Rock Band (360/PS3)

[Commander Marklar]

Only done Quick Band online so far; you can pick your difficulty so it's all good. Got dumped in with an expert drummer and singer so I had to ablige and stick the guitar on expert too; maps is truly awesome and we got five stars on everything until ballroom blitz which I haven't done yet on expert so I had no idea what was going on XD Basically you just pick your instrument, wait for other players or invite others to join 'tis as easy as that really. Only negative is there doesn't appear to be anyway to tell the host what you want to play like, not in quick band anyway. There are other modes too but I'm done for tonight. More soon then

I cant get enough of it, the whole thing is gorgeous

True.

[IanE]

The 360 band mode seems to be a little messy, determining who signs in and where, but generally, the game is pure gold. Got a US Elite so importing was no issue, got it from j.m.ratkos on rllmuk for roughly £165, can't complain considering how fast the shipping was, how well packed and handled it all was too!

I haven't tried the Rock Band guitar, as I was going to sell it on instead, are there any real issues with it since the patch? I may well bust it open tonight!

[P-Dogg]

Bust it open mate, it's bloody fantastic!!!!

[Dazzyman]

http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=40188

Above if you have any worries about your strummer. I took mine apart and tweaked it

[Yoshimax]

Disappointing about the online not having the career - same problem as GH3 and one I simply cannot fathom.

Nonetheless, online with mates will do and your positive vibes are giving me itchy feet.

[Dazzyman]

REALLY done myself in on this since Saturday. Went mental playing it and now Im on pethading and laid flat playing 360 instead. Must learn to take it more easy but the hours flyby on this!

[Nisa]

Been playing guitar quite a bit on this the past few days(still no bother with down strumming thankfully) and have found the solos on Blackened and Ride the Lightning to be as hard as anything on Guitar Hero bar maybe Jordan & TTFAF. If Harmonix keep adding stuff like this then early complaints of the guitar part of the game being too easy will soon dissapear, Green Grass & High Tides is no picnic either it's like Freebird part 2.

Drums I haven't been able to play as much as I'd like due to the racket I make but I am getting better at it, finally passed In Bloom Expert (Yay!) and have passed some later stuff like Enter Sandman Expert with 95%+ scores. I love Drummania and this is every bit as good although thanks to the lack of speed options it can be a bit harder at times despite having 1 less drum pad than DM. I hope Harmonix allow for real electric drum kits to be used at some point as I've been tempted to shell out 400 odd quid on a Yamaha DTX for Drummania once I have a spare bit of cash.

[Commander Marklar]

Disappointing about the online not having the career - same problem as GH3 and one I simply cannot fathom.

Nonetheless, online with mates will do and your positive vibes are giving me itchy feet.

There's a Band World Tour online but I haven't created a band yet. I dunno if that's the same think or what, just playing through the tour but online. Seems like one would just want to do scores online though? One can pick all the songs regardless so it feels kind of pointless to me wanting to work through a campaign online.

[Commander Marklar]

I find the guitar exceptionally well balanced compared to GHIII; starts off easy enough but gets really difficult later. When it's taken into context with other instruments playing, it all balances out. Nearly through on expert, just a few more songs then it's 100% drums I reckon.

Swapping feet helps with the drum apparently; e.g. use your left foot if you're right handed. Gotta try that still, ending up playing guitar for a good few hours last night as it really is utterly brilliant. Saving people when they f'up despite trying their hardest is more than a feeling

[Anpanman]

Never having played even the Guitar Hero games, can you play the guitar left handed?

[Dazzyman]

Yes m8

[Commander Marklar]

OK, been playing the multiplayer band mode and damn, this is where everything goes up a notch.

To start with, you MUST have more than one member in your group but as long as the band's leader is present, anyone can play be it local of online. Not too sure if randoms can play but one can invite friends...

Anyway, you start off simple with a couple of gigs, single songs sets (Red Hot Chilli-style) where you earn stars. More stars equals more fans. More fans and you open up more gigs in your starting country. More gigs equals more sets, like 2-3 song sets where you're playing like a proper gig none stop. It's cool. The higher you score, the more fans and... extras join your band like a manager who gives you hints where to play for record deals, roadies and so on (not spoiling it too much).

Only got a few thousand fans and I have a van after playing a few proper sets so can travel to other countries (although not too far, heh).

There's much more to the multi-player band mode than the single player game that's for sure. More as I play it

[Nisa]

I got Guitar Hero 3 and this within a few days of each other and I've played GH3 for about a total of 2/3 hours and yet I've already had two 6 or 7 hour sessions with a bunch of mates on this as well as several hours on my own. RB really is the superior game.

I passed ...and Justice for All expert drums the other day, was actually easier than I anticipated, Blackened on the other hand is not so easy, struggled with it even on hard. I need a sound proof room if I'm to get as much playtime on drums as I'd like though, tend to get a bit carried away with the bass pedal at times.

[kyo_244]

After reading all the positive comments about this game I RELLY need to get my hands on it! Im guessing you can get it on PS2 aswell? See thing is I already own 2 GH guitars so all I'd really need is the game, drum kit and mic. Is it possible to get such a package? Or does it all just come with everything as standard?

[Dazzyman]

Rumours of Activision trying to hold the patch up via legal means on PS3 (to let you use a GH3 controller)...

Yesterday, we brought you news of an impending PlayStation 3 Rock Band controller compatability patch, by way of Harmonix. The headline read: "PS3 Rock Band getting controller compatibility patch today." Well, yesterday's "today" has come and gone, and PlayStation 3 owners longing to finally be able to use their wireless Gibson Guitar Hero III controllers with Harmonix's game are still waiting.

A trusted source has told Destructoid that the patch has indeed been submitted to Sony for approval, and (as promised) should have been available yesterday. What's the hold up? According to our source, Activision has actively attempted to block the release of the patch, even bringing their lawyers into the fray. While the obvious plan is for the patch to be available as soon as possible (it was announced yesterday, after all), until this is all worked out behind closed doors, PS3 shredders may be waiting a little longer.

Harmonix has been very clear that they're interested in an open standard for these peripherals, an idea clearly not shared by their competition. (The Rock Band Stratocaster guitar peripheral does not work with Activision's Guitar Hero on any platform; Guitar Hero controllers currently DO work with with Rock Band on the Xbox 360, but not on the PS3). We've pinged Activision for comment, and we'll update with information as we get it.

http://www.destructoid.com/rumor-activision-behind-rock-band-ps3-compatability-patch-delay--58054.phtml

Not a good day for Activision as they just announced finally that their is a fault with Wii GH3 playing in mono so remastering it and doing a replacment program early next year!

Im just downloading the Black Sabbath pack from marketplace for play next week when Im not 100% bedridden (done way too much recently).