Suggestion : Ways to make it affordable easily

[Cyberjesus]

Why not sell the game in different forms? A guitar pack, a drum pack , a singer pack and an all in one pack for example.

[sa_nick]

That's about how I was imagining it. But then you also need to be able to but each peripheral separate as well. I would love it if a bundle came out though I'd be up for getting that, even if it does take 4 people to lift it, lol. Would it come with just the 1 guitar though... I'd say so.

[Ardius]

That's about how I was imagining it. But then you also need to be able to but each peripheral separate as well. I would love it if a bundle came out though I'd be up for getting that, even if it does take 4 people to lift it, lol. Would it come with just the 1 guitar though... I'd say so.

Wth? Why would the box be so big? I can imagine that the drum peripheral will be some kind thing you rest on your lap, like a steering wheel for driving games or the bongos for Donkey Konga. The microphone.....would be a microphone. The guitars will be similar to the GH ones, so not very big or heavy. The game it self and then anyway stickers, guitar straps and any other stuff.
It would be no bigger than a box for a PS3 or 360, I imagine.

[phishie]

What would the controllers be like? I imagine the guitar and bass to be a fully plastic, downsized stratocaster/fender p-bass with nylon strings and one pickup under it, it could use the same thing that the singing game (what ever it's called) uses to detect off key voices. I had in mind a design for what the drums would end up being like, maybe something along the lines of this, small enough to come in a box, yet large enough to be played comfortabally:
http://www.valdemar.net/~phil/2004DRUM01.jpg (Roland did design this set after all, and aren't they helping with some of the technology in the game?)
I also think it might be something similar to guitar hero, like chosing a character avatar when you first start, picking a guitar/bass/drum set/mic and stand, and selecting what instrument you're playing with. But there's a problem with this... My 360 has no controller ports, would it be designed with wired and wireless modes like the GH controllers?

Wouldn't there also have to be a port on the instruments to plug in a basic xbox live/playstation online headset to communicate with band members?

[Ardius]

What would the controllers be like? I imagine the guitar and bass to be a fully plastic, downsized stratocaster/fender p-bass with nylon strings and one pickup under it, it could use the same thing that the singing game (what ever it's called) uses to detect off key voices. I had in mind a design for what the drums would end up being like, maybe something along the lines of this, small enough to come in a box, yet large enough to be played comfortabally:
http://www.valdemar.net/~phil/2004DRUM01.jpg (Roland did design this set after all, and aren't they helping with some of the technology in the game?)
I also think it might be something similar to guitar hero, like chosing a character avatar when you first start, picking a guitar/bass/drum set/mic and stand, and selecting what instrument you're playing with. But there's a problem with this... My 360 has no controller ports, would it be designed with wired and wireless modes like the GH controllers?

Wouldn't there also have to be a port on the instruments to plug in a basic xbox live/playstation online headset to communicate with band members?

Theyve said somewhere it will be wireless i think.....I dont see why not anyway.

Yeah, thats a little like what I thought for the drums, but Im thinking more compact. Not everyone will have that much space in their rooms, I was thinking more like a steering wheel, where you have it on your lap, but with many buttons arranged around you of different sizes.
Yes, I think you might have caught on to what Roland might be doing with them, although it might be just the effects pedals for all we know.

Well, the headset thing is pretty much inevitable. That will be easily done.
Guitars will be exactly like Guitar Hero.

[Android8675]

Heh, yeah 4 different packs each pack comes with the game. YEAH....

Maybe 2 packs, the drums, guitar and game, or the mic, guitar and game.

Or just a la carte the whole thing, and make sure to use a lot of packaging, because that's what we need is more crap in our landfills.

Sorry, was out volunteering tonight.

-A.

[phishie]

Theyve said somewhere it will be wireless i think.....I dont see why not anyway.

Yeah, thats a little like what I thought for the drums, but Im thinking more compact. Not everyone will have that much space in their rooms, I was thinking more like a steering wheel, where you have it on your lap, but with many buttons arranged around you of different sizes.
Yes, I think you might have caught on to what Roland might be doing with them, although it might be just the effects pedals for all we know.

Well, the headset thing is pretty much inevitable. That will be easily done.
Guitars will be exactly like Guitar Hero.

Jeeze, JUST like guitar hero? That's quite the horrible idea. I thought this game was supposed to be for musicans, not talentless people who think they're great because they can strike one string and five frets. What's the point in Rock Band if it's going to be EXACTLY like Guitar Hero 3 plus drums and a mic?

[Android8675]

Ouch!

What does that make me I wonder, I haven't even past Hard mode yet. :(

Ya makin me cry man.

[phishie]

I mean, no offense to them, I couldn't play guitar hero if my life depended on it, though bass in real life I've been doing for a few months. I'd love to go online and get some pointers/play with other great musicians. Hey, maybe if you go for a real guitar design real famous musicians would go online and play, like Synyster Gates or Victor Wooton. Just think, you could end up joining a band with someone and not realize until later they're a professional.

[sa_nick]

Jeeze, JUST like guitar hero? That's quite the horrible idea... What's the point in Rock Band if it's going to be EXACTLY like Guitar Hero 3 plus drums and a mic?

Phishie, something tells me your not going to be happy when this game is released. It is basicly going to be Guitar Hero with Drums and a Mic.


I thought this game was supposed to be for musicians, not talentless people who think they're great because they can strike one string and five frets

I think you have that the wrong way around. The game is not for musicians, its for gamers. I know some musicians like playing Guitar Hero but 90% of the ones i know HATE it with passion. I think the point of the game is to give gamers a feeling like they can play an instrument like a pro, even if they have no music talent.

And on the subject of drum peripheral Ardius is right (I was over exaggerating b4 about needed 4 people to lift it, but it will still be one of the biggest game packs around). It will be a compact little thing. Im not sure about it sitting on your lap. Maybe something like fold out legs similar to an ironing board? But don't expect anything like in your pic... it would cost more than $1000 for the drum peripheral alone.

Also I don't think Roland or Fender are actually creating any technology for the game. Harmonix are just designing the peripherals and in game guitars around Fender ones (similar to Guitar Hero's contract with Gibson)

And finally, there will be no Bass peripheral, the guitar one will double for that. Most Consumers will not want to pay another 50 bucks for something that does the exact same thing but looks a tiny bit different. note: I'm talking about the controller, not saying real guitar and bass are the same.

Key point: The game is for gamers. It has to be easily accessible to people with no music talent and cost less than $250.

[phishie]

Wow, this is a major disappionter. My friend made it seem like it was going to be so much more.

[sa_nick]

Wow, this is a major disappionter. My friend made it seem like it was going to be so much more.

Is your friend a gamer or musician?

[flclrocks07]

I don't even care this game is gonna be the best music game ever. Well maybe not the best but close.;)

[SoraRikuVGM]

All I have to say is thank god for Christmas.

[Smidget]

Wow, this is a major disappionter. My friend made it seem like it was going to be so much more.

yep, just a video game (using "just" lightly). It has a lot of potential to enter into other arenas in the future though

[c0nd0rd4myt]

i think a REALLY cheap way to go about is go the same way they make consoles (relativly) cheap. they basically sell the thing at half price (i know on the PS3 they are sold at half what it costs to make), and than make money in the future on the games.

now i am making a huge assumption here that RB will not be the only game thats being made. in a dream situation, thered be a new RB game out every year or so.

if you guys are planning to make more than one RB game (or even more games that use the periphreals), than i would think selling the periphreals for less and the games more to compensate for the loss would be a good idea.

[Ardius]

i think a REALLY cheap way to go about is go the same way they make consoles (relativly) cheap. they basically sell the thing at half price (i know on the PS3 they are sold at half what it costs to make), and than make money in the future on the games.

now i am making a huge assumption here that RB will not be the only game thats being made. in a dream situation, thered be a new RB game out every year or so.

if you guys are planning to make more than one RB game (or even more games that use the periphreals), than i would think selling the periphreals for less and the games more to compensate for the loss would be a good idea.

Ergh. I hate yearly updates just because they hardly change anything. It really just feels like an expansion or something......yeah, some companies can pull it off alright for one or two years, but most realise that they can make money for less work if they just add a few new things and not spend any time on the game.
Id rather them spend a few years developing new ideas and getting rid of bugs than them rushing to release a new game each year with a few new songs and little graphical tweeks and loads of bugs and problems.

[c0nd0rd4myt]

Ergh. I hate yearly updates just because they hardly change anything. It really just feels like an expansion or something......yeah, some companies can pull it off alright for one or two years, but most realise that they can make money for less work if they just add a few new things and not spend any time on the game.
Id rather them spend a few years developing new ideas and getting rid of bugs than them rushing to release a new game each year with a few new songs and little graphical tweeks and loads of bugs and problems.

and whats the problem with that? if you change something you run the risk of ruining it. and as far as Madden goes (which is like the king of yearly updates), they dont change the game much there because the sport of Football itself has not changed in recent years.

Madden, Tony Hawk, Pokemon, pick your poison, they were fun at the beginning and since than rather than changing the game play they expand upon it.

and i'd kinda like to know which yearly game your playin, cause i've never encountered a bug in those ive tried. more often than not, the "original" games have more bugs than the non-originals, and they tend not to sell (in 05 madden for the ps2 was the best selling console game according to the ESA, and only 1 out of the top 50 games was a truly original title)

[Ardius]

and whats the problem with that? if you change something you run the risk of ruining it. and as far as Madden goes (which is like the king of yearly updates), they dont change the game much there because the sport of Football itself has not changed in recent years.

Madden, Tony Hawk, Pokemon, pick your poison, they were fun at the beginning and since than rather than changing the game play they expand upon it.

and i'd kinda like to know which yearly game your playin, cause i've never encountered a bug in those ive tried. more often than not, the "original" games have more bugs than the non-originals, and they tend not to sell (in 05 madden for the ps2 was the best selling console game according to the ESA, and only 1 out of the top 50 games was a truly original title)

......but Rock Band is not the same as some generic sports game. Generic games like the ones you just gave usually have been going for years already and have already spent up on new ideas. Tony Hawks turned into a very fat cash cow. Same with pokemon, as long as they know people will buy the game, they will simply give it some flashy new things and basically re-sell the exact same game. A lot of people will buy the game anyway becasue all they are bothered about is either:
1. Having the most up-to-date games.
2. Dont care how little content is added, they are fanboys

And I was referring to games which used to take years of development but then they were rushed because they felt it better to release early rather than spend time in development (Gran Turismo 2 is a fine example, because Sony forced Polyphony to rush it to release, it had many bugs in it and imcompleted new features, etc.)

And my opinion is exactly that:
I prefer them to change the gameplay and add new features and spend time on finding out ways to make it better. Rather than just go "oh well, lets add some new maps, some flashy grahpics and re-sell it". Whether they need to be radical changes or minor improvements...it matters not......at least they put effort in to try and make it better.

Main point is:
Rock Band is trying to gain new fans and make people want to buy it.
Madden does not need to do anything to get people to buy, its already got its audience.

[c0nd0rd4myt]

and if they market it towards a wider audience through using the same mechanics but appying to different genres of music (for instance, my dad is a big fan of the blues, if a GH like game let him play BBKing tunes hed be in heaven).

and Gran Turismo as you said is not a "yearly updated game" as you put it (cause as far as i know we're only up to 5).

and i would like you to

1: show me a game where the version before and the version prior are identical to one another (special editions of the same game dont count)
2: show me a graphics/programming/scripting language that takes little to no effort. updating the graphics engine can be timesink in on itself.

and reselling the original game, in my mind, is completly acceptable, especially when the first game was plenty fun. the second Knights of the Republic was allmost verbatim the same game as the prior (a few extra force powers, the influence system, and a new NPC party members), which was fine cause the original won like 50+ game of the year awards. it kept the same basic system and continued the story, which is fine by me.

[sa_nick]

I think c0nd0rd4myt has a cool idea. Sell the peripherals at a really low price and make money other ways. Downloadable content will no doubt make them millions of dollars (as long as its not priced so high no one buys it)

[Ardius]

and if they market it towards a wider audience through using the same mechanics but appying to different genres of music (for instance, my dad is a big fan of the blues, if a GH like game let him play BBKing tunes hed be in heaven).

and Gran Turismo as you said is not a "yearly updated game" as you put it (cause as far as i know we're only up to 5).

and i would like you to

1: show me a game where the version before and the version prior are identical to one another (special editions of the same game dont count)
2: show me a graphics/programming/scripting language that takes little to no effort. updating the graphics engine can be timesink in on itself.

and reselling the original game, in my mind, is completly acceptable, especially when the first game was plenty fun. the second Knights of the Republic was allmost verbatim the same game as the prior (a few extra force powers, the influence system, and a new NPC party members), which was fine cause the original won like 50+ game of the year awards. it kept the same basic system and continued the story, which is fine by me.

I never said anything about not marketing it towards a large audience, just that the examples you use are of games which already have fanbases, where this is a new game and is looking for a new fanbase.

A game which is essentially identical? Most sports games. I dont know about Madden and sutff, but over here in England, we've got Fifa which rarely adds anything to the game other than fancy new visuals and a few name changes here and there.
Methinks I exaggerated with the graphics bit. I suppose thats my personal vendetta with the argument "graphics over gameplay".

I suppose you need to strike a balance, you want to make a sequel which keeps what made the original great, but still provide enough new features so that it becomes a worthwhile purcahse. I just dont see yearly updates as worthwhile purchases.
The developers say it themselves all the time, that they dont get enough time to fully develop the game they want....that they are always rushed to complete the game. Surely it would be more beneficial for them to spend as much time as they think necessary? Thats what happened with the Gran Turismo series, Sony realised that pushing for release was a bad idea and allowed Polyphony to get on with it on the later releases.

Sigh, whatever. Can we agree to disagree? This argument isnt going anywhere.

[c0nd0rd4myt]

yah thats fine, agreeing do disagree is what i do best.

it might be a new game, but i think there is allready a large fanbase of people who have played Guitar Hero and the other rythm games by Harmonix who would entrust these guys with thier first born child if necessary. and when you consider that the original Guitar Hero for the ps2 was one of the best selling games for that year, i think thier pretty set.

when you design a video game, there are three basic things you can base your game around. gameplay (something innovative or odd like Katamari Damacy, or even Guitar Hero), Story (such as the Legend of Zelda games) or Technology (either by pushing graphics, physics, or AI to a new level. theres a new game called Portal coming out that is basically a FPS-puzzle game in that you shoot and make black holes in areas to move about and move to the next stage). the other things can be good and important, but one has to be most important (though when you play a game like Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, kinda hard to tell which they focussed on most).

regardless of which one your game focuses on though, gameplay is the most important thing overall. thats why when you got a good thing going, you only expand upon the idea rather than try to change it.

and like i said orginally, it would my dream scenario for a new game every year. i'd still be perfectly happy with just new RB/GH/whatever games that came out fairly often. the key thing is that when i buy the drum periphreal i either i want to be able to pay as little as possible for it and be able to use it for more games than this one.