to save your game until you restart your console.

[thegame696911]

Geez that's a part of games that i love........ working you're way up slowly to get everything unlocked. Part of the challenge.

[jq715861]

I'm sorry, have I missed something? Don't games usually have you work yourself from one level to the next in order to unlock stuff? It wouldn't be much fun to buy a game and have the last level unlocked.

[cutmaclass]

Yeah seriously. Why do we pay for games that we have to beat OURSELVES?!

When I buy a game, I expect it to be completed for me! What kind of satisfaction do you guys get from actually playing through games? What a waste of money....

[LeShrimp]

I hate playing my games level by level, experiencing the content in a timely, paced manner.

When I buy a game, I don't care what's going on with it, I want to pick what level I start the game in, and, hell, I want to play all of them at once. At the same time.

Also, I want to start out at max level, all classes multiclassed, with every item in my inventory, ready for use, when I play a new RPG. And I want the story and background streamed immediately and directly into my brain.


And the next time I buy food, I don't want to spend any time cooking it, or, hell, why waste my time chewing? I want it teleported immediately into my stomach. And then, why waste time digesting? Get that out of me, right now.

[MagicDrop]

Why do people like you waste our time. You buy a game you KNOW is going to have unlockable content. You know you are going to have to play through career modes and such. I guess all mario and sonic games should start on the last board. You need to keep your rants to yourself till you have one that makes sence.

[phulcrum1984]

I hate playing my games level by level, experiencing the content in a timely, paced manner.

When I buy a game, I don't care what's going on with it, I want to pick what level I start the game in, and, hell, I want to play all of them at once. At the same time.

Also, I want to start out at max level, all classes multiclassed, with every item in my inventory, ready for use, when I play a new RPG. And I want the story and background streamed immediately and directly into my brain.


And the next time I buy food, I don't want to spend any time cooking it, or, hell, why waste my time chewing? I want it teleported immediately into my stomach. And then, why waste time digesting? Get that out of me, right now.

LOL!

Best laugh I've had all day.

[Grayshadow]

Most games wouldn't be as fun for normal people if it didn't have unlockable content, sorry.

[_GABO_]

You hate working to get a huge payoff?


So you'd prefer you did nothing, and got everything?
Well if it was that way, there'd be no fun for anyone who wanted a challenge, namely everyone else who bought the game that isn't whiny and impatient, seemingly, like yourself.

[MagicDrop]

He also stated the other games that are exactly like this had unlockable content and he didn't like it but he thought this would be different? Good job I am sure all of the bands in the game bought insturments and the next day were out on tour at the Garden?

[cmg4894]

I want to jack a game directly into my brain. Download too much and overload and get a nose bleed. Over max capacity.

[MacGrad]

I hate playing my games level by level, experiencing the content in a timely, paced manner.

When I buy a game, I don't care what's going on with it, I want to pick what level I start the game in, and, hell, I want to play all of them at once. At the same time.

Also, I want to start out at max level, all classes multiclassed, with every item in my inventory, ready for use, when I play a new RPG. And I want the story and background streamed immediately and directly into my brain.


And the next time I buy food, I don't want to spend any time cooking it, or, hell, why waste my time chewing? I want it teleported immediately into my stomach. And then, why waste time digesting? Get that out of me, right now.

And who wants to wait until they're 65 to be retired? I want my old age pension NOW!

[blue_dragonzero]

QFT OP. Too many times have I played a War Game where I fight the Nazis. I mean why can't I start at the ending where they surrender? That way I don't have to do any fighting.

[i5hawn]

i feel your pain. i think for a lot of us that post on these forums, we're probably either on expert on at the least hard in terms of guitar playing via the game so its a bit tedious to have only those first few songs available.

one on hand, you could always pick up one of the other instruments and play thru to unlcok the content. the setlist is designed to take you from beginner to hard. always has been.

on the other, unlock all means no saving for j00

[DerekS]

Hilarious replies, but I still think my point is valid...for a music game.

On a music game with X number of tracks, I want to be able to select from any of them right off the bat.

I have had the some irritation with every music game I've ever purchased. In some cases I've never managed to unlock all the songs, and that REALLY bugs me. I paid full price for the game, and if my buddies come over I want to be able to choose from any of the songs in the catalog.

Is there a FAQ maybe for getting 100% of the songs unlocked in the minimum amount of time? (Not using the cheat, that disables saving so I don't want to use it.)

[phulcrum1984]

Here is how you unlock everything fast and easy. Pick an instrament and play through the solo career on easy. BOOM! Done.

[DerekS]

With one instrument, or does it require doing it with every instrument?

[phulcrum1984]

Only with one.

[_GABO_]

With one instrument, or does it require doing it with every instrument?

Every instrument...



...at the same time!

Edit: Just one instrument.

[gsu_paintballer]

Only one instrument

[lusk1993]

I hate playing my games level by level, experiencing the content in a timely, paced manner.

When I buy a game, I don't care what's going on with it, I want to pick what level I start the game in, and, hell, I want to play all of them at once. At the same time.

Also, I want to start out at max level, all classes multiclassed, with every item in my inventory, ready for use, when I play a new RPG. And I want the story and background streamed immediately and directly into my brain.


And the next time I buy food, I don't want to spend any time cooking it, or, hell, why waste my time chewing? I want it teleported immediately into my stomach. And then, why waste time digesting? Get that out of me, right now.

rofl awesome

[Weeksy]

Yeah - I was disappointed that I couldn't just skip through 15 hours of "Bioshock" and get right to the end of it.:rolleyes:

I remember lining up for "The Empire Strikes Back" back in the early 80's and instead of watching it, I just asked people leaving the cinema to tell me what happened at the end instead.

[shadus]

I am really getting sick of purchasing games and only having access to 1/2 the available content (or less) without spending a lot of time "unlocking" it through endless career modes.

This is what killed my interest early on GH2 and on GH3.

Why do game companies always meter out the content like this? I paid for 100% of the game, and I want access to all 100% songs from day one.

Does this (very common) game design decision irritate anyone else? Is there a reason for it?

I would say GH is a bit overly locked up from the start, but RB feels about right, I can play quite a few songs from the start with quick play on any instrument and even more if i download a little content. Feels fine to me... *shrug*

[Rook_x51]

I hate playing my games level by level, experiencing the content in a timely, paced manner.

When I buy a game, I don't care what's going on with it, I want to pick what level I start the game in, and, hell, I want to play all of them at once. At the same time.

Also, I want to start out at max level, all classes multiclassed, with every item in my inventory, ready for use, when I play a new RPG. And I want the story and background streamed immediately and directly into my brain.


And the next time I buy food, I don't want to spend any time cooking it, or, hell, why waste my time chewing? I want it teleported immediately into my stomach. And then, why waste time digesting? Get that out of me, right now.

Seriously, I've heard some funny things on this board but you win. Your last paragraph shows that you have some serious wit. Well done

*slow golf clap*

Well done.

[Frederf]

When you select quick play, doesn't have all the songs and pretty much everything else unlocked for you?

[Mortally]

I hate playing my games level by level, experiencing the content in a timely, paced manner.

When I buy a game, I don't care what's going on with it, I want to pick what level I start the game in, and, hell, I want to play all of them at once. At the same time.

Also, I want to start out at max level, all classes multiclassed, with every item in my inventory, ready for use, when I play a new RPG. And I want the story and background streamed immediately and directly into my brain.


And the next time I buy food, I don't want to spend any time cooking it, or, hell, why waste my time chewing? I want it teleported immediately into my stomach. And then, why waste time digesting? Get that out of me, right now.

/threadwinner

[DerekS]

Thanks for the replies. :)

I guess my game time (and skillz) are limited compared to many of the folks here.

[shadus]

When you select quick play, doesn't have all the songs and pretty much everything else unlocked for you?

I don't think the bonus tracks or a few others are included by default but I could be wrong, I didn't pay enough attention up front to be sure. *blush* I jumped right in and went through about 15-20 songs first thing with guitar and then my wife did the same with the singing. Suppose I could still check on drums maybe?

[Eman311]

I am really getting sick of purchasing games and only having access to 1/2 the available content (or less) without spending a lot of time "unlocking" it through endless career modes.

This is what killed my interest early on GH2 and on GH3.

Why do game companies always meter out the content like this? I paid for 100% of the game, and I want access to all 100% songs from day one.

Does this (very common) game design decision irritate anyone else? Is there a reason for it?

well that seems like a complete waste. i like having to get progessively better to beat the game and get all the songs.

[FultonPub]

I am really getting sick of purchasing games and only having access to 1/2 the available content (or less) without spending a lot of time "unlocking" it through endless career modes.

This is what killed my interest early on GH2 and on GH3.

Why do game companies always meter out the content like this? I paid for 100% of the game, and I want access to all 100% songs from day one.

Does this (very common) game design decision irritate anyone else? Is there a reason for it?

You are a moron.

[Krooked]

Wow... just wow, this is the most disappointing thread I have seen in awhile, For real go take a nap or something, this is nothing new, utilized in almost every game... for a reason, if your not good enough to get it you won't... unless your a cheater.

[stickshady2007]

unlocking the songs is fun but ya I paid to play all venues not kill myself trying to play expert on bwt

[Hanover]

ROTFLMAO!!!



And the next time I buy food, I don't want to spend any time cooking it, or, hell, why waste my time chewing? I want it teleported immediately into my stomach. And then, why waste time digesting? Get that out of me, right now.

[DerekS]

So I've completed the career on easy AND on medium. I still don't have access to all of the songs.

Man I hate this crap.

I don't consider it "fun" to suffer through songs I dislike just to get the "privilege" of playing the ones that I do like.

Music games are engines, not quests.

[SmokaCola]

Anyone that posts they want the game completely unlocked from day one is one lazy ass.

[DerekS]

SmokaCola,

Look...it's a music game. That means all I want to do with it is play the songs that I like, with my friends.

I could care less about career modes or "winning."

Would I want Bioshock unlocked from day one? Obviously not.

[eVan_Diesel]

Waaaaaaah.

[DesiredFX]

I understand the issue, here, but for most people part of the fun of the games is stepping through the songs one at a time and discovering what each new tier opens up for you.

The major issue in Rock Band is that it's a multiplayer party game, and if you want to have a bunch of people over, it's kind of a pain to have to unlock every song before you can play as a group on quickplay.

Before I managed to get the bulk of the songs unlocked, I kept running into people online who had songs that I didn't have access to yet, and when I left online quickplay, they still weren't unlocked (of course). I can see where someone would find this frustrating.

[toefer]

I remember when I got NES as a kid, I hated having to start as little Mario. Why couldn't I start as fire-power Mario? My parents paid good money, and I wanted to shoot people with fireballs.

[jaredstokes]

I would like to be able to play all the songs. Having to invest a great deal of time just to play one song I really like seems a bit harsh to me. How do I unlock all the songs in Rockband

[Frederf]

I don't think the bonus tracks or a few others are included by default but I could be wrong, I didn't pay enough attention up front to be sure. *blush* I jumped right in and went through about 15-20 songs first thing with guitar and then my wife did the same with the singing. Suppose I could still check on drums maybe?

Yeah me neither. I think I can run a few tests though. Quick Play should have everything unlocked straight from the beginning, play any song at any venue with any character. Anything less is uncivilized.

[DesiredFX]

But that's the way it's always been on Quickplay in the Harmonix-created GH games: you have to unlock/buy the songs in a career mode before you can Quickplay them.

And in RB the Bonus songs have to be unlocked by doing the Bonus Tour part of the Solo tour--it's in Rio de Janeiro.

I agree, though, that for Band Quickplay at least, there needs to be a way to unlock all songs, though only for use in that mode.

[phulcrum1984]

Are you sure you played EVERY song in solo career? Cause I bet if you're still missing some you didn't.

And there is a way to unlock all songs. There's a cheat floating around somewhere that unlocks them all but you won't be able to save your game.

So quit QQing and play through career or use the cheat every time your friends come over. KTHX.

[SpootCaz]

Wow, jut wow. I lurk around these forums a lot, and for the for the most part the RB community seems like a pretty good natured one. Which is why I am surprised by the overwhelming volume of condescending a-holes in this thread.

Like he said, this is a friggin music game. An while none of us, including the OP would like to be teleported to the end of a game with a traditional level structure, THIS IS A FRIGGIN MUSIC GAME. He just wants to play the music he wants, and sought a little help to do that and instead must put up with a barrage of negativity from a bunch of people who think they are clever because they can put someone down who needs help. And then I watch as he tries to sheepishly explain himself in posts that seem to have gone largely ignored. BS.

Sorry OP, I suppose that most people around here are just like most gamers on the internet. In terms of unlocking all the songs, if you went through the solo career on medium the you should have mostly everything. Like a couple of people said you have to do a separate section for bonus songs. And using the cheat won't allow you to save, so you would have to enter it each time you turned it on. Sorry we couldn't provide more help.

I doubt this post, for the few who will likely read it through, will go over well. Feel free to flame me too, though I doubt i'll be back to check the responses. I just had to get all that off my chest.

[Frederf]

But that's the way it's always been on Quickplay in the Harmonix-created GH games: you have to unlock/buy the songs in a career mode before you can Quickplay them.

And in RB the Bonus songs have to be unlocked by doing the Bonus Tour part of the Solo tour--it's in Rio de Janeiro.

I agree, though, that for Band Quickplay at least, there needs to be a way to unlock all songs, though only for use in that mode.

I see this as not a problem with Quickplay per se, but rather exposing that Quickplay mode is a poor substitute for a Partyplay mode. If someone wanted to only play the game in quickplay with random friends without having to go through any solo or career campaign unlock super challenge happy fun time (say people who had a rock band party on opening day), the game should cater to that.

[Quinarvy]

Music games are engines, not quests.

Ye must first playeth through the damned song "Celebrity Skin" to proveth ye are brave enough to raise thine Holy Guitar and shred the likes of Flirtin' With Disaster, Green Grass and High Tides, and so on and so forth.

Do you accept this quest?

[DerekS]

I think I've finally got them all unlocked. It was not fun, however...it was a chore.

Anyway, it's done.

Harmonix, please consider some other incentive for career mode -other- than hiding the songlist away.

Music is subjective. It's not fun to play songs you dislike. When you can't get to the songs you like before you play the songs you don't, it sucks.

Thanks for all the interesting repllies on this thread - even from the people who disagree with me. :)

[Sayburr]

I have to agree with the unlocking of songs. I have been working through the game trying to get things unlocked before New Years when my wife and I are having a gathering at the house. We are having about 12 couples over and would like to have all of the songs available to play, but... well, to be honest, I am just not good enough, nor have the time to get good enough, to open all of the songs. I have to get Enter Sandman unlocked because several of the people are Virgina Tech alumni and they would LOVE to be able to play this song since VT plays it as the football team comes on the field. But, I am old and work 60 hours a week, then have the grandkids (ages 1 and 3) on most of the weekends... so I just don't have the time... or talent, to get where I need to get. Anyway, its still a great game and playing with four people at once is a true experence. Well, I still have 20 days to try and find time to get it unlocked, I am hopeing I can unlock it on Medium because there is no way in He77 I will be able to play on Hard or Expert.

Maybe I can find the Cheat to open the songs up for the night...

[espher]

Welcome to the Entitlement Generation.

[Sayburr]

Welcome to the Entitlement Generation.

Thanks! Now I feel younger. Wonder if I can get my mom to do my work, clean my house, cook my meals, so I will have more time to play GH...

[Wildman13]

i am sorry but you guys are all idiots he is talking about downloadable content that you have to pay for not working to get through the game. I must say that paying for downloadable content is kind of bogus but its the way they make there money and thats how they pay for the songs that they recreate for the game.;)

[Ultrace]

To unlock songs for quick play, you don't have to beat them on any difficulty above Easy--and they should be unlockable by playing any instrument. Play guitar through on easy to unlock the necessary songs and then everyone should be able to select any song, any instrument, any difficulty on quick play.

[Wildman13]

ya you are dumb the whole point of this thread was to talk about paying for downloadable content not unlocking all songs so that whole rant was pointless. so just like everyother person on this thread you have failed to comprehend what he was tryin to communicate so con-grad-u-fuking-lations

[Wildman13]

jhgjgkfgfgafvafvaf

[dfjdejulio]

I would like to be able to play all the songs. Having to invest a great deal of time just to play one song I really like seems a bit harsh to me. How do I unlock all the songs in Rockband
At the "start" screen: red, yellow, blue, red, red, blue, blue, red, yellow, blue.

You don't need to strum. On a guitar you can just tap the frets. Or you can use a regular controller. We do this at work when we just want to jam together sometimes.

[Sayburr]

At the "start" screen: red, yellow, blue, red, red, blue, blue, red, yellow, blue.

You don't need to strum. On a guitar you can just tap the frets. Or you can use a regular controller. We do this at work when we just want to jam together sometimes.

Great! Thanks, I will try this tonight!

[Sayburr]

To unlock songs for quick play, you don't have to beat them on any difficulty above Easy--and they should be unlockable by playing any instrument. Play guitar through on easy to unlock the necessary songs and then everyone should be able to select any song, any instrument, any difficulty on quick play.


Easy didn't unlock everything. I did beat the game on easy, but no Enter Sandman. That is why I am trying it on medium now...

[Kamakazi]

You have to play through at least medium to unlock all of the songs. Easy only does some.

[ShadowOfEden]

I am really getting sick of purchasing games and only having access to 1/2 the available content (or less) without spending a lot of time "unlocking" it through endless career modes.

This is what killed my interest early on GH2 and on GH3.

Why do game companies always meter out the content like this? I paid for 100% of the game, and I want access to all 100% songs from day one.

Does this (very common) game design decision irritate anyone else? Is there a reason for it?

You said it. It's a game. Games have always been like that. You buy a racing game, at first, you often have like 5 tracks and 3 cars, you must play to have access to more songs. Hey, I paid the full price, why can't I play the last track from the start! Hey! I paid the full price for Final Fantasy XII, why can't I go to the last boss directly?

Beside, unlocking things in GH3 and RB is so fast. In like 2 hours on easy, you can unlock every songs in GH3 to play them in free mode.

[Sayburr]

ya you are dumb the whole point of this thread was to talk about paying for downloadable content not unlocking all songs so that whole rant was pointless. so just like everyother person on this thread you have failed to comprehend what he was tryin to communicate so con-grad-u-fuking-lations


Uhhhh, first post of thread was:


I am really getting sick of purchasing games and only having access to 1/2 the available content (or less) without spending a lot of time "unlocking" it through endless career modes.

But thanks for the congratulations, but you might want to take reading comprehension in school...

[dfjdejulio]

But thanks for the congratulations, but you might want to take reading comprehension in school...
Reminds me, might we want to get the song list from "Hooked on Phonics" into Rock Band?

[Rishara]

While I don't necessarily mind the unlocking aspect of the game (actually it's kind of fun), I don't think you should be restricted by what level difficulty you are capable of playing. You should be able to access the entire game on easy if you want. Let's face it, some people will never be capable of playing above the easier difficulty levels, especially kids.

[Ardius]

ya you are dumb the whole point of this thread was to talk about paying for downloadable content not unlocking all songs so that whole rant was pointless. so just like everyother person on this thread you have failed to comprehend what he was tryin to communicate so con-grad-u-fuking-lations

:rolleyes:

Anyway, at the OP, its all well and good having you favourite songs unlocked from the start.......but then wheres the encouragement to challenge yourself? Surely this is something that would make you want to attempt to play the game more and more to try and unlock your all time fave song or whatever?
But I dont this is your point at all, I think the debate here is whether the game should be designed purely for the casual gamer or should still have some element of difficulty in it.

Yes, its a music GAME, as much as you want it to take no effort at all, others want a challenge. How do we please both parties? They already have. Its called easy difficulty...and if thats too challenging, use the cheats.

I'm not attempting to annoy you or be elitist, I am however sick of people whining about games being "too hard" or being annoyed by simple game mechanics that have been every single video game ever made (including music games). IMO, games in general have been steadily getting easier and easier.......its getting boring and seeing people complain about difficulty now is eye-rolling worthy. Dont believe me? Go back and play the old platform games from each generation of consoles and you easily see a steady trend of it getting easier and easier, although this can be attributed to easier control systems or better designed games, there is definitely an element of less effort put into challenging the player and more into rewarding them for less.

Besides, if all the songs were unlocked at the start, you arent going to play any of your "hated" or unknown songs....even though you may turn out to enjoy them........isnt this Harmonix's aim with these games in the first place? To introduce people to music they may never heard of before..........forcing you to play through all the songs at least once helps this cause. You are also effectively gaining more value for money because you spend more time enjoying the game (supposedly, but obviously, some people cant enjoy playing this game....).

In fact, I really dont see what the problem is. Surely you enjoy playing the game? So logic surely dictates that you would enjoy playing and unlocking stuff as a result? Bah! You people confudle me!

[Sayburr]

:rolleyes:
In fact, I really dont see what the problem is. Surely you enjoy playing the game? So logic surely dictates that you would enjoy playing and unlocking stuff as a result? Bah! You
people confudle me!

Wonderful points! It is a game and part of it being a game is for the rewards of achievement. So, getting songs unlocked as you proceed is great. But, shouldn't that be part of the solo tour or band tour and not part of the quickplay aspect? In both of the tours you have to play the songs on the list to open up more songs or other cities, there is your reward for achievement. Why do the songs have to be locked if you aren't playing the game, but just "glorified air guitar jammin'" with friends?

I mean, why have a cheat that opens all songs in quickplay but disables all saves, why not just open it up without the need for the cheat? Shrug... well, just as long as I can have the game opened for the party I am willing to try and better myself to open the songs up without the cheat. Might take me a couple of years, but I plan on slugging it out.

[ShadowOfEden]

Let's face it, some people will never be capable of playing above the easier difficulty levels, especially kids.

Well, if a kid couldn't beat the boss of the third world, he would never see the fourth world. It has always been like that. In Rock Band, you can move on even there's a song that you can't play. You'll just fail it and move on, unlike in GH where you'll probably get stuck there for a while. You can still play most songs at easy, so if you really can't play on normal, you won't be missing that much. Not having a song is not like having unlocked a certain track in a racing game. You can still enjoy the game with the other tracks, you just won't be enjoying that specific track.

[ManOwaR]

Since Super Mario Brothers people recognized you have to win board 1-1 to get to board 9-3, at lease I recognized it.

I'm a detective of the video game world..

[ShadowOfEden]

Why do the songs have to be locked if you aren't playing the game, but just "glorified air guitar jammin'" with friends?


You are still playing the very same game, just in a different mode. Like in my example of a racing game. In free mode, you have only access to the tracks that are in the tournaments that are available. So when you first boot the game, you have very little tracks even in free mode.

Free mode is still Rock Band, it just doesn't matter how much you score. It doesn't take long to unlock songs. Easy songs can be unlocked in 2 hours. After that, you could even start medium songs by doing like I was doing on my first day and just ignoring the fourth button. You can survive most of the songs by playing 3/4 of the notes. Sure you won't get lots of stars and fans, but if you only want to unlock something, it works.

[Sayburr]

You are still playing the very same game, just in a different mode. Free mode is still Rock Band, it just doesn't matter how much you score. It doesn't take long to unlock songs.

Another great point, no matter what mode, its still the game. Games are meant be challenge you... While I would love to be able to just pick it up and "Jam" I guess I would not be working on the game nearly as hard if the Free Mode had all the songs already open. OK, points well taken and thanks for the great discussion.




Easy songs can be unlocked in 2 hours. After that, you could even start medium songs by doing like I was doing on my first day and just ignoring the fourth button. You can survive most of the songs by playing 3/4 of the notes. Sure you won't get lots of stars and fans, but if you only want to unlock something, it works.

Had not thought of that... might try it tonight if my pride will let me get 3 stars or less :)

[dfjdejulio]

I'm not attempting to annoy you or be elitist, I am however sick of people whining about games being "too hard" or being annoyed by simple game mechanics that have been every single video game ever made (including music games).
You shouldn't be sick of that. It's reasonable. People are different.

Some people want to play with it as a game and be challenged. Some people want to play with it as a toy and just mess around. Neither is "wrong".

Best bet is to have one mode where it's a game, and you have to unlock things, and you progress, et cetera, et cetera, and a second mode where it's a toy, and you don't have to unlock anything, but you also can't get achievements or post to leaderboards or anything -- it's just a toy.

Rock Band does have both modes. Hurrah! "Red, yellow, blue, red, red, blue, blue, red, yellow, blue" at the start screen turns on "toy" mode.

[Sayburr]

Rock Band does have both modes. Hurrah! "Red, yellow, blue, red, red, blue, blue, red, yellow, blue" at the start screen turns on "toy" mode.

Right, as long as the cheat is available AND it doesn't allow saves I am all for it. What I hate is a cheat that lets you overcome someone who really achieves something on their own. But, that cheat sounds just right.

[ColorOfSakura]

The only thing I dislike about the unlockables in Rock Band is simply the fact that the cash you earn doesn't carry on to any and all characters you create on that game. Like, I'm not the guitarist in the band my friends and I set up, but I created a guitarist simply for quickplay (because I like messing with the character models), and couldn't use the cash that any of my other rockers had earned.

Also, unlocked items such as clothing are only purchased for the characters you buy them for (or for your band). I don't want to have to continually buy new clothes for different characters once I've already purchased it.

I understand the asthetic they were going for, but it becomes tedious when trying to customize extra characters.

[KingNuclear]

"Also, I want to start out at max level, all classes multiclassed, with every item in my inventory, ready for use, when I play a new RPG. And I want the story and background streamed immediately and directly into my brain."


This seriously is really funny lol, I can imagine actually seeing this in my head.

[Ultrace]

You have to play through at least medium to unlock all of the songs. Easy only does some.
I was referring to solo tour, not BWT. Are not all songs available on Easy in the solo mode? I thought RB had separated itself from that old GH mentality.

[ChaosElement]

I hate playing my games level by level, experiencing the content in a timely, paced manner.

When I buy a game, I don't care what's going on with it, I want to pick what level I start the game in, and, hell, I want to play all of them at once. At the same time.

Also, I want to start out at max level, all classes multiclassed, with every item in my inventory, ready for use, when I play a new RPG. And I want the story and background streamed immediately and directly into my brain.


And the next time I buy food, I don't want to spend any time cooking it, or, hell, why waste my time chewing? I want it teleported immediately into my stomach. And then, why waste time digesting? Get that out of me, right now.

Best post ever LOL

[LongDarkBlues]

Thanks for the replies. :)
I guess my game time (and skillz) are limited compared to many of the folks here.
Christ - on Easy guitar you can unlock almost everything in 2 hours.

[Fatal1ty_Reaper]

Wow... Just wow... "I want to buy a game but I dont want to actually play it, I just want everything right away" You sir, are ignorant.

[Ardius]

You shouldn't be sick of that. It's reasonable. People are different.

Some people want to play with it as a game and be challenged. Some people want to play with it as a toy and just mess around. Neither is "wrong".

Best bet is to have one mode where it's a game, and you have to unlock things, and you progress, et cetera, et cetera, and a second mode where it's a toy, and you don't have to unlock anything, but you also can't get achievements or post to leaderboards or anything -- it's just a toy.

Rock Band does have both modes. Hurrah! "Red, yellow, blue, red, red, blue, blue, red, yellow, blue" at the start screen turns on "toy" mode.

Perhaps, but then we are questioning the very definition of "game".

This kind of mentality doesnt achieve anything either, because i can just turn around and say "well, its reasonable for me to be sick of something I find annoying." Like you say, people are different....but what has that got to do with the debate at hand? You may as well say "oh well, thats life". A pointless point, so to speak.

At the very basics, Im merely saying that Rock Band is a game, approaching it as anything else is a bit silly. If we need an example, its like approaching a game of monopoly and saying "oh, but I should have all the properties, because its too hard trying to purhase them normally" and then saying its a fair way to play the game because you are viewing it as a "toy". Or, to take what the OP said, its like claiming your "favourite property" before the game has started because you enjoy that property for what ever reason and should not have to go through any effort to obtain it.

Perhaps Im being obscure with my definition of "game". Lets say that Rock Band is a certain type of game which falls under the definition of :

a competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators.

However, you can have a game which is not testing skill but is purely for amusement. I cannot think of any computer/video game which does not require some kind of skill.

[SlivedCupWinner]

That's it!

I'm starting a GH/RB power leveling service.

If you're sick of playing to unlock it all yourselves, pm me in game!

[dfjdejulio]

However, you can have a game which is not testing skill but is purely for amusement. I cannot think of any computer/video game which does not require some kind of skill.
Plenty of games have modes that are like that, though.

For example, the original "Toejam & Earl" had a mode where the characters were on screen and hitting the buttons and the d-pad just made them dance and played samples back. It was great for letting little kids feel like they were playing a game. I seem to recall "The Incredible Machine" having a mode where you could just set up a machine and play with it without worrying about a puzzle. There are other examples. Heck, that's just about what "Second Life" is in its entirety.

It's like taking out a Monopoly set and playing with the pieces and money as toys, instead of playing it as a game.

Doesn't hurt anyone if modes like this are included in games, as long as it's done in a way that doesn't interfere with people who are playing 'em as games. And if it can help drive up sales, I say "do it!". (And Harmonix did: RYBRRBBRYB.)

[mastergamer1231]

*guy walks in store*

"Do you have any game that has everything unlocked for you" he says
Clerk: "here you go."
Guy: "Dora the Explorer!"

[ChodTheWacko]

*guy walks in store*

"Do you have any game that has everything unlocked for you" he says
Clerk: "here you go."
Guy: "Dora the Explorer!"

No, no, no.

See, this is the problem. You guys have totally morphed the original question/request.

Here's a parallel example of what the guy is asking for:

When you play a game like FIFA soccer, the game doesn't lock 9/10s of the teams off the start. You are allowed to play as any team. Would that game be better if it worked like that? I don't think so.

As a casual game, or a party game, arbitrary locking is annoying, and unlock codes just make the game funner. You can play what you want, when you want. It's annoying to go to a friend's house and found out, 'man, you haven't unlcked what I want to play yet'.

[Frederf]

I honestly don't know what sub-par racing games people are playing but every worthwhile racing game I've played allows you access to every single track from the beginning for at least a paltry single race. Any game that would do otherwise I would diagnose with acute consolitis. Just sayin'.

Rock Band definitely has two play modes, the story-challenge progressions like BWT and Solo Tour and the sandbox Quickplay (and I guess Practice as well). Back in Guitar Hero unlocking songs for Quickplay was pretty much the only part that made the story-challenge mode any more special than Quickplay. That's no longer the case with Rock Band, as BWT is vastly better than Quickplay in more than just unlocked songs.

There was a distinct joy in unlocking songs in the Story-challenge mode of RB/GH that made them later available in Quickplay; I admit that. There was also a distinct amount of frustration when I didn't use the right character or save game in RB/GH (data left at home even) that made me curse it.

Overall I think both modes (story / sandbox) are best realized if they stick rather heartily to their own respective philosophies in order to please most people and cover the most ground. Let BWT / Solo be the bastion of the player who wants structure-challenge-story and let Quickplay be the bastion of the player that wants a sandbox experience.

Honestly if you are into the story part of the game at all, you'll quickly unlock all the songs in Rock Band Quickplay so there was no real point in locking them in the first place. However if you want a sandbox like experience without the time/effort of going on the unlock grind, then it would be real nice if the sandbox had all the sand in it from the beginning.

I don't understand what "It's a GAME!" is supposed to mean. How more useless could an argument get? Is that supposed to mean anything that's a game should be trivial? easy? not-serious? The nature of what a game is to the player varies so greatly that calling something a game in order to remind us of its character is vastly stupid.

[polishdog90]

I think the solution is pretty simple, Unlock Code. Honestly if you just want to jam with your friends then who cares if it saves or not. But since most people want it to save their high scores and stuff your going to have to unlock it like everyone else. You say that you just want to play, but that the unlock code isnt good enough because it doesn't let you save. If you want to save you have to earn it.

[ChodTheWacko]

Honestly if you are into the story part of the game at all, you'll quickly unlock all the songs in Rock Band Quickplay so there was no real point in locking them in the first place.


I think most of this thread doesn't really apply to Rock Band - it's not obnoxiously hard to unlock songs on Medium Guitar (or Medium drums if you get a friend to help you out with bass pedal :))

It morphed into a general 'unlockable content' argument though.

And as far as an excellent driving game that has locked content out the wazoo, look no farther than GT Legends.

- Frank

[borgasm]

At least it's not as bad as it used to be!

Did anybody on here unlock Spaztik in Amplitude? That took me, with off and on playing, over a year to unlock because you could only get it on insane difficulty and I hadn't played frequency when I started, so I began my amplitude career on medium and was terrible. :)

Gotta say though, when I finally beat Komputer Kontroller and realized I'd unlocked ANOTHER song I had no idea even existed, it was a pretty awesome feeling!

[filterban]

I honestly don't know what sub-par racing games people are playing but every worthwhile racing game I've played allows you access to every single track from the beginning for at least a paltry single race. Any game that would do otherwise I would diagnose with acute consolitis. Just sayin'.

Gran Turismo (all of them)?
Need For Speed (all of them)?
Motor Storm?
Burnout (all of them)?
Metropolis Street Racer/Project Gotham Racing (all of them)?

Seriously. 90% of all racing games - yes, even the great ones - lock tracks. And cars. And events.

I think, honestly, the biggest question I have for those people who are arguing that Rock Band should have all songs unlocked at the beginning -- have you ever played Green Grass and High Tides? Tom Sawyer? Run to the Hills? Good friggin luck if you haven't beaten most of the other songs on the same difficulty level.

Can you imagine being thrown into one of those in a random setlist in Band World Tour? Instant failure. Instant frustration with the game.

The songs are structured, generally speaking, so that you aren't thrown to the wolves like that. It's also structured to reward you for your actions in the game. Just like Gran Turismo doesn't put you in a Lamborghini right away (because you'd just crash into the wall and get annoyed), Rock Band doesn't let you play Green Grass and High Tides until you've earned enough stripes to be able to handle it.

[Frederf]

All the games you listed are rather crap racing games. Btw I'm pretty sure NFS: V had all tracks available at the beginning. I was surprised at GT:Legends, in fact suspicious that I was misunderstood sine I'm pretty sure you can access all tracks immediately in some of those.

Are you sure you mean the single race that's unconnected with any sort of story? It's kinda duh you can't jump to the last race in the championship.

Anyway, I'm not arguing from the position that I haven't unlocked these songs and can't. I'm more arguing from the objective standpoint that it's stupid. And most of the time the unlocks are a pain not because you haven't beat it yet, but rather that you have to beat it again. Right now if I want to play RB at a friend's house I have to lug around my HDD unit otherwise we don't have all the tracks available to us.

Make new characters? Lose your unlocks. Not have your save game files with you? Lose your unlocks. Etc, etc.

You can't expect people to use (and likely memorize) a 8 button press super secret cheat in order to access the content on a whim. That's just sadistic.

[SmileyGod]

U,U,D,D,L,R,L,R,B,A,Start


...sorry, I had to. =P

[too803]

I hate playing my games level by level, experiencing the content in a timely, paced manner.

When I buy a game, I don't care what's going on with it, I want to pick what level I start the game in, and, hell, I want to play all of them at once. At the same time.

Also, I want to start out at max level, all classes multiclassed, with every item in my inventory, ready for use, when I play a new RPG. And I want the story and background streamed immediately and directly into my brain.


And the next time I buy food, I don't want to spend any time cooking it, or, hell, why waste my time chewing? I want it teleported immediately into my stomach. And then, why waste time digesting? Get that out of me, right now.wow that is funny i needed a laugh and you wen a little over board

[shoombabi]

The issue with progression in music / rhythm games has never been and will never be "feeling like you're earning your way into new songs." RPGs, yeah, that works. Notsomuch with rhythm games.

The problem, as exemplified by any beginner starting out in Rock Band with a full set list (or an unlocked arcade machine of Dance Dance Revolution) will tend to pick either a song they know and like, or a song that sounds cool.

Guess what. Songs become popular and sound cool usually because there are some crazy solos and fills and everything else that mainstream america loves so much. What does this equate to? HARD NOTE CHARTS.

If you give people free access to everything, they will not gain the skills to actually play and have fun on the harder songs that they may like so much. Expert players already go into the game knowing that they're going to full clear it, and it's more of a "I want to see the note chart" more than anything with them. For anybody less than Expert, each song really helps in setting you up for the next tier. Take advantage of the learning, and stop trying to rush life. You'll regret it when you don't have the time later on.

[hazlettXx]

I love working and unlocking songs, adds to it.

[Hanover]

I think I know whats going on....

I see videos of grandmas, aunts, dads and mom's playing Rock Band. I hear complaints of people saying it's too hard and that they will never get out of medium and see the bigger venues in BWT. Complaints that there should be modes to allow their three year olds to play.

The fact that we get posts like this complaining about how things have been for a long time...kind of like complaining that the sky is blue.

My friends,

The Casual Gamers Have Invaded.

There was a debate a few months ago about whether casual gaming would kill the industry as we know it. This is evidence that the casual's are definitely clashing with what I thought was more of a hard-core gamer's game. If you look at how BWT is designed, it really is for the hard-core gamers. Did any of these people play guitar hero prior to rock band? Do they realize how things were before they decided to crash the party and try to rewrite the rules?

This sense of entitlement is one I've never really heard before this game. This idea that we bought the game, so that purchase somehow automatically hired Harmonix as our contractors to re-design the game around our brand new specifications and we better get what we want or else!

It's interesting...

[espher]

You can't expect people to use (and likely memorize) a 8 button press super secret cheat in order to access the content on a whim. That's just sadistic.

Is it really that tough?

I mean, I know enough stupid numbers that I use infrequently, let alone cheat codes.

Ignoring the Konami Code (and variants thereof), we've got Justin Bailey/NARPAS SWORD0 from Metroid, the Doom set (IDDQD, IDKFA, IDSPISPOPD), Rise of the Triad's "Hand of God" code, the DULLARD/ABACABB codes from Mortal Kombat, Bubble Bobble DDFFI, Zelda second quest...

Use 'em a few times and it should stick, or write it down and stick it in your Rock Band game case. :)

[Frederf]

Since when does Quickplay have to be hard? That's what BWT/ Solo Tour is for.

[cuddie]

Though i can agree that you should have to work through the game to unlock the content, i know where he is coming from. I was contemplating which music game i should get; GH3 or Rock Band, and the final thing that put me over to the Rock Band side was the song "Black Hole Sun", which currently resides at #2 on my itunes top 25 most played. So I buy the game, get home all excited to play my favorite song, turn it on and find out that it's not unlocked yet. I spent about 5 minutes scanning through the tracklist dumbfounded as to why the song i bought the game for basically was not available.

So I gave up and started playing solo guitar tour on medium (i have never played a guitar game in my life prior to this, unless you count 30 seconds of epic failure at a gamestop kiosk). It was a bit challenging, but i finally played to the tier where Black Hole Sun was located. The first time i tried playing it, on medium mind you, i barely failed. Had I not played through the easier songs, i would've been an epic failure.

Let it be known that I can 95% it on expert now, mainly due to me finishing solo tour on medium and gradually progressing to hard and expert. Practice, son.

[ThePaska]

I totally agree, I was so upset when I bought Zelda and I had to play through the whole game to finally get to Ganon, I should be able to jump right to the end of every game and not have to actually play it to beat it. :rolleyes:

[cuddie]

I totally agree, I was so upset when I bought Zelda and I had to play through the whole game to finally get to Ganon, I should be able to jump right to the end of every game and not have to actually play it to beat it. :rolleyes:
Yeah, it kinda gets old when about 50 other people have already tried their best to be a smartass.

[dfjdejulio]

Gotta say though, when I finally beat Komputer Kontroller and realized I'd unlocked ANOTHER song I had no idea even existed, it was a pretty awesome feeling!
...

GREAT. Now I have to go dig my Amplitude disc back out...

[Genchi]

This is a common problems in all video games with a big 'party' aspect. From the players' standpoint it's only natural to want to have access to the 'best' content right away so you don't have to worry about having your friends sit and watch you unlock all of the different content.

From the developers' perspective though, it's a little more complicated. You essentially have to decide if it's better to give people access to EVERYTHING right away or to increase the game's longevity by making them 'earn' it.

If you allow access to everything right away the more casual people are going to be happy that they can open up their game and play the parts they like right off the bat. But the other side of it is that they're going to ignore the rest of the content and might, therefore, grow bored of the game more quickly. Someone who bought the game and only played the stuff they knew they liked before hand probably won't bother trying any of the other songs and will also, therefore, be less likely to buy extra content. There's a good chance that they'll also take longer to get to the higher difficulty levels.


On the other hand, if you make player 'earn' the content on the way they'll find things they like that they might have ignored otherwise. There's also the added benefit of being able to ween them into improvement, which increases the game's longevity even more as they'll replay old content on higher difficulties and/or go for better scores. They're also more likely to buy add-on content even if only out of curiosity. But they may also get frustrated that it takes so much work to reach the portion of the game they were most looking forward to and just quit outright. The possibility of that happening is multiplied with each extra player that's playing in a multiplayer setting.

Lots of multiplayer games have had this problem over the years though i don't know of any that have found a truly great solution. But it's better to err on the side of caution, which is what games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero do. It's more likely that someone willing to spend $170+ on a songle game is someone who is versed in practices of game design, even if only subconsciously and therefore will have little problem putting up with having to unlock content.

[Frederf]

The Zelda comment tried to be smartass and ended up being dumbass.

Zelda analogy doesn't apply since Zelda doesn't have a sandbox mode, but is only a story mode. Rock Band has both, story and sandbox. Giving everything to the player in BWT right out the gate would be stupid, right? That's sandbox mentality and has no place in the story/challenge/progression mode. Well the reverse is true, it's equally stupid to impose the unlock/progression mentality to the sandbox half of the game. Rock Band's dual personality should allow people to have their cake and eat it too.

The argument is not that the game has to come "pre-beaten" but that it's really annoying to carry around your save data every time you want to fool around in the game. Back in Guitar Hero sometimes I'd go to a friend's house who had it and demonstrate a particular song in a laid back play session but the quickplay hadn't been fleshed out so either you are stuck unlocking the game not-so-real-fast or giving up.

And I do think memorizing a code is impractical. I may be able to do it but the majority of the RB audience don't even think in internet game unlock code terms, forget memorizing it.

Rock Band could easily have every single song available in quickplay from the git-go and still retain massive amounts of longevity. No amount of quickplay ticks off set lists or earns stars, fans, money, jets, etc, etc.

Quickplay as it stands is a dinosaur, it's time and usefulness has passed and it needs to grow and fill a different niche than it used to.

[SoKGiX]

I think I know whats going on....

I see videos of grandmas, aunts, dads and mom's playing Rock Band. I hear complaints of people saying it's too hard and that they will never get out of medium and see the bigger venues in BWT. Complaints that there should be modes to allow their three year olds to play.

The fact that we get posts like this complaining about how things have been for a long time...kind of like complaining that the sky is blue.

My friends,

The Casual Gamers Have Invaded.

There was a debate a few months ago about whether casual gaming would kill the industry as we know it. This is evidence that the casual's are definitely clashing with what I thought was more of a hard-core gamer's game. If you look at how BWT is designed, it really is for the hard-core gamers. Did any of these people play guitar hero prior to rock band? Do they realize how things were before they decided to crash the party and try to rewrite the rules?

This sense of entitlement is one I've never really heard before this game. This idea that we bought the game, so that purchase somehow automatically hired Harmonix as our contractors to re-design the game around our brand new specifications and we better get what we want or else!

It's interesting...

very well put. developers are moving to serve the masses instead of us seasoned gamers. i pray that this doesn't effect the quality of games as time goes on...

edit: and isn't the code something easy like R-Y-B-R-R-B-B-R-Y-B? how hard is that to memorize really? or how hard is it to think of writing it on a piece of paper and putting it in your wallet/purse/case/bunghole?

[shoombabi]

For F*** sake. I know we're in the 21st century and Freezepop seems to think that Brainpower is the thing, but write down the G*d Damn code if "omg I can't memorize 8 button presses." If you can't carry a sheet of paper to your friends (or stick it in the game case with the manual), you're no longer a victim of circumstances (that the forum crowd has already suggested a solution to), you'd just be a moron.

[Frederf]

For F*** sake. I know we're in the 21st century and Freezepop seems to think that Brainpower is the thing, but write down the G*d Damn code if "omg I can't memorize 8 button presses." If you can't carry a sheet of paper to your friends (or stick it in the game case with the manual), you're no longer a victim of circumstances (that the forum crowd has already suggested a solution to), you'd just be a moron.

How thick are you? You don't honestly believe cheat codes are a mass market solution do you?

[espher]

The Zelda comment tried to be smartass and ended up being dumbass.

If you mean mine, I was referring to having memorized the (simple) code to access it, but okay. :3


And I do think memorizing a code is impractical. I may be able to do it but the majority of the RB audience don't even think in internet game unlock code terms, forget memorizing it.

So you... write it down!


Quickplay as it stands is a dinosaur, it's time and usefulness has passed and it needs to grow and fill a different niche than it used to.

It's a gaming staple (edit: by it I mean progression-activated 'quickplay' of game levels), one the instant gratification (or entitlement, or 'lazy gamer') crowd seems to have a problem with as they suddenly get into gaming. The opinion split on this sort of statement is going to be between gamers and non-gamers. Gamers expect this sort of progression in their games, non-gamers view games as a toy that they should be able to enjoy as they please.

I, for one, hope developers don't start to cater to the non-gamer crowd in games built for gamers. There's room for both types of games, and if you want to have a crossover, a cheat code is a good way to do it.

'Unlock all' cheats aren't exactly a new thing anyway.

[toad3000]

No, no, no.

See, this is the problem. You guys have totally morphed the original question/request.

Here's a parallel example of what the guy is asking for:

When you play a game like FIFA soccer, the game doesn't lock 9/10s of the teams off the start. You are allowed to play as any team. Would that game be better if it worked like that? I don't think so.

As a casual game, or a party game, arbitrary locking is annoying, and unlock codes just make the game funner. You can play what you want, when you want. It's annoying to go to a friend's house and found out, 'man, you haven't unlcked what I want to play yet'.

Honestly, this argument, too, is crap. When you get to a friend's house, and he/she hasn't unlocked what you want to play, you say 'looks like we've got some work to do'. You don't sit there and whine that it's not unlocked yet. Kids these days...

And to whoever said Gran Turismo was a crap racing game...shame on you.

[espher]

This sort of discussion is the perfect example of a gaming generation gap.

[toad3000]

This sort of discussion is the perfect example of a gaming generation gap.
You know, it's funny, that thought hadn't even occurred to me.
Been rockin' the console and PC games since my parents got a Commodore 64 when I was like...4 years old. How about everyone else on this forum?

[espher]

You know, it's funny, that thought hadn't even occurred to me.
Been rockin' the console and PC games since my parents got a Commodore 64 when I was like...4 years old. How about everyone else on this forum?

First home console was an Atari 2600 when I was very, very young, although I did hit systems older than me. Got a lot of time in with the Vic 20 and the C64 heh. :p

[shoombabi]

How thick are you? You don't honestly believe cheat codes are a mass market solution do you?

No, I believe the solution is the same one that it's been in every other game involving linear progression, that is: beat the previous tiers to unlock the later one.

Contrary to what you seem to believe, Rhythm games are not sandbox games. A sandbox game is something like Grand Theft Auto. Just because you have a misconception of what a game -should- be does not automatically make it of that type.

A rhythm game is, plain-and-simple, a game developed for linear progression. Look at the Bemani series if you don't believe me. Namely, look at Beatmania. Not only are songs divided into difficulty level groups, but in a 3 song set, within those groupings are mini-groupings, such that you do not have access to all songs within the level immediately, and you even lose the selection of certain songs as you progress. This is in the arcade and home versions.

Also notice how the Bemani series, in addition to doing this, tiers its songs not only by difficulty level (something like Beginner / Light / Standard / Heavy, which equates to Easy / Medium / Hard / Expert), but among those it rates songs with a number of stars, or feet, or some sort of symbol. It indicates the difficulty of the song within its bracket. Likewise for song tiering in Rock Band.

But wait! You might say, "But Shoom, if I go to the arcade, I can obviously pick every song. Your argument is flawed." Yes, you could say that, but you'd be wrong about my argument. This is because an arcade game is a different beast altogether. There are some arcade games that track your progress, but for the most part, arcade games are considered a different type of luxury. An instant gratification sort of thing. The normal person will not step into an arcade all that frequently, and so they are tailored to a crowd of people such that it will grab their attention and keep them occupied for a few minutes. And even among these, there are machines that have secrets embedded in them for those hardcore enough to unlock it, but arcade owners don't want to put up with a mass of insolent teenagers, and they tend to unlock a lot of the machines through the use of - wait for it - cheat codes so they can satisfy the casual crowd.

While the experts thrive with everything unlocked, the beginners suffer. The intermediates suffer. Exposing a player to something they're not ready for does a few things. The biggest thing I have seen in my 7 years of frequenting arcades for DDR is that it deters people from continuing to play. They think they really like something until they get their butts handed to them, and then they just give up on it. Nobody wins like that.

This is why when you purchase a home version of a game, you're making an investment into the many hours that you would get out of it. You should be getting more entertainment out of a video game than its cost worth of movie tickets. It is not something to be picked up a handful of times, then shrugged off. If you want to do that, you go to the arcade, there are plenty of games that do what Rock Band does, and have been doing it longer and better for each individual instrument. You don't buy a game like Rock Band to have everything all at once, play a few things, have no direction, and quit.

Aside from prolonging the longevity of the game, when a rhythm game forces you to gradually step up the difficulty, you gain:

- confidence
- rhythm
- techniques
- appreciation for songs you may not have played otherwise
- a mind for drawing correlations between songs and parts
- the feeling of accomplishment

If you really want to neglect all that, the cheat code is there. If you're going to a friend's house and you can't transfer your memory unit, then YES, the cheat code IS the mass market solution to -your specific problem-. Otherwise, the solution is as has been established since the revival of the home video game console in the mid '80s: linear progression.

edit: been playing since i was about 2 years old, 1986. I'm in issue 18 of Nintendo Power as a Power Player, name's Dave :D

[d0sb1g0tes]

I'm not taking any sides on the issue, but I have to say...I give shoom props for a well-organized and intellectual argument.

[Teh_Nfsjunkie91]

Sung to Don McLean's "American Pie"

Bye-bye, old Guitar Hero guy, casual gamers made it lamer, now I just cry. Them good ol' boys was playin' Freebird and sighed, singin' this'll be the day that I die. This'll be the day that I die.

EDIT: Don't anyone take this seriously, I'm just having fun. :D

[espher]

Well put, shoom.

Pretty much exactly how I view it.

[cuddie]

Honestly, this argument, too, is crap. When you get to a friend's house, and he/she hasn't unlocked what you want to play, you say 'looks like we've got some work to do'. You don't sit there and whine that it's not unlocked yet. Kids these days...

And to whoever said Gran Turismo was a crap racing game...shame on you.

Oh lets say you want to play...Run To The Hills, which if memory recalls is on the final tier of any solo mode. Do you really want to play through the entire solo mode (around 50 songs, even if you do it on easy it'll still take a while. about 4 hours if you pass everything on the first try and take no breaks), just so you can do that one song you want? Some people don't have that kind of time.

I'm not saying that I think all songs should be unlocked out of the box; quite the contrary. But I don't think calling his argument crap is justified.

[shoombabi]

Oh lets say you want to play...Run To The Hills, which if memory recalls is on the final tier of any solo mode. Do you really want to play through the entire solo mode (around 50 songs, even if you do it on easy it'll still take a while. about 4 hours if you pass everything on the first try and take no breaks), just so you can do that one song you want? Some people don't have that kind of time.

I'm not saying that I think all songs should be unlocked out of the box; quite the contrary. But I don't think calling his argument crap is justified.

This begs the question of who, knowing the structure of such games, would pay $170 and not play the game for ~5 hours? I cannot think of one thing I have ever purchased at a rate of $34 / hr for entertainment purposes. If over the course of your gaming career you cannot find 5 hours - no, if over the course of 3 weeks you cannot find 5 hours to spend in unlocking every song and playing the game through, you had no business buying the game in the first place. Did you really intend to buy a game with 58 songs (not including DLC), and only play a handful of them for the lifespan of the game, after having paid $170 for it?

[espher]

If they did, I'd love to have their disposable income.

[toad3000]

Oh lets say you want to play...Run To The Hills, which if memory recalls is on the final tier of any solo mode. Do you really want to play through the entire solo mode (around 50 songs, even if you do it on easy it'll still take a while. about 4 hours if you pass everything on the first try and take no breaks), just so you can do that one song you want? Some people don't have that kind of time.

I'm not saying that I think all songs should be unlocked out of the box; quite the contrary. But I don't think calling his argument crap is justified.

Sure, but if you're going over your friend's house who, apparently, has just bought the game (judging by your play through the entire solo mode to get to Maiden example), expecting Run to the Hills to be unlocked already is pretty silly. The achievement is half the point of the game, so this is the point where you buckle down and rock out, for hours if need be, with a couple other intrepid friends, until you accomplish the goal you set out to accomplish. And don't tell me you didn't have fun along the way. :D

Oh, and if you're at your friend's house, why even bother with Solo Mode? BWT that bastard, and you'll have it unlocked in no time.

[Apples]

With respect, I believe this thread has run its course.

This thread has been on the radar for a long time now, and it's insight/opinions/feedback has been given the proper spotlight.