Rock Band

[schild]

When, when you're playing 1 or less than 1 note per measure, yes, the Rock Band controller is probably better. But then, it's not really a measure of the equipments particular technical faults, is it?

Edit: You know, end of the day, the instruments have to be built for the hardcore players. Not just "should be" to prevent the gnashing and wailing, but because anything that works for hardcore players will work for anything below that. But something built for the low end that doesn't work for the high-end results in HUGE MASSIVE problems.

[Bokonon]

Though, even on expert in Rock Band, it's still not playing the song. It's more like hard in Guitar Hero.

I call BS on this. I have beaten all but GGHT on RB, and can five star just about everything but the last couple of tiers. And I do it with only downstrums, because I am alt-strum retarded. That all said (or maybe that alone disqualifies me from comment), RB has much closer fidelity to actually playing the song as written. GH adds a whole bunch of bogus stuff that isn't even in the song, and is much more apt to switch between two guitar parts willy-nilly... And adding a third note to a chord just because. RB will switch guitar parts occassionally (and even map keyboards to the guitar, if the guitar is otherwise a complete drag) but not like GH. As I've read elsewhere, compared to RB (which is absolutely easier, on the whole, than GH), GH is like playing a puzzle game with a backing track.

The RB instruments were shoddy, there's no doubt about it. And they say they are improving on their designs. Now, I think it's opinion as far as which design is better, but as far as GH3 vs. RB guitars, GH won on build quality. We'll see if the following helps out RB:

1) Improved (though still silent) strumbar
2) Quieter (though still closer together) fret buttons
3) Auto-calibration tool built into the guitar

This will be as opposed to GH's only known guitar tweak:

1) touch sensitive high fret button area (since they don't appear to be buttons, per se)

[Samwise]

The rockband strummer - correct, provides no feedback - the down and upstrum had different throw lengths, and more importantly, it was a piece of shit.

Bolded for emphasis.

The problem with the Rock Band strummer is that it is so unlike picking a guitar string that it's physically very difficult to emulate fast back-and-forth picking as required by some of the songs on higher difficulty levels. 

It's like this.  A guitar string is a very narrow thing.  When you scrape a pick from one side of that very narrow thing to the other, you make a sound, and at the same time you feel a bit of tactile feedback as the resistance of the string gives way.  Regardless of what direction you're moving in, it's that same infinitesimal distance you have to travel.  The Guitar Hero controller emulates this by having that single "click" point right in the middle; to register a strum, you just move the "pick" from one side of that thin line to the other, and the strum registers, complete with a bit of tactile feedback.  By positioning the "pick" right over the middle and flicking it back and forth, you can strum very fast and very accurately without having to move very much distance.

The Rock Band guitar, by contrast, is a squishy piece of shit that requires you to flail back and forth across a much wider distance to get the same effect, provides no tactile feedback, and tends to respond to your desperate flailing by breaking and requiring a replacement.

I hope that clears things up.

[WayAbvPar]

Tactile feedback I get. The annoying CLICKCLICKCLICK so fucking loud I can't hear the goddamned song I am supposedly playing is where my preference comes in.

That being said, I use my GH controller now since the RB one won't strum more than 1 direction. However, if RB could fix the tactile feedback and shoddy workmanship it would be 10000000x better than the GH controller. As it is, I still prefer the RB (when it works), since I am not looking to shred; I just like getting drunk with my friends and playing some songs on Medium.

[Samwise]

However, if RB could fix the tactile feedback and shoddy workmanship it would be 10000000x better than the GH controller.

That's a bit like saying that if only shit tasted like chocolate it wouldn't taste so bad.

[Mosesandstick]

That's a bit like saying that if only shit tasted like chocolate it wouldn't taste so bad.

Thats an unfair statement; there are other reasons why people would prefer the RB controller. I personally prefer the RB style buttons though mine are already going to hell.

[Samwise]

That's a bit like saying that if only shit tasted like chocolate it wouldn't taste so bad.

Thats an unfair statement; there are other reasons why people would prefer the RB controller. I personally prefer the RB style buttons though mine are already going to hell.

Shit makes good compost, too.  My point was that it's not very useful to say that shit would be less shitty if you removed all of the qualities which make it shit.

[WayAbvPar]

The point is it has redeeming qualities too. It is larger, has non-raised frets, and has the freestyle/solo frets on the base of the neck. All pluses over the GH controller.

[Samwise]

Does anyone actually use the "solo" frets?  I keep trying to because it's one of those things that sounds like a fun idea, but the song tabs don't give you any time before or after solos to switch.     It ends up being easier to just ignore them.

The only benefit to the non-raised fret buttons is that they look fancier.  When it comes to actually using them, they have an unfortunate tendency to either stick so they don't get pressed down correctly or register a press when you didn't want one because they're too wide, and they create a sharp "corner" when pressed down that makes it difficult to slide from one to the other quickly.  (Also, although the buttons in their non-pressed state may look sort of like a guitar without strings, the frets on real guitars do not press into the neck when you play them; real guitars have strings that float over the frets, sort of like raised buttons.)

And I'm also not sure about larger being a plus.  Again, makes the controller look more like a real guitar, but it also makes it a little less ergonomic for playing while sitting down, which is not a great feature in a game controller.

[Grand Design]

After having played Rock Band for several months and going back to GH3 for a round, I find the RB guitar absolutely unbearable now.  The RB guitar was my initial favorite because of the removed clicky, but now I see the error of my ways.  I needs ma click.  Saying that the clicky is distracting is nothing compared to having a drummer in RB, anyway.

[Bokonon]

So the the highlights:

Set List
Features List

--

Harmonix isn't fucking around with the info this time. The only major unknown are the 20 free DLC tracks that will be coming at/near release. Rumors have it that the ION drumset is going to be ~$300.

[Grand Design]

Wait.  Spoonman?  Of all the Soundgarden to choose from.. Spoonman? 

I did see Lush in there, which is a huge surprise.  And Tull.  Finally.

[Samwise]

3. Alanis Morissette “You Oughta Know” 1990’s
5. Allman Brothers “Ramblin’ Man” 1970’s
11. Billy Idol “White Wedding Pt. I” 1980’s
18. Disturbed “Down with the Sickness” 2000’s
27. Jethro Tull “Aqualung” 1970’s
32. Kansas “Carry On Wayward Son” 1970’s
50. Rage Against the Machine “Testify” 1990’s
59. Soundgarden “Spoonman” 1990’s
64. System of a Down “Chop Suey” 2000’s
65. Talking Heads “Psycho Killer” 1970’s
66. Tenacious D “Master Exploder” 2000’s
73. The Offspring “Come Out & Play (Keep ‘em Separated)” 1990’s
75. The Who “Pinball Wizard” 1960’s

  

[IainC]

L7 and Pearl Jam.
Plus I was always amazed that the Judas Priest DLC didn't include Painkiller - on the grounds that it's the only JP song most people have heard of.

[Phildo]

That.  Is.  Awesome.

[WayAbvPar]

L7 and Pearl Jam.
Plus I was always amazed that the Judas Priest DLC didn't include Painkiller - on the grounds that it's the only JP song most people have heard of.

Most people born in the 80s, maybe. JP was decently popular in the mid 80s.

Also-

Customizable Set Lists

 

[Murgos]

L7 and Pearl Jam.
Plus I was always amazed that the Judas Priest DLC didn't include Painkiller - on the grounds that it's the only JP song most people have heard of.

Well, L7 has better songs than "Pretend We're Dead" but at least they're on there.

Battery, now that should be a fun one, been looking forward to getting some stuff off Master Of Puppets for forever.

[Phildo]

Battery strikes me as them reaching out to the people that said Rock Band wasn't hard enough.  SHREDDDDDDDING!

[Murgos]

Battery strikes me as them reaching out to the people that said Rock Band wasn't hard enough.  SHREDDDDDDDING!

You could get harder than Battery, but not much.  That drum set is going to get a real workout, the new one better be pretty f'ing sturdy.

[Phildo]

The kick pedal better not have an industrial-strength spring in it, either.

[Samwise]

The guitar strummer is going to have to be much better for some of those songs to be any fun, too.  Chop Suey and Master Exploder in particular strike me as being unplayable with the RB1 guitar.

I'm hoping that the GH4 controllers will be compatible with RB2 (I can't see what Activision would gain by cockblocking cross-compatibility this time around), and that I'll be able to buy both but get the instrumentless version of RB2.  That'd be the best of both worlds.

[Big Gulp]

The kick pedal better not have an industrial-strength spring in it, either.

See, I never had a problem with the kick pedal.  I just always kept it nearly full depressed anyway, so when the orange bar comes up all I need to do is put a little bit of down pressure on it, so it's almost like a toe tap.

I dunno, maybe driving a car with a manual transmission through heavy traffic every day has inured me to stiff pedals.

[IainC]

The kick pedal better not have an industrial-strength spring in it, either.

See, I never had a problem with the kick pedal.  I just always kept it nearly full depressed anyway, so when the orange bar comes up all I need to do is put a little bit of down pressure on it, so it's almost like a toe tap.

I dunno, maybe driving a car with a manual transmission through heavy traffic every day has inured me to stiff pedals.

As a former drummer I keep the pedal fully pressed and just tap my foot as required. The spring doesn't have enough strength to let you keep your foot off the floor for more than a few songs at a time.

[bhodi]

The song list is terrific, and i highly doubt Activision will make cross compatibility. Especially due to the lawsuit and all that.

Still no pink floyd, though :(  I think money would be really fun.

[Samwise]

The song list is terrific, and i highly doubt Activision will make cross compatibility. Especially due to the lawsuit and all that.

Which lawsuit is this?

[bhodi]

The song list is terrific, and i highly doubt Activision will make cross compatibility. Especially due to the lawsuit and all that.

Which lawsuit is this?

The wrong one. I was incorrect. It's Konami.

[Grand Design]

Konami American depositary receipts, each representing one ordinary share, fell $1.67, or 5.2 percent, to $30.15 at 4:02 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have risen 26 percent in the past year.

And that's why the lawsuit will go nowhere. 

[cmlancas]

Oh:

40. Metallica “Battery” 1980’s

Fuck yeah 

[Slayerik]

Hey, now.  I paid $200 so I could listen to my niece and her friends play In Bloom on repeat for three days straight.

Thats hilarious, it's the same way here only it's my daughter/son and their friends (who are 5 and 6).

Pretty wild, I was jamming to Grunge back when I was eating all sorts of drugs and now my kids are belting out the tunes. Whodathunkit?




EDIT: Pearl Jam - Alive   ... Sigh ... I frickin' love Pearl Jam and I was hoping for something different. Seems like every song on there is most of these band's most recognizable songs....which is fine I guess.

[Selby]

Seems like every song on there is most of these band's most recognizable songs....which is fine I guess.

What do you expect?  People want to play songs they know, not the obscure b-side that never saw release.  Guitar Hero I had this issue alot (some songs were good, others were "eh? They chose THAT one?" from a particular artist).  I think as the whole genre became more popular it became easier to license the more popular songs.

Same thing with concerts, people go to hear the songs as they are on the radio\CD for 95% of the bands out there and they want the hits they recognize.  Very few bands buck that trend.

[Azazel]

Heh, as you guys gear up for Rock Band 2, the release of Rock Band (1) slowly approaches those of us in Australia.

And since it's EA, who region-lock their 360 software, I can't even import.. well, either of them.

[Grand Design]

Rush play Rock Band.  And Fail.

[Slayerik]

and....my rock band guitar is broke.

My wife is sad (as I always get stuck doing drums).

[stray]

Alive is still a kickass song.

Spoonman....not so much.

[Selby]

Spoonman....not so much.

I could think of a dozen other Soundgarden songs I would rather hear than Spoonman.  That song keeps Superunknown from being an almost perfect album in my opinion.