Rock Band coming to the Wii?

[GoghUA]

I find it hard to believe that when I search the forums for the term "Wii" I get absolutely no hits...

Are there any plans to bring Rock Band to the Wii?

I found an article on IGN (http://wii.ign.com/articles/777/777553p1.html) and on Kotaku (http://kotaku.com/gaming/wii/wii-rock-band-likely-248882.php) both dated April 2, 2007 that seem to indicate that Rock Band would be eventually coming to the Wii. However, we have yet to hear any kind of announcement official or otherwise.

I have been holding off on my purchase of Guitar Hero III because I refuse to buy both but I would prefer to have Rock Band. So please, let us know the plans for the Wii so that I can make my decision.

Thanks!

[Quinarvy]

Read the FAQ sticky.

At least you searched so I won't be mean, instead I'll just put it bluntly.

It's a rumour, based off the fact that A-Rig (HMX CEO) said "Absolutely!" when asked if they wanted to make a Rock Band Wii version.

Also, in all likely hood it would be like the PS2 version, which is very, very, crippled.

[GoghUA]

Read the FAQ sticky.

At least you searched so I won't be mean, instead I'll just put it bluntly.

It's a rumour, based off the fact that A-Rig (HMX CEO) said "Absolutely!" when asked if they wanted to make a Rock Band Wii version.

Also, in all likely hood it would be like the PS2 version, which is very, very, crippled.

Actually, the first thing I did when looking for details about the Wii version was click the FAQ (http://www.rockband.com/forums/faq.php) link above... It takes you to a search page. So I tried searching for "Wii" as well as "Nintendo". Both searches returned nothing. I also tried the "Advanced Search" that is supposed to search all the threads, but it too returned nothing.

Anyway, I did find the thread you are referring to here (http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15998), where the below Q&A can be found at the bottom of the second post...


Q: Where is the Rock Band Wii version?

THERE IS NO OFFICIAL WORD ABOUT ROCK BAND ON THE WII. PLEASE WATCH OFFICIAL CHANNELS FOR ANY FUTURE POSSIBILITY OF THIS. AND PLEASE STOP ASKING ABOUT IT.

What is the friggin big deal? :rolleyes: Why say "Absolutely" and then not another word for 8 months?

Also, why would the Wii version need to be crippled? From what i understand, the primary reason for crippling the PS2 version is because of its online capabilities?

[Gryffindor]

I would hardly call a Wii version crippled. The Wii uses Bluetooth controllers which (just like in GHIII) would have to be inserted into the instruments. This would be a greater advantage than owning either the PS3 or 360 version as the guitars AND drums would be wireless! The mic would of course still plug into one of the 2 available USB ports.

The Wii does have wireless/on-line capabilities so once again there wouldn't be a problem. Nintendo has announced that they will soon be releasing DLC for GH3 through their Virtual Console so DLC would become available for users to purchase and download. AND Nintendo updates on Monday mornings!

The only drawback that I would see would be the reduction from 720p down to 480i/p. But, this only counts if you have a Hi-Def TV anyways.

And, finally, Nintendo watches out for their customers. They won't allow a game to be released that does not conform to their standards or is full of glitches. If anything, this could be what the hold up is for Rock Band launching on the Wii. Perhaps the developers just aren't up to Nintendo's quality standards.

[GoghUA]

After putting some more thought into this I have decided to wait on my purchase and here is why...

Harmonix is already producing at max capacity to meet the demand for Xbox 360, PS3 and PS2. The Xbox and PS versions are similar enough, both hardware and software wise, to release at the same time so it makes sense to release them together. There is no point on having the development team rush to get the Wii version done, think additional features (hardware and software) to make use of the Wii remote like GHIII, when they wouldn't be able to keep up with the holiday hardware production demands for an additional system anyway. Plus, if they do announce Rock Band for the Wii now, it will just take away sales from the Xbox and PS versions as well as GHIII.

It just wouldn't make good business sense for Harmonix to announce Rock Band for the Wii before Christmas.

We know they are interested in making it as evidenced by the CEO, Alex Rigopulos' quote:
Absolutely, we will at some time bring Rock Band to every console of significance and in doing so we will customize and tailor the play experience to take into account the weakness of the console and the strengths of the consoles. I think (the Wii) is something that holds enormous potential for music games. source (http://kotaku.com/gaming/wii/wii-rock-band-likely-248882.php)

Who knows, maybe I'll break down and buy a 360... But at least I will wait until I see what features or lack thereof the Wii version of Rock Band will have.

[erickOnasis412]

Who knows, maybe I'll break down and buy a 360... But at least I will wait until I see what features or lack thereof the Wii version of Rock Band will have.

well if the Wii version WOULD be anything like the PS2 version, it will lack create-a-character, DLC (although im sure the wii would provide that), and Band World Tour mode - which would make the game a shell of what it is

the fact is that the wii isn't as powerful as the ps3 and 360, so would the Wii version be CAPABLE of including the features that had to be removed for the PS2 version?

[Rock_Starman]

This has been discussed plenty and there's tons of topics. Strange they don't show up in the search. It'll lack DLC obviously,graphics downgrade of course,online is questionable and not sure what else.

[NightmareJG]

well if the Wii version WOULD be anything like the PS2 version, it will lack create-a-character, DLC (although im sure the wii would provide that), and Band World Tour mode - which would make the game a shell of what it is

the fact is that the wii isn't as powerful as the ps3 and 360, so would the Wii version be CAPABLE of including the features that had to be removed for the PS2 version?

Almost definitely, if they had had the time and money to spend, they could have put those things on the ps2, but they didn't.

The Wii = gamecube x 2
Gamecube = more power than ps2 (I don't want to start any flame wars here, look up the stats, it's 100% undeniable truth. It doesn't mean that the cube was better or anything.)

Thusly I believe the Wii to have enough power to handle the exact same feature set as the 360 and ps3, though the graphics will of course have to be dumbed down. They just need to spend enough time working on it is all.

[Gryffindor]

It'll lack DLC obviously,graphics downgrade of course,online is questionable and not sure what else.

You obviously do not own a Wii. It will NOT lack DLC. The Wii has full
wi-fi/internet capability. The low end PS3 does not even include wi-fi.
It would have online as it has wi-fi/internet. The graphics would be scaled down but if you don't own a hi-def TV it wouldn't matter anyways. And, besides, do you really need to run this game in hi-def??????? The only sequence with outstanding graphics is the opening sequence of Highway Star. Everything after that is - blah.

[Quinarvy]

This has been discussed plenty and there's tons of topics. Strange they don't show up in the search. It'll lack DLC obviously,graphics downgrade of course,online is questionable and not sure what else.

And maybe even the create-a-rocker for whatever reason it was taken from Ps2 version (I forget what it was exactly, had to do with computing power...I think)

Edit: There would be no DLC, it just wouldn't work when the biggest storage is an SD Card

[GoghUA]

well if the Wii version WOULD be anything like the PS2 version, it will lack create-a-character, DLC (although im sure the wii would provide that), and Band World Tour mode - which would make the game a shell of what it is

the fact is that the wii isn't as powerful as the ps3 and 360, so would the Wii version be CAPABLE of including the features that had to be removed for the PS2 version?

I agree that the Wii certainly isn't as "powerful" as the PS3 and 360 but the create-a-character, DLC, and Band World Tour mode features are not lacking from the PS2 because of a lack of "power". They are lacking becuase the PS2 doesn't have the storage capacity and online capabilites. Yes, I know that it does support these things, but it's support of them is not as widely adopted as the 360, PS3, and Wii to justify the investment to a developer such as Harmonix. See this quote:
Rock Band is built as a next generation title with a focus on downloadable content and online multiplayer, the PS2 just isn’t built for those ideas. In fact, with the exception of the graphics, the PS2 would be quite capable of running all the features as the 360 and PS3. There is no reason that the Wii would also not be capable of running the same features as the 360 and PS3 with the exception of HD and a slightly lower graphics capability. But seriously, who is playing this Rock Band for the graphics anyway?

Source for quote (http://www.thebbps.com/blog/2007/10/11/rock-band-the-bundles-dlc-pricing-the-guitar-hero-stigma-disconnected-gaming-and-more/)

[Gryffindor]

Edit: There would be no DLC, it just wouldn't work when the biggest storage is an SD Card

The ignorance on this board just completely amazes me. The Wii has a hard drive just like the 360 and the PS3. You CAN use a SD card to add content such as videos and photos but that's about it.

Please quit getting it confused with the Game Cube.

[erickOnasis412]

I agree that the Wii certainly isn't as "powerful" as the PS3 and 360 but the create-a-character, DLC, and Band World Tour mode features are not lacking from the PS2 because of a lack of "power". They are lacking becuase the PS2 doesn't have the storage capacity and online capabilites.

oh ok! i thought i read somewhere that for the PS2 version, they said they had to sacrifice the create-a-character because of the slowdown that it caused in actual gameplay, and they decided (obviously) gameplay was more important

[GoghUA]

There would be no DLC, it just wouldn't work when the biggest storage is an SD Card
It's alredy been confirmed that DLC is coming for Guitar Hero III. (http://kotaku.com/gaming/guitar-hero-iii/wii-guitar-hero-dlc-coming-early-next-year-fingers-crossed-331098.php) So I don't know why it wouldn't be possible for Rock Band?

2GB SD cards can easily be found for under $15 and I am sure that Nintendo won't be too far behind with releasing a firmware update to support larger SD cards. 4GB cards can be found under $25 and 8GB cards are running about $70 right now.

[Yunie]

The ignorance on this board just completely amazes me. The Wii has a hard drive just like the 360 and the PS3. You CAN use a SD card to add content such as videos and photos but that's about it.

Please quit getting it confused with the Game Cube.

The Wii has 512 MB of internal flash memory, which is probably too small to hold much, considering I have a few sizable VC games. DLC could be made available, but it just wouldn't be practical.

[GoghUA]

oh ok! i thought i read somewhere that for the PS2 version, they said they had to sacrifice the create-a-character because of the slowdown that it caused in actual gameplay, and they decided (obviously) gameplay was more important

Now that you mention it... I think you are right, thanks for correcting me.

However, I would hope that the power difference between the PS2 and Wii would be enough that the Wii would support this feature. Although, I wouldn't really miss it. :cool:

[erickOnasis412]

Now that you mention it... I think you are right, thanks for correcting me.

However, I would hope that the power difference between the PS2 and Wii would be enough that the Wii would support this feature. Although, I wouldn't really miss it. :cool:

haha true.. it is quite a cool feature, but it's certainly not necessary to play the game..

the PS2 version did get the shaft though with no DLC, create-a-character, and BWT mode combined.. im sure if they port Rock Band to the wii though they will definitely correct as many issues as possible

[Quinarvy]

The ignorance on this board just completely amazes me. The Wii has a hard drive just like the 360 and the PS3. You CAN use a SD card to add content such as videos and photos but that's about it.

Please quit getting it confused with the Game Cube.

The Wii doesn't have a hard drive.

Your ignorance amazes me.

(and the gamecube didn't have SD support, so how did I get them confused?)

[Rock_Starman]

Not only does it not have a hard drive he quoted the wrong person.

No I don't own a Wii but I do own a 360 and PS3 and know it takes up 162 mb on the 360 for just 5 songs. My games folder on the 360 is 1.3 gb,the Motorstorm patch alone on PS3 is 233 mb so DLC in general isn't exactly small. There's a reason you don't get demos and stuff on the Wii.

Is an external hard drive usable through the USB ports? Only way I can see it working.

[ItZaPiRaTe]

According to the posts it is a possibility. I for one haven't heard anything about it, but wouldn't be surprised because I've seen that they have Guitar Hero III out for the Wii.

[Sailor]

Is an external hard drive usable through the USB ports? Only way I can see it working.

It's very much possible, but Nintendo is being stupid on the situation and won't even face the fact that there's a problem with memory storage. They're not even gonna provide a fix, it seems..because their theory is that the Wii is just like a "fridge" where you take out food to make room for more food. They want us to delete our VC games, and redownload them when we want to play. Too bad it doesn't work for DLC, and whatever else the Wii is holding back.

Stupidest theory I've ever heard in my life, I know >_>"

[GoghUA]

Not only does it not have a hard drive he quoted the wrong person.

No I don't own a Wii but I do own a 360 and PS3 and know it takes up 162 mb on the 360 for just 5 songs. My games folder on the 360 is 1.3 gb,the Motorstorm patch alone on PS3 is 233 mb so DLC in general isn't exactly small. There's a reason you don't get demos and stuff on the Wii.

Is an external hard drive usable through the USB ports? Only way I can see it working.
Currently, to my knowledge, an externable hard drive is not usable. Although, there have been rumors of Nintendo releasing a firmware update to support them and there doesn't appear to be any technical limitations stopping them from doing so.

If 162MB = 5 songs, then that is 32.4MB per song. That would mean that with a 2GB (2048 MB) SD card, you could store 63 songs. I guess we will find out when the official announcement is made for GHIII DLC on Wii.