So the pro guitar was offered for sale for, what, three months? I knew the thing wasn't exactly going to be a best-seller, but Jesus. Sales must have been utterly, utterly shit. Santa, that is absolutely cause for concern, at least as far as Rock Band's long-term health is concerned.
The Mustang was always intended as the main Pro Guitar, and it's still being produced.
Was it? I don't remember anything like that being said, but I could have missed something.
So the pro guitar was offered for sale for, what, three months? I knew the thing wasn't exactly going to be a best-seller, but Jesus. Sales must have been utterly, utterly shit. Santa, that is absolutely cause for concern, at least as far as Rock Band's long-term health is concerned.
The Mustang was always intended as the main Pro Guitar, and it's still being produced.
Was it? I don't remember anything like that being said, but I could have missed something.
It was available from Day One in October. That can't help but help...
Somebody even used this event to accuse John Drake of being some kind of idiot for not knowing that Fender was going to do this. One person asked him directly about the availability of Squiers in EU and Drake essentially replied that his belief was they would eventually have better numbers.
They're also blaming Mad Catz for the MPA issue. Never mind that MIDI keyboards and drum kits work with it too and somehow it's MC's fault for underestimating total demand for a product with wider possible uses. I like that one, personally.
But now Drake (and by extention, HMX) is a clueless idiot because he seemingly didn't know (or worse yet, a lying bastard for not announcing this ahead of time). Pro guitar is a niche thing. If two or three 'upgrades' a week (comparatively) isn't an indication of niche, I don't know what is. The Squier was only going to be niche-of-a-niche.
So it's a comical idea that something so small was so meaningful for future corporate health. Some people are hoping that this is a result of HMX being sold. That Fender ended their deal as soon as they could because the situation had changed. And that this means that Fender will resume production after a new deal is made or HMX will try and make a deal with 'better' companies (Yamaha is mentioned, so yeah, 'scare quotes').
It's really kind of sad.
EDIT:
To add to the 'sad' part, now people are speculating that somehow RB4 will involve Kinect (Fuck you, SONY and Nintendo!) to 'fix' this situation.
Well, I'm a happy Squier owner, but I'm keeping my eye out this fall for Rocksmith. If they manage to pull off the technology, then the Fender Squier becomes a dinosaur and I can see HMX adopting the 'any guitar will work' option for RB4. I know in the past they've said they looked at similar tech and couldn't make it work, so I'm curious to see how Ubisoft pulled it off.
Part of the big key was making it work so that it would provide feedback to the player. They probably could have done whatever Rocksmith is expected to do, but wanted a different mechanic. Just like eschewing open/closed Hi-hat (and double bass...sort of). HMX had a specific intent in mind.
Now, whether or not that was the best choice is still up in the air. They've made certain commitments and it may not be possible to adjust later on. (How can they embrace the Hi-hat thing and still keep 2000+ songs available?)
Community & the senior team are at E3 right now but they've reached out to Fender to find out what's up. This is the first we've heard about this and we'll dig in with Fender for more info ASAP.
If ever there was a perfect time for Fender to drop this into HMX's lap, it doesn't get much better than this week.
I'd only hope that that chart is 'better' to play than the standard five button charts. Pearl Jam tests the limits of five button charts and can push things into 'unfun' pretty quickly.
Community & the senior team are at E3 right now but they've reached out to Fender to find out what's up. This is the first we've heard about this and we'll dig in with Fender for more info ASAP.
If ever there was a perfect time for Fender to drop this into HMX's lap, it doesn't get much better than this week.
Wow, dick move by Fender if they didn't bother to tell HMX before they started telling customers.
Keep in mind, too: on the Fender forums they were talking about this Squier Strat being a sort of introductory MIDI guitar, and they expected Fender to release another more expensive guitar with better MIDI tracking some months later.
Even if this $279 guitar is discontinued, there will certainly be more ways to play a real guitar in Rock Band 3 in the future. They'll just probably cost more.
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An even bigger dick move by Fender, then. The only way for HMX to get out in front of an issue like that would be to be the first to announce it and clearly state that this if Fender's doing.
But they never, ever accuse licensing partners of doing shit like this. Metallica greed may be the reason why their songs didn't make it out of the respective games, but HMX will never confirm that. Was Ozzy's group behind the forced bundling? Again, HMX won't say.
One person all but accused John Drake of being an idiot (for not knowing) or a liar (for knowing and not saying). In spite of the fact that the Mustang is still around and HMX hasn't shown any specific signs of faltering in their plans for the game, people now take this as a sign that they're finished.
HMX got screwed good and hard by this. No matter what comes out of it.
DLC Week of 6/14 - Singles from Avenged Sevenfold, A-Ha, Live & Chumbawumba!
Hey gang,
Short intro to next week's DLC while most of us are still out in LA cleaning up after E3! There's a nice assortment of singles including tracks from the 80's, 90's and 00's, ranging from pop to metal, introducing several bands to RB for the first time while welcoming back fan favorites. Enjoy!
Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation®3 system (June 14):
• A-Ha – “Take On Me” X
• Avenged Sevenfold – “Unholy Confessions” X
• Avenged Sevenfold – “Welcome to the Family”
• Chumbawamba – “Tubthumping”
• Live – “I Alone” X
• Live – “Lightning Crashes”
(These tracks will be available in Europe on PlayStation®3 system June 15)
These tracks will be available for purchase as individual tracks on Xbox 360, PlayStation®3 system and Wii. Tracks marked with “X” will include Pro Guitar and Pro Bass expansions for $0.99 per song.
Price:
$1.99 USD, £.99 UK, €1.49 EU (160 Microsoft Points) per song
$2.00 USD (200 Wii Points™) per song
$0.99 USD (100 Wii Points/80 Microsoft Points), £0.59 UK, €0.79 EU per song for eligible Pro Guitar/Pro Bass upgrade
** Dates for Rock Band game tracks are tentative and subject to change. **
To discuss this DLC please visit the official discussion thread in the Rock Band forum.
For all DLC song credits, including album and genre info as well as difficulty ratings, you can check out the Songs page.
And for awesome background information on this content, including recording details, album of origin, and release details you can head on over to the Rock Band 'Zine for brand new articles!
Rock Band Network releases will be listed below shortly. Check back soon!
I have a feeling that Tubthumping will be absolutely no fun for anyone other than singers. I'm pretty sure all the instrument parts are pretty basic, and then looped.
I have a feeling that Tubthumping will be absolutely no fun for anyone other than singers. I'm pretty sure all the instrument parts are pretty basic, and then looped.
I'm hoping you're wrong, but you're probably right.
We have fourteen new tracks for the Rock Band Network this week, including Amberian Dawn, Garden of Eden, Dr. Acula, and more. More previously released tracks were added to the PSN store, and we have next week's PSN announcement below.
This week's RBN Releases on Xbox 360
Alternative
CyLeW - "Familiar" (160 MSP)
Mafia Track Suit - "My Future Life" (80 MSP)
Stretford End - "Stay Awake" (160 MSP)
Metal
Amberian Dawn - "City of Corruption" (160 MSP)
Amberian Dawn - "City of Corruption (2x Bass Pedal)" (160 MSP)
Dr. Acula - "Slander" (160 MSP)
Dr. Acula - "Slander (2x Bass Pedal)" (160 MSP)
The Haunted - "No Ghost" (160 MSP)
New Wave
Robotmakers - "Rocket Car" (160 MSP)
Pop/Dance/Electronica
dB soundworks - "The Battle of Lil' Slugger" (80 MSP)
Prog
Van Friscia - "Epic Symphony in A Flat Minor, Third Movement: Zero Hour" (80 MSP)
Van Friscia - "Epic Symphony in A Flat Minor, Third Movement: Zero Hour (2x Bass Pedal)" (80 MSP)
Punk
Synthetic Elements - "How Far" (160 MSP)
Rock
Garden of Eden - "Ooops" (160 MSP)
Beware of that Van Friscia crap. The song name is so long that you can't even tell if it's the regular or 2x version. One person posted about that last night.
The tracks below are the last group of RBN 1 tracks to be released to PlayStation 3. After this week, all RBN tracks released to PlayStation 3 will be RBN 2.0 and will only be compatible with Rock Band 3.
Alternative
Edge - "Under Water I Drown" ($0.99)
Kill the Alarm - "Fire Away" ($0.99)
Universal Hall Pass - "Dragonfly (Symbion Project Remix)" ($0.99)
Indie Rock
Foreword - "Watch It All Go Down" ($0.99)
Metal
Amberian Dawn - "Saga" ($1.99)
Memphis May Fire - "Action/Adventure" ($1.99)
Nautiluz - "Chasing the Light" ($1.99)
Prog
Children of Nova - "We Collide" ($1.99)
Children of Nova - "The Fall of Aphonia" ($1.99)
Children of Nova - "Second Sight Blackout" ($1.99)
Children of Nova - "The Order" ($1.99)
Rock
BulletProof Messenger - "Arm Yourself" ($0.99)
BulletProof Messenger - "This Fantasy" ($0.99)
Free Spirit - "Far Away from Heaven" ($0.99)
SOiL - "The Lesser Man" ($0.99)
Southern Rock
Midnight Riders - "Midnight Ride" ($0.99)
Midnight Riders - "One Bad Man" ($0.99)
So it's the last week for RBN1.0 content on PSN. Huzzah?
And finally, next weeks announced RBN content for PSN.
Yeah. Pretty good week. It looks like I'll probably want to get all but the A7X. Though Tubthumping and I Alone might end up on the 'maybe' list. The other two will possibly be bought on Day One.
Keep in mind that the audio mixes can be a bit...rough. Some are definitely horrible mistakes, but even the best ones can still be quite off compared to HMX DLC.
Yeah I've been previewing everything in videos first. I picked up about a dozen which is probably enough for today I think. Really hate there's no preview. Looking up videos on Youtube gets old :P
I did it for the better part of a year. I don't miss it.
And I guess you're on PS3? Some people get to have in-game previews, but clearly you're not one of them. Unless actually looking at the chart means something to you, every song should have a thirty second or so clip on the song finder section. If you've been playing the game long enough, you'll be able to tell by the instrument ratings what kind of note mess you're in for.
I did it for the better part of a year. I don't miss it.
And I guess you're on PS3? Some people get to have in-game previews, but clearly you're not one of them. Unless actually looking at the chart means something to you, every song should have a thirty second or so clip on the song finder section. If you've been playing the game long enough, you'll be able to tell by the instrument ratings what kind of note mess you're in for.
Yeah I'm on PS3
And there are definitely some big whoops moments in the cymbal charting in a few of the songs I picked up that make me wish I'd hunted down a full video of expert prodrums but oh well, not game breaking and lesson learned.
All Pro drums charts pre-RBN2.0 have a high chance of being 'broken'. There was no way to test for them. Definitely buyer beware. And, of course, RBN2.0 songs haven't yet appeared on PSN. Though there are supposed to be five of them this week.
Posts
Was it? I don't remember anything like that being said, but I could have missed something.
It was available from Day One in October. That can't help but help...
Yeah pre-orders sold out and that was that, no more. Helped by awesome 'real instrument' financing options, I'm sure.
I have a mate who had to sell his, a shame, he probably could have doubled or tripled his money now!
I do hope we see these back on shelves, they are cool beans.
They're also blaming Mad Catz for the MPA issue. Never mind that MIDI keyboards and drum kits work with it too and somehow it's MC's fault for underestimating total demand for a product with wider possible uses. I like that one, personally.
But now Drake (and by extention, HMX) is a clueless idiot because he seemingly didn't know (or worse yet, a lying bastard for not announcing this ahead of time). Pro guitar is a niche thing. If two or three 'upgrades' a week (comparatively) isn't an indication of niche, I don't know what is. The Squier was only going to be niche-of-a-niche.
So it's a comical idea that something so small was so meaningful for future corporate health. Some people are hoping that this is a result of HMX being sold. That Fender ended their deal as soon as they could because the situation had changed. And that this means that Fender will resume production after a new deal is made or HMX will try and make a deal with 'better' companies (Yamaha is mentioned, so yeah, 'scare quotes').
It's really kind of sad.
EDIT:
To add to the 'sad' part, now people are speculating that somehow RB4 will involve Kinect (Fuck you, SONY and Nintendo!) to 'fix' this situation.
Now, whether or not that was the best choice is still up in the air. They've made certain commitments and it may not be possible to adjust later on. (How can they embrace the Hi-hat thing and still keep 2000+ songs available?)
also playing RB3 right now and streaming it
http://www.livestream.com/tbktv
If ever there was a perfect time for Fender to drop this into HMX's lap, it doesn't get much better than this week.
Man, there is something so beautiful in that visual representation of how those guitar and bass parts work together.
Wow, dick move by Fender if they didn't bother to tell HMX before they started telling customers.
PSN : Bolthorn
Even if this $279 guitar is discontinued, there will certainly be more ways to play a real guitar in Rock Band 3 in the future. They'll just probably cost more.
XBL Michael Spencer || Wii 6007 6812 1605 7315 || PSN MichaelSpencerJr || Steam Michael_Spencer || Ham NOØK
QRZ || My last known GPS coordinates: FindU or APRS.fi (Car antenna feed line busted -- no ham radio for me X__X )
But they never, ever accuse licensing partners of doing shit like this. Metallica greed may be the reason why their songs didn't make it out of the respective games, but HMX will never confirm that. Was Ozzy's group behind the forced bundling? Again, HMX won't say.
One person all but accused John Drake of being an idiot (for not knowing) or a liar (for knowing and not saying). In spite of the fact that the Mustang is still around and HMX hasn't shown any specific signs of faltering in their plans for the game, people now take this as a sign that they're finished.
HMX got screwed good and hard by this. No matter what comes out of it.
I'm hoping you're wrong, but you're probably right.
I AM SO SO SO EXCITED.
all but the Avenged Sevenfold tracks for me, please
?
Beware of that Van Friscia crap. The song name is so long that you can't even tell if it's the regular or 2x version. One person posted about that last night.
RBN backlog on PSN:
So it's the last week for RBN1.0 content on PSN. Huzzah?
And finally, next weeks announced RBN content for PSN.
Now back to five. I bet that goes over well.
This is a good DLC week.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Anyone singing vocals on 'Take On Me' has some stiff competition from the Saints Row 2 player character crew.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9BoIEY4xA4
Steam ID XBL: JohnnyChopsocky PSN:Stud_Beefpile WiiU:JohnnyChopsocky
This is to awesome to be buried at the botp
Got Youtube up and everything
I have a feeling this is gonna hurt
And I guess you're on PS3? Some people get to have in-game previews, but clearly you're not one of them. Unless actually looking at the chart means something to you, every song should have a thirty second or so clip on the song finder section. If you've been playing the game long enough, you'll be able to tell by the instrument ratings what kind of note mess you're in for.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgieAtk5cJo&feature=related
Yeah I'm on PS3
And there are definitely some big whoops moments in the cymbal charting in a few of the songs I picked up that make me wish I'd hunted down a full video of expert prodrums but oh well, not game breaking and lesson learned.
Such as they are.