From Comic-Con: Drake Demoing Rock Band Blitz TODAY at 6:45 EST with GameSpot!

[Pankrazzo]

If anything I think Harmonix has shown a level of commitment and support to our players over the past few years that not many other companies could match.

Absolutely agreeing 100%, your support is by far one of the best out there, it just sounds so damn redundant to me that the player is dependent on the online infrastructure in a singleplayer-only game.

Nope. Not only brand new and different server machines, but a whole new server software infrastructure, written from the ground up just for Blitz by our crack Network programmers.

Thanks for sharing this, it's a relief.

[Lowlander2]

I thought HMX would be one of the last companies to have some sort of always online thing going on.

I understand why coins and cred (and perhaps scores to submit online) are under this new rule, but powerups? Something naturally integrated into the game? What may be the difference between simplicity and depth?

I don't know, man. I don't like it. I doubt even GNF could adequately explain this one, and then we'll have problems.

[samjjones]

I thought HMX would be one of the last companies to have some sort of always online thing going on.

I understand why coins and cred (and perhaps scores to submit online) are under this new rule, but powerups? Something naturally integrated into the game? What may be the difference between simplicity and depth?

I don't know, man. I don't like it. I doubt even GNF could adequately explain this one, and then we'll have problems.

Maybe powerups can be acquired through social media means? Or trading?

[metalkorn]

guaranteed facebook will play into the earning of coins once the game is released which is where the simplicity will come from. You can play the game offline, you just won't be earning coins which means you won't be effectively competing for scores which would make leaderboards and score wars fairly redundant.

For me it will make no difference, I'm always online. I would be curious to know if the functionality will work with an Xbox Live Silver subscription. If not, then we may hear some more complaints. Though again it has no impact on me personally.

Online connectivity is the way of the future, it's not like we are talking Diablo 3 here where you can't play the game period without an online connection.

[grumblevolcano]

I thought HMX would be one of the last companies to have some sort of always online thing going on.

I understand why coins and cred (and perhaps scores to submit online) are under this new rule, but powerups? Something naturally integrated into the game? What may be the difference between simplicity and depth?

I don't know, man. I don't like it. I doubt even GNF could adequately explain this one, and then we'll have problems.

I believe it's to do with you need coins to buy powerups and seeing as they get bought with coins every time you play a song (at least from what the livestreams have suggested), playing offline means you have no coins hence no coins = no powerups (it's not like CoD Black Ops where purchasing a weapon means you don't have to buy it again).

[Lowlander2]

So powerups are completely finite? That would mean that the system makes sense within the confines of itself...but it's still baffling. It seems like, again, powerups mean the difference between leaderboard supremacy and not even having a shot at it, so limiting the amount of times you can use these bonuses before having to "recharge" just seems silly. It's like only giving RB3 players Overdrive or solo bonuses every five songs.

The ratio probably won't be that bad, but still. Don't make us faux play the game just so we can play the game for real. That's what Final Fantasy XIII did, and guess what? People hated it. Hell, that's what the recent Theatrhythm has done, and trust me when I say it hurts it a lot.

[Meat-Popsicle]

No. No real money required.

There are many great opportunities to earn extra coins. We'll be talking more about them soon.

OK, cool. It seems to be a common game design feature these days, but I would have been surprised to see Harmonix going down that path.

[HMXPope]

So powerups are completely finite?

As opposed to infinite power-ups? I'm not sure what you're saying here. (BTW my new nerdcore band is called The Infinite Power-Ups.)

Keep in mind, too, that before you dive into all this leaderboard jockeying, you need to earn and unlock all of the power-ups, via cred collection. Will that process be considered "faux" playing as well?

[www1221]

As opposed to infinite power-ups? I'm not sure what you're saying here. (BTW my new nerdcore band is called The Infinite Power-Ups.)

Keep in mind, too, that before you dive into all this leaderboard jockeying, you need to earn and unlock all of the power-ups, via cred collection. Will that process be considered "faux" playing as well?

He means that when you purchase a power up with cred or coins or whatevs that it only lasts for that song and youll have to rebuy it for the next song

[jibjqrkl]

Nope. Not only brand new and different server machines, but a whole new server software infrastructure, written from the ground up just for Blitz by our crack Network programmers. It lets us ditch the older codebase that we used to support Rock Band. We're also going to use it for the next Dance Central.

And for the new RB main game that is coming right ?

right???
RIGHT?!!!!