Rock Band for PS2! 10 new songs!

[Midnight Son]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6177102.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=morenews&tag=morenews;title;2



LEIPZIG, Germany--Previously confirmed for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Harmonix announced today the title will be coming to the venerable PlayStation 2 platform. The PS2 version of the game will feature "many" of the modes of the 360 and PS3 games, and will also incorporate some all-new gameplay elements.
European versions of Rock Band will also be getting localised content for the different countries in the region, both downloadable and on-disc.

The following ten songs were also announced for Rock Band, and all will be original versions:

Rolling Stones -- “Gimme Shelter”
Deep Purple -- "Highway Star"
The Clash -- “Should I Stay or Should I Go”
Faith No More -- "Epic”
Smashing Pumpkins -- “Cherub Rock”
Radiohead -- “Creep”
Beastie Boys -- “Sabotage”
Jet -- “Are You Gonna Be My Girl”
OK Go -- “Here It Goes Again”
Nine Inch Nails -- “The Hand That Feeds”

Oh spooge!!

[Ben Sones]

Christ, that song list is getting pretty goddamn awesome.

[Jazar]

Whoa NIN!

[Rywill]

Holy shit, awesome announcement, awesome songs.

[Fugitive]

Okay, that's it, I'm buying Rock Band and hoping its guitar works with GH3 on the 360, rather than the other way around.

[sluggo]

(can't comment until noon PST... arg)

[calaiermiant]

This Rock Band/GH3 thing is shaping up to be one hell of a titanic battle.

And we only stand to win.

[delirium]

That makes 3 songs that will be on both RB and GH3. It should be interesting to compare them.

[mouselock]

Whoa NIN!

Yeah but look at the song. :/

Faith no More should be fun though.

[Jazar]

Yeah but look at the song. :/


I know, I would have even taken Only on that album above HtF!

Now if they had Starfuckers...

Ah well.

[Wholly Schmidt]

That makes 3 songs that will be on both RB and GH3. It should be interesting to compare them.
Five by my count, Mountain - Mississippi Queen, Black Sabbath - Paranoid, Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock, Beastie Boys - Sabotage, Strokes - Reptilia

[Kunikos]

I know, I would have even taken Only on that album above HtF!

Now if they had Starfuckers...

Ah well.

Hey too bad it isn't Rock Cubase VST Band otherwise I'd go with March of the Pigs.

[Midnight Son]

(can't comment until noon PST... arg)

It's noon. Where you at?

[Rock8man]

While we're waiting for sluggo, here's Joystiq's Hands-on impressions (http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/22/joystiq-hands-on-rock-band/) which were presumably also waiting for noon PST for posting.

[Midnight Son]

Sehr gut!

[sluggo]

My hands-on impressions are now up on GameSpy, but I'll summarize:

1) Set List. It's becoming clear Rock Band isn't going to just be Guitar Hero with the extra ability to sing and drum. There's some overlap between the set lists, but the emphasis seems to be on more recognizable, accessible tunes that will be fun to sing over what has interesting guitar parts. It's like Karaoke Rev: Rock Edition. So to me, the kind of sadistic person who looks forward to Dragonforce and Slayer in GH3, Rock Band doesn't look like it'll have much of that. That's not necessarily a pro or a con, just an observation regarding how the two games may be more different that people realize.

2) Guitars. I'm getting increasily worried about the new Strat. They told us the guitars we used for this preview were updated prototypes; not final, but closer to the final product. But right now, the strum bar and fret buttons are so mushy that I'd rather use the Xplorer ... which I can't stand. I really hope these improve soon, or (please) that the GH3 Les Paul will work with Rock Band.

This is complete random speculation on my part, and could be proven wrong with the improvement of the guitars or the introduction of some crazy songs, but there's a small part of me that wonders if the lack of challenging guitar parts in the set list is a conscious design decision in deference to the state of the new Strat -- that they won't want to put in crazy shredfests because the Strat isn't quite up to it.

3) Drums. These are going to be where the real challenge lies. I was sweating like crazy after just two songs on Expert. Although the drum pads can take a beating, the actual kit is light and needs to be anchored or else it moves all over the place. I'm looking forward to playing through the single-player drum campaign.

4) Vocals. I can't be totally sure, but it seemed like even if you know a song by heart and know every little inflection, the game wants you to dumb it down, so to speak, and sing it a little "straighter." Does anyone know if this was the case with Karaoke Revolution? I was having a hard time trying to figure out exactly how the game wanted me to sing.

5) Double Duty. It is possible to play drums or guitar and sing at the same time. It's also really hard. If you have to take your eyes of the guitar chart for a second, things go south quickly.

6) Must Buy. There's never been a game like this. As it stands, it'll already be an amazing party game; hopefully the instruments make it a satisfying single-player game, and the online play is up to the task as well.

7) Who's Winning? It's really interesting to compare where Guitar Hero III and Rock Band are right now. GH3 looks like a pretty known commodity: the set list looks great, the new guitar is fantastic, and at the least it should be every bit as good as GH2, maybe better with the introduction of online play. It's going to be a killer game.

But Rock Band has far more variables and could swing both much higher or lower than GH3. The instruments could be an issue; features people liked in GH could be gone; price could scare people off. But at the other end, if everything works, it could turn into a phenomenon, with DLC every week and parties springing up in bars and such every week.

[Midnight Son]

Thanks dude. I may just wait and see how the PS2 version is going to work. (The GH1 and 2 guitars should work.)

DLC is a big selling point on the 360 though. Depends on the price and if they are going to bundlefuck us.

[jim crawford]

4) Vocals. I can't be totally sure, but it seemed like even if you know a song by heart and know every little inflection, the game wants you to dumb it down, so to speak, and sing it a little "straighter." Does anyone know if this was the case with Karaoke Revolution? I was having a hard time trying to figure out exactly how the game wanted me to sing.
This was definitely not the case with Karaoke Revolution. To a fault, I'd say.

edit: The fault part was mostly with the R&B stuff where you were expected to memorize and match random-ish vocal improvisations. For the rock music, I thought it was spot on.

[JPR]

2) Guitars. I'm getting increasily worried about the new Strat. They told us the guitars we used for this preview were updated prototypes; not final, but closer to the final product. But right now, the strum bar and fret buttons are so mushy that I'd rather use the Xplorer ... which I can't stand. I really hope these improve soon, or (please) that the GH3 Les Paul will work with Rock Band.


I'm glad you finally are able to share some information about this, but I really wish that information were different. We're getting pretty late in the game now, and this is not what I want to be hearing.

[Rock8man]

Thanks dude. I may just wait and see how the PS2 version is going to work. (The GH1 and 2 guitars should work.)

DLC is a big selling point on the 360 though. Depends on the price and if they are going to bundlefuck us.

Well, they already announced that they're selling DLC content as albums, didn't they? So "Who's Next" by The Who will be the first album released as DLC. And Nevermind by Nirvana was another one.

As for price, I suspect that the price of the album in the game probably won't be too different from buying the album at the store. It's complete conjecture, but I suspect Who's Next will probably be between $10-13, which is what it costs to buy the CD.

[JPR]

Well, they already announced that they're selling DLC content as albums, didn't they?

They are supposed to be releasing individual songs, too. It's not clear whether that means songs pulled from the albums or totally unrelated singles. Also, I read somewhere that they backpedaled on the Nirvana thing.

[Midnight Son]

Well, they already announced that they're selling DLC content as albums, didn't they? So "Who's Next" by The Who will be the first album released as DLC. And Nevermind by Nirvana was another one.

As for price, I suspect that the price of the album in the game probably won't be too different from buying the album at the store. It's complete conjecture, but I suspect Who's Next will probably be between $10-13, which is what it costs to buy the CD.

Whole albums is ok. I don't want them to do the bundling like in GH2; three unrelated songs and you can't get them separately. Let me choose songs for a good price.

[sluggo]

When asked directly, no one will currently confirm Nevermind as DLC for me. The party line is that the only official full album that's been confirmed is "Who's Next."

As for DLC, full albums are certainly part of the plan, but no one should be expecting them weekly. Odds are, we'll see a few songs every week, and then the occasional full album.

[Shadarr]

Now I'm going to have a decision to make, do I take the plunge and get a 360 or do I get Rock Band for PS2 and potentially stick myself with an incompatible drum kit down the road?

[Arioch]

This worries me a lot:

European versions of Rock Band will also be getting localised content
I so do not look forward to sing and strum to sub-par german tunes. This is what ruined Singstar for me.

[sluggo]

Maybe it's me, but I'm surprised people are grappling so much with the "which platform do I get?" decision. The PS3 is a mess right now. DLC and online play aren't really viable on the PS2. For me, it's 360 all the way right now.

[Shadarr]

Since I don't have a 360 yet, the extra up-front cost is part of the equation. The 360 is the obvious lead platform, but is it better enough to be worth the price of admission? Probably, we'll see how rich I feel in the fall.

[Nathan Phoenix]

Faith No More -- "Epic”
Radiohead -- “Creep”


!!!!!

[Wholly Schmidt]

I had my fingers crossed for Hunting Bears, but I guess Creep will work.

[MyNameIsWill]

Have they previewed this on a 480i or 480p set? I can't imagine fitting everything in without high-def (which the PS2 version probably won't have)...

[delirium]

Rock Band was the only game I felt like waiting in line to play at PAX. The game looks nice. Everything's pretty clear on the screen and the art style for the stuff in the background is pretty cool, I think. They first had the drums set up side by side in the 2player vs mode. Drums completely kicked my ass. Suffragette City on hard was enough to best me, completely. Goddamn lack of coordination.

I also played bass on Don't Fear the Reaperz with a full band. Rocking out 4 players in that game is completely fun. It's going to be a big hit, I'm sure. I rocked the (awesome) bassline and saved my team via star power, who all failed out at one point haha.

I was, surprisingly, the most disappointed by the guitar part of the game. The buttons don't quite feel up to par for hammerons/pulloffss. They're pretty big and a little clunky. I don't know, maybe it was intentional to try and encourage people to use the solo buttons for that stuff. The guitars themselves did feel to be pretty solid, and in altogether felt more like playing a real guitar.

We played Epic, which also just disappointed me. After waiting 15 mins to play, I must have forgotten how little guitar there is (hint: none) during the main verses. Overall, though, Rock Band met my high expectations.

[delirium]

New songs added to rock band...


Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" [master track]
Red Hot Chilli Pepper's "Dani California" [master track]
KISS' "Detroit Rock City" [master track]

[Midnight Son]

They also upped the main song list to 45 from 40.