Just came back from playtesting Rock Band

[JB4GDI]

Just got back from visiting Harmonix to playtest Rock Band!

They made me sign an NDA so I can't say anything about the gameplay mechanics, menu stuff, songs that I played, or anything that would reveal any new information about the game. I know that's really not that helpful to you all, but I am super excited and just wanted to share the following with as many people as I can (which I am allowed to):

The game is going to rock your freaking world. Buy it as soon as you can. It may be one of the most enjoyable games I have ever played, and I've barely seen all there is to the game.

That's about it. My arms are screaming from about 6 hours of drumming (the longest I've ever gone), so I'm probably going to pack it in for the night.

Oh, and since the Ok Go song was announced today and Gamestop has a video up, I think I'm allowed to tell you that it was SWEET. It may become the next "All of This." I am dying to play it again.

-Jaime

P.S. If you're thinking I'm making this all up, please visit here: http://www.rockband.com/index.php?do=/public/user/blogs/view/name_HMXChrisCanfield/id_325/

P.P.S. Thanks so much Chris and Jon. This was definitely one of the most amazing things I have ever done!!

[lithiumkc]

AWESOME. I trust your review as you're a regular here... this makes me psyched for it even more. Congrats on the chance, glad you loved it

[McDeezy]

I am so happy you loved it and I cannot WAIIIIIIIT for the game! Congrats man!! and DAMN on the 6hrs!

[sushi111]

Awesome!

I know you cant say WHICH songs you played, but can you tell us if the rest of teh setlist has some huge bands, and in your personal opinion... were they awesome?:)

[Tendoza]

Awesome!

I know you cant say WHICH songs you played, but can you tell us if the rest of teh setlist has some huge bands, and in your personal opinion... were they awesome?:)
sushi, you sly guy....

any info is good info, am I right? :)

[AVC808]

that's excellent. i love how this forum is interactive with the developers. how else can they know what exactly the consumers want. three thumbs up!

[ThePaska]

You are one lucky guy. I bet playing it was amazing. Did you get to work with a version with the full song list? That would be sweet! I wish I could play test this game.

[masterx1918]

yeah I got an email to play test a couple of weeks ago but Jon never emailed me back. oh well

[KingColon]

Y'know, if you were to mention a couple of bands or something, I could totally keep a secret, man. I swear.

Seriously though? I don't want you to spoil anything. It'd be violating an agreement and it'd be just so not right.

Either way, you're one lucky bastard. Wish I could've played me some Rock Band. Must've been so totally sweet, though..

[AVC808]

Y'know, if you were to mention a couple of bands or something, I could totally keep a secret, man. I swear.

Seriously though? I don't want you to spoil anything. It'd be violating an agreement and it'd be just so not right.

Either way, you're one lucky bastard. Wish I could've played me some Rock Band. Must've been so totally sweet, though..

hehe, i totally read through the whole thing and spelled out the phrase in my head cuz i was curious.

[bounchfx]

SO FREAKING JEALOUS!

Grats man!

/uber hyped

[Terranova]

Just got back from visiting Harmonix to playtest Rock Band!

They made me sign an NDA so I can't say anything about the gameplay mechanics, menu stuff, songs that I played, or anything that would reveal any new information about the game. I know that's really not that helpful to you all, but I am super excited and just wanted to share the following with as many people as I can (which I am allowed to):

The game is going to rock your freaking world. Buy it as soon as you can. It may be one of the most enjoyable games I have ever played, and I've barely seen all there is to the game.

That's about it. My arms are screaming from about 6 hours of drumming (the longest I've ever gone), so I'm probably going to pack it in for the night.

Oh, and since the Ok Go song was announced today and Gamestop has a video up, I think I'm allowed to tell you that it was SWEET. It may become the next "All of This." I am dying to play it again.

-Jaime

P.S. If you're thinking I'm making this all up, please visit here: http://www.rockband.com/index.php?do=/public/user/blogs/view/name_HMXChrisCanfield/id_325/

P.P.S. Thanks so much Chris and Jon. This was definitely one of the most amazing things I have ever done!!

Nice one.. glad you had fun.. can you say how the drums felt and what were the difficulty levels like if you tried them all.

[the_spike]

Were the Tom Sawyer drums really hard?

[Xzyliac]

Coolio! If you just happen to make a setlist post and it just happens to be correct let me know.

[_Five_]

I have expected nothing less than awesome. :-)
Damn, I wish it wasn't almost half a year till we can play it.

[robmandark]

half a year? man i read gamespy's review and im a tad nervous that expert guitar wil lbe nothing compared to drums

[Bakkster_Man]

Oh, and since the Ok Go song was announced today and Gamestop has a video up, I think I'm allowed to tell you that it was SWEET. It may become the next "All of This." I am dying to play it again.

-Jaime

That's what I was thinking. I hope you're right!

[LZ_Reborn]

That's awsome, I'm happy for ya...and I'm also happy that you think the game was great, tho I didn't expect anything less.

Hope your arms feel better soon.

[JB4GDI]

Note: Just for all you wondering, I am actually a drummer.


Awesome!

I know you cant say WHICH songs you played, but can you tell us if the rest of teh setlist has some huge bands, and in your personal opinion... were they awesome?:)

To be honest, I am not very big on popular rock music since I grew up on little more than 90s pop and stuff. Most of the setlist I hadn't even heard before yesterday (which is probably good because I forgot all the names of the songs I didn't know already), but I did know almost all the artists. I was really having a good time with quite a few of the songs. Paranoid, Reptilia, and Won't Get Fooled Again were ones that stick out in my mind as a really good time to drum on.


You are one lucky guy. I bet playing it was amazing. Did you get to work with a version with the full song list? That would be sweet! I wish I could play test this game.

It wasn't complete, but I did beat everything that was there. The only exception was about 15 downloadable tracks that they had on there that they didn't want me to touch. If what I saw for downloadable stuff is actually buyable when the game comes out, you're all going to be very pleased.


Y'know, if you were to mention a couple of bands or something, I could totally keep a secret, man. I swear.

Seriously though? I don't want you to spoil anything. It'd be violating an agreement and it'd be just so not right.

Either way, you're one lucky bastard. Wish I could've played me some Rock Band. Must've been so totally sweet, though..

No secrets for you! And yes it was sweet.


Nice one.. glad you had fun.. can you say how the drums felt and what were the difficulty levels like if you tried them all.

Even though I spent 6 hours playing the drums on Hard, I didn't have time to try any other difficulties (or pick up the guitar). I will say that as a drummer, the drum set felt amazingly natural to play on. Like, the whole not crossing over the hi-hat didn't even bother me at all. I will say that the foot pedal is slightly different than a real one (since there's no visual cue of the stick hitting the bass drum), but it took me almost no time to get the hang of it, and the height of the pads and pedal positions are all adjustable (as can be seen in most of the videos and screenshots). It was super easy to pick up as a drummer, and to be honest, I think regular people won't have much difficulty learning it if they start off on the easier settings.


Were the Tom Sawyer drums really hard?

(Don't Fear) The Reaper gave me more trouble. I didn't have any problems passing tom Sawyer.

****

Any other questions that I can legally answer, I'd be more than happy to.

Thanks,
-Jaime

[Xzyliac]

How much guitar did you play? How'd it feel? Anything special to note?

[MartyMcFly]

I didn't have time to try any other difficulties (or pick up the guitar).

I'm still waiting to hear more first hand experiences with the new guitar. Glad to hear the drums rock as much as they should!

[JB4GDI]

How much guitar did you play? How'd it feel? Anything special to note?

The Harmonix employee who was in charge of my playtest actually had to end it before I got to even hold the guitar or try any other difficulty setting on the drums (I would have really liked to try Expert since I flew through Hard).

He said I may be able to go back though. We'll see.

-Jaime

[Magnet]

I just have one question:

What's the worst thing that could happen if you broke that little old NDA? ;)

[masterx1918]

I thought that the last batch of tests was for people who were inexperienced with both the drums and guitar hero? That's what I was led to believe.

[Bakkster_Man]

I just have one question:

What's the worst thing that could happen if you broke that little old NDA? ;)

Considering an NDA is a contract, violating it would be a breach of contract.

So, probably the worst would be to pay a bunch of $$$ when he gets sued...

[JB4GDI]

I just have one question:

What's the worst thing that could happen if you broke that little old NDA? ;)

Like the guy above me said, I'd probably owe them a lot of money, and I'd probably never get a job in the video game industry. The last thing I want to do is say something that breaks my NDA (I'm being real careful about what I say and how I say it to people).


I thought that the last batch of tests was for people who were inexperienced with both the drums and guitar hero? That's what I was led to believe.

It was. The advanced testing is this week. Someone else was there doing the guitar stuff for just as long as I was.

-Jaime

[JB4GDI]

Oh yeah, someone PMed me and asked if I sang during any of the songs.

Of the few songs I actually know some of the lyrics too, overall it was very difficult. That's not to say everything was difficult (Don't Fear the Reaper wasn't actually too bad to drum and sing at the same time), but I usually found the choruses were easy to sing, and actually singing verses while drumming was way more of a challenge (just as hard as trying it in real life).

-Jaime

[hmxsean]

Gotta be the bad guy and end this thread before it gets out of hand. Glad he enjoyed the game but playtests are exceptionally hush hush due to the nature of unfinished builds and other such stuff.