Rock Band 3

Developer: Harmonix

Publisher: EA
Release Date: Oct. 26, 2010
Systems: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3, Wii
ESRB Rating: T
Official Web site

In a nutshell: The piano, man.

0:00 Been looking forward to trying this one since I received the game from Harmonix a week ago, but I held out because I didn’t have a keyboard controller. Now that they’re available in stores, I’m looking forward to expanding on the ten minutes or so I spent with the keyboard at Gamescom this summer.

0:01 The game just came out yesterday and already there’s a title update available? Whatever, it downloads and installs incredibly quickly.

0:03 Looking out a hotel window. Close ups of an amp, a guitar case, a lone uncovered light bulb. The Doors’ “Break on Through” plays with its heavy keyboard part. Quick jump cuts of the band playing close-up and guys running through alleys and across the tops of buildings to get to the impromptu rooftop concert. Well shot, but a bit confusing.

0:04 I skip the calibration and the band customization because I want to get to rocking! Play Now, Quick Play, Choose Songs and we’re ready to rock! The new menu seems quite a bit more streamlined.

0:05 “25 or 6 to 4” is right there at the top of the list, and how can I resist a song with such a tight beat and such incomprehensible lyrics. I’ll start on Medium difficulty and play the five-key normal mode rather than the 25-key pro mode, for now.

***-->CONTINUE READING<--***

***-->AT GAMERONI<-***

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Green Day: Rock Band

Developers: Harmonix, Demiurge Studios

Publisher: MTV Games
Systems: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3, Wii
Release Date: June 8, 2010
ESRB Rating: T
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Hitchin' a Ride on Rock Band's popularity

0:00 This game got shipped to my apartment just after I left for England for the summer, so I haven't tried it despite technically having it all summer. I'm expecting Rock Band with Green Day songs, which shouldn't be hard to fulfill.

0:01 I'm not counting the time it took to drag my Rock Band instruments out of storage and set them up. This is lucky for the game, because the process took longer than I expected. Also, I know this is the kind of game that's best played drunk with a group of friends, but I'm actually one of those weirdos that plays it sober and alone, to improve my fake musical skills.

0:02 The camera zooms down a red thoroughfare. Planes drop bombs and a goth girl pulls a grenade and throws it at some bird- and dog-headed monsters as "Welcome to Paradise' plays in the background. Um... huh?

0:03 "Longview" transitions into ‘Jesus of Suburbia" in the background as the game creates a song cache, save data, etc. I skip the calibration.

0:05 Looking around the options. This is the first time I've seen "super speed" and and "performance mode" in the options, or maybe I'm just forgetting them from earlier games.

***-->CONTINUE READING<--***

***-->AT GAMERONI<-***

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The Beatles: Rock Band

Developer: Harmonix Music Systems
Publisher: MTV Games
Release Date: Sept. 9, 2009
Systems: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3, Wii
ESRB Rating: T
Official Web site

In a nutshell: There's something in the way it moves me.

0:00 I've played this quite a bit already, with a bunch of random strangers at E3. Shockingly, I found that a game that combined two of my favorite things -- Rock Band and the Beatles -- was lots of fun! Will it be as fun to play alone in my living room for an hour? We'll see.

0:01 As I open the disc case, three pieces of paper fall out: an ad for the digitally remastered Beatles catalog on CD; a note about how to connect the Xbox to the Internet (to buy more songs); and a code for a FREE BEATLES: ROCK BAND AVATAR SHIRT! HELL YES!

0:02 The game disc itself just repeats the cover image of the black-and-white Beatles running away from fans. I'm disappointed at the lack of a large green apple image.

0:03 This minute spent getting my Rock Band instruments out of storage. I wasn't sent a set of the new, Beatles-inspired instruments that come with the Limited Edition, but in my E3 playing they seemed remarkably similar to the regular Rock Band 2 instruments, so I don't feel too bad.

0:07 The past four minutes were spent transfixed watching the excellent animated intro for the game. I've seen it before, but this time it's in wonderfully smooth, big-screen HD rather than jerky, small Internet video on my computer monitor. A much better experience...

***-->CONTINUE READING AT CRISPY GAMER<--***

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Rock Band 2

Developer: Harmonix
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: Sept. 14, 2008
Systems: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3, Wii (later release)
ESRB Rating: T
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Rockier and Bandier
0:00 Considering I played the original game for at least 100 hours, the "more than an hour" verdict at the end of this is almost a foregone conclusion.

0:10 I'm not counting the 10 minutes or so that it took to import my original Rock Band songs to my hard drive, but I am counting the roughly 10 minutes it took to unbox and assemble the new wireless drums and guitar, so it's really a wash.

0:11 An intro movie plays with a beat-up car driving down a dusty road with a full band playing on top. Another, bigger car comes barreling down in the other direction. This one also has a band, including a big, fat, shirtless singer swinging a mace at the end of his microphone cord. They're both singing Cheap Trick's "Hello There". The cars swerve to barely avoid hitting each other and the singer with the mace dives forward. Some ill-advised riding on the undercarriage of the nearly sideways car follows as the cars turn around and bash into each other. In the end they all fly through a Rock Band 2 billboard, leaving cartoon silhouettes in their wake. ROCK!

0:13 Creating save files and we're to a mostly nondescript menu screen. "Did you check out the impossible Battle yet?" asks a message at the bottom. "Prove you are worthy of owning the game early." Heh.

0:14 I know this game is meant to be played with a large group, but no one is around, so I guess it's a solo tour for me. I start with the drums, of course.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer