Rock Band 2 details: wireless instruments, playlists, drum trainer

by Christopher Grant on Jul 9th 2008 11:29AM

Let's get this out of the way first: Rock Band 2 isn't the innovator Rock Band 1 was. But if it walks like Rock Band 1 and rocks like Rock Band 1, then what makes it Rock Band 2? If you're afraid of getting a glorified song-pack, Harmonix has a handful of new features in store that they hope will assuage your fears, and they all seem to revolve around the user experience. That means no new instrument types and no fancy, new graphics, but a whole lot of what you love about Rock Band 1 has been fixed up and added onto. We got a chance to check the game out at EA's EA3 event last month and EA shared a fact sheet with us that lays out all the new features.

The sequel's major feature seems to be "backwards compatibility" – that means all your previously purchased DLC will work, no need for redownloading or authorizing. It just works. The same philosophy extends to your equipment: all of your Rock Band 1 equipment will work with Rock Band 2.

Rock Band 2

Just because the equipment looks identical, doesn't mean it is. While the hardware they had on hand at last month's EA3 event wasn't final, and wasn't even playable, that didn't stop us from fiddling with the display models they had. The wireless guitar (yeah, the Xbox 360's default guitar is wireless now) promises to have a "sturdier, more precise feeling strum bar" as well as "quieter buttons" while the new wireless drumkit (yeah, it's wireless now) sports a metal-reinforced pedal, along with "quieter and more natural feeling drum pads" which, oh yeah, are now velocity sensitive. They also spoke of the drumkit being "expandable with third party options," but we'll have to wait to see those. One final hardware upgrade is the guitar's "integrated calibration tool" – a tiny camera which can be held up to your display to instantly calibrate the game – a godsend for anyone who brings Rock Band to a friend's place.

Harmonix has also added more character customization options – while leaving everything from the first game – and now that your characters can be multi-disciplinary, we may actually use this feature. No longer will your Cobra Commander drummer be confined to the skins alone, he can pick up a guitar or take his rightful place behind the mic. Now that you've got the band you want, take the whole game online in a multiplayer Battle of the Bands contest "that will be generated by Harmonix on a regular basis." You'll also be able to bring your band online in World Tour mode, one of the original game's most oft-cited shortcomings. Lastly, one of the most interesting new additions to the game's many modes: a drum trainer which "gives players a step-by-step lesson through the basic beat and fill vocabulary any real world drummer would know." See mom? It's educational.

They've also streamlined the song selection screen, making it look nearly identical to the game's store: album art is displayed alongside the tracks, making it quicker to scroll and catch something you want to play. Another welcome new addition: custom setlists. Want to blast through a dozen of your favorite songs without stumbling through the song and band selection screens? Make a playlist for more rock, less management. Speaking of songs, though RB2 promises 80 tracks on the disc (in addition to whatever you've already downloaded of course) they were only showing off 10 tracks:

Dream Theater - "Panic Attack "
System of a Down - "Chop Suey"
Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
The Muffs - "Kids in America"
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Give it Away"
Motörhead - "Ace of Spades"
Cheap Trick - "Hello There"
Elvis Costello - "Pump it Up"
Journey - "Anyway You Want It"
The Who - "Pinball Wizard"

We're eager to learn more at E3 but, right now, we've got that feeling that everything being added in Rock Band 2, save for the substantial song selection, could have been accomplished with a patch or update. While Harmonix hasn't categorically denied it, most disappointing is an apparent inability to access all your music from the Rock Band 1 disc in Rock Band 2. For example: you've purchased The Pixies seminal Doolittle album, but only downloaded 14 of its 15 tracks; "Wave of Mutilation" is on the disc, you see. So, when Rock Band 2 rolls around, those 14 tracks are seamlessly swept into Rock Band 2's library, but your experience is incomplete. For us, our dreams of a music "platform" were inexorably tied up in our ability now, and going forward, to access every Rock Band track we'd purchased to date from one elegant interface, without switching discs. Here's to hoping Harmonix has another trick up their sleeve.

Tags: BreakingNews, EA, EA3, Electronic-Arts, Harmonix, MTV-Games, PS3, Rock-Band, Rock-Band-2, Wii, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (86)

From other articles about the Rock Band 2 press release:

"If you already own Rock Band and you buy Rock Band 2 all of your songs will transfer over automatically and free o' charge."

To me, all pretty much means all, DLC or on disc.

Also, why all the negativity?

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/08/rumorong-gamespot-says-rock-band-2-will-support-rb1-songs/

Looks like someone needs to swat up on their Joystiq-fu!

Because, like they said, it could all be done through a patch, and not paying $50 or more for the new version.

Although the camera thing...good god, if that actually works...*drools*.

The technology they are putting into plastic guitars these days. Don't you remember the days where we had one set of buttons, no touch sensitive buttons?

"If you already own Rock Band and you buy Rock Band 2 all of your songs will transfer over automatically and free o' charge."

Yup, that's being reported right now by Kotaku and G4TV.

IGN and Gamespot both said the same thing initially, but claimed they made the whole thing up after a frightful encounter with Harmonix PR.

The backward compatibility is either a poorly kept secret, or there is a lot of bad information coming out because Harmonix can't write press releases properly.

This has gotten a little out of hand, and it's time for Harmonix to make an official statement on this.

I'm not negative, I'm actually really excited about Rock Band 2! But, the reality is, I'm also disappointed that I'll be switching discs to get to all my music. I can understand why, I can even live with it, but I'm disappointed nevertheless.

I was on the phone with Harmonix PR for 15 minutes yesterday asking them 10 different ways whether or not that content would work. They insist that the IGN and GameSpot reports are incorrect, but wouldn't actually deny that the functionality wasn't coming. So I'm left calling it an "apparent inability."

Any links for these stories that claim otherwise?

The G4TV link is here:

http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/686859/Rock_Band_2_Official_Tracks_Details_Announced.html

From the article:

"Plus, backwards compatibility, so all your Rock Band tracks, both in-game and downloadable, will be playable in Rock Band 2!"

The Kotaku story is pretty easy to find.

That's cool and all, but it still seems like we're mostly just paying for what should have been a free patch. I guess time will tell as more info is revealed.

"They insist that the IGN and GameSpot reports are incorrect, but wouldn't actually deny that the functionality wasn't coming."

Didn't both those reports say it would be downloadable? Maybe the RB1 tracks come on the RB2 disc along with the RB2 songs, and they'll let us send them our RB1 discs + approx $10-$20 and get RB2?

um. ok wait. is rockband2 going to be used for playstation 2 to? and what if i have rockband 1? can i just use the regular instruments for 2?

"One final hardware upgrade is the guitar's "integrated calibration tool" – a tiny camera which can be held up to your display to instantly calibrate the game..."

Oh, thank you, O Gods of Harmonix.

New instruments are nice...unless you have the old ones and don't want to pay again. I feel like it is too soon for a sequel because of the constant DLC but I suppose they need to keep up with Guitar Hero.

Fine with me. I'm not expecting much else considering it's well under a year between games. It's going to take more than ripping off Rock Band, adding MOAR BUTTONZ to their drum set, and a half-assed "music maker" to get me to switch over to the broken, played-out Guitar Hero series.

For all the people saying RB2 is garbage (despite it basically doing everything people have asked for)...well, if you're not satisfied NOW, fine. When Rock Band 3 comes out and once again puts everything Guitar Hero does to shame and you come crawling back, don't say I didn't warn you.

"adding MOAR BUTTONZ to their drum set, and a half-assed "music maker""

1)That's strange because I've seen a couple of people who said they'd pick GHWT Drums over RB drums any time as long as they were compatible.

2)You can't call Custom-Content a "half-assed music maker" because so far no console game has done this before.If Rock Band 2 will do it better(and it won't), go on ahead and criticize GHWT but right now it's just like bashing Halo 3's Forge. Both dumb and pointless.

Good points, however you did say something incorrect. Go look up the custom remixes of songs from amplitude or frequency.

Now user created is good, but I don't trust Neversoft to get it right, especially at first. I'm going to be sticking with Rockband because when Harmonix does release a music creater, I trust then to do it right.

*cough*

Amplitude

And besides, Neversoft said how amazing the cheat insertion menu was, where people would probably share the songs they create with that in GHIII. I hope he was joking!

3 things:

1) To Kizzle, I play both Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Know this though, if it wasnt for Guitar Hero there would be NO Rock Band. Fact? No, but a huge certainty on that. I dont understand whats "broken" with Guitar Hero....to have lasted with this many games and "sequals" shows alot in the industry today. Both games are good, lets leave it at that.

2) I know a lot of people are asking "Why didnt they just release a patch instead of making us buy another game and just have the songs as downloads!?." Realize that if RB2 in fact has 80 songs...that would be $160 dollars and one hell of a download. "Yea! But we could pick and choose which songs we want to download!" THAT is the reason they release another game so that they dont get gyped on the profit charts, lol.

3) Noob question incoming, what would the camera calibration do? Im confused on what its purpose is. Give me a hand here peeps.

"To Kizzle, I play both Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Know this though, if it wasnt for Guitar Hero there would be NO Rock Band. Fact? No, but a huge certainty on that"

You do realise that the original developers of Guitar Hero are the ones making Rock Band and that the guys who make it now are essentially just the old Tony Hawk developers right?

So saying that without one the other wouldn't have existed is rather stilly IMO.

Rock Band 1 on PS3 is still a month away from release here in the UK... I may as well just wait for #2 to get the new instruments.

I bet that's the same thing you'll say when Rock Band 3 will be coming out!

Well, apparently RB2 is having a simultaneous release worldwide.

It makes me wonder why they bothered releasing RB1 plus RB1's instruments here at such a late stage.

I don't think it would have been very practical for them to just patch the original. If Harmonix wants to continue to find appeal to a wider audience and steal some of Guitar Hero's continued loyal supporters and advancement, they need a box product on shelves. They can't expect every single potential customer to understand or be interested in a strict download-only release model. As it stands, I rarely run into random people with DLC and most of the time it's one or two track packs. I'm shocked by how many people I play with that don't even have the free DLC.

I'm glad they are at least implementing some of the changes I've been longing for, specifically deeper character customization and Online BWT. And I still have high-hopes for them somehow making the original Rock Band's Disc Content compatible.

I'm with you! The additions sound great, understand the need for a retail competitor, but nevertheless disappointed they haven't addressed the songs on the disc just yet. Hopeful.

Agreed. The COULD have added everything in a patch, but that's not the model in computer gaming, is it? They put out a new Madden every year, not because they can't patch the old one, but because it doesn't make sense to update a game with big changes.

Besides, to make the patch argument you have to argue that both:
1) RB2 is not going to be worth $60 if you already have RB1.
2) RB1 wasn't worth $60 because you thought all the new RB2 features were part of the game already.

Good luck convincing anyone of that.

"They put out a new Madden every year, not because they can't patch the old one, but because it doesn't make sense to update a game with big changes."

No, they do it to milk our money.

Something that apparently is so different with Rock Band compared to the no-good money stealing Guitar Hero.

"No, they do it to milk our money."

I never said it wasn't a business (aka, money) decision. It all comes down to how much do they feel the new features are worth, and how much it costs to make.

An example of a good patch are the class updates to TF2. They add to what's already there, without changing the underlying game mechanics.

RB2 seems to be completely overhauling the BWT and solo career modes to the point where they're almost unrecognizable from the original. You can't, and don't, patch that.

If you feel strongly enough that it's not worth $60, then don't purchase it. If you didn't think RB1's BWT was acceptable, then why did you buy it just to complain about it?

Oh right, internet.

Good Points. I never bought RB1 though.

I just wanted to point out some double standards.

The way I see it you are getting 80 new tracks for 50 or 60 bucks plus some improvements. That is cheaper than how much it would cost to acquire that amount of songs through DLC no matter what.

Seconded.

thirdeded

i'm glad someone is actually seeing the smarts behind this.

You mean 104. 20 songs of free DLC at launch.

Note to self:

Wait until RockBand 3, then buy RockBand 1 and 2. That way I get the goodest instruments and all the backwards compatible songs.

"Goodest"?

yup

He meant bestest

The very bestest ever?

You mean "evar"

Na, I'm not sure I meant bestest evar. Goodest is a toned down version of bestest.

See, cuz the bestest evar would be a real guitar and drum set hooked up to a TV. That crosses the line between simulation and the real thing to the point where you're actually learning the real thing while playing a game at the same time.

More difficult, yes, but actually awesome and useful.

The important thing to me, and the thing we probably won't find out until E3, is whether the PS2 and/or Wii versions will feature DLC and the character creator. I still haven't bought RB1 because I'm broke, but when I do make that purchase, it's going to be for one of those two systems, and I want to know that Harmonix is working on improving the experience across the board.

I'm a believer in their philosophies and such; I just wish we'd seen more of an effort to make the same game that the big boys got. Maybe they'll rectify some of those mistakes this time around. I'm hopeful. I honestly don't even care about online play (I mean, seriously—I've got a Wii and a PS2. Ask me if online play really matters to me), but I do relish the idea of new music every week, and especially being able to create my own rockers. I don't want Activision to win this music game duel, but in terms of features, they just might. In terms of style, Harmonix will always have them beat.

No DLC on PS2 - no real storage.
No DLC on Wii - not enough storage to make it viable.

Those consoles just weren't designed to support a DLC model, so the model doesn't fit.

Activision swears there's going to be DLC on the Wii version of GHWT, and that you'll be able to save your songs to SD cards. Why couldn't Harmonix do something similar with RB2?

I wouldn't hold your breath for downloaded content for either of the two systems. Sony has more or less abandoned the PS2...they're not going to bother setting up the interface for a system they want people to upgrade from. And we've all seen how Nintendo values the online experience. *Sigh* I guess what I'm saying is that Sony and Nintendo have both made it difficult to do DC on your two systems, so I wouldn't put the blame on Harmonix.

I would save the money and pick up a PS3 (or a cheaper 360 come Sunday if you don't have a preference) before you get into Rock Band if DC is one of your primary objectives. That's your best bet for keeping up with the new content.

You very well may get your character creation tool though, so at least that's something?

The character creator is something, you're right. For the brief while that I did have a 360, I enjoyed the online experience, and I might just end up grabbing one again after this price change.

That does kinda require that I have a job, though. Working on that.

Adam - I understand where you're coming from, and I think you make a well-reasoned argument.

Unfortunately, I would be very surprised if a more functional or robust version of either game is released on PS2 or Wii. While GH:WT will probably have downloadable songs and character creation in some form, I wouldn't be surprised if they're markedly worse than the 360/PS3 counterparts. Just look at GH3 or GH:Aerosmith on PS2 to see how much worse the sound and graphics quality is; do you really want to create a character if it will move like a robot? Harmonix won't do it unless they can pull it off in an aesthetically pleasing way -- something they'll probably argue is beyond the hardware capabilities of the PS2 and Wii.

If I were you, I would wait until a 360 or PS3 seems like a reasonable purchase. With the imminent 360 price drop, the console won't cost a whole lot more than the game bundle. If you were just content to have friends over and play the songs without worrying about DLC or customization, the PS2 or Wii would clearly be a safe bet; however, with the experience you're hoping for, I don't think you'll see it done right on anything but a current-gen console.

It's a shame, too, because I know a lot of people who only wanted a Wii and want the same experience.

I'm starting the hate bandwagon so in case that the Guitar Hero hate will sweep onto Rock Band, I can always say;

"I FUCKING CALLED IT!".

By the time Rock Band 4 comes out (or Rock Band 3 + GH 4) I'll have 4 drum sets. Cant wait to have a full band of only drummers... Would that work? it should!

Yeah, you can do nothing but play Slipknot songs. Just make sure you have someone in a mask bobbing their head while you play.

What's this about a mask? Looks like John already has that part covered.

Yea, but the Pyro is known for playing the guitar, not the drums, so it doesn't work.

Medic can do the electric violin.

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Rock Band 2 details: wireless instruments, playlists, drum trainer

Rock Band 2

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