Rock Band 2

[Samwise]

SHHHHH.  They'll hear you!   

[Jeff Kelly]

Why won't the stupid fucks release Rock Band 1 and 2 in the rest of the world already?

[HAMMER FRENZY]

I actually just went to a gamestop and bought a used RB1 and downloaded the songs off it and then returned it the next day. Easy peasy lemon squeazy. Also I go tthe RB2 drum kit, it is really good, it takes a mean beating that set. I also got the official drum silencers, the set is a dream,... till the GHWT set comes out that is... 

[Ookii]

Around the house this is known as Strum Hero, I have to play Alabama Getaway for a taste of GH.

[Stephen Zepp]

Hey, I don't have Rock Band (just got the 360) -- I was going to buy Rock Band 2 in order to get the upgraded instruments. Is that a good plan? Are they compatable with the new Guitar Hero stuff?

Should I get the GH band kit instead, if they are compatable?

It's all supposed to be compatible this time around.  I would recommend holding off on buying the RB2 instruments, at least until you've had a chance to try both out.  I might want to take another crack at them just to make sure, but based on my first impressions I'm 95% sure I'm going to be getting the GH controllers and buying the instrumentless version of RB2.

I realize this is your opinion from a pretty rapid review at a conference, but the RB2 guitar has gotten huge positive response from just about all comers.

For reference, here's the thread from the Rockband forums:

RB2 Strat = Awesome!.

Mine should show up tomorrow, will report back!

[schild]

That's a thread on the official Rock Band site. What are they saying over at other forums?

[Ookii]

That's a thread on the official Rock Band site. What are they saying over at other forums?

We're a forum, let's start a thread talking about how the RB2 Strat gave us herpies.

[Ingmar]

I think we're supposed to start arguing about whether or not Pantera sucks now.

[lesion]

Also, the new guitar is pretty rad I must say. If you didn't like the original strat you might like it, if you did like the strat you'll love it.

CREDIBLE INFOZ

[schild]

I think we're supposed to start arguing about whether or not Pantera sucks now.

That's all I got from that thread also.

That's a thread on the official Rock Band site. What are they saying over at other forums?

We're a forum, let's start a thread talking about how the RB2 Strat gave us herpies.

That sounds more like a personal problem. There are creams though, so you should be OK.

[Samwise]

I realize this is your opinion from a pretty rapid review at a conference, but the RB2 guitar has gotten huge positive response from just about all comers.

Given the nearly theological divide between fans of the GH and RB franchises and their associated hardware, I put very little stock in reviews, especially ones that come from the official boards.     Which is why I made it such a high priority to try them out for myself when I had the chance.  There are very few people who I'd trust to give me a relatively unbiased review of these things, and none of them live on internet message boards.

I myself am not a completely unbiased reporter in this matter; I've played a lot of Rock Band despite not owning it at home and can claim a high level of familiarity with it at this point, but I still find its controllers distasteful and I expected to like the GH ones more.  And sure enough, I did.  Your mileage may vary. 

Unless you've already committed body and soul to one franchise or the other (or both) and absolutely MUST have the controllers that go with it, it's really best to try it for yourself in a store or at a gullible/rich/both friend's house before laying down the extra $140 or whatever outrageous sum they're charging for them these days.

[WayAbvPar]

Amazon has a special; they will throw in a 1600 point XBL card with purchase through 4-October.

[Jeff Kelly]

So how's he guitar tabbing on RB2? I just got Rock band today (because EA doesn't like us European folk) and in my opinion the Guitar Hero 3 tabbing is significantly better than that of Rock Band.

What I found odd was that I had actually trouble to hit the notes correctly in RB. IN GH3 I five star all songs on medium now and have finished nearly all of the songs on hard but on RB I had to actually play several songs more than once to get five stars because I had a hard time hitting the notes correctly (even after calibration)

Sometimes I just know that I hit a note correctly and it still wouldn't register. Other than that RB does seem to require an undue amount of precision. Oh and don't get me started on hammer ons/pull offs. There is one single song on medium that actually uses HO/PO for effect and it's the last song of the set list. HO/PO are hard to spot (who got the stupid idea of using smaller notes for that purpose?) and if you don't hit them at the precise moment they won't register. Just like with GH 1 it is usually easier to just strum them. The way GH3 handles HO/PO is just better in my opinion.

I had more fun playing GH3 on medium than I had playing RB because the songs seemed to be better tabbed. Just compare the two versions of paranoid or train kept a rolling for example.

Don't get me wrong it is a fun game I just want to know how RB2 is in comparison to RB.

[Samwise]

Hammer-on/pull-offs are MUCH more visible in RB2.  Much like how they got more visible between GH2/GH3.  I'm not sure if they're any better about registering them.

[Mosesandstick]

Stuff

Did you every play GH2? RB has the same 'timing window', so you need to make sure your instruments + tv are calibrated correctly and hit the notes pretty damn close to when they appear.

[Jeff Kelly]

Yeah that was my impression also. RB doesn't differ from GH 1 or 2 as far as tabbing and the underlying engine is concerned. That's a pity because I actually like what Neversoft did with GH3. The timing isn't as strict as in prior GH titles so they made the songs a bit more fancy and interesting.

So I conclude that therefore GH: World tour might be more my cup of tea then.

[Stephen Zepp]

Yeah that was my impression also. RB doesn't differ from GH 1 or 2 as far as tabbing and the underlying engine is concerned. That's a pity because I actually like what Neversoft did with GH3. The timing isn't as strict as in prior GH titles so they made the songs a bit more fancy and interesting.

So I conclude that therefore GH: World tour might be more my cup of tea then.

The charting for RB's "Moving Pictures" Rush album (this week's DLC) was damned near perfect. I'm by no means extremely good at the game (I think I've FC'd 2 songs in the last year on expert base), and I was sight reading Vital Signs and Red Barchetta from memory (Moving Pictures was one of my favorite albums growing up). I don't actually have the skills to play the song well on expert, but I knew exactly what to play based just on the song itself.

I'll be getting GHWT for 4 songs only: Bullet with Butterfly Wings (assuming it's still on the release list, I've heard different stories) and the Tool songs. Other than that, RB 2 and the RB DLC is keeping me extremely happy ;)

[Stephen Zepp]

Ok, I finally got one of the new RB 2 wireless guitars, here's my personal review:

In the big picture, if you are a GH guitar fan (specifically button size, clicky-strum, or you simply like the smaller size and weight of the GH guitars), there is nothing specific in the RB 2 guitar that is a "no brainer conversion". It's still a bigger guitar, the strum is still analog-like as opposed to brutally digital (my personal opinion of the GH guitar strummer is that I hate it, not nearly like a real guitar's motion), and the buttons, while just a very little bit smaller than the original RB 1 guitar, are still "fret" style as opposed to "button style".

None of the devoted GH guitar fans I played with last night (about 4) really converted over to the new RB 2 guitar as their new favorite--originally we had two wireless RB 2 guitars in, and once the two guys that -did- like the new guitar left, the remaining 3 gave in to going back to a GH 3 wireless controller. Base stayed RB 2 guitar.

If you are already an RB style guitar fan, it's a no-brainer upgrade in the opinions of the three highly skilled players I jammed with last night, as well as myself:

Improvements:

--strum is less mushy--more positive push-back from the top and bottom limits, with an increased tactile (but not "click based") feedback on a strum register. It's hard to describe specifically, but you know when a strum should register both up and down--and it does, every time.

--frets are silent--as silent as I think is possible. I used to get pretty annoyed with my RB 1 guitar that I could hear clicks when I pressed buttons rapidly--seems completely gone.

--guitar neck is easier to grip: the textured plastic works well. Unfortunately, they took away the indentation that I personally used as a thumb "home" reference. I'm not sure quite yet if hand placement accuracy is affected, so removing the indentation might not be that bad. Overall however, I found myself feeling much more natural with the fret board/neck.

--Overdrive sensor is freaking amazing. No noise, no inconsistency, no surprise OD's--happened when I wanted them, exactly how I wanted them, with much less impact on my play than previously. Ability to plug in a pedal for OD is just gravy.

--Auto-calibration was very nice, except see below.

--it looks freaking awesome!

Downsides:

--fret buttons are either just a slight bit smaller, or in a slightly different position. I found my natural muscle memory of fret positions slightly off, and was missing some notes initially until I adjusted. This could have been an illusion, and actually a problem with missing my "home indentation" that I was used to.

--I did find myself "falling off" fret buttons that were held down, when I moved my hand position slightly. I had gotten into the habit of being able to hold down a fret button by just depressing the far corner of the button, and this seemed to cause the button press to deregister. This was confirmed by a couple of other players as well.

--the visual lag portion of auto-calibration is highly dependent on a dark room--we couldn't get it to register after 3 attempts in a skylight lit room, even when we held the guitar right up to the (HD) TV, and had to manually calibrate.

Suggestions to possible purchasers:

--if you are a pretty die hard Guitar hero fan, don't run out and buy an RB 2 guitar without some pretty extensive play time on one. It took about 5 songs each before our "old skoolers" decided they didn't like it enough to convert.

--if you are an RB guitar fan, don't hesitate picking one up--especially if you don't have a wireless guitar yet. I had forgotten how nice it was to not have a cable attached to me!

[Bokonon]

If true, that'll be the biggest coup in the rhythm game business (except for maybe an exclusive Michael Jackson license).

Of course, they'll probably have to AC/DC-ize it, which kinda sucks.

[Jeff Kelly]

Rock Band 2 will get an European release on November 20th for XBOX 360. Release date for PS3 still undetermined but if RB was any hint then it will be probably 6 months later.

[HAMMER FRENZY]

I picked up the cymbals for RB2 and I think that the RB2 set + cymbals is the bees fucking knees. I like it better than the GHWT set. I DO wish the RB2 set was heavier like the GHWT set though.
On another note, the ACDC track pack made my socks fly right the hell off. Too fun.

[Azazel]

Rock Band 2 will get an European release on November 20th for XBOX 360. Release date for PS3 still undetermined but if RB was any hint then it will be probably 6 months later.

I might have to import this thing to Australia. With the GHWT/RB1 instrument packs out in a week/a couple days, I should finally be able to waste my time not learning a real instrument, again.

[Ingmar]

Dead Kennedys pack coming up! \o/

California Uber Alles, Holiday in Cambodia, and Police Truck.

[Azazel]

Masters or Covers? Original lyrics or PG-13'ed?

[Bokonon]

Masters or Covers? Original lyrics or PG-13'ed?

Masters. Harmonix hasn't released a cover since last winter/spring, IIRC. Pruned lyrics, but only to remove blatantly offensive words, not blatantly offensive lyrcs without swear words.