Rock Band 2!

[BathTub]

Gamespot hands on..
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/puzzle/rockband2/news.html?sid=6193439

Here are the main points of the article:
-confirmed songs (10 of them)

-one character can play every instrument
-ability to create custom setlists in quickplay
-Two new modes
Tour Challenge- Replaces solo tour, nonlinear path, 1-4 players, DLC integration, album specific challenges
Battle of the Bands- unique entry requirements and gameplay modifiers
Instruments- velocity sensitive drum pads, sturdier strum bar
ONLINE BAND WORLD TOUR!

All this and more at the link!

[Axnollouse]

SOLD!

[BathTub]

I am quite glad to see Elvis Costello there, Pump It Up should be fun.

[Compound]

"Kids in America" -- The Muffs

Er, Harmonix? There's not anything wrong with the original version of the song...

Maybe they're saving up the Kim Wilde luv for "Checkered Love".

[BathTub]

"Kids in America" -- The Muffs

Er, Harmonix? There's not anything wrong with the original version of the song...

Apart from the complete lack of guitar?

[Steve-O]

Apart from the complete lack of guitar?

That never stopped Freezepop.

[torgosPizza]

I finally saved up $500 to buy Rock Band 1 and now there's a sequel? FAIL.

[BathTub]

Lies!

Besides all the peripherals and DLC will still work with your copy of RB, if anything you could think of the disc as a fairly large DLC pack.

Besides the announcement of the game wasn't a surprise, only the timing of intended 'screw GHWT' release date.

[MrTorso]

Nice fake of RB2 menus:

[yt=425,350]dbMpHb6JZIM[/yt]

[BathTub]

It is, someone put a fair amount of work into that.

[James of LinHood]

Lies!

Besides all the peripherals and DLC will still work with your copy of RB, if anything you could think of the disc as a fairly large DLC pack.

Besides the announcement of the game wasn't a surprise, only the timing of intended 'screw GHWT' release date.

Indeed.  If you bought the RB1 bundle then all you'll need is the RB2 disc.  Or you could buy the RB2 bundle and then just buy the RB1 disc.  Either way, you'd only be spending an extra $60.00 to enjoy both games.  It's not that big of a deal.

[k1]

I'll be buying the new bundle rather than just the game mainly for the new drum set.  (I'll probably sell the old one to my brother since it works with Garage Band on the Mac and that'd be useful when we're working on new songs)

I'm really excited about the Drum Trainer part of RB2 since I'm only "ok" at playing drums and I've been considering actually paying for lessons to help improve my non gaming skills.  I'm not expecting much out of the trainer, but it'll give me an idea if I really want to move away from playing bass and start playing drums instead.

[BathTub]

http://www.avclub.com/content/blog/rock_band_2_the_av_club_hands_on

[k1]

http://www.avclub.com/content/blog/rock_band_2_the_av_club_hands_on

Freeplay mode where you can play the drums over MP3s ripped to your console?  Cool!

[James of LinHood]

http://www.avclub.com/content/blog/rock_band_2_the_av_club_hands_on

Freeplay mode where you can play the drums over MP3s ripped to your console?  Cool!

Really?  I actually think that's kinda lame.  I mean, the MP3 track wont skip a note if you miss it when you're drumming along.  And if the game plays drumming sounds when you hit the pads for this feature, I imagine that an MP3 that already has a drum track will end up sounding cluttered and messy.

Anyway, unless there's a lot more to that mode that we don't know about, it's a feature I'm pretty sure I'll never use.