Rock Band 2

The Game Room
141

I’m sure a good majority of my problem comes down to taste, but I’m not a fan of death/speed metal. It seems like “you wack away at those drums however you want and I’ll strum this guitar as fast as I can, and we won’t worry about actually making a song or being in time together.” It’s not the speed (I love, yet found “Next to You” to be impossible on expert with the kit they have), but the cacophony that is so frustrating. Give me punk, or good songs with off beats like Tangled up in Blue or Spirit in the Sky, to challenge me, not “try and keep up with this guy hammering away” crappy music. I realize it is completely subjective, but it’s not my cup of tea.

Metallica, at least, has some very good songs. The only Dream Theater song I heard was Panic Attack, and it did nothing for me. But the ration of speed/death metal to “songs I like” is waaaaaayyy to high.

I think a good part of the problem is that I’m kicking it old school on the PS2, so I don’t have Downloadable Content to pick and choose the songs I really like. I really should upgrade.

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I don’t get too worked up about the song selection, because I recognize that there are a lot of people with taste different than mine. So as long as there are enough songs that I like, I’m okay with whatever they release so long as I’m not forced to play it.

That said, I wish there was more classic rock. The bands I want to hear/play are bands like the Rolling Stones, Santana, Steely Dan, Eagles, Eric Clapton, The Yardbirds, Cream, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Pink Floyd, ZZ Top, Van Halen, Genesis, The Allman Brothers, Queen, Steppenwolf, The Doobie Brothers, Grand Funk Railroad, The Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, etc. Plus modern classic rock groups like The Black Crowes or the Derek Trucks Band. Many of these bands are not represented in the game at all, and the ones that are typically only have one song in the game. There is a vast catalog of great songs to draw from that I personally would choose before picking obscure Dream Theater songs or yet more Metallica.

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The story of how I got Rock Band 2 for the PS3, and for an unintentionally low price:

So my husband and I were out at a National Electronics Chain today, me to get a new gaming headset and him to get a new gaming mouse (we’re WoW addicts), and of course I had to wander over into the console section as well. They had the usual stacks of Rock Band/Guitar Hero sets for PS3, Wii, and X-Box, and I saw a stand-up sign, reading $189 for the PS3 Rock Band 2 bundle. (This was sitting, though, on the Rock Band 2 drum set.) Same price as always, I thought. Then immediately on top of the complete bundle, I saw a sign: $139 for the PS3 Rock Band 2 Special Edition bundle. Oo, an after-Christmas sale, I thought. Then I compared the two signs. No difference other than the “Special Edition” qualifier on the cheaper sign, which matched the wording on the box. No dates.

I asked the guy in the department, saying I wanted it if it was in fact on sale, but I wasn’t sure if there was a difference in the products or if one sign was out of date. He went to his computer, typed some stuff in, looked at the signs, and told me that the complete set was the cheaper price, and that if for some reason it didn’t ring up as such at the front, I should tell them that he told me it was on sale.

As you might expect, it didn’t ring up on sale, so I spoke up, repeating what he’d told me. An assistant manager was arranging a display at the front, so the cashier called her over, and she called back to that department. They gave me the price, but I overheard her chewing out someone, telling them to fix their signage because the SKUs on the sign didn’t match (I didn’t check, as the print was teeny and the wording exactly matched what I was interested in) and that meant they were “selling a product for less than what we paid for it.”

Oops. Well, that’s why I checked in back, so I wasn’t one of those “omg the sign said…” types when it wasn’t the right item or the sale was over or something. Score for me, and thank you manager for honoring the displayed price.

I haven’t set it up yet. Got some WoW farming to do. :smiley:

144

Well, my Rock Band birthday party yesterday was a rousing success. We ended around 2:00 a.m., if that tells you anything. I woke this morning and wanted to play more, so I started a new band with a single guitarist and decided to try out Expert. And I was doing great! I played maybe ten songs before I ever failed out on one, and I probably played about twenty total and was able to get all the way through them (though a couple required a repeat and saving my overdrive for the tougher sections).

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Panic Attack might not be the best example of dream theater - most of their stuff is lighter prog metal, somewhat similar to Coheed and Cambria. As far as the “obscure” part, I don’t care too much about that myself - I’d rather have a track pack of completely unknown but good and interesting song rather than having popularity as the primary factor. Not that I’m saying popular music can’t be good - but a whole lot of it is pretty bland. Some stuff like “psycho killer” or “let there be rock” is sentimental to some people I’m sure but they’re so painfully bland.

Which isn’t to say we’re on two ends of a spectrum - I’m sure there’s lots of stuff we’d both like. I guess I was just a little miffed that you seemed to be lumping in Metallica and Dream Theater with abnormality/visions (maybe not - you could’ve just been responding to my preferences and not my response to the person who brought up the death metal thing).

I actually think Metallica has some of the most well orchestrated and technically interesting albums in all of popular music and I’d like to see more from them. There’s Guitar Hero: Metallica coming out in a bit, which I’m cautiously excited about - excited because it’s Metallica, cautiously because the GH series kinda sucks. I had intended to boycot them after they crippled the Ion in their games but I may have to buy GH:M as a last purchase.

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…/

:smiley:

OK, I’m a happy camper. Just wondering, though - can you use the same band member in play at your home and online? If so, do you have to mostly play as “online tour” or can you play the band member in home and online tours?

I started on Medium. I completed the “Battle of the Vans”, kitted out my singer with some new duds, and bought the Disturbed and Foo Fighters song packs. Oh, and my Battle of the Vans songs included “Spirit in the Sky” and “Cool for Cats” :eek: plus “Today.” For some reason I can only sing “Cool for Cats” in a (bad) English accent and an octave higher.

And my husband has gone from dubious to “I’m glad to see you having fun” and “What instruments are in the box? [I tell him.] I’m going to have to try this at some point. Are there more Duran Duran songs?”

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One of us…one of us!!! :smiley:

And yes, you can use your character no matter what mode you’re playing in, online or off.

Three more days 'til my Ion kit arrives…open open open…

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I told him you can download “Rio” and “Girls on Film” and he started singing “Rio” as he wandered off to the bathroom.

Oh, and my guildies in World of Warcraft want a recording; I was playing as he was in a dungeon run and when he’d push to talk over Ventrilo (online gaming chat channels), bits of my singing would come through. I don’t think so!

Singing is the easy part from my perspective, as I sung through most of childhood and high school, either in church choir or school choirs. I’m waaaaaay out of practice and my abdominal muscles are feeling the burn, but for me, this is so much easier (so far…) than requiring any hand-eye coordination!

149

I don’t mind Dream Theater or Metallica. I really like the Dream Theater song in Guitar Hero World Tour. But these bands are already well represented in Rock Band/Guitar hero, and the genre they are in is over-represented.

I want Rock Band and Guitar Hero to succeed big time, so that more money is invested in the new music gaming industry, and more bands are enticed to release music, and more R&D is done to make these games even more immersive and realistic. For that to happen, they need to appeal to a wide range of music fans, and not just the metal fans. Rock Band is trying to do that, with the release of the country pack, and this week’s Roy Orbison pack.

Personally, before I released more metal for the game, I’d make sure I had some country, bluegrass, reggae, industrial, hip-hop, alt-country, southern rock, classic rock, folk, and blues music in the game. Open it up, grow the audience. Plus, there are a lot of fantastic songs to be found there. I don’t much like country music, but those five songs they released are incredibly fun to play on guitar.

Maybe what Harmonix should do to keep the complaining down is to make sure they release songs in at least two or three different genres every week.

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I agree. We never listen to country, but we have three of the five country songs. (And my husband, having grown up in south Arkansas, can sing “Mud On The Tires” and “Free And Easy” with the exact accent, tone, and inflection as the singers.

I agree with this, too. It sucks when a week goes by with no songs that I want to buy. That’s far less likely to happen if they spread out the genres a bit more.

And if anyone’s curious if Rock Band and its ilk drives up album sales, I bought the entire Hollywood Undead album off Amazon based on hearing “Young” on Rock Band.

I wish they’d put "Wake The Sun"by The Matches up.

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Oh, being in Rock Band is having a huge effect. Several bands that are featured in the game are touring again after years away, and they’re all reporting new audiences full of young people. And the bands in the game that have been touring throughout are reporting much larger audiences.

These games have sold millions of copies. An album is a mega hit if it sells 5 million copies, and every song in these games have gotten similar amounts of ‘airplay’ as some of the biggest hits ever.

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I would almost think record companies should pay Harmonix to have their songs included in a Rock Band game. You’ve got people from probably 5 years to 95 years old listening and paying attention to every note of your song. How can you beat that?

I know my teenager has gotten into Smashing Pumpkins, Social Distortion, and especially Flyleaf from playing Rock Band.

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I myself have bought a couple albums and singles only because of Rock Band (Flyleaf, Maps, When you were Young).

154

Likewise. We also bought Maps and some Wolfmother stuff. I have learned much music as a result of Guitar Hero/Rock Band.

155

This game made me fall in love with Rush - I always hated them before, from what I heard on the radio. My husband liked them, and we used to “argue” about them.

For once in my marriage, I was able to admit, fully, without limit, that I was wrong. Rush is awesome-ness.

And, Rock Band will (hopefully) be responsible for them selling at least two concert tickets…

156

That “The Trees” song is about the stupidest song I’ve ever heard. :wink:

I went to see Smashing Pumpkins and Nine Inch Nails last year, I think playing their songs over and over in Rock Band definitely inspired me to go out and see more live music.

157

What do you guys think of a “Hair Band” pack? I may be dating myself, but Ratt, Poison, Def Leppard, Warrant, etc., are just perfect for this game. (I mean, beyond Round and Round and that awful Bret Michaels solo thing on GH3)…

Am I just totally uncool?

158

I’d buy it in a heartbeat. :wink:

Gimme some “Nothing But a Good Time”, “Cherry Pie”, “Photograph”, and “Kickstart My Heart.”

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I think Kickstart My Heart (and the rest of Dr. Feelgood) are available on RB2 downloads.
But “Photograph”? I’d be so happy my head would 'splode…

160

I agree with this. My husband bought Rock Band 2 last week. I didn’t think I’d like it as much as I do, but I’m LOVING it. So are the kids. We’ve been playing a lot together as a family and just having a blast together.

It seems that the game is geared more towards young men, when in reality, a lot of families are getting into it. I think it would be great to get more classic rock, and maybe even some classic pop. My kids are into a lot of the music I am (I raised them on it; I’ve never been one for “kiddy” music); their favorite song to play so far is “Spirit in the Sky.”

My husband said he’s heard rumors of a Beatles pack - any truth to it? That would make my whole year!