Official Rock Band (Main Titles/Spin-offs/DLC/Network) Discussion

[DioShiba]

I really think we should take this debate in a different topic at this point, it's been de-railed enough.

Fair enough, we'll take it here.

I don't know, probably just because the series is nearly identical to guitar hero, and aside from adding in other instruments for the sake of co-op it adds nothing too new into game play.

Yeah, NOW it's nearly identical to Guitar Hero since GH added the other instruments as well. Though now, with the addition of a keyboard and pro-modes, Rock Band has yet again propelled itself miles ahead of the competition.

And the other instruments weren't added for the sake of co-op. They felt it a good idea to add drums and singing because it was meant to emulate the 'band experience'. They most certainly do add something new to gameplay. Playing guitar and playing drums are two completely different experiences; sure, they both involve hitting notes to corresponding gems on-screen, but that doesn't mean they have the same gameplay.

I'm just gonna go ahead and quote myself for the first part.

aside from adding in other instruments for the sake of co-op it adds nothing too new into game play.

I'm aware that having different instruments are two different experiences, but what I seem to be missing is how does playing drums the same way as the normal guitar controller would drastically alter game play aside from using a different controller. To me it all looks the same.

Pro mode could fix this issue, but aside the microphone is how would it truly make it the real experience of actually playing in a band if there is a possibility of most people sticking with the normal, GH controller rather then trying to actually play something similar to a real guitar. (Aside from actually buying the real guitar controller that can be used in the game but that'll be another 100$, seeing it's sold separately reading this page)

EDIT: Just another thing I'd like to add is that once the guys down at harmonix run out of ideas for instruments, i'm sure that activision will surely be on the same page. They'll definitely copy the realistic guitar and keyboard off of them in no time for GH7. it's really another reason why I lost faith in both series. Experimenting with new things is fun and all but they will run out of things eventually if they don't use their choices wisely.

And I don't see what fun it is to play a set of songs the company provides compared to actually trying to come up with music.

Leave the music writing to those who wish to write music. Hell, these games do nothing but inspire people to expand their musical tastes and get more involved in the music. Instead of just listening to a song, you become immersed in the song, actually playing along with the beat. I fail to see how it ISN'T fun.

True, but I don't see how just playing a song can't inspire one to write their own music.

Lets be honest, We all expand our tastes one way or another, some we were inspired by. My contradiction to that argument is that most people who write music are inspired by other artists to write something these days. Playing a song also can have someone gain the feel of how one can play.

I mean, I hate to use this argument, but you don't see people getting mad at the CoD players telling them to just join the army. Rock Band is a game, people, and a damn fun one at that.

This is kind of another story here, but I can see some people, if not a few becoming butt hurt over some one being told they should make games because they play them, or that they're told they could do art for work if they draw so much, or they should peruse a carer in sports because they played a game when they were a kid.

It depends vitally on one's interests, I'm kind of contradicting myself here but really say if some one would rather be a a plumber because they play mario and at the same time they want to run an insurance company like Geico, wouldn't they want to choose something over the other? Interests can take you far, even if you want to do something else you could easily become something you want to be, even a big name in music just for playing guitar hero or rock band. But some people might want to stick to something else instead of that. Not everyone wants to be what they play.

SEditF2:My point wasn't really that though, my point was that it's awfully arrogant that people believe they can play guitar simply because they play the game, if they want to be inspired to do so, then they need to experience the real thing, not just playing an arcade like controller.

[FRET]

Rock Band wasn't really Harmonix trying to imitate Guitar Hero. Harmonix made Guitar Hero 1 and 2, then sold the rights and Activision picked it up.

[DioShiba]

I never implied or said that Harmonix never made a guitar hero game at all, nor they were trying to imitate it.

Just going to throw this out there in case anyone is getting confused to where my point was.

[Camo]

My point wasn't really that though, my point was that it's awfully arrogant that people believe they can play guitar simply because they play the game, if they want to be inspired to do so, then they need to experience the real thing, not just playing an arcade like controller.

I've never actually heard someone claim they can play guitar just because they can play the game well. If I ever do, I will laugh and ruthlessly make fun of them for thinking that is the case.

Also, what you're saying is that if they want to be inspired to play guitar, they have to play guitar? Isn't there a step missing there? Something needs to inspire them to want to put the time and effort into learning an instrument. For a while, most people were inspired only by the songs they heard on the radio. These games, while still exposing people to the songs themselves, actually go the extra mile and give you a more-involved way of experiencing the songs. They can experience the real thing if they decide to take it that much further.

[DioShiba]

That doesn't mean that Rock Band is the only thing that will inspire you to play an instrument. Hell these days people can go to a online community and ask what good metal/alternative/rock/hell even any other genre of music there are, then once they listen to the band they'll likely to be inspired by it.

That's kind of a one sided argument to defend the game, Rockband is one way to inspire people, that's true. But that doesn't mean there are not any other ways to do so.

[Camo]

That doesn't mean that Rock Band is the only thing that will inspire you to play an instrument. Hell these days people can go to a online community and ask what good metal/alternative/rock/hell even any other genre of music there are, then once they listen to the band they'll likely to be inspired by it.

That's kind of a one sided argument to defend the game, Rockband is one way to inspire people, that's true. But that doesn't mean there are not any other ways to do so.

Please point out to me when I said Rock Band was the only thing that can inspire people to play instruments.

I'm saying it's a really good way to get inspired because it gets you playing along with the beat while having fun playing a video game. And your original argument was that it's a shitty series, and people should just play real instruments, so I said that it's a good way to inspire people to play real instruments.

[DioShiba]

I'm saying it's a really good way to get inspired because it gets you playing along with the beat while having fun playing a video game. And your original argument was that it's a shitty series, and people should just play real instruments, so I said that it's a good way to inspire people to play real instruments.

When Rock Band 3 comes out I'll probably agree with you.

Right now I just feel that mashing 5 buttons on a controller doesn't cut how a guitar can be played. It's been a problem with both GH and RB has always had and I feel that it's so repetitive. That's why I don't like ether series as a whole. If Pro mode in rockband doesn't solve this then I don't know what to say.

And I never really said that you were saying that it was the only way to inspire someone in anyway, I felt that there was some need to point that statement out that if people really want to get into something like actually playing a guitar, then they can also listen to bands they have heard from anyone.