Love the DLC, but hate not having a preview

[bigdug13]

I loved the fact that I could download a preview video on XBL that gave you a taste of each song on the Guitar Hero extra content.

I don't like the fact that I have to wait until someone posts a youtube video, or gain access to an audio version of the tracks from "other methods" in order to see if I would enjoy the songs on Rock Band's extra content.

Even a piece of the audio alone would at least give me an idea of what I'm buying.

I'd really like to see DLC previews on the marketplace.

[JamesJessen]

Itunes...just search the song and band and you can get an idea of how the song goes. It's really not that hard and takes just a second.

[bigdug13]

So after I see new songs in the marketplace, I get to write the song names down, then switch over to my computer and search the songs out on itunes...assuming that I even have that program installed to begin with.

That is somehow the fix for not having a preview for new content?

[Edgehopper]

Also, most songs have YouTube videos of them--all of the released DLC so far does.

[bigdug13]

Is that really legal though? There's an entire audio recording of the tracks included on those same videos. That doesn't seem to be in keeping with the Copyright laws. And to encourage me to use that as my "preview" for DLC seems silly.

(not that I don't use youtube...I just want to see an INTEGRATED solution.)

[Bakkster]

(not that I don't use youtube...I just want to see an INTEGRATED solution.)

The way I see it, I'd use YouTube to see the whole song anyway, rather than depend on the 30 second clip from the marketplace. If I'm on the fence about a song, 30 seconds probably isn't going to sway me. If I'm not on the fence, I already know if I'm going to download it.

[Edgehopper]

Oh, agreed that I'd like to see previews of the songs on XBLM and PSN, though the problem is that the marketplace menu for Rock Band is already ridiculously convoluted from having so much DLC available. Another 40 free videos would make it worse.

[goldenegg]

Even if they can't provide a preview, I wish they'd at least list the difficulty level of the songs.

[monoxidehektik]

So after I see new songs in the marketplace, I get to write the song names down, then switch over to my computer and search the songs out on itunes...assuming that I even have that program installed to begin with.

That is somehow the fix for not having a preview for new content?

Like you don't hear about new DLC on your computer first anyway;)

[Apples]

Doesn't seem to be a perfect solution to what you're asking. However, I have noticed that there seems to be a regular discussion on this forum weekly regarding the latest DLC (everything from videos to difficult, etc). That could help you out.

[Drossvirex]

What would be ideal is a complete DLC interface with previews and such. Or at least have a DLC preview website.

The Xbox interface for DLC is horrible.

You are only losing sales by not doing so.

[Xerosnake90]

I agree that there should be previews. Every pack of songs should have one, or if they have a list of singles, they should just make a video with all of them. Or hell! Just make 1 video for each song and we could just stream it, even better.

[rockst01]

The DLC list for Rock Band on the XBL marketplace is already really cluttered, adding previews for every song would just make it even more bloated. Just youtube search for the songs that you aren't familiar with. Every one of the DLC songs released has either a music video up, a live performance video, some guy put the song over clips of some kiddie anime crap etc. Previews would be cool if Harmonix patched in a DLC browser though.

[jimmcq]

There are YouTube videos of all of the new songs at http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/24/rock-band-weekly-all-american-rejects-30-seconds-to-mars-the/

[bigdug13]

I'm asking for them to improve the interface as well as adding previews. There are a lot of you in the "just live with it and use youtube, the interface is already cuttered as it is" department, and I don't think that helps anything.

If you're ok with the status quo of no previews and crappy interface, then that's fine. I'm asking for improvements. And since this is something they already did with Guitar Hero DLC (previews), I just don't understand why it's not here as well.

[Bakkster]

I expect a new interface update from MS as well, but I still don't see the purpose of 30-second previews when you can get full-song views on YouTube.

[GloriosoZoso]

I agree.

Providing a Xbox Live marketplace preview is the onlt thing GH3 does better than RB.

[Rock_Starman]

Of course GH 3 gets about 3 songs a month compared to 3-6 songs a week and then when the full albums come out it could be anywhere from 9-20 songs a week depending on the album and if there's any extra singles for that week.

It's perfectly legal to look them up on youtube. A lot of record companies put stuff on there themeselves.

[FLiPxXx]

It would be cool if they just put up a 15 second clip of a full band playing the song.

[Danno]

So after I see new songs in the marketplace, I get to write the song names down, then switch over to my computer and search the songs out on itunes...assuming that I even have that program installed to begin with.

That is somehow the fix for not having a preview for new content?


Help me understand... Are you getting a letter in the mail telling you what the content is? Considering they have posted a schedule in the past and will be posting a new DLC schedule (Supposedly) seems a little research is all you need. Seems you are a little lazy and are wanting someone to do all your work for you. if youtube is too hard for you try www.seeqpod.com It's a whole lot easier and much better to use. As far as previews go it may be a good idea. I'm not saying its not, but how many movie previews or cover songs for a new album have steered you wrong. Regardless of what someone else may do for you, now and forever, you will always be a little better off doing your "own" research and making decisions based on "your" own conclusions. That way none of us have to read a post next month by you whining about being misled and jipped out of your MS points by your preview

[Xerosnake90]

Why is everyone such a douche on this forum? Always gotta defend your precious title to the bone. There's a REALLY EASY SOLUTION to allowing a preview. Check this out.

1. You go to the menu that shows you the songs and song packs.

2. You chose one of the songs and when the tab comes up that says 'Download this song' there could be an extra one say 'VIEW PREVIEW'

3. Enjoy the song!

And pow! No one needs to go on youtube to look at something else. And btw, I can't access the internet on my pc and 360 at the same time, so unless I feel like going through more trouble than it's worth, I'll just hope that someday HMX will get smart and put out a preview feature.

[AdamBomb629]

The logistics of doing this could be difficult since there is no real system in place on XBL right now for such a thing. A poster higher up also mentioned the fact that there is so much DLC coming out every week that preview videos would clutter up the interface.

[Toby]

I agree cause really

I'm not gonna go out of my way to youtube search for some swedish weirdo band I never heard of to see if the songs good or not

You know.... that 5th DLC song we got today yeah that one... I aint downloading it and Im not gonna go out of my way to listen to it either

[bigdug13]

I guess everyone on forums assumes that you will always have a PC connected to the internet. I guess everyone also assumes that you can connect to youtube, which I can't do at work (blocked), in order to check out these songs.

What if you aren't internet savvy enough to realize that people are posting previews of all of these songs on youtube, and you just want to be able to preview what you purchase? I guess because everyone here knows that the songs are on youtube, that means EVERY current and future rock band owner will have that same knowledge.

I just don't understand how the other inferior music games can pull it off but it's not nearly important enough for the Rock Band developers to even attempt to add previews.

[Bakkster]

I'm not gonna go out of my way to youtube search for some swedish weirdo band I never heard of to see if the songs good or not

You know.... that 5th DLC song we got today yeah that one... I aint downloading it and Im not gonna go out of my way to listen to it either

Your loss.


I guess everyone on forums assumes that you will always have a PC connected to the internet. I guess everyone also assumes that you can connect to youtube, which I can't do at work (blocked), in order to check out these songs.

What if you aren't internet savvy enough to realize that people are posting previews of all of these songs on youtube, and you just want to be able to preview what you purchase? I guess because everyone here knows that the songs are on youtube, that means EVERY current and future rock band owner will have that same knowledge.

Of course, no one here is internet savvy, and they must not have the internet at their house in order to view YouTube videos of DLC. /sarcasm :D

[Rock_Starman]

Let's say they put up the Smashing Pumpkins classic album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness for download. There's 28 songs across 2 discs. Also with that they put out a Smashing Pumpkins pack with Adore,Disarm and Siva. Would you really expect 31 preview videos? It's just not realistic to do with this game.

[raregamer]

I agree with the Op. I would love to have a preview.

[Korky89]

quit over exaggerating i open up the window at wikipedia.com with the list of downloadable content and download the songs to see which ones sound fun to play.... ITS SIMPLE

[gmagnus]

They need an in-game interface for the DLC. Someone who buys the game a few months from now is gonna have a helluva time going through that one long list that's there now. You need to be able to see DLC by artist, date, difficulty, by pack name etc, like in the song selection screen. This might also allow them to gray out any individual songs that you already have from a pack.

And they should have previews.

[WiseOldUnicorn]

They definitely need to redo the DLC interface. Going through all the songs on XBL is ALREADY a pain in the ass--I shudder to think what it'll be like a few months from now. Not so much a problem for those of us who keep track of the DLC and can go straight to the new songs at the top, but what about people that get the game months down the road? They're gonna go in there, have to scroll through a list of hundreds of songs, get confused over what's available in packs and what isn't, and end up saying "screw this" and not even buying anything.

If it's at all possible, I think some kind of in-game, iTunes/Napster like interface would be ideal. You should be able to sort songs by genre, artist, decade, difficulty, etc., and get a 30-second preview of any song before you download it. They're almost going to HAVE to do something like that if they keep their DLC promises and end up having hundreds or even thousands of songs.

[TobyD81]

.I'm not gonna go out of my way to youtube search for some swedish weirdo band I never heard of to see if the songs good or not...

This sucks because I was actually going to suggest this method. Withing a few hours (or less) of release, you can expect to have You Tube video up.
Arguing against the logistics of having a preview is nonsense, as Guitar Hero seems to be handling it just fine through an XBLA video download. Rock Band should be doing this. GH 2 and 3 also have links to DLC in the game menus. Rock band should be doing this. It speaks well of the game that I've bought so much of its DLC and virtually none of Guitar Hero's, but Harmonix certainly hasn't made it easy.

[King_Jackalope]

even easier search for the song/band on Amazon.com and listen to the preview if you are completely stumped as to what song it could possibly be. Chances are if you have NO IDEA what the song is, you are most likey not that intersted in it to begin with. If you can't take 10-15 minutes (assuming you type with mittens on) to do a quick internet search (via youtube, amazon or itunes) then you are far too busy to be playing a game I guess. And for the people that don't have 2 internet connections hooked up at the same time. Sorry, life is not perfect for everyone I guess. In the time you spent coming on here to cry/rant about it you could have done the search and been done with it.

I walk upright. I can find the preview myself without adding more content to a already messy menu on live. It really doesn't take that much work people. We put a man on the moon, I'm pretty sure we an get over this hurddle as well.

[xfMike]

The logistics of doing this could be difficult since there is no real system in place on XBL right now for such a thing. A poster higher up also mentioned the fact that there is so much DLC coming out every week that preview videos would clutter up the interface.

The Marketplace already has the option to preview TV Shows and Movies. The method Zerosnake mentioned would make a lot of sense and could definitely work.

The best method, other than an in-game browser, would look something like this:

Dashboard -> Marketplace -> New Arrivals -> (Games) Rock Band -> Song X by Band A -> Download Now or Preview

You could just add the preview option on the screen where you see the option to download it. That way all the videos will be organised, and wont clutter up the rest of the DLC, as they will all be accessible by clicking each song... and instead of hitting "Download" (or confirm purchase? I can't think of it right now), you can scroll down and hit preview.

Basically, in the marketplace, take a look at how they have Movies set up. You get the option for HD, SD, Credits, and Preview (and what ever else). If there was a set up similar to that, things would be great.

[cjkuhlenbeck]

I don't really care for the previews, not really that big of a deal. Besides, i just buy all the songs anyways. Just cuz i dont like em doesnt mean a friend wont either. Gotta make it fun for everyone ;)

[pmyers23]

After downloanding just about every song and pack this weekend.....I have to say that the DLC interface is very lacking and I too would like an (audio) preview of the song.

I found the interface very cumbersome and un-user friendly. Although I didn't, I can see where it would be very easy for somebody to download the same songs in the packs and by singles. I hated that it only let me queue up like 5 songs at a time.

One of the songs was so obscure that it wasn't even on Itunes....LOL

Definate room for improvement there.

[Drossvirex]

They need an in-game interface for the DLC. Someone who buys the game a few months from now is gonna have a helluva time going through that one long list that's there now. You need to be able to see DLC by artist, date, difficulty, by pack name etc, like in the song selection screen. This might also allow them to gray out any individual songs that you already have from a pack.

And they should have previews.

Exactly.............