Let's talk about cheap shoddy toys: Rock Band.

[Midnight Son]

So my bass pedal broke this morning while playing "Run to the Hills." Snapped right in half. Cheap motherfuckin' Chinese plastic crap not designed strong enough by Harmonix. (Does that cover all the bases?) It's just fuckin' ridiculous!

That's not all of course, we've got drum pads that don't work right because of sensor issues.

We've got cheap-ass guitar controllers on which the strum is mushy and breaks, and the buttons feel mushy too.

We've got microphones that don't work.

The drumsticks are fine, but they're Ludwigs.

Harmonix is great at the music part of their games, but the hardware is totally fucked up. They better get this shit fixed real fast. (And sending me another bass pedal just like the first ain't exactly gonna fix anything for long, because it's the same cheap-ass design.)

/rant for now.

[worm]

Just to get this out of the way, you're not 400 pounds, right?

[Midnight Son]

Originally Posted by worm

Just to get this out of the way, you're not 400 pounds, right?

220. They will wear out even if you try to be gentle.

[Coca Cola Zero]

There have been lots of reports of the pedals breaking.

I think Rock Band is in kind of a funny pricing gray area because what you pay for the package is kind of too inexpensive for the quality of all that included hardware to be very good, yet it is also too much money to pay for something that is going to break within a couple months. I think they made a big mistake with the way the game is bundled/packaged/priced.

[Alex Dolce]

It would be nice if you could just buy the game and various controllers separately. I may just want to play with the drums for now, so let me just buy them. Or maybe it's the guitar. Let me choose, rather than force me to buy the whole thing for an amount I don't have all at once - especially not if all the hardware is junk.

[Midnight Son]

I did the paint stir stick and duct tape fix. Works better than before because it feels more solid. Guess I won't replace it until they come out with a new model or the electronics on this one break.

[Ben Sones]

Originally Posted by Coca Cola Zero

I think Rock Band is in kind of a funny pricing gray area because what you pay for the package is kind of too inexpensive for the quality of all that included hardware to be very good, yet it is also too much money to pay for something that is going to break within a couple months.

Yeah, I think that's the case. Karen's theory (which seems likely) is that they did a bunch of focus testing on price points and decided that they needed to get under $200 (which is what everyone expected the game to sell for). So they cut $30 off the price, but then had to do a round of cost reductions to compensate. There probably isn't much that you can do to make the mic cheaper, so it's all drums and guitar, and that's a fair chunk of money to shave off.

They probably should have just gone with a $200 price point, focus groups be damned. I think people would have bitten anyway. Selling smaller bundles (game plus one instrument, and then have different bundles for each of the instruments) would have been another way to go, but I'd bet cash money that they met with a lot of resistence from distributors/retailers. Retailers hate stocking multiple SKUs, especially on large, expensive items. Three different Rock Band bundles (four if you count the game by itself) on three different platforms... my guess is that the big chains told them "no fucking way."

The good thing is that they have been (by all accounts) very good about replacing broken instruments. I hope (for their sake... well, and ours) that they are doing some fast design revisions, though, or this could get expensive for them. I guess it's a good thing they have DLC income coming in, too.

I think the main problem with the guitar is the strummer switches. They are using a pair of $.30 components where they really need to be using a pair of $3-4 components. That probably saved them the lion's share of what they needed to cut off the manufacturing price of the guitar, but man, what an ill-advised component to skimp on. The strummer really needs to be sturdy in a game like this, because it's going to get a lot of abuse. I'm fairly certain they are using a variation of these switches, since the design and construction of these is almost identical to what's in my Fender. Note the estimated switching life of these components: 50,000 cycles. That is not a lot. The type of microswitches that Red Octane uses have a switching life that has to be expressed with exponential notation (like 6 x 10^6 cycles).

I think I'm going to try to mod my guitar with some new switches today, and put in some really high quality ones. Hopefully, the end result will be a better strum action than even the GHIII Les Paul has. I may also open the neck to see if the frets can benefit from the GHII "carboard under the buttons" treatment, to shorten the action. I really, really like the design of the fret buttons on this guitar (SO much easier to slide your hand up and down the frets), but they have a bit too much throw.

[Chuck]

And they're all painted with lead-based paint and full of asbestos.....

[Midnight Son]

Vote in this poll, will ya?

http://community.rockband.com/vbforu...ad.php?t=12453

It's a poll about extending the parts warranty to one year, like the tree-sitty.

[Nathan Phoenix]

Yea at this point I really wish I'd only bought the game, and just waited for some aftermarket instruments. All of the included stuff is crap.

[Ben Sones]

I semi-disagree. As shipped, yeah. But the Fender is really close to being the best guitar yet. The size and shape and design of the buttons and frets and everything is fantastic. It's just brought down by a few really bad components.

BTW, for those that prefer a springier (rather than mushy) strum bar, I discovered that there are mounting posts on the strum bar and body for two additional springs. They aren't used in the guitar as shipped, but I'll bet looping some springs on those mounts would improve the feel of the bar quite a bit. I'll post pics when I finish my modding.

[Ryan A]

Originally Posted by Midnight Son

220

You're too fat to be a rock star. You can't get mad at the five pound sack for splitting after dumping twenty pounds of sugar into it.

[Gary Whitta]

Originally Posted by Ryan A

You're too fat to be a rock star.

[Ryan A]

Gary,

Meatloaf is to music as meatloaf is to food.

[Gary Whitta]

Originally Posted by Ryan A

Gary,

Meatloaf is to music as meatloaf is to food.

In other words, a fundamental cornerstone?

[Iron Xides]

Agree with Whitta. The day meatloaf is served is a good day.

[Andrew Mayer]

Originally Posted by Ryan A

Gary,

Meatloaf is to music as meatloaf is to food.

When you're in Rocky Horror let me know.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by Andrew Mayer

When you're in Rocky Horror let me know.

Sweet Jesus, please to be leaving me off that notification list.

[wumpus]

But the Fender is really close to being the best guitar yet.

Um, no. Not even remotely close. You're the only person who holds this opinion.

[Gary Whitta]

Originally Posted by wumpus

Um, no. Not even remotely close. You're the only person who holds this opinion.

No he's not, it's my favorite too.

[jim crawford]

I really like the action and shape of the Strat strum bar. The buttons may take some getting used to. The tilt sensor that doesn't activate, or activates on its own, that could go.

[Bill Dungsroman]

Originally Posted by Midnight Son

220. They will wear out even if you try to be gentle.

(He's five foot two)

[MyNameIsWill]

Can we go back to bashing Harmonix's poor instrument design?

Maybe we'll get a good drum set when Drum Hero is released next year.

[Athryn]

Originally Posted by Alex Dolce

It would be nice if you could just buy the game and various controllers separately. I may just want to play with the drums for now, so let me just buy them. Or maybe it's the guitar. Let me choose, rather than force me to buy the whole thing for an amount I don't have all at once - especially not if all the hardware is junk.

We bought the game and bought a mic and are using guitar hero 3 controller, and it seems to be working fine for us. Of course, I can't really speak above a rusty croak right now, so that's not necessarily a good thing. :P

I dunno if you can buy the drums separately though ... can you?

[quatoria]

Originally Posted by Bill Dungsroman

(He's five foot two)

Dude, come on. Now that the housing market has crashed, he can't AFFORD to exercise. Lay off! So he stifles his tears in a big mac, who are you to judge?

[Morkilus]

Originally Posted by Ryan A

Gary,

Meatloaf is to music as meatloaf is to food.

Hay, I like meatloaf! At least, I like the lebanese variety.

[Darniaq]

We've been playing four-player with the GH3 Guitar on the Xbox 360. So far no problem. But if something is going to go, yea, it'll be the pedal on the drums. That whole instrument is just banged around more than anything else.

[Midnight Son]

Originally Posted by Ryan A

You're too fat to be a rock star. You can't get mad at the five pound sack for splitting after dumping twenty pounds of sugar into it.

It's all muscle, little boy.

[Midnight Son]

Originally Posted by Bill Dungsroman

(He's five foot two)

6 foot 2. And a crack shot. (No cracks about crack!) And pissed off.

However, I did play some more RB with a bunch of folks today. Verdict: My Strat, at least, "sucks donkey dicks." That's the official word.

[Bill Dungsroman]

Originally Posted by Midnight Son

6 foot 2. And a crack shot.

ZOMG is that a threat?