Rockband - New Information From Game Informer

[sweetlips]

Copied from another forum. (is this all for real?)

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=163628

- One disk with 4 separate campaigns. Guitar, Drum, Bass and Vocal. Each can be played on its own from start to finish, in addition, a full band game is designed to allow for one huge co-op playthrough.

- Will feature full support for four player online play on both 360 and PS3. Any combination of on/offline play will work and each player can pick their own difficulty setting.

- Flexible community system will allow you to find bandmates anywhere in the world

- There will be a way for you to share your band's triumphs with the world, but the details are still under wraps.

- Musical fret-boards are now transparent so you can see more of the background visuals. Guitar is on the left side of the screen, Bass on the right and drums down the middle. Vocals scroll from right to left along the top of the screen.

- Guitars and Bass now have 10 frets. 5 for the regular sections of the game and 5 for the newly designated solo sections.

- Whammy bar is back as is the tilt to activate rock band's version of star power

- there is a five way switch on the guitar that allows for 5 different self-applied effects to the sound.

- Singing is now more in depth. There is a phoneme detector that will pick up individual vowels and consonants you say. Build up enough highly judged phrases and you'll be able to sing free-form. If you do well enough in free-form, then you'll trigger the vocalist's version of star power.

- Microphone doubles as a tambourine on many songs to combat super long guitar solos where the singer doesn't have much to do.

- Drums are apparently insane. You use actual sticks and hit one of four colored pads in front of you, in addition to a kick pedal attached to the drumming unit. Drummers will also have the ability to do fills etc. in their own little free-form section, do well and you'll trigger the drummers version of star power.

- If one person fails, the whole band does not fail, their section simply turns gray and they have to sit out the rest of the song unless one your band mates initiates star power, which will bring you back into the fold.

- If all bandmates can reach the end of a song, you'll be greeted with one huge free-form jam session.

- There will be a character creation system, and you can create multiple avatars that play different instruments.

- Four themed clothing stores in addition to licensed guitars and pedals and other rock paraphernalia.

- A full set of mo-cap stage movements have been added for each instrument. You can decide whether your vocalist moves like Axel Rose, or stands his ground like Clapton.

- 40 performance venues planned

- All peripherals will be unique to each platform. This isn't the developer's decision. Apparently MS peripherals require special circuit boards.

- You'll be able to craft your own band logo

- The HUD in the screens isn't final but is a good indication of what you can expect

- 4 songs announced in the article, not sure if this is new or old but whatever.
Weezer - Say It Ain't So - Original Master Track
Black Sabbath - Paranoid - Original Master Track
The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again - Original Master Track
Nirvana - In Bloom - Original Master Track

INSTRUMENT DESCRIPTIONS

Sorry I can't post photos so my descriptions will have to suffice

Guitars/Bass

Guitars are an exact 3/4 replica of a Fender Strat.

Xplorer guitars will work for 360 owners, but you may not be able to pass on all the new stuff this model has.

Five familiar buttons near the top of the neck, five buttons near the body of the guitar. You will use these new buttons during specially designed solo sections using ONLY hammer ons and pull offs, no having to worry about your strum bar. Signature Fender 5-way switch has been added. By shopping at the in game store you'll be able to purchase several virtual effects pedals such as Flange, Wah, Chorus and Echo. These can be applied during your song by setting the 5 way switch to the desired effect.

Microphone

There will eventually be a Rock Band branded Mic

Other USB mics will be supported, but Harmonix will probably NOT allow the use of the 360 headset due to its low fidelity. Mics will be usable as tambourines during certain songs.

That's all for mics!

DRUMS

The picture of the drum peripheral in the mag is not final.

It consists of four pads, a kick pedal and legs for the enire unit to stand on. Think of it as a TV dinner tray stand only cooler

Leftmost pad (red) is your snare drum, everything else doubles as toms and cymbals depending on the song.

A set of real wooden drum sticks will ship with the unit.

A piece of the stand can be taken off so that the unit can sit lower, or on a coffee table.

There is a kick pedal

If you play drums in this game on hard or expert, then you're really playing the drums. Apparently you could sit down at a real set and play the same songs.


THAT'S ALL SHE WROTE

Sorry for spelling and grammar. Was doing this while doing work.

[SlipknotFan23]

This game is going to F***ING RULE!! (sorry for the language)

[benjamin]

Have you seen the original article?

I am not attacking you but I refuse to believe that until either a Harmonix person confirms it or I see the GI article.

Though what you said sounded awesome. Though their choice of Nirvana song is not that great.

[drno830]

Have you seen the original article?

I am not attacking you but I refuse to believe that until either a Harmonix person confirms it or I see the GI article.

Though what you said sounded awesome. Though their choice of Nirvana song is not that great.

They may doing more than one song by bands. The drums for In Bloom sound like they would be a lot of fun though. There are a lot of fills

[SoraRikuVGM]

THOSE HOES!!!

They always send my GameInformer a week late.

[benjamin]

They may doing more than one song by bands. The drums for In Bloom sound like they would be a lot of fun though. There are a lot of fills

Dave Grohl is a fun guy.

[sweetlips]

Sorry, I have no way to prove this is real. I do not have the GI article. I just saw the posting on neogaf and thought I'd post it here, as this would be the place to post such things.

However, if it is indeed all real, then that is pretty cool, no?

Drums sound pretty fun. I love the possibility of jamming with other players too. That's pretty much the GTA play all day feature, IMO. I forsee many drunken awful noise jams, and one or two good ones, but still, sounds rad. Give the poeple the tools and they shall use them.

[Tendoza]

HOLY SUGAR NUTS THIS IS NUTS

WONT GET FOOLED AGAIN!

PARANOID!!!

HOLY LOVE MONKEYS

(noticed how I containeed myself from swearing)

[SoraRikuVGM]

This means that the guy from this thread (http://www.rockband.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=572) wasn't lying (well, maybe, but he was right about some stuff.)

[sushi111]

Wont get Fooled Again is the single greatest song they could have picked for this game. Im so flippin excited now!

[SwordofWhedon]

If this is real, I'm popping a chubby

[Slab_X]

Holy ****, I can't believe how much this game is going to rule. I'm hoping you can mix up the instruments for Co-Op Career, such as Guitar, Bass and Drums without vocals.

The extra fret buttons down the neck for Solos is great, and something I've always wanted too. Now I see what they mean by you won't get certain extra features by using the regular GH2 guitar instead of the Rock Band specific guitar.

[bounchfx]

THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING EVARRRRR.

I just really hope there are more Dual-Guitar parts and less Guitar/Bass parts.. honestly, at least for metal songs or songs with boring bass.. from what I've seen.. most song's have boring bass.

maybe have an option? or easy/medium is bass while hard/expert is second lead guitar?

Anyway. i'm a little worried about the drums compared to drummania because this only has 4+pedal while dm has 5+pedal.. I think this will make it easier to digest though, I just hope the drums work WELL and that there is some challenge in the harder difficulties.. I can't wait I am SO god damn excited.

I hope there's a good an extensive songlist.. and I REALLY hope that at the very least there is Opeth and Dream Theater... theres SO much more that would rule, but.. yeah. I'm pretty sure they will have dragon force and hopefully metallica or zep? (if possible at all?), I'm almost sure they have dream theater too, because when it comes to a full BAND playing, that's just talent and awesomeness there, and I can't imagine how fun their songs would be for RB.

Anyway, here's hoping to a big song list and perchance downloadable full albums for the game.

TO ROCK BAND! *toasts*

[SwordofWhedon]

I was going to buy the 360 version of GH3 specifically for the Les Paul, which honestly is what GH should have come with in the first place :) PS2 for me unless they come up with a really compelling reason now

I hope for Activision'ssake they can ship it in September,because they're going to need that lead time once Rock Band tears them a new one

Thank you Harmonix for listening to us. the drool is positively dripping now :)

[the_spike]

Wow.

Scans need to be posted NOW.

[sweetlips]

This is the start of something big. It's a melding of traditional video games, coin-op arcade games, home theater (bar theater), and of course, live music. We're witnessing a whole new genre of entertainment being born.

Rebirth of the ****ing music industry. Hopefully some good new music will come out of it.

Maybe... just maybe people will be exposed to new types of music, other than top 40 garbage.

Here's to hoping they put some "good" music in this game and maintain their standards in the future. I'm sure they will.

There is so much good music out there. You certainly won't hear it on the radio or the TV. Turn those off and go find it.

[Brock_Landers]

I'm holding back any commenting until I see scans.. the jam session sounds a little too good to be true, but who knows

[Tendoza]

I agree, that if this is done flawlessly, it will cause a revolution among everyone!!!!

Now, announce some Led Zeppelin and I'll streak my whole neighbourhood.

[sweetlips]

http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200706/N07.0605.1221.21984.htm

I think it is real.... Here's a link to site with the July cover of GI on it.

"we've also got the first hands-on report for Harmonix's next project, Rock Band! There's a whole lot more on tap in the July issue, as well as the upcoming July edition of Game Informer Unlimited that's set to debut on June 18th. Stay tuned..."

[sweetlips]

http://kotaku.com/gaming/hoodoo-regulator/rock-band-details-explosion-269074.php

And yet another confirmation....

Rock Band Details Explosion
The latest Game Informer has details on Rock Band. Oh, sorry, did I say details? My bad. A ****ton of specific details, almost all of which will blow your baby blue socks clean off. Highlights are, in no particular order:


The game will ship on one disc, which will contain four campaigns, one for each instrument. In addition, there's also a big band option for four-player co-op madness.


You can use any combination of online/offline play. Two online two off, one online three off, doesn't matter.


The vocals have been expanded from what we've seen in games like SingStar. The game's got a phoneme detector, so individual vowels and consonants are picked up.


It's an EA game. So players create their own avatars, and can create different ones for each instrument the game offers.


Each instrument character model has had different styles of animation mo-capped, so that you can decide what kind of hip-waggling and stage-strutting they'll be performing.


You'll be able to design your own band logo for use online.

And that's just a taste. Which right now is all I can handle. There's a full run-down over at NeoGAF. You should, you know...go read it. Luke Plunkett

Rockband - New Information From Game Informer [Game Informer, via Sallokin @ NeoGAF, thanks Josh!]

[mrberns]

Now if someone would just take a scan of it. i can't find pics anywhere.

[Brock_Landers]

Not really another confirmation, since they got their info source from neoGAF as well :P Altho kotaku does add an air of credability to it.

[_Goney]

Very very very cool if it's true.

Now I just need to go pick up the magazine. :)

[sa_nick]

After reading the new information Nick stares at his screen motionless. He blinks, pauses, blinks again then collapses into a temporary coma induced by extreme amounts of awesomeness...

[Kaboobi]

The info is real, someone from Harmonix confirmed it on another forum.

[drno830]

The info is real, someone from Harmonix confirmed it on another forum.

Do you have a link?

[SoraRikuVGM]

We all know it's real. I just want scans.

[Blue88]

wow. This is going to be so incredible that it hurts. I don't care that it probably will end up costing a ridiculous amount of money. I only need one kidney.

On another note, right before I read this I was watching the GHIII video for My Name Is Jonas and thinking how much better Say It Ain't So would have been. Good job, folks.

EDIT: Dibs on the band name/logo Cyclops Turtle.

[the_spike]

Dibs on the band names/logos of The Faces Plain and Paranoid of Robots, it that's how it gonna be.

[SoraRikuVGM]

Dibs on Limozeen and ROFLCOPTER

[Brock_Landers]

screw your dibs, I'm stealing them all!

http://www.ahamburgertoday.com/images/20050419Hamburglar.gif

[SoraRikuVGM]

You want a face full of pimpslap?

[Rainer7]

This is great news!!

[SoraRikuVGM]

SOMEONE FIND SCANS NAO.

I needs them. :<

[the_spike]

SOMEONE FIND SCANS NAO.

I needs them. :<

Yeah I'm getting crazy. It is 2am and I doubt they'll be up soon.

I guess I'll have to get it Monday.

[SoraRikuVGM]

I have a subscription. I should get it now. But no, I always get it a week or two late.

[the_spike]

I have a subscription. I should get it now. But no, I always get it a week or two late.

Well post scans if you get it before Monday when it hits stores. If not, I'll beat you to it.

[SoraRikuVGM]

Either tomorrow or Sunday. I'll be gone all day Saturday. I'll try to scan them or post a picture. My scanner is awesome, but it's really complicated. You order it to scan and open with Paint, and it takes about 5 minutes, or scans Black and White. -_-

[SoraRikuVGM]

OMFG I GOTZ SCANS!

http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/897/897524/imgs_1.html
(http://youtube.com/watch?v=7sK3AqFYAWQ)

[bmcle2]

^ Not cool, but definitely funny. Should've linked to the Family Guy one.

[Kaboobi]

Do you have a link?

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2408693&perpage=40&pagenumber=11#post329310746
CptUnderpant is...uh...spraynwipe here.

[BobLoblaw]

Anyone remember the guy over at gamefaqs who claimed to have played the game? Does anyone remember any of the other songs he claimed were in the game, 'cause he was spot on with the four that have been confirmed so far.

[jesterozzy]

If the info is indeed true, I am totally amazed by the info on the mic. Instead of checking for tone, pitch, or note sung, it registers on the correct words being sung. This makes me happy as now I can play Bass and Sing(only 3 ppl in this band) without worrying that ill have to try to hit the right note at the right pitch to perfom vocals. Just got to know the words and how they are phoneticized(surely i misspelled that one).

OVERJOYED!!
JesterOzzy

[hmxsean]

If the info is indeed true, I am totally amazed by the info on the mic. Instead of checking for tone, pitch, or note sung, it registers on the correct words being sung. This makes me happy as now I can play Bass and Sing(only 3 ppl in this band) without worrying that ill have to try to hit the right note at the right pitch to perfom vocals. Just got to know the words and how they are phoneticized(surely i misspelled that one).

OVERJOYED!!
JesterOzzy

To clarify- not instead of pitch, in addition to pitch.

[Brock_Landers]

Well seeing how we got a reply in here from Mr Fancy Pants himself, and the thread hasn't been locked I'm taking that to mean the info is all true.

That said, SWEET HOLY FISH ON A BIKE, THIS.. IS.. HOOOGE!

- I love how you can use star power to bring a failed band member back into the game.. really adds something to it.

- I can't quite figure out if one giant free-form session at the end of a track means they've created these jam sessions which open up for you, or if you actually just go nuts yourself. The first would require a lot more work on HMX's part to integrate it to every track.. and the later just blows my mind as to how it would work.

- The guitar effects are cool, but might I suggest that having a similar range of effects present for vocalists be available? Of course you'd need a special mic to switch on the fly, but you could always just set one up before starting the song.. adding some reverb has gotta be better than that Parent's-Living-Room-Sound, right?

- Although I expect it would cost more, my fingers are crossed that the drum pads aren't all at the same height.. I also hope they just have a ring of color, if anything.. full on RED/GREEN/BLUE/YELLOW pads would look silly.

- One questions to the devs: 40 venues, 4 clothing stores, selectable animations, phonome detectors--on top of all the other stuff... JUST HOW MANY DIRTY HOBOS DO YOU HAVE WORKING ON THIS GAME??

This game is going to be so awesome it will blow your children back into the womb.

[Rev0lver]

i want my GI now! i haven't got mine yet.

[SoraRikuVGM]

CRAP! My mail just came...No GI. ;_;

Please someone, if you get it, scan it and send it to my email or MSN. PLEASE!!!!

[miketoast]

Holy Fuggin Sheet!!!!

This game is gonna be fricken insane!!!!! I've got a boner you could drive nails with just at the thought of playing drums and wailing with the xtra fret buttons!!

[SoraRikuVGM]

Gotta keep this precious thread up there...

[sushi111]

Anyone remember the guy over at gamefaqs who claimed to have played the game? Does anyone remember any of the other songs he claimed were in the game, 'cause he was spot on with the four that have been confirmed so far.

Are you serious? Can you at least remember one? A band? anything? We need to find this out!

[tmurray]

I think one of the songs was Welcome to the Jungle by Guns n' Roses.

[sushi111]

I think one of the songs was Welcome to the Jungle by Guns n' Roses.

For reals? Anything else, possibly something like Radiohead, Soundgarden or Zeppelin that I would orgasm about?

[SoraRikuVGM]

I member!

He correctly guessed In Bloom, the Who song, and Weezer. I'll post the rest later. I saved his post.

[sushi111]

I member!

He correctly guessed In Bloom, the Who song, and Weezer. I'll post the rest later. I saved his post.

Are you serious, if you are email me at lightning_111_alt@hotmail.com!

[tmurray]

email me too wwetyler@yahoo.com.
Welcome to the Jungle was the only one I could remember.

[SoraRikuVGM]

Why can't I just post what he did here? It will be around 2 hours till I do though, cause I'm not at my other computer.

[sushi111]

All right, whatever you want, but thanks a bunch. Just dont forget, Im dying here!:)

[SoraRikuVGM]

I won't forget to remember. But remember, it'll be late.

[the_spike]

Post them here when you find them.

[SoraRikuVGM]

Got it. The first four are the apparent names of the characters.


Mr. Guitar
Mr. Bass (even though its a girl)
Mr. Drumms
and vocals does not follow suit I can tell u guys next time I play.

Songs so far: (nothing to unlock)
Nirvana-In Bloom
GnR-Welcome to the Jungle
Weezer-Say it Ain't So
The Who-forgot the name it's the opening from CSI
Lynard Skynard-Sweet home Alabama
There's bout ten or so but the others I didn't know but I will write them down for you guys.

I played drums for Nirvana and The Who (tired me out) and played vocals for Nirvana and Weezer they sounded like master tracks from what I can tell or very good covers.

[sushi111]

Sweet. did he ever post the rest?

Even if he didnt, this is sweet news.

[SoraRikuVGM]

He did, but he deleted the rest of the posts, so I couldn't save the rest.

Don't take his word fully, could just be guessing.

[sushi111]

Darn. Diid anyone else get it down or at least find out the guys username?

[SoraRikuVGM]

I forgot to get his username. Sorry.

[sweetlips]

E3 is coming soon:
The Summit will be held July 11 – 13, 2007, at several hotels and Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California.

I am quite sure we'll be seeing and hearing lots of info for Rock Band around this time, if not before then.

[SoraRikuVGM]

I'll be gone though. I leave July 8-28 to go to college.

Just to clarify, I'm 14.

[BobLoblaw]

He did, but he deleted the rest of the posts, so I couldn't save the rest.

Don't take his word fully, could just be guessing.It was a pretty good guess if he got 3/4 songs confirmed so far. I think it's a pretty safe bet we'll see Welcome to the Jungle & Sweet Home Alabama in there.

[Seattle_Sound]

Weeeee can have some more, du nu na du nu na, nature is a whore, du nu na du nu na, bruises on the fruit, du nu na du nu na, tender age in bloom, HEEEEEEEEEYYYYY

CANT WAIT TO ROCK OUT TO IN BLOOM, I'M GONNA PIS MYSELF

[DIEGOROBOT26]

Dammit this game is going to kick so much ass it's going to be so hard managing time between Rock Band and Guitar Hero =[ tough decisions there.

[sushi111]

By the way Bob, Arrested Development kicks ass.:D

[Icarus]

This could be the greatest video game EVER. As long as you don't go PS3 on us with the price, I'm in on this. I'm gonna have to try everything... I've been a long time Guitar Hero player, so this is gonna be a great chance to expand my variety in instruments. :D

Thanks!

[Tendoza]

Dibs on Chetty Spaghetti and the Snot Spit Loues! (with logo....just imagine)

[sushi111]

Lets think of the difficulty of each song (out of 5):

In Bloom:
Drums 3.5/5 (Pretty simple stuff but really fast when Kurt sings "HEEEEEEEEEEE")
Guitar 1.5/5 (Should be fun but really easy)
Bass 1/5 (an idiot could play this on the bass)
Singing: 3/5 (Switches volume really quickly)

Say it Aint So
Drums 2/5 (More like a chill out song, but some fast stuff at the end)
Guitar 2/5 (see drums)
Bass 2/5 (see drums and guitar)
Singing 3/5 (Lots of singing)

Paranoid
Drums 3/5 (fun up tempo druming throughout the song)
Guitar 3/5 (classic riff but pretty simple and the solo wont be to much to handle
Bass 2.5/5 (Fast but simple bass thorughout the song)
Singing 1.5/5 (hard to match ozzy's tone but he sings the same throughout the song)


Wont get Fooled Again
Drums 5/5 (Without a doubt one of the best drum performances ever, sounds easy but listen very closely)
Guitar 3/5 (Easy Power Chords but a long solo near the end)
Bass 5/5 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=IfDE-ZvfOwU)
Singing 4/5 (pretty standard singing throughout but the final scream near the end is undeniably the single greatest thing ever recorded vocally)

[Seattle_Sound]

Lets think of the difficulty of each song (out of 5):

In Bloom:
Drums 3.5/5 (Pretty simple stuff but really fast when Kurt sings "HEEEEEEEEEEE")
Guitar 1.5/5 (Should be fun but really easy)
Bass 1/5 (an idiot could play this on the bass)
Singing: 3/5 (Switches volume really quickly)

Say it Aint So
Drums 2/5 (More like a chill out song, but some fast stuff at the end)
Guitar 2/5 (see drums)
Bass 2/5 (see drums and guitar)
Singing 3/5 (Lots of singing)

Paranoid
Drums 3/5 (fun up tempo druming throughout the song)
Guitar 3/5 (classic riff but pretty simple and the solo wont be to much to handle
Bass 2.5/5 (Fast but simple bass thorughout the song)
Singing 1.5/5 (hard to match ozzy's tone but he sings the same throughout the song)


Wont get Fooled Again
Drums 5/5 (Without a doubt one of the best drum performances ever, sounds easy but listen very closely)
Guitar 3/5 (Easy Power Chords but a long solo near the end)
Bass 5/5 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=IfDE-ZvfOwU)
Singing 4/5 (pretty standard singing throughout but the final scream near the end is undeniably the single greatest thing ever recorded vocally)

Thats the only thing that stinks about Nirvana's stuff, its really simple so while it sounds great its not really made for difficulty, great for lower tier though.

[bpaty22]

Sorry, I have no way to prove this is real. I do not have the GI article....

OMG you guys stop complaining about it being real or not....because it is real go to google search "rock band game" and go to news you will see about 5-7 different articles about the same topic with generaly the same info....its real!

[bpaty22]

....Wont get Fooled Again
Drums 5/5 (Without a doubt one of the best drum performances ever, sounds easy but listen very closely)....

Are you joking Neil Peart from the band RUSH is mabey the greatest drummer in history...has a full circle drumset...was named best rock drummer 10 years in a row...and that song has OK drumming...

[Maposaurus]

Are you joking Neil Peart from the band RUSH is mabey the greatest drummer in history...has a full circle drumset...was named best rock drummer 10 years in a row...and that song has OK drumming...

Dude, shut up. Nobody cares if Neil Peart is better (hell, we already knew that), but you're a moron if you don't think this is a good performance.

Stop acting like you're the biggest Rush fan ever. I bet you haven't heard anything past YYZ and Tom Sawyer, you goddamn leech.

[sushi111]

Dude, shut up. Nobody cares if Neil Peart is better (hell, we already knew that), but you're a moron if you don't think this is a good performance.

Stop acting like you're the biggest Rush fan ever. I bet you haven't heard anything past YYZ and Tom Sawyer, you goddamn leech.

Exactly. Even if Neil Peart is better (which really, who cares, they are both amazing drummers and easily two of the best ever), saying WGFA has an "ok" drum performance is like saying In N Out Burger is "kinda" good.

Your kidding yourself. WGFA has easily one of the top 25 drum parts in any songs ever. You obviously listened to the first 20 seconds of the song and came to the conclusion taht you wanted to fight for no reason on a message board.

[masterx1918]

have you guys seen the scans yet? (just asking)

http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=938870&topic=36107044

they're all there

[drno830]

While reading the article, I saw that it said that the snare was the leftmost pad. Isn't the high high usually furthest to the left for anyone who plays cross handed? Maybe I am missing something...

[bounchfx]

yeah.. it makes more sense for to me to have the hi-hat one all the way to the left and snare being left middle. (cymbols at the sides snare/tom in the middles)

but I'm not a drummer, so I'm sure they have more of an idea what works good and what is fun.

full faith.

[Slab_X]

After seeing those images from the game, all I can say is Wow. It looks so well designed. I love how it's semi transparent, yet you can still see the gems quite clearly. I'm guessing the purple shaded parts of the fret board are where you'll use the 'Solo' buttons further down the neck? They're purple in ALL the screen shots though....

The Drums look very simple, but sturdy :) According to the article, there will be a seperate 'kick/bass drum' note that scrolls underneath somewhere in-between the 4 main drum-gems. Can't wait to see this game in action!

[the_spike]

There is no Bass career.

[SoraRikuVGM]

I'm gone for a day and pics come up?

SWEETNESS.

[WildWalker]

After reading the new information Nick stares at his screen motionless. He blinks, pauses, blinks again then collapses into a temporary coma induced by extreme amounts of awesomeness...

Closely followed by WW.

This game is soooo gonna rule, I am saving up my holiday cos I want to have a week off when this game is released, and for a whole week I am going to live on Rock Band, Budweiser and Tacos.

:)

[Prescott523]

Sorry if this was previously posted, but where are you seeing the screen shots? I'm working and don't have time to browse the whole thing... Thanks.

[mobhit101]

So, I was reading the article and it didn't mention anything about the controllers being wireless... It seems like I've already heard that the instruments will be wireless somewhere else (I know GH3 will be wireless) but now I'm not entirely sure :(

So what's the deal? Are the new instruments wireless? Cause otherwise, I believe the 360 only has 3 USB ports.... That math doesn't add up. Thanks, and sorry if this has already been addressed. If it has then please send a link to that forum :D Thanks

[mattmoss]

JUST HOW MANY DIRTY HOBOS DO YOU HAVE WORKING ON THIS GAME??

I'm not dirty. :mad:

[shrimp-n-gritz]

yeah.. it makes more sense for to me to have the hi-hat one all the way to the left and snare being left middle. (cymbols at the sides snare/tom in the middles)

but I'm not a drummer, so I'm sure they have more of an idea what works good and what is fun.

full faith.

The high-hat is generally further to the left, but it is also a little further out and higher than the snare. The snare is usually right between the player's knee. In that layout, it is not uncomfortable to cross over and play the hats with right and the snare with left. The way this controller is set up, it would be awkward if the high-hat is the farthest to the left because the snare would be at the same height and further away causing you to have to strain to get to it, even if you could get in under your right arm. So it makes more sense to have the snare to the left and the hat next to it.

[Maposaurus]

All the more reason to change the drums to a square over a line. Maybe even tilt the upper two somewhat so it'd be easier to hit the hi hat while still crossing over the snare.

[shrimp-n-gritz]

All the more reason to change the drums to a square over a line. Maybe even tilt the upper two somewhat so it'd be easier to hit the hi hat while still crossing over the snare.

Agreed. Square or even a trapezoidal pattern.

[Maposaurus]

Copypasta'd from my thread about the drums.

"Two problems with the trapezoid. First, though beats will be easier, fills will become a lot more awkward, where the meat of the difficulty is. With your rack toms panning out like that, your arms would be moving a lot more than needed, and it would get tiring. For fills, unless you're rocking out to an extreme, you're pretty much just moving your arm up and down from the elbow and readjusting your wrists to hit what you want. If it were a trapezoid, you'd either have to move a lot more at the shoulder, or have your elbows tilted out at a quite odd angle.

Second off, it's harder to ship. This may seem stupid, but trapezoids in square boxes waste a lot of space. They'll either have the space being eaten like that and waste shipping space, or have to make specially shaped boxes, which will add up to less net for them. From the standpoint of a business, it's a bad move.

...

Now, I'm not saying the square is perfect, but it works from a drummer's standpoint, and makes sense from a business standpoint."

Trapezoid would most definitely be better than the line. However, square would still be better.

[xCHRISx]

I'm all aboard the 'square-train'! We want square drums!

[sushi111]

Id hate having square drums. That would blow a cow.

[Maposaurus]

Id hate having square drums. That would blow a cow.

I don't see how it would be any worse than the line. Or blow more cow than it.

I've nailed pretty much every point there is to talk about over why a square would be superior to a line over a few topics. Ask me any reasonably logical question and I can most likely answer it.

[sushi111]

I don't see how it would be any worse than the line. Or blow more cow than it.

I've nailed pretty much every point there is to talk about over why a square would be superior to a line over a few topics. Ask me any reasonably logical question and I can most likely answer it.

Ill tell you why:

Because it would be goddamn impossible to play the notes or even display them on screen. For Example, if it were to go:

GR
YB

then how do you expect Harmonix to clearly display the notes?

If it was displayed like GRYB, then it would be very confusing to play without looking as you would easily end up banging on the wrong note.

[SoraRikuVGM]

Ill tell you why:

Because it would be goddamn impossible to play the notes or even display them on screen. For Example, if it were to go:

GR
YB

then how do you expect Harmonix to clearly display the notes?

If it was displayed like GRYB, then it would be very confusing to play without looking as you would easily end up banging on the wrong note.

Quoted for Truth.

[Maposaurus]

Ill tell you why:

Because it would be goddamn impossible to play the notes or even display them on screen. For Example, if it were to go:

GR
YB

then how do you expect Harmonix to clearly display the notes?

If it was displayed like GRYB, then it would be very confusing to play without looking as you would easily end up banging on the wrong note.

That's a stupid reason. If you had only half the rims colored, like

(...)
.).(

It'd still match up.

Know how long it took me to think of that solution? Five seconds. You're grasping for a reason, it's still far superior to the line.

[MountainKing]

Sorry, I have no way to prove this is real. I do not have the GI article. I just saw the posting on neogaf and thought I'd post it here, as this would be the place to post such things.

However, if it is indeed all real, then that is pretty cool, no?

Drums sound pretty fun. I love the possibility of jamming with other players too. That's pretty much the GTA play all day feature, IMO. I forsee many drunken awful noise jams, and one or two good ones, but still, sounds rad. Give the poeple the tools and they shall use them.
I just saw this actual article from Game Informer. Thats all straight from the article I read. Other little kewl things like unlocking different pedals and changing the sound of your guitar while playing. They mentioned the downloadable content and the possibillity of entire albums from one band. The pictures are obviously alot like GH but they're adding a lot more motion capture stuff to make the characters unique. Clothes, tattoos, hair, height.

If you can get your hands on that article, it's the most info I've seen yet. And believe me I been lookin for it :)

[SoraRikuVGM]

I just got it today. It looks so much better in person.

It felt like a porn magazine for 6 pages.

[TheTogfather]

Ok, had to register to chime in here on the whole drum set convo. As I understand it the arguments go like this:

Drums set in a line: Easy to ship, easy to read/translate the notes on-screen, but not comfortable or optimal for simulating actual drum play.

Drums set in a trapazoid: Difficult to ship, should be fairly easy to read/translate the notes, and would simulate actual drum play well.

Drums set in a square: Easy to ship, harder to read notes, and a decent simulation for drum play. This seems like sort of a compromise solution.

Of course, as so many other things with this game, a lot comes down to personal preference, so...why not simply instal a couple hinges, on the connectors between the middle and outside drums that will allow the drums to lock into three positions, line, trap, or square. They can ship in whatever form is cheapest/easiest, and you can play in whatever form you like. In fact, if they could couple that with the ability to adjust individual drum heights a bit, then I think that's about as perfect as they could get it.

Thoughts?

[sa_nick]

Thoughts?

The manufacturing price would increase and that increase will be passed onto us, the consumers.

99% of people buying this game will be happy with how it is, the other 1% wont. It just so happens that the 1% of people unhappy with it all happen to be here on the forums because we're all such huge fans.

Personally, I don't mind how it is, although I would have liked to see 5 pads.

If your really that unhappy with it once you've played a few songs then get out the tools and mod it yourself, I know people will. Making pads different heights, in different positions and adding their own second pedal for double bass.

EDIT: Someone somewhere else mentioned that making the pads swivel will also decrease the strength of the peripheral... which would also suck.

[TheTogfather]

Yah, I saw that mentioned in another thread, the increased cost that is. I really didn't think that it would be all that significant, but I'm not an expert on the cost of plastic/metal hinges. Honestly, I don't know whether I'll like the current design or not, need to play it first. I was just throwing out (what I assumed to be) reasonable options.

Hmm, and I had forgotten about the modding community. I see full-on drum sets consisting of the innards of the rockband dum set in the not-so-distant future. Sure hope they stuff some extra wiring within the existing frame so there's some room to manuever things a bit.

[Maposaurus]

Ok, had to register to chime in here on the whole drum set convo. As I understand it the arguments go like this:

Drums set in a line: Easy to ship, easy to read/translate the notes on-screen, but not comfortable or optimal for simulating actual drum play.

Drums set in a trapezoid: Difficult to ship, should be fairly easy to read/translate the notes, and would simulate actual drum play well.

Drums set in a square: Easy to ship, harder to read notes, and a decent simulation for drum play. This seems like sort of a compromise solution.

Of course, as so many other things with this game, a lot comes down to personal preference, so...why not simply install a couple hinges, on the connectors between the middle and outside drums that will allow the drums to lock into three positions, line, trap, or square. They can ship in whatever form is cheapest/easiest, and you can play in whatever form you like. In fact, if they could couple that with the ability to adjust individual drum heights a bit, then I think that's about as perfect as they could get it.

Thoughts?

Actually, the square is better than the trapezoid for simulating drums. Why? Although the trapezoid makes it slightly easier to play beats, the meat of the difficulty in drumming comes from fills and solos (however rare they may be). Guess what shape the snare, floor tom, and rack toms are laid out in? If you guessed square, you would be correct.

I've gone over how to remedy the problem with reading the on screen notes for a square set already. If only half the rim on each drum was colored, and the colors faced outwards on the top two and inwards on the bottom two, looking like

(..)
.)(

It'd still match up to what you see on screen.

Also, to reiterate, if it costs more to manufacture the drums, the cost will pass down to the consumer. We don't really need the hinges, so most people would rather not.

[i5hawn]

the game is supposed to release in nov? who knows what might change in 2-3 months time.

lets just hope we can see the final drum build before it releases.

[TheTogfather]

the game is supposed to release in nov? who knows what might change in 2-3 months time.

lets just hope we can see the final drum build before it releases.

Actually it's Guitar Hero 3 that's due to hit in November. Rock Band they've been saying Holiday 2007, so sometime around Christmas most likely. They have swore, repeatedly, that it won't be pushed back to 2008 though, so that's nice. So about one month later, I can handle that.

[sushi111]

No matter what, I still think the square idea would be way too combersome.

[Maposaurus]

Give me a reason why you think it would be and I'll level with you.

[sushi111]

Give me a reason why you think it would be and I'll level with you.

Because, as much as you try to deny it, the notes being displayed on screen would be confusing because when you are playing the game you are not looking at the drums. You dont think people are accidentally going to hit the pad above at least 900 times when playing the game?

Well they are.

[Maposaurus]

And people don't do the same with the guitar? It's called muscle memory, until people get used to it, they're bound to do the wrong thing on accident, regardless of how easy/intuitive the set is.

The square isn't even that much harder to adjust to. As a gamer, I can easily say I'll take a bit of extra difficulty for more fun. As a drummer, I can say the square would be much more fun.

[SwordofWhedon]

Anyone remember the guy over at gamefaqs who claimed to have played the game? Does anyone remember any of the other songs he claimed were in the game, 'cause he was spot on with the four that have been confirmed so far.

I have a friend who has played it. Unfortunately he's a classical musician and wasn't familiar with any of the songs

[Maposaurus]

I have a friend who's played the PS4. Unfortunately, he's from the year 1744, and thought it was a soul stealing box from hell, so he smashed it with a hatchet.

[SoraRikuVGM]

I have a friend who's played the PS4. Unfortunately, he's from the year 1744, and thought it was a soul stealing box from hell, so he smashed it with a hatchet.

Rewwy? LoLL I playerd teh Ninterndo Pii (Sequelz to Wii, MIRITE?) It was so ubers!1!!!?1!!!2134

[CDUB5wa]

Rewwy? LoLL I playerd teh Ninterndo Pii (Sequelz to Wii, MIRITE?) It was so ubers!1!!!?1!!!2134

yea my friend who played the Xbox 900 said it sucked he used it to time travel but he got lag in the year 1744

[Brock_Landers]

Whoah this is crazy, because I have a friend who licenced Enter Sandman from Metallica for $5 and pot of pudding to use as his theme song.

It sounds so awesome when he walks in a room.

(SwordofWhedon, do I recognise you from AICN talkbacks?)

[ballahero12]

This game is going to be awesome! i cant wait to play it onmy ps3!:D

[benjamin]

Whoah this is crazy, because I have a friend who licenced Enter Sandman from Metallica for $5 and pot of pudding to use as his theme song.

It sounds so awesome when he walks in a room.

(SwordofWhedon, do I recognise you from AICN talkbacks?)


I could not say, with absolute certainty, that 5 dollars is worth Enter Sandman.

[SwordofWhedon]

Christ just knock it off

Everyone here knows that there are members of the public who have played the game

And everyone here knows taht they've all signed NDAs

So presenting more information than that, would allow them to figure out who violated said NDAs pretty easily.

So therefore, keeping things as vague as possible when providing identifying information is a good idea yes? It's not like I'm publishing a list and saying "here's the info" trying to seem like a big man. If I was going to bull**** you, then I'd be tossing out all kinds of dream songs.

As it is, the only one I'd venture a guess at based on Game Informer is Don't Fear the Reaper because they mentioned cowbell in there.


And no, I don't post on AICN talkbacks. They're just noise.

[benjamin]

I would ejaculate if Don't Fear (The Reaper) was in the game, I love BOC. If The Reaper was in that would mean that Astronomy did not make it, but most people ignore that song anyway, sadly.

Also that would be one song in which I would try to sing and play at the same time, since Buck Dharma was the singer for that song and he was normally the guitarist only but he sang lead on a few songs, like Burning For You and this one.

[sa_nick]

As a drummer, I can say the square would be much more fun.

As gamers, the other 99.99% of us are fine with the straight(ish) line of pads. Most people either wont care or they'll be ignorant to the whole thing and never give it a second thought, or prefer the staight(ish) line. I think the line will be perfectly okay.

My advice, don't knock it 'til you've tried it.

[xHeadbang_X_Herniax]

''- There will be a character creation system, and you can create multiple avatars that play different instruments.''

you MUST confirm this O_O YOU MUST! YOU HEAR ME!? x)

[sushi111]

Im going to make myself the same on all instruments, except Ill be black when I play bass :P

[benjamin]

They should have bonuses built in for the characters.

Like if the Bassist character you make is tall and has a beard he should get 50 extra points per note. Because stereotyping is the only way to really hope to understand everyone on this earth.

[sushi111]

So true:)^

By the way I didnt mean to be offensive, I was simply referencing an episode of South PArk.

[sa_nick]

Im going to make myself the same on all instruments, except Ill be black when I play bass :P

I was thinking about this the other day and I reckon I'll make different characters for each instrument/career. It'll just give me more way to do cool stuff with the character design.

[SoraRikuVGM]

So true:)^

By the way I didnt mean to be offensive, I was simply referencing an episode of South PArk.

Every black person has a bass in their garage. lmao. I actually wanted to buy a bass today. It was 100 bucks.

[BobLoblaw]

Im going to make myself the same on all instruments, except Ill be black when I play bass :P LMAO.

I'm hoping they have real musicians as playable characters, so I can create my very own supergroup, and if not, I'll make 'em myself.

[SoraRikuVGM]

It's also glad to know I'm not the only one who will be Black when I'm on bass.

[TheTogfather]

LMAO.

I'm hoping they have real musicians as playable characters, so I can create my very own supergroup, and if not, I'll make 'em myself.

Yah, I plan on making them myself. I'm thinking I'll create a band named 'Tule' featuring:

Singer: Mainerd Jayms Keynan - skinny, average height w/ a mohawk and/or cowboy hat...maybe some of his old-school body painting - actions: freaky-style dancing

guitar player: Adem Joens - long black hair in double pony-tail, black pants with white, button-up shirt - actions: just stand there and play

bass player: Justen Chansaller - Tall w/ long brown hair, jeans and a t-shirt - actions: air humping

drummer: Dannie Karey -Long hair wearing an NBA jersey - actions: total bad-assery on drums



ooh, ooh...will I be able to position my band in certain places? Probably not, but that'd be sweet...could put fake maynard back even w/ the drums...

[dude69]

If you Go on my myspace i have them posted under my pics CHECK THEM they go in order from in which the book had them. your going to have to go into brows and click search by email and type in wwxdb@yahoo.com. Then click on my pic (i picture that says spazz) and it will bring you to my profile. then go under pics and they will be there!!!

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

[superpunkgohan]

I really hope they have the option to make your character a litte kid and/or animal. OMFG wouldn't that be awesome!? Or at least creepy!?

Sorry, this is a dumb post. I just can't get the thought of goat-headed children playing in a band out of my head.

[sa_nick]

Singer: Mainerd Jayms Keynan - skinny, average height w/ a mohawk and/or cowboy hat...maybe some of his old-school body painting - actions: freaky-style dancing

I'm hoping the character system will allow for an accurate representation of Maynard too. I'm thinking more of him with the really long hair and a cool formal like open jacket.

My other singer I will try to base around Trent Reznor, being the NIN fanatic I am.

Josh Freeze seems like a logical drummer to base my drumming character, being in both APC and NIN. Maybe Jordie white for bass, as he's worked with both, as well as Manson. Not sure about guitar yet.....

[JachoBlake]

The article is true. Don't know if that's been posted yet but I got my GI yesterday. I have a question about the drums though.... Would there be a double bass pedal accessory you could purchase like at BestBuy or something? There are a lot of songs out there I would love to see for RockBand but the bass drum is way to intricate for a single pedal.

Any thoughts?:confused:

[sa_nick]

Would there be a double bass pedal accessory you could purchase like at BestBuy or something? There are a lot of songs out there I would love to see for RockBand but the bass drum is way to intricate for a single pedal.

There's been a lot of discussion about it all throughout the forums here. There has been no indication that Harmonix will release a second pedal, but they havn't denied it (personally I wouldn't get my hopes up)

However I think that the modding community will get into at and create their own pedals. Depending on how helpful a double bass pedal would be some people may even buy an entire kit just for another pedal... but they're crazy... and have way too much money.

[superpunkgohan]

I'm hoping the character system will allow for an accurate representation of Maynard too. I'm thinking more of him with the really long hair and a cool formal like open jacket.

My other singer I will try to base around Trent Reznor, being the NIN fanatic I am.

Josh Freeze seems like a logical drummer to base my drumming character, being in both APC and NIN. Maybe Jordie white for bass, as he's worked with both, as well as Manson. Not sure about guitar yet.....

I think I'd go with Glenn Danzig on vocals, Tre Cool on drums, Angus Young on guitar, and Flea on bass. That's a pretty crazy balance, but I think it would be visually interesting.

Danzig would be muscular with tight black pants, no shirt, and a devillock, Tre Cool would have a green flannel shirt on and spiky green hair, Angus would wear his signature schoolboy outfit, and Flea would be fairly muscular with a shaved head and a pair of shorts or something. Between him and Angus running around on stage, the game would probably freeze up. :p

[JachoBlake]

Depending on how helpful a double bass pedal would be some people may even buy an entire kit just for another pedal... but they're crazy... and have way too much money.

Haha, yeah. Been hearing talk of people buying another GH2 game for 360 because it's so hard to find another guitar... I think I'll just buy a modded pedal off Ebay if it turns out I need one.

[travmeatwad]

If you Go on my myspace i have them posted under my pics CHECK THEM they go in order from in which the book had them. your going to have to go into brows and click search by email and type in wwxdb@yahoo.com. Then click on my pic (i picture that says spazz) and it will bring you to my profile. then go under pics and they will be there!!!

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

Too blurry.. and why are they all sideways?


Also, who is that girl?

[Rev0lver]

i want my whole band to look like amon amarth.

[franknfurter1000]

I'm gonna make in game versions of Les, Ler, and Herb . (AKA primus.)

[sa_nick]

New RB article over at GWN.com (http://www.gwn.com/news/story.php/id/13383/Rock_Band_Information_Overload.html)

Not a lot of new info but it has some interesting parts...

Drumming in the spotlight! Showcase a real drum solo with Rock Band?s freestyle drum fill windows featured in each song. Break out your own rhythm and style as anything goes!
Does this mean we wont be getting actual solo's in the game? Personally, I'd like to see them in there on the harder difficulties.


Call out the crowd! Vocalists can bring the crowd to their feet during Rock Band?s freestyle vocal fill windows. Ad-lib your own words or shout to the crowd to raise the rock intensity of the performance.
I like the sound of that, as long as people don't go too crazy


Bass gameplay
Bust out defying rock rhythm with the bass guitar option, which offers different parts to play in every song, and some unique gameplay twists.
Probably the most intriguing part of the article... not to sure what it means yet.


An awesome foot pedal that emulates the resistance and speed of a real kick drum pedal
Exactly what I wanted to hear. So happy that it's not just a regular switch you hit with your foot. Gonna be awesome.

Oh! And first look at the official Rock Band logo.. I like it, looks cool. A little plain, but it has nothing accompanying it so it should look better with some more visuals behind it.

And for anyone who missed the IGN pre-E3 article it can be foung HERE (http://au.ps3.ign.com/articles/801/801493p1.html)

[SoraRikuVGM]

I think I'd go with Glenn Danzig on vocals, Tre Cool on drums, Angus Young on guitar, and Flea on bass. That's a pretty crazy balance, but I think it would be visually interesting.

Danzig would be muscular with tight black pants, no shirt, and a devillock, Tre Cool would have a green flannel shirt on and spiky green hair, Angus would wear his signature schoolboy outfit, and Flea would be fairly muscular with a shaved head and a pair of shorts or something. Between him and Angus running around on stage, the game would probably freeze up. :p

I hope Tre Cool is in too. Or at least Travis Barker.

[zeefeet]

*refering to the square/trap convo before
i think if your a drummer (like myself) then you should know how to handle beat with the high hat on the right. its just easier for the drumming noobs :p im pretty sure drummers have it that way anyway. i mean its just like playing a crash beat or ride beat... which btw is like the drum pad all the way to the right going to turn into a ride for most parts in songs. i hope so cause ride is important!

[sa_nick]

is like the drum pad all the way to the right going to turn into a ride for most parts in songs. i hope so cause ride is important!

From the 2 videos that were leaked onto the net it's safe to say yes, the pad on the right will primarily be the ride.

[xdoug326x]

can this game just come out already!!?! i havent been this excited since mcdonalds moved the 6 piece chicken nuggets to the dollar menu.

[TylerSalak]

Why cant there be a PS2 version of the game?

[SteelingDuke]

dude that article is real i have a subscrition to gi and when i read it i was so damn excited!