The Beatles: Rock Band

[Eleibfrid]

Didn't see any other threads so I figured I make one. Anyone else pick this up, either just the game or the bundle?

I picked up the game the day of release and I must say, it's probably one of the best music games I have ever had the pleasure of playing. Sure it may not be extremely challenging like some songs/artists of today but to be honest, their music wants me to love the world and I gotta say, it's hard not to. The one band that actually deserves a game finally got it, and it's phenomenal. Also I never gave Ringo enough credit for his drumwork until now.

Anyone else pick this up?

 

[Firestreak]

I will buy that game when they release "Across the Universe," "Real Love," "Yesterday," "Let it Be," "Mother Nature's Son," "I'm a Loser," "Two of us," "The long and winding road," "Here, There and Everywhere," "The Fool on the Hill," "Blackbird," "Hey Jude," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Penny Lane," "For No One," and "Eleanor Rigby."

They have "Girl," "Michelle," Norwegian Wood," "In my Life," "Nowhere Man," "A Day in the Life," and "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window." all as downloads.

"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," "Something," "Dear Prudence," and "Here Comes the Sun," are all I really want that's on the disc. (Some interest in "Come Together," and "My Guitar Gently Weeps".)

Now don't get me wrong. The Beatles are my favorite band by far. However my favorite 2 songs(Across the Universe, Real Love) aren't on the disc or available for download. There are the 27 Beatles songs that I listed above that I consider absolutely amazing. Of those songs... the disc gives me.... 4 of them. 7 are available as a download for additional money, and 16 aren't available at all.

I'd say I'm pissed off that they deliberately held the 7 off the disc so I'd have to buy them, but hey... it's what I expected. It's just the logical conclusion of DLC that it means a less complete game, even though we're paying $60 for our games this generation. What pisses me off is that they didn't make the DLC cross compatible, which brings me back to the original reason I got rid of Rock Band.

I didn't like them releasing Rock Band 2 as an ultimatum, with a bunch of disc songs I'd be forced to buy if I wanted a few of them. They'd presented Rock Band 1 as a "platform" through which DLC would be released for us all generation. At least, though, the DLC would be compatible, and so the promise of Rock Band 1 was fulfilled technically even if not literally. Now they aren't even doing that.

Now as great as the Beatles are, they aren't all of music. If I was going to get more instruments it would be an investment for all Rock Band games. However now I've got to quit the game and switch discs if I ever want to go back and forth between Beatles and the rest of the fucking music industry?

Yeah... the Beatles are an amazing band, but I'm not so sure I'm willing to get bent over for them, especially if they don't even have most of my favorite songs.

But seriously.... not even including "Yesterday" or "Hey Jude"? I realize everyone is going to have different favorites but those are fucking no brainers. They withheld them deliberately to include them in some later DLC down the road.

What's the point of buying a Beatles game that's missing so many important Beatles songs??? If it's going to be dedicated to ONE BAND it should at least include their biggest songs. This is some bullshit.

 

[Anglis]

My roommates favorite band of all time is the Beatles, and he was disappointed with the 60 dollar tag, yet it was missing a ton of songs.

After playing it with some buddies, and virtually beating it in one sitting, I'd say good game, but worth 30 bucks lol.

 

[Chasym]

I think its a great game, but am also disappointed by the default song listings.
I want Hey Jude and Blackbird. My two favorite songs.
But, i will say it has opened my eyes to some of their songs that i didnt know much about.
It even opened a topic of discussion between me and friends about how timeless their music really is, and how i used to hear songs by them and never knew it was them and it sounded like it came from the 80's to me, then i discover its the beatles and think "wow, they really had a broad sound".
I love the beautiful feeling the game holds, and the detail of the crowds with the screaming girls and the opening and closing lines you sometimes hear them say.
Its a great game, not worth the price tag without some of the more important songs as fire said.
But i still think it does the beatles justice.
I mean, i bet they never imagined in their entire career that they would be portayed in a video game that not only lets us live the beatle mania that we werent even alive for, and also lets the surviving members relive it.

 

[Marajade]

Got the game + The LE guitars they released along side it. The Gretch controller just feels so much better than the RB Strat, and the Hoffner and Rickenbacker are pretty nice too.

The drums are just RB2 drums with a different look, although now I can do tug of war/score duel with both sets so I'm not complaining.

 

[Elemmire]

The game's pretty good, got some good features but just not my style of music sooo *shrugs*

 

[Firestreak]

By the way Chasym, speaking of the Beatles... *cough* seems like a good time.

 

[Elemmire]

You know, I think they need to stop making rock band and guitar hero games (full new ones) since most of the time they haven't added HUGE features that prolly could be done in patch to the old should just stick to DLC for the last "buy physical copy" of the game so you can play all the damn songs off one disc and have a HUGE selection to pull from for parties.

 

[Tagrineth]

Elemmire... "haven't added HUGE features"? have you seen ANYTHING on GHWT, GH5, and RB:TB? lol

 

[Elemmire]

they added nice features, like beatles the multivoice thing or GH5 the jump right into and everyone can do anything they want, great features, but you know they could prolly have done that with patches, even if not, after this point, just add songs for DLC (for some small fee) but you know they'll have new games coming out and cost 60 bucks and, while they are getting better, it sucks to switch between discs for many of the songs of older GH games. Again, getting better, but ya, could improve and stopping with adding "new Guitar Hero coming out!" with basically "new DLC coming out!" would be a better option imo.

 

[Firestreak]

Yes Elem, that's why I got pissed off and sold my Rock Band 1.

I don't mind that they're making new games. While it's probably the new features are easily patchable it's remotely possible they're not. What I do mind is that the songs in the new games aren't available as DLC. Forcing me to buy a game every year in order to keep up with the new songs I want isn't a position I want to be in. The Beatles makes it even worse with the DLC not being cross compatible. I can't just buy the new game, I have to keep the old one too.

 

[Elemmire]

Which is why I haven't bought a guitar game since GH2 and stopped caring I only play them at stores or when I'm at a friend's place. It's just not worth my money.

 

[Tristam Green]

Which is why I haven't bought a guitar game since GH2 and stopped caring I only play them at stores or when I'm at a friend's place. It's just not worth my money.

Stine and I bought Rock Band 1 (set) when it was out, and when RB2 came out, we only bought the game. We don't intend on buying any of the new GH games (they're just worn out by now) or RB games either, and only buying songs on DLC. Fuck the rest of that crap.

 

[Tagrineth]

they can't even fucking patch Rock Band 2 to add a display to Quickplay that lets you see how many stars you have on a song. What makes you think they can "easily" patch shit? Seriously, these are consoles not fucking PCs. There's a lot more red tape and shit that prevents "easy" patching.

Also, there are still tons of people in the world who DON'T have internet access for their consoles. Broadband penetration is still only about 60% in the US, and I personally still know people that can't get anything better than Dialup or Satellite internet, neither of which really works at all for Xbox Live.

not only that but I'd say about 1/3 to 1/2 of the people I play with randomly on XBL don't have any DLC songs at all or very, very few. DLC is not the solution, not by a long shot.

Just because you want it to be that way doesn't mean it's feasible or the best solution.


edit: and yes, they've been promising the aforementioned star display patch to us on scorehero for like eight or nine months, with no release in sight.

 

[Firestreak]

Being on a disc isn't a silver bullet. It's all just data, disc is a method of distribution. You can give me the same songs on a disc or via DLC, the only difference is that some people aren't able to download and others don't want to bother with the physical disc. However by allowing the songs to be distributed all over PSN/XBLA, you allow consumers the choice to buy the songs they want, rather than bunching tons together and slapping a $60 price tag. You also merge the playlists preventing the need to swap discs. This is pretty important considering the length of a song is 4 minutes and swapping discs requires exiting the game and loading a new one, making the notion of switching back and forth pretty ridiculous. You just play one chunk or another... or more likely, just one chunk. Even if you want to make a switch at one point, the other people you're playing with aren't going to all be down for that.

So seriously, don't argue that the patch is too difficult. These are $60 games that are fucking simple. They are big sellers and get a minimum upgrade on a yearly basis. I don't want to hear about how it's beyond their budget or whatever. These games are not GTA4, they are a timing game where you hit buttons and they match shapes flying across the screen and music played in time. They should be more than able to do a lot of... fundamentally simple things.

But regardless, these features could be kept as incentives to upgrade, and people like me who don't give a damn about them could continue buying DLC and keep with the core gameplay, but they don't give us the option trying to force us to buy into their yearly installment plan - as if the price of entry isn't high enough already. Rock Band Beatles just takes it a little further. Of course they do it with the best band in history. Too bad they barely have any of their best songs.

 

[Cilvestre]

Elem, that is the reason i no longer buy GH/Rock Band games, or sports games. They all have one or more a year when they could just add DLC or have a patch to add features. Why spend hundreds on that a year?

 

[Tagrineth]

Being on a disc isn't a silver bullet. It's all just data, disc is a method of distribution. You can give me the same songs on a disc or via DLC, the only difference is that some people aren't able to download and others don't want to bother with the physical disc. However by allowing the songs to be distributed all over PSN/XBLA, you allow consumers the choice to buy the songs they want, rather than bunching tons together and slapping a $60 price tag. You also merge the playlists preventing the need to swap discs. This is pretty important considering the length of a song is 4 minutes and swapping discs requires exiting the game and loading a new one, making the notion of switching back and forth pretty ridiculous. You just play one chunk or another... or more likely, just one chunk. Even if you want to make a switch at one point, the other people you're playing with aren't going to all be down for that.

So seriously, don't argue that the patch is too difficult. These are $60 games that are fucking simple. They are big sellers and get a minimum upgrade on a yearly basis. I don't want to hear about how it's beyond their budget or whatever. These games are not GTA4, they are a timing game where you hit buttons and they match shapes flying across the screen and music played in time. They should be more than able to do a lot of... fundamentally simple things.

But regardless, these features could be kept as incentives to upgrade, and people like me who don't give a damn about them could continue buying DLC and keep with the core gameplay, but they don't give us the option trying to force us to buy into their yearly installment plan - as if the price of entry isn't high enough already. Rock Band Beatles just takes it a little further. Of course they do it with the best band in history. Too bad they barely have any of their best songs.

A patch isn't difficult in a technical sense. For the love of god, get a fucking clue already. Then again, you're the guy that couldn't figure out how to get through the first town in Twilight Princess.

Also, FYI all the Rock Band 2 DLC released to date still works just fine in RB1.

 

[Lyall]

Anyone see Kurt Cobain in Gh5, jumping around and acting like a fool when you play anything upbeat?

Anyone a little horrified by the mockery of the man?

I don't want my Lennon singing some random deathmetal, and given the difficulty of getting the licenses, I think preserving the original artists' vision is the least they can do. Did you know the whammy bar doesn't change notes in the Beatles game? The effects switch doesn't do anything either.

In this case, the game wasn't about handing over all of the customization of RB or RB2 and letting you do whatever you want, it was about showcasing the band as a whole and letting people be a part of that. I'm mighty fine with that, and the game is a ton of fun to watch, let alone play.

 

[Tagrineth]

Holy shit did anyone see in GH3 when you could have Tom Morello shredding away to death metal songs, or have Slash play Story of my Life?

holy shit did anyone see in GHWT when you could have Ozzy Osbourne singing Hollywood Nights or Sting playing bass to Overkill?

But no, it's only a mockery when Kurt "Overrated as Fuck" Cobain does it.

The situation is especially silly when you realise Courtney "Oh no my drug circulation system might have some blood content in it" Love was the one negotiating the contract and clearly fucked it up in a way that Grohl and Novoselic didn't like... but even in a case like this, NO, it isn't as easy as "oh well we'll just patch it".

 

[Lyall]

Holy shit did anyone see in GH3 when you could have Tom Morello shredding away to death metal songs, or have Slash play The Metal?

holy shit did anyone see in GHWT when you could have Ozzy Osbourne singing Hollywood Nights or Sting playing bass to Overkill?

But no, it's only a mockery when Kurt "Overrated as Fuck" Cobain does it.

Actually, those are all valid points. I for one agree and think Kurt Cobain is not only incredibly overrated but talentless to boot. The reason I didn't include the other ones is because I never played GH3 or WT. Well, I played WT long enough to play the Tool songs. I only used Cobain for reference because its been on Kotaku's front page like, 3 times in the past week and there's a lawsuit about it. Anywhoo:

I didn't like them releasing Rock Band 2 as an ultimatum, with a bunch of disc songs I'd be forced to buy if I wanted a few of them. They'd presented Rock Band 1 as a "platform" through which DLC would be released for us all generation. At least, though, the DLC would be compatible, and so the promise of Rock Band 1 was fulfilled technically even if not literally. Now they aren't even doing that.

In the same time it took for RB2 to eventually get released, there were something like 3 or 4 GH games in the same window. (3, WT, Aerosmith I think, and I think Rock the 80s but I'm pretty sure I'm wrong about that one). I'd rather pay for DLC to get music I like then see a franchise get shoveled out annually.