My lovely wife was kind enough to get me The Beatles Rock Band for Christmas this year. I’m loving it, loving the DLC that you can get, and really enjoy the game.
I can see, though, that at some point, I’ll want to get some non-Beatles DLC, and the game won’t let me do that. So, my question becomes, how do I get to the DLC? Should I buy Rock Band 2? Will that get me the whole DLC catalog, or will I have to buy Rock Band 1 too? Does it depend on which song I want?
Also, while we’re here recommend me some songs. For sure, I know I’ll be getting GlaDos’ Still Alive, some Weezer, Police, and others, but I can always use some recommendations.
I would go for Rock Band 2. This provided some vocal improvements (rapping became much easier), allows you to “go on tour” around the world with anywhere from 1-4 players (previously it was solo vs. band tour), and has other improvements.
This would unlock everything that’s downloadable, as well - obviously you can’t play the songs from The Beatles: Rock Band in RB2. You would be missing the songs off the original Rock Band game disc, but if you like those, you can import those songs into your game, barring 3 tracks - I don’t know which they are, but it should be easy to search on. I know one is the Metallica track.
What DLC you get is obviously up to your personal taste, but since you like the Beatles and mention The Police, let me throw a few classic rock recommendations your way:
[ul]
[li]Smokin’ by Boston is extremely fun to play. Peace of Mind and Rock and Roll Band are also fun, but Smokin’ is my favorite.[/li][li]Pride and Joy by Stevie Ray Vaughn is great fun on guitar.[/li][li]I’ve downloaded a bunch of the Cars tracks, but I find them not as much fun.[/li][li]I’m not generally a fan of the cover songs, but Juke Box Hero “as made famous by” Foreigner is rocktacular.[/li][li]Veering out of classic rock, Hysteria by Muse is one of my favorites.[/li][li]I enjoy most of the Pearl Jam tracks (Alive comes with the game, and has a killer guitar solo)[/li][/ul]
Assuming you’re on Xbox 360 or PS3, you have 3 real options to use as a “Platform”
Rock Band 1 (RB1)
Rock Band 2 (RB2)
Lego Rock Band (LRB)
On the Wii, RB1 doesn’t support DLC, and I’m unfamiliar with LRB on the Wii. With that said…
(recommendations as a Rock Band platform follow - the default tracklist preference will be a personal choice)
RB1 - advise against - if you wind up downloading many (say, >150) songs, the quickplay (song selection) menu becomes horribly slow to navigate. I don’t recall exactly how many songs was “a lot”, but for this reason alone, I’d not recommend it. On the other hand, for $5 (PS3 and 360 only) you can export the songs from RB1 to your hard drive to play on RB2/LRB, and there is no “one-time” code involved, so it’s definitely worth picking up used, renting, or borrowing.
LRB – advise against as a platform (probably) – being geared towards a “family” experience, there are many DLC songs that simply don’t show up/play in LRB. Generally the songs in RB are radio-eidts (or similar) but these would be songs with “suggestive” content or lyrics that aren’t kid-friendly. If you buy the disc with intent to export the songs, buy it new, as it comes with a one-time use code for export (note: it will cost you an extra $10 to do export). LRB also does not support online multiplayer, if that interests you.
RB2 – this would be my recommendation. It can play any of the DLC, and can play the on-disc tracks from LRB and RB1 (minus 3 songs, noted in prior posts) if you export them (360/PS3 only). It’s also the main platform that other people play on, if you’re interested in online multiplayer.
As for the DLC tracks - obviously pick songs you like. But if you’re on a 360/PS3, take a look at the Track Packs, which you can export onto the console’s hard drive for play in the main game. Generally the price-per-song is a little cheaper, but you’re also likely to wind up with a few stinkers that you wouldn’t have otherwise bought. Even better, many of the track packs have been out for a while now, and the prices have dropped somewhat. For purposes of importing into the main RB platform, buy these games new, as they come with a one-time use code for export. (exporting for the Track Packs is free, with included code)
If you have a Wii, note that you can’t put tracks in a “shopping cart” to pick and choose as you go through. It’s a pain in the ass - there’s a ton of songs.
My advice would be to look on the Wikipedia page that lists all the songs, write down the ones you want in alphabetical order, then go through the RB2 online store list (in alpha order) and then download.
That way you won’t just go through and be all “ooh i want that! and that!” and end up wasting all your points before you get to the letter C.
Do note that on the Wii at least, it takes forever to download songs. Be prepared to sit and stir.
I play on the Wii, and I agree with ZipperJJ about not having a “shopping cart.” That would be very helpful. However, I don’t think the songs take long to download at all. Maybe 30 seconds for me over my wireless. Is it that much shorter on other systems?
Hmm mine take 2-3 minutes over my wireless. And it’s strange because my Wii sits on top of a computer with wireless and that computer downloads things very fast.
Maybe it just seems longer to me because I tend to buy stuff 25 at a time, so it ends up eating up a good chunk of time. Also, there’s the purchasing step, the downloading step and the backup step.
Ahh, I thought you were specifically talking about download time. From my end, I would say the purchase step takes about 5 seconds, the download about 30, and the backup about 10-15. So about a minute total per song for the whole thing. That definitely adds up though if you are buying a bunch of tracks.
I do wish the Wii had the Track Pack option. That’s kind of a bummer.
Almost all the Grateful dead songs are fun to play. I don’t know how you feel about Country, but even if you don’t like it, a lot of the country songs are really fun to play.
My personal favorites are “Lenny” and “Texas Flood” from Stevie Ray Vaughan.
The Oasis songs have really fun guitar and drum parts.
I got a Police track pack and loved it, the other songs I got are kinda all over the place, so I didn’t do any others. The Stevie Ray Vaughn album though, is screaming to me.
This was a great idea. My first list was a bit expansive, so it was easier to whittle it down while it was on paper than after I had bought them. Thanks.
Until I figured out quick ways to navigate throught the 1,000+ songs to get to the ones I wanted, I kept getting kicked off the list. Once I mastered that, the download stuff wasn’t bad at all. I love the idea of going from liking a song on the list to playing it within about minutes.
I had done Alabama Getaway earlier and disliked it immensely. I love the old rock guitar songs done by bands like the Allman Brothers, but the Dead I hate both their music and playing it on rock band. They’re basically jam sessions that rarely capture my attention.
Hate country.
I love the songs Mary had a little lamb and Pride and Joy. Is it worth it to get the whole Texas Flood album?