Rock Band 2 Coming in September for 360...Later for Others
June 30th, 2008 at 8:06 AM Marc "DjinniMan" Allie
It appears that the Rock Band franchise will draw first blood in the upcoming battle of the rhythm games. Shacknews reports that Rock Band 2 will be released for Xbox 360 in September, with other platforms following soon after. A few tidbits of information were dropped, mostly about DLC. Content downloaded for Rock Band 1 will work just fine in Rock Band 2, and the opposite is true for songs downloaded after Rock Band 2's release. Another improvement (and much needed) will be easier party play setup. Improved instruments are on the way, to no one's surprise, though backwards compatibility with the original Rock Band instruments is promised. Of particular interest is this quote from lead designer Dan Teasdale:
Rock Band 2 takes all the lessons we've learned from making a multi-instrument music game, addresses them, then adds some amazing new ways for you to experience your music library that have never been seen in a music game before. We've been scouring forums and parties everywhere for what people liked and didn't like, and I'm pretty confident we've addressed everything I've heard people ask for.
Rock Band 2 looks to be a promising sequel, and we look forward to its release in a few short months. Read more snippets from an interview at IGN, plus pics of the Rock Band 2 guitar, after the break!
The Rock Band 2 guitar, pictured above, looks very nice. It's easily the closest any game peripheral has come to looking like the real thing.
Highlights from the IGN interview:
Rock Band 2 will have "the best setlist of any game, ever". Online World Tour is all but confirmed. Probably no editor at this point, they want to take time to do it right, for both the hardcore and the casual fan. Instruments will be quiter, more realistic, and more reliable. Tweaks to Band World Tour random setlists will help keep killer songs out when playing with friends on easy mode, for example. Support for playing guitar and vocals at the same time! There will be "new ways for you to transition from Expert to real instruments."
All in all, some great stuff. What are your thoughts? Do you have a wish list for features you want to see in Rock Band 2?
xbox 360
rhythm game
4 player co-op
Man. I won't be buying the instrument pack but I'll likely snag the game. I'm kind of pissed about this though. The fine folk at Harmonix used to be pretty adamant about not churning out yearly sequels and yet here we are. I guess it's the way to get all of the stuff we'd hoped for in a patch sold to us.
I think there were some serious tweaks to be made with the original game and I, for one, am going to be watching this VERY closely to see if they make the necessary improvements: Online World Tour and single characters that can play any instrument are the two big key elements for me.
And if they keep the promise of all-ways compatible DLC and at least rudimentary backwards compatibility for instruments, I won't even be tempted by GHIV.
They better have solo tours for more than guitar. I still haven't unlocked some songs from the first one because I enjoy playing bass more then guitar.
Total Comments: 4
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My whole family loves Rock Band, but we like it just as it is so RB2 had better have a plethora of good songs in it if they want me to open my wallet again other than for more DLC.
I would like to be able to have lead and rhythm guitar parts or even one part played on two guitars with different difficulties.
I wonder if the new guitars will have a better tilt switch in them? I have gone through three wireless guitars and all have had flaky tilt switches. The one in my original wired guitar works flawlessly.
... hey... maybe I should swap the switches... I can't remember if they were plug in connectors or solder, but I could work with either one...