Sweet - I just played some RB for the first time in a long time. Good stuff! Ten has been nothing but fun so far, and I just replayed something that I haven't touched since it came out and realized it was a frickin' blast to play. Red Tandy by the Mother Hips. The hard drums were so much fun, I don't think expert could top that. I was grinning the whole time! Drummers, check this out - especially towards the end of it.

kotaku.com/5187105/harmonix-lists-rejected-rock-band-names

Does the name really matter?

I don't know if i would buy any of these games.....

Then clearly, it does matter, to you.

Rock Band: World Tour? ZING.

I think the name is important. First impressions are important. Ultimately gameplay and execution are more important. Didn't buy Rock Revolution.

Name is absolutely important. GH:WT was named that so as to not lose the GH branding.
Name wouldn't cause me to buy or not buy a game if the gameplay warranted; but it might cause me to pay attention to it or skip it till later.
I would have no interest in picking up a game I saw that was called "I Want To Be A Rockstar!", that sounds too much like a 'reality' talent show game, and I despise those shows.
Power Chords and
Metal Lords make it sound more "metally" than the game actually is (I like metal, but there's also a lot of classic rock and even more alternative stuff in it.)

Big Band Blowout makes me think I'd compete with Benny Goodman for a spot on the Lawrence Welk show. (I like Benny Goodman, not so much Lawrence Welk.)

Rock Band, while somewhat mundane, seems to get the point across, and allow for lots of various types of music to be included since "rock" includes tons of styles (my only complaint is with the Beastie Boys tracks, I'm even fine with the country, I think country especially alt-country or pop-country is a lot closer to 'rock' than most fans think.)

Last night's Game with Fame does sound pretty cool. I wonder how many people got to play. I think a game like RB or the 'other one' is a little better fit for GwF than some other games where the matches might last much longer.

I don't necessarily want the ability to never see a song again, but I do wish there was some sort of frequency modifier.

""we're going gto add a way to do this, not just in Rock Band 2, but in our future titles.""

What future titles? I thought RB was a "platform" and they've already released two stand along games plus multiple importable track packs. I would not want to see a RB3 that adds some mega feature that now pushes everyone to upgrade, esp. if it could be done as optional (and cheaper) DLC update.

Sorry, but when you post something like "Does the name really matter?" it makes it sound like you don't think it matters. Then of course you follow it by that you do think it matters.

Of course the name matters, product research for anything has shown that the name of a product matters. At least to the uninformed. Would the name of Rock Band determined whether I bought it or not? Fuck no. They could've called it Ass Rape Boyband Bonanza, and if the content was exactly the same as what we got with Rock Band, I would've bought it. Now, would it of sold as well as it did? Of course not.

Well, there is at least the Beatles game. Since they have already done a Rock Band 2, they will without a doubt continue with a Rock Band 3 of some sort.

True. But isn't the Beatles game more of a "Beatles music game" using Rock Band engine or builds rather than a "Rock Band" game? It's a fine distinction, to be sure. I'm not sure how I think it will do. I like the Beatles and certainly respect them a lot, and admittedly I don't have all their albums, but upon relistening to them in a Rock Band state of mind, I don't know how a lot of the songs will translate to RB.

In addition to us and our families, people like this is why it'll do well:

Well it is now The Beatles: Rock Band, just like AC/DC: Rock Band. Even though it is going to be more than just Rock Band, they still want that Rock Band name brand to be part of it.

Oh yeah!
I thought I was going to have to sit, wait and hope for the TEN Best Buy bonus DLC tracks to be released for sale (having pre-purchased my Super Deluxe from the fan club before I knew about this offer).....but I found a fan who wasn't going to use his code (since he doesn't play the game) offering it up in trade for some live bootlegs, so now I'm rocking the bonus!! It just seems weird to be playing Brother in RB (and having it on the radio, after it being for so many years a bootleg only track)....

I was actually fine waiting for the 3 bonus tracks, mainly because the sound quality didn't strike me well on the 2 live tracks from the YouTube vids. But the wife picked me up the 3 disc set yesterday, and I grabbed the tracks. I don't know what I was hearing before, but I actually think they sound just awesome in the game. The guitar charts are a lot of fun on all 3.

I'm back from GDC, and way too exhausted/tired to come up with a challenge for next week.

I ended up missing the HMX party because it was on Tuesday (the night we arrived). However, I did attend Teasdale's session on Friday and had a good time with that. I should be getting ahold of the powerpoint slides soon, and can post them up somewhere.

Some things of note:

He mentioned stars being added in the next patch (no date)
The dev cycle for RB2 was 6 months, I believe (2 months pre-pro, 4 months dev)
Things that made it feel like a real band game: BRE's, Saving People, Solo Bonuses
Things that didn't feel like a real band game: Flaming Guitars, Power-Ups, Nickelback
They showed a chart of their internal game history from FreQuency/Amplitude up, with them listed in the categories of Innovate, Perfect, Ehhh... and I believe WTF?
Some of the later Karaoke Revolutions and GH:80's were listed as "Ehhh..."
They showed a chart of music games over time and there were a sea of GH titles (NeverSoft)
They told MTV Games that they didn't want to make a yearly sequel this year, and were laughed at.
I asked during the Q&A if they had any limitations with a 5 button system (mentioning the drums and cymbals). He said they would continue with the 5 button setup, but find ways to innovate on that. He also said I asked a "secret question" that triggered a couple new slides he hadn't planned on showing, and a video of their hardware plant.

I met Sylvain Dubrofsky (one of HMX's other lead designers) on the floor and talked with him for a bit. I also sat right next to Teasdale at NeverSoft's UI (User Interface) session. We talked for a bit before the session and I got his card. He may be interested in sending down some people to speak at my university. The NeverSoft session was completely laughable. I don't think the guy had ever spoke in front of an audience before, and it looked like he had never even seen his slides. Everything he spoke about was exactly the opposite of GH. Teasdale and I ended up walking out about halfway through the session.

All in all, I had a good time out there and met some good people.

So what did your secret question end up making him show on the secret slides?

The question about drums and the 5-lane setup. I was trying to get him to divulge if they would ever do something like HOPO notes for drums to accentuate when cymbals should be used over pads, but he didn't come out and answer me directly. I guess since I mentioned hardware in my question, it was good enough to show the "secret" video.

I guess this question could be in multiple threads, and I know the RB2 drum set works in GHWT and GHMetallica, but if I have the cymbals will they also work in the GH series?

i mean what was on the slides/video that weren't 'intended' to be shown.

For GHWT, the cymbals work for the Xbox but NOT the PS3 (there is a bug). I'd be interested to hear if anyone can post cymbal success for GHMetallica...

There was a slide that had a picture of their hardware testing area that said "Super Happy Drum Workshop" on the window, and then the video was integrated into the next slide. He also mentioned that they manufacture the most wooden drumsticks out of any manufacturer in the world.

Hopefully when I get the slides later this week, it will also contain any other "secret" slides that didn't get shown.

Since I didn't come up with a new challenge yesterday due to various reasons, I'm going to extend the Bay Area Thrash Challenge till next week. I've only got a couple entries for that one, and would like to see at least 5 or 6 total.

I will definitely have a new challenge set up for this coming Sunday.

They could just release the full album of the classic Journey's Greatest Hits release and I'd be happy.

Harmonix announced a Toby Keith 6 pack of DLC to be released 4/7/09. This is a partial list of next week’s DLC, with more information coming on Friday.

Toby Keith Pack 01 (800 MSP/$9.99) or purchase individually:

* “Beer for My Horses” - 160 MSP/$1.99
* “I Love This Bar” - s160 MSP/$1.99
* “She’s a Hottie” - 160 MSP/$1.99
* “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” - 160 MSP/$1.99
* “Who’s Your Daddy?” - 160 MSP/$1.99
* “How Do You Like Me Now” - 160 MSP/$1.99

All tracks are masters. They will be available for download on:

Tuesday, April 7th from the Xbox Live Marketplace
Thursday, April 9th from the PlayStation Store


http://www.rockbandcontent.com/rbc/blog/2009/03/344/

Now that's a shocker.

Unless *checks calendar* Nope, still a couple of days early.

Actually, I might be down for 3 or so of those.

Anyone have any tips for someone that sucks at Rock Band?

I can only play on easy. I average 95% and ocasionally get 100% but as soon as I switch to medium I'm screwed.

Any tips? Would it better to hold the color keys down and then fret? Any techniques you recommend?