Slashdot Mirror
New Guitar Hero Drumset Showcased
Kotaku is just one of many to have captured a recent showcase of Guitar Hero World Tour by Activision's CEO, Bobby Kotick. They have a nice video highlighting gameplay on the fancy new drumset. Looks like Guitar Hero is really turning up the heat in the ongoing war with Rock Band for dominance.
It doesn't even show Chad playing the drum pads. All that told us is that they're pressure sensitive... great. I would have like to have seen his reaction to playing it; not just his reaction to hearing about what it was.
Harmonix got a lot of bad press lately for declaring that the Wii version would have no online play, no band tour support, no custom characters, no DLC, no support for the GHIII guitar, and just about every other major feature removed or gimped.
Harmonix has tried to pass the blame on to every possible target, especially Nintendo and Activision. Yet Activision already had most of the features in GHIII that Harmonix removed from Rock Band. Now with GHIV, Activision is announcing every feature that Harmonix claimed was impossible to support on the Wii, AND they have the full band support. Which further makes Harmonix look like they're trying to gyp customers.
The truth is that Harmonix had a contracted developer do a cheap-o port of Rock Band to the PS2. Since the PS2 had the weakest hardware of the last generation, they replace the game visuals with FMV and hoped that no one would notice. (Thus the lack of character creator.) At some point, some Harmonix or MTV exec got the bright idea that doing a quicky port of the PS2 revision (which is completely inappropriate for a console of the Wii's caliber, regardless of its graphical capability in comparison to the 360/PS3), thus resulting in a ton of missing features. Especially things that didn't make sense on the PS2. (e.g. No networking meant no online play or DLC. And the more massive FMV wasn't a problem since no one could download new songs anyway.)
Honestly, I think Harmonix would do a lot better if they just owned up to their mistakes and worked to correct them in the future. Instead, they keep blaming Nintendo for all their problems. As a result, I've decided that Harmonix does not need my $170. I'll be saving it for GHIV.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
The rock band drum set requires you to have good coordination and rhythm, which are qualities that will make you a good drummer. The motions used in Rock Band are pretty similar to what actual drumming is like, but not equivalent. Take someone who has only played Rock Band and sit them in front of a real drum set, and they would probably require a significant amount of practice before being able to e.g. keep good time without a soundtrack, show up on time to rehearsal, or have a girlfriend. You know, like real drummers do...
Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
I'm an experienced drummer, and I was completely baffled by Rock Band's drum kit. None of the patterns felt like "real" drumming (both in terms of the kit layout and the rhythmic feel), and the small sticks and plastic pads made it difficult to use proper sticking techniques. I didn't try expert mode, though, which some people claim is actually easier for real drummers.
http://xkcd.com/359/
The Rock Band drumming on "expert" probably has the MOST skill required of any of the instruments.
Ah, so it's the opposite of real life.
Now now, drummers, don't get mad, I have a lot of respect for you. My father is a drummer after all, and I wouldn't even be here if drummers were capable of following the "rhythm method".
The enemies of Democracy are
Abaddon: An Xbox 360 Indie game