Playable Demo - Possible?

[Maherj]

I know I read something in another post (Tried searching but couldn't find it) about Guitar Hero II being released as a playable demo when it came out to the PS2. This was pretty easy to do, since the same guitars for 1 were available.

Now that us 360 guys have x-plorers, would it be safe to say that a Demo of rock band could be released a month or so before the actual title release? Sure we wouldn't have the ability to sing or play drums, but bass and guitar could be easily done.

I can see a downside of this, I would rather not get sick of a song before it's actually released. I think I also read that people were sick of playing the Guitar Hero 2 songs that were on the demo because they overplayed them during the demo.

What do you think? Is a demo a good idea, or would you rather just wait and play the songs when the game is released?

[mobhit101]

While getting sick of the songs is definitely true (I hardly ever play Shout at the Devil, Strutter, etc....) I just couldn't see them releasing the demo based solely on the fact that you couldn't play drums or sing. People who don't know about the game yet may get confused and think it's some Guitar Hero rip off or something and not knowing there are other instruments.... ya know?

[ThePaska]

I think it would be nice for a guitar rock band demo to be released, I don't know if it would happen. It would be cool, but I don't think they will simply because it would only be able to be played on guitar.

GH II did have a demo, I got it from PSM magazine, it was nice that they did it, and really fun to play for a day or two until I 5 starred the few songs that were on there. GH III is also planning on releasing a demo, which will be cool, I plan to pick that up whenever it comes out.

[NorrenRadd]

I agree with mobhit, it would be a lot harder to release a demo because the drums and microphone aren't out. They want to present the game as several instruments, far and above "just a guitar game". The release is Holiday 2007 so I can be patient =D

[Maherj]

While getting sick of the songs is definitely true (I hardly ever play Shout at the Devil, Strutter, etc....) I just couldn't see them releasing the demo based solely on the fact that you couldn't play drums or sing. People who don't know about the game yet may get confused and think it's some Guitar Hero rip off or something and not knowing there are other instruments.... ya know?

I never thought about the general public thinking it was a GH rip-off, but I guess if it was missing certain aspects to what makes this 'Rock Band' (Which is quite funny to say considering GH3 is a clone of GH2 but anyway).

I was more thinking of how beneficial a demo/beta would be, in the same regards as the Halo 3 Beta, to generate stats on latency issues, which is going to be critical for a rhythm game to operate.

[TheTogfather]

Everything I've heard indicates they are not worried one bit about online play, lag, and latency and all that. Hopefully it is truly not an issue.

As for a demo, I would love to see one that just shows off character creation. Like, you can just go in and create whatever character you want, then just sit back and watch him rock out on whatever instrument you choose. I really wouldn't want to have a demo that featured actual gameplay w/out the mic and drums, because I want them to all be available for the first time I get to play, it would feel very incomplete without them. But I could totally get behind playing around w/ the character creation and then watching for a few songs...

[logicalnoise]

I have to admit that I got more enjoyment out of the demos than most because the second(not as distributed) demo had 75% of the GH2 soundtrack on it just not accessible through the menu but with a couple hacks and a coule discs I could play all of them. A demo would be nice but I'm not expecting one for it. I'd expect EA to pay for more in store displays than anything(places like best buy and CC).

[Coldplayer]

A demo for Rock Band would'nt be a good idea. It's just not Rock Band without the drums and the mic.

But I'm hoping for a GH3 demo.

[Maherj]

A demo for Rock Band would'nt be a good idea. It's just not Rock Band without the drums and the mic.

But I'm hoping for a GH3 demo.

That's what got me thinking about a Rock Band demo, and how it would work. Most people who have played GH2 will no doubt get the GH3 demo...

Which also makes me wonder what Harmonix can do to put the customer focus back on them and their product...

[Coldplayer]

That's what got me thinking about a Rock Band demo, and how it would work. Most people who have played GH2 will no doubt get the GH3 demo...

Which also makes me wonder what Harmonix can do to put the customer focus back on them and their product...

I think GH2 players know about RockBand and they know how awesome it is. :P
So, yeah, maybe upload trailers and videos, but I think a demo won't work well.
I mean, of course I'd like to play the game as soon as possible too, but it just would'nt make sense.

[Joigga]

While getting sick of the songs is definitely true (I hardly ever play Shout at the Devil, Strutter, etc....) I just couldn't see them releasing the demo based solely on the fact that you couldn't play drums or sing. People who don't know about the game yet may get confused and think it's some Guitar Hero rip off or something and not knowing there are other instruments.... ya know?

whoever dont know about this game has been living under a rock for a year

[NorrenRadd]

whoever dont know about this game has been living under a rock for a year

One of the new markets for video games is "Casual Players". Casuals don't often search out news sites or read forums because gaming is not such a significant part of their daily activities. This game has wide appeal, casual and hard core alike. Presenting the game as guitar only for a first impression to some people could mislead them to the true potential of the game. The more people playing Rock Band, the more money for the developers, the more likely we are to see continued development & Rock Band 2!

:D

[sushi111]

Dont expect a demo. Promoting as a guitar game you can play with your old Guitar Hero Controllers is not the message they want to get across.

[sa_nick]

While getting sick of the songs is definitely true (I hardly ever play Shout at the Devil, Strutter

I dont think we got the demo in Australia so I never played it. I never played those songs much anyway, they were quite boring.

But yeah, I kinda hope they don't release a demo of this. What could people possibly get out of it? Without the mic and drum kit it doesn't have a lot to offer that people can't find in GH3.

[the_spike]

It would probably only happen if they released the instruments before the game comes out.

Not actually a bad idea, it would give more time for people to get the instruments and give the stores more time to restock.

[Eman311]

This is one of the games i don't want a demo for.

[Error302]

personally i don't really like the guitar hero demos.... or any console demos for that matter. mostly cuz places that like to set up games for customers to play, like best buy, tend to leave the demo versions up long after the full game is out... that's kind of a selfish reason i suppose LOL

[CENACHAINGANG54]

I think I would like a demo just to see what it looks like. I know it will not be the same because of the drums and mic missing (and being a pro drummer I am looking forward to the drums) but I think it would be cool to play a couple of the tracks for guitar and bass. Like with any other demo like NCAA 08 for instance, you can have certain things that we can do in the demo and then state the drums and mic and whole band experience will be available with the full version. As far as Harmonix getting the consumer's focus back on them and not on GH or Activision. Well everyone playing GH right now knows that Harmonix is the company that brought us the game! When it was announced that Activision and Neversoft was doing GH III my first thought was is it going to be as good as the first two. When I read in my Game Informer about Rock Band I was already sold on buying it because it was Harmonix and they are awesome!!! I also do agree that more trailers would be cool that we could download on Xbox Live. Also maybe some behind the scenes stuff with Harmonix would also be cool.:D

[Vigorousjammer]

alright, a demo would only be good if it was set up in best buy or something...
it would be friggin' crazy if they had the entire setup there with drums and everything...
and there would probobly be a big line, lol

also, for most people i've asked, even if they're just casual gamers, know about this game... for example, my buddy Dave who plays Gears of War, Guitar Hero 2, and some live arcade games... has heard of it... and he's just as excited as me about it...

[PurpleHaze]

I also do agree that more trailers would be cool that we could download on Xbox Live.Agreed. How is it that one of the most talked about games at E3 is also one of the few games that doesn't seem to have released any footage or trailer on Xbox Live?! Personally, I'd love to see any of the videos doing the rounds at the moment in the HD resolution goodness of Xbox Live.

[Eman311]

alright, a demo would only be good if it was set up in best buy or something...
it would be friggin' crazy if they had the entire setup there with drums and everything...
and there would probobly be a big line, lol

also, for most people i've asked, even if they're just casual gamers, know about this game... for example, my buddy Dave who plays Gears of War, Guitar Hero 2, and some live arcade games... has heard of it... and he's just as excited as me about it...

I have many friends i would qualify as casual gamers and most didn't hear about it until i told them. In fact I havent found one other person who knew without me telling them......


Agreed. How is it that one of the most talked about games at E3 is also one of the few games that doesn't seem to have released any footage or trailer on Xbox Live?! Personally, I'd love to see any of the videos doing the rounds at the moment in the HD resolution goodness of Xbox Live.

Its called stream video from your pc to your xbox 360! it's easy to do with zune.

I played the MGS4 trailer doing that how wrong is that :p

[dragula]

It would probably only happen if they released the instruments before the game comes out.

Not actually a bad idea, it would give more time for people to get the instruments and give the stores more time to restock.

Not sure if these dates are accurate yet or not, but at Gamestop they have the ship dates for the PS3 guitar, drums, and mic individual items as 11/1/07. And the game itself and the bundles as 11/20/07. So it seems that they want to get instruments out 3 weeks early.

http://www.gamestop.com/search.asp?Ntk=TitleKeyword&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&Ntt=rock+band&N=0

I'm getting the bundle anyway though, so doesn't really matter to me.

[ThePaska]

Not sure if these dates are accurate yet or not, but at Gamestop they have the ship dates for the PS3 guitar, drums, and mic individual items as 11/1/07. And the game itself and the bundles as 11/20/07. So it seems that they want to get instruments out 3 weeks early.

http://www.gamestop.com/search.asp?Ntk=TitleKeyword&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&Ntt=rock+band&N=0

I'm getting the bundle anyway though, so doesn't really matter to me.


I wouldn't really take those dates seriously, they are just estimates made by gamestop, more than likely they are close to the release date but not exactly right. I would think the individual things and the bundles would come out at the same time though.

[Coldplayer]

It would probably only happen if they released the instruments before the game comes out.

Not actually a bad idea, it would give more time for people to get the instruments and give the stores more time to restock.

That won't happen.

Would you really buy all the instruments just for the demo? I mean, it doesn't make sense, because if you buy all the instruments then you will buy the full version of the game someday anyway, or else you would have bought the controllers for nothing. (except for the demo)

So, then the demo would'nt make sense, because everyone who played the demo will buy the full version anyway, and that's not the appreciation of a demo.

A demo should help people decide whether or not they like the game and whether or not they will buy the full version.
Of course you can also play a demo just for fun too, but then you would'nt buy new controllers just to do that.

[BlackHole]

From Store or marketplace=doubt it at Best Buy etc. yes.

[logicalnoise]

I have many friends i would qualify as casual gamers and most didn't hear about it until i told them. In fact I havent found one other person who knew without me telling them......



Its called stream video from your pc to your xbox 360! it's easy to do with zune.

I played the MGS4 trailer doing that how wrong is that :p

not that wrong considering OXM just reported that MGS4 will come out for 360 6 months after the ps3 release.