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[SouthernDragon]

Got the Bee Gees song pack today.

So awesome!

 

[Version 3.0]

Hey, I noticed they fixed the stupid reverse "percentile" leaderboard ranking messages.

dear god Antibodies is so terrible. One of the worst songs in any game, ever

Just played it a few minutes ago, on guitar. I agree. Plus it's an awful song on its own.

It's nice to have disco in RB now..

If you say so. You young'uns may not remember this, but Disco was (is?) the sworn enemy of Rock. Having Disco in Rock Band is like having Sonic in a Mario game. Sure, it's all hugs now that the proper side has emerged victorious, but some of us remember the casualties of that conflict. ;^p

 

[Psychotext]

Hey, I noticed they fixed the stupid reverse "percentile" leaderboard ranking messages.

/thumbs up

 

[V_Ben]

Edge just gave the game 10/10. Dunno if that's old or not.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=276734

Getting a 10/10 review score from Edge is no easy task.

However, Harmonix's Rock Band 3 has managed what so few can and impressed the maestros enough to receive a perfect mark.

In its review, Edge argues that Rock Band 3 makes the biggest step in Harmonix's "journey towards its masterpiece" thanks to the new pro-guitar feature, which it describes as a "triumph" that sits as a bridge "comfortably in a vaccum between games and actual musicianship".

"Hour by hour, step by challenging step" the new feature "strips away the alienation of the instrument" and "there is simply no aspect of this game that isn't polished to near-perfection," it says.

The new additions all add up to creating "what is easily the best and most progressive rhythm-action game ever made", it concludes. "It is simply magnificent".

Well deserved

 

[Rewrite]

This game hardly deserves the 10. It's good for what it does, but there's a lot of shit that needs to be fixed. Knowing Harmonix, it won't be fixed till like the end of next year. It's a pretty good review, though.

 

[Psychotext]

This game hardly deserves the 10. It's good for what it does, but there's a lot of shit that needs to be fixed. Knowing Harmonix, it won't be fixed till like the end of next year. It's a pretty good review, though.

As much as I love the game... I'd have to agree with that. I just can't see how it's a polished as Edge / Eurogamer seem to make it out to be.

 

[firehawk12]

Edge just gave the game 10/10. Dunno if that's old or not.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=276734



Well deserved

Blogs are summarizing reviews now?! :lol

 

[V_Ben]

Blogs are summarizing reviews now?! :lol

Yeah, it's kinda weird. I believe CVG is Edge's sister site? Or they're owned by the same company. Something like that.

 

[BigBlackGamer]

As much as I love the game... I'd have to agree with that. I just can't see how it's a polished as Edge / Eurogamer seem to make it out to be.

Casual RB players will probably never run into any of the bugs. Despite the problems it's easily the music game of the year and probably the best game ever made in the franchise. A patch or two will make the game even better. Edge isn't the only place to score RB3 extremely high. Hell RB3 is one the best reviewed games of all time on metacritic. nevermind music games.

 

[Rewrite]

Casual RB players will probably never run into any of the bugs. Despite the problems it's easily the music game of the year and probably the best game ever made in the franchise. A patch or two will make the game even better. Edge isn't the only place to score RB3 extremely high. Hell RB3 is one the best reviewed games of all time on metacritic. nevermind music games.

You'll say the same thing when Rock Band 4 comes out.*

*

Spoiler

if there ever is one.

 

[BigBlackGamer]

HMX has consistently made better games with the mainline RB series. shit stars in quickplay is GOTY 2010.

 

[mrklaw]

agree, if you're coming at it from a guitar point of view. I think keys is a great addition, but they haven't done enough to make pro keys accessible or the skills transferrable like they are with guitar.

Guitar uses a tab-like structure to present the notes, and has optional chored naming. Keyboard uses a random sequence of same coloured dots fired at you down the screen. You learn by rote which is fine, so you can probably then play that song on a piano. But you can't play any other song as you'll see sheet music and have no idea what that means.

Even just having basic chord notation like the guitar mode would have been useful.

I would have said that it was just a first step as its a new instrument and they'll improve it in RB5. But there may never be a RB5.

 

[butter_stick]

Casual RB players will probably never run into any of the bugs. Despite the problems it's easily the music game of the year and probably the best game ever made in the franchise. A patch or two will make the game even better. Edge isn't the only place to score RB3 extremely high. Hell RB3 is one the best reviewed games of all time on metacritic. nevermind music games.

RB3 is far too flawed to be worth a 10. Edge are purely doing it for ideological reasons.

 

[jgkspsx]

Even just having basic chord notation like the guitar mode would have been useful.

Yeah, this has been irking me. I've been pretty much doing pro keys exclusively this week, and I guess it's improving my finger agility (I need a stand, though), but isn't helping me at all with knowing what I'm doing. I'm using Garage Band to supplement things.

I would have said that it was just a first step as its a new instrument and they'll improve it in RB5. But there may never be a RB5.

RB4, but yeah. Remember, though, this is GAF: you gotta believe!

 

[Ark Malmeida]

Worked ok for me (did it a few days ago). Maybe delete / redownload the key?

Tried and I'm still having the problem. Looks like I'll have to hit support again - frustrating.

Funny thing is the key says it's the standard 108Kb but when I find it on the HDD it's only listed as 56Kb. Tried to delete and grab it again a few times but it's always the same size.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

Casual RB players will probably never run into any of the bugs.

Which is ironic because EDGE is the hardcore of the enthusiast magazines, not selling to casual rb players.
My friends and I that read EDGE are playing crazy amounts of RB and are seeing the bugs repeatedly.

 

[SouthernDragon]

Yeah, I ran into the freezing glitch with the "dude's unloading boxes" clip for the first time yesterday.

I really, really want to like the game. They did so many things right, but some things are just so baffling. Glitches are one thing, but why the hell do two guitars, drums, and keyboard require All Instruments mode? Why does the PS3 not have 7 player functionality? Why is there a 10 character limit?

 

[AndyMoogle]

Yeah, I ran into the freezing glitch with the "dude's unloading boxes" clip for the first time yesterday.

I really, really want to like the game. They did so many things right, but some things are just so baffling. Glitches are one thing, but why the hell do two guitars, drums, and keyboard require All Instruments mode? Why does the PS3 not have 7 player functionality? Why is there a 10 character limit?

I hate that cut scene. Every time it pops up, I expect the game to freeze.

 

[FlashFlooder]

Why does the PS3 not have 7 player functionality? Why is there a 10 character limit?

The game was designed for 360 and HMX are too lazy / complacent to fix it for PS3 where it would've worked fine with 7 players signed in.

If the limitations were the other way around, I suspect they would put for the extra effort to get it into the 360 version.

That being said, I don't think it's that big of a deal really. In my RB party experience, the singers are usually considerably more casual than the other players (and thus, don't care as much about score). At least it still fills the pie to let you know how you're doing.

 

[Raistlin]

Guitar uses a tab-like structure to present the notes, and has optional chored naming. Keyboard uses a random sequence of same coloured dots fired at you down the screen. You learn by rote which is fine, so you can probably then play that song on a piano. But you can't play any other song as you'll see sheet music and have no idea what that means.

I'm confused. Other than the lack of chord notation, how is pro keys much different from guitar tab? It isn't some random sequence of same colo

Spoiler

u

red dots ... it is literally showing what keys to press. It's basically the same thing.

I understand your latter point, it doesn't transition well into the real world, but I'm not seeing it as being different from the guitar notation in-game.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

I'm confused. Other than the lack of chord notation, how is pro keys much different from guitar tab? It isn't some random sequence of same colo

Spoiler

u

red dots ... it is literally showing what keys to press. It's basically the same thing.

I understand your latter point, it doesn't transition well into the real world, but I'm not seeing it as being different from the guitar notation in-game.

Agreed. The only real glaring issue with pro keys is not showing you the chord notation. I still think that IF we get a RB4 they will add a sheet music mode. Have it be a scrolling bar like vocals are.

 

[soul creator]

I just realized that Essaywhuman?!?!? would be fun as shit to play in Rock Band 3, and probably kind of hilarious

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7__No9owGk

I would open every single playlist or gameplay session with this song in full band play :lol

 

[Affeinvasion]

Agreed. The only real glaring issue with pro keys is not showing you the chord notation. I still think that IF we get a RB4 they will add a sheet music mode. Have it be a scrolling bar like vocals are.

The problem is that often times the sheet music or the actual written notation of song is licensed or held separately from the audio aspect of the music. Tablature, as far as I can tell (or some other proprietary way to show the audio aspect) does not infringe on this.

 

[SouthernDragon]

The game was designed for 360 and HMX are too lazy / complacent to fix it for PS3 where it would've worked fine with 7 players signed in.

If the limitations were the other way around, I suspect they would put for the extra effort to get it into the 360 version.

That being said, I don't think it's that big of a deal really. In my RB party experience, the singers are usually considerably more casual than the other players (and thus, don't care as much about score). At least it still fills the pie to let you know how you're doing.

I absolutely agree with you. I just think it's lazy.

And I'm the vocalist of the group, so not having score recorded kinda sucks, but I'll live.

 

[sneaky77]

IMO they fucked up the most important aspect of the game, which is the note highway so I cannot understand how this game gets a 10 or so many high scores all over the place.. to me is not as good as RB2, the "career" mode seems like it was thrown together quite lazily as well.. I like the game, I expected better.

 

[Jocchan]

I still believe there's too much shit going on in some venues. They went overboard with effects and they're sometimes really distracting, especially when you're playing solo (and you don't have the other highways covering more portions of the screen).

 

[Version 3.0]

IMO they fucked up the most important aspect of the game, which is the note highway so I cannot understand how this game gets a 10 or so many high scores all over the place.. to me is not as good as RB2, the "career" mode seems like it was thrown together quite lazily as well.. I like the game, I expected better.

What's wrong with the note highway? I'm not aware of any differences other than the improvements (super speed and variable track speed).

Career mode is okay, and even slimmed down I find it far superior to RB2's awful mess. The menus are more efficient with more and better options. The slight changes in audio and timing feel good. Really, the only complaints I have are that some other improvements I was hoping for aren't in the game, like being able to have multiple people play the same part (ie two lead guitar).

But they really hit this one out of the park. RB2 was a good game wrapped in a shell of frustrating menus and missing options. RB3 fixes almost everything and has nice additions as well.

 

[Jocchan]

What's wrong with the note highway? I'm not aware of any differences other than the improvements (super speed and variable track speed).

It's a bit too transparent, which makes it harder to see notes when too much stuff is going on in the background (especially at higher difficulties).

Really, the only complaints I have are that some other improvements I was hoping for aren't in the game, like being able to have multiple people play the same part (ie two lead guitar).

Honestly, this pisses me off too. As ridiculous as four guitars or four drums at the same time may look, at least give me the damn option.

 

[Version 3.0]

It's a bit too transparent, which makes it harder to see notes when too much stuff is going on in the background (especially at higher difficulties).

That's true, though I only find it troublesome when there's a bunch of white light right behind it. But is it more translucent than it was in the last 2 games? I hadn't noticed. But yeah, that would be on the list of stuff I wish they'd added: a translucency slider. I do like being able to see the characters, so I wouldn't want it too dark. My friend is always amazed when I comment on what they're doing while I play. He says I shouldn't be able to watch them and still play.

Honestly, this pisses me off too. As ridiculous as four guitars or four drums at the same time may look, at least give me the damn option.

Yeah, treat it as a game, not a simulation. Let us do stuff like that. Right now, we all want to play keyboard since it's the new thing. And let's face it, on many songs bass guitar is boring. Harmonix knows that, remember when they refused to put in a bass career?

 

[Psychotext]

Had another strange thing happen tonight (aside from the store not working, FU!)... for some reason my scores started showing out as greyed out on the results screen (other player was as normal). I have no idea what that meant... but it was concerning.

Oh, and is there any way of stopping the... uhh... scale shifting? On some songs I'll be singing and what used to be at the bottom of the scale will suddenly move to the middle of the scale and utterly mess me up. I end up thinking that it's a medium note when it's actually low. The beatles game did this to me a lot, but I don't remember RB1 / RB2 doing it.

 

[DJ_Tet]

I can understand their reluctance to let two people play lead guitar, but why is there a reluctance to adding a rhythm guitar track? I thought The Beatles would have been a natural fit for that, but instead they seem to integrate rhythm into the medium/easy level of guitar playing.

 

[elektrixx]

Are there any home made tricks to stop a pro cymbal from double-hitting? As you can understand, it's pissing me off.

 

[SouthernDragon]

Oh, and is there any way of stopping the... uhh... scale shifting? On some songs I'll be singing and what used to be at the bottom of the scale will suddenly move to the middle of the scale and utterly mess me up. I end up thinking that it's a medium note when it's actually low. The beatles game did this to me a lot, but I don't remember RB1 / RB2 doing it.

Are you sure the actual voice isn't changing in game? As in, they expect a completely different note at that point in time. Some changes are really subtle.

The other possible thing is that you have pitch correction on and it's throwing you off. Disable it if that's the case.

 

[mrklaw]

I'm confused. Other than the lack of chord notation, how is pro keys much different from guitar tab? It isn't some random sequence of same colo

Spoiler

u

red dots ... it is literally showing what keys to press. It's basically the same thing.

I understand your latter point, it doesn't transition well into the real world, but I'm not seeing it as being different from the guitar notation in-game.

Mainly its because the 'real world' uses tablature for guitar. So if you are a beginner and learn some songs on pro guitar, those skills translate to real guitar but so does an element of the notation reading - eg you could probably fairly quickly read a tab for a different song and play along.

For keyboard, although it is showing you the right keys to press, it isn't in any way connected to how you'd do that in real life. In real life you'd use sheet music. So I can learn to play the (right hand) section of a bee gees song for instance, and then go to a piano and probably play it there too. Fantastic. But I can't then get a book of bee gees sheet music and play anything else. I'm effectively tied to the game as my source of music, and I'm learning nothing in the way of music reading.

Even just having chord notation would mean I could in parallel be taking piano lessons and then join the two up in my head so I can recognise shapes. Also, with the simple note highway you have now you're just reacting, or more likely memorising the positions. My wife plays piano and she had no idea what was coming down the screen at her. If it'd said 'C minor' next to a chord, she'd at least be able to make that shape and position her hand.

 

[Version 3.0]

I can understand their reluctance to let two people play lead guitar, but why is there a reluctance to adding a rhythm guitar track? I thought The Beatles would have been a natural fit for that, but instead they seem to integrate rhythm into the medium/easy level of guitar playing.

Actually, they chart many guitar parts with a lot of switching between two or more actual guitars (one of the reasons for the age-old "toy guitar is harder than real guitar" nonsense).

I'd think allowing two people to play a single part - a very simple change - would be an easy approval, but programming yet another full part for each song would reasonably meet some resistance. It is a shame that they've never done lead and rhythm parts since Guitar Hero II, though, even if it was in place of bass like that was.

 

[Amneisac]

I am so frustrated. I have been trying to get into the Lego Rock Band Music Store to export those tracks for a few days and everytime I try to go in it says the Music Store servers are unavailable. FUCK THIS BULLSHIT. I bought this game specifically to export the music and it has been WEEKS and it's still not working. Harmonix is really pissing me off with this.

 

[Psychotext]

Are you sure the actual voice isn't changing in game? As in, they expect a completely different note at that point in time. Some changes are really subtle.

The other possible thing is that you have pitch correction on and it's throwing you off. Disable it if that's the case.

No, the scale literally moved, you could see the lines moving. A low note suddenly turned up in the middle of the scale even though the singing was identical.

...and no, pitch correction is off.

 

[mrklaw]

Actually, they chart many guitar parts with a lot of switching between two or more actual guitars (one of the reasons for the age-old "toy guitar is harder than real guitar" nonsense).

I'd think allowing two people to play a single part - a very simple change - would be an easy approval, but programming yet another full part for each song would reasonably meet some resistance. It is a shame that they've never done lead and rhythm parts since Guitar Hero II, though, even if it was in place of bass like that was.

it would also help pro guitar, as it could mean I'd choose rhythm guitar to avoid the solos.

 

[mokeyjoe]

Does anyone know if the MIDI adapter works with MIDI guitars - or is it just for the keyboard/drums?

 

[robochimp]

Pretty sure it will only work with the official guitar

 

[Calibrated Chaos]

Which one is better quality?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001B156BA/?tag=neogaf0e-20

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0028N13GC/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[mrklaw]

that first one doesn't say if it has the auto calibration, but I guess it does as an official controller. If you like bass I'd be tempted with that, as it has a split strum bar for rapid upstrums. But its not wireless and doesn't have a whammy bar (just a knob that lokos unusable)

Otherwise there are other 'normal' guitar controllers for RB3, and lots of people also like the GH controllers

 

[PhoncipleBone]

My Gretsch is starting to get a flaky strum bar. The upstrum is not as responsive as before now. Dammit. Downstrum is just as good, but up takes a lil more force.

 

[mokeyjoe]

Pretty sure it will only work with the official guitar

Ah well, guess I'll be importing in March then, The fact it doubles up as a MIDI device makes the $280 (+ shipping) price tag a little easier to swallow. The pickup arrangement is interesting - looks like a bridge humbucker and neck single coil, odd for a Strat.

How's the keyboard in this? I have a MIDI keyboard so that could tide me over until the guitar gets released.

 

[mrklaw]

Ah well, guess I'll be importing in March then, The fact it doubles up as a MIDI device makes the $280 (+ shipping) price tag a little easier to swallow. The pickup arrangement is interesting - looks like a bridge humbucker and neck single coil, odd for a Strat.

How's the keyboard in this? I have a MIDI keyboard so that could tide me over until the guitar gets released.

its good. But pro mode will require a lot of practice just like pro guitar. Normal mode is also fun just to play along with the keys track. Seems easier than normal guitar though - I can do expert 5* on the first three tiers which I could never get anywhere near with guitar.

 

[Yeef]

My Gretsch is starting to get a flaky strum bar. The upstrum is not as responsive as before now. Dammit. Downstrum is just as good, but up takes a lil more force.

I got the Gretsch when it first was released and haven't had any problems with it. That's having logged more hours in RB2 than probably any other game and mostly on guitar.

 

[mokeyjoe]

its good. But pro mode will require a lot of practice just like pro guitar. Normal mode is also fun just to play along with the keys track. Seems easier than normal guitar though - I can do expert 5* on the first three tiers which I could never get anywhere near with guitar.

I guess it depends on what you're used to playing. If you're more of a keyboard player than guitarist then I guess it'll seem easier. I can just about get two hands going on some piano pieces and I learned the beginning to Fur Elise at one point which was about as good as I ever got. Played guitar for about 17 years now so that's the bit I'm most interested in. The ability to go online and jam through some songs with people is really cool. Having to wait until March sucks though, so if I can pick up some basic keyboard skills in the meantime that'll be nice.

How well is this Pro stuff being supported? Are they re-engineering their back catalogue for it? If I'm making an investment then I'd like some decent support.

 

[Ridley327]

I think it's still too early to tell; some weeks, you'll have something like seven Pro guitar upgrades and then there will be weeks like Imagine has only one (but oh man, they picked a good one). They're averaging at least one Pro upgrade each week, so they're at least dedicated to making sure there's something for those players.

The encouraging thing is they've already stated they'll be offering Pro guitar upgrades on legacy DLC, so you may not be SOL if you ever wanted to learn Wake Up Dead or Black Magic.

Maybe.

 

[jessecuster]

Is anyone else having problems getting to the music store?


Mine keeps failing but I am having no internet problems.

 

[vatstep]

Is anyone else having problems getting to the music store?


Mine keeps failing but I am having no internet problems.

Mine too (360 version). Not much mention of it elsewhere aside from a very small thread on the official forums, surprisingly.