{"id":83,"date":"2008-11-07T10:38:20","date_gmt":"2008-11-07T00:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.daedalist.com\/conjunction\/?p=83"},"modified":"2008-11-09T21:48:14","modified_gmt":"2008-11-09T11:48:14","slug":"rock-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.daedalist.com\/conjunction\/2008\/11\/rock-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Rock on!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Playing<\/a>
Play rock like these guys<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, after over a year of chomping at the bit<\/a>, the wait for Rock Band is over. I picked the full instrument pack up last night and gave it all a bit of whirl. I’m not going to review the game because it’s ancient, and there are plenty of reviews on the net. Besides, the sequel is out in North America.<\/p>\n

Still, my first experience with each of the instruments has been interesting, and has reflections on the talent (or lack thereof) that I have for each instrument.<\/p>\n

Guitar<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the easiest one to look at because I’ve played a lot of Guitar Hero<\/a>. I can’t hammer out “Psychobilly Freakout” on Expert or anything, but I’ve got a good handle on this instrument. Overall things are comporable between the two, though I think I prefer the GH guitar controller, and I’m finding Rock Band to be a lot less forgiving about timing.<\/p>\n

Drums<\/strong><\/p>\n

If I ever wanted proof that I’m not very co-ordinated, here it is. Wow, I can just about eke out basic high-hat, snare, kick rhythms but need to concentrate because I can’t pick the changes to save my life, and then waste easily four bars recovering from my mistakes.<\/p>\n

Still, the drums are a lot of fun, and I can see myself improving after practice.<\/p>\n

Vocals<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite being a singer in real life (though desperately out of practice), I actually have the most trouble with the microphone. Flip complained that Sing-star<\/em> is difficult for her because the mic doesn’t pick up head voice<\/a>. So far, I haven’t had that experience, but I’m thinking of buying a cheap mic stand if it becomes a problem for her. Hopefully that will help by allowing the mic to pick up the sound projection from her head because she’s able to stand back from it.<\/p>\n

It’s also difficult if the song isn’t pitched for your voice because you can’t adjust the key to suit you, but that’s often the case with karaoke setups.<\/p>\n

So far, the biggest challenge is singing a song you don’t know, and in these early stages of the campaign, there aren’t many songs that either of us know. I know there’s plenty of DLC (which I’m looking forward to), and I haven’t even unlocked all the pre-loaded songs yet, so I’m not that fussed.<\/p>\n

Song selection<\/strong><\/p>\n

So that brings me to the tracks available. You can’t talk about a music-based rhythm game without discussing the tracks. As mentioned, I don’t know the majority of the tracks I have access to just yet, but looking at the pre-loaded track list<\/a>, I’m definitely looking forward to a heap of them (not including the ones I already have access to):<\/p>\n