The latest news on the Rock Band 2 front covers the instruments and a few confirmed song tracks. There have been rumors flying around the Internet about the “leaked song tracks” for the next release with absolutely no confirmation. Now, however, we have solid proof on some tracks and some equipment changes.
First, all instruments are backwards compatible. That’s key to the success of Rock Band because fans of the original ponied up a lot of bones to grab themselves the original Rock Band kit. However, there is an incentive to upgrade your equipment in some regards.
If you like the original Rock Band guitar you’re going to love the new one if only for the color updates, wood grain and actual look and feel of a real guitar not a “toy.” As you’d expect (or hope) the new guitar will be wireless, finally, and will have a sturdy strum bar with even quieter buttons. Wireless alone is a great selling point but quiet buttons is important for folks like me who play the guitar like it was a jackhammer and can easily interrupt the drummers concentration during a difficult set.
The drum kit has been improved as well, with a re-enforced foot pedal to avoid the ease of breaking the plastic “toy” version of Rock Band original. As a person who’s busted up their drum petal and forked out cash on eBay for a wood solution, this is more great news. The drum kit will also be wireless which is great for those of you, like myself, who have kids that run through your line of site or dance while you’re playing. Nobody likes their Xbox 360 being flung off the shelve due to tripped cords.
The drum kit will have quieter pads and a velocity sensor; again, your old kit is still usable without these enhancements but the desire to upgrade if you’re a dedicated fan will be high.
The song tracks currently confirmed:
- “Panic Attack” — Dream Theater
- “Chop Suey” — System of a Down
- “Everlong” — Foo Fighters
- “Kids in America” — The Muffs
- “Give it Away” — Red Hot Chili Peppers
- “Ace of Spades” — Motörhead
- “Hello There” — Cheap Trick
- “Pump it Up” — Elvis Costello
- “Anyway You Want It” — Journey
- “Pinball Wizard” — The Who
This is a great indication to where Rock Band 2 is going, mixing up a great selection of artists with classic hits like Anyway You Want It and Pinball Wizard to newer late generation X music like Give it Away and Chop Suey. Talented artists like Dream Theater are sure to keep Rock Band 2 a challenge to all gamers.
Other great improvements being a World Tour mode now accessible online and the removal of the “Band Leader” concept which always locked you into an instrument once you created a band.
NOTE: Xbox 360 will have a timed exclusive on Rock Band 2, arriving later in the year for the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3.
Checkout the full feature set so far explained at Kotaku.
Ubisoft was asked by
@Aussie Diablo III preorders not getting refunded from GAME
This sucks major balls. Aussies already get the short end of the stick, due to significantly higher prices. I pity them, they deserve better.
@Dark Souls multiplayer
I think that another game that uses a similar concept is TrackMania Nations. Granted, in TMN you only see the ghost of the other players, they don’t affect the game too much.
@QOTW:
Hmm, I don’t really play free-to-play games. I did play a free game (“Red Alert: A Path Beyond”) though.
Good news, Herr: Blizzard is accepting those preorder refunds from GAME. Just send them your receipt, and you can purchase it from Blizzard minus the deposit.
Hi Jonah, Jordan, Paul and Dan;
I love the show and really enjoy listening to your buys perspective on the gaming industry.
I was wondering if you guys could discuss the recent announcement for an Enhanced Edition of Baldur’s Gate I & II and their plans to make Baldur’s Gate III.
Do you think they will actually make this worth buying since you can get both of the Original games gog.com rather cheaply. I’m sure these Enhanced Editions will be around $60. I can’t help but want to keep my expectations low on this even though I do love the BG series.
Some awkward silence there… I think Dan was a bit tired during recording.
@QOTW: I would say hands down Team Fortress 2, it is just so fun. I have clocked in 265 hours and the only reason I have stopped playing it is because I know every nook and cranny in it. It also gets kind of boring when you’re constantly at the top of the leaderboard :P.
I have recently started play the MOBA Super Monday Night Combat. It’s great, I’ve played 78 hours of it, but it only has 1 mode and 3 maps as of yet. There isn’t much else to do but master the different classes. I think it also made me hate MOBA games just because there is rarely a team environment. Everyone gets pissy whenever their team loses, and blame it on their teammates even if they were the worst player. I don’t know, in TF2 I always had that feeling of being in a huge team cooperating, and if you died it was your fault.
I would also like to note that I have never spent a penny on free-to-play games.
@PlayAlterEgo: I got kidnapped and killed on my way to school…