Shagrath

Nevermind.

orangecrush

I can only speak to the 360 ones, but yes. They are very nice. I prefer them to the guitar hero guitars. There are a few noticable differences. The neck buttons on the RB guitars are flush and the strum bar doesn't click. Most people have a strong preference for one or the other.

If I were you, I would look on craigslist for someone selling a used RB2 guitar.

orangecrush

Also, if you suck at the guitar, you may consider trying the drums. I find druming to be a bit more natural to play than guitar.

Michael Corvin

The MadCatz Strat does click on the strum bar. I loved the quiet RB2 Strat, and it took a while to get used to the click again. I've never seen a single negative post about that guitar. Totally worth the $100 or so it's priced at.

orangecrush

I did not know that. I picked up the beatles bundle on Friday for the extra instruments, so hopefully I won't need any new ones ever.

flagstone

Anyone have experiences with that Fender Bass on the PS3? A few complaints on Amazon about wireless dropout issues.

Edit: The PS3 version is on back-order now (sigh).

Mad Dawg

I feel pretty smart. After deciding to get the Mustang after all (and not being able to find it anywhere) I jumped on the Mad Catz deal Wednesday. Figuring I'd have it by Friday, I paid the $30 for 1 day shipping. As of today, it's still "In Progress."

montag

What's the best bundle to buy to get into Rock Band? I have older Guitar Hero (wired) guitar but I doubt that will work. At the very least, I want drums, at least one guitar (two would be nice) and a microphone. Wireless would be preferred but it's not mandatory. Also, do I need the keyboard? Is it more gimmick or is it a nice addition to the game?

Thanks.

Shagrath

I'd say buy the RB2 bundle, which would give you RB2 game, wired mic, wireless guitar, and the drums. I'd also buy the RB3 game-only. Unless you're really into the keyboard, I think it's only a nice distraction. I find it to be fun, but it can be rather frustrating on the Pro mode if you don't know the song. For $10, you can import most of the RB2 songs into RB3 so that you only need one disc to play (and the most updated engine). From there, you can just cherry-pick songs from the huge DLC catalog, or if you want a big batch of songs at once, you can buy LEGO,RB1, or Green Day and import those songs in for cheap as well. The Track Packs are good for adding songs if you're just starting out as well. A couple of those can be found at Dollar General and you can get 20 new songs for just $5 and it has a code on the back of the manual to export them to your hard drive so that they're playable in RB1/2/3.

Drexl

Well, I would have said a Rock Band 2 bundle when they were $99, but that ship seems to have sailed. The Beatles RB premium bundle can be had for $130 now; it has the Hofner bass, but it functions as a guitar or bass. For downloading songs and playing non-Beatles tunes, you'll need a copy of the main game, and I would suggest RB3 at first because new DLC requires it. Then later on you can get the other games for their tracks if you want. On the other hand, RB3 could get discounted (it already was for Black Friday) so you may want to just start with an older, cheaper title.

I don't have the keyboard so I can't really speak about that. However, I understand that some songs obviously don't have keyboard parts or are limited. I'd wait until you've gotten into the game more before adding the keyboard, especially since they could get cheaper in the coming months.

Boba Fett

Two questions.

1.) Bought "This Charming Man" and "Irish Blood, English Heart" last night. Played both on medium, but the notes felt like they were for the hard setting (all five colors utilizied). Has the difficulty on the songs been amped up recently?

2.) Is the 360 version of the Rock Band Music Store freezing at the loading screen? I've tried it four or five separate times, and it freezes the whole console at the loading screen.

Liver&Onions

1) Medium will include some Orange charts now - relatively few and usually in easy to hit spots in the song. I for one like that.

2) Not sure.

Liver&Onions

Those looking for a new guitar - the Rickenbacker is a lightening deal for $49.99 at 4:20pm pacific time... http://amzn.to/fkfFa7

Shagrath

All songs released since June or so use all 5 buttons on all difficulties (even Easy). The exception is if for some reason the song doesn't use all 5 colors on Expert.

Supermallet

Argh, I might have to go for that.

Boba Fett

Thanks. I haven't played any new DLC since early in the year and it threw me for a loop. I like it too, as it will make the progression from medium to hard a lot easier to tolerate. I haven't had time to invest in a music game since Guitar Hero 2 and my skills are in the grey zone between medium and hard.

Shagrath

Looks like EA is out of the picture for whoever's picking up HMX.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-1...tml?cmpid=yhoo

flashburn

Eh, they could still be looking to buy them, most corporate exec's aren't known for be honest to the public. Devalue the company, then place your bid.

I'm still sticking with Activision, .

chuckd21

Check around for clearance deals and places like Amazon, Gamestop and Target. I routinely have seen deals on full Beatles, Band Hero and Guitar Hero sets going for super cheap. The games themselves are easy to come by once you get an instrument bundle.

Spiderbite

Yep. I wanted a new RB guitar and found an entire RB2 set (drums, game, guitar, everything) on clearance at Target for 35 bucks! Now that's a deal!

Gooter

I picked one up.

orangecrush

I saw band hero sets at Walmart for $79.

montag

Am I reading this correctly, you can use Guitar/Band Hero instruments with Rock Band?

flashburn

Yes, although the GH Drum kit blows for playing RB.

Amator

I've also seen the Beatles Deluxe set at Kmart for $99.