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.
Hey guys,
I just finished reading ‘Racing the Beam’, a semi-technical, semi-historical book on the Atari VCS and I’m currently reading ‘The Ultimate History of Video Games’ so your Gaming History segment was timed perfectly. I never had the Atari VCS but I did have the Atari 800XL machine and I did play most of the classic games. It’s certainly one of the most important companies in the history of video gaming and it’s a really fun and interesting story to read and listen about.
@Kinect
I never used the Kinect but the PS4 also has the voice command support and I never use it. I feel silly talking to a machine when I know I can do most of the stuff faster and easier with the controller. I am not suprised that the Kinect has been unbundled from the XBone. Those who think they spent too much money will just as easily sell their Kinects to those who want them. I don’t think it’s an issue. Overall, it seems to me that motion controls are vastly underused but there’s probably a reason for it. Other than party games I don’t really find them that fun. Having said that, I played through Heavy Rain using the PS Move and it wasn’t all that bad. Still, it’s a unique game, which attempts to be as immersive as possible.
@Philips versus Nintendo
This is so bizarre I don’t even know where to start… Why the Wii U and not the Move or the Kinect, which seem to infringe on the patent even more? Does it have to do with the scanner you talked about or the nunchucks because that’s still not clear to me? Didn’t Philips sue Nintendo over a different patent many years ago? Something about CD-i?
@QOTW
I don’t believe I played that many educational games back in the day. I remember a math game featuring Disney characters and butterfly nets but I don’t even remember what platform that was on. Atari or Commodore… Need For Speed didn’t teach me how to drive, Killzone didn’t teach me how to kill and Spelunky didn’t teach me about exploring caves. I prefer games for their entertainment value although I will have to look into the education genres when I have my own kids…