EA/Harmonix music title revealed: Rockband!

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Guitar Hero was just the opening act. MTV and the developers of that video game have a headliner in the works called Rock Band, which lets four music lovers gig together in person or online.
Expected in stores for the year-end holidays, the Electronic Arts game (no price set) for the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3 will be played with four instrument-based video game controllers: two guitars (lead and bass), a drum kit and a microphone.

In the popular game Guitar Hero, players tap color-coded fret keys and strum a guitar-shaped controller in time with scrolling on-screen notes. Rock Band "takes the core premise of Guitar Hero and expands it tenfold," says Alex Rigopulos, co-founder of Harmonix, which developed the game and the Karaoke Revolution games. "It lets you create a complete collaborative band."

MTV is supplying creative and financial support to Rock Band's development, as well as helping make deals with various music publishers.

That means Rock Band will have performances by the original artists. In most previous music games, almost every song is done by a cover band. For Rock Band, some labels plan to supply original recordings. "This game offers a meaningful way for labels to participate in a segment of entertainment they, for the most part, have not been able to," MTV's Jeff Yapp says.

The songs on the new game haven't been revealed yet. Current games include the Allman Brothers, Joan Jett, Kansas, Nirvana and Wolfmother. "We'll be covering a great breadth, from metal to classic rock to Southern rock to everything in between," Rigopulos says.

Online connectivity is a key to the game. The developers envision additional songs for online purchase beyond those in the retail version. And players need not be together to jam. "You could have one guitarist in Germany and another one in Texas, a drummer in New York and a singer from somewhere else, and they can play together online," EA's David DeMartini says.

The music game phenomenon continues its crescendo. 2005's Guitar Hero and this year's Guitar Hero II (both for the Sony PlayStation 2) are top sellers, having sold about 3 million copies total, according to The NPD Group. Research firm Interpret says about 6.8 million have played Guitar Hero II.

A version of the game for Microsoft's Xbox 360 is in stores on Tuesday ($90), and Hands-On Mobile today is expected to announce a cellphone version.

Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter expects music gaming to grow. "Socially interactive musical games will work well, especially if they have a 'party game' aspect to them," he says. Rock Band "could definitely expand the game demographics."
Click to expand...

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2007-04-01-rock-band_N.htm

If this works out in the end this will definitely rock!!! :lol:


Official site:

http://www.rockbandgame.com/index.php
 
Well, they could do it different ways. They could have it come w/ either a guitar or drum kit - different "flavors", so each person is buying their own instrument. Or they could have some super-combo pack.

As for mics, who doesn't have a ton of usb mics laying around already? I have several from buying Karaoke Revolution packs for my wife.

Speaking of which - this is exactly what I've been wanting. A game where she can sing, and I can play guitar. If friends come over, they can fill in the extra spots. I'm all over this. :)
 
This sounds too good to be true. The GH guitars better work with this because I've already taught myself how to use them and I just don't have time to get good at another guitar that might have 10 buttons or something different than what I'm already used to. My wife would be all over the drums though so I'm excited to play something like this with her...
 
This COULD be a success as long as they go Old School, Underground and Foreign featuring none of the GARBAGE that plagues today's radio.
 
At last, they're ripping off Super Session. Wonderful.

I hate this.


[quote name='Sarang01']This COULD be a success as long as they go Old School, Underground and Foreign featuring none of the GARBAGE that plagues today's radio.[/quote]
MTV is in charge of getting the tracks lined up. Expect the worst.
 
[quote name='Sarang01']This COULD be a success as long as they go Old School, Underground and Foreign featuring none of the GARBAGE that plagues today's radio.[/quote]

MTV is involved... so, um... yeah. Something tells me that this is the game that teaches the lesson "song selection matters" or something like that.
 
[quote name='javeryh']MTV is involved... so, um... yeah. Something tells me that this is the game that teaches the lesson "song selection matters" or something like that.[/QUOTE]

Well everyone here thinks that GH was so great. The song selection in NeoDrumX 2nd Mix beats the shit out of it and it's all the official artists. Megadeth, Santana, Nirvana, Robert Palmer, etc. This includes a healthy mix of artists from different artists though most are Korean since the game is. It also includes one or two Japanese artists, including X-Japan.
And the fact that NeoDrumX gets me excited is saying something since I usually don't like it when American music is included in dance games. I will say if it is, the Japanese should make the selection from Dancemania, with a few select Americans picking from it as well. The big reason WHY DDR's songs were so good was because they weren't what's played on mainstream radio now.
 
[quote name='Sarang01']Well everyone here thinks that GH was so great. The song selection in NeoDrumX 2nd Mix beats the shit out of it and it's all the official artists. Megadeth, Santana, Nirvana, Robert Palmer, etc. This includes a healthy mix of artists from different artists though most are Korean since the game is. It also includes one or two Japanese artists, including X-Japan.
And the fact that NeoDrumX gets me excited is saying something since I usually don't like it when American music is included in dance games. I will say if it is, the Japanese should make the selection from Dancemania, with a few select Americans picking from it as well. The big reason WHY DDR's songs were so good was because they weren't what's played on mainstream radio now.[/quote]

Well, the GH soundtracks are great, IMO. Sure, there are a few songs on there that completely blow (John the Fisherman and Freya are total crap to me) but I'd say at least 75% of the songs are true classics and absolutely perfect for the game - if you don't like Sweet Child O'Mine, Jessica, War Pigs, Surrender, Carry On Wayward Son, etc. then Guitar Hero just wan't made for you at all. As long as they don't try to incorporate songs that are current (except maybe one or two or use them as bonus tracks) then they will be OK (I hope).
 
This could be a touch too ambitious if they try to package the whole kit together. If they sell it with one instrument, and allow optional purchasing of the others, it could be far more reasonable.

I can't help but think that MTV will bring in contemporary garbage, but even they're smart enough (or, Harmonix is) to allow the game to be pigeonholed into one area. The appeal of GH wasn't that it was "THE BEST!", but rather (IMO) that it cut across a broad swath of musical interests. You may not like Allman Bros, or The Donnas, or whomever else, but the game (1) played awesome, and (2) broadly appealed to everyone but hip hop and country fans. Hell, one of my favorite songs in GH1 is Stevie Ray Vaughn.
 
As long as I don't have to buy another guitar, I'll be happy. If it works with the GHI & II guitars, it'll be great.

Otherwise, I can see the costs adding up... I wonder how they plan to do the drum set?:whistle2:k
 
[quote name='Vinny']As long as I don't have to buy another guitar, I'll be happy. If it works with the GHI & II guitars, it'll be great.

Otherwise, I can see the costs adding up... I wonder how they plan to do the drum set?:whistle2:k[/QUOTE]

I doubt that will happen after Activision hostile takeover of Redoctane and Guitar Hero franchise.
 
Knowing MTV they'll probably fill up the soundtrack with absolute shit
 
Sounds cool, but like many others have echoed.

How much will the full set cost?
I don't want to play one spot over and over.
And crap, will people finally be able to hear me SING?

Oh no...
 
[quote name='Nohbdy']RIP-OFF

Konami already did this. And with EA and MTV involved, I would highly stress caution.
[/QUOTE]
I already pointed out the Konami ripoff:

[quote name='CoffeeEdge']At last, they're ripping off Super Session. Wonderful.

I hate this.[/quote]
 
[quote name='evanft']There is NO way that this can't be totally awesome.[/quote]But it's EA.....you know what that means:

ROSTER UPDATE!

It's just gonna be Funkmaster Flex remixes of all the GH1 and GH2 songs, and a whole new "Band Manager" GM mode that lets you set t-shirt and CD prices.
 
[quote name='CoffeeEdge']I already pointed out the Konami ripoff:[/quote]

OH, right, well...still, Konami has a chance to prove themselves this summer.
 
[quote name='Nohbdy']OH, right, well...still, Konami has a chance to prove themselves this summer.[/QUOTE]
I'm sure they'll blow it. Considering how poorly they've handled every non-DDR Bemani in the US, I'm not getting my hopes up.
 
[quote name='CoffeeEdge']I'm sure they'll blow it. Considering how poorly they've handled every non-DDR Bemani in the US, I'm not getting my hopes up.[/quote]

Well, they location tested IIDX GOLD, which is as authentic as it gets. beatmania US was a test but it looks like they might take a more educated and truthful approach.
 
If they can work out lag issues online, this could be amazingly fun.

And here's to hoping that they get the folks at MTV who pick the background music for their reality shows to pick songs instead of TRL crapola.
 
Huh, another thread about this, with the same posts pretty much.

Well, I'll say the same thing I said in the other thread: I enjoyed GH a whole lot better than Guitar Freaks, so I could care less if they are ripping off Konami again. It's about the presentation and execution, baby.

And yes, it sounds expensive...
 
Yea,h sounds awesome, but I hope that they sell each piece seperately, or there is a bass/game combo, guitar/game combo, etc. All 4 in one game combo would be too expensive.
 
I guess I'll be all over this. Rip-off or not, you'd better know Guitar Hero is fantastic.

While I'm up for as much MTV bashing as the next guy, behold, the Guitar Hero start-up:

GHIIstart.gif


Trust in Harmonix.
 
This game will kick ass. There are no doubts about it. I like the possibility of not just having one song per artist, but several to choose from with downloadable songs (some free ones to boot) that could add even more. This isn't going to be a game that's easy on the wallet, but it looks like it'll be worth every penny.

Who gives a fuck if it's been done before? They obviously didn't do that good of a job if nobody knows about it. This is even more ambitious than that, if the Wiki is correct, with guitars, drums, and a microphone being involved.

[quote name='javeryh']MTV is involved... so, um... yeah. Something tells me that this is the game that teaches the lesson "song selection matters" or something like that.[/quote]
They were involved in both Guitar Hero games and they had great soundtracks. Why do people keep making a point of this like it means it'll suck for sure?

The leading music publishers - EMI Music Publishing and Warner/Chappell Music - are allowing unrivaled access to their catalogs of incredible songs for use in Rock Band. The record labels - EMI Music, Hollywood Records, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group's Universal Music Enterprises and Warner Music Group's Rhino Entertainment - have agreed to supply master recordings by their artists for use in the game.
Click to expand...
 
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']This game will kick ass. There are no doubts about it. I like the possibility of not just having one song per artist, but several to choose from with downloadable songs (some free ones to boot) that could add even more. This isn't going to be a game that's easy on the wallet, but it looks like it'll be worth every penny.

Who gives a fuck if it's been done before? They obviously didn't do that good of a job if nobody knows about it. This is even more ambitious than that, if the Wiki is correct, with guitars, drums, and a microphone being involved.


They were involved in both Guitar Hero games and they had great soundtracks. Why do people keep making a point of this like it means it'll suck for sure?[/quote]

I am pretty sure that MTV wasent involved in the two Guitar Hero games
 
[quote name='sblymnlcrymnl']Expensive, and you need four people? fuck that.[/quote]I know. All the lonely gamers, like myself, who have no friends, are gonna be left out again.
 
[quote name='sblymnlcrymnl']Expensive, and you need four people? fuck that.[/quote]You can play online, but I really don't see the draw of playing an instrumental rhythm game online.
 
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