[quote name='jollydwarf']
Any 'gamer' type who thinks they have the general public's reaction to this game pinned down is delusional and incredibly myopic. (Really, that's all most will need to read to get offended.) And probably between 12 and 21 years of age. ('Cause you guys are granted temporary omniscience!) We can't even begin to guess how people are going to react to the potentially cost-prohibitive nature of starting a 'band', and how many people will, for better or worse, just decide to stick with their music game 'comfort food', i.e.
Guitar Hero III. In short, we can't get outside our frame of reference here, which is not needed for figuring whether
Persona 3 is going to be the next mass market hit or if
Madden 08 will become a niche title. This is a game with a ton of possible outcomes and a very flexible future, it seems.
Also, even if cost isn't an issue, getting the right combination of people together for the purpose of making music ain't easy. This game
will bring out the clashing egos. Actually, I see a lot of bickering amongst the 18-and-under set about who does what (the younger, the worse), the group I think will easily have the biggest slice of this game's demographic pie chart. Is that a fun experience, everyone always wanting to do everything
but what they're assigned? 'Cause you know how kids are.
I'm not rooting against
Rock Band,
per se, but I really dread thinking about the toxically obnoxious 'cute' YouTube videos and kids who forsake playing
real music together that are both surefire byproducts of this game's existence. I think rock would be much better off if half the people into mimicking others' songs on--let's face it--toys, actually applied themselves to the real thing. And before you even say it, no, that just doesn't happen. The kid that graduates from his plastic, four-buttoned guitar to a real one--with any sort of dedication--is the distinct exception. It all seems to contribute to a mentality where no one can really 'rock out' without winking at what they're doing. "Hey, I like to have fun, but I can't take this geezer shit seriously!" These games, as much as they introduce great music to new generations**, make that same music safe for the family living room. And that ain't
ing rock and/or roll.
Lastly, there's no accounting for taste and no accounting for the mass market's fickle
zeitgeist. We might be mere months away from music games being "
So 2007." Who knows? Not you. Not me.
*--And this not currently being on the Wii hurts its potential, of course. You wanna talk about a crowd that would buy it without a second thought....
**--It's kind of like the difference between classic rock/metal and
Jack Black demonstrating his love for them: the latter, while very sincere and not without talent, makes the whole thing look silly and cuddly, even if that angle is what ultimately makes the rock palatable to, you know, people who have not an ounce of rock in their souls whatsoever.[/quote]
I'm not entirely certain what the hell you end up talking about at the end of your tirade - something about music being safe for the family being a bad thing, and a double-asterisk rant about how you dislike Jack Black, and those that do don't have an ounce of rock in their soul. Therefore I'll start with the first asterisk and cover the rest.
You're very wrong about this being the type of game Wii owners would buy without a second thought. Its price approaches what they paid for their system. Wii has been aimed at, and adopted by, a wider audience than traditional gamers. Every single non-gamer that I've asked to hold & try a guitar hero guitar has been intimidated & overwhelmed. Some of them had fun, others grew too frustrated. Unlike the Wii, it wasn't something they could pick up and enjoy like swinging a tennis racket in Wii sports.
Without that casual, intuitive, etc, etc (insert other things about Wii here), interface, I don't see them as being instantaneously sold on Rock Band. Especially not considering the lofty price tag.
And the first thing you argue about, it sounds like you need to discover websites that focus on adult gaming, like 2old2play, as it would appear you have a distaste for gaming with those under 21 - many such sites have a minimum age of 25.
Different instruments will carry different "desired" levels. We don't know anything about the game's internal match-making, so any comments referring to how it'll be hard to find someone to fill all the necessary roles in a band are moot. We'll just have to see how it's handled on Live or PSN. Perhaps you can be in (shock!) multiple bands, in different roles for each (provided you have the equipment). If they're not up to snuff, and the game takes off, in my expert future-vision, I see websites popping up dedicated to managing bands. In terms of local multiplayer, that's like saying toys won't sell well to little kids because they're still learning to share. That was ridiculous to bring up. People could rotate instruments locally. Next.
Who ever said officially that they're only releasing a $200 all-inclusive set? That'd be suicide. You will get the hardcore-few and those which cost is of no concern (also few in relation to the size of the entire market). Releasing the individual instruments for sale makes common sense and I think would bode well for the game's success.
As for video games replacing learning real instruments, and vice versa, that's just ridiculous and deserves a stfu. If anything the game celebrates and fosters an appreciation for music. I won't even get into this, I don't know how many times, and how much more effectively, the argument over "why don't you learn a real instrument" can be covered. Suffice it to say that playing a music video game and playing a real instrument is not mutually exclusive, and the only interference I can forsee would be a that of time, and that falls upon the person's, or their parents', time management skills.
So: Rock Band has the right ingredients for success as it combines karaoke games, guitar/music games, and rhythym games in one. It's exclusion from the Wii doesn't hurt it because "they [Wii owners] would buy it without a second thought", but rather because that's a large userbase among the "next" gen consoles. Along the userbase argument, they should release it for the PS2. BUT neither system has the networking strength to deliver the unbelievably important online component of the game. There's the gamble. If anyone is going to buy it en masse, it will be at a lower price point of a single-instrument bundle, at which point they'll head online to complete their band experience. The potential and buzz is certainly in place for this to succeed. We'll have to see how EA handles positioning, marketing, and advertising the game.
Rock Band Collection (PS3)
Rock Band Collection (Xbox 360)
Rock Band Collection (PS2)
