I think it’s safe to say that I had one of my most nerdiest moments at work today. When I got the press release that Harmonix was working on a new rhythm game I turned around to my nearest coworker and said, “Holy crap! Harmonix is making a new game where every piece of the band is included!” The reply I received was a mere “uh…..okay.”
Anyway, the game is called Rock Band and is being developed by Harmonix in conjunction with MTV and Electronic Arts. It will feature not only guitars (for lead and base), but a mic and a drum kit. To me, the most exciting part is the drum kit as I grew up playing drums. Hopefully Harmonix won’t cheap out and simply go with a drum pad because I would be willing to seriously invest in an electronic kit that I could play online with (or against) other people.
Also, Rock Band won’t include covers of songs we all know and love. Instead (probably via the MTV connection), EMI, Sony, Universal, and Rhino will be providing the master recordings for the game. While both Guitar Hero I and II featured excellent cover bands, it will be a whole different ball game to play with the actual tracks you’ve listened to for years.
Rock Band is slated to hit stores shelves this fall on both the PS3 and Xbox 360. While it was stated that online play would be included, there was no mention of if it would be inter-system or not. However, regardless of which system you pick it up for you can expect there to be a lot of downloadable content.
Having over 25 years of gaming experience, Zach knows a thing or two when it comes to one of his favorite entertainment activities. Additionally, he has also written many articles previewing and reviewing titles which can be found in various places around the net, including VGBlogger.com. 
Well, Zach…luckily, I went over to Gamespot.com, where they had a rather in-depth interview with Harmonix and MTV about the game. From what I’m to understand, here are some more details:
The game will use three different peripherals: a guitar controller for both guitar and bass, a microphone for singing, and a drum peripheral for the drumming. They said they worked extensively on the drum peripheral and that they wanted to get it as close to playing the real thing as possible, so I’m kind of curious to see what that will be like.
The master recordings are via the MTV connection, and there will be a LOT of downloadable content apparently, some of which will even be free of charge. Super sweet!
As for the platforms it will release on, they are primarily focusing on PS3 and 360, as they are in the current generation of consoles. There was no talk about the Wii, but I think it would be a travesty if they didn’t put it on there.
The one thing I’m curious about, however, is cost and how they will appeal to the different regions of the world. I mean, if you release a game like this in Japan, then you can’t expect them to really want to play the same old American tunes over and over…they’ll want some Japanese stuff and whatnot. I think that is where the downloadable content is going to come in handy. Hell…I can guarantee that if you ship this game to Norway or Sweden, they are going to want some In Flames and some real metal, not some Third Eye Blind or something! On top of that, the current Guitar Hero games are already $80, so what are we talking when you add in the drum and mic peripherals? And will they be sold separately? I mean, isn’t this getting to the point that everyone should just start learning their own instrument? I’ve played guitar for nearly 12 years now, and I mean…Guitar Hero is fun, but it’s not the same experience as just picking up a real axe and grinding away, ya know? Oh well.
Either way, it sounds like an exciting game to look out for.
In other news…if I walk into Wal-Mart one more time and have to school some fools on GHII because all they want to play is gay-ass A7X “Beast and the Harlot”, I’m gonna fucking snap! THEY NEED TO BE PLAYING REVEREND HORTON HEAT AND SHADOWS FALL!!!!
I’m most excited that it’s going to have the actual songs, not cover bands replicating them. It’ll be interesting to see how the game is packaged and what it’ll cost though. It’ll have to come in different versions I’d think, as it seems hard to believe that they’d FORCE every consumer to buy the game and three peripherals, as that would have to be a pricey package. If I were to guess, I think they’ll probably do an all-in-one bundle with everything, then maybe different bundles with the game and one of the instruments, with all of the instruments then sold separately if people want to add on what they don’t have thereafter. I also wonder if they’ll make the accessories different for both platforms, or just make the same ones with a universal cable to work with both. It seems like there are more questions than answers at this point lol, but the game’s concept sounds pretty damn sweet.
Matt….umm….why would they need to make a universal cable for the peripherals? Both the 360 and PS3 use USB to recognize their controllers…they could just make everything wired if need be, or just use the USB recognition technique. LOL It’s okay, we all slip sometimes.
Doh lol, I forgot all about both consoles using USB. For some reason I was still thinking of the regular PS2 and Xbox having differing controller inputs. Brain fart lol.
I was gonna write a separate babbling about this, but instead, I’ll just leave a comment here. Apparently, Kotaku went over to GameStop’s website and there were prices listed for the accessories already. It would seem that, if these prices are true, the drum peripheral would cost about $80, the guitar is about $80, and the microphone at about $40. Supposedly, the game with two guitars, drum, and mic will empty your wallet for a total of around $300. Is it worth it? Well, also on the rumor front are whispers that Harmonix expects to be releasing new downloadable content in the form of songs and other as-yet-announced content either bi-weekly or monthly. So, for a game with what I’m sure is up to four player online multiplayer and more than likely co-op play, what could literally be thousands of songs, and numerous hours of gameplay at hand…I think $300 isn’t that bad of a price tag. Plus, you don’t have to get ALL the peripherals…but if you want the variety, then you’ll shell out enough to buy a 360 core system for the game and the peripherals itself!!!
Thoughts? Personally…I’ll buy them all.
Shit, if it’s going to cost that much I’d have to pass on getting the whole set. No one game is worth that much if you ask me, no matter how great it may possibly be. I mean come on, you could go buy a Wii and a game for that kind of money, or cover most of the cost of a 360, or pick up a DS or PSP with a couple games. When the price of ONE game starts approaching the cost of the system it’s on, that’s a bit much. At least it’s not mandatory that you buy all of the instruments, so like with GH you’ll be able to get by at a fair price for the game and one controller, but if you aren’t going to get the whole set of instruments it kinda defeats the purpose of the game.
Downloadable content will be cool (as it is in the new 360 GHII), but you’re going to have to continue shelling out even MORE money to get the latest songs.
Honestly though, I’ll have to wait and see what the gameplay will be like to gauge my overall anticipation. If it’s just going to be like Guitar Hero with different playable instruments I won’t be that excited. Even as great as the GH games have been, the whole concept is really getting spread too thin at this point. Guitar Hero is coming out in a mobile phone version for crying out loud, it’s just becoming overkill.
Again, Matt…you overlooked something. In an earlier comment, I mentioned that they are going to not only be releasing content that you’ll need to buy, but they’ll also be releasing free content as well. Therefore, you’ll still be able to get more out of the game without buying too much. And plus, think of Rock Band as “Guitar Hero RPG”. Just because they will be offering all the instruments, that doesn’t mean everyone wants to be a singer. So yeah, I like where they are going with this: if I want to be a drummer, I’ll be a badass drummer. A guitarist…hey, I’ll shred.
I don’t think they’ll be able to necessarily follow the same “structure” as GH, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a mix of structures from games like Karaoke Revolution or Taiko Drum Master and such. I’m sure that whatever Harmonix does, it’s going to be kick ass.
Yeah, but for some reason I doubt the free content will be all that special. Almost all of the free downloadable content for current games is pretty worthless. I’m sure they’ll make a few songs free, but the major updates are going to have to cost something, especially since the game will be using real licensed tracks. It’s really not a big deal though and I wasn’t complaining about it, as downloadable content is there as an extension of the game for those who want to get it. Free or not, you can’t argue with extra content (unless it’s something major the developers should’ve included in the original release, then charge for to add on later).
As for the gameplay, I’d think it’d follow in the vein of GH, as most of Harmonix’s games have the same sort of structure to them. GH is basically Frequency/Amplitude simplified some and played with a guitar. But hey, I don’t even want to waste time disputing what the gameplay will be like at this point since not much has been announced.