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Rock Band 4 announced for PS4 and Xbox One

Doctor Ironic said:
Well, you see, it would actually be about twice as difficult, because -

oh you just don't know how game development works okay.
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Don't want to get into an argument, but if every song is basically just a file with some audio, animations, and some beat-matching midi stuff, couldn't they just write a batch conversion tool to convert everything to their new format?

I'm not saying they should throw up 3,000 songs on the marketplace day 1, but it can't actually be that difficult to convert the files from one format to another.
 
Sorry if this has been answered, but have they confirmed whether you can use the PS3/360 MIDI adapters on the new consoles?

Or will at least offer a new one? I have MIDI drums, and there's simply no way I can go back to the plastic garbage.
 
XShagrath said:
Don't want to get into an argument, but if every song is basically just a file with some audio, animations, and some beat-matching midi stuff, couldn't they just write a batch conversion tool to convert everything to their new format?
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Not really. Your first problem is that RB1 disc exports, RB1 DLC, RB2 DLC, RBN DLC, and RB3 DLC are all different file formats, and Harmonix's main challenge with each new RB game has been to make a new engine that can support all of those at the same time. The RB1 export, because it was planned at the last minute after fan requests, actually does some weird fucked-up thing with save files (which is part of the loophole on how customs were able to be added in.)

Your second problem is the legal rights. Harmonix is already making an effort at getting RBN songs back in RB4 as seen through that 30-pack of songs from pre-ordering through Amazon, but they would be a legal nightmare to deal with, not to mention the fact that the original developers of RBN songs would legally be the ones who had to do the work updating the songs for RB4 - and since RBN was pretty unanimously a financial failure, nobody really wants to do that. You may see some come back on a per-song basis, but don't hold your breath that "Dreaming of Demon Hell Death (2x Bass Pedal)" by the garage band across the street is hitting RB4.

We actually already saw a similar situation to this with the Wii release of Rock Band 2 - Harmonix went back and ported every last DLC song in their catalogue, a new batch of old DLC per week, until every single song had been ported to the Wii. It was something like fifteen songs per week. We'll probably see something similar here.

Raistlin said:
Sorry if this has been answered, but have they confirmed whether you can use the PS3/360 MIDI adapters on the new consoles?

Or will at least offer a new one? I have MIDI drums, and there's simply no way I can go back to the plastic garbage.
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Nothing said on MIDI adapters one way or another, just old controllers.
 
I can appreciate that there are limited resources and they went above and beyond with legacy dlc so I can't very well complain but my enjoyment of this title hinges on online play. I am already in for the full band bundle so I 'did my part' so to speak. As a long time rhythm game enthusiast my purchase was never really in question. I truly hope online play isn't left in the dust because it isn't exactly feasible to travel across state lines to rock out with a friend for the evening. Rock Band 2 and then 3 became a staple of my weekend. A friend and I would unwind and just play some songs.

So while I understand putting resources toward other areas and tightening up the bells and whistles I have to remain hopeful they won't ignore those of us who don't need a party setting to rock out. Until then I will look for a quiet room and rock alone...heh.
 
Should I get the new instruments or use my existing PS3 instruments? Do the new instruments use dongles? Are there any other improvements to the instruments?
 
XShagrath said:
My brain fails to understand how porting 3,000 songs is any more difficult than 1,500 songs (other than licensing). I know that it's a completely rebuilt engine and everything, but they should be able to just write a tool that batch converts things, and then it doesn't matter if it's one song or 50,000 songs.
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Besides the legal rights stuff, it's not a straight port of each song. They have to edit in guitar solo stuff, the new drum fills, etc. Manually. For each song. The main reason all the legacy DLC is going to have the new harmonies is because the community did it for free. Though a lot of stuff will just carry over relatively "easily", it's not nearly as simple as drag, drop, and convert to RB4 plz. It's just not how the song authoring works.
 
XShagrath said:
I know that it's a completely rebuilt engine and everything, but they should be able to just write a tool that batch converts things
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Yes, and no. I mean there's a lot of stuff that can certainly be automated but we saw the MARKUP stuff in the announce vid or w/e and that's obviously manually done. I'm sure there's other polish/tuning/etc. that needs to be done manually, as well.

Then there's QA on everything and (I imagine) certification processes, as well as the things you'd already mentioned.
 
Unless they somehow allow RBN to recognize purchases cross-platform and generation, I'll probably pass on this for a while. Pro Keys is the only reason I bought Rock Band and any DLC, so I'm not in a hurry to buy a Xbox One and a key-less RB4 just to retain my $120+ worth of DLC.
 
Undead Bokun said:
I can appreciate that there are limited resources and they went above and beyond with legacy dlc so I can't very well complain but my enjoyment of this title hinges on online play. I am already in for the full band bundle so I 'did my part' so to speak. As a long time rhythm game enthusiast my purchase was never really in question. I truly hope online play isn't left in the dust because it isn't exactly feasible to travel across state lines to rock out with a friend for the evening. Rock Band 2 and then 3 became a staple of my weekend. A friend and I would unwind and just play some songs.

So while I understand putting resources toward other areas and tightening up the bells and whistles I have to remain hopeful they won't ignore those of us who don't need a party setting to rock out. Until then I will look for a quiet room and rock alone...heh.
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One good thing is what the Harmonix dev posted on the Rock Band sub-reddit which is a picture of the top selling games on XBox One and PS4 right now on Amazon. Of all the games announced/hyped at E3 Rock Band 4's band in a box bundle is number 8 on the PS4 list and number 2 on the XB1 list (along with the guitar bundle at number 12) so at least it is selling well. Hopefully this means they make enough to add in online, RB3 export, and keys/pro-keys back into the game!
 
We don't know if Amazon's top-selling items are based on quantity or price. If it's price, then I think that throws things off a bit, as it's more than twice the next-most expensive thing up right now (Fallout 4 Collector's Edition).
 
XShagrath said:
We don't know if Amazon's top-selling items are based on quantity or price. If it's price, then I think that throws things off a bit, as it's more than twice the next-most expensive thing up right now (Fallout 4 Collector's Edition).
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awww dang that is true, i didn't think about that. well, hopefully it's quantity!
 
I'm kind of confused what to do right now. I have the instruments from Rock Band 1 for the Xbox 360(and discs for 1 and 2), but I don't have an Xbox one, just a ps4. Do I buy an Xbox one, use my old instruments, and just buy the game disc or get the band in a box for ps4 and maybe get the original discs for RB+2 for ps3 cheaply used to export songs...though I'd still be short one guitar of a full band...
 
Elvis?! :O

Very cool. Now give me the best Elvis song: "Tryin' to Get to You".

And "Santa Claus is Back in Town", "Here Comes Santa Claus", and "Santa Bring My Baby Back" in December. :D
 
I can't believe they were able to get Elvis.
 
Gorger said:
There is no online.
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Wow what... With a house where you have to live with working parents, I almost never played with friends. Online play in RB is simplistic, but was awesome for me when I tired of the score chasing. Might be a dealbresker really... Gotta think on this...
 
-bakalhau- said:
Wow what... With a house where you have to live with working parents, I almost never played with friends. Online play in RB is simplistic, but was awesome for me when I tired of the score chasing. Might be a dealbresker really... Gotta think on this...
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They're hoping to patch it in post-release, but don't take it as a promise.
 
So how do I get the cool white drum kit I saw at e3? The one on Amazon is black. Also, will my old 360 guitars work on Xbox one? I know they said the playstation stuff would work, but I didn't hear anything about Xbox. Thanks.
 
ThoseDeafMutes said:
Hmm don't see any preorder listings at EB Australia or JB HiFi. Usually EB has preorders up the nanosecond a new game is announced.
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Yeah, haven't seen anything mentioned at work which is troubling, especially because Guitar Hero Live is getting so much promotion.

Talked to a Harmonix staff member yesterday at E3 and he told me that it'd be releasing in most major markets (I interpret that to include Australia). I guess we'll just have to wait.

Here's hoping it's less than $250.
 
Eye Drop said:
Yeah, haven't seen anything mentioned at work which is troubling, especially because Guitar Hero Live is getting so much promotion.

Talked to a Harmonix staff member yesterday at E3 and he told me that it'd be releasing in most major markets (I interpret that to include Australia). I guess we'll just have to wait.

Here's hoping it's less than $250.
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250 for the whole set I hope you mean :P

But yes. You would think Australia would get a version, but I remember seeing trillions of unsold guitar hero bundles when that bubble popped years ago so retailers may be shy to order it in any volume.
 
mcfrank said:
So how do I get the cool white drum kit I saw at e3? The one on Amazon is black. Also, will my old 360 guitars work on Xbox one? I know they said the playstation stuff would work, but I didn't hear anything about Xbox. Thanks.
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I heard from somewhere (don't remember where) that they dumped all the colored instruments, and you can just get the black ones now.
 
so are they actually selling just a game version of this? I have the bundle in the box preordered for now, but given I just pulled out rock band 3 today and all my instruments work flawlessly still it's a bit hard for me to part with that much money to take up more room in my apartment.
 
zulux21 said:
so are they actually selling just a game version of this? I have the bundle in the box preordered for now, but given I just pulled out rock band 3 today and all my instruments work flawlessly still it's a bit hard for me to part with that much money to take up more room in my apartment.
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I hope so. I want to trade in my disc copy and download the game but keep the new instruments.
 
zulux21 said:
so are they actually selling just a game version of this? I have the bundle in the box preordered for now, but given I just pulled out rock band 3 today and all my instruments work flawlessly still it's a bit hard for me to part with that much money to take up more room in my apartment.
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The game is digital only. There were hints about that, but the fact there's no software-only bundle confirms it.
 
Quadraphonic said:
Because the only versions of the game you can get have to be bundled with instruments.

It's about as logical as it gets. And makes sense. Saves on costs, especially since it'll be a repeatedly patched/upgraded game.
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This may not prove anything either way but I have a preorder of the game only at Bestbuy Canada. This game is targeted at a mainstream audience so I think it's highly unlikely it would be digital only.
 
So apparently, Rock Band's Twitter tweeted that the game's trailer contained Easter Eggs hinting at songs/artists appearing in the game.

Just something interesting, I suppose, since most of the "hints" that people are finding in the trailer seem like stretches to some degree.
 
Baron von Loathsome said:
So apparently, Rock Band's Twitter tweeted that the game's trailer contained Easter Eggs hinting at songs/artists appearing in the game.

Just something interesting, I suppose, since most of the "hints" that people are finding in the trailer seem like stretches to some degree.
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Edit: Lots of speculation here:
http://forums.harmonixmusic.com/discussion/258524/band-easter-eggs-in-the-rb4-e3-freestyle-trailer

Pretty fun. I hope some of these are on target.
 
The new instrument bundle is a tad too pricey for :(
I was hoping to upgrade my Rock Band 1 bundle (especially the drums as you need at least RB2 drums for the cymbals) and have a second guitar instead of relying on friends to bring theirs.

On the other hand that allows me to buy the digital version of RB4 as that's the kind of game that's good to have always ready.

Weirdly enough, RB2/3 PS3 instrument seem to be expensive even on ebay, weird.
 
SolidusDave said:
The new instrument bundle is a tad too pricey for :(
I was hoping to upgrade my Rock Band 1 bundle (especially the drums as you need at least RB2 drums for the cymbals) and have a second guitar instead of relying on friends to bring theirs.

On the other hand that allows me to buy the digital version of RB4 as that's the kind of game that's good to have always ready.

Weirdly enough, RB2/3 PS3 instrument seem to be expensive even on ebay, weird.
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I am not sure what country you are from but the RB bundle counts in best buys GCU. So the game is 200 dollars if you are a member not 250. That is what I am planning to do.
 
quest said:
I am not sure what country you are from but the RB bundle counts in best buys GCU. So the game is 200 dollars if you are a member not 250. That is what I am planning to do.
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Ya i'm debating getting the full bundle for 200 or just the guitar bundle for 100.
 
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