Guitar Hero: World Tour's recent launch saw boxes of plastic instruments flying off store shelves, quickly selling out in many areas. Unfortunately, many players reported problems with the bundled drums sets, prompting Activision to release a drum "tuning" application and a free midi-USB cable to connect the instruments to a PC. Otherwise, reviews for the game have been largely positive, and MTV's Multiplayer Blog did an analysis of using Rock Band drums in GH:WT, and vice-versa. Kotaku looked at which set was louder, coming to the conclusion that while they sound different, decibel levels are very similar. The early success in sales for GH:WT caused Activision to say holiday demand may not be met, and that they're examining two methods in particular to develop the franchise: instrument upgrades (hopefully less ludicrous than Logitech's $250 axe) and the possibility of a subscription-based model for user-generated content. "[Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby] Kotick says that there are now 25,000 user generated tunes that have been created for the game, and projected 'up to 100,000 songs' by the end of this year."
No mention of the PS3 WT drums on RB compatibility issue? We have to make some noise if Rock Band is going to release the path Guitar Hero says is needed.
It's the same situation on the Wii. Guitar Hero: WT is incompatible with the Rock Band Wii drum kit. It's absolutely ridiculous for both platforms to not support these controllers, and reeks of a money grab by Activision.
For what it's worth, I've had less fun with Guitar Hero: WT than Rock Band Wii, gimped as it is. Hopefully Rock Band 2 Wii is at least as good as the previous installment, and DLC works as promised.
Guitar Hero: WT is incompatible with the Rock Band Wii drum kit.
How about the converse? Will Rock Band 2 work with World Tour equipment?
I've ordered WT already because I've already got two guitars from GH3 and Aerosmith; the drum kit can wait till I have more money to throw around. I'd like to get Rock Band 2 as well, but only if I don't end up with a room full of incompatible equipment.
RB2 is *awesome*. It's a huge improvement over RB. I've owned both games almost since they were released.
RB2 has a no fail mode which is great for teaching your friends without failing songs over and over. You can tour with your friends online now via Xbox Live (I'm sure it works on PS3 same way). You can tour as a single player and you can play bass as a single player now as well. There are drum solos now and the calibration tools works a lot better. There are many, many other improvements but those were
a subscription for user-generated content? so Activision wants users to pay them money to share their self-created content?
why are mainstream game publishers run by such douche bags? it's not enough that users are adding value to their product by donating their time/creativity to create new content for the game, but now the game publisher wants to "monetize" this content by charging users for sharing their own songs with each other.
>>> Why are mainstream game publishers run by such douche bags? >> You haven't seen anything yet. > Yeah.
Almost similar. Except that you don't have to pay to participate. You get an edge by paying.. now for GH I'm not even sure how they distribute user tracks, but if the company made a way for it to work in game and seamlessly (I saw people burning discs to play customs....) then it would definitally be cool - but paying for *all* access would be lame. Paying to get some tracks earlier would add
The quote from the exec and the sentiment from Ars Technica don't quite line up. You can have a "property" that provides income and development potential for a decade or more. You can develop that "property" without beating it into the ground. *points to Half-Life* : D
by Anonymous Coward
on Thursday November 06 2008, @11:15PM (#25671561)
If you're going to seriously play drums on this game (or rock band 1 & 2), get rid of the bundled drums and replace them with the ION Drum Rocker set (about $270-$300). They are much easier to play for extended periods of time.
Wait... is the game that good to justify hundreds of dollars for one instrument? AFAICT, most people play it for 1/2 an hour and get bored of it. Now, I'm not saying you didn't here..... but a little perspective may be in order.
As it seems from the ion drum website, these are actual electronic drums that you can also hook up to a drum computer (at least one of the same brand). I guess that makes more sense than buying a $250 guitar without snares.
As it seems from the ion drum website, these are actual electronic drums that you can also hook up to a drum computer (at least one of the same brand).
The bit about needing the same brand is a myth propagated by the folks at ION to sell Alesis drum brains. I currently have a Roland TD-3 Drum brain hooked up to my ION Drums and everything works just fine. Feel free to mix and match drums as you please. You can also use Roland V-Drum Cymbals with the ION controller brain and suffer no adverse consequences.
If you're really serious about drumming in Guitar Hero or Rock Band 1 or 2, you should consider buying a proper electronic kit (any kit with MIDI out) together with a MIDI adapter.
their own stuff means servers and bandwidth are already necessary, right?
Not quite. If the user generated content were free and being pulled from their servers, it's entirely possible (even likely imo) that the free content would be downloaded 2 to 3 times as much as the paid for content. In addition, they may be required by the distribution networks (xbox live, psn) to charge for additional content. Overall, offering user generated content for free risks that content's costs bleeding the profits dry.
Of course, the huge amount of free content would also be a driver for increased sales of their ridiculously priced peripherals, but to an executive it would probably seem like an easy decision.
But keep in mind that the GHTunes are basically a handful of MIDI files (one for each instrument). This is a far far smaller bandwidth burden than the store tracks which contain a compressed audio track for guitar, bass, drums, vocals (maybe?), and one for everything else.
I admire the extra indirection. Why settle for playing a console game which simulates playing a musical instrument? For just a little more cash you can use the console to approximate an arcade machine which simulates playing a musical instrument.
the drum tuning application provided by Activision, which requires a 20 character code to install, only came with 19 characters.
Activision did, however, suggest a work-around. "To do this, simply enter your existing code, and then for the last character, try the letters A-Z, and then the numbers 0-9. You should eventually get the right combination, and be able to install the applicatin."
That's what a rimshot is.
It is and it's not. What you're describing is actually two snare hits, followed by a bass/crash hit. For some reason, it's called a rimshot in comedic circles. In drumming, a proper rimshot is when you hit the snare head and rim with the stick at the same time (called a ping if you do it closer to the edge). It produces a sharp, slightly metallic sound.
There's a lot of music that's hit the public domain. All classical music, for example. Mozart made some very famous alterations to a nursery rhyme [wikipedia.org], and I see no reason that someone couldn't make a name for themselves making variations on public music. I played "Maple Leaf" in World Tour today and realized that it was a song I'd played when learning piano way back in the day.
I'd also be willing to bet large amounts of money that the pattern the notes make as they come down will be the main focus of some
I could really use a USB MIDI adapter. I don't suppose anyone who doesn't need it wants to get one and sell it to me? Or for that matter, someone who only needs it once? It's about $40 shipped to get the M-Audio Midiman Uno, so it would have to be cheaper than that... On the other hand, if I just wait a year they should be all over Gamestop for like ten bucks. Anyway, this is a call to all slashdotters who have the kit and weren't thinking about getting the device: what were you thinking? You know you're going to want one someday.
I haven't gotten my USB-to-MIDI cable from Activision yet (just put my RMA in today), but I was able to tune my drumkit with my USB MIDI keyboard (An EDIROL PCR-80). Here's the thing - I had to hook the drumkit to the MIDI OUT port, not the MIDI IN (I know this for sure, because I originally tried using my M-Audio iControl with only a MIDI IN port, and it didn't work).
What does this mean? That cable Activision is sending out is MIDI OUT, not MIDI IN. So if you were planning on using this free cable to
I bought the full band kit, and just got off the phone with walmart about returning it. Here's what I've had:
The drums are a bit better to use in theory, but the sensitivity (out of the box) is too low. I really have to hit things above where I'm comfortable and it isn't forgiving if you had poor aim. I got a blood blister after some extended playing.
Using star power is random. Sometimes it gives it to you, often times it doesnt.
I ordered the USB-MIDI adapter to fix my drum kit. It came in 4 business days. My computer detects it but doesn't do anything with it. Its not an option on the drum controller drop-down and none of the MIDI options are substitutes. Restarting didn't help nor did disabling the other audio devices. It shows up under the device manager though and has a green light when connected. So... I can't fix it.
My guitar's strum broke today and has about a 5% chance of registering a downward strum now. The tap bar was always iffy with it, and the star power button used for muting was flat out inconsistent.
I broke part of the things used for holding the drum sticks by playing with them up. Don't do that.
Freak on a Leash is fun to play, a lot of the songs aren't though. They're long and repetitive. Whoever put Dinosaur Jr. in there should be shot.
Red Octane makes you pay to ship your defective device to them, with a copy of the receipt (mind you this game hasn't been out for 90 days). Its hard to find their warranty returns on their website. Here's a link:
That is why I'm returning the kit to wal-mart, I dont feel like I should pay 12 dollars and take extra time out of my work day to drop off a package, then wait 3 weeks to get another potentially defective device.
ok, does anyone know how to get the legs and the feet of the drum set detached once they lock in place? Maybe I'll just see if they can swap out the defective guitar with one of the individual ones. The drums just need the sensitivity fixed after all...
If I was going to go to the trouble of getting people together to play different instruments, I'd ditch the fake guitar hero ones and buy real instruments. I was in a garage band in high school, but even if it required me to pick up an instrument from scratch I think it would be a lot more fun than playing a video game version. I realize they aren't the same thing, and each to their own, but the reward is so much greater when you actually play that I'm surprised by the popularity of the group game even more
The majority of people don't have musical talent. Hoping to get a random group together to learn instruments and play recognizable songs late at night after a night out partying is a pipe dream.
Give one of the games a whirl sometime. Actually knowing how to play diminishes some of the fun. But in the end it just another way to enjoy music.
The majority of people don't have musical talent. Hoping to get a random group together to learn instruments and play recognizable songs late at night after a night out partying is a pipe dream.
You think I'd put together a band because I have talent!?!? MUhahahahahahhahaha. I play badly, and I can't read sheet music, but I'm not trying to earn a living or make it big so who cares. Playing an instrument reasonably in tune gives you a huge sense of accomplishment when you get it right. Even moreso if you and
I finally got around to picking up Rock Band for my PS3 about a month ago (there's some pretty nice deals on the Sams Club website--30 for the guitar, 35 for the game). I used to play drums a long time ago, and I play guitar now. No, the game isn't quite the same as playing the real thing (well, the drums are in the ball park), but it definitely does get you used to some of the general motions you'll need to go through if playing the real instrument. It certainly does get you used to playing power chords, t
Here's a different idea: Try turning the GH Tunes store into iTunes for Guitar Hero. And turn the Guitar Hero engine and tools into the Unreal Engine of rhythm games.
Let third party developers produce full-quality songs and let them sell them on GH Tunes. (For a price of course.)
Activision can then focus on making the Guitar Hero engine and instruments better, and release first party titles - like Aerosmith, AC/DC, & Metallica - but also benefit from others making less blockbuster games - see Guitar Praise http://www.guitarpraise.com/ [guitarpraise.com]. That would solidify Activision's peripherals as the industry standard, their tools and environment as standard, and allow them to reap profits from selling the tools and licensing fees from third-party games.
I've used and played every single controller for Guitar Mania, Beat Mania, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band. I've used almost all the 3rd-party controllers for the PS2 and XBOX 360. I've played all the Bemani games in the arcade. I've even played the drum kit for Rock Revolution briefly.
In my opinion, World Tour has the best equipment currently available. The strum bar on their guitar is the best of any bemani-guitar, hands down. The World Tour drum kit, when properly tuned, is way better than the Rock Band or Rock Revolution drum sets. The ION Rocket drum set is probably better, but it's $300. The Logitech guitar might be good too (it isn't out yet) but it's $250 and only works on the PS2 and PS3.
This isn't just my opinion. My girlfriend is a pro drummer and guitar player and she agrees that the World Tour instruments are best.
Now as to the game itself, Rock Band 2 is better hands down for any number of reasons.
My advice? Buy the World Tour band kit and Rock Band 2 w/o the instruments. That's what I'm doing.
WT drums on PS3 issue? (Score:3, Informative)
No mention of the PS3 WT drums on RB compatibility issue? We have to make some noise if Rock Band is going to release the path Guitar Hero says is needed.
Re:WT drums on PS3 issue? (Score:5, Informative)
It's the same situation on the Wii. Guitar Hero: WT is incompatible with the Rock Band Wii drum kit. It's absolutely ridiculous for both platforms to not support these controllers, and reeks of a money grab by Activision.
For what it's worth, I've had less fun with Guitar Hero: WT than Rock Band Wii, gimped as it is. Hopefully Rock Band 2 Wii is at least as good as the previous installment, and DLC works as promised.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
How about the converse? Will Rock Band 2 work with World Tour equipment?
I've ordered WT already because I've already got two guitars from GH3 and Aerosmith; the drum kit can wait till I have more money to throw around. I'd like to get Rock Band 2 as well, but only if I don't end up with a room full of incompatible equipment.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
RB2 has a no fail mode which is great for teaching your friends without failing songs over and over. You can tour with your friends online now via Xbox Live (I'm sure it works on PS3 same way). You can tour as a single player and you can play bass as a single player now as well. There are drum solos now and the calibration tools works a lot better. There are many, many other improvements but those were
pay us money to help us profit from your work (Score:5, Interesting)
a subscription for user-generated content? so Activision wants users to pay them money to share their self-created content?
why are mainstream game publishers run by such douche bags? it's not enough that users are adding value to their product by donating their time/creativity to create new content for the game, but now the game publisher wants to "monetize" this content by charging users for sharing their own songs with each other.
Re:pay us money to help us profit from your work (Score:5, Funny)
Why are mainstream game publishers run by such douche bags?
You haven't seen anything yet. [arstechnica.com]
Parent
Re:pay us money to help us profit from your work (Score:5, Funny)
Why are mainstream game publishers run by such douche bags?
You haven't seen anything yet. [arstechnica.com]
Yeah. [slashdot.org]
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
>>> Why are mainstream game publishers run by such douche bags?
>> You haven't seen anything yet.
> Yeah.
Almost similar. Except that you don't have to pay to participate. ....) then it would definitally be cool - but paying for
You get an edge by paying.. now for GH I'm not even sure how they
distribute user tracks, but if the company made a way for it to
work in game and seamlessly (I saw people burning discs to play
customs
*all* access would be lame. Paying to get some tracks earlier
would add
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
: (
The quote from the exec and the sentiment from Ars Technica don't quite line up. You can have a "property" that provides income and development potential for a decade or more. You can develop that "property" without beating it into the ground.
*points to Half-Life* : D
Drumset (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
SOOO agreed, considering my experience with the drummania drum sets available.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Wait... is the game that good to justify hundreds of dollars for one instrument? AFAICT, most people play it for 1/2 an hour and get bored of it. Now, I'm not saying you didn't here..... but a little perspective may be in order.
Re:Drumset (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
As it seems from the ion drum website, these are actual electronic drums that you can also hook up to a drum computer (at least one of the same brand).
The bit about needing the same brand is a myth propagated by the folks at ION to sell Alesis drum brains. I currently have a Roland TD-3 Drum brain hooked up to my ION Drums and everything works just fine. Feel free to mix and match drums as you please. You can also use Roland V-Drum Cymbals with the ION controller brain and suffer no adverse consequences.
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Here are two choices of adapters:
http://www.rockband.com/users/sethmeisterg/gallery [rockband.com]
http://www.bytearts.com/midi/index.htm [bytearts.com]
Re:Drumset (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
User-generated content to cost? (Score:5, Interesting)
I mean, it's not costing them to produce, and their own stuff means servers and bandwidth are already necessary, right?
I'm betting user-generated content will be finding its way onto bittorrent along with a crack for any kind of lock-in to the subscription service.
Re:User-generated content to cost? (Score:4, Interesting)
their own stuff means servers and bandwidth are already necessary, right?
Not quite. If the user generated content were free and being pulled from their servers, it's entirely possible (even likely imo) that the free content would be downloaded 2 to 3 times as much as the paid for content. In addition, they may be required by the distribution networks (xbox live, psn) to charge for additional content. Overall, offering user generated content for free risks that content's costs bleeding the profits dry.
Of course, the huge amount of free content would also be a driver for increased sales of their ridiculously priced peripherals, but to an executive it would probably seem like an easy decision.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
But keep in mind that the GHTunes are basically a handful of MIDI files (one for each instrument). This is a far far smaller bandwidth burden than the store tracks which contain a compressed audio track for guitar, bass, drums, vocals (maybe?), and one for everything else.
$250? Pussies (Score:2)
I've paid more. I play GUITAR FREAKS and drummania. I've owned a guitar that was about $300 cause it was "arcade style": http://mgrsti3030s.seamlesstech.biz/templates/frmTemplateR.asp?CatalogID=10923&SearchYN=N&subFolderID=97 [seamlesstech.biz] (And places like play-asia.com don't have it anymore cause it's a limited edition item so it's "out of print")
And the "arcade style" sets for drums are full electronic YAMAHA drumsets.
I'm very very used to expensive controllers for music games to simulate an arcade experience.
Re: (Score:2)
Wow. I wish I had that kind of money. And time. And ability.
Re:$250? Pussies (Score:5, Funny)
I admire the extra indirection. Why settle for playing a console game which simulates playing a musical instrument? For just a little more cash you can use the console to approximate an arcade machine which simulates playing a musical instrument.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
When a simulation costs more than the real thing, surely you've got to wonder if there's a problem.
Unfortunately (Score:5, Funny)
the drum tuning application provided by Activision, which requires a 20 character code to install, only came with 19 characters.
Activision did, however, suggest a work-around. "To do this, simply enter your existing code, and then for the last character, try the letters A-Z, and then the numbers 0-9. You should eventually get the right combination, and be able to install the applicatin."
Re:Unfortunately (Score:5, Funny)
bass snare bass snare tom tom cymbal snare snare cymbal bass bass cymbal tom snare tom snare snare cymbal rimshot.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
you forgot the Ba-dummm Tishhh!!! at the end...
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
It is and it's not. What you're describing is actually two snare hits, followed by a bass/crash hit. For some reason, it's called a rimshot in comedic circles. In drumming, a proper rimshot is when you hit the snare head and rim with the stick at the same time (called a ping if you do it closer to the edge). It produces a sharp, slightly metallic sound.
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25,000 User generated songs... (Score:5, Funny)
24,500 of which are mario bros. related
495 which infringe on commercial bands
the other 5 are my 3 year old niece's random creations
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I'd also be willing to bet large amounts of money that the pattern the notes make as they come down will be the main focus of some
Make sure you try my #1 hit (Score:2, Insightful)
Tuning Kit? (Score:4, Interesting)
I could really use a USB MIDI adapter. I don't suppose anyone who doesn't need it wants to get one and sell it to me? Or for that matter, someone who only needs it once? It's about $40 shipped to get the M-Audio Midiman Uno, so it would have to be cheaper than that... On the other hand, if I just wait a year they should be all over Gamestop for like ten bucks. Anyway, this is a call to all slashdotters who have the kit and weren't thinking about getting the device: what were you thinking? You know you're going to want one someday.
The MIDI cable doesn't go two ways (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
swissonic MIDI-USB 1X1 - 20 euros at thomann.
I bought the kit (Score:5, Interesting)
The drums are a bit better to use in theory, but the sensitivity (out of the box) is too low. I really have to hit things above where I'm comfortable and it isn't forgiving if you had poor aim. I got a blood blister after some extended playing.
Using star power is random. Sometimes it gives it to you, often times it doesnt.
I ordered the USB-MIDI adapter to fix my drum kit. It came in 4 business days. My computer detects it but doesn't do anything with it. Its not an option on the drum controller drop-down and none of the MIDI options are substitutes. Restarting didn't help nor did disabling the other audio devices. It shows up under the device manager though and has a green light when connected. So... I can't fix it.
My guitar's strum broke today and has about a 5% chance of registering a downward strum now. The tap bar was always iffy with it, and the star power button used for muting was flat out inconsistent.
I broke part of the things used for holding the drum sticks by playing with them up. Don't do that.
Freak on a Leash is fun to play, a lot of the songs aren't though. They're long and repetitive. Whoever put Dinosaur Jr. in there should be shot.
Red Octane makes you pay to ship your defective device to them, with a copy of the receipt (mind you this game hasn't been out for 90 days). Its hard to find their warranty returns on their website. Here's a link:
http://www.redoctanegames.com/Warranty/USA/ [redoctanegames.com]
That is why I'm returning the kit to wal-mart, I dont feel like I should pay 12 dollars and take extra time out of my work day to drop off a package, then wait 3 weeks to get another potentially defective device.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe get a blister on your little finger, maybe get a blister on your thumb.
Hey what did you expect? Money for nothing?
Re: (Score:2)
Welcome to playing drums. And yes, I seriously mean that. You get blisters from playing.
I'd go for a real band (Score:2)
If I was going to go to the trouble of getting people together to play different instruments, I'd ditch the fake guitar hero ones and buy real instruments. I was in a garage band in high school, but even if it required me to pick up an instrument from scratch I think it would be a lot more fun than playing a video game version. I realize they aren't the same thing, and each to their own, but the reward is so much greater when you actually play that I'm surprised by the popularity of the group game even more
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Give one of the games a whirl sometime. Actually knowing how to play diminishes some of the fun. But in the end it just another way to enjoy music.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
The majority of people don't have musical talent. Hoping to get a random group together to learn instruments and play recognizable songs late at night after a night out partying is a pipe dream.
You think I'd put together a band because I have talent!?!? MUhahahahahahhahaha. I play badly, and I can't read sheet music, but I'm not trying to earn a living or make it big so who cares. Playing an instrument reasonably in tune gives you a huge sense of accomplishment when you get it right. Even moreso if you and
Re: (Score:2)
Believe me, managing to play "Through fire and flames" also gives you a huge sense of accomplishment ;)
Re: (Score:2)
DIY Fixes for GHWT Drum Kit Sensitivity Problems (Score:2, Interesting)
My guide features high quality photos and videos demonstrating before and after response of the drums.
The official solution is to do a support request and get the USB MIDI cable shipped to you. But my fix will have you drumming TODAY.
Open up to third party developers (Score:3, Interesting)
Here's a different idea:
Try turning the GH Tunes store into iTunes for Guitar Hero.
And turn the Guitar Hero engine and tools into the Unreal Engine of rhythm games.
Let third party developers produce full-quality songs and let them sell them on GH Tunes. (For a price of course.)
Activision can then focus on making the Guitar Hero engine and instruments better, and release first party titles - like Aerosmith, AC/DC, & Metallica - but also benefit from others making less blockbuster games - see Guitar Praise http://www.guitarpraise.com/ [guitarpraise.com]. That would solidify Activision's peripherals as the industry standard, their tools and environment as standard, and allow them to reap profits from selling the tools and licensing fees from third-party games.
Sounds like win-win all around to me.
- Jasen.
World Tour has best equipment hands down (Score:4, Interesting)
I've used and played every single controller for Guitar Mania, Beat Mania, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band. I've used almost all the 3rd-party controllers for the PS2 and XBOX 360. I've played all the Bemani games in the arcade. I've even played the drum kit for Rock Revolution briefly.
In my opinion, World Tour has the best equipment currently available. The strum bar on their guitar is the best of any bemani-guitar, hands down. The World Tour drum kit, when properly tuned, is way better than the Rock Band or Rock Revolution drum sets. The ION Rocket drum set is probably better, but it's $300. The Logitech guitar might be good too (it isn't out yet) but it's $250 and only works on the PS2 and PS3.
This isn't just my opinion. My girlfriend is a pro drummer and guitar player and she agrees that the World Tour instruments are best.
Now as to the game itself, Rock Band 2 is better hands down for any number of reasons.
My advice? Buy the World Tour band kit and Rock Band 2 w/o the instruments. That's what I'm doing.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
"My girlfriend is a pro drummer and guitar player and she agrees that the World Tour instruments are best."
Maybe that's the problem..it's too much like a real drum and not a game controller.
SO it isn't just your opinion, it's you and your girlfriends opinion, with a touch or argument from authority tossed it.
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