Playstation 3 Rock Band Special Edition!

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Rock Band.

It all started 8 years ago when I was introduced to Guitar Freaks at Gameworks in Tempe, AZ. The idea of playing a musical instrument as part of video game was addictive. Granted, the songs were original and limited, and the game bundle (offered only for the PS1 in Japan) was expensive, but Konami had the right idea.

Enter Guitar Hero. The original PS2 version, released two years ago, took the Guitar Freaks ingenuity and turned it into a product that appealed to the American audience. Those of us who had spent hundreds of dollars at Gameworks pounding songs on Guitar Freaks knew exactly what to do with the guitar and how to read the screen. I snagged one the week it came out and played to my heart's content. With subsequent releases of GHII and Rock of the 80's, I had enough music to last me for a couple of years. Last year Guitar Hero II became the high-demand Christmas item to give, breaking out of the die-hard "gamer" audience and into the average household (a feat very rarely accomplished by developers who publish games that require a unique controller).

Harmonix, the developer for Rock Band, has their experience with successful rhythm-based games. Frequency, Amplitude, Karaoke Revolution and Guitar Hero all won the hearts of audiences and game reviewers. With the success of these games, their partnership with MTV Music to create Rock Band is ingenious and exciting. Who else would be better suited than MTV to convince musicians and music publishers to contribute to this project? And what more brilliant way could any band market themselves? They provide a single hit recording which is then mass distributed through a video game then played over and over by the fans that made the song a hit to begin with no musician or band can go wrong.

And what about the game itself? Addictive. Energetic. Hypnotic. Entertaining. Fun.

Here are some real issues: price. The special edition bundle complete with the game, drum set, wireless guitar/bass and microphone is retailing for $169.99. It's expensive and a lot of money to spend on one video game. The nice thing is the guitar controller can be used to play Guitar Hero; however, it is still a lot of money for one game.

Another issue: system calibration. Some HD televisions and HD sound systems are causing a slight delay in game play, the source of a lot of frustration. There is a very limited and weak calibration setting in the game but it doesn't solve all the problems.

Another issue: the controllers themselves. Last night I spent many hours acquainting myself with the drum kit and got frustrated when cymbal crashes did not land correct. A successful hit has to be nearly dead center of the pad itself and that is not realistic when landing a cymbal crash. It is also frustrating that the pads do not react very well to snare rolls, a necessity in a drummer's repertoire. Anybody with actual drumming experience will find this process frustrating and will probably run back to their real drums for solace and comfort ("I can play drums, I can!").

However, all games face issues and luckily with time they can be fixed. Eventually, the price in the game will fall, great for those on budgets. System calibration will improve as game updates are pushed through online (a wonderful yet tedious aspect of the PS3/XBOX 360). The controllers themselves will improve with further technology and once third party developers get the thumbs up from Sony/Microsoft, they will come out with all sorts of accessories and equipment that will enhance and improve game play.

I can't wait.

Complaints aside (come on we all have them), this game is everything fun. It is innovative and creative and never-ending. Tired of guitar? Try vocals. Beat the drums? Try bass. And the best part find a band online or invite friends and have a ball. You will, you will spend hours and hours escaping into the great fantasy of being in a rock band. Guitar Hero put an air guitar in our hands, Rock Band gives you the rest. Expensive, yes. System bugs, yes. Controller delay, yes.

Worth it all, absolutely. And if you're still unsure, check out any big-box electronics store or video game retailer and play the demo. Better yet, check out the local video game retailer for Rock Band competitions (they do have them) and try it for yourself. You will love it.

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I, like most fans of the Guitar Hero series, have been anticipating the arrival of this game since I first learned of its development back in July. When I first saw the photos of the guitar controller I became ecstatic. It looked like the guitar controller I have always wanted since I actually own a real Stratocaster made to the Eric Clapton "Blackie" design. The controller looks almost exactly like my real guitar! So with that combined with the fact that the game was created by the original development team fir Guitar Hero I and II, Needless to say I was quivering with anticipation.

The is no doubt that the guitar gameplay is very similar to the Guitar Hero series. For some reason though, I seem to have a harder time focusing on the notes in Rock Band since they are little rectangles instead of fat circles like in GH. But the song list is amazing and that certainly makes up for some cons. However there is one thing I cannot get over:

The Guitar controller sucks. There. I said it. The construction of the unit is just the cheapest of cheap plastic. When you are playing it, you feel as though you have to be careful not to break it. Yeah, the buttons are designed better in my opinion but the plastic actually bends under minimal pressure. WTF!?!?! And while I was excited about the buttons on the lower fretboard for solos, they are almost too narrow to be played by average adult hands. So now I will find myself plugging in my GH3 controller for Rock Band.

But there is a huge plus side: The drums. They are just incredibly fun to play. And while they may not be built like real drums but rather electonic drumpad abominations from the 1980's they seem as though they can stand up to some abuse. They are pretty hard to rock out to on the advanced levels making them a fun and addicting challenge. I have a good friend who is a drummer and he picked them up and did amazing on his first go do they are pretty realistic as you can get. The developers claim that if you can play the drums on expert level on the game than you are basically playing drums for real. Pretty neat.

The mic. I think this is alright. Works well but seems to almost force you to not sing in your natural singing voice. Instead they really want you to sound like the person singing the original song. Hard to sing like Roger Daultry one song and then switch to Billy Corgan the next. This feature seems to be almost designed for parties.

All in all a solid game. The song list is great and does not disappoint. Like I said, I just found the guitar controller and game play to be a letdown. At least the drums are great. But hey, you may feel differently. Have fun with it.

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When it comes to video games in the shape of rhythm, there have been some of them that really have dominated the past several years like Dance Dance Revolution and singing games like Singstar for the Playstation 2. nevertheless, the one big hit that makes everyone want to rock out loud this past year had been the success of Activision's Guitar Hero series. Although there has been so much great success of the game series, many other have wanted to take the gameplay a bit step further by adding the beat of drums, and a hint of a mighty voice from a microphone for one rocking video game that takes it a much more hyped step further, and that adds into Rock Band.

Rock Band, for the Playstation 3, takes the excitement we've seen from music franchises like Guitar Hero, and bring more elements of rock by adding drums, and a microphone, by bringing the new element of rock to gameplay. That can also be said with the songs that you can unlock and choose from. The music you can jam too also takes it a bit higher, by bringing in artists that haven't yet seen the light from Guitar Hero in any of the games, and that adds onto the gameplay well. The graphics work very well, but the gameplay is in the songs as you jam to classics from R.E.M. on their 1988 hit Orange Crush, to rock gods like The Rolling Stones classic Gimme Shelter, and Bon Jovi with their 80's anthem Wanted Dead Or Alive. There are also cherrished hits from The Red Hot Chili Peppers with their 2005 hit Dani California, and the Foo Fighters guilty pleasure Learn To Fly. There are also other recent guilty pleasures like OK Go and Here It Goes Again, and Jet's Are You Gonna Be My Girl to play with here as well. The gameplay is simple to pick up for multiplayer action, or solo mode, as you conquer solo tour mode, or the multiplayer action gameplay of Band World Tour Mode.

The game comes with all the essentials you need from a guitar, a drum kit, and even a microphone, so you can jam anyway you simply desire to all your favorite songs, which adds well into the gameplay. Sadly though, there is one big disadvantage to the game, and that is the price. With the price rounding to over $200 for the entire gameplay kit, it may bring down the feeling fo being everywhere to the pockets, but as a party game, it jams in the multiplayer action very well into the game, by bringing the element of fun to the game.

All in all, Rock Band is a really great concept for those who've simply grown tired of Guitar Hero after awhile. It is a great game to rock with you and your friends whether it is online by downloading extras, or just wanting to practice on your beats, Rock Band works great as a must have for your Playstation 3, and brings in the kind of muscle the system has lagged behind from competeition from the Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii. There is no other way to say it but Rock Band Rocks On!!!

Graphics: B+

Songlist: A-

Sound: B

Control: B+

Fun & Enjoyment: B 1/2+ for solo play; Afor multiplayer action

Price: B

Overall: B+

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I am a deployed soldier, and when I finaly got the game in the mail. pretty much my whole company got excited... even the people who really don't like Rock music came to watch those of us who knew the songs play and sing. We all had a blast for the few short hours that he have for some down time. There where some things that I noticed that could have been improved on... but when I looked over as saw just how much fun everyone was having pretending to be their fav. rock star, all that didn't matter... I would like to give a special thanks to the makers of that game, it really brigntened up our lives a little bit.

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I bought a PS3 because of Rock Band. That's how much I wanted to play the game. But before you rush to buy, take note of a few things.

1. If you own a 40 gig PS3, there are not enough USB ports to plug in all Rock Band peripherals unless you have a USB hub. Without that hub, only two people can play at a time.

2. The guitar hardware strummer is known to have problems. Mine broke within days, as did those of two others I know. You can't exchange it at a retail store, but EA has a support site that lets you send any faulty peripheral back in exchange for a new one. I waited about 2 weeks for mine.

3. Don't forget to calibrate the audio/visual syncing. Having tried Rock Band on a few televisions, I had to calibrate the audio/visual delay each time, otherwise it just doesn't feel like you're rockin' out.

Those points aside, Rock Band is awesome. The guitar parts are, on average, easier than they are in the Guitar Hero games, but they're still fun. If you can master the drums, then you WILL be able to play a drum set in real life which totally rocks. The only thing I dislike about the drums is that the tapping is painfully obnoxious, so unless you blast the game's volume, you'll hear a constant "tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap..." As for the singing, I found that you don't actually have to sing the words. As long as you can hum the pitch, you can do well.

Rock Band will bring hours and hours of fun, and it's one of those games that has infinite replay value.