200°

New Rock Band Controller is 10 buttons instead of five

Check out the first glimpse of the new guitar for Rock Band

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ps3fanboy.com
Darkaber6176d ago

Ah man i want this game soooo bad!

MetalNCarnet6176d ago

And I thought the game was hard with just 5 buttons.

AdmiralX6176d ago

I agree this game was hard enough with 5 buttons. I guess this is how they get the reality of the game as close as possible. Lets just hope its wireless

Caxtus7506176d ago

is this the game with different instruments? If so maybe you turn the controller and play it like a keyboard?

If not then it is probably for co op or something or "super Expert" lol

original seed6176d ago

maybe you can uses it as a keyboard because it its going to be insane with 10 guitar keys

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130°

Rock Band Doesn't Need Plastic Instruments to Work

TheGamer Writes "Harmonix has proven plenty of times it can make Rock Band work without instruments."

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thegamer.com
Christopher506d ago

I mean, yeah, but was anyone saying otherwise? The fact is people liked the plastic instruments rather than pressing buttons on a controller. They enjoyed the simulated experience.

isarai506d ago

"Work"? No, but to be good? It's absolutely necessary. Not having the accessories is like playing a lightgun shooter with an analog stick sure it works, but one experience is completely unique and fun as hell, and other is torture trying to make do playing in a way it was never meant to be played

LucasRuinedChildhood506d ago (Edited 506d ago )

"trying to make do in a way it was never meant to be played"

I disagree. The accessories were a fun gimmick (and very marketable) but they were added AFTER the genre had been well established with games like Frequency and Amplitude (both also made by Harmonix).

The gameplay formula is different on a controller - there's a focus on switching lanes and contributing to all of the instruments.

Never played Frequency, but Amplitude and Rock Band Blitz were really good. I would love to get more of that kind of game. It's basically a different part of the genre, and stands on its own.

isarai506d ago

The insurmountable difference in popularity between Amplitude and Rock Band proves my point

LucasRuinedChildhood506d ago (Edited 506d ago )

Popularity isn't proof of quality. If it was, then Harmonix wouldn't be making music for Fortnite now. lol. Our disagreement wasn't over which one is more popular. Amplitude and Blitz just aren't "torture" to play.

Rock Band 4 and Guitar Hero Live failed to revive their sub-genre, and Rock Band 4 caused Mad Catz to have to file for bankruptcy. Doesn't mean that instrument-based music games are bad.

It does mean that there's too much overhead and risk for anyone to take a gamble on a big budget game that needs instrument accessories now though.

For the genre to thrive, for now, it needs to do so without the instrument accessories. That's just a fact, unfortunately.

VR games like Beat Sabre (a new sub-genre) and traditional music games make more sense and are more viable right now.

LucasRuinedChildhood506d ago (Edited 506d ago )

*"If quality is always proved by popularity, then Harmonix wouldn't be making music for Fortnite now."

Yi-Long506d ago

I think CHEAP plastic instruments is THE reason why the instrument-genre ‘died’.

People invested in buying the game AND the peripherals, so the guitar, the dj-set, the drum, whatever, and the experience was absolutely fantastic. Great fun, great music, etc.

But then the instruments would break. A button would stop working, or your hits wouldn’t register, and that kind of hardware failure would end in you not being able to play the game as intended, and thus you not getting the scores you deserve.

So, now you had a great game, but a broken instrument, and nobody is gonna buy a new plastic instrument every 3-6 months in order to keep playing the game.

A solution would have been to release better quality instruments (obviously), at a slightly higher price, so you could have kept the new games coming and the genre alive, but sadly, that didn’t happen.

dumahim506d ago (Edited 506d ago )

The only issue I ever had with any of the hardware was the drum pedal on the original rock band set stared to crack in half. The reason I, and other friends I know who played, lost interest is they weren't putting out new tracks that we were interested in anymore. I think earlier this year I looked through the releases for the last 2 years or so, and there was maybe 3 songs I would have bought.

slayernz506d ago

Yeah I had this happen too with my drum controller, I ended up attaching a metal strip to it which fixed it up nicely.

sinspirit506d ago

Can it work? Yes. Does it compare? No.

monkey602506d ago

Bust a Groove, Gitaroo Man and Parrapa the Rappa were such good games. Neither needed any extra peripherals

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60°

My Kids Stole My Controller: Chapter 3 – Junior Gaming

Player 2's long-form feature about kids and video games continues with a look at introducing toddlers to games for the first time.

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player2.net.au
150°

Why the Guitar Hero and Rock Band Series Failed

Music rhythm games dominated the video game market in the mid-2000s. Unfortunately, the genre would fall from grace shortly after finding success.

darthv721459d ago

More like faded away than failed. Failed implies it was new and didnt take off... that is not the case. Rhythm games were hugely popular but the lights dimmed and the show is over.

You would think the current situation would cause a resurgence but im actually seeing more people picking up real instruments and learning to play. My son is one who started out on GH and now he plays real guitar.

1459d ago Replies(1)
toxic-inferno1459d ago

I also got into playing guitar through Guitar Hero and Rock Band. And I know at least three other people who did the same.

Still get Rock Band out a few times a year. I really don't think you can say it failed when they're still bring out DLC every week! They must be making enough money from it to keep the licensing going!

Abnor_Mal1459d ago

Basically the reason the artist Prince did not want his music on those types of games. As he believed it was better for kids to actually learn to play a real instrument than to play with toys that really did not teach how to read music and how to actually play an instrument correctly.

A lot of music now a days is just done on a sound board and the creator has no real clue if the music was put on a sheet in front of them to play. The term musician has taken on a new meaning in recent times.

SpeedDemon1459d ago

I lost interest when they stopped allowing you to use the controller to play with, just couldn't get into playing with the guitar.

TheHan1459d ago

Rock band 4 allows controller. Though I just bought RB4 again so I can replay my favorite music rhythm game.

SpeedDemon1459d ago

I didn't know that. I haven't played a lot of Rock Band, but have a lot of Guitar Hero, I'll definitely check it out.

addictedtochaos1459d ago

Not the sole reason, but over saturation by Activision releasing 5 GH games in one year, charging full price for all of them while only Metallica and GH5 were worth it.

cell9891459d ago

I still play the Metallica edition

Gaming4Life19811459d ago

I dont think these games failed at all. People aren't going to keep buying games and peripherals over and over. All songs need to work on either rockband or guitar hero thru updates. Guitar hero live was actually good but rockband with all its songs and same equipment killed it.

Sophisticated_Chap1459d ago

I'm sure part of the reason they faded away, at least over the long term, was that you couldn't download them digitally.

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