Rock Band

[Azazel]

Man, for the amount of effort it takes to get a bunch of people together and play fake instruments I'd rather just form a real band.

Maybe that's just me but these music games have never appealed to me at all. It seems silly to spend time practicing a fake guitar game when I could be practicing actual guitar.

Guitar/Band Hero games are a gateway drug.

[Samwise]

If playing fake instruments was good enough for the Monkees...

[Margalis]

See I can actually play some real instruments ok though, but I need practice. Rather practice the real thing.

Plus chicks love a rocker.

[Selby]

Plus chicks love a rocker.

This is a dirty lie.  Not like they love a gamer nerd either, but having a guitar and being able to play does not get you chicks.  Some sort of artiste mentality and persona has to go along with it.

And I have a hard time investing too much time in the GH games since I don't want to rock the game harder than I can the real thing, but it sure is nice to have drums, bass, and a singer (even if it isn't a good one) to play along with and not have to deal with real musicians...

[Samwise]

The thing that's attractive about Guitar Hero is that it's a hell of a lot easier than playing for real with real people.  And a lot more immediately gratifying.  Sort of like playing a kazoo.

[Phildo]

Personally, I play Guitar Hero because in real life I play the drums pretty well, but could never get the hang of the guitar.  So rather then spend hundreds of hours getting better, I could rock out on GH after only ten or so.  Oddly enough, I'm better at GH than Tyco Drum Master or Donkey Konga.

[Sky]

That would look funny at an open mic night.

[Trippy]

Fender guitar for Rock Band:

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/19/rock-band-guitar-shown-in-latest-gamestop-newsletter/

I have that exact same style Fender Strat (black body, white pickguard, maple neck/fretboard) as my real guitar.

[MrHat]

That would look funny at an open mic night.

Heh, bring a projector and you could totally rock out geek-chic.

[Sky]

Fender Strat (black body, white pickguard, maple neck/fretboard) as my real guitar.

I want that.

That's the model I went into the store to buy when I ended up with my 61 SG. I just fell in love with the SG's slim taper neck.

[Simond]

WISE FWOM YOUR GWAVE!

More new songs shown at Leipzig GC:
1960s
Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter"

1970s
The Who "Won't Get Fooled Again"
Mountain "Mississippi Queen"*
David Bowie "Suffragette City"
Black Sabbath "Paranoid"*
Blue Oyster Cult "Don't Fear the Reaper"
The Ramones "Blitzkrieg Bop"
Deep Purple "Highway Star"

1980s
Rush "Tom Sawyer"*
Bon Jovi "Wanted Dead or Alive"
The Clash "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
Faith No More "Epic"

1990s
Foo Fighters "Learn to Fly"
Metallica "Enter Sandman"
Nirvana "In Bloom"
Stone Temple Pilots "Vasoline"
Weezer "Say It Ain't So"
Smashing Pumpkins "Cherub Rock"
Radiohead "Creep"
Beastie Boys "Sabotage"

2000s
The Hives "Main Offender"
Queens of the Stone Age "Go With the Flow"
The Strokes "Reptilia"
Jet "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"
OK Go "Here It Goes Again"
Nine Inch Nails "The Hand That Feeds"

[cmlancas]

They had to pick the absolute worst Metallica song of all time to put in Rock Band. Great. Every time I try to defend Metallica as a somewhat good band, my girlfriend argues that Enter Sandman is perhaps the worst song ever recorded.

I hate to admit that she is right.

[Murgos]

Which is just sad because if they stuck Kill em All, Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets and Justice For All on Guitar Hero or Rock Band I would drop 80 - 100 bucks for it and Skully without blinking.

[Simond]

ISTR reading somewhere that a deal was struck with Metallica so that key parts of their back catalogue would be in download packs for Rock Band.

Edit: Yup, there we go.

I think something similar is being done with The Who as well.

[Murgos]

Yeah, but, Enter Sandman.  I didn't put the Black Album on that list, not that I think those songs suck, they just aren't real Metallica to me.  Sanitarium?  Fuck yeah!  For Whom the Bell Tolls?  Yes, please.  Battery?  I couldn't be so lucky.  Creeping Death, Am I Evil, etc... etc... etc...

But no, watch, we're going to end up with Whiskey in the Jar.

[bhodi]

Where is my pink floyd!

[Murgos]

Where is my pink floyd!

You used to know that the party was over when Comfortably Numb was playing in a loop on the stereo.  I imagine it will be the same just with one dude playing it over and over again before passing out and drooling all over the guitar. ;-)

[cmlancas]

The press release did say "key" songs. Whiskey in the Jar isn't a key song. :)

I'd like to see One, Battery, and Master of Puppets specifically and then pretty much anything off the first four albums would be an added bonus.

[murdoc]

I think 'One' is on GH3.

[cmlancas]

All I can find mentioned is "The Memory Remains" off of Reload. :/

[WayAbvPar]

I am the anti-Metallica fan, apparently. I didn't like any of their early stuff, but love Whiskey in the Jar and Hero of the Day. Enter Sandman was good at first, but it was incredibly overplayed.

I can't wait to play everything on Who's Next. I am also hoping for some Green Day eventually- lots of fun drumming in their catalog.

[cmlancas]

I am wondering when a free client like StepMania will be released for the GH/Rockband series. I know this is ultra-nerd, but I am still pretty into DDR/ITG and the free client StepMania lets a person put whatever steps into whatever song in a free client. It also packages every song ever released into one program.

Anyone know if someone is working on one of these? I own all the versions of GH, so pirating isn't an issue (I believe in intellectual property rights!).

[kaid]

I love enter sandman then again I listen to the richard cheese version of it so maybe thats why.

[NiX]

I am wondering when a free client like StepMania will be released for the GH/Rockband series.

There is one and it was mentioned somewhere here before. It's called Frets on Fire and it supports GH/GH2 controllers. I'm sure it'll incorporate Rock Band once the controllers are released.

[Stephen Zepp]

WISE FWOM YOUR GWAVE!

More new songs shown at Leipzig GC:
1960s
Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter"

1970s
The Who "Won't Get Fooled Again"
Mountain "Mississippi Queen"*
David Bowie "Suffragette City"
Black Sabbath "Paranoid"*
Blue Oyster Cult "Don't Fear the Reaper"
The Ramones "Blitzkrieg Bop"
Deep Purple "Highway Star"

1980s
Rush "Tom Sawyer"*
Bon Jovi "Wanted Dead or Alive"
The Clash "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
Faith No More "Epic"

1990s
Foo Fighters "Learn to Fly"
Metallica "Enter Sandman"
Nirvana "In Bloom"
Stone Temple Pilots "Vasoline"
Weezer "Say It Ain't So"
Smashing Pumpkins "Cherub Rock"
Radiohead "Creep"
Beastie Boys "Sabotage"

2000s
The Hives "Main Offender"
Queens of the Stone Age "Go With the Flow"
The Strokes "Reptilia"
Jet "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"
OK Go "Here It Goes Again"
Nine Inch Nails "The Hand That Feeds"

Don't fear the Reaper, Tom Sawyer (although better songs exist), Creep, and Epic make this almost a must buy for me--and I don't even own a console, much less Guitar Hero (although I play it at work).

They really failed at a lot of the other song choices though--"The Hand that feeds" as the lead out NIN song? Wtf is that noise?

[schild]

Epic and Don't Fear the Reaper are what I'm getting it for. Guitar Hero 3 is only about 400 times better at this point.

[cmlancas]

There is one and it was mentioned somewhere here before. It's called Frets on Fire and it supports GH/GH2 controllers. I'm sure it'll incorporate Rock Band once the controllers are released.

Fun. I'll definitely check this out.

[Stephen Zepp]

Epic and Don't Fear the Reaper are what I'm getting it for. Guitar Hero 3 is only about 400 times better at this point.

Been thinking about why--and these two choices really are number freaking awesome if they do it right, for total interaction capability re: Rock Band. Epic especially--a solid "group" doing that song would be something I'd go to a club to see, and DFtR done well is an amazing "show" as well ;)

[Driakos]

How much will the cow bell accessory cost?

[WayAbvPar]

Can someone explain in small words what exactly hammer ons and pull offs are and how to accomplish them? I hear them referenced all the time but can't quite grasp the concept for some reason.

[Stephen Zepp]

Can someone explain in small words what exactly hammer ons and pull offs are and how to accomplish them? I hear them referenced all the time but can't quite grasp the concept for some reason.

I'm not particularly adept at actually using them in GH, but a hammer on/off is basically defined as changing the note produced by a particular vibrating string with just the "left" hand--changing the length of the string by pressing or releasing a different fret position, without re-strumming the string itself.

In GH, a hammer off is easy--if you have the "green" and "red" fret buttons pressed, strum, and then let go of the green button without re-strumming, you have hammered off and the red note will be playing. I guess a hammer on is the exact same in reverse, but I suck at them personally.

[bhodi]

Just do the tutorial, it walks you through them.

[Stephen Zepp]

Can someone explain in small words what exactly hammer ons and pull offs are and how to accomplish them? I hear them referenced all the time but can't quite grasp the concept for some reason.

I'm not particularly adept at actually using them in GH, but a hammer on/off is basically defined as changing the note produced by a particular vibrating string with just the "left" hand--changing the length of the string by pressing or releasing a different fret position, without re-strumming the string itself.

In GH, a hammer off is easy--if you have the "green" and "red" fret buttons pressed, strum, and then let go of the green button without re-strumming, you have hammered off and the red note will be playing. I guess a hammer on is the exact same in reverse, but I suck at them personally.

FYI, I may have the colors reversed--I don't have a guitar in front of me. When I say "let go of the green button", I mean the one closest to the strum input control.

[Nonentity]

Green, Red, Yellow, Blue, Orange.

You'll come across a series of notes like this:

Code:

            (  )
      (  )
(..)

 G     R     Y

From bottom to top, the first note will have a black top on it, and the other two will have white tops on them.

So, in the example above, you'd hold the Green fret, strum that one note, and then the following two notes (red, and then yellow), you do NOT have to strum for, you simply press the fret for them once they pass the note bar.

The opposite applies to pull-offs - you hold down all the buttons involved (G, R, Y), strum yellow, and then just lift your finger off of yellow when the red note appears, and lift your other finger off of the red note when the green note appears.

It's a simulation of where your fingers would be on a guitar string - further down the neck, higher note.

[Viin]

Can I assume the GH2 guitar will work for Rock Band? Are they even selling it without being bundled with some instrument?

GH is kicking my ass - I've never played before and picked up GH2 last week.. ouch my fingers hurt.