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Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

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Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

Old 05-06-15, 10:00 AM
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

Originally Posted by Kelkee
Then why have it at all?

You needed more than 5 lanes to really experience playing a KB using both the black and white keys together.
I wonder if we'll still be able to use the keyboard to play Bass. I'd miss playing KeyBass after a 6-hour "concert" with my band, and about 8 vodka-redbulls, it was about all I could muster.
Old 05-06-15, 10:05 AM
  #127  
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

Originally Posted by Kelkee

You see keyboards needed the Pro mode to capture that same experience you get when playing the other instruments. You needed more than 5 lanes to really experience playing a KB using both the black and white keys together.
Drums is really the only instrument that is anything like playing the real instrument without pro mode.
Old 05-06-15, 01:16 PM
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

Vocal improvements and improv-ments:

<iframe src="http://widgets.ign.com/video/embed/content.html?url=http://www.ign.com/videos/2015/05/06/rock-band-4-new-vocal-features-detailed-ign-first" width="468" height="263" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Old 05-06-15, 01:23 PM
  #129  
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

For those of you behind a firewall:

I am basically tone-deaf, and a night of karaoke with me is nightmare fuel. But I don’t care: I love singing in Rock Band, and I want to get better so I can take advantage of Rock Band 4’s new improvisational vocals.

Rock Band 4 embraces a much more “live” element from top to bottom. Its Gigs feature is a light way to engage with your bandmates in-game and between songs; authored fills keep drummers on their toes while giving the impression that this is their version of a given song. Vocal improv is a singer-centric feature that lets talented folks with impressive pipes to lend their voice to a song in a way an exhausted or excited live performer might.

Speaking about older Rock Band titles, Harmonix’s Dave Plante told IGN, “Sometimes when I’m singing, especially if I’ve had a couple drinks or I’m at a party, I want to be a little bit looser with it, so I’ll choose a lower difficulty so I can sing a little more expressively without failing out.” Rock Band 4 solves this problem, and pays singers back for it.

Plante is an excellent singer. Rock Band 4 is much more welcoming of his sort of singing style -- the sort that sounds excellent, but deviates from the rigidity of Rock Band’s karaoke pitch bars. Now, he explained, “You can sing part of the phrase with the line, and maybe at the end you want to pop up high to a different note or sing a different counter melody…maybe you want to sing one of the harmony parts you seen, but you’re doing solo vocals. This new improv feature allows you to do that in a way that’s really, really powerful.”

Previous Rock Band games relied on vocal pitch, and matching the pre-set gained points. You could sing in higher or lower octaves to hit notes way out of your range, if necessary. This is still the case in Rock Band 4, but if you stay within the same key, you can throw your voice higher or lower to give a song your own texture – all while completely disregarding the game-recommended pitch line.

Unexpected variations on the familiar makes music exciting. Singing in a different register, but in the key, still sounds great. Rock Band 4 rewards you for this. Stepping outside the comfortable boundaries of a song’s established pitch yield bonus points for improvisation.

This allows for a lot of interesting opportunity for vocalists. Green Day’s “Bullet in a Bible” is one of my favorite live records, and I love the vibrato singer Billie Joe Armstrong gives to lyrics that have a consistent pitch on an album. In certain songs, pitch I know intimately drops lower, sails higher, or sounds angrier depending on how Armstrong wants to present his voice. I love this, I want to give it a shot, and I love that Rock Band 4 pays players back for putting their own stamp on someone else’s music.

“The thing I’m actually really excited about is for people to encounter this feature and maybe learn about ‘oh, okay, well I hear the relationship between the chord of the guitar and the keyboardist is playing them in the song, and now that relates to how a vocal melody is written,’” said Plante. “Just because that’s how they sing it in the song doesn’t mean that’s the only melody that would fit that chord progression in the song. You could make something up that’s totally different.”

As someone who can't sing, the flexibility to experiment is very appealing to me -- and it gives me the opportunity to try something new, to learn, and get better.
Old 05-06-15, 09:05 PM
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

Originally Posted by Kelkee
Then why have it at all? Why not just make a 5 button "thing" and just play any instrument on that "thing" or use one of the other 5 button "things" already available?

The whole concept of the game is that you get to experience on some level what being a keyboard player in a band is like.

You see keyboards needed the Pro mode to capture that same experience you get when playing the other instruments. You needed more than 5 lanes to really experience playing a KB using both the black and white keys together.
Why have it at all? Because I liked the keyboard. I liked playing the keyboard parts in songs even if they don't use the black keys. I hate it when the keyboard parts are incorporated into the guitar charts. And let's not pretend like the guitar/bass gameplay is anything like real guitar/bass. It's just a fun approximation of the real thing. My point is what is the downside of including the keyboard? If people don't want to use it, then don't use it. If Harmonix doesn't want to put out new songs with keyboard parts then don't put out new songs with keyboard parts. But why the should the old songs that have keyboard parts be less fun when it would (presumably) be so easy to include support?
Old 05-07-15, 07:51 AM
  #131  
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

My guess is they still haven't figured out (or haven't tried) how to properly log scores with more than 4 users. So instead of trying to solve it or trying to scam us with "All Instrument Mode" they're just limiting to 4 instruments.
Old 05-07-15, 08:25 AM
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

Originally Posted by rocket1312
My point is what is the downside of including the keyboard? If people don't want to use it, then don't use it.
I enjoyed playing the keys. I enjoyed playing pro-keys and maybe they will return in an update but let's be realistic about the situation here.

People weren't using it or willing to pay for the charts so it got dropped.

RB4 is going to have a brand new file format and no pro mode.

Pro support is a goner. Which leaves us with legacy 25 key keyboard of which only 5 white keys can be used or a MIDI connected full KB of which only 5 white keys can be used. I don't believe Harmonix feels that is the experience they want to leave KB players with in RB4. It doesn't do them justice and it doesn't do the game justice. It would always be a silly reminder of what KB once was and the backlash would be outrageous.

They need to do a complete and total re-do for keys for RB4. Something they are not willing to put the effort into at this time.

If Harmonix doesn't want to put out new songs with keyboard parts then don't put out new songs with keyboard parts. But why the should the old songs that have keyboard parts be less fun when it would (presumably) be so easy to include support?
I don't want something "easy" from Harmonix in a RB game. They want to get this right not easy and I fully support that.

I imagine since RB4 is going to be a platform to build on that they are putting keys on the back burner so they can re-think and re-do keys in a whole new presentation and SELL us that new experience in a future RB4 add-on.

That would keep interest in the franchise on-going and provide potential $$$. Everyone wins!
Old 05-07-15, 10:03 AM
  #133  
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

Originally Posted by Kelkee
Pro support is a goner.
Pro drums will be supported in RB4.
Old 05-07-15, 10:49 AM
  #134  
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

Originally Posted by Kelkee
I enjoyed playing the keys. I enjoyed playing pro-keys and maybe they will return in an update but let's be realistic about the situation here.

People weren't using it or willing to pay for the charts so it got dropped.

RB4 is going to have a brand new file format and no pro mode.

Pro support is a goner. Which leaves us with legacy 25 key keyboard of which only 5 white keys can be used or a MIDI connected full KB of which only 5 white keys can be used. I don't believe Harmonix feels that is the experience they want to leave KB players with in RB4. It doesn't do them justice and it doesn't do the game justice. It would always be a silly reminder of what KB once was and the backlash would be outrageous.

They need to do a complete and total re-do for keys for RB4. Something they are not willing to put the effort into at this time.

I don't want something "easy" from Harmonix in a RB game. They want to get this right not easy and I fully support that.

I imagine since RB4 is going to be a platform to build on that they are putting keys on the back burner so they can re-think and re-do keys in a whole new presentation and SELL us that new experience in a future RB4 add-on.

That would keep interest in the franchise on-going and provide potential $$$. Everyone wins!
All of this makes perfect sense. It still doesn't change the fact that it bums me out that there is no keyboard.
Old 05-07-15, 01:59 PM
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

Originally Posted by redbill
Pro drums will be supported in RB4.
True. But drums are the unique exception because they have been storing the "pro" data available in the drum tracks since RB1 and there is no reason to stop now. They would just be doing what they have always done as far as drums goes.
Old 05-08-15, 11:24 AM
  #136  
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

Better pre-order, or else. http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/05/...ware-shortages
Old 05-11-15, 12:23 PM
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

<iframe src="http://widgets.ign.com/video/embed/content.html?url=http://www.ign.com/videos/2015/05/11/meet-rock-band-sessions-the-canceled-rock-band-3-sequel" width="468" height="263" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Rock Band: Sessions entered development shortly after the conclusion of Rock Band 3. Harmonix canceled its excellent concept -- a Rock Band game where you make music instead of matching other artists’ notes -- shortly after the team completed a playable prototype. But the game still exists inside Harmonix, and the team was brave enough to let IGN make some music in a game that will never release.

“It didn’t work for a number of different reasons,” Product Manager Daniel Sussman told IGN. “But Rock Band Sessions was really interesting to work on, and really exposed a lot of strains to us, and made us think about how musical expressivity in the format of a Rock Band game. And it actually informed Rock Band 4 in a lot of ways.”

Rock Band: Sessions, like Rock Band proper, involves a band of friends playing plastic instruments to hit colored notes. In Sessions, you’re creating the audio track for each instrument -- with pre-authored bass/drums/vocals/guitar of varying speeds and styles filling in the gaps if you so choose. In that case, “You are rolling into a studio where three or four parts are written,” Sussman explained, “and it’s up to you to fill out the bass line, or fill out the guitar line, or whatever that may be. So that turned into this interesting prototype we developed around Rock Band sessions.”

IGN’s Ryan McCaffrey and Zach Ryan played drums and bass, respectively, while I took on the guitarist role in Sessions. Our first attempt to make music was an unmitigated and embarrassing disaster. We sounded like a teenage garage band jamming to different songs, with no coordination or regard for our sound. My frantic and out-of-time chords had no synergy with Zach’s bassline, or Ryan’s rhythm [Editor’s Note: This implies I have rhythm. Which I don’t]. If Sessions had a game over screen, this is how we would have found it.

“With four people trying to build their own thing, but also have their thing be connected to what someone else is trying to build at the same time, it quickly devolved into chaos and anarchy,” Sussman said. “That’s not so fun.” Harmonix eventually “constrained it to a single-player experience, mostly because it was a way to organize an experience.”

We started over, waiting for a drum beat first, then matched the guitar to the bass rhythm, and actually made something I sort of loved. When we played the song “in full,” Rock Band Sessions organized our brief, crummy tune into something that was fun to play in a Rock Band game. I felt satisfied having made a little song, with an intro verse and a chorus, that harmonized well with my coworkers. Sessions isn’t quite the same as playing music with friends in the garage or on the couch, but there’s a special feeling to making something that sounds not-awful -- and, if you’re good enough, like a real song.

Sessions is a fascinating experiment, and something we enjoyed tinkering with, but isn’t the sort of game Harmonix wanted to sell for $60.

Sussman explained, “What we found was that the content for Rock Band sessions had to be created for Rock Band Sessions, that this wasn’t a gameplay mechanic that could apply to the vast catalog of licensed material that we already had that you would need to support in a future Rock band.”

Harmonix sees Sessions as a solvable problem, though -- just not one that necessarily needs to exist inside Rock Band 4. “I think a lot of the ideas baked into Rock Band Sessions could be presented in the context of a viable product,” Sussman said. “What I think a lot about is the degree to which Rock Band is very focused and particular.” Rock Band 3’s Pro mode, for example, fractured the player base but ultimately ended up a worthwhile endeavor for the team. Sussman continued, “What I think is really important for me is that we continue to develop experiences that are consistent to the fantasy fulfillment of Rock Band; this performative simulation of rock music, that you are onstage, playing a song, and that it is fun and awesome.”
Old 05-12-15, 09:35 AM
  #138  
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

That would have been a fun $5 piece of DLC. Nothing more.
Old 05-15-15, 11:02 AM
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

Rock Band 4 developer Harmonix has revealed to IGN the first six songs confirmed to be included with the upcoming new-gen music-game sequel, due this fall. The songs are:

Avenged Sevenfold – "Hail to the King"
Fleetwood Mac – "You Make Loving Fun"
Jack White – "Lazaretto"
The Killers – "Somebody Told Me"
Spin Doctors – "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong"
The Who – "The Seeker"
Old 05-15-15, 11:05 AM
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

I don't listen to Avenged Sevenfold, but to the rest,
Old 05-15-15, 11:13 AM
  #141  
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

I like Jack White, but I hate that specific song so so much. No big deal, but that was not the best choice, IMO.
Old 05-15-15, 11:23 AM
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

Originally Posted by dan
i like jack white, but i hate that specific song so so much. No big deal, but that was not the best choice, imo.
no fiddle add on!? No sale!
Old 05-15-15, 11:45 AM
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Very happy with that initial reveal.
Old 05-15-15, 01:44 PM
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

Don't forget the gameplay premiere begins at 3pm EST on IGN's Twitch channel: http://www.twitch.tv/ign
Old 05-15-15, 02:20 PM
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

1) This "IGN House Band" is excruciating to watch. Tag me in!

2) I love the concept of a "Show" rather than a "Gig" and voting for the next song even as the current one play.

3) Multiplier carries over song-to-song, at least in a "Show".

4) Love the countdown for your track if you have a break. And you all tell me what they can't do with programming against old tracks

5) The rotating drum fills seem awesome to me as well.

6) Vocal improv looks like it's going to make things a lot more fun and forgiving.
Old 05-15-15, 02:21 PM
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

So yeah, this looks like Rock Band. But I'm really digging this voting feature.
Old 05-15-15, 02:46 PM
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

Oh no, all my double drum pedal metal on RBN. RIP.
Old 05-15-15, 02:50 PM
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

I know I don't care for Jack White at all, but even I know I can't judge this song on what I hear here. Jesus.
Old 05-15-15, 02:52 PM
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

I love how they're not afraid to make fun of Guitar Hero's lack of backwards compatibility and "You SUCK!" signs
Old 05-15-15, 02:56 PM
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Re: Rock Band 4 (XB1/PS4, 2015)

Heh yep they're taking their shots.

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