Rock Band (It's a platform!): Official Thread of Eternal Rocking
09-15-08, 11:34 AM
#1
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Thread Starter
Rock Band (It's a platform!): Official Thread of Eternal Rocking
Continued from: Rock Band Official Thread Part 9
Summary: Lots of talk about Rock Band 2 and DLC
New Downloadable Content (DLC) is released weekly.
XBox 360 - 5:00 AM EST
PS3 - Thursdays evenings 5:00 PM
More detailed information of all available and upcoming DLC is available in the next post of this thread.
Rock Band 2's New Features
- Full backwards compatibility with all RB1 DLC
- Ability to export ($5 - 55 songs. No Enter Sandman, RttH, or Paranoid)
- Online Band World Tour (BWT has a lot more DLC integration, so that it's not the same disc songs in every set)
- Solo Tour is no longer linear, and is more structured like BWT
- Custom Setlists
- Any character can play on any instrument
- No-Fail Mode (for completely novice players)
- Party Mode (Makes it harder/impossible for people other than the leader to exit out of menus)
- Drum Trainer (78 exercises)
- "Battle of the Bands" Daily Leaderboard Challenges
* Rock Band 2 Tracklist Playlist
Rock Band 2 Complete Disc Tracklist
Rock Band 2 Release Dates
*These dates are straight from rockband.com's store.
XBox 360
Full Bundle - Oct. 19 - $199.99
Game Only - Sept. 14 - $59.99
Playstation 3
Full Bundle - Oct. 19 - $199.99
Game Only - Nov. 30 - $59.99 (GameStop.com shows Oct. 19)
Nintendo Wii
Full Bundle - Nov. 18 - $199.99
Game Only - Nov. 18 - $49.99
Playstation 2
Game Only - Nov. 18 - $49.99
Rock Band 2 Instruments
Guitar
- Wireless is now standard
- Auto-calibration through a microphone/light sensor combo
- Less "mushy" strumbar
- Less clicky fret buttons
Drums
- Wireless is now standard
- Pressure-sensitive pads
- Metal-reinforced bass pedal
- Pedal is now attached to the stand so it won't fall off when moving
- 1/8" ports on the back of the kit allow for the addition of high hat controller, as well as three optional cymbals
ION Drums $299.99
- Real electronic kit rigged up for Rock Band
- Can be used as a true electronic kit with the addition of a drum brain (not included)
Accessories
- Mad Catz cymbal add-ons ($30) Used to add cymbals to the standard RB2 drumkit. These will not change anything in the game.
- Mad Catz premium microphone ($50) Wired mic with built-in controller functionality. With this, the vocalist will no longer need to have a controller handy as well.
Important Links
GameSpot Hands-On
AV Club Hands-On
IGN's Rock Band 2 Page
GameWorld Network Preview
Rock Band 2 Achievements / Trophies
Gamespy: All Songs Ordered By Difficulty
Summary: Lots of talk about Rock Band 2 and DLC
New Downloadable Content (DLC) is released weekly.
XBox 360 - 5:00 AM EST
PS3 - Thursdays evenings 5:00 PM
More detailed information of all available and upcoming DLC is available in the next post of this thread.
Rock Band 2's New Features
- Full backwards compatibility with all RB1 DLC
- Ability to export ($5 - 55 songs. No Enter Sandman, RttH, or Paranoid)
- Online Band World Tour (BWT has a lot more DLC integration, so that it's not the same disc songs in every set)
- Solo Tour is no longer linear, and is more structured like BWT
- Custom Setlists
- Any character can play on any instrument
- No-Fail Mode (for completely novice players)
- Party Mode (Makes it harder/impossible for people other than the leader to exit out of menus)
- Drum Trainer (78 exercises)
- "Battle of the Bands" Daily Leaderboard Challenges
* Rock Band 2 Tracklist Playlist
Spoiler:
Rock Band 2 Complete Disc Tracklist
Spoiler:
Rock Band 2 Release Dates
*These dates are straight from rockband.com's store.
XBox 360
Full Bundle - Oct. 19 - $199.99
Game Only - Sept. 14 - $59.99
Playstation 3
Full Bundle - Oct. 19 - $199.99
Game Only - Nov. 30 - $59.99 (GameStop.com shows Oct. 19)
Nintendo Wii
Full Bundle - Nov. 18 - $199.99
Game Only - Nov. 18 - $49.99
Playstation 2
Game Only - Nov. 18 - $49.99
Rock Band 2 Instruments
Guitar
- Wireless is now standard
- Auto-calibration through a microphone/light sensor combo
- Less "mushy" strumbar
- Less clicky fret buttons
Drums
- Wireless is now standard
- Pressure-sensitive pads
- Metal-reinforced bass pedal
- Pedal is now attached to the stand so it won't fall off when moving
- 1/8" ports on the back of the kit allow for the addition of high hat controller, as well as three optional cymbals
ION Drums $299.99
- Real electronic kit rigged up for Rock Band
- Can be used as a true electronic kit with the addition of a drum brain (not included)
Accessories
- Mad Catz cymbal add-ons ($30) Used to add cymbals to the standard RB2 drumkit. These will not change anything in the game.
- Mad Catz premium microphone ($50) Wired mic with built-in controller functionality. With this, the vocalist will no longer need to have a controller handy as well.
Important Links
GameSpot Hands-On
AV Club Hands-On
IGN's Rock Band 2 Page
GameWorld Network Preview
Rock Band 2 Achievements / Trophies
Gamespy: All Songs Ordered By Difficulty
09-15-08, 11:34 AM
#2
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Thread Starter
Official DLC Post
I have compiled a list of the varying difficulties for each song on each instrument, as well as youtube links to all songs on Expert guitar and Expert drums when available.
This information is gathered from the tracks that I own, with the gaps being filled in from other various sources. If anyone has any of the missing information, PM me and I'll get it thrown in here.
I have put them into spoiler sections per L&O's request, as well as to keep this first page uncluttered.
The format for the difficulties is:
Guitar/Bass/Drums/Vocals/Band
The current week's DLC is updated on Tuesday AM when the songs are officially available for download on 360.
If you are looking for the upcoming week's DLC, check the Announced DLC section near the bottom of this post.
9/16/08
*NOTE: All DLC tiering from here on will be following the RB2 tiering system of 0-6 instead of 1-9
This Week's DLC
Rush - Moving Pictures Album (880MSP/$10.99pack 160MSP/$1.99each)
Tom Sawyer (Original) : 3/2/5/1/2
Red Barchetta : 2/1/5/2/2
YYZ : 4/4/6/*/4
Limelight (Original) : 2/1/4/0/2
The Camera Eye : 3/0/5/1/2
Witch Hunt (Part III of Fear) : 2/0/4/1/1
Vital Signs : 2/2/5/0/2
Singles (160MSP/$1.99each)
Bad Religion - Sorrow : 2/3/5/1/3
The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary : 1/0/1/1/0
Hot Hot Heat - Bandages : 1/0/1/1/1
Kasabian - Shoot the Runner : 0/0/1/2/1
Sleater-Kinney - You're No Rock N Roll Fun : 1/0/2/1/1
Stone Roses - Love Spreads : 3/3/6/3/3
Currently Available DLC (alpha by band):
Full Albums
*Check the individual song sections for videos and difficulty tiering*
Packs
*Check the individual song sections for videos and difficulty tiering*
A-G:
H-N:
O-Z:
Announced DLC (with dates):
Announced DLC (with no set date):
This is a huge overhaul of the format, with input from several users (thanks especially to Michael Corvin and lordwow). If there's anything else I can add to be helpful, let me know, preferably by PM.
I have compiled a list of the varying difficulties for each song on each instrument, as well as youtube links to all songs on Expert guitar and Expert drums when available.
This information is gathered from the tracks that I own, with the gaps being filled in from other various sources. If anyone has any of the missing information, PM me and I'll get it thrown in here.
I have put them into spoiler sections per L&O's request, as well as to keep this first page uncluttered.
The format for the difficulties is:
Guitar/Bass/Drums/Vocals/Band
The current week's DLC is updated on Tuesday AM when the songs are officially available for download on 360.
If you are looking for the upcoming week's DLC, check the Announced DLC section near the bottom of this post.
9/16/08
*NOTE: All DLC tiering from here on will be following the RB2 tiering system of 0-6 instead of 1-9
This Week's DLC
Rush - Moving Pictures Album (880MSP/$10.99pack 160MSP/$1.99each)
Tom Sawyer (Original) : 3/2/5/1/2
Red Barchetta : 2/1/5/2/2
YYZ : 4/4/6/*/4
Limelight (Original) : 2/1/4/0/2
The Camera Eye : 3/0/5/1/2
Witch Hunt (Part III of Fear) : 2/0/4/1/1
Vital Signs : 2/2/5/0/2
Singles (160MSP/$1.99each)
Bad Religion - Sorrow : 2/3/5/1/3
The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary : 1/0/1/1/0
Hot Hot Heat - Bandages : 1/0/1/1/1
Kasabian - Shoot the Runner : 0/0/1/2/1
Sleater-Kinney - You're No Rock N Roll Fun : 1/0/2/1/1
Stone Roses - Love Spreads : 3/3/6/3/3
Currently Available DLC (alpha by band):
Full Albums
*Check the individual song sections for videos and difficulty tiering*
Spoiler:
Packs
*Check the individual song sections for videos and difficulty tiering*
Spoiler:
A-G:
Spoiler:
H-N:
Spoiler:
O-Z:
Spoiler:
Announced DLC (with dates):
Spoiler:
Announced DLC (with no set date):
Spoiler:
This is a huge overhaul of the format, with input from several users (thanks especially to Michael Corvin and lordwow). If there's anything else I can add to be helpful, let me know, preferably by PM.
Last edited by Shagrath; 09-26-08 at 01:46 PM.
09-15-08, 11:34 AM
#3
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Thread Starter
Band Lineups
In order to not crud up the thread too much with "My band is *blah*" posts, you can PM them or email them to me.
Also, don't forget about DVDTalk Rocks! It's a gamertag I made specifically for RB/RB2 players. You can go into the Friends of Friends and find people to play with at any time.
By Username
By Band Name
In order to not crud up the thread too much with "My band is *blah*" posts, you can PM them or email them to me.
Also, don't forget about DVDTalk Rocks! It's a gamertag I made specifically for RB/RB2 players. You can go into the Friends of Friends and find people to play with at any time.
By Username
Spoiler:
By Band Name
Spoiler:
Last edited by Shagrath; 09-26-08 at 10:23 AM.
09-15-08, 11:39 AM
#5
DVD Talk Hero
I've only been able to play for a little bit, but I have a serious nag about the inequity of the BotB leaderboards. Since it has no regard to number of band members or difficulty level, I find it woefully depressing to see my shitty band come in dead last all the time. It would be nice to filter the whole leaderboard down to people/bands that played in the same configuration as you. But, anyway... Oh, my solo band for these leaderboards is Cardinal Sin. It'll be near the bottom.
I've probably only come across maybe 15 of the songs so far, but the one I hate the most so far is E-Pro.
Other than that, I'm looking forward to rocking out and making it through BWT and the Challenges on my own.
I've probably only come across maybe 15 of the songs so far, but the one I hate the most so far is E-Pro.
Other than that, I'm looking forward to rocking out and making it through BWT and the Challenges on my own.
09-15-08, 11:47 AM
#6
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
I've only been able to play for a little bit, but I have a serious nag about the inequity of the BotB leaderboards. Since it has no regard to number of band members or difficulty level, I find it woefully depressing to see my shitty band come in dead last all the time. It would be nice to filter the whole leaderboard down to people/bands that played in the same configuration as you. But, anyway... Oh, my solo band for these leaderboards is Cardinal Sin. It'll be near the bottom.
I've probably only come across maybe 15 of the songs so far, but the one I hate the most so far is E-Pro.
Other than that, I'm looking forward to rocking out and making it through BWT and the Challenges on my own.
I've probably only come across maybe 15 of the songs so far, but the one I hate the most so far is E-Pro.
Other than that, I'm looking forward to rocking out and making it through BWT and the Challenges on my own.
09-15-08, 11:50 AM
#8
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Guelph, Ontario
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I'm having a great time with this (my band is The Killer Newts - mostly me solo, sometimes I sing or have friends over to play)... so far the only song I FAILED on Expert was dream theatre...luckily it was during a challenge and after quitting, I could restart the challenge, reselect my new difficulty and start on that song...so I finished that challenge on hard instead...damn that song is tough.
A lot of the chick band songs SUCK... Like seriously Bikini Kill, L7 (I don't HATE The donnas but don't love it) are terrible... but my WORST song so far has to be SONIC YOUTH - Teenage Riot... LONGEST SONG OF MY LIFE... HORRENDOUS! Sorry, had to vent, I hated it...
Really glad I didn't import RB1 tracks yet
I think I still have a few more songs to unlock (Battery!) but I've unlocked a fair amount, including Shackler's (which kind of blows IMO).
So far I think the difficulty is fine, if not a bit harder than RB1 for some songs... I'm loving that songs I didn't expect to be a bit tricky are getting some good bits - the solo in Jimmy Eat World comes to mind. Oh well, back to rocking! (I'm on the dvdtalk rocks list and definitely looking to play with some people online soon...)
A lot of the chick band songs SUCK... Like seriously Bikini Kill, L7 (I don't HATE The donnas but don't love it) are terrible... but my WORST song so far has to be SONIC YOUTH - Teenage Riot... LONGEST SONG OF MY LIFE... HORRENDOUS! Sorry, had to vent, I hated it...
Really glad I didn't import RB1 tracks yet
I think I still have a few more songs to unlock (Battery!) but I've unlocked a fair amount, including Shackler's (which kind of blows IMO).So far I think the difficulty is fine, if not a bit harder than RB1 for some songs... I'm loving that songs I didn't expect to be a bit tricky are getting some good bits - the solo in Jimmy Eat World comes to mind. Oh well, back to rocking! (I'm on the dvdtalk rocks list and definitely looking to play with some people online soon...)
09-15-08, 11:52 AM
#11
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by ChrisEdge
Well, and while I've downloaded a lot of songs, it's fun that the ones you personally picked (downloaded) come up to break up the Donna's and Bikini Kill's that come up too.
We stopped last night before we could beat "Battery" (failed it about 5 times...we play on Medium and occasionally on hard, so we aren't guru's that most of you are!)
EDITED TO ADD:
Does anyone know why the 4 songs that are "excluded" from importing, are not included?
"Enter Sandman" - Metallica
"Paranoid" - Black Sabbath
"Run to the Hills" - Iron Maiden
"Monsoon" - Tokio Hotel (Exclusion applies only to the European version of the game)
We stopped last night before we could beat "Battery" (failed it about 5 times...we play on Medium and occasionally on hard, so we aren't guru's that most of you are!)
EDITED TO ADD:
Does anyone know why the 4 songs that are "excluded" from importing, are not included?
"Enter Sandman" - Metallica
"Paranoid" - Black Sabbath
"Run to the Hills" - Iron Maiden
"Monsoon" - Tokio Hotel (Exclusion applies only to the European version of the game)
Run to the Hills - It's a cover. Maybe they've gotten hold of the original?
Paranoid - Same as RttH, or maybe Ozzy is exclusive?
Monsoon - This song is being touted as a GH:WT "Euro-Exclusive". So that's why it's left out there.
09-15-08, 11:54 AM
#14
DVD Talk Hero
I got some time in during my lunch break finally, I'm pretty happy with the game.
I mostly play the drums with the game, and as such, the song choices are quite good and varied in a completely different way than numero uno... The seamless integration with RB1 is fantastic (during my first Mystery Setlist I got Say It Ain't So and Still Alive (GLADoS)).
The Drum Trainer is a great way to pick up some basic rhythms (theres around 74 of them, seeing OMG PIRATES! listed as one made me laugh.) at different levels (up to 200bpm), theres individual goals to beat the erm beats at different BPMs which is cool. Freestyle is also nice to have, though with only 4 drums + bass it's extremely limited.
I was kind of surprised to see a few songs in the later tiers of the game, namely Everlong and Chop Suey. Chop Suey proved to be fairly easy but I completely forgot Everlong is basically one long roll, and I absolutely suck at synching up rolls in these games.
So far so good, the "music video" stage was a nice addition haha. I actually prefer the Tour mode to the original setlist for one reason: I can change difficulties and still continue on. The early songs are just too easy on Hard and the later ones appear ridiculously brutal on Expert.
I mostly play the drums with the game, and as such, the song choices are quite good and varied in a completely different way than numero uno... The seamless integration with RB1 is fantastic (during my first Mystery Setlist I got Say It Ain't So and Still Alive (GLADoS)).
The Drum Trainer is a great way to pick up some basic rhythms (theres around 74 of them, seeing OMG PIRATES! listed as one made me laugh.) at different levels (up to 200bpm), theres individual goals to beat the erm beats at different BPMs which is cool. Freestyle is also nice to have, though with only 4 drums + bass it's extremely limited.
I was kind of surprised to see a few songs in the later tiers of the game, namely Everlong and Chop Suey. Chop Suey proved to be fairly easy but I completely forgot Everlong is basically one long roll, and I absolutely suck at synching up rolls in these games.
So far so good, the "music video" stage was a nice addition haha. I actually prefer the Tour mode to the original setlist for one reason: I can change difficulties and still continue on. The early songs are just too easy on Hard and the later ones appear ridiculously brutal on Expert.
Last edited by RichC2; 09-15-08 at 09:22 PM.
09-15-08, 12:01 PM
#16
DVD Talk Legend
Okay so I have a question about the Battle of the Bands challenges that use "star average" or whatever.
I noticed that whatever band is in front of the mighty Zagnut! when we play has a six star average per song (6.01, I think). How the hell does that even work?
I noticed that whatever band is in front of the mighty Zagnut! when we play has a six star average per song (6.01, I think). How the hell does that even work?
09-15-08, 12:06 PM
#18
DVD Talk Hero
I can't recall if I was playing Hard or Expert, but it obviously didn't stop at 5. Makes sense because of the existence of Gold Stars on Expert.
I agree that it should stop at 6, and anything above 5 should be reserved for Expert.
Side note: anybody else notice on the BotB challenges that your multiplier and unused OD persists from song to song? That could really shake things up if you save your OD at the end of song #1 because you know the next one is going to start out heavy and fast.
09-15-08, 12:07 PM
#19
Now being able to do BWT alone, along with the challenges and band battles, there's a lot more for us solo players to do.
I'm not sure what band name I'm going to settle on, but gamer tag is aktick if you want to add me.
Any of you solo players interested in making a very informal online band?
09-15-08, 12:09 PM
#20
DVD Talk Hero
09-15-08, 12:10 PM
#21
DVD Talk Godfather
One thing I don't like is losing fans during solo play. I understand what they are doing, but solo play is a much more relaxed setting and if my kids/dog whatever get in the way and I miss a dozen notes, I restart. Or even having to get up in the middle of a song now is a hassle. I didn't know quitting in the middle of a song was a 'feature' of RB1. 
09-15-08, 12:11 PM
#23
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Thread Starter
For the BotB challenges that are "Star Challenges", it's the sum of all stars on the whole set. If you pass 5 stars on a song, you keep going up as well. So a 3 song set can be higher than 18 stars. I'm not sure if this is taking into account gold stars (only Expert can go over 5), or what. We've been playing them mainly on Expert only.
09-15-08, 12:14 PM
#24
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Thread Starter
One thing I don't like is losing fans during solo play. I understand what they are doing, but solo play is a much more relaxed setting and if my kids/dog whatever get in the way and I miss a dozen notes, I restart. Or even having to get up in the middle of a song now is a hassle. I didn't know quitting in the middle of a song was a 'feature' of RB1.
One awesome thing that happened to us yesterday was a "Hot Topic Challenge". By accepting it, we were going to get quadruple cash. Money is awesome, so we went for it. We got the extra money, but lost just as many fans. I thought that was damned genius!
09-15-08, 12:15 PM
#25
DVD Talk Hero
Hahah sellout penalties, gotta love it.