I can’t wait to get it, but it’s been delayed in Canada until Dec. 18.
I wish I could afford to get an X-box 360 and Rock Band.
Is there anyone that does like the guitar?
Due to a communication error with a friend of ours (long story), we didn’t make any attempt to buy the game until this afternoon. We called around to Best Buy, Circuit City, EB Games/Gamestop, K-Mart, Toys 'R Us, Fry’s Electronics – multiple locations for each store. No luck anywhere. Almost all said they’d had it in that morning, but had sold out.
Then we called Target, and we were told that they had several in stock. And the guy on the phone actually sounded like he knew what he was talking about! So we rushed over there, ran to the counter, begged for it, and we were directed to a large stack of bundles in a display. Finally! We ran over, so excited to finally have it, and grabbed it – only to find out that the 12 or so that were there were all for the XBox, and we have a PS3. :mad: Apparently all the PS3 versions had sold out earlier in the day.
The word “heartbroken” took on new meaning for me today. I console myself with the thought that someday, long after I’ve been able to acquire the game, I will look back on this day and laugh.
sigh
My boyfriend got it today. I have never been tempted to play GH 2 or 3 despite him having both. He and my son play them all the time. I watch.
I agreed to step in and play drums on one song just to appease them.
About an hour later I’d grudgingly allowed someone else to play the drums and had done a song or two on the guitar as well. It sucks you in. The drums are more fun. I don’t think I’ll be doing the singing unless I get very drunk first. I’ve got a near-paralyzing phobia about singing in front of people.
This needs to be released for the Wii as soon as possible!!! My roommates and I live GHIII, and there’s four of us who play it, so we’ll actually be able to get a full band (and I assume if/when it comes out for the Wii, the Wii GHIII guitar will work for it.)
I don’t have the game, nor any game systems (except for the ol’ computer here), but VH1 Classics has been running a tie-in series of “top 10 greatest” lists with the “Rock Band band”.
I finally watched the “10 greatest bands of all-time” list… you know, the one where the Beatles didn’t even chart. :rolleyes:
(Sorry for the hijack, but I’m still rather dumbfounded that the Beatles didn’t make this list - even though AC/DC, the Clash, and Deep Purple did. Not that they aren’t great bands, but surely one of those could’ve been bumped to make room for an act that has sold billions of records and arguably made their existence possible by “saving” guitar-based rock 'n roll back in 1964. You’d think.)
Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled thread…
We were finally able to find a bundle yesterday. Oh, the joy that it brings, I just can’t tell you!
My wife and I have started our band (Loaded Duck, if anyone’s curious) with her as the lead singer and me on the drums. We are both having an absolute blast. She’s doing most of the singing on the Hard level, and I’m drumming on medium. I took about a month of drum lessons a couple of years ago, so I do have a little bit of the basics down. But I start losing it pretty quickly if I go beyond medium.
For the small bit that I’ve used it, I actually like the feel of the new guitar, although it is taking some getting used to.
The character design on the game is amazing. We haven’t even delved into it completely, but I’m loving all the options I’m seeing. And I love how the cut scenes reflect any changes you make in your character’s look.
I haven’t done much of the single player mode, so I can’t really comment on it. The only thing I don’t like about BWT mode is that I can’t tell how difficult each song is before I try to play it (unless I’m missing something obvious).
The game sounds and looks great. It plays great. A friend of ours is picking up his bundle this evening, so I’m looking forward to trying out the online play.
Just a quick update. The guitar has finally started to crap out on us. We ordered a replacement from EA on Friday. It’s still somewhat playable, but it is registering a lot of phantom double-strums and occasionally doesn’t register at all when you’re strumming. Very frustrating.
And then last night, while three of us where engaged in a vigorous rendition of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Maps,” the drum pedal snapped in half. We’re going to try to figure out how to reinforce the replacement when it arrives so this doesn’t happen again. The plastic pedal is just too weak in the wrong areas to hold up for long.
Also, in case anyone is still waiting, the PS2 bundle comes out tomorrow. It lacks online play and character creation mode, but the songs and gameplay are the same.
The rest of you still having fun with your bands out there?
I like to tinker with stuff, so here’s two mods I’ve done with the drum kit. I replaced the drum pedal spring with a shorter section of compression spring I bought at the Home Depot for about $2.50 (I had to saw off a bit). The double beats were making my leg ache and I’m also worried about the pedal snapping in two. I can still rest most of my foot’s weight on the pedal, but it’s now about half the old throw distance to get the pedal to register (2-3 inches instead of 5-6). I think this will prolong my pedal’s life as guests won’t feel the need to stomp so hard.
I also bought some self-adhesive 2mm foam to put on the drum pads. I got them at Wal Mart for about $2.50 for a six pack. It’s supposed to quiet the drums without sacrificing responsiveness. Some folks put a color layer on the drum pad then a slightly smaller diameter black layer on top to give 4mm total pad - and it looks pretty good too.
My plan is to make my instruments last as long as possible, so if I have to get them replaced, improved versions will be available from EA. Words on other forums is that this has already started to happen.
Good thinking there, sir.
Our guitar is pooping out, too. It doesn’t recognize strumming down anymore, you have to strum up.
We bought a second guitar so we mostly use that instead, and if we have two people wanting guitar/bass one of them just has to suffer. I think we’re going to try to get them to replace it, but that’s my boyfriend’s thing so I’m not sure how he’s handling it.
We’re still loving the game, though I still play drums on easy, because I just don’t play that much. I play 3-4 songs, maybe twice a week.
Pine Fresh Scent: What is this foam you’re talking about? The drums being loud is one of my only complaints about the game, so I’d be very interested in trying this…
Here’s a site showing the final look, and you can buy a set of pre-cut pads from them for about $23: Rock Band Drum Pads .com, or you can do it yourself by going to the arts and crafts section of Wal Mart and buy a six pack similar to these self adhesive 2mm foam sheets. My pack cost about $2.50 and had six sheets: blue, yellow, orange, green, white and black. You’d need to buy some extra black sheets to do the full mod (about 33 cents a sheet).
I bought an XBox 360 GH2 Explorer guitar controller to use with RB. Others said it’s pretty robust and doesn’t drop notes like the GH3 Les Paul style, which has a detachable neck. Supposed to be the best guitar controller out there, at least until the RB Strat gets its issues sorted out.
Hopefully, I’ll get my copy on Thursday here in Canada, but there’s a chance my pre-order won’t be filled, so I guess I’ll just cross my fingers and hope.
I plan to cover the pedal with either an aluminum plate or a 1/16" plywood plate that I’ll cut to shape. If you don’t want to do that, you could even consider just getting a piece of steel strapping from home depot and glue a couple of pieces down the face of the pedal to reinforce it.
I just found a video of a guy with a broken drum pedal who taped a small magnet to the bottom of his foot and placed his heel in the opening at the rear of the pedal base. It worked perfectly. If my pedal breaks, I might just use that solution permanently. All I’d need is to make a strap with a magnet in it that could slip over one’s foot or shoe. I could easily do that with some of the velcro computer cord straps I have laying around.
video:
Rock Band barefoot
Sam,
It sounds like your mod will work fine, but it might void your warranty should something else go wrong. I think they’re planning on selling the bass pedals seperately, so it might not be an issue.
Some folks have placed metal reinficements on the sides of the pedal instead of the top to reduce added weight and still the pedal face free of screw heads, etc.
Yep. Our drum pedal snapped as well. When you’re playing “Maps” and “Paranoid” on expert, what can you expect with those driving eighth-note rhythms? Our first guitar is toast, and the new one they sent us was DOA. The “Star Power” (or whatever the Rock Band equivalent is) does no work, and the strumming only registers some of the time.
I like that magnet taped to the bottom of the foot trick. We’ve figured out that the pedal is based on a magnet. I’m wondering if I could somehow jury-rig an actual kick pedal to somehow work with Rock Band. It should surely be possible, and that would be pretty damn cool.
As much as I aspire to be a quality drummer some day, I can’t even claim to have been playing on expert. I was on Hard when it happened, and I was struggling through that. The funny part was that, even though the pedal snapped in half, I was able to finish the song stomping on the front part of it. But when the song ended, we removed the pedal to examine it, and then tried to put it back because we had one song left in our set. But I couldn’t get it to work again at all.
Oh well. The new guitar is scheduled to arrive today, and hopefully we’ll get a drum pedal in the near future.
OpalCat, how did you get a second guitar? Do you have an XBox?
Yes, my boyfriend has an XBox. We got the Activision guitar.
There’s a magnet on the front of the pedal that needs to touch the top of the kick drum thingy to register a note. Here’s a workaround for a broken kick.
I just got it and was booed off stage for my bad drumming in Dead of Alive.
It was awesome.
Ok - questions for the dope.
My parents are looking at getting it for my younger brother (and the rest of us).
Looking for the PS2 version, but my mom can’t find it. When would be the day to hit stores in the AM looking for the bundle?
We have two guitars - the red one that came with GHII, and the white wireless one made by the GHII company - will these work if we can’t find a bundle.
What microphone would the dope recommend if we can’t track down a bundle?
Thanks all!