Rock Band 2

To follow on from what I was talking about before, Rock Band 2 has now been officially announced, and from what I can tell it's very good news.

Here are the headlines:

1) All downloadable content will be cross-compatible between all Rock Band games.
Cross-compatible, mind, so Rock Band 1 owners don't need Rock Band 2 to keep enjoying songs.

2) Same goes for instruments.
I'm sure that in the UK we're all very pleased about not being asked to shell out a ton of money yet again for the peripherals.

3) But they're releasing updated models anyway.
There's hope that they might do something along the lines of the optional cymbals that double up on the regular pads, like the third part MadCatz kit. If so, count me in (so to speak) for the drums, at least.

4) As for content, we're talking about 80-ish songs.
Similar number to the next Guitar Hero, then. Which is great value, compared to the price of downloadable content - but no announcements of what the songs will be like yet. Of course, they're talking them up big-style.

5) New game modes that let you enjoy the songs in new and exciting ways.
No idea what this could possibly mean, but it all adds value, I suppose. We shall see.

6) Most of the little gripes that people had with the original have been heard and fixed.
Well, we can believe it when we see it, but their online community is very active and they do read it regularly, so I think we'll find many improvements.


So, what it amounts to is a refinement of what we had before. It's no reinvention, and I don't suppose anyone expected it to be. I think that it's more of a definitive version, in that it looks like it is trying to take the 'but...' out of 'I love Rock Band, but...'

As for me, I love Rock Band, but, for example...

*I wish there was more flexibility with the characters you create - such as allowing them to take more than one instrument, or using them as band members when you're playing solo, instead of the defaults. A small point really, but I've always liked customisable characters, so I'd like to see them better.

*I do worry about the durability of this drum kit, and I'd like to see lessons learned next time.

*I wish the songs would cater to a slightly wider range of tastes.



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