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great game, so-so peripherals

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 26, 2008
Author: Amazon User

if you play games, and enjoy the music genre, then you already know what rock band is all about. i'm going to focus solely on the package contents for this review.

out of the box you get a drumkit controller, a wired guitar, a usb mic, several headset adapters to make these controllers compatible with voice over xbox live, and a tiny usb hub.

The drumkit controller, depending on which revision you have, is quite nicely put together. Assembly is a snap, but make sure you have plenty of free space set aside for the kit, as it doesn't fold up for easy storage or lend itself to repeated disassembly. In-game the drums perform pretty well with a few exceptions. A very light tap with the sticks will register as a hit, while heavier hits can cause some input problems. For example, if you're a more enthusiastic drummer, a very hard hit to one of the drum pads can cause the note to register twice, or even worse, cause nearby pads to register a hit as well. There are various mods involving socks floating around the internets, but really when you're dealing with drums (the bands metronome) one would expect very accurate hit recognition. This is easily the most finicky of the peripherals.

The wired guitar is an instant disappointment, mainly because it's wired. The strum bar is definitely a step in the right direction, thank you harmonix, as it's much more comfortable than any previous iteration of the strum bar. it's also incredibly accurate at registering input. now onto the bad. the fret buttons require a pretty good amount of force to register, and there are raised ridges (similar to frets on an actual guitar) that separate each button. this makes playing notes with the left hand (or vice versa for you southpaws) feel kind of sticky. once you play around with the guitar for awhile you'll understand. higher up on the neck are a smaller series of fret buttons which you can play during solos sanz strumming, and you can even play there the entire time if you use the strum bar. the controller is a weird mash up of good and bad features. bad fret buttons, great strum bar, longer whammy bar (makes it easier to use), and a pitch shifter (which i never use). ideally i'd like to see a wireless version of this guitar that has the buttons from the GH3 wireless guitar, but the strum bar from this iteration. That would be perfect. As it is this guitar just sits around taking up space, as the GH3 wireless guitar just feels better even with its awful strum bar.

the mic works as you might expect, plug it in and sing, no complaints.

as for the headset extension, these seem like an afterthought. it's as if someone forgot about headset support until after development had been completed. instead of simply plugging your ms headset into a snug port designed for this purpose, you have to plug into an adapter and then plug into your instrument. this means that the headset dongle isn't firmly attached to your controller, which just feels weird as it will twist or pull in odd directions. in the end i just threw these away.

the usb hub is a smart addition to the package, as it's easy to run out of ports if you're using all of your rockband controllers while also using a wireless 360 controller for the singer. sadly this is the worst usb hub i've ever seen. first of all it's not powered by the usb port, it actually comes with it's own power supply. secondly, it doesn't work. i tried every imaginable configuration and was unable to get every peripheral to register simultaneously. eventually i ditched the hub and just stuck with the console ports, and the ports on my hddvd add on drive, to get the job done. this hub joined those headset adapters in the trash.

all in all rockband is a lot of fun, but the gameplay experience suffers just slightly from some questionable design decisions. for the record i don't use the rockband guitar ... ever. i use the wireless GH3 guitar, and the xplorer wired guitar for the 360, bad strum bars but way better buttons.

great for the entire family!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game was a fantastic investment. When hubby told me about it, I was hesitant because of the price. Boy, am I glad I trusted him and bought it! We play this together, alone, with the kids, with friends... everyone has a good time.

The best is the drums, as it's the most similar to playing a "real" instrument. We've ordered a second guitar, so that 4 of us can play at a time. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS GAME!!!

My favorite game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I played Guitar Hero about 2 months ago and fell in love with it. I decided to go out and buy an Xbox 360 specifically for it. While shopping around, I noticed Rock Band, read some reviews, and picked that up before Guitar Hero.

I was blown away! I'm addicted to the point that my knuckles hurt (I play it more than my REAL guitar!) My brother's addicted...and even my girlfriend, who generally doesn't like video games at all, is addicted! We sit and play for 3 or 4 hours straight sometimes.

I enjoy playing solo, playing with my brother, playing with my brother and girlfriend, and playing with friends who come over. It's hands down the most enjoyable game I've ever played.

The good: the equipment is great, and if you get some that don't work, EA's replacement policy is stellar. We replaced our drum pads b/c of a faulty bass drum pedal and it works great now. The guitar is WAY better than the Guitar Hero guitars, in my opinion. The game graphics, animations and songs are better as well. It also features more "official" songs than covers (only a few) as opposed to Guitar Hero. The character customization is fun and detailed! The characters actually drum, sing and strum to the songs they're playing.

The bad: my knuckles hurt pretty much permanently. I like the game too much to quit! I recently got an LCD TV and had to take a break while waiting for an HDMI cable and they just now MOSTLY healed after over a week of not playing.

Sometimes it's difficult to tell which equipment was faulty. We were getting random bass drum taps, so we sent the pedal in and the new one did the same thing. We realized it was a problem at where the pedal connects to the pads. Sent the pads in and it works great now!

We were NOT able to calibrate Rock Band to my new LCD TV using component cables. After buying an HDMI cable and turning on "LCD calibration" it worked perfectly. Before that NOTHING worked - it was unplayable.

I ended up picking up Guitar Hero II and I'm so mad that Activision blocked the Rock Band guitar patch that I won't buy anymore Guitar Hero games until they allow it. That game is sub-par and the only reason I play it is for a change of pace. The guitar is crap and I hate playing on it now. (A far cry from originally being the game that COMPELLED me to buy an Xbox 360 - THAT'S how good Rock Band is!)

Fun for the Whole Family

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Originally we had purchased Guitar Hero III, but quickly realized that it was a battle between everyone in the house (including the adults) who's turn it was next. So we decided to get Rock Band. And it was the best decision that we have made. The set up comes with a guitar, drums, microphone and the actual game disk. Thankfully the guitar that came with guitar hero was compatible with rock band (but the guitar from rock band is not compatible with guitar hero-which was a bit disappointing). It's been the biggest hit of any x-box 360 or Wii game we have purchased. There isn't a weekend (or weeknight for that matter) that it's not played for at least an hour, and we've had it for at least 2 months now. Ages of children and adults that use it range from 42 to 7, and occassionally my 3 year old son gets up and bangs out the drums and the guitar - with much joy when he fails - since he thinks the boos means he won... = )

The guitar that comes with Rock band is larger and doesn't make the clicking noise that the guitar from Guitar Hero makes (which some of use prefer), and the microphone has a tendency to cut out.... But I think it's poor batteries in the regular xbox 360 controller that has to be plugged in or turned on in order for the mic to work. If it turns out to be a major problem - thankfully there is a great replacement policy for any of the items that come with rock band, so we know that we will have it covered if one of the kids thinks they are too much of a rock star....

Added bonus - you can purchase extra songs if you get bored with the ones that are on rock band.

Word of warning - you may not be familiar with most of the songs on rock band... we weren't.

All in all - best money I've spent in gaming entertainment in the last year.

Not just for kids

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 08, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is alot of fun. I bought it for my son and he loves it! He has played all the instruments and used the mic, when his friends are over it is very entertaining to watch them all play it. I don't normally play video games but I have played this with him and it is even fun for adults.

Rock on to the break of dawn!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

If you are a fan of Rhythem Games like Frequency and the Guitar Hero Franchises you'll feel right at home with this game.Now with the instruments selling seperately there's no excuse about the price,but I encourage you to try to get the bundle,because when you really get into the game you'll want to have them all.And let me say that all the instruments are so much fun to play especially the microphone which is my favorite.I know you'll say you wouldn't be caught dead singing,but I dare you not to sing "Creep","Enter Sandman" and "Bliss".

The guitar is way more different than the Guitar Hero guitar not only visually which it look hella realistic and in comparision to the GH Guitar which looks like a Tinker Toy.But what's different in terms of gameplay is the fret itself.Instead of just moving it down(I.E. Guitar Hero),you move the fret like an actual pick ap and down.Though you get use the motion you really have to get the rhythem down and you really have to use full force otherwise you'll miss notes like crazy.The best part of gameplay with the guitar is the solos,because there's nothing more cooler than to get a perfect solo!And you can even change the sound of the notes by toggling a switch on it's side.The buttons on the neck are made in such a way it'll become secont nature to remembering them and there's even a duplicate set lower down on the neck for little kids and smaller people.The wammy bar is nice and big,though you'l use it less than on Guitar Hero.

To the Drums,this is by far the most difficult of them all,the main reason being is that even on easy you really do have to be pretty amberdexerous and if you're not you'll have difficulty hitting a consistant amount of the same notes.The main frusteration to the drums are the Bass foot button.You really have to press hard on it and you never quite set the distance of your feet so you can easily and consistantly use it correctly.

The game has ALOT of songs.Ten times as much as Guitar Hero(that doesn't even include the Downloadible Content on XBOX Live).And there songs you wished they had on Guitar Hero and some songs that are on Guitar Hero 3 like "Where you were young" for exsample.And the songs are noticible classics like "Orange Crush" by R.E.M,"Bliss" by Nirvana etc.The cool thing is that instead of four songs for a stage there's five!And all are availible for guitar,bass,drums and microphones for freeplay.And there is a bonus tour in which you can unlock bunus songs for play.The visulas however are nothing impressive.The graphics loods blurry and washed-out and the avatars look generic as well as the characer creation systems,though the clothes,hair,instruments and acessories do look quite nice.The stages are uninspired compaed to Guitar Hero though the gameplay makes up for it.The online is alot of fun with many different modes including bad tour,band tug of war and quickplay.The biggest flaw in my mind in the game is that you cannot start a band and preform with your online friends.You can only start a band and play with people who are physically there at your place and you cannot start a band and play by yourself.They seriously need to fix this in the sequal.

So,in conclusion,if you like a fun game that has infinate replay value buy this game and it's really up to you if you want to buy the bundle,but I suggest if you can buying the bundle.because it'll save you money in the long run.This is what video games are all about-Interactivity.And this game really does remind me of a Arcade game at it's fullest.So,with plug in,rock out and enjoy.

Great Game, Hardware needs work.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 18, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is Great game, Fun for parties. 3-7 people.
Easy could be easier on some songs.
Guitar broke after 2 weeks. I use Guitar hero guitar.

WOOOOO! ROCK BAND!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 26, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I love this goddamn game even though the drums are amazingly hard to play. All instruments are fun. Only annoying part is the guitar being wired but, eh, I'm fat so the exercise of getting up and moving closer to the TV occasionally is good.

Rock Band brings the band back to music games

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have had this for a little over a month now. It really is a fantastic game. I used to be a percussionist back in high school, and, getting the chance to play the drums again (even if they are a bit strangely placed) is really great. so, with that background in mind, here is my review

Pros:
You get to play everything, not just Sing (singstar) or play guitar (GH)
The downloadable content is great, there are all kinds of songs and they are continually updating it with new music
The group play is great and really well done, the ability to save your fellow band mates means that people of varying skill levels can play together.

Cons:
Drum placement is a huge gripe.
The guitar doesn't feel as good as the one for GH.
Having to setup the timing can be tricky.

All in all its a great game that is definitely worth picking up.

Rock Band

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: December 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Great product. Kids love it. Microphone does not work. We will have to contact manufacturer. This is second year in a row that we have bought an electronic gaming device and have had difficulty or faulty product.

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