Couple Rock Band Ps2 Q's

[Sailor]

Some questions before I ask for it for Christmas. Kinda late, I know..but if I end up getting GH3 for Wii I've decided that I'm going to return it and buy RB for Ps2, since there's really no difference in BWT than the GH3 "advance songs by setlist" gameplay.

Anyway, the questions are:

1) Is there fans in the game?

2) Is there money to be made in the game? What can you do with it if there is..I know you can't upgrade guitars or stuff because the characters are preset every time you play a song, but what about Bonus Songs?

3) Uhm..I read somewhere that "Guitar solo/overdrive effects were removed", what's that mean?

4) Is there Golden Stars in this game too and such?

5) Oh, and on the peripherals...how do they connect to the Ps2? Like are the drums USB? Dualshock port? I know the Guitar is wireless, but I don't know how ANY of them connect :\

Thanks :D

[Sailor]

Someone answer :'[
Por favor?

[AgainstOne]

i'd be happy to answer some of your questions. you might not like some of the answers, though:

1) no fans.

2) no money to be earned. even if you earned any, there are no shops to spend it in. it does have all the same bonus songs as the other versions, however. this is because, in Rock Band, you don't buy bonus songs (unlike GH). you start off with 1 bonus song available in your songlist and each time you make it through a bonus song another one becomes available.

3) i have no idea.

4) yes, golden stars are same as the other versions. however, (unlike GH) you can only earn gold stars on expert diff.

5) all the peripherals that come with the game are USB. however, you can use GH guitars that plug into the PS2 controller ports.

[Sailor]

i'd be happy to answer some of your questions. you might not like some of the answers, though:

1) no fans.

2) no money to be earned. even if you earned any, there are no shops to spend it in. it does have all the same bonus songs as the other versions, however. this is because, in Rock Band, you don't buy bonus songs (unlike GH). you start off with 1 bonus song available in your songlist and each time you make it through a bonus song another one becomes available.

3) i have no idea.

4) yes, golden stars are same as the other versions. however, (unlike GH) you can only earn gold stars on expert diff.

5) all the peripherals that come with the game are USB. however, you can use GH guitars that plug into the PS2 controller ports.

Thank You! :D

1) awh, that's pretty depressing :'[ I saw a vid of someone playing the Ps2 version, and when you select a song it looked just like the Xbox360 version with the fans in the background even. I thought it'd be so..
Or maybe that WAS a Xbox360 vid :s Anyway, here's the link (http://youtube.com/watch?v=Qq55VlMmdmg). Can someone check it and confirm if the menu's look alike please?

2) Oh, okay. I always thought that you bought bonus songs. I guess it's a small hit that there's no cash or shops, but no problem really, because that's not the focus of the game.

3) Haha okay. I don't know what it means either, I thought the Ps2 did have overdrive, but I don't know what the OP meant by "effects". Does the Ps2 version have guitar solos though? I'm guessing that it has to..the effect where it counts how much % you're done with a solo :\

4) Oh, really? I thought the stars were available for every difficulty lol...and that's the same for all the other versions you say? Interesting..

5) Oh, okay then. I assume it comes with a USB hub then, right?

Thanks again :p

[DesiredFX]

If you check the PS2 Info Thread (http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15501), you'll see explanations for pretty much every negative answer you've received.

What it comes down to is that the PS2 doesn't have the power to render band members that can be randomly designed plus put all the notes on the screen and do it at a solid frame rate. The song that taxes the processors the most is Run to the Hills on Expert--there are just too many notes onscreen for the game to do anything more but play a canned animation in the background.

I imagine the same is true of Overdrive effects--it's just another visual element added that the PS2 doesn't have the firepower to handle.

[JAZ]

ps2 version needs better stuff







Ps2 needs better stuff! you took the fun stuff away, no fans, no bonus songs, what gives?

[DesiredFX]

I think you're confusing the bonus songs with DLC. The PS2 version has the thirteen bonus songs.

And to clarify, since you don't have control over what your characters wear or play, there's no point in giving them money, and since you don't have control over what venues you play, there's no point in awarding fans.

[AgainstOne]

no bonus songs, what gives?

the PS2 version has all the same bonus songs as the other versions.

[Renegade1007]

see *PS2 not powerful enough* for answer

[Sailor]

If you check the PS2 Info Thread (http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15501), you'll see explanations for pretty much every negative answer you've received.

What it comes down to is that the PS2 doesn't have the power to render band members that can be randomly designed plus put all the notes on the screen and do it at a solid frame rate. The song that taxes the processors the most is Run to the Hills on Expert--there are just too many notes onscreen for the game to do anything more but play a canned animation in the background.

I imagine the same is true of Overdrive effects--it's just another visual element added that the PS2 doesn't have the firepower to handle.

Yea, I know :\ It kinda sucks, but really that's not the main point of the game..I hope it doesn't bother me too much. I think I'll have too much fun playing though to care.
What guitar overdrive/solo effects? That's where I found that statement, but I don't even know what it means Explain please :'[

And thanks for that link. It doesn't give specific answers to a couple of my questions though.

Mainly:

"1) awh, that's pretty depressing :'[ I saw a vid of someone playing the Ps2 version, and when you select a song it looked just like the Xbox360 version with the fans in the background even. I thought it'd be so..
Or maybe that WAS a Xbox360 vid :s Anyway, here's the link (http://youtube.com/watch?v=Qq55VlMmdmg). Can someone check it and confirm if the menu's look alike please?"

"2) Oh, okay then. I assume it comes with a USB hub then, right?"


ps2 version needs better stuff

Ps2 needs better stuff! you took the fun stuff away, no fans, no bonus songs, what gives?

NOTE: There are Bonus Songs.
Oh, and that's not really the fun stuff. When you go and buy the game you're not really paying to make a band or have fans, you're paying to play some music with a bunch of friends in a band. It may not technically be a "custom" band in the Ps2 version, but you're still playing and having fun nonetheless.

Also, by the looks of it the Ps2 version behaves JUST like GH3 for the Wii, but it's better. So that's the obvious choice for me, because I only own both of those consoles and get a choice of 1. [And I doubt RB is coming to the Wii anyway] I was never gonna DL any songs anyway, though I am pretty sad that RB only has a measly 58 songs compared to GH's 74. Still, I guess it's funner to play with people IRL and it'll have a more lasting appeal.

[Sailor]

And to clarify, since you don't have control over what your characters wear or play, there's no point in giving them money, and since you don't have control over what venues you play, there's no point in awarding fans.

Oh, okay..I kinda understand. You still see fans when you're playing a song on the Ps2 version though, right?

And btw. Once you beat every song in BWT for like the 360/Ps3 versions, there's nothing to do but go back and play random songs, right? Like, QuickPlay songs..so it would technically be like the Ps2 version, right? I mean, not having a good BWT gets me angry, but I'm not sure at all if it's gonna be bothersome, or if it really doesn't matter.

[DesiredFX]

1. The menus and stuff look exactly the same as the PS3 version. I expect--given that you can't change your characters or venues--that the background imagery (including fans) is simply a pre-recorded video that plays behind your fretboards. The big problem with the port is the inability to generate that stuff on the fly and still have the game play well.

2. I don't have the PS2 version, but I understand that it comes with a hub because they knew the PS2 only has 2 USB ports.

As for the PS3/360 version, I haven't gotten all the way through a BWT yet, but my understanding is that if you play no higher than Medium, you can get to the "end" of the game--the Hall of Fame set. Win that, and you unlock the Endless Set List (which has all the songs in it).

But even after you win the HoF set, you can go back and better your scores or step up the difficulty you're playing at, which allows you to unlock more venues because you'll pick up more fans.

[Quastor]

3) Uhm..I read somewhere that "Guitar solo/overdrive effects were removed", what's that mean?

The Strat has a five-way effects switch on it. On the 360/PS3 version, you can pick from 4 effects (wah-wah, flange, chorus, and echo), and when you enter into Overdrive, these effects are applied to the notes you play.

These effects are pretty much applied to the guitar track in real-time, so the PS2 doesn't have the processing power to handle that intensive operation. So, the PS2 Strat still has the switch, but these effects are not available in the PS2 version of the game.

[DesiredFX]

Funny, it didn't even occur to me to think it was the audio effects...

[Renegade1007]

Honestly, I would rather have Wii GH3 than I would PS2 RB

[Sailor]

1. The menus and stuff look exactly the same as the PS3 version. I expect--given that you can't change your characters or venues--that the background imagery (including fans) is simply a pre-recorded video that plays behind your fretboards. The big problem with the port is the inability to generate that stuff on the fly and still have the game play well.

As for the PS3/360 version, I haven't gotten all the way through a BWT yet, but my understanding is that if you play no higher than Medium, you can get to the "end" of the game--the Hall of Fame set. Win that, and you unlock the Endless Set List (which has all the songs in it).

But even after you win the HoF set, you can go back and better your scores or step up the difficulty you're playing at, which allows you to unlock more venues because you'll pick up more fans.

Ok, so the menu's are the same..that's a plus. But by reading your post it seems that the BWT extras have a pretty big impact on the game :\
Seems like it gives it more replay value, or more fun onto it.


The Strat has a five-way effects switch on it. On the 360/PS3 version, you can pick from 4 effects (wah-wah, flange, chorus, and echo), and when you enter into Overdrive, these effects are applied to the notes you play.

These effects are pretty much applied to the guitar track in real-time, so the PS2 doesn't have the processing power to handle that intensive operation. So, the PS2 Strat still has the switch, but these effects are not available in the PS2 version of the game.

Desired edited his post, so I'm guessing you're right. If that's all there is, then I don't think that's a big deal. The sound of the whammy bar [is that what the effects are used for?] won't really bother me..or the sound of the overdrive/solo that is, since it's not the whole song.

That said, the counting % thing is still there when you do the solo on the Ps2, right?

[nicko68]

I don't think 'Wii Band' is coming out,

Why is that? HMX was already asked about bringing it to the Wii and they said "Absolutely". They want to bring it to all relevant systems, and I'd say the Wii is pretty relevant given its sales figures and the fact that Rock Band is THE genre that most fits the Wii (social party game). I'm sure they had to scale back in order to deliver for PS2, PS3 and 360. But I really doubt they can ignore the Wii forever.

[Sailor]

Why is that? HMX was already asked about bringing it to the Wii and they said "Absolutely". They want to bring it to all relevant systems, and I'd say the Wii is pretty relevant given its sales figures and the fact that Rock Band is THE genre that most fits the Wii (social party game). I'm sure they had to scale back in order to deliver for PS2, PS3 and 360. But I really doubt they can ignore the Wii forever.

Well, the reason is that they said that back in April, and have not said ANYTHING since then..nothing at all. Why state something and then not say anything else 9 months later? I'm sure they do want to bring it to all systems, but not saying anything really makes me lose hope.

Though the argument about not being able to deliver can hold up...also GH3 on the Wii sold like it was being given out for free. They don't have a reason NOT to put it on the Wii, and it better not be a crappy Ps2 port.
I dunno, maybe I SHOULD just get GH3 Wii, and then when Wii Band comes out just buy that..at least I'd have a bass guitar, instead of just settling for the "ok" Ps2 version.

I don't really think GH3 is bad in anyway at all..just that RB is better.

[Sailor]

*snore* bump..
1 more day before I have to make my decision between GH3 Wii or Ps2 Rock Band :\

[Sailor]

Honestly, I would rather have Wii GH3 than I would PS2 RB

Really? Why is that? :0
I don't think 'Wii Band' is coming out, but if I was sure it was then I'd buy GH3 and wait for it..I wish they would actually say something :mad: