Rock Band 2 Options

[Crushinator]

Hoooooly shit, I didn't think they could make such an improvement over RB1, but RB2 blows it out of the water was far as features and playablility. I'll expound on it more later, but damn Harmonix outdid themselves with this one.

Online band world tour for the fucking EPIC win.

[AC9breaker]

So I got Rock Band 2. I don't see what the big deal is. Seems like an Easy version of Guitar Hero. Downloaded QoTSA Little Sister and Hysteria by Muse. Kinda hard to tell where the Hammer on sections are They visual display isn't as noticable as it was for Guitar Hero.

[Crushinator]

Guitar is easier than GH yeah (for the most part, there are still some ridonkulously hard songs) but the real fun comes when we start playing together later tonight as a band.

I would suggest going out now and renting/borrowing someone else's RB1 disc so you can download all the songs off it to your HDD, you'll immediately bump your song selection to ~140 songs from the get go for only $5. You don't need to OWN rb1, just need to use the disc once to download the songs.

[Wiryu]

I just look at the GH2 > GH3 transition. Was fun, but really I didn't feel like I got my monies worth. For me it just feels like if I pay a shit ton of money for RB2/GH4, i'm just gonna get the same deal with a few expansion like additions. Hard to sway.

[Crushinator]

Got the Ion kit today!

Big box is big. It weighed 33 lbs!


It has a cool RB branded box too, next to the Strat for size comparison.


Every part comes in its own little box. Yes the "Empty Box" has nothing in it.


This is the frame, took me about 50 minutes to get to this point. The whole undertaking was about an hour and a half for me.


And the final product, ready to rock!


The feel of the whole product is fantastic. Everything is heavy and high quality, you can tell its set to take a beating. The bass pedal is entirely metal, which makes it take a lot less effort to push the pedal down compared to the stock RB set. I'm still getting used to using the yellow cymbal as a hi-hat, but the green crash cymbal is like second nature now.

I still have some tweaking to do as far as the pad positioning and height, but all in all I couldn't be more pleased with the Ion kit. Now if only I had a house (or at least a ground floor apt) so i could play till all hours of the night

EDIT: Pics of the bass for Donkey. I decided to pick it up since my Xplorer GH2 controller died during my inaugural RB2 marathon.



The little black knob is the whammy, and you also have a knob that twists to the left or right for Start/Back, which is pretty cool. The double strum bar is nice too when you're playing pluck-style on bass, not so much on guitar.

[AC9breaker]

Man, that drum set looks freaking sick. I think I would drop the money on it but its too fucking huge for my cubicle sized room. I'll settle for the Guitar Hero drum set instead. But I'm not really feeling the look of the guitar. Anyway, Rock Band is starting to grow on me. but I find the smaller fret ques to be confusing when the really fast paced complex solos come in. I still prefer Guitar Hero over it in that regards. The biggest thing that pisses me off is that I have a hard time activating my star power with Xplorer Guitar Hero 2 guitar. But I'll have to deal with it untill Guitar Hero 4 bundle comes out.

[Wiryu]

what's with the random block of tile in the room? :o

[tanshin]

what's with the random block of tile in the room? :o

It's not random, it's in front of the front door. It's the spot to remove your shoes or put a mat to wipe your feet, if you're into that.


Back on the subject, that drum set is fucking awesome. I wish I could have the opportunity to play around with it just once. It looks like something you could really let loose on without the worry of breaking it. The feel of hitting an actual cymbal must be pretty sweet. I need to pick up RB2...

[AC9breaker]

Killer Session last night guys. I can't wait to get the Guitar Hero bundle so I can jam with some good shit instead of this shitty Xploder 2 guitar. Its freaking annoying as hell trying to activate overdrive with it.

[donkeybeatz]

I just got the Ion Drum Rocker today. I'll post some impressions later.

[Vitamin D]

Come this Saturday, I too will be on the Rock Band status. I got no bills to pay with my next check, so I'mma splurge haha. I plan to get the Guitar Hero 3 bundle, and pick up a copy of Rock Band 2 (gonna transfer the RB 1 songs from my friend's copy as well). I also might pick up a mic, the drums won't work too well where I live so that'll be later haha. LET'S ROCK.

[AC9breaker]

Why get GH:3 Bundle? Just buy the Guitar Standalone for 360 and RB2 disc. Unless you ment GH4/WT bundle?

[Vitamin D]

Naw, I meant the GH 3 bundle. The only time I get to play Guitar Hero or Rock Band is when I go to my boy's place. I have a copy (literally lulz) of GH 3 for PS2, but I can't play it because I don't have the guitar anymore, lent it to my younger god-brothers and never saw it again haha. I'm picking up the game too because it's been a damn long time since I've been able to play it. Also, I think my brother said the bundle is on sale somewhere. When GH 4 comes out, I'll likely just pick up the disc.

[donkeybeatz]

OK after a few hours of playtime and a few jam sessions with the AT band, the Ion drum kit is pretty solid.
It isn't as sensitive as my stock rock band drums but it picks up fast rolls a lot better. As for being quiet, it's not much different than the stock RB kit. It might be a little bit quieter but that's it. The rebound on the pads is a huge plus though. The cymbals takes some getting used to especially coming off of the RB layout. I still need to make some adjustments. Right now I have to hit the cymbals pretty hard in order for it to register. The kick pedal is OK despite being all metal. The spring on it doesn't push up your feet as much as the stock RB pedal does. The noise on it is pretty loud especially when playing songs with fast kick pedal action.
My only real gripe with the kit is that there isn't a place where you can place your drumsticks =(

[donkeybeatz]

The registration page for the bonus tracks is up:
http://register.rockband.com/

Unfortunately, the tracks aren't out yet but they'll send you an email with a code to redeem.
Also, at the end, they ask you to suggest a band/song that you will like to see in the game haha.
I put in Incubus but I forgot to add Muse