Rock Band - Xbox360Evolved

X3E Gravity Flux · 08-06-2007, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Rock Band Post-E3 Interview
Harmonix answers our questions about downloadable content, instrument changes and The Monkees.
by Hilary Goldstein and Chris Roper
August 3, 2007 - Rock Band was easily one of our favorite games on display at this year's E3 - after all, it did take home our awards for Best Music Game, Best Multiplayer Experience and Best Hardware/Peripheral for the drum kit. There was nary a moment of down time when we wouldn't take the opportunity to head to EA's booth for one more chance to rock out. If only the other attendees would have played something other than "Say It Ain't So"...

While what we played was fantastic fun and answered a number of our questions, it also raised a lot more. How hard will the drums get? What about volume levels for all the instruments? And perhaps most importantly, will Peter Moore still pause the game a billion times in the final version?

To find out the answers to these questions (and whether or not The Monkees will be included), we tapped into the knowledge of Greg LoPiccolo, vice president of product development at Harmonix. Here's what he had to say:

IGN: Rock Band was a blast with four players, but do you think it will be as enjoyable for just a solo drummer or vocalist?

Greg LoPiccolo: I can testify from personal experience that Solo Drums are totally addictive; I think they easily rival the guitar sim experience. For vocals, it depends on whether or not you are into singing. I think that they work best in a multiplayer setting, but there are likely to be Solo players who like singing and choose to focus primarily on the vocal. We also expect skilled singers to be in demand online as potential bandmates.

IGN: On the vocal tip, can you adjust the balance between the singer's voice and the master track vocals? We would love to have cranked up the master track at E3. Some of those folks... yipes!

LoPiccolo: Yes, you have independent control over the singer's voice and the master vocal.

IGN: We played cowbell on Don't Fear the Reaper (thanks for adding that!). Will it be common for tambourines and the like to be "playable" on the mic?

LoPiccolo: Yes, we have tambourine or cowbell tracks authored into the vocal parts for most songs.

IGN: Will the mic come with a stand?

LoPiccolo: The mic will not initially ship with a stand, but we are considering a version with a stand.

IGN: It seems that you could truly learn to play the drums with Rock Band. How difficult does it get when you reach expert level? Will it challenge a professional drummer?

LoPiccolo: The most difficult drum songs on Expert will challenge all but the best drummers, because some of the drummers that created the original parts (Keith Moon from The Who, Neil Peart from Rush, and others) are really amazing drummers, and we preserve the basics of all those drum parts in the Rock Band drum authoring.

IGN: Will there be any visual changes in the game as you progress -- like a suspended, rotating drum set?

LoPiccolo: As you move through the Band World Tour, the venues get bigger and crazier. The venue team outdid themselves on this title; we have literally dozens of unique venues scattered across the globe, and all the production aspects (lights, cameras, pyro, stage sets) scale up as your fame increases.

IGN: Peter Moore wasn't the only one at E3 accidentally hitting the pause button. Any chance the buttons will be moved before you start production on the guitar?

LoPiccolo: Actually, the Start and Back buttons were swapped on the prototype guitars that we used at E3. This has since been updated and shouldn't be a problem with the guitars that will ship to retail.

IGN: Are there any other improvements planned for the guitar? Like a notch on the center button so you don't lose your place?

LoPiccolo: We have finished tweaking the final feel of the buttons and strum bar, and we are very happy with how they came out. The center button has a faint pattern on it, as do buttons 1 and 5, to help keep you oriented.

IGN: There are effects for the guitars with a five-way toggle switch, but will these have an impact on gameplay as well?

LoPiccolo: The effects give the player useful feedback when specific modes are engaged (such as a Solo Section for the guitar role), but don't specifically impact gameplay itself. However, they sound awesome, and greatly contribute to the authenticity of the experience.

IGN: Is there any way to put controls (like a D-Pad) on the mic or will we have to use a controller when the mic's the only instrument plugged in?

LoPiccolo: You'll need to use a controller to navigate when using the mic.

IGN: Since you can use a headset for the mic, is it possible to do duets or have background vocals? And is there any specific functionality for this in the game?

LoPiccolo: We don't have any support for background vocals in Rock Band. We have certainly discussed it, and would love to return to it in the future, but we had to draw the line somewhere. You are, however, free to sing along. =)

IGN: Do you think it would be possible for someone to play guitar and sing with a headset? Anyone tried this at Harmonix?

LoPiccolo: Yes, it works great. Very difficult, and tons of fun!

IGN: One thing we noticed was that some songs feature long keyboard solos where everyone in the band is just standing around. Will you offer truncated versions of songs a la Guitar Hero to avoid this?

LoPiccolo: Rock Band is really about the songs. We put a huge amount of work into securing licenses and original masters for our favorite songs of every genre and era. In general, we are very reluctant to butcher these classic songs, and would prefer to present them as they were originally written and performed. We have also discovered that the quiet, down parts make the up parts all the more intense.

IGN: And is there a chance we could see a keyboard peripheral in the future -- or perhaps even a Keytar?

LoPiccolo: It has been discussed, but right now we've got our hands full with the current set of peripherals.

IGN: Speaking of The Who, we know that Who's Next will be the first available DLC for Rock Band. Will you have to purchase the full album, or can you also purchase individual songs?

LoPiccolo: You will be able to purchase individual songs as well as the entire album.

IGN: And if we buy a full master track album, will we have the ability to import it to our Zune or iPod?

LoPiccolo: The song level file format that Rock Band uses is fundamentally different from any standard consumer audio file format (such as MP3 or the like). Rock Band song levels are built from the original multi-track masters (or custom-recorded sound-alikes in cases where the masters are unavailable), which are remixed into individual instrument parts specifically for the game, then carefully authored for gameplay by our audio team. The song level files are not compatible with standard audio playback equipment. Therefore, when you buy a song or full album you are getting tons of content broken down into four parts: lead guitar, bass tracks, vocals, and drum tracks.

IGN: How much content will be pushed out each week? Is it going to be a year of full albums or will most weeks consist of a few select songs?

LoPiccolo: We are in the process of figuring out the specifics. We probably won't be featuring a full album every week, but will be alternating between full albums and collections of select songs.

IGN: What is Harmonix doing to ensure that every piece of DLC has the same quality gameplay inputs as the 40 songs being carefully crafted for the initial retail launch?

LoPiccolo: All the DLC song authoring is being done by the same Harmonix audio team that is doing the on-disc songs. There will be no difference in quality.

IGN: While it was great to play with four people -- and we're sure it will be fun to play with a group of friends online -- we left E3 wondering and hoping that there would be online "battle of the bands." Will one band be able to compete against another online?

LoPiccolo: We are not releasing detailed information about the online feature set at this point. We'll be releasing more information about the online features closer to the Rock Band release date.

IGN: Any chance for user-created tracks?

LoPiccolo: We would love to support this feature. It is very challenging from both a technical and legal standpoint, and won't be in the initial release of Rock Band, but we are very interested in exploring this possibility in the future.

IGN: What kind of tie-ins can we expect from Harmonix's new relationship with MTV?

LoPiccolo: MTV has been hugely effective in getting us access to the song licenses and original masters for the songs and albums that we really want to include (both on-disc and for online purchase). We are exploring a number of other cool programming and promotional connections, but nothing that we can announce just yet.

IGN: And lastly, these are our five most wanted bands for Rock Band. How happy do you think we'll be when Rock Band ships?

1. The Beatles
2. Led Zeppelin
3. Radiohead
4. Journey
5. The Monkees (well, if we can't have The Beatles...)

LoPiccolo: I can't really divulge any information about unannounced songs or artists, but I can say that you are not going to be either fully satisfied or totally disappointed. =)

Link To Full Article

WOW! That's a ton of great info. This game is going to be awesome!

br00tal · 08-06-2007, 01:05 PM

I cant wait for it! Some friends were telling me about it. It looks amazing.

Lucky · 08-06-2007, 02:22 PM

we should have some x3e bands!, i call lead guitar/vocals

br00tal · 08-06-2007, 02:40 PM

Ok, I get Drums.

Black Petals · 08-06-2007, 02:51 PM

This game looks amazing....

I got vocals

Arcane XII · 08-06-2007, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gravity Flux

IGN: We played cowbell on Don't Fear the Reaper (thanks for adding that!). Will it be common for tambourines and the like to be "playable" on the mic?

LoPiccolo: Yes, we have tambourine or cowbell tracks authored into the vocal parts for most songs.

lol we need more cowbell. I'm gonna have to start saving up for this cause it looks and sounds like its gonna be a lot of fun.

X3E Gravity Flux · 08-06-2007, 06:28 PM

This game will be sick! Waaay more fun than Guitar Hero...

Calo Nord · 08-07-2007, 01:13 AM

I just have to say this: Your not a "Guitar Hero" playing guitar on a console..its for people that can't play a real guitar.

X3E Gravity Flux · 08-07-2007, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calo Nord

I just have to say this: Your not a "Guitar Hero" playing guitar on a console..its for people that can't play a real guitar.

My rebuttal to that is: I've played real guitar for 15 years. I've been in bands, recorded CDs and done studio work. I think I'm good saying I'm a guitar hero. BESIDES even professional guitar players say that GH on expert is extremely difficult.

So... now that somebody has brought up the "play a real instrument" bit... AGAIN... how many of us X3E people play actual instruments? Personally I do: vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard, programming, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto sax, tenor sax, picolo and a little bit of drums. (my parents went nutty over me learning instruments when I was a kid

)

Calo Nord · 08-08-2007, 01:38 AM

lol. Well that shut me up, i don't think il post on this thread anymore.

X3E Gravity Flux · 08-08-2007, 01:50 AM

Lol... it's okay. Next time I talk smack about people who play shooters not being able to use a real gun you can threaten to shoot me.

br00tal · 08-08-2007, 07:41 PM

The only thing Im worried about is the price. I imagine It'll be disgusting. ='[

Lucky · 08-08-2007, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bradyGORE™

The only thing Im worried about is the price. I imagine It'll be disgusting. ='[

yea i think im just gonna buy the game only and use my gh II guitar...

br00tal · 08-08-2007, 07:52 PM

Have pictures or videos been released yet? Speaking of that, has there been a release date yet? in the IGN interview they were talking about how they were already using it.

Lucky · 08-08-2007, 08:03 PM

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