Rock Band - Impressions...

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Mon Oct 13, 2008 1:32 pm

Sold my drums for $30 to a friend of mine. That made the new ones $60.

Bought the game and the drums this morning at BB.

The drums with the cymbals cost $300.. wow!

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Mon Oct 13, 2008 1:33 pm

Feanor wrote:
Naples39 wrote:
DChaps wrote:Anyone here have the RB2 guitar, and if so is it worth the upgrade from RB1 or GH guitars?
Never tried RB2 guitars, but my understanding is they are nearly exactly like RB1 guitars. As for RB guitars vs. GH guitars, you will get varied opinions on this. I personally feel strongly that the RB guitars are superior in every way.
The strum bar on RB1 guitars is just awful. But I read that they fixed it for RB2.

Many of the original RB1 guitars had defective strum bars. I had to replace mine, but the free replacement guitar I got under warranty works great. I've heard the RB2 guitar strum bar is only very slightly different than RB1. I greatly prefer the strum bar of a properly working RB1 guitar to any GH guitar.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Mon Oct 13, 2008 1:36 pm

MizzouRah wrote:Sold my drums for $30 to a friend of mine. That made the new ones $60.

Bought the game and the drums this morning at BB.

The drums with the cymbals cost $300.. wow!

$300 is for the special ION drums. There are supposed to be separately sold cymbals that attach to normal RB2 drum sets for $15 a piece, but I don't think they're available right now.

IGN demo of the attachable cymbals;
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MEpkGatxC3k&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed>

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Mon Oct 13, 2008 2:19 pm

What is the advantage of having the symbols? I've never played RB before, so I'm thinking I'm going to be struggling enough with just the four drum pads. Then to include the symbols in to the mix, I gotta think it'll up the difficulty, correct? Yeah, I think it'd look cooler to have the symbols, but are they really necessary?

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Mon Oct 13, 2008 2:24 pm

sportdan30 wrote:What is the advantage of having the symbols? I've never played RB before, so I'm thinking I'm going to be struggling enough with just the four drum pads. Then to include the symbols in to the mix, I gotta think it'll up the difficulty, correct? Yeah, I think it'd look cooler to have the symbols, but are they really necessary?

No, they are not necessary. Rock Band is designed to be played without cymbals as they weren't part of RB1, and most RB2 players will never have a drum set with cymbals.

The reason why myself and others want cymbals is just to enhance the experience. It makes it more realistic and fun to crash an actual cymbal like a real drummer would. In a set without cymbals, the green and yellow drums do double-duty, acting as a normal drum for some hits and as a cymbal for other hits depending on the song and part.

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Mon Oct 13, 2008 5:05 pm

Naples39 wrote:Many of the original RB1 guitars had defective strum bars. I had to replace mine, but the free replacement guitar I got under warranty works great. I've heard the RB2 guitar strum bar is only very slightly different than RB1. I greatly prefer the strum bar of a properly working RB1 guitar to any GH guitar.

Every RB1 guitar I've tried has had a squishy, floppy strum bar. I much prefer the clicky strum bar on the GH 3 guitars.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:17 am

Absolutely LOVE the new drums. Much more quiet.. more responsive, and the kick pad feels so much better.

Loving the game so far...

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 1:34 pm

Thanks for all the feedback on the RB guitars.

Has anyone here physically tried out the new GHWT guitar? Supposedly it is available at some stores for demo.

I am just starting to venture into the GH/RB world and will start with just a guitar. Based on the compatibility matrix, it would appear my best bet would be a GH guitar or waiting for GHWT guitar. However, my guess is based on song lists, that I will start with RB/RB2 for games. Most of the reviews I have read so far(and comments here at DSP) of new guitars seem to really favor the RB2 guitar. Of course I trust DSP crew more than review sites.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 2:22 am

Picked up the PS3 bundle this evening. Played a couple songs using the drums. Needless to say, I freakin' suck, but had an absolute blast sucking! This game is great. I can't believe I had never played it before. Now, I'm a bit loopy because I'm tired, but I can't wait to get up tomorrow morning and rock out......crap style!

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:56 am

sportdan30 wrote:Picked up the PS3 bundle this evening. Played a couple songs using the drums. Needless to say, I freakin' suck, but had an absolute blast sucking! This game is great. I can't believe I had never played it before. Now, I'm a bit loopy because I'm tired, but I can't wait to get up tomorrow morning and rock out......crap style!

Every Friday and Saturday night is Rock Band 2 night at my house and we had about 12 people over on Friday.

It's great to see friends and neighbors come over and call "next" when the current song is over.

We have 100's of songs to play now, which is great.

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 11:06 am

sportdan30 wrote:Picked up the PS3 bundle this evening. Played a couple songs using the drums. Needless to say, I freakin' suck, but had an absolute blast sucking! This game is great. I can't believe I had never played it before. Now, I'm a bit loopy because I'm tired, but I can't wait to get up tomorrow morning and rock out......crap style!

Mess around with the drum trainer a bit and you will get much better at drumming. I love the drums.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 5:01 pm

Diablo,

I love the drum trainer. I had my six year old son watch and he picked up fairly well. We both just did the basic trainer. What a great great game.

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 7:14 pm

sportdan30 wrote:Diablo,

I love the drum trainer. I had my six year old son watch and he picked up fairly well. We both just did the basic trainer. What a great great game.

Good stuff! It truly is a fun, fun game. The additional 20 songs for download should be out soon. Perhaps they will release them the same day GHWT is due out.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:45 am

Can someone tell me if it's worth upgrading to the RB2 drums from the RB1 drums? Also, are the drums available separately yet? I prefer playing RB ONLY for the drums and GH for the guitar.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:53 am

JackB1 wrote:Can someone tell me if it's worth upgrading to the RB2 drums from the RB1 drums? Also, are the drums available separately yet? I prefer playing RB ONLY for the drums and GH for the guitar.

....

MizzouRah wrote:Absolutely LOVE the new drums. Much more quiet.. more responsive, and the kick pad feels so much better.

Loving the game so far...

Naples39 wrote:Also, Deep Discount delivered on my $70 RB2 drums. After some play, here are my thoughts:
-Drumheads are a squishier material, making them much quieter when played softly, and marginally quieter when hit hard. Still, the sound is more of a muted thump rather than the loud thwack of RB1 drums.
-They feel sturdier, particularly the bass kick. I found myself more accurate because of that.
-Honestly, the best thing so far is the extra grip on the bottom, mainly on the crossbars connecting the floor pieces. I usually have a lot of problems with my drums sliding away from me while kicking a lot, and so far my new set hasn't slid at all on my carpet.
-The worst thing - Harmonix and Mad Catz, where are the cymbals??? Still no release date.

After some more time, I can only really state the obvious. The drums are wireless, definitely quieter, and sturdier, which makes hitting the bass kick better. Really couldn't care less about the drums being 'velocity sensitive' though. Also, RB2 drums support cymbal expansions sold separately, but AFAIK they are not in stores yet.

Sold separately for $90.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 12:37 pm

From the Rockband forums:

Yesterday afternoon CMT reported that country music will become available for RB2. They were announcing the release of RB2 but stated that country fans should not feel left out as country music will be available starting in December.

Teal · Post by **Teal** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 1:26 pm

sportdan30 wrote:From the Rockband forums:

Yesterday afternoon CMT reported that country music will become available for RB2. They were announcing the release of RB2 but stated that country fans should not feel left out as country music will be available starting in December.

Yes! I'm an old school classic/southern rock fan with country leanings...very good news indeed.

I'm buying the GHWT big kit-drums, guitar, mic deal. I MUCH prefer the GH guitars, and at least the GH drums come with cymbals out of the box. I'm actually looking very forward to receiving that stuff next Sunday-Guitar Hero just seems to have more 'personality' to it, which I like. I'm enjoying the crap out of RB2 mind you, and can't wait to take the drums for a spin on that one, as well, but...I'm just a GH guy myself.

Hope the 'Lips' wireless mic is compatible, as well...

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 1:59 pm

sportdan30 wrote:From the Rockband forums:

Yesterday afternoon CMT reported that country music will become available for RB2. They were announcing the release of RB2 but stated that country fans should not feel left out as country music will be available starting in December.

My wife will be sooooooo happy!!!

I just bought another wireless guitar.. now the only thing with a wire is the microphone, hooray!!!

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 2:12 pm

Ooh I love that it's wireless as well, although if you read some of the people at the rockband forums, they're bitching that there's lag because it's wireless. Who knows. For me, I attribute not hitting the notes at the right time as being inexperienced. At this point, it's not an issue for me.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 3:06 pm

sportdan30 wrote:Ooh I love that it's wireless as well, although if you read some of the people at the rockband forums, they're bitching that there's lag because it's wireless. Who knows. For me, I attribute not hitting the notes at the right time as being inexperienced. At this point, it's not an issue for me.

I have another wireless guitar and it works great.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 3:52 pm

Are all RB1 songs automatically unlockable once I export them over?

Nozzleman_216 · Post by **Nozzleman_216** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:26 pm

sportdan30 wrote:Are all RB1 songs automatically unlockable once I export them over?

Yes I do believe so!

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 5:07 pm

sportdan30 wrote:Are all RB1 songs automatically unlockable once I export them over?

I also suggest deleting Green Grass & High Tides. Nothing ruins a random set on expert faster than hitting that song in the middle of the set.

vader29 · Post by **vader29** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 6:34 pm

I haven't exported my Rock Band 1 songs yet, but was wondering if you delete songs after exporting can you export those songs later on for free or do you have to pay the fee again?

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 7:26 pm

Naples39 wrote:
sportdan30 wrote:Are all RB1 songs automatically unlockable once I export them over?
I also suggest deleting Green Grass & High Tides. Nothing ruins a random set on expert faster than hitting that song in the middle of the set.

The funny thing is I have one song left to finish for the guitar tour in RB1 (on hard), and it's not this. It's "Flirting With Disaster." "Green Grass" is obviously hard but the solo at the end of "Flirting" is killing me. I keep getting booed off around 75% of the way through.