The rhythm game genre has been irrelevant for a while, but there might be a few people here who still like them, or at least used to like them and will mourn their passing.
I spent a year and a half playing mostly Skyrim, so I missed it when it happened, but the last commercial DLC for Rockband was released back in April, and no more is planned. They still are adding Rock band Network songs, but I’ve never downloaded those. I don’t think they’re available for PS3, though, for some technical reason.
Worse, the DLC that is available is shrinking. Here’s the most recent announcement, with seven songs they couldn’t re-license, and which won’t be available to purchase by the end of December. A bunch of others are already no longer available. Supposedly, they can still be re-downloaded if you already bought them, but I didn’t see the Metallica 3-song track pack when I looked, so I’m not sure.
There are, of course, no more games planned. With the changing of the generation, and lack of compatibility with the last gen, no DLC already purchased would be available on the new systems. Any hope that a new game might be put out for the new generation seems… unjustified.
Since there’s no backwards compatibility, I’m thinking I’ll have to buy a PS3 or two on clearance in a couple years, to be able to play it in the future. I’ll also have to make sure to buy whatever else I think I might ever want, in case it disappears without notice. Some older DLC has been on sale for over a year now, at $1 a song.
There is still Rocksmith, which is a late-comer, but is a game/teaching software using a real guitar rather than a guitar-shaped controller. It’s being released for PS3 and Xbox360, so it’s going to have the same DLC problems It’s also being released for PC, so that version may not have the issue. Still, I suspect that will be the last version of that game. I was surprised there was even a second edition, so maybe I’m wrong here.
Anyway, feel free to discuss, or share your fondly remembered Rockband experiences. Say nice things as it fades away: It’s not deceased yet, it can still hear you, and will probably stay alive, on it’s death bed, for a few years more.
For me, we started with Guitar Hero 3, on the Wii. There was some kind of sale at Toys’R’Us, but one of the games I wanted was sold out, and I got GH3 instead. I still remember, once we got a second guitar, my wife playing co-op with my youngest, since it was the only way he wouldn’t fail the song. Of course, after maybe a year, he was the only one who could play the harder songs on expert.
There was a compatibility issue with the controllers for Rockband 1, so we avoided that. We got GH World Tour, GH 5, and GH Green Day. But at some point we bought Rockband 2 used, and ended up liking it more than GH.
The Wii was weak on DLC, since there was no hard drive. And the upcoming Rockband 3 had support for learning a real guitar. The RB pro-drums are better than GH, with 4 drums and three cymbals. Also, there was the keyboard controller. So three years ago, at Christmas, I made a jump: I bought a PS3, Rockband 3, and all new instruments, including the Pro-guitar controller. I also got a lot of Rockband content on the PS3, including RB1, and re-buying RB2 and RB green Day. We bought a bunch of DLC as well, and have close to 400 songs available when we start it up.
It got pulled out again over Thanksgiving, which is why i finally noticed new DLC was over. We brought the drums back up from the basement. My son and wife are playing it right now, as I type this. Right now, Green Day’s What’s her name. Seems poignant.
I searched for Rockband before starting this thread, and there were only three mentions in the Game Room in the last three years, so I don’t think we’ve already had a thread on this.
Also, I know some people don’t like rhythm games, and like to trash them. That’s off-topic here, and this thread is not for you. Go away.