Rock Band 3 Official Thread

[Pheran]

Engadget has some nice stuff up now.

Photos of the Squier and Mustang pro guitars

Video of the Squier in action

Photos and video of keyboard (keyboard vid is not good though)

 

[gorcorps]

Interesting... the fact that you can play the game while simultaneously rocking out through an amp means ALL of the control input is through the neck technology. I figured there'd be at least a mix of output + neck controls, but I guess it's all neck stuff. Makes me wonder how it works and if I'd be able to mod an old guitar to include those controls. From a guitarist standpoint I've never liked the light Strat type of guitar, but I can deal with it until there's a different way to play. I'd heartily gut my old Schecter Omen 6 if it was a possibility.

 

[Pheran]

Here is a Gamespot RB3 video that shows a full 7-person band and has gameplay footage starting at 1:30. The audio has some static problems, but it might just be my system. An interview portion starts just before the 5-minute mark.

 

[Pheran]

Here's an awesome rumor (hopefully will be confirmed 100% soon) - it is now being said that the DS version of Rock Band 3 being displayed at E3 contains a secret announcement that Roundabout by Yes is in the Rock Band 3 setlist.

EDIT: Confirmed!

 

[KentState]

I will be saving my pennies from now until release for this. I've become bored with the game and currently I have a monitor setting in front of my real drum kit and I play along to the songs. Hopefully this will allow me to get back into the guitar and actually enjoy learning how to play it. Mark my word, they will get all of my money in October.

 

[joebloggs10]

That dude is rocking a mean beard and went falsetto on Rhapsody. Awesome.

 

[Pheran]

That dude is rocking a mean beard and went falsetto on Rhapsody. Awesome.

Yeah that beard guy has become a bit of a phenomenon on the RB boards, at least 1 guy changed his avatar to him.

 

[Pheran]

Today at 10 AM Pacific/1 PM Eastern, Gamespot will be broadcasting "MTV Games In-depth: Rock Band 3" live from E3. I don't know if it will have any information that is not already known, but I will definitely be checking it out.

http://e3.gamespot.com/live.html

 

[Pheran]

Here's a Sylvain Dubrofsky Interview video that has an explanation of how the pro-mode guitar track works, and shows Rainbow in the Dark on expert pro mode (I won't be playing that anytime soon!).

One of the biggest things I'll have to wrap my head around when I start this is that the width of the track is now related to strings instead of frets.

 

[bolomite]

oh man, I am so looking forward to pro mode guitar. I have a great deal of faith in Harmonix and their ability to present the material in an understandable and intuitive way.

Also, I hope the price of the actual Strat guitar will be reasonable, but I doubt it will be.

 

[Pheran]

OK, Gamespot failed hard today with that supposed RB3 broadcast which they still haven't put up, but someone else took up the slack. Here are the first 3 parts of the RB press event; part 4 is still on the way. I'm just starting to watch these so not sure what all is here yet.

Rock Band 3 - The Full E3 Press Demo (Part 1)
Rock Band 3 - The Full E3 Press Demo (Part 2)
Rock Band 3 - The Full E3 Press Demo (Part 3)
Rock Band 3 - The Full E3 Press Demo (Part 4) (coming soon)

EDIT: Part 1 is fluff (just an intro and a band playing Power of Love). Parts 2 and 3 have some really good game info though (no new track announcements or anything though).

EDIT2: Here's a YouTube video from RockBandAide that has the whole press conference.

 

[gorcorps]

wow... not sure I care much for the guitar view

It's damn near impossible to read those numbers when it's moving that fast.

 

[Pheran]

wow... not sure I care much for the guitar view

It's damn near impossible to read those numbers when it's moving that fast.

I assume you are talking about the Rainbow in the Dark video. Keep in mind that's one of the hardest songs in the game on expert pro (which is exactly equivalent to playing the real song). At that level, there's pretty much no way you can be sightreading (at least in the faster parts) - you will have to flat-out learn to play the song, just like a real guitarist.

 

[gorcorps]

I assume you are talking about the Rainbow in the Dark video. Keep in mind that's one of the hardest songs in the game on expert pro (which is exactly equivalent to playing the real song). At that level, there's pretty much no way you can be sightreading (at least in the faster parts) - you will have to flat-out learn to play the song, just like a real guitarist.

Yes I understand that, but unless they will provide tabs online for every song it will be impossible to learn the song.

 

[Pheran]

Yes I understand that, but unless they will provide tabs online for every song it will be impossible to learn the song.

Why? Just go into practice mode and slow it down.

 

[joebloggs10]

Yeah, if you want to play a song on Expert in the current system, you really can't sight read it- you have to go into practice mode and slow it down. The Pro mode is pretty much the same way, the main difference being that when you slow it down on Pro you learn the song and not just some random buttons.

 

[jdport]

Why? Just go into practice mode and slow it down.

I would be willing to bet that on release day , there will be books of guitar tab for rockband 3 in the stores for this very reason. There are already books of tab out for previous versions for people who want to learn the songs on real guitar.

I hope that they will include tablature for every level though and not just expert because on the real guitar i'm going to be back to easy and medium for quite some time

 

[gorcorps]

I would be willing to bet that on release day , there will be books of guitar tab for rockband 3 in the stores for this very reason. There are already books of tab out for previous versions for people who want to learn the songs on real guitar.

I hope that they will include tablature for every level though and not just expert because on the real guitar i'm going to be back to easy and medium for quite some time

I thought the 'expert pro' mode was one difficulty... the real song. I haven't heard anything about dumbing down that mode for other difficulties but I haven't looked that hard.

edit: my mistake, they do indeed have varying difficulties in pro mode

 

[Beev]

Apologies if this has been answered and I'm just blind, but how much is the Squire supposed to cost?

 

[Pheran]

Apologies if this has been answered and I'm just blind, but how much is the Squire supposed to cost?

It has not been announced yet, but I'm guessing it will be at least $300.

 

[Pheran]

I thought the 'expert pro' mode was one difficulty... the real song. I haven't heard anything about dumbing down that mode for other difficulties but I haven't looked that hard.

edit: my mistake, they do indeed have varying difficulties in pro mode

Yes, pro mode would be practically useless if it was expert only. The beauty of it is that you can start out on easy pro and work your way up. On the guitar, easy gets rid of chords, but as far as I know you are still dealing with 17+ frets and 6 strings, which is a hell of a lot more complicated than 5 buttons and 1 strum bar.

 

[Oyeve]

It has not been announced yet, but I'm guessing it will be at least $300.

Damn, I can pick up 3 real squiers for that price.

 

[gorcorps]

Damn, I can pick up 3 real squiers for that price.

I'd venture a guess to say it won't be over $300. Without knowing the tech that goes into the neck, I can't know any more than anybody else obviously, but I'd bet between 200-300. I don't think they'll get many buyers by pricing a controller well over the cost of an entire console, and I think they know that. But again, I'm also just guessing here.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

I'd venture a guess to say it won't be over $300. Without knowing the tech that goes into the neck, I can't know any more than anybody else obviously, but I'd bet between 200-300. I don't think they'll get many buyers by pricing a controller well over the cost of an entire console, and I think they know that. But again, I'm also just guessing here.

hardcore musicians/guitarists who love RB and dislike the POS instruments the games come with will have no problem dropping $300 on the guitar.

i play a little bit of guitar and i'm tempted.

 

[gorcorps]

hardcore musicians/guitarists who love RB and dislike the POS instruments the games come with will have no problem dropping $300 on the guitar.

i play a little bit of guitar and i'm tempted.

I just don't know. I've played guitar for quite a while now, and while the idea sounds fucking awesome you're at the mercy of whatever playlist is on RB3... which so far isn't looking very good. Unless they start adding pro guitar tracks to older DLC and the other game tracks I don't think it'll offer enough for hardcore fans.