LEGO Rock Band Confirmed 98
SailorSpork writes to tell us that the rumored LEGO Rock Band has been confirmed, and it's set to be released later this year. The game is being developed for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and DS. The press release lists the first five songs selected for the game, and says players will "work their way through local venues, stadiums and fantasy locations on Earth and beyond, that mimic the imaginative settings that the LEGO world offers. Also continuing the LEGO 'build-and-play' gaming experience, players will be able to create their own LEGO Rock Band style as they customize their minifigure avatars, band and entourage, including roadies, managers and crew." A new page on the Xbox website provides more (slightly odd) details: "Play killer riffs to destroy a giant robot, summon a storm, and demolish a skyscraper using the power of rock!"
Like they say. (Score:2, Funny)
If you build it they will come. And with lego its even easier.
Re:Like they say. (Score:5, Funny)
We built this city on rock and roll. Using legos.
Re:Like they say. (Score:4, Funny)
We built the city on six by twos.
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This is lame but... (Score:3, Insightful)
Now, if you could build the controller out of a special LEGO set.........
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I don't think this is lame at all. My kids will like it.
However, your idea of building the controller is genius.
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> My kids will like it. :)
me too (though I'm not geekoid's son [afaik])
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The joy of lego bricks is that you don't need a set:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=220541 [brickshelf.com]
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=209444 [brickshelf.com]
I didn't do either, but it is awesome anyway.
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Seriously? (Score:4, Interesting)
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If you think "guitar hero" is strange, in 2006 activision trademarked "Guitar Villain" and "Drum Villain."
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6164293.html [gamespot.com]
They don't seem to have ever done anything with those names, maybe they were considering it a while and decided not to or maybe they just didn't want anyone coming up with a cheap knockoff or a ripoff that was better than their product. Which is sad, I really am curious as to what "Guitar Villain" would be. Maybe it would have been grunge (killing hair metal),
Why? (Score:2)
I somewhat get Lego Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc ... but Rock Band?
I have both version on the XBox 360, and dozens of DLC sonts, but this is a tad pointless version.
I can already customize my band. So I can't build my own bus, to be honest, I rather play the music game with my friends.
Re:Why? (Score:5, Interesting)
The age rating
Rock Band, Guitar Hero, etc are all modeled off of stereotypical rocker behavior - sex, drugs, and rock & roll - in both game design and music choice. That's fine for those games, MTV and Blactivision are shooting for a semi-authentic experience and they get the age rating they're planning on: T(een). But you can't really peddle T games as family games, because they're not. People (at least in the conservative segment) don't particularly want their kids playing T games, or want to be playing T games with them. Rock Band/Guitar Hero don't quite fit in the casual gamer/family mold that the Wii has managed build so well.
So they want to push Rock Band as a truly family friendly game, and that means paring down the objectionable material to get the rating down to an E(veryone). If they just release Rock Band 3 like this, they're going to drive off the core gamers that they're shooting for in their other titles. They don't want to end up with a Core Gamer XOR Families situation, they want both.
So you get an offshoot, something that's similar in gameplay but different enough in style that it's clearly not going to encroach on the mainline Rock Band audience while still being a Rock Band game. LEGO games have proven to be extremely popular with the family friendly segment (there's nothing objectionable about about LEGO), so they have great band name recognition. Parents will immediately recognize a LEGO title as being family friendly, and at this point Rock Band is popular enough that most people recognize it too.
So why LEGO Rock Band? Because it's going to be the Rock Band title they can slap an E on, sell to families, and sell extremely well due to the branding.
Re:Why? (Score:4, Informative)
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The Lego Star Wars trilogies were great. My wife and I played through them twice on the Wii. Lego Batman? Not so much. Lego Indiana Jones made me feel like a wallet whose sole purpose was to exude money. If you say "all the Lego games have been pretty good", you either have very low standards or have been so entertained by Lego Star Wars that you've not
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Thank you for the explanation. Makes sense now; I wish the article had explained that as well as you did.
Cheers.
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Ah yes, family friendly fun. With "Girls and Boys" as a track:
"Educated
With money
He's well dressed
Not funny
And not much to say in
Most conversations
But he'll foot the bill in
All situations
Cause he pays for everything
Girls don't like boys, girls like cars and money
Boys will laugh at girls when they're not funny
Paper
Or plastic
Don't matter
She'll have it
Vacations
And shopping sprees
These are a few
Of her favorite things
She'll get what she wants
If she's willing to please
His type of girl
Always comes with a fee
Hey, n
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Rock Band, Guitar Hero, etc are all modeled off of stereotypical rocker behavior - sex, drugs, and rock & roll - in both game design and music choice.
Aha. So why does GH3 have "Sunshine of your Love" rather than "Cocaine"? Why is "ucking" missing from several places in "Belly of a Shark"?
I'm adult. I can handle drugs and swearing. Stop protecting me from things I can handle.
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"there's nothing objectionable about about LEGO"
Oh, there can be my friend....there can be.
http://www.amyhughes.org/lego/church/index.html [amyhughes.org]
And for more internet-norm wierdness:
http://www.blameitonthevoices.com/2008/09/lego-domination-sex.html [blameitonthevoices.com]
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I feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day (Score:2)
... except every day is April Fools Day. Seriously.
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Lego? I really do believe it.
Barbie Rock Band? (Score:2)
No, for April Fools Day, I'd expect something more like Barby Doll Rock Band -- be that fake-rebellious punk rocker you always idolized!
I could almost see a music game featuring bands with female vocalists (e.g. Heart, Joan Jett, Blondie, Bangles, No Doubt). But it wouldn't have that infamous Aqua song [wikipedia.org], would it?
gotta have (Score:4, Informative)
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This is one that's gotta have the White Stripes' "Fell in Love with a Girl" as one of the songs. It just wouldn't be right if it didn't.
I second that. Lookitup on Youtube if you don't understand why.
Camelot... (Score:2)
Pfft, It better have Camelot. [youtube.com]
What CAN"T you do with legos? (Score:1)
Let's see... OK. There will never be a Sexy LEGO Beach 3. Or will there?
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The combination of two of the most overused computer game brands in history would create a black hole large enough to swallow the Earth - and not even Will Wright is that stupid.
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Yeah but Will Wright quit, do you trust EA not to do something like thi- Oh, crap! [wikipedia.org]
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Both just jumped the shark. (Score:2)
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The problem with your quick Wikipedia search is that while there may be a total of more than "4 years worth" of LEGO and music games listed, only a fraction of those can really be considered as ones that would be diluting the market.
For example, of the 34 LEGO games listed in your link, over half of those are old PC or GBA shovelware titles that the general public never saw or knew existed. And when it comes to the "172 pages of music games" you failed to make a critical distinction -- your example is a li
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As long as the quality of the games is at least reasonable all they are doing is adding to the strength of their already very strong brand, and coining risk-free licensing money at the same time.
I actually just went looking to see if you can buy any stock in the company, and was rather disappointed to find it is privately owned.
Re:are you fucking joking!? (Score:5, Interesting)
You don't have 7 year old children, do you?
Neither Rock Band or Guitar Hero are very age appropriate for kids. Not only are the lyrics and imagery questionable, even the "Easy" (for GH) level is pretty darned hard for them, and the "Beginner" (or whatever they call it) level is so dumbed down that even they think its just a joke.
On the other hand, it would be a great family game if they could keep up.
If they present present less sex and drugs oriented visuals, and a younger bias to the difficulty level, it opens the game up to a whole new audience.
If you prefer as an on-screen avatar a half-dressed, skanky chick with needle tracks up her arm, feel free to not buy this game.
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Wow! Which LEGO games are those? I've played all Star Wars LEGO games and found them extremely easy to play. They do get challenging if you try to unlock every single "secret" area and prize, and this is a good thing, but the main game play is simple and easy:
- There is virtually no penalty for dying (you lose some of the "stud" coins you pick up, but continue where you left off).
- There are no life limits.
- Almost every other enemy killed drops a health "heart", mitigating your chances of dying (even fur
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Neither Rock Band or Guitar Hero are very age appropriate for kids. Not only are the lyrics and imagery questionable, even the "Easy" (for GH) level is pretty darned hard for them, and the "Beginner" (or whatever they call it) level is so dumbed down that even they think its just a joke.
Difficulty wise, Rock band has a "no fail" option where they can play on any difficulty but the song won't cut out even if they miss every note. There are cheat codes on GH 1,2, and 3 at least that allow you to do the same thing. I'd be very suprised if they didn't have that for Guitar hero world tour. If they don't like that, tell them they need to practice or wait until they grow bigger fingers.
If you're worried about lyrics and imagery, well, there is guitar praise (http://www.guitarpraise.com/). Not
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Visuals? There's no drug references in either game and an exposed belly button is only "inappropriate" if you're a prude.
I let my five year old watch all the time. (Though it is true I sometimes have to make sure to cough at the appropriate time during some of the songs.)
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I certainly don't let the kid pick the actual song. That takes care of 90% of it right there.
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You don't have 7 year old children, do you?
Yes, I do. My 7 year old daughter plays Rock Band on medium. She keeps up with her teen brothers just fine.
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It's geared to people with a younger family.
It's not brain surgery.
It's not for you, it is in now way meant for you, and just because you aren't it's demographic doesn't mean it's an insult to your intelligence.
Stop taking this stuff personally.
In short:
not everything is about you, put your cock away.
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Yeah, I play good games, not RB/GH.
How can you play guitar with (Score:1)
I am waiting for Rock Band Rock Band (Score:3, Funny)
"Luke, I am your rock god father" (Score:1)
Now to just get the expansion set where you can play as your favorite Lego Star Wars characters - I can see the Wookie on Bass, Princess Leia on Drums, and Darth Vader on Lead Guitar!
Re:"Luke, I am your rock god father" (Score:5, Informative)
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I prefer a stripped down band. R2D2 is both the drum set and the synth.
Han just does lead vocals.
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Other ideas for new Lego games (Score:1)
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I always thought Lego James Bond would be cool. Lot of good villians over the years, plus all the different gadgets James Bond gets. Would be similar to the different suits and suit upgrades in Lego Batman...
Lego & Rock Actually A Tradition (Score:1, Interesting)
Not well known outside of Denmark but Lego has put on rock shows in the past. In my one experience it was pretty cool. About 20,000 people total with the area in front of the stage gated off for kids only.
Best part was the main act complaining about needing their rest and their snapps (Aquavit).
Gotta Love the Danes
To be modded flamebait (Score:1)
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"Afterall, isn't the wii just a PS2 with a funny controller?"
No.
What's up with them not making Atari 64 games anymore?
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What is Atari 64?
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I think you have a point here. I mean, it's LEGO. LEGO!
I don't see how they are going to need PS3 capabilities. Maybe some filtering, but probably nothing PS2 can't handle (or come close to).
Or do we need high definition LEGO?
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To be fair if you actually want to render the... um... studs? on top of the bricks in 3d you'll have to push a shitload of polygons.
Lame (Score:1)
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While not (Score:1)
In other news... (Score:2)
"Blizzard has announced a joint venture between itself and K'Nex Industries culminating years of negotiations. The yet-to-be-released title, "Starcraft 3:The Lincoln Log Saga", brings new life to an already highly successful francise..."
Seriously, why do people think that cramming more into a package makes it more attractive?
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Actually, I read that press release. The game is called "Civil War of Warcraft".
-dZ.
Haha (Score:1, Offtopic)
Haha.. but seriously, April Fools day was weeks ago. These kind of jokes have no place on Slashdot.
M
Fiyaaaaah! (Score:2)
As long as there's a Basara lookalike, I'll be happy. A Coop is fine too.
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If only I had mod points, you would have them all. Making a Macross 7 reference and a Megas XLR reference? You, sir, are awesome.
Shark... (Score:2)
...meet thine jumper.
-dZ.
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I bet you're the first to say it. And heck, after only what, a dozen or so games? [/sarcasm]
DLC essentially can make new releases obsolete, but I really think this will do well. I never would have seen the appeal in the Lego Star Wars games, but they're pretty good.
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>> I bet you're the first to say it. And heck, after only what, a dozen or so games?
And I bet you made a snarky comment to each and every one. Hurry up, I think someone is posting funny reference right now; go get'em!
I, on the other hand, saw the appeal of the Lego Star Wars game, and of the Guitar Hero--I always thought it was self-evident. I also like both of them. However, Lego Hero? Whatever.
-dZ.
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Lego surprised me once, I just don't think I'm ready for Netcraft to confirm anything because the appeal isn't obvious to everyone. :) But I've got young kids too. The 9-yr old does a good job tearing it up on GH, and I'm probably a bit biased because I'm ready to see my 3-yr old start tackling it too.
You had me at.... (Score:2)
Next up in the franchise... (Score:4, Funny)
Lego Duke Nukem
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I've got bricks of steel.