Rock Band review

http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/12/08/review-rock-band-multi/

Enjoy.

RKRM

2007-12-09 06:15:45 UTC

Post by Jonah Falcon
http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/12/08/review-rock-band-multi/
Enjoy.

" According to actual drum players, the drum gameplay is close enough to
real drumming, and that anyone who's mastered Expert solo play should try
out for real rock bands"

Um, NO.

Jonah Falcon

2007-12-09 20:30:14 UTC

Post by Jonah Falcon
http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/12/08/review-rock-band-multi/
Enjoy.

" According to actual drum players, the drum gameplay is close enough to
real drumming, and that anyone who's mastered Expert solo play should try
out for real rock bands"
Um, NO.

Um, YES. This I know from actual drummers, and other preview/reviews
have mentioned this (ie. 1Up, GameSpy, GameSpot, etc.)

Jordan

2007-12-09 20:44:57 UTC

Post by Jonah Falcon
http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/12/08/review-rock-band-multi/
Enjoy.

" According to actual drum players, the drum gameplay is close enough to
real drumming, and that anyone who's mastered Expert solo play should try
out for real rock bands"
Um, NO.

You don't think so?

- Jordan

RKRM

2007-12-09 22:20:45 UTC

Post by Jordan

Post by Jonah Falcon
http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/12/08/review-rock-band-multi/
Enjoy.

" According to actual drum players, the drum gameplay is close enough to
real drumming, and that anyone who's mastered Expert solo play should try
out for real rock bands"
Um, NO.

You don't think so?
http://youtu.be/uQ9XLiMfBRo
- Jordan

No I KNOW so. As an drummer and owner of two drum sets that has been
playing for 20 years I can assure you that playing Rock Band is no more
druming than whack a mole or Guitar Hero is guitar playing. You know just
cause you're hitting stuff doesn't mean you're drumming We could argue ad
nauseum. Why? You're just wrong. If it makes you feel better than believe
you're a drummer by playing the game. When you're done head on down to
Guitar World or a similar music store with a drum room sit down at a drum
kit and play an actual song in time with rythym and feel When you're done
grab a guitar and do the same. After all of that give me a giant break. And
in all seriousness we can meet at a local Portland Area Guitar World shop
and you can show me what you've got. I'll bring my 13 year old son for a
comparison on what really drumming is. After that if you're still not
convinced I'll show you as well. After that if you still think other wise
you will still be wrong.

RKRM

2007-12-09 22:39:39 UTC

Post by Jordan

Post by Jonah Falcon
http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/12/08/review-rock-band-multi/
Enjoy.

" According to actual drum players, the drum gameplay is close enough to
real drumming, and that anyone who's mastered Expert solo play should try
out for real rock bands"
Um, NO.

You don't think so?
http://youtu.be/uQ9XLiMfBRo

I watched it. I think you are confusing the sound of the soundtrack (REAL
drummer) with the reality of that goof ball whacking away. Sit him down at a
real kit and what you heard would not be Lars Ulrich. I don't know if you
know what you're hearing (Icertainly don't know what I a hearing when I
listen to say EVH shred) but the drumming on that song and the drumming of
Lars Ulrich in general is very good. That's the deal with guitar hero etc.
You don't really take all the motions: hits plucks whatever etc to reproduce
the sound you hear. You push two buttons and "strum" three times and 17
notes fly out and then you think you can play guitar? Huh uh. Go here to be
blown away by actual drumming: http://www.drummerworld.com/ sound and video
are there.

Post by Jordan
- Jordan

Tom

2007-12-10 01:26:45 UTC

Post by Jonah Falcon
http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/12/08/review-rock-band-multi/
Enjoy.

" According to actual drum players, the drum gameplay is close enough to
real drumming, and that anyone who's mastered Expert solo play should try
out for real rock bands"
Um, NO.

You don't think so?
http://youtu.be/uQ9XLiMfBRo

I watched it. I think you are confusing the sound of the soundtrack (REAL
drummer) with the reality of that goof ball whacking away. Sit him down at
a real kit and what you heard would not be Lars Ulrich. I don't know if
you know what you're hearing (Icertainly don't know what I a hearing when
I listen to say EVH shred) but the drumming on that song and the drumming
of Lars Ulrich in general is very good. That's the deal with guitar hero
etc. You don't really take all the motions: hits plucks whatever etc to
reproduce the sound you hear. You push two buttons and "strum" three times
and 17 notes fly out and then you think you can play guitar? Huh uh. Go
here to be blown away by actual drumming: http://www.drummerworld.com/
sound and video are there.

I'd like to see them play like this drummer still does, who is Carl Palmer
of ELP fame. I saw this tour back in late 1973, and still today, I think he
is the greatest rock drummer I've seen to date. Just let it load a bit (if
you don't want to hear the whole song) and scroll it forward to about 2:40
into it, and watch this drum solo.

RKRM

2007-12-10 01:54:46 UTC

Post by Jonah Falcon
http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/12/08/review-rock-band-multi/
Enjoy.

" According to actual drum players, the drum gameplay is close enough to
real drumming, and that anyone who's mastered Expert solo play should try
out for real rock bands"
Um, NO.

You don't think so?
http://youtu.be/uQ9XLiMfBRo

I watched it. I think you are confusing the sound of the soundtrack (REAL
drummer) with the reality of that goof ball whacking away. Sit him down
at a real kit and what you heard would not be Lars Ulrich. I don't know
if you know what you're hearing (Icertainly don't know what I a hearing
when I listen to say EVH shred) but the drumming on that song and the
drumming of Lars Ulrich in general is very good. That's the deal with
guitar hero etc. You don't really take all the motions: hits plucks
whatever etc to reproduce the sound you hear. You push two buttons and
"strum" three times and 17 notes fly out and then you think you can play
http://www.drummerworld.com/ sound and video are there.

I'd like to see them play like this drummer still does, who is Carl Palmer
of ELP fame. I saw this tour back in late 1973, and still today, I think
he is the greatest rock drummer I've seen to date. Just let it load a bit
(if you don't want to hear the whole song) and scroll it forward to about
2:40 into it, and watch this drum solo.
http://youtu.be/UeQsZOQqO6I

Awesome he is one of the greats. You saw this in 73? Wow. I thought I was
old. I'm still a youngin'!

Tom

2007-12-10 02:00:19 UTC

Post by Jonah Falcon
http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/12/08/review-rock-band-multi/
Enjoy.

" According to actual drum players, the drum gameplay is close enough to
real drumming, and that anyone who's mastered Expert solo play should try
out for real rock bands"
Um, NO.

You don't think so?
http://youtu.be/uQ9XLiMfBRo

I watched it. I think you are confusing the sound of the soundtrack
(REAL drummer) with the reality of that goof ball whacking away. Sit him
down at a real kit and what you heard would not be Lars Ulrich. I don't
know if you know what you're hearing (Icertainly don't know what I a
hearing when I listen to say EVH shred) but the drumming on that song
and the drumming of Lars Ulrich in general is very good. That's the deal
with guitar hero etc. You don't really take all the motions: hits plucks
whatever etc to reproduce the sound you hear. You push two buttons and
"strum" three times and 17 notes fly out and then you think you can play
http://www.drummerworld.com/ sound and video are there.

I'd like to see them play like this drummer still does, who is Carl
Palmer of ELP fame. I saw this tour back in late 1973, and still today, I
think he is the greatest rock drummer I've seen to date. Just let it load
a bit (if you don't want to hear the whole song) and scroll it forward to
about 2:40 into it, and watch this drum solo.
http://youtu.be/UeQsZOQqO6I

Awesome he is one of the greats. You saw this in 73? Wow. I thought I was
old. I'm still a youngin'!

In fact I saw them Thanksgiving night in "73", I was 13 years old. I grew up
in a Catholic home in a hippy neighborhood, so I saw a lot growing up. I saw
Janis Joplin and the James Gang when I was 9 at a large art fair. One person
I would have loved to see would have been Jimmy Hendrix, too bad he's gone,
he was an innovator.

RKRM

2007-12-10 05:52:55 UTC

Post by Jonah Falcon
http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/12/08/review-rock-band-multi/
Enjoy.

" According to actual drum players, the drum gameplay is close enough to
real drumming, and that anyone who's mastered Expert solo play should try
out for real rock bands"
Um, NO.

You don't think so?
http://youtu.be/uQ9XLiMfBRo

I watched it. I think you are confusing the sound of the soundtrack
(REAL drummer) with the reality of that goof ball whacking away. Sit
him down at a real kit and what you heard would not be Lars Ulrich. I
don't know if you know what you're hearing (Icertainly don't know what
I a hearing when I listen to say EVH shred) but the drumming on that
song and the drumming of Lars Ulrich in general is very good. That's
hits plucks whatever etc to reproduce the sound you hear. You push two
buttons and "strum" three times and 17 notes fly out and then you think
you can play guitar? Huh uh. Go here to be blown away by actual
drumming: http://www.drummerworld.com/ sound and video are there.

I'd like to see them play like this drummer still does, who is Carl
Palmer of ELP fame. I saw this tour back in late 1973, and still today,
I think he is the greatest rock drummer I've seen to date. Just let it
load a bit (if you don't want to hear the whole song) and scroll it
forward to about 2:40 into it, and watch this drum solo.
http://youtu.be/UeQsZOQqO6I

Awesome he is one of the greats. You saw this in 73? Wow. I thought I was
old. I'm still a youngin'!

In fact I saw them Thanksgiving night in "73", I was 13 years old. I grew
up in a Catholic home in a hippy neighborhood, so I saw a lot growing up.
I saw Janis Joplin and the James Gang when I was 9 at a large art fair.
One person I would have loved to see would have been Jimmy Hendrix, too
bad he's gone, he was an innovator.

You had great parents. I guess you're not that old after all. I have taken
my son to many shows as well. We both play drums and always enjoy seeing
great performances.

s***@hotmail.com

2007-12-14 22:33:41 UTC

Post by Jonah Falcon
http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/12/08/review-rock-band-multi/
Enjoy.

" According to actual drum players, the drum gameplay is close enough to
real drumming, and that anyone who's mastered Expert solo play should try
out for real rock bands"
Um, NO.

You don't think so?
http://youtu.be/uQ9XLiMfBRo

I watched it. I think you are confusing the sound of the soundtrack (REAL
drummer) with the reality of that goof ball whacking away. Sit him down at a
real kit and what you heard would not be Lars Ulrich. I don't know if you
know what you're hearing (Icertainly don't know what I a hearing when I
listen to say EVH shred) but the drumming on that song and the drumming of
Lars Ulrich in general is very good. That's the deal with guitar hero etc.
You don't really take all the motions: hits plucks whatever etc to reproduce
the sound you hear. You push two buttons and "strum" three times and 17
notes fly out and then you think you can play guitar? Huh uh. Go here to be
blown away by actual drumming:http://www.drummerworld.com/sound and video
are there.

Gonna have to agree and disagree. I think Rock Band is great for
getting timing down on all the instruments, even the guitars. Rapid up
and down the neck hand motions will extend anyone's finger reach after
time, and make both hands stronger. The songs are great stretching
exercises and if they get boring you just drop a finger and do it with
one less, alternating fingers so they each get a work out.

The drumming is good rhythm practice, but no where near the real
thing. It really shows when I play through Rock Band on drums, trying
to save my overdrive for a better part. While the overdrive solo is
active, play the exact beat you were playing before and you will hear
something completely different. It gets a little closer the more you
ramp up the difficulty, but never anywhere near the real thing.

However, in defense of the drumming, I had never touched a real drum
set in my life, despite living in basic proximity to one no matter
where I moved to. After playing through all the songs on medium, I
decided to give it a shot, and could play _very_ basic beats to most
of the songs I had played. Certainly nothing worth bragging about, and
nothing worthy of being in a real band, but I found it interesting.

M***@...

2007-12-09 14:30:26 UTC

On Sat, 8 Dec 2007 18:03:09 -0800 (PST), Jonah Falcon

Post by Jonah Falcon
http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/12/08/review-rock-band-multi/

We're having a blast with the game, but I have some beefs.
The guitar is a total POS. I'm glad I have the GH3 Les Paul.
The Rock Band guitar is so flimsy and cheap. The strum bar is already
failing. At least they're good about replacing them, but I'd rather
wait for a redesigned unit instead of just swapping it for the same
thing.

Also, XBox Live was down last night. If you can't sign in, you're not
allowed to play in Tour mode.

The lineup management is a mess. You should be able to go into your
band, and any character should be able to jump on any instrument they
want. But you can't. You have to create a character on each of the 4
instruments. And the "Leader" has to be in, or it won't let you play.

It's a great game, and it's going to get alot of play at our house
(we're still playing GH2 a full year later). But there seem to be
aspects they just didn't think through.

Jonah Falcon

2007-12-09 20:30:46 UTC

Post by M***@...
It's a great game, and it's going to get alot of play at our house
(we're still playing GH2 a full year later). But there seem to be
aspects they just didn't think through.

That's why I gave it 4.5 and not 5. :p

RMZ

2007-12-09 15:23:27 UTC

Post by Jonah Falcon
http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/12/08/review-rock-band-multi/
Enjoy.

I would not go so far as to say you're ready to try out for a real
rock band after it, but on hard and expert, taking up the drum and
vocal parts can make you a better drummer or better singer... You may
only be playing drums on a bunch of cheap plastic and rubber, but it's
teaching you to keep perfect time while executing complex patterns,
which is the difficult part of playing real drums. So it's not the
same and no you can't just walk up to a real kit, but it can certainly
help out a lot.

Vocals are along the same lines. A lot goes into being a good singer,
but being "on pitch" is something you must accomplish and since taste
in voice varies so much, being on pitch is really the deciding factor
in someone who can and can't sing. Games like Rock Band and SingStar
use a technology for pitch matching that has been used to train
vocalist for years. While these games aren't are well structured, if
you can score high on expert on the vocal part in Rock Band, unless
you're doing some really strange things to hit those high notes,
chances are you can really sing pretty well.

The guitar and bass parts on the other hand bear no resemblance to
real guitar or bass. It's still fun to watch grown men trying to
cradle the Guitar Hero or Rock Band guitar, grooving as they mash
buttons to the beat. Rock Band just puts it all togeather and since
Singstar and Guitar Hero already existed, Rock Band is all about the
drums.

RKRM

2007-12-09 22:20:33 UTC