How important are the background visuals (really)?

[DackAttac]

The visuals are there for the same reason Mario has a princess to rescue. It would just be a music simulator on its own, but plunking through it, you might wonder, "Why am I doing this, this is just five buttons. DDR for the less-than-aerobic." There's something about the sight of your avatar clutching a sick axe in front of a huge crowd that gives it that extra ounce of "Oh! Dang! Better not screw up!"

Character/band customization... putting your logo on the drumhead... Every bit more customization you put in, the more invested you are.

(I'd like to think I'd still be into it without the visuals, but that's kinda hard to prove.)

[SeattleSauve]

A few months ago I would have said the graphics weren't important at all. After going back and playing a few older titles (not gonna name names) I realized they felt old and boring by comparison.

Now, in a lot of my playing I'm trying to get the best score on a song that I can, so I do often find the flashy background ultra distracting, so I would definitely use the "black background" option a LOT. But when I am playing at a party, or just having fun with some folks I'd want to see the fancy stuff because it helps immerse you into the song.

Also, when I'm playing a song that is really easy I appreciate the graphics much more than when I'm concentrating on trying to maintain a streak.

I don't think it would actually affect how often I play though... So if this poll were asking whether they were "important", "somewhat important", or "not important" I would go with "somewhat important", but in terms of gameplay I would play just as much.

[CJHobbes]

I have an animation degree and a career as an artist. Visuals are very important to me.

Honestly, if RB was nothing but a note highway, I'd have gotten bored of it a loooooooong time ago.

For me personally, the stuff going on in the background is the least important part of the game, and I don't see how it can be a significant source of dissatisfaction for people.

I bolded the key part. The answer is simple: people like different things than other people. There is no ultimate reason to "get it." Some people enjoy visuals, others couldn't care less.

I used to live with a roommate who didn't understand why I watched zombie films or animated films. Kept asking me over and over why I enjoyed them, to which I'd simply reply, "I think they're fun." There needs to be no reason for someone to enjoy something other than it's fun to them.

[tdc002]

People that say they would play without background visuals have obviously never played a game with BAD background visuals, or one with none at all.

GH5 had awful background visuals. They were essentially predesigned for EVERY song, so there was no variety. It was the same animation every time you played. You can't play songs at different venues. The camera angles don't change. It's literally the same. Every. Single. Time. All that changes is whatever character you pick.

As for a game with no background visuals, I remember playing Frets on Fire waaayyy back in the day when GH2 first came out. Without a background, you just totally lose that immersion in the game. It draws attention to the fact that you're not REALLY in a band, you're also not REALLY even playing the song. It just totally breaks your suspension of belief.

[Lord_Mhoram]

Part of the reason I play Rock Band (and GH) rather than Frets on Fire. I love teh background visuals - I like looking at the characters I created for my band.

[nascarfan19]

I'd play it, but it'd be 1000x worse w/o background stuff

[SirDavidTLynch]

Having absolutely nothing but a black background would make the whole game look half-assed, and particularly boring on vocals and on songs with a lot of dead air like "Bohemian Rhapsody" on guitar.

[LuigiHann]

I think I'd be substantially less motivated to play solo. Group band play it makes a lot less of a difference

[osteofight]

I have scientificish evidence of my decison. I dabbled with Frets on Fire but I ultimately dropped it in part because there is nothing going on in the background.

[hakko504]

I'd still play. Right now I'm trying to learn to play Pro Guitar & Pro Keyboard and as a learning tool I find the backgrounds nice but irrelevant. The video shoots though are a bit of a distraction and before the change in note highway I know I missed a few notes because of annoying flashes in the background which made it impossible to see the notes! Since the change it's better, but I'd still love to be able to turn off the video shoots and only play in 'real' venues.

Though, when I'm playing 5-lane I find myself looking at the background much more so there it is much more important to have a nice looking band to help me perform.