Guitar Hero / Rock Band

[Nicklab]

Picked up a Rock Band 2 drum set this afternoon.

Will wait until later this evening to get my ass handed to me on Easy.

Speaking as someone who's been playing drums since he was 12, I prefer the guitar.  

It's not that the drums are all that hard, but my instincts want me to play them differently.  It's like afriend of mine who got an ultralight airplane after flying regular airplanes for years...he had real difficulty because his natural instincts had him wanting to do things the wrong way because the ultralight's controls were backwards compared to a normal airplane.

The game is counter-intuitive for musicians or anyone who's got even a little training on the instrument.  The skills don't translate.

[evenflow]

I like the other bands from the metallica set, but don't like metallica.

[Morgbug]

The game is counter-intuitive for musicians or anyone who's got even a little training on the instrument.  The skills don't translate.

Neither do any games that involve flying aircraft with a basic handheld game controllers.  Get over it. 

Do any of the shooter games translate to reality?  Nope. 

It's wildly popular, people are having fun.  You know full well that anyone that thinks they can transfer GH/RB skills over to a real instrument is delusional.  They'll realize it.  But if it encourages more people to buy more instruments or attempt to learn stuff, what's the big deal? 

Drifting back to reality, thanks for the Metallica track list.  I have to admit seeing that has me more interested in picking up the game than I thought I'd be.  Around 50 tracks is more reasonable value for the money than was the Aerosmith version, so good on them for that. 

I still need to decide on a system other than the PS2 going forward and just make that move

[Matt]

Moving on, I've gotten a little silly with the Rock Band DLC as of late:

Single tracks:

James Gang - "Funk #49"
Judas Priest - "You've Got Another Thing Comin'"
Muse - "Hysteria"
Radiohead - "My Iron Lung"
Rush - "Closer to the Heart"
Silversun Pickups - "Melatonin"
Silversun Pickups - "Well Thought Out Twinkles"
Smashing Pumpkins - "Siva"
Smashing Pumpkins - "Zero"
Soundgarden - "Jesus Christ Pose"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Date with the Night"

Black Sabbath Pack 01: 
"N.I.B."
"Sweet Leaf"
"War Pigs"

Classic Rock Pack 01:
Blondie - "Call Me"
Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Simple Man"
The Police - "Message in a Bottle"

Nirvana Pack 01:
"Breed"
"Lounge Act"
"On a Plain"
"Polly"
"Something in the Way"
"Stay Away"
"Territorial Pissings"

The Police Pack 01:
"Can't Stand Losing You"
"Roxanne"
"Synchronicity II"

That oughta hold me for a while--at least until Ten comes out next month, anyway.  I got tired of Nirvana years ago but for some reason their stuff is really fun to play in Rock Band.

[Matt]

Also, any rumors of any Floyd, Tesla or Hendrix songs on the way?

No idea on Floyd or Tesla, but "Purple Haze (live)" and "The Wind Cries Mary" are already in GH World Tour.  In addition, there was a Hendrix track pack released a few weeks ago for GH WT which consists of "If 6 Was 9," "Little Wing" and a live version of "Fire" from Woodstock. 

GH:WT is getting more Hendrix, later this month:

The Jimi Hendrix Track Pack (Available March 19th)

    * "Freedom" by Jimi Hendrix
    * "Angel" by Jimi Hendrix
    * "Foxey Lady (Live)" by Jimi Hendrix

And some Queen:

The Queen Track Pack (Available March 26th)

    * "We Are The Champions" by Queen
    * "Fat Bottomed Girls" by Queen
    * "C-lebrity" by Queen

Link

Guitar Hero still has a ways to go before they can catch up to Rock Band, as far as downloadable stuff goes, but, with stuff like the above, they're getting there.  I just wish they'd make all their songs universal between titles.

As for Rock Band DLC, I grabbed the Alt. Country pack last week:

Drive-By Truckers - "3 Dimes Down"
Lucinda Williams - "Can't Let Go"
Neko Case - "People Got a Lotta Nerve"
Old 97s - "Time Bomb (live)"
Steve Earle - "Satellite Radio"

Good stuff.  I'm hoping that releases like this mean that a Wilco track pack for Rock Band could someday be a possibility.  Anyway, I'm done with Rock Band DLC until Ten comes out on the 24th.  Unless some Wilco comes out before then.

[Matt]

You guys ready for the onslaught of Guitar Hero spinoffs Activision's getting ready to pump out this year?

Confirmed:

Guitar Hero: Metallica (March 29)
Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits (June)
Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits (June) (DS game)

Rumored:

Hard Rock: Van Halen (August)
Guitar Hero 5 (September)
DJ Hero (October)
Band Hero (November)
DS Guitar Hero #4 (?)
Sing Hero (?)


Out of those, here's what I'm definitely getting:

The Beatles: Rock Band

[Morgbug]

I dunno what I'll get off that.  Now that I've moved to Wii I'll have to pick up some new peripherals and that will likely come from RB2 for one guitar and the drums.  The other guitar will depend on what I decide on later. 

Too many games too fast.  I like the notion of a couple (maybe three) games in a year to look forward too.  But I'm only about halfway through GHWT on expert and Metallica is due within days?  I haven't even bought RB2 so real quick I'm two full games behind.  Too much, too fast for me, but I suppose I'm not a normal gamer anyway. 

I'm still missing all of the expansion packs (RB) and I haven't even examined if you can find any of that stuff for the Wii (I think it is either more limited than XBox or non-existent, correct?). 

So no real need for a lot in short order.  I'll buy some RB expansion packs, RB2 (and presumably RB3 later in the year), Beatles and then see what I can find for downloads, if any.  GH wise will be Metallica (as I said before, good job on making the track list longer than Aerosmith) and GH5.  If I actually hit a point where I've managed to get through expert on all the games I own, I'd consider other content.  But with summer coming I don't see me catching up, so doubtful that will be a consideration. 

[JohnH]

OK, I'm having a bitch of a time with the drums, which is the primary reason I hadn't played it since January.  It seems the orange pad (ride/cymbal) doesn't like to register when I'm playing a song.  I've tried hitting it in the middle with the tip of the stick, on the sides like a crash...it doesn't like it either way.  I try it in free style mode and it obviously works...it just doesn't seem to register right in the song.  And no, it's not because I suck.    Anyone else have this issue?

[jedi_master_sal]

Try calibrating your equipment.

[Phrubruh]

TRU has a deal right now for both Guitar Hero On Tour and Decades for the DS for $40. This includes two controllers. This works for a few other DS games.

But two for $40

[Morgbug]

Picked up the AC/DC Live track pack at EB Games for just $10 tonight.  Supposedly some stores have the two RB expansion packs for $5 each as well, so going to try and hunt those down as well. 

Anyone pick up Metallica yet?

[Matt]

Anyone pick up Metallica yet?

Haven't picked it up, but a friend did and I played it a bunch the other day, enough to finish the guitar career on Hard.  Pleasantly surprised--not enough to buy it at full retail, but if I can get it for around $40 or less, I'll snag it.  It's amazing how fleshed-out it is compared to the Aerosmith game.

Same friend hooked me up with World Tour the other day so I've been flying through that over the last few days.  Beat guitar on Hard and then started up bass on Expert and everything was going swimmingly until I crashed and burned on the very last song, "B.Y.O.B." by System of a Down.  Tried it a couple of times, was only able to get like 11% of the way in.  That **** is just goofy.

I would enjoy the Guitar Hero franchise so much more if they would just do like the Harmonix people did with Rock Band and make all their songs interchangeable between games.  Being able to play all my songs off of one disc is an incredibly appealing feature to me, and I don't understand why Neversoft/Activision can't do it.

P.S.  Oh yeah, I also finished GH: Aerosmith on Expert guitar the other day.  First time I've ever beat expert guitar on any of the GH games.

[Matt]

The purported setlist for Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits Smash Hits, due June 16 on all consoles:

GH1
Bark at the Moon
Cowboys from Hell (LIVE)
Godzilla
Hey You
I Love Rock and Roll
Killer Queen
More Than a Feeling
No One Knows
Smoke on the Water
Stellar
Take It Off
Take Me Out
Thunder Kiss '65
Unsung

GH2
Beast and the Harlot
Carry On Wayward Son
Cherry Pie
Free Bird
Freya
Heart-Shaped Box
Killing in the Name
Laid to Rest
Message in a Bottle
Monkey Wrench
Mother
Psychobilly Freakout
Shout at the Devil
Stop
Them Bones
Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart
The Trooper
Woman
YYZ

GH3
Barracuda
Cult of Personality (Original)
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Lay Down
Miss Murder
Raining Blood
Rock and Roll All Nite
Through the Fire and Flames

GH 80s
Ain't Nothin' But a Good Time
Caught in a Mosh
Electric Eye
I Wanna Rock
Play With Me
Round and Round

GH Aerosmith
Back in the Saddle

----

The Good:  All master tracks, compatible with vocals and drums, stuff that's never been available outside the PS2 games

The Bad:  Really crappy song selection in some cases (both in stuff that's there and stuff that's not--and stuff that's already in Rock Band), the afore-mentioned incompatibility with other GH content

The Ugly:  Full retail price

---

I've been looking for a cheap copy of GH II for the 360 forever, and this kind of puts the damper on that a little bit.  On one hand, $60 for a bunch of songs that I've already been playing for the last couple of years is highway robbery.  On the other hand, being able to play "Take It Off" without having to drag out my PS2 and PS2 guitars is awfully inticing.  So I don't know.  In the end, I'll probably treat this like I have all the other recent GH games and wait for a good sale.  If only those ******* would just steal something else from Harmonix and make all of those songs exportable. . .

[Matt]

Coming this fall to the 360, PS3, Wii, and DS:  Lego Rock Band

LEGO Rock Band combines the multiplayer music experience of Rock Band® with the fun, customization and humor of the LEGO videogame franchise packed with brilliant chart-topping songs and classic favorites suitable for younger audiences, including:
                         
Blur:                             “Song 2”               
Carl Douglas:                   “Kung Fu Fighting”
Europe:                   “The Final Countdown”
Good Charlotte:                   “Boys and Girls"
Pink:                   “So What”

Players will become rockers as they embark on a journey to stardom that the whole family can enjoy as they work their way through local venues, stadiums and fantasy locations on Earth and beyond that mimic the imaginative settings that the LEGO world offers. Also continuing the LEGO “build-and-play” gaming experience, players will be able to create their own LEGO Rock Band style as they customize their minifigure avatars, band and entourage, including roadies, managers and crew. LEGO Rock Band supports Rock Band instruments, as well as other music game controllers.

I love the Lego games, and I love Rock Band, so I guess I'll have to love the love child of the two.  Will love it even more if the songs are exportable.  'Bout time "The Final Countdown" made it into one of these music games.

[ruiner]

  Being able to play all my songs off of one disc is an incredibly appealing feature to me,

If only those ******* would just steal something else from Harmonix and make all of those songs exportable. . .

  Will love it even more if the songs are exportable.

OCD