Rock Band is definitely the most expensive single game I have ever bought. The game itself costs $180 or so, requires (at release) a PS3 or an XBox 360, only comes with one guitar controller…
I know this game is going to be great, but I’m getting a little queazy at the bill so far.
First, the tortuous decision about which third gen console to buy, considering we already had a Wii. The Wii port isn’t coming out until next year, and won’t support online play — so that was out.
Between XBox 360 and PS3. I wanted a PS3, but couldn’t justify the cost. Sony released a more affordable model, but without backward compatibility with the PS2. We have dozens of PS2 games.
We went with an XBox — a machine I really have no interest in. My son loves it, but at $60 a pop, I just can’t justify buying many games for. I hadn’t even used it until this weekend.
We went down to Gamestop and bought an extra guitar controller, as Rock Band only comes with one (wireless) and for the full experience, you need two. We bought it as a bundle with Guitar Hero 2, a game I’ve mastered on the PS2.
Brought it home and eventually found the lone USB port for the wired controller that came with it. It’s an Xplorer body, so I had to have the strap a little lower than usual. Turned on the Xbox and FWOOSH THAT THING IS LOUD. LUCKY GUITAR HERO IS A LOUD GAME.
Couldn’t figure out how to make my own Xbox Live profile so I used my son’s, who will now be known to the world as someone who can ace Guitar Hero. I was surprised to see that the Xbox has some songs not in the PS2, and the set lists are different. And some of the songs are a little different… one song seemed much easier, and a couple of others were just a little different for some reason.
I still prefer the guitar controller I got for the PS2 for Guitar Hero, the first one. Achievements are an okay feature, but I don’t really have any desire to compare my playing with random people on the Internet, so they don’t mean a lot.
Tomorrow, Rock Band. Like Jam Sessions for the Nintendo DS, RB ups the ante a little bit. Both require you to be able to SING. Jam Sessions is just strumming if you’re not singing. And in the four person mode for Rock Band… well, you can play fake guitar and fake drums on easy if you like, but you’re gonna have to use your real voice to sing into the microphone.
From what I understand, there’s separate career paths for guitar and drum (and vocals, I hope), so maybe my son and I will have time to figure the thing out before the other half of the band, Genjer and Jazz, arrive Wednesday.
Now, they’re a power guitar duo. And right now, nobody really wants to sing because, heck, you can’t fake singing.
2 thoughts on “Chronicles of the Rock Band.”
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Unfortunately I made the mistake of buying Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii instead of the PS3. I never knew it was such an addictive game and I am playing on Hard mode right now though not very well. I went looking for Guitar Hero 1 & 2 for the Wii only to find that they aren’t ported to that system. Looks I might have to buy a PS3 controller now if I want to play the earlier ones.
Turns out the Rock Band guitar is not wireless; and neither are the drums or microphone. They did give us a mini-USB hub so we can plug all four instruments in at once 🙂
I’m unsure of the GH/RB franchise on the Wii. It looks to have a distinctly sub-par experience compared to the Xbox or PS3, though if you have the Wii, none of the others, and want to play, and don’t want to buy another console, then I guess it’s the only choice.