| Yet Another Post About Rock Band |
[Dec. 21st, 2007|08:45 am] |
At the risk of appearing obsessed, I wanted to share this because it is pretty nifty how these guys have been supporting the game.
In addition to releasing a good number of new tracks since the game came out (I've downloaded at least nine so far), they've also updated their community website so that you could link yourself to your rockers and bands. It is an interesting way to share the experience and so, without further ado, may I present an insider look to the Red Mantis Cult.
I know, it isn't much to look at yet. I have to chat with my band mates to see how to proceed. |
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| One Track Mind |
[Dec. 10th, 2007|04:02 pm] |
At the risk of boring you all with yet another post about Rock Band, I did want share with you all that I tested out the multiplayer function this weekend with the astute assistance of ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) captain_squid and piratelemur.
They got themselves familiar with it for a few songs while I finished up dinner and then after we had finished eating, we dove into our multiplayer options. Quickplay would have allowed us to pick freely but since Squid and Lemur wanted personae of their own, we fired up the World Tour. We felt obliged to name ourselves Red Mantis Cult. I'll let one of my bandmates chime in the appropriate response.
One of the drawbacks I have read about this mode is that the person who makes the band is bound to it as its leader. It is good in that it still allows folks to be removed or added, but there should also have been an option whereby you could change the leader of the band, should it become necessary. Additionally, it seems that characters/avatars/whatever are locked to the instrument they are created under. So... if you make a drummer, they cannot become a singer. Because they mix the guitar and bass parts together due to the fact that they are governed by one controller, making a character there is a little more flexible. Squid and Leems were content to having guitar characters while I pulled up my drummer I had going in a solo tour (which is a pretty nifty thing).
Actually playing a tour is relatively cool. Each city has a number of venues and those venues have options for set lists. You can either pick from a few songs or you pick set lists of varying shades and colors. Some of them are set lists you pick, some are random, some are a mix between them. It keeps it interesting though the random songs can be tricky if it decides to drop a complicated song on you. Depending on how well you play on the difficulty level you select determines how much you increase (or decrease) your fanbase.
Venues and cities unlock at a brisk pace and opportunities such as winning a tour van or stealing roadies are part of set list selections. After playing through a little while, we gave ourselves a rest and hit the store to kit ourselves out. Squid found a nice steampunk ensemble while the Lemur decked herself in electric lime green.
Over the course of the night, I came to understand a few things:
1. We all liked how the crowd would start singing along if we were really nailing the song.
2. Squid preferred the new guitar over the old one. After experimenting between the two, I had come to the same conclusion.
3. My left foot has a better sense of rhythm when using the bass pedal of the drum kit.
4. Lemur really likes the Pixies.
5. General consensus was that we could easily tune out the noise from striking the drum kit. We had the sound up on the television but it wasn't too loud, I thought.
We were up pretty late and everyone had a go on just about everything. I felt like I hit the hump on the drums though because I played a couple of songs on Sunday and found it come a little easier. In my hubris, I jacked up the difficulty to expert and tried one of the beginner songs... where I promptly failed at around 71%. Lousy bridge.
I'll let my bandmates fill in anything I might have missed. However, I will close by saying that Harmonix did well. Very well even. This game is going to see a lot of use, even more should some of my other friends take a similar plunge so that we could get an online band together (hint, hint).
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go practice my stick twirls. |
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| Bang the Drum Slowly |
[Dec. 3rd, 2007|01:26 pm] |
I will make a brief acknowledgment that EA made good on its promise to replace the wonky kit quickly. The new pads performed well against my, er, quality control testing. Now it is just a matter of packing up the old pads and sending them back.
While I did not have an abundant stockpile of the fourth dimension in which I could lavish on the new gear, I did play enough to get a sense of my aptitude. My drumming skills need a little work. It is one thing to have a sense of rhythm. It is an entirely different thing trying to set three separate parts of anatomy to function in an independent, yet correlated cadence.
I have also noticed that the slower speeds of the easier levels can be more of a detriment than the guitar. Anticipating notes is always a problem, but I find tuning out extra percussion harder than tuning out the guitar fills. Once I feel a little more coordinated with the kit placement, I'll put that theory to the test on the harder difficulties.
Until next time. Keep on rocking. |
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| An Interesting Notion |
[Nov. 27th, 2007|09:45 pm] |
There has been a lot of press regarding Rock Band, both in its development and after its release. However, this piece stands out to me.
Why?
MTV, back in the day, was a refreshing outlet to expose people to new music and artists. Music videos themselves evolved into an art-form which sadly petered out as the station that launched the revolution also evolved itself out of the art-form in attempts to keep up with the fickle tastes of their young demographic.
I have often heard the sarcastic comments of those reminiscing about the does when MTV actually broadcasted music videos and even reveled in the irony. I find the above story to be an odd glimpse in to the potential of this medium and how MTV has shrewdly positioned themselves to cycle themselves back onto the pulse of music community.
It will be interesting to see what pans out and how much corporate taint may leak into the final product. All I know is that I have already downloaded the Bowie pack that opened up today and I am quite satisfied. |
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