Impressions from the Best Buy demo

[michaeld]

Not mine
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=203257

Not sure if this was posted elsewhere already, but Best Buy seems to have demo kiosks of ROCK BAND set up now, at least in the SF store I was in. So I just had my first experience playing it.

The Best Buy demo setup consists of the Fender strat, the drumkit (no pedal), mic. No bass guitar, and the demo consisted of about 15-20 songs.

Impressions:

* Overall, AWESOME. Just great fun to play and to watch - I was jamming with a couple of other people and soon there was a small crowd watching us and commenting on how fun it looked.

* The Fender guitar feels much more "real" and less plasticky/toy-like than the Guitar Hero axes. For comparison they had a GH3 setup right next to it with the new Les Paul, and there's just no comparison. GH Les Paul = plastic toy, RB Fender = pretty much like a real strat, just shrunk down a bit.

* The drums are so much fun, much more than I imagined they would be. I love how on each song there are freeform jam sections where you can just go completely nuts before having to return to the "script." You can also get pretty worn out playing the drums, depending on how kinetic your playstyle is. The key really is just learning exactly where each pad is positioned without having to look down - oftentimes I would go to strike the correct pad, but would miss it because I haven't learned yet to locate them without looking. That'll come with practice.

* Best Buy employees are ****ing stupid and lazy. When I first got there the drums were working but the guitar had become unplugged. I asked a couple of employees to fix it but it was behind a facade and they were too lazy to do it. So instead they just stood there playing on the demo PSPs. I really wanted to try the demo though, so I went and got a manager and she told them to get off their lazy asses and get it fixed. Haha, take that you malingering ****s.

Anyway, based on my experience I am now super-hyped for this game and can't wait to get my hands on it. Just a total blast.

[Xzyliac]

No setlist. Fail.

[ZkDotNet]

No setlist. Fail.
Probably same as the tour.

This no bass pedal thing is weird.

[Keebler]

Yeah, people are capable of playing the bass drum standing up. What gives?

[admanimal]

This no bass pedal thing is weird.

Not really, because in order to use the pedal you really need to be sitting down*, and these demos aren't being set up in front of the big TVs like BB often does. The songs actually have the pedal notes removed according to one person, so it won't mess you up while you're playing.

*I know it's possible to do it standing up, but I think it would be awkward and unsatisfying for most people who are in BB and just try it out for a couple minutes.

[Xzyliac]

Probably same as the tour.



Isn't this more songs than the tour?

[Symphonite]

If there's no bass drum, I imagine Wanted Dead or Alive wouldn't be in the playlist given the drum intro. That's weird to take the pedal out, it'll throw off people who have only heard of the game through Best Buy.

[admanimal]

That's weird to take the pedal out, it'll throw off people who have only heard of the game through Best Buy.

The drums should still be awesome to try out without the pedal, and then when people find out it has that too...well it's a bonus. The only people it will throw off is us because we're expecting it to be there.

[acetabulum]

I still think they should keep the pedal. I've seen beginners get hooked on the drums at the Vegas tour stop simply because of the bass pedal (while playing on easy, of course). It changes the entire mechanics of drumming and differentiates it from Donkey Conga or some other Fischer Price toy. I don't understand why they have to keep dumbing it down. At least it's still in the real game anyway.

[crivit]

Since the pedal is detachable maybe they figured it would be too easy for people to walk off with if they included it.

[Blacktoothgrin]

There is still the bass drum note line, only it is auto played by the game since there is no bass pedal. Kennewick, WA Best Buy had the demo there and after spending 3 hours there I finally came home. My impressions are the Fender Stratocaster is hands down one of the best guitars so far, the strum bar takes some getting used to at first, don't really need to hammer on it like all the others. The FX switch is fun to change up the solo parts to really make the song feel like your own version of it.

Getting hands on with the game only made me want it even more, but November really isn't that far away when I have that demo in my own backyard to keep me occupied for the next couple weeks.

[admanimal]

There is still the bass drum note line, only it is auto played by the game since there is no bass pedal. Kennewick, WA Best Buy had the demo there and after spending 3 hours there I finally came home.

Ah that makes sense. I can't wait to check it out tomorrow.

[KaoAtlas]

I played the demo too.

I played the drums, all of the songs I played were on expert.

These song were...

Suffragette City
Black Hole Sun
Vasoline
Detroit Rock City
Are you Gonna be my Girl
Say It Ain't So
Paranoid
Tom Sawyer
In Bloom
Epic
I did have some trouble on a couple of songs. Vasoline and Detroit Rock City were the hardest in my opinion. And my arm got tired as Tom Sawyer one of last songs before I went home, so I failed that song too.

As far as I remeber, the other songs were...

Wave of Mutilation
Dani California
Should I Stay or Should I Go
Wanted Dead or Alive
The Hand That Feeds

I'm pretty sure THtF isn't in the demo, but I can't remember.

I had the most fun with Black Hole Sun, but it was my favorite song out of the fifteen.

And about the Bass Pedal, the game automaticly plays the Bass drum.

[masterx1918]

oh cool. I thought someone said Foreplay/ Long Time was on it

[KaoAtlas]

It might of been, but I truthfully can not remember what the fifteenth song was.

[Xzyliac]

It might of been, but I truthfully can not remember what the fifteenth song was.

And you didn't bring a piece of paper to scribble it down on? SHAME ON YOU! You'd never last in journalism kid.

[KaoAtlas]

All I got fourteen of them, atleast you have fourteen.


I didn't even know the demo was there to begin with, I went to Best Buy to get the GH3 album.

[Xzyliac]

All I got fourteen of them, atleast you have fourteen.


I didn't even know the demo was there to begin with, I went to Best Buy to get the GH3 album.

Slaughter him.

[KaoAtlas]

Slaughter him.

It was cheap, really cheap.

And it has some pretty good songs in it.


I'm getting Rock Band, don't worry.

I planned to get Rock Band way before I planned to get GH3.

I'm neutral party.

[chaopolis]

Here's an odd question... could one assume that if the bass pedal is un-plugged, then the bass notes are already played IN THE FINAL GAME?

HIGHLY doubtful, but a thought nevertheless...

[KaoAtlas]

Here's an odd question... could one assume that if the bass pedal is un-plugged, then the bass is already played?

HIGHLY doubtful, but a thought nevertheless...It automaticly plays the bass drum.

You don't need it, but it makes the game funner and harder from the looks of it.

[chaopolis]

It automaticly plays the bass drum.

You don't need it, but it makes the game funner and harder from the looks of it.

Are you referring to the DEMO or the FINAL GAME?

[Xzyliac]

It was cheap, really cheap.

And it has some pretty good songs in it.


I'm getting Rock Band, don't worry.

I planned to get Rock Band way before I planned to get GH3.

I'm neutral party.

As am I but the GHIII album is just a stupid idea.

[KaoAtlas]

As am I but the GHIII album is just a stupid idea.I know, but you know, I do get extra songs for GH3.

And like I said, it was cheap.

[KaoAtlas]

Are you referring to the DEMO or the FINAL GAME?
The demo, but the demo as I can see is very close to the final build.

I doubt this feature will be tooken out, since you can unplug the pedal.

And what I meant is that if the pedal isn't plugged it, it plays automaticly.

[Xzyliac]

I know, but you know, I do get extra songs for GH3.

And like I said, it was cheap.

YOU'RE CHEAP! BASTARD!

Okay I kid, I kid. Don't kill me!

[KaoAtlas]

YOU'RE CHEAP! BASTARD!

Okay I kid, I kid. Don't kill me!

Proud of it.

And if you guys want, I could write all of the songs down, I'm probably going back tomorrow.

And I could take pictures from my phone.

[xenopherus]

Well, I guess I won't be playing the demo at BB anytime soon. I called the one nearest to me, and they said "the demo probably won't be up until sometime after December, when the game comes out". Hopefully Wal-Mart will have it... I heard the 2nd? I hope it's true. But I'm sure not looking forward to going there. I saw the hands down, UGLIEST woman I have ever seen in my life at a Wal-Mart one time. And to make my stomach churn even harder, she had KIDS!!!! I always wondered what the husband must've looked like.

[KaoAtlas]

An EB games are something like that is bound to have it sooner or later.

[admanimal]

The demo, but the demo as I can see is very close to the final build.

I doubt this feature will be tooken out, since you can unplug the pedal.

And what I meant is that if the pedal isn't plugged it, it plays automaticly.

I somehow doubt that will be the case, because being able to play without the pedal with no consequences will make the scoring unfair.

[R0ck3r]

Well, I guess I won't be playing the demo at BB anytime soon. I called the one nearest to me, and they said "the demo probably won't be up until sometime after December, when the game comes out". Hopefully Wal-Mart will have it... I heard the 2nd? I hope it's true. But I'm sure not looking forward to going there. I saw the hands down, UGLIEST woman I have ever seen in my life at a Wal-Mart one time. And to make my stomach churn even harder, she had KIDS!!!! I always wondered what the husband must've looked like.

I probably won't be playing it soon either, Best Buy is a bit out of the way here. Anyway to the Wal-Mart thing, I saw some woman that had hair so long that like 4 feet of it was dragging on the floor. All I could think was "God damn! Get a ****in haircut!"

[Paakaa10]

Being in northern Maine, I was awful surprised to hear that our local Best Buy has received their demo unit. Of course, keeping things grounded in reality for reality up here, it hasn't yet been set up. Here's hoping the crew take a break from stocking Britney Spears' latest catastrophe to set up the drum set and guitar.

I'll pass along news tomorrow if it is indeed set up and I get a chance to play. This is definitely helping soothe the wound of not going to Boston for the tour stop today--just couldn't do it after making the eight-hour round trip for Game 7 of the ALCS last weekend.

[KaoAtlas]

I somehow doubt that will be the case, because being able to play without the pedal with no consequences will make the scoring unfair.

You do make a really good point.

[R0ck3r]

I somehow doubt that will be the case, because being able to play without the pedal with no consequences will make the scoring unfair.

That is exactly what I was thinking because they will have leaderboards and all those things. They might just make it work though and make a different section of the leaderboard for no bass pedal. Probably not though.

[KaoAtlas]

But you know, I live in Holland Michigan, a really small town, I'm very surprised my Best Buy got the demo.

[Bakkster]

I somehow doubt that will be the case, because being able to play without the pedal with no consequences will make the scoring unfair.

Exactly, guarantee this is demo only.

[bumbousdude25]

It was cheap, really cheap.

HOW CHEAP IS IT?



WOULD YOU SAY... TEN MILLION?


http://www.8bitjoystick.com/archives/photos/Master_Tang_can_help-thumb.jpg

[Leo_10th]

it's exactly the same list as the tour. there's no pedal, so when the orange bars show up, it automatically hits it for you! playing on expert was no never so easy...

[Kylekillgannon]

it's exactly the same list as the tour. there's no pedal, so when the orange bars show up, it automatically hits it for you! playing on expert was no never so easy...

I'll bet, I'm going to see how things are tomorrow at my Best Buy

[HPLabonte]

Huntington and Levittown didnt have it today

man, does the huntington Best Buy suck

[travmeatwad]

But you know, I live in Holland Michigan, a really small town, I'm very surprised my Best Buy got the demo.

Hmm.. that's almost three hours away from where I live.. so I have no idea if mine will or not.. I sure hope so.. I'm going to try and convince some friends to go with me tomorrow.

[Feigned]

Whether or not your Best Buy gets one depends on the store's classification. I worked at a BB a couple years back *shudder* and they were just rolling out a new store classification system.

I don't remember all of them, but the stores targeting 20-somethings with disposable income generally get the bigger game demos. I think they called them "Buzz stores" You'll usually find these in towns with bigger colleges.

Not sure if they still use that system anymore, but if they do, that means mine will have it. :cool:

[Edgehopper]

Best Buy NoHo (in NYC, for those outside the city) didn't have it up for the GH3 midnight release earlier, but the manager said it would be up later today. A GH3 demo would also be up. I know what I'm doing after class for the next 3 weeks :)

[Bullseye]

Dang, I'm in the "Circus City is the Only Competition - and They Suck" Best Buy zone, which means no Rock Band demo for me.

*sigh* lives vicariously through forum

[HeadShaft713]

I went to my best and the guy there told me that they dont get the demo until Nov.5:(

[AdamBomb629]

Mine did not have it today.

[admanimal]

Mine did not have it today.

Which one did you go to?

[Supergeek]

Anyone in the eastern Denver area? Called around to a couple stores but no luck on the Rock Band demo.

[Syntax0025]

A few friends and I went out to best buy today to check and see if they had the demo. They did. It was a store in Roseville, Minnesota. I played drums on a few songs. Started on hard and bumped it up to expert. All I can say is that I can't freaking wait for this game to come out. The guitar is a little difficult to get used to. The buttons are a little harder to press and the strum bar is a little harder to press down (although it doesn't make loud clicking noises like the previous GH controllers). I didn't play any bass and they didn't have the mic plugged in so that's all I could try. We played on and off (letting other people give it a shot so as not to be complete *******s) until they put up a sign that said something along the lines of "Limit 2 songs per customer". =P Then we took the hint and left.

[Phrank-E]

I went to one BB and there was no demo.. I played some GHIII and while I was on my third song a guy plopped down the RB box. I got tired of them trying to set it up (had tech difficulties) so left and went to another Best Buy. The had NO RB set up at all.. So left and went back to poriginal store and they were set up by then. Played a while but forgot about the effects switch, Need to go back and try those out next weekend. There was a mic there, but wasn't hooked up to the machine. And I think the demo screen said that the demo didn't support the mic.. but they stuck one in the box anyway?

[snakebite025]

I live in Raleigh, NC, and my local best buy had it playable with one guitar, a working mic, and the drum set with no bass pedal. There was no seat so I played the drums standing up. It was still amazingly fun, even without the use of a bass pedal. I could pass every song on expert but definitely not master. I also played a bit of guitar, Wanted Dead or Alive, which was fun. I cant wait till this game comes out, the drums with a foot pedal will probably be even better!

[Sophrosyne]

I went out to get GH3 today at Best Buy (Rego Park in Queens), and luckily for me they were setting up the Rock Band demo station up right next to the GH2 one lol. Me and some other people waited for about 1 hr while they set it up (they needed an allen key to fix something with the xbox locking control or something), the Best Buy dude was taking his sweet old time setting it up btw lol.

When we finally got to play, it was really awesome. The guitar takes a bit to get used to. The buttons are very smooth and soft so its a little hard to tell if your pressing the right button when u slide down. The strum bar doesn't "click" when you strum either so it's a little hard to tell whether you've double strummed or not.

The microphone wasn't properly hooked up so nobody was able to sing =T

The drums... man the drums are so awesome. I played those the most. For me it was easy to get used to. I played it like 5 times and I was already playing on hard. It's so much fun and I can't wait to get my set when it comes out!!!!

We had lots of fun playing "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?", "Vasoline", and "In Bloom", and some other songs that I forgot the names. I really like that at the end of some songs, you can just go crazy and do your own ending solo. It's so much fun!!!

This game is going to blow GH3 out of the water (which I have already and it's just not as cool as what I've experienced today at Best Buy with Rock Band).

If you guys are in the NYC area you all should definitely check it out :)

[Kylekillgannon]

I forgot to say something in my review, but it looks really wierd to see Grizzly Adams singing In Bloom, or Gwar playing Suffragette City

[jugster]

RB demo confirmed in Saginaw Tx.

After spending some time rocking I must say it beats the HELL out of Guitar Hero. I went early with my youngest (5) and we rocked out on some songs. He played drums on some games while I played guitar and vice versa. When I arrived home my 11 y/o was mad at me for not taking him so I took all my kids (3) later in the day. It was fun playing guitar while my eldest was beating the hell out of of the drums (like 11 year olds tend todo) and my daughter dropping a mean bass line. Great family time!!!

Played drums on some of the songs. The drum pads are pretty sturdy. It seemed that you can hit the heads pretty hard without a scare that the set would fall apart.
Another concern of mine was the hit detection. Can the set pick up diddles? Without any issues! Overall I think the set up is as good as you can expect for $80. I really like that you can do most of your fills.
The guitar is really cool looking (I love the look of the Fenders so its a thumbs up for me). If see the guitar from far away you can't even tell it is a controller. The one concern is the lack of a "click" to the strum bar. Normally you know when a note is being played because of the click. It isn't there anymore.
The guitar also has 5 "solo" buttons which are down the neck. They are closer together but you have played guitar it feels like you would expect.
The guitar also has an effects option so when you go into the solo the guitar will sound different. Push the effects buton to the "wah-wah" location and the solo will have that "wah-wah" sound. Really cool addition.
Overall I liked the guitar itself even though the guitar parts weren't hard. The little extras on the guitar and in the game give the game a little advantage (even though the guitar parts aren't all that hard on the demo songs).

For me the game to get is going to be Rock Band. The initial list of songs aren't great but if Harmonix comes through with the DLC like they promise this game will keep on giving. Guitar Hero is great for playing a guitar cause that is all you can do. Rock band gives a full band like experaince.

[Electric_Zen]

Thanks for the report, jugster. Was your five year old able to enjoy playing the drums on easy? Could he make it through a song?

I have a six year old, and I'm very interested in knowing if he'll be able to rock out on the skins.

[jugster]

My 5 year old has been playing GH for a couple years now. He can hit notes in beat and can play on medium most of the way through GH2.
Let me preface by saying that my son didnt' have to do the bass beat. That could change everything for him.
With that being said he could play through some songs on medium and had more trouble with easy. The reason is that easy tends to be a note every once and a while. On medium you normally at least play high hat and down beat. My son can play those type rythems on the guitar so he didn't have to much issue with a drum pad.
The loud store could have been another reason he was having issues playing every once and a while. I would think an average six year old (who can tell what a beat is) should be able to play at least easy.

[vtjustinb]

I live in Raleigh, NC, and my local best buy had it playable with one guitar, a working mic, and the drum set with no bass pedal. There was no seat so I played the drums standing up. It was still amazingly fun, even without the use of a bass pedal. I could pass every song on expert but definitely not master. I also played a bit of guitar, Wanted Dead or Alive, which was fun. I cant wait till this game comes out, the drums with a foot pedal will probably be even better!

Which store was it?

I called the Southpoint store this morning and they didn't know about it. Assuming it's either at Crabtree or Crossroads?

[maddrummerdan86]

so ****! they dont have no freakin demo set up in best buy canada yet.... at least not woodbridge!
hopefully they will get it soon...im gettin impatient!

[Quastor]

Is it sad that I'm thinking about checking my local Best Buy every day on my lunch break until they finally get this set up?

[RkBndDrmr]

Is it sad that I'm thinking about checking my local Best Buy every day on my lunch break until they finally get this set up?

I don't think so. But when you find it are you gonna be able to go back to work? :p

[Quastor]

I don't think so. But when you find it are you gonna be able to go back to work? :p

What's worse, being at BB playing the RB demo, or sitting at my desk at work and playing on the RB forum? :p

EDIT: The answer is no. I spent about 30 minutes at Best Buy... ended up taking about an hour and a half lunch all together :D

[AVC808]

my condolences to all of you that are unfortunate to have a best buy in your area with no rock band kiosk. a friend and i went to check it out cuz i told him there likely would be a set up since that was the word on the forums here on friday...
so we got there and there it was! it was so much fun. having no guitar hero experience though was totally embarassing. i played guitar like twice and failed both times. as a spectator i watched as little 5 year olds passed with flying colors. ha. i also failed on my first drum song, but i knew i would struggle through it because it was tom sawyer. there was no bass drum pedal, and it seemed like the game counted all the bass notes correctly/automatically. my guess was confirmed when i watched two guys play dead or alive. the drummer just stood there in the beginning while the notes were being hit. i wonder if they did this to simplify the game (for the demo), cuz from experience on a real drum set i know the coordination is frustrating in the beginning, and so if they did include that in the demo it might make it too difficult for those trying it for the first time and turn them off on buying the game.
even with my fails, i still had a great time. and eventually i picked easier songs to get through and finish. no one wanted to sing so i chose one song to sing, say it aint so (weezer!). i think i had it on medium and it was pretty easy. i was cruising along until the solo part i guess where i was supposed to hit the mic. i wasnt paying attention and just watching the game's animations in the back when the guy playing guitar told me i needed to hit the mic. we had other things to do so we didnt stay long. definitely gonna try to go back later this week though. cant wait till the official release.

[AVC808]

im surprised more people havent posted in this thread. maybe i overestimated the amount of best buys out there, or the amount of locations that actually have the demo.

[DrAndonuts]

Macon, GA has it as well.

Incredible game, I'm really digging the art design and the filters used for the video. I like the black and white bloomy looking effects. Really well done.

I also like the guitar much more than the GH ones. I like that there is no click; I always found it distracting, and it would usually overpower quieter songs in GH and GHII.

Drums were a blast. I 4-starred a few hard songs, but some songs tripped me up. I've never played a day in my life, and it was incredibly fun.

The mic, unfortunately, wasn't working. I'll probably scope it out this weekend to see if it's all hooked up.

There was a line of about 8 people, and this was a Monday at 2:30. I hope this game is huge;

[army_of_me]

im surprised more people havent posted in this thread. maybe i overestimated the amount of best buys out there, or the amount of locations that actually have the demo.

I'm purposely avoiding the demo so I can savor it in all its pristine glory when I buy it.

I'm guessing some others may be doing the same thing...

[AVC808]

I'm purposely avoiding the demo so I can savor it in all its pristine glory when I buy it.

I'm guessing some others may be doing the same thing...

yeah, i planned on avoiding it when it was mentioned that the store would be showing off the full retail version, but when i heard it was just a demo with a limited set list i figured it would be a pleasant tease.

[TheRocker]

Can someone post some pics or make a video :) my BestBuy doesnt have the demo.. ..Yet

[admanimal]

Just got back from BB. Played guitar on Tom Sawyer (hard) and Say It Aint So (expert) and drums on Paranoid (hard), Say It Aint So (medium), Dani Califnornia (medium) and Suffragette City (hard)... The guitar is awesome! I was worried after I heard some people say they didn't like it, but I love it- it feels great to me. The drums of course were awesome too, but boy is it going to be tough to play with a pedal!

[Quastor]

Just got back from BB. Played guitar on Tom Sawyer (hard) and Say It Aint So (expert) and drums on Paranoid (hard), Say It Aint So (medium), Dani Califnornia (medium) and Suffragette City (hard)... The guitar is awesome! I was worried after I heard some people say they didn't like it, but I love it- it feels great to me. The drums of course were awesome too, but boy is it going to be tough to play with a pedal!

Yeah, that was my thought too. I played drums on Suffragette City and Wave of Mutilation on Medium, and there were more notes than I expected. Definitely going to be a learning curve on the drums, but I look forward to it. It'll be like working up the ranks for the first time on GH... Those were the days...

[Jimmik]

Can someone post some pics or make a video :) my BestBuy doesnt have the demo.. ..Yet

Yea I could really go for that as well. Who wouldn't want a full length vid?! :D

[masterx1918]

Just got back from BB. Played guitar on Tom Sawyer (hard) and Say It Aint So (expert) and drums on Paranoid (hard), Say It Aint So (medium), Dani Califnornia (medium) and Suffragette City (hard)... The guitar is awesome! I was worried after I heard some people say they didn't like it, but I love it- it feels great to me. The drums of course were awesome too, but boy is it going to be tough to play with a pedal!
where'd you go, the one at the holyoke mall?

[admanimal]

where'd you go, the one at the holyoke mall?

Yup, I was there around 4-4:30.

[LongDarkBlues]

Well,I just got back from playing the demo at the Charlottesville, VA Best Buy - it's on a small low-res LCD with abysmal tinny speakers, but it ruled nonetheless. It ws set up right next to the GHIII demo, which was the full version, incidentally, but hardly anyone was playing that. Rock Band had just the guitar and the drums hooked up, so the shifting crowd of people around it took turns doing 2 at a time - almost everybody had an awesome time playing.

People were split on the Strat - a couple of guys who were there buying a second GH guitar started on Expert and were knocked out immediately and blamed it on how different the guitar was. I thought it was a little weird to get used to where the buttons were at first, but very quickly came to love the inset buttons because, like a real guitar, you could tell where your fingers were by feeling the bar in between the buttons. About half the guys playing loved the Strat, others thought it was too different. I personally found it awesome - I love the larger size, the Overdrive button is really easy to hit while playing if you don't like the 90 degree move, and the effects switch was awesome. I didn't really mess around with the hammer-on buttons, and it just felt awesome. The strum bar is really different, and I think because of the lack of the click I was hitting way too hard to make sure it registered and my right arm got really tired by the end of a harder song. I'm positive that with more time playing it that won't be an issue at all.

One thing I really loved was the feel of the songs - as has been mentioned here, something just felt off with GHIII, Rock Band nails it on every note - it just feels like you're playing - it was glorious. I played all on Hard and did just fine - there were a good amount of tricky parts mixed in with the straight forward riffing, and I actually failed out of Sufragette City towards the end the first time - the chord changes were a bit tricky.

I started the drums on Easy, but quickly moved to Hard and was still getting in 90% even on the Rush song. I think it's going to be vastly harder once I'm playing with a bass pedal, but with just the 4 pads it wasn't hard for me in the slightest, but damn if I didn't have a ******edly joyous grin on my face after every song - teh freeform fills are fantastic and it all just feels right.

The only complain I can come up with - and this could be because it's ademo, or the cheap LCD, or jsut the demo XBox, but twice in the hour and half I played it lagged for about 2 seonds before fixing itself. It really stopped the momentum, but Harmonix clearly knows what they're doing and I don't think they'd release the game with that issue..
One other great thing, the randomly generated character models were awesome - I never saw the same guy twice, and some of the outfits were baadas s- I loved the Mummy costume and the Lumberjack lokking dude the best. I might make an all-lumberjack band. In fact, LUMBERJACK is a pretty sweet band name.

In conclusion - it was insanely awesome and everything about this game rules. I was expecting it to be good, but the sheer greatness of this demo - especially compared to the GHIII demo - really drives home what a killer experience this is going to be. I didn't think I could be more psyched about it, but I am. Bravo, Harmonix - a masterpiece.

[Bakkster]

I just played as well. Same setup, crappy AV and right next to GH3. There was a mic, but no controller, so no singing for me. I played all of the songs on either guitar, bass, or drums.

Guitar: Feels amazing. I love the silent strum bar, and the frets feel wonderful. The solo frets will take a bit of getting used to, but they were loads of fun to use. The effects switch is a blast as well. Wah, Flang, chorus, and echo are all well done. It's difficult to move the switch while playing, just need to get a long enough hold note or tapping phrase.

Bass: Bass also uses the effects! :D Detroit Rock City has a freeform section at the end, and the bass sounded incredible! Even on a crappy TV. HMX, you have really outdone yourself this time!

Drums: Hell yes! They are slightly loud and I seemed to miss a lot of notes that I thought I hit. But I am not a drummer, so I'm pretty sure it was due to poor form on my part. Also, having better speakers will drown out the drum sounds. Anyways, so much fun. Freeform fills take a bit of getting used to, as far as not sounding like a monkey hitting pans. With no kick pedal I was able to play on expert at about 90% (Tom Sawyer, FTW!). Kick should bring me back down to medium for a while.

All told, I played for an hour and a half. I chatted with a few employees and the only other person to come by and play :eek: . All-in-all quite enjoyable. I'm really looking forward to the 20th.

[LongDarkBlues]

and the Lumberjack looking dude the best. I might make an all-lumberjack band. In fact, LUMBERJACK is a pretty sweet band name.

Ooh! Or, Naughty Pine and The Lumber Jackoffs!

[e1duke]

Man, I had 30 minutes to kill before work and I had to check out Best Buy to see if they had Rock Band.

Right when I walked in, they had this huge display and TV for GH3, with some kids playing KISS-I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night, and I quickly moved along to find ROCK BAND, after going through a couple of aisles, I see 2 middle age dudes about to play EPIC, the guy on drums was playing on medium and was doing pretty good, and the guy on guitar was on easy and they finished the song, then they tried to do Dani California and the guy on drums tells me that "his friend is AWESOME at GH" and he fails on expert, twice. They leave and I quickly get my hand on the sticks. And let me say like joey from Blossom. WHOA!

So friggin sick, I started off on Hard with Nirvana-In Bloom, because there was no bass pedal, so I figured I could handle a few extra notes with no bass pedal to worry about. After starting off a little slow I quickly found the rhythm and was rocking out in no time. The only real problem I ever had was trying to hit the cymbal without looking at where it was, half the time I was missing in completely. I ended up scoring 92%, not bad, but then again no bass pedal. Then I had my hands on Rush-Tom Sawyer, man this one was tough, also on hard, during the mid section of the song I barely got through, I was in the red for like 2 minutes straight, but after the last couple of fills, I was back in, the switching between the yellow/red, then to red/blue was weird for me to concentrate on, but I ended up passing with 82%, then I tried STP-Vasoline, Expert, bad idea, 38%, I just couldn't find the beat with the song, the rhythm was very tough, it was almost time for me to go so I decided to do a couple more songs and try Expert again, so I selected David Bowie-Suffragette City, and this was prolly my fav of all the ones I played, it was real simple but fun as hell to play and I got every single one of my drum fills in, got like 95%, then Jet- Are You Gonna Be My Girl, fun rock song to play, then one more Nirvana- In Bloom, and I pounded the hell out of the drums for this last one and it felt great. 98% expert, granted no bass pedal, but yea only problem I really had was figuring out where the pads where because I wasn't used to the lay out of them, overall hours of fun.

Im going tomorrow because I didn't play the guitar or sing. I might try to do two at a time, maybe even drum/vox. Who knows, NOV 20 can't come soon enough :/.

[AdamBomb629]

Great tale, but there are a ton of threads about this already.

[e1duke]

Sorry mate, had to blow off some steam about it, I mean it rocks guy!

Plus its like saying to the people who post about the Rock Band Tour demo, "Umm yea there is a ton of threads about this already, thx"

[Bakkster]

Great tale, but there are a ton of threads about this already.

Actually, this seems to be the thread where people are posting their impressions. That's why it's on the 1st page, and the rest have fallen farther back. If you don't want to read this one thread, then don't.

[JohnnyFAS]

An EB games are something like that is bound to have it sooner or later.

I sure hope not. Those stores are tiny and they get really really crowded during the holiday season.

[Sophrosyne]

I must add that when we played "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?", people started to sing along although the mic wasn't working ;D that was pretty cool.

[TheRocker]

Reading this thread just makes me go to my local bestbuy and demand a RockBand demo heheh

[DrAndonuts]

Do it man, storm the backroom, if necessary.

[RkBndDrmr]

Played at Best Buy yesterday (Monday) in Auburn, Maine.
Some dude was playing on what looked like medium when I got there. He failed and passed the guitar to me. I love the guitar! Size was great as was the feel. My wife and I played through 4 songs before someone else came and we passed it on.

The drums were much fun to play, even with no bass. Can't wait to sit and play as standing just is not right. The non clicking guitar felt good. One less click to hear while playing the game as the drums give you all the click you'll need lol. They were a bit loud but playing at home with the surround turned up will solve that problem.

Mic was present but not on. and the set-up was on a nice little widescreen TV.

Overall...AWESOME! I thought I'd have to play GH3 to kill time before RB came out but now I think I'll just have to bring a chair and a few snacks to Best Buy for a few more weeks.

[vtjustinb]

Reposting this from a buried thread on my recent trip to BB:

From a drummer's perspective the drums felt great. The pads were more dead than a lot of common pad surfaces (Real-Feel or Heavy Hitter practice pads, v-drum mesh head), and you won't get a whole lot of assistance on upstrokes from rebound--if you want to do any double-strokes you'll have to throw in a little more backfinger. If I had to make an analogy to what it felt like, it's pretty close to drumming on a head that's barely tightened.

The noise was actually pretty loud. I have a pretty thin practice pad (1/4" gum rubber on top of wood) and the RB drums were a lot louder. Not as loud as neoprene, but definitely louder than a normal gum rubber practice pad.

Also, I felt like the sticks definitely need replacing when you get your copy. They were 5A-sized, but felt a little short (that might be because I've been using marching sticks for the past decade which are typically 17") which might not be a bad thing. I'm sure it's somewhere they had to cut costs at, but my sticks weren't matched and the texture of the wood was pretty brittle. I think personally I'll use 5B or bigger just to get a little of the rebound feel back.

All in all I'm beyond psyched for rocking out on these songs on the drums. It's going to kick serious ass and that's no lie

[stiper327b]

Played it yesterday afternoon at the Best Buy in St. Louis (at S Hanley and Eager Rd).

One word, 17 syllables:

Absolutelyflippinamazinglyspectacularlysublime.

If ever the time was ripe for a let-down, this was it. I've been anticipating playing this game since it was announced in April. I've been dreaming about playing it since REM was announced. And the BWT awesomeness just pushed it all over the top. In short, I was expecting nothing more than absolutely amazement. And I can say, 100% without a doubt that I was not disappointed.

The guitar is amazing. It took a few seconds to get used to the strum bar, but that's a good thing. I was one of those smashers from GH. I play with very little subtlety on my strumming hand, especially during fast passages. But with the RB Strat, you simply cannot do that. I had to learn not to go crazy buck wild on the thing, and treat it with a little more care. And wouldn't you know it, this actually increased my speed.

The neck buttons were perfect. I would lose my place a few times in the first couple songs, but after about 10 minutes, I got the hang of it and didn't have any problems afterwards. I will say that my fingers were really sweating, but I think it was more due to my excitement of finally playing it than anything to do with the guitar.

And while some people have said that having the buttons "flush" with the neck makes it harder to slide, I found it to be the opposite. I was hitting more difficult passages that I would have missed in GH. The guitar on the whole is lighter. They had a GH3 station right next to the RB demo, and after playing the Strat for a little bit, I tried out the Les Paul. That damn thing felt like a brick with a neck. I know some people like a little heft in their controllers, but this felt like too much for me. The Strat felt just right in my hands.

Songs I played on Guitar: Say It Ain't So (Expert), Epic (Expert, failed out), Vasoline (Hard, I learned my lesson with Epic), Tom Sawyer (Expert, failed out).

I also played drums, only on Medium as I didn't want to fail out without getting the full experience. And holy God poop were they fun. I know I didn't have to worry about the kick pedal, but even without that it was amazing. I played Black Hole Sun, Tom Sawyer, and In Bloom all on drums. Just so damn fun. It seems like a couple hits weren't registering, but I think it had more to do with the fact that I was standing up. BB really should think about getting some sort of seat for the drums.

The drumsticks felt really light, and I can see why some people have said they're going to get some heavier sticks. The free-form sections were fun, but I still sounded like a baby banging on pots during those sections. I'm gonna have to work on using fills that are in rhythm instead of just banging wildly.

So, after a few solo sessions, another kid came up. We decided to play some songs together, and I've got to say, this is where the game really shines. I can see now why HMX was so insistent on BWT being a multi-player mode. The experience is increased ten-fold with the addition of other people. Especially when the other person is a drummer in real life and can get 99% on Tom Sawyer Expert. He was ripping shyte up. In fact, sometimes I got distracted just watching him go nuts on the drums. So cool.

Unison phrases. I don't know what it is, but seeing a bonus for a unison phrase pop up is so awesome.

Some other thoughts:

I really liked how HMX handled the guitar solos in this one. The fret board goes a deep shade of blue, and a number pops up letting you know how far into the solo you are. At first it can be somewhat distracting watching the numbers go up, but you quickly train yourself to take a quick peek to see your progress. Great addition, guys. Kudos.

The effects switch is awesome. Not only does it go into effect on your solos, but it also goes into effect when you activate Overdrive. I didn't even know it was activated until I went into Overdrive on Vasoline. So awesome.

Bang Camaro mode is the kind of addition that shows HMX not only knows music, but what it's like to play music in front of a bunch of screaming fans. At first, it's subtle, but then you realize that the entire crowd is singing along. And it's not just all at once, either, some will be a half second off, some will be louder. It's not just some cheesy multiplying of the vocals, it's got a real character to it. So awesome.


When playing multiplayer, you get a real sense of urgency when your band-mate fails out. When we played Tom Sawyer, I dropped the ball on the guitar solo and failed out, and I found myself just praying that the drum section would get to a fill section so the guy could bring me back in. Alas, it did not happen. And later on, when I was on drums, the guy failed out on guitar (also on Tom Sawyer) and all the pressure was on me to get to a fill section and hit that green note. Of course, we failed out right as I got to the fill section, but that excitement of having to wait for a fill section is awesome. It really adds another layer of urgency to the game. And you can feel your band mate pulling for you. It's just another great touch.

Overall, I have to say that, despite my high expectations, I still walked away impressed. The guitar is a real evolutionary step beyond the Les Paul. The drums feel perfect and will offer a real challenge to those who have grown tired of the guitar. And the sense of camaraderie, the sense of cooperation that this game fosters is just off the charts awesome. I've never been in a band, but after playing this game, I can honestly see the appeal of getting together with your closest friends and reveling in the joy of creating and playing music together.

[Kylekillgannon]

You guys are lucky, someone, destroyed my demo D:

[AVC808]

Great tale, but there are a ton of threads about this already.

Actually, this seems to be the thread where people are posting their impressions. That's why it's on the 1st page, and the rest have fallen farther back. If you don't want to read this one thread, then don't.

actually when adambomb posted his reply, it was before the threads were merged. i recall clicking on the thread myself and thinking the same thing adambomb posted. he was the first to reply to a new thread that was started. that's why he said there were a ton of threads about it already. a mod must have tidied up the place and consolidated the best buy impression posts and it got lumped into this big thread

[Bakkster]

actually when adambomb posted his reply, it was before the threads were merged. i recall clicking on the thread myself and thinking the same thing adambomb posted. he was the first to reply to a new thread that was started. that's why he said there were a ton of threads about it already. a mod must have tidied up the place and consolidated the best buy impression posts and it got lumped into this big thread

I see. Yay for Mods! :D

[JohnnyFAS]

Drums = so much fun. You'll discover at the end of a song that you have a huge grin on your face. And it's true that multiplayer creates great comeraderie, even with complete strangers. When I got to the store someone was about to play a solo song, i asked if i could jump in and it was just a fantastic experience. If only the mic worked.

[AVC808]

Drums = so much fun. You'll discover at the end of a song that you have a huge grin on your face. And it's true that multiplayer creates great comeraderie, even with complete strangers. When I got to the store someone was about to play a solo song, i asked if i could jump in and it was just a fantastic experience. If only the mic worked.

totally agree with you. it was fun just banging away on the drums while a friend played guitar. but then when i picked up the mic, and my friend got ready on drums, a third guy there jumped in and grabbed the guitar. the set up didnt have a 2nd guitar so essentially we could only have a 3-piece band...we got through the whole song nicely and when it was over we all had a sick smile on our face.
im sure i would still enjoy the game solo, but as a group it's definitely the complete experience.

[Atsumi]

I haven't gotten around to checking my nearest Best Buy.

Maybe tonight...

[snakebite025]

Which store was it?

I called the Southpoint store this morning and they didn't know about it. Assuming it's either at Crabtree or Crossroads?

Sorry about replying so late, it was at the Crabtree store. Tons of fun, you should go check it out.

[dragulaAC]

Finally got to try Rock Band out yesterday evening. Being in a smaller town with a little Best Buy that creates the feeling of a ghost town is actually a pretty good thing sometimes. I hung around for about an hour messing around with it without interference.

I wasn't too impressed with their setup. 20" low res lcd panel didn't quite do it for me, however knowing that when i get it home on my 52" bravia xbr2 and surround system it will give it that little extra oomph. First off, i noticed there weren't any drumsticks around the demo, so I opted to play a few songs on medium first. I can safely say that playing the drums without sticks is a bad idea. I missed a lot of notes that I should have gotten, it's much more stress on the drums (i.e. will never do it on MY set), and finally you'll get some bloody knuckles if you play more than 3 songs that way. I had to switch off hitting with knuckles to hitting with fingertips to keep it going.

As for the guitar, it definitely glowed as I approached it. It hung next to the GH2 setup that was next to it (for some reason they have a GH2,GH3,& RB demo's). It made the 'lil explorer look kind of silly, like it should be in my son's crib. So I grabbed the LP, it felt great and looked great, surprisingly just the look somehow adds to the experience, which is what HMX was going for i guess. At most, it's about half the weight of the explorer. Which, doesn't matter to me, I don't have a problem with its weight, it doesn't affect your playing ability. The feel of the fret buttons were pretty smooth, before playing a song i was slightly worried, just not being familiar with it. I played a few songs on expert and got through them all, not always pretty, but I made it through the few songs i played. I actually thing that doing runs up or down the fret board will now be easier with this new button style being lowered into the fretboard. So a thumbs up on the buttons. The strum bar was definitely an improvement to take out the clicks. It may take a few songs worth of getting used to, but that's no problem. The effects are pretty sweet to mess around with. They'll probably be funner to utilize if you actually have bandmates playing with you, as opposed to playing solo. The solo buttons should be a fun change of pace once you get used to getting your hand down there and on the buttons properly. I attempted it once and almost failed out so i had to go back to the standard buttons. I didn't get my fingers aligned properly when i dropped down to the solo buttons. But again, muscle memory will eventually make this second nature. So A+ on the new guitar for me.

Overall, the game itself (including menu's, artistic look, note charts, peripherals,co-op, etc.), just dropped GH3 down a few notches in the satisfaction level for me. Very excited for 3 weeks from today!

[stiper327b]

I don't know why it is, but the rectangular notes are probably the best improvement in my eyes. After playing with those for a handful of songs, it was hard to step over to the GH3 demo and go back to the falling skittles. It just seems so backwards, I wonder how I ever thought the circles were a good idea in the first place.

I played it again last night, and I had a harder time with some of the guitar parts, but I think it was mainly due to it being my first time and the volume being way down on the set. But for those worried that the guitar parts aren't going to be a challenge, I'd say you could probably put those fears to rest. Sure, once we get used to the guitars, they'll be easier, but I was fumbling my way through Are You Gonna Be My Girl on Expert (damn chords in the verses), I failed out on Tom Sawyer and Epic on Expert, and could only play some songs on Hard. I got through GHI and II on Expert, so it's not like I'm some schlub (although I've not even gotten close to getting past Jordan on Expert), but it the songs in the demo still posed a bit of a challenge. And with songs like Highway Star, Green Grass and High Tides, and Run to the Hills coming in the final version, not to mention guitar centric DLC, I'm sure there are going to be more than enough guitar parts that will provide challenges for all but the highest echelon of GH vets.

[Bakkster]

I played again yesterday and have a few things to add:

Finger-picked bass - Tried that out on Detroit Rock City. No extra strums from rebound, but I did have trouble doing fast picking because I was not letting the strum bar return to neutral in between notes. I guarantee this was an issue with not being used to the bar, as I almost exclusively play my bass with my fingers. A little more practice with this and I think this will be my preferred way of playing bass.

Solo frets - I found that just tapping with my right hand works best. My hand doesn't have to move as far, and I was able to play entire solos like this.

Notes - I had a few problems with the drum notes. There were a few songs (Dani California and Tom Sawyer, I believe) where there were R and G (far left/right) notes alternating hitting at the same time and alternating. It was a little tough to read sometimes, not being able to tell if it was at the same time for 1/8th note off. I might just need to start looking harder at the horizontal lines.

[Electric_Zen]

Solo frets - I found that just tapping with my right hand works best. My hand doesn't have to move as far, and I was able to play entire solos like this.

Did you try using both sets of frets, one with each hand, or did that seem too complicated? I can completely see myself doing that to hit stuff like G-O-B sequences.

Highway Star and Green Grass and High Tides both have sequences where I would probably need two hands to nail.

[Dekelia]

Just got to play it today in Orlando.

Four friend of mine and me went down and played for about an hour. Man what a great game.

The drums are amazing. The guitar seems very well built. It really does look and feel a lot like a real strat. I had a bit of a hard time using it (my muscle memory is attuned to the GH guitar) but once I get used to it, I think it will be much better. I couldn't figure out what to do with buttons on the lower part of the neck (are those just duplicates?) I tried to use them a couple times which FELT very cool, but they made me fail ;)

One thing I couldn't figure out is if they have HO/PO in the songs.

It was so great having a full band. We've already set up "band nights" for when it comes out. All of the songs that we played seemed pretty easy individually, which may hurt the solo experience, but the full band set up is right on. I can't wait for it to come out.

[dragulaAC]

I couldn't figure out what to do with buttons on the lower part of the neck (are those just duplicates?) I tried to use them a couple times which FELT very cool, but they made me fail ;)

One thing I couldn't figure out is if they have HO/PO in the songs.


The 5 new fret buttons are used during solos. Essentially, during the solo you can use these new buttons to play it, and they are all HO/PO notes, no strumming required for them to work. I tried it one time and screwed it up, but once you get used to getting a hand there quick enough it should be all good. And yes, throughout the rest of the songs HO/PO's are used, they are signified by a shorter 'bar' or 'note' on the chart. (so shorter horizontally).

[chaopolis]

So... I FINALLY found a Best Buy that had the demo in Central Florida (Kissimmee, The Loop). After playing it, I feel that everyone here in the forum have nailed the pluses/minuses...

The drums are great. I had a feeling (just from looking at pictures) that the pads were gonna be too plasticy.. but luckily, they aren't and can take quite a beating. The same probably can't be said the drum sticks. I felt like I was gonna break them SEVERAL times. Although, I'm curious about the level of difficulty. I mean, I got a 98% on medium, and then a 95% on expert... not that much of a difference. And looking at it, the kick drum appears to even be used on easy... which, I have good rythym and all... but the kick drum pedal makes me nervous, mainly coming from my school band days of CONSTANTLY tapping my foot to every note. So, when I hear a beat, I tap my foot to it. So, it's gonna be hard to tell my foot to ONLY tap when the orange bar shows up.

The guitar isn't as bad as some are saying. As for the frets, yeah, they click - but it isn't terrible. After one song, I was able to blindly find the right notes with no problem. The strum bar doesn't click, but it does bounce back. I kinda missed the clicking sound, but luckily the strum bar works just fine. I wasn't sure why everyone was going GA-GA CRAZY over how awesome the whammy bar was... until I used it... and it rocks.

Now, the Guitar Hero III Xbox 360 demo was set up RIGHT next to Rock Band, so I compared guitars. Honestly, the GHIII Les Paul is, overall, the better of the two. However, the Rock Band Stratacaster is still a great controller. I will say though that the GHIII Les Paul feels more like a controller, whereas the Stratacaster feels more like a toy.

All-in-all, can't wait for this game... hopefully my 360 will be fixed in time! (grrr...)

[FatWilma]

so i went to my local best buy (richmond, va) this past weekend and they did not have it setup but there was a big open spot next to the gh demo that got me thinking......so i went back there yesterday and what do u know, 2 dudes rocking out on guitar and drums. so i immediately started checkin out the strat, which is dead sexy. straight up looks like a real strat from a good distance. i was also checkin out the graphics and the visuals are pretty cool. sometimes they seemed a bit too over-stylish, but most of the time i was admiring how much better the animations were over gh3. since this was my only real chance to check out the graphics b4 playing, i just wanted to see what the differences were between gh3 and rb. i think gh3's graphics are bit sharper, but the overall look of RB is definitely better. characters are much smoother looking, again the animations were WAY better, and the camera views make it much more enjoyable to watch someone else playing. so when those guys were finished, there was another dude watching next to me and i asked if he wanted to join me, and of course he did. he wanted to play drums and i really wanted to get my hands on the strat, so it worked out.

my initial thoughts on the strat, like most other people, i was shocked at how light it was (but after playing a song, i didnt even think about the weight at all, so its a non-issue for me). i was also surprised at how immediately comfortable it felt after reading all the reviews from people saying "it takes time to get used to." i LOVE the new strum bar! people who hold it with their thumb and index finger who havnt played it yet will rejoice when they get their hands on it. i actually don't play this way, and i still loved it. the buttons are good, not totally sure how i feel about them yet, as i think it makes ho/po's a lil harder, but that maybe just cause gh3's are so easy and this was my 1st time with this guitar (more on ho/po's later). i'll say the only thing i didnt like with the new guitar, are the lil ninnies on the buttons, which definitely needed to be bigger. i could barely feel them, but oh well, not a huge deal. anywho, we played dani cali first, and i went with hard. after getting over my initial excitement, i quickly realized i was totally sucking at the ho/po's. i think this has to do with a couple things, 1. gh3's are super easy, 2. not used to the guitar, 3. scroll speed slower/timing window narower. i definitely think the scroll speed has slowed down which in turn has limited the timing window and made some ho/po's really tough. again, once i get used to the game and the lil differences, i'm sure its not gonna be an issue.

we were totally rocking dani, but then the solo came and i started experimenting with the solo buttons, and by the time i "got it" i had missed too many notes and failed out, but i would have another shot to redeem myself with the new buttons. so the guy playin drums left, and i was all by myself for the next 30 minutes or so. i switched to drums, picked in bloom on medium and quit after the first 5 or 6 notes cause it was so easy (the demo automatically hits the kick for u). after switching to hard, i was LOVING the drums! the fills are SOO much fun! i had a huge grin after every single one. the drums themselves were much larger than i had imagined, and looked to be VERY high quality. after i passed in bloom i picked tom sawyer on hard and had my ass handed to me on the crazy middle part. i blame that on not being familiar with the kit yet, cause i was missing quite a few notes just from missing the pads alltogether. as i said b4 with the slower scroll speed, there were instances i couldnt tell the difference between hitting 2 pads at the same time or 1 right after the other. yet again, i'm sure that won't be as much of an issue down the road once we're all playing this in the comfort of our living rooms, just something i thought i'd point out.

i played a few other songs on drums, but i wanted to end my virgin RB experience with guitar, so i picked black hole sun as my last song. i get to the solo and i'm playing it as usual and about 5 seconds in i'm like, oh yeah solo buttons, and after i got my hand placement right (during which my "rock meter" is plummeting), i started OWNing the solo with the new buttons. that seriously made me smile ear to ear, but that wasnt all. when the end of the song came up and i saw the "rock out" section coming i started wailing on the strum bar and regular buttons and again, like 3 seconds in, "oh yeah, solo buttons." haha...the bonus score was going crazy when i started goin nuts on those. SOOO much fun, i had a total blast for the 45 some minutes i was playing, and i only played 1 song with another person. i CAN NOT WAIT to get this game in my house and start playing it with all my friends. this experience left me just wanting more and more. i was already 100% sold, but now i think i'm gonna go pre-order it just to make sure. i've never pre-ordered a game in my life, and hadn't planned on doing it for RB either, but i think i'm gonna go do it this weekend for sure. somehow this game has managed to exceed the highest expectations i've ever had for a video game, EVER!

[Bakkster]

Did you try using both sets of frets, one with each hand, or did that seem too complicated? I can completely see myself doing that to hit stuff like G-O-B sequences.

Highway Star and Green Grass and High Tides both have sequences where I would probably need two hands to nail.

No, I didn't try that. The problem with this is that you'd only be able to hit HOPO notes with the left hand. I couldn't think of an advantage to this. If I use two hands, both will be on the upper buttons.

[Electric_Zen]

No, I didn't try that. The problem with this is that you'd only be able to hit HOPO notes with the left hand. I couldn't think of an advantage to this. If I use two hands, both will be on the upper buttons.

I'm thinking of some of those crazy repeating sequences like G-O-B where the G is a strum note, but the O - B are HO/POs. If this is in a designated solo section, it seems you could hit G on the extra frets, and O - B on the regular frets. Then I could focus on the rhythm, and not moving my hand all over the place.

[ManOwaR]

I'll just unplug all the insturments, and get a 100% score through interpretive dance.

Owns.

[TheRocker]

Millions of impressions and no pictures or videos cmon guys...

[Quastor]

i think this has to do with a couple things, 1. gh3's are super easy, 2. not used to the guitar, 3. scroll speed slower/timing window narower.

I think it's just the timing window. It's somewhere between GH1 and GH2. In GH1, you were just about sure to miss the HO if you didn't keep the previous note held down when hammering on, and for the PO you had to have the lower note down before releasing the higher note. When I started doing this again, I was hitting them much more.

[Bakkster]

I'm thinking of some of those crazy repeating sequences like G-O-B where the G is a strum note, but the O - B are HO/POs. If this is in a designated solo section, it seems you could hit G on the extra frets, and O - B on the regular frets. Then I could focus on the rhythm, and not moving my hand all over the place.

That should work as long as you only play HOPOs on the left hand. So if the series goes O-B-G with the B-G being POs, you could have your left hand hold green and tap the O-B with your left. That should be how it works. There was no reasonable way for me to try this in the store (I'm not going to play Epic 20x in a row :D ), so we'll just have to see.

[FatWilma]

I think it's just the timing window. It's somewhere between GH1 and GH2. In GH1, you were just about sure to miss the HO if you didn't keep the previous note held down when hammering on, and for the PO you had to have the lower note down before releasing the higher note. When I started doing this again, I was hitting them much more.

i agree, i havnt played a ton of gh1, but from what i remember the ho/po's were much more difficult becuase of the way u described. it was kinda bothering me while i was playing, so i started to really focus on nailing them and i was doing better with it towards the end. but like i said, once we all own the game, i'm sure it will hardly be an issue.

[admanimal]

I agree that it feels like HOPOs are closer to the GH1 level of difficulty. I can't tell if it's the game or the guitar though.

[Bakkster]

I agree that it feels like HOPOs are closer to the GH1 level of difficulty. I can't tell if it's the game or the guitar though.

I think it's the GH2 HOPO system with the GH1 timing window. I played the HOPOs like I normally do in GH2 and it worked fine for me.

[admanimal]

I think it's the GH2 HOPO system with the GH1 timing window. I played the HOPOs like I normally do in GH2 and it worked fine for me.

Yeah it does work like GH2, it just seems more difficult. I do think the guitar has something to do with it too.