Rock Band - Awesome

[Thrashdragon]

Yesterday I was sitting at work feeling like a kid that can't wait for Christmas. Every few minutes I'd refresh the UPS website, tracking my eagerly anticipated package as it wound its way to me. At 3:30, my fiance called...Rock Band had been delivered. The last hour and a half of work was pure hell.

I finally made it home to see the largest freaking video game box ever. Twenty-five pounds of rock sitting on my living room floor. Twenty minutes later (amidst much fiance eye-rolling) I had it unboxed and was ready to go.

Rock Band owns...completely.

I had a blast, and so, surprisingly, did my Guitar Hero hating fiance...If you can get a 25 year old girl that listens to country and pop to belt out "burning in my brain, I can feel the flames" (Metallica, Ride the Lightning) then you've made a great game.

I already knew that singing and playing an instrument at the same time would be difficult from having done it in RL many years ago, but I didn't take into account how much more difficult it is when you have to watch a screen at the same time. Fun, but not recommended unless you know all the lyrics.

The drums are incredible...I really suck at them but when you do hit that groove (usually only for a few seconds in my case) it's indescribably awesome.

My only dislikes: The wires...if anything ever needed to be wireless, it's Rock Band. It looks like Snakes on a Living Room at my house, there are wires everyfreakingwhere. And the Strat, while a solid piece of equipment, could use a little improvement. There are a couple of harsh edges that throw you off when you bump into them, and the effects switch is a little too close to the strum, but those aren't deal breakers. For their first guitar peripheral, it's a nice piece, and the size and the feel are so much closer to the real thing that so far I prefer it to the tighter-playing GHIII Les Paul.

Overall, an outstanding game. :2thumbs: :2thumbs: :2thumbs: :2thumbs: :2thumbs:

[Rand{CLR}]

Let's just say, I saw the price tag on that box you're talking about when I was picking up UT3 yesterday...Even if I had and liked Guitar Hero, there is no way, no how, I'm paying that much for one game. I could buy a couple of (cheap) real instruments for that. :P

Glad you're having fun though.

-Rand

[Thrashdragon]

Let's just say, I saw the price tag on that box you're talking about when I was picking up UT3 yesterday...Even if I had and liked Guitar Hero, there is no way, no how, I'm paying that much for one game. I could buy a couple of (cheap) real instruments for that. :P

Glad you're having fun though.

-Rand

I would be leery of playing anything that you could get two of for $170, unless one of them is a tambourine. I do have a pretty decent cheap electric that was ~$150, though. Of course there's a helluva learning curve to it compared to Rock Band. :D

To look at it from a different perspective, Rock Band costs about half as much as a new video card, and I won't have to buy another one in six months. Unless I get all Pete Townshend on the stuff. :D

[Premonition]

Glad to see you having fun with it :2thumbs: to much money not to get tons of fun out of it. For cheaper people who cant afford the whole pacage then there is some choice.

if you have guitar hero 2 (360version) with a guitar (ive heard this works with the 360 version (ps3 version is having some tech issue that could be fixed in a fw updatre, maybe.)
eb game/ gamestop is selling used guitar hero 2 guitars for 35 dollars (with the gamecard its like $31.00.

you can get a singstar playstation 2 mic used for 10 dollars. (this also has been confirmed to work. Ive also read that logitech usb mics work but dont know if its true. I also saw a rumor the boogie mic from wii could work.

You wont get the full rockband experiences but you can still have tons of fun at a fair price and make use of all ready owned gh2 guitars.

Choices choices choices......

[Thrashdragon]

Any USB mic will work. The Rock Band mic doesn't have anything special to it, it's just a regular USB mic. On the 360, the GHII Xplorer and the GHIII Les Paul both work. On the PS3, only the Rock Band Stratocaster works, thanks to Red Octane not making the PS3 Les Paul conform to regular controller standards. It it unknown at this time if Harmonix will be able to patch Rock Band to get that guitar working. It's really a shame that one company's greed is reflecting poorly on the company that has embraced open standards.

In January or February they will be selling individual instruments for those that don't want the full package. If anyone is looking at piecing things together then you have GOT to get the drums...they're incredible.

$170 is actually inexpensive for a game with a 5 piece drum kit, a microphone, a guitar, three solo careers and a huge multiplayer mode. Guitar Hero III is $100 with one guitar, one solo career, and one co-op career.

Obviously you have to love this sort of game to spend that kind of money regardless, but it's hard not to get hooked once you try it. My fiance caught the bug when she was singing Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" and I was playing guitar and singing backup. Insanely fun.

The drums are a pretty good workout, too. I'm pretty sore this morning, but that might just be the hangover. :D

[ThisElfRocksHard]

This is better than either!!!111 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlqLLZQLNiA)

[Thrashdragon]

This is better than either!!!111 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlqLLZQLNiA)

LMAO that is awesome.

That song is actually in Rock Band and the singer has to tap the mic in time with the cowbell. Some people are actually attaching cowbells to their drumkits.