Rock Band (2)

ExMachina

ExMachina

fails the turing test
Game's out on PS3 today... not gonna pick it up myself for a while (my ghetto modded launch day drums are still holding out) though I do hope to grab the bundle at some point and will just play it at a friend's in the meantime.

I did get to play the 360 version extensively yesterday; new guitar is pretty great, I like the extra heft to it and the new finishing is hot but it's not very different from the original Strat (here's hoping the construction is sturdier though) so don't think it'll win you over if you're still a fan of GH's clicky strummer and raised fret buttons (I'm not). The rest were just regular ol' RB1 instruments so I didn't get to try out the new drums, which I'm really looking forward to.

Judging by how loudly everyone was singing along and enjoying themselves, Livin' on a Prayer alone is worth the price of admission, lol!
 
Perfect excuse to troll this thread:

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I prefer RB2's guitar to the clicky GH ones. They also have a sensor on them that will automatically calibrate the audio and video to your TV, which is autowin.

I just did Endless Setlist 2 on vocals a couple days ago (7 straight hours of singing... ugh) so next up is guitar. Sooner or later.
 
denshuu said:
I just did Endless Setlist 2 on vocals a couple days ago (7 straight hours of singing... ugh) so next up is guitar. Sooner or later.
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Howwwww. 5 songs on vocals and I'm ready to throw in the towel. xD

I haven't gotten the chance to try out the auto-calibrate function on the new Strat... does it actually work that well? I've only tried the new guitars on lagless CRTs so far.
 
New drums are so much win in comparison to the RB1 set. I've only had RB1 for a week now even though I have a 360... waited for the bundle.

I can't understand why they just won't come out with a wireless mic yet.
 
Utsuse said:
I can't understand why they just won't come out with a wireless mic yet.
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Because they are trying to come up with a unified design between the 360 and the PS3... The 360 is a shitty console and doesn't support Bluetooth like the PS3 does. So if they made the PS3 one wireless, they couldn't do the same for the 360 one, they would need to come up with a completely different design... So they just dont.
 
I'm pretty sure keeping the technology intentionally bad because of the technical inferiority of the darling console is a damn good reason to complain.
 
iKotomi said:
I'm pretty sure keeping the technology intentionally bad because of the technical inferiority of the darling console is a damn good reason to complain.
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Well its the fault of something called "Least Common Denominator"... its the reason why so few develepors actually develop for the hard drive on the 360... they can't make the assumption that everyone has a hard drive, because not everyone does. Its one of the reasons why console "expansions" (see: 32X, SegaCD, 64DD) have a history of failure. Its one of the major compaints about Nintendo's new "WiiMote Plus", they will be creating a split market that will be hard to develop for.
 
But everyone with a ps3 would be able to take advantage of the bluetooth, unless its the case that the 360 uses the same peripherals as the ps3. Which I highly doubt. Its not so much of a least common denominator as much as just preventing the ps3 from having an "unfair advantage." I also don't think its a case of just having one model to apply across the board because of budget constraints, because i'm pretty sure that microphone technology isn't dreadfully difficult or expensive.
 
DivineChaos97 said:
That's Jaxel you're talking about, if he wants to be a fanboy let him be or may the Banhammer show no mercy on thy pitiful soul!
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Then down comes the Almight Banhammer, because "hurr xbox sux" is a pisspoor reason to pull out of your ass when it comes to why there isn't a wireless Rock Band mic, especially when you consider the fact that there are already wireless mics for both the 360 and PS3 that don't use Bluetooth.

I don't wanna muddy the discussion with facts, though. Back to the fanboying. :D
 
iKotomi said:
But everyone with a ps3 would be able to take advantage of the bluetooth, unless its the case that the 360 uses the same peripherals as the ps3. Which I highly doubt. Its not so much of a least common denominator as much as just preventing the ps3 from having an "unfair advantage." I also don't think its a case of just having one model to apply across the board because of budget constraints, because i'm pretty sure that microphone technology isn't dreadfully difficult or expensive.
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Actually... its common knowledge that games are held back by competing technology... The 360 has advantages in some areas, the PS3 has advantages in others; most developers program their games so that its the same on both consoles. (That, or they just program it for the 360, and then port it to the PS3, since the 360 is easier to program for; this is why lots of multi-platform games lag on the PS3, because of lazy programmers) Which of course means, for multi-platform games, they are unable to take advantage of the bonus of either console. You may remember that Capcom reported that they are purposely holding back on the graphics of the PS3 version of SFIITHD because of the DLC size constraints of the 360 Live network.

As actually... Bluetooth technology IS expensive. Extremely expensive because entire technology needs to be changes to accomodate for the limited battery life problems due to Bluetooth requiring a shitload of power. Bluetooth itself is a horrible technology, but its a standard and it works. And those third-party non-Bluetooth Microphones for the PS3 are atrocious; they don't send the quality of signal that you would get with a Bluetooth signal... With a game that is dependant on vocals, not having bluetooth would be a major problem.
 
You all got owned, plz know what you're talking about when it comes to tech before you argue with Jaxel, lest I laugh more.
 
Heh, I wasn't even aware that I was arguing with Jaxel but whatever.

As for the differences between consoles go, I think equality is a horrible standard when it comes to multi-platform games, or a lot of things for that matter. I'm not arguing that it doesn't happen, or even that its unfair, I'm arguing that its a legitimate excuse to complain. When suppliers release worse products because they can cut corners by intentionally doing less work, the consumer loses out. I happen to be a consumer and I'd rather have more surplus than less. It just so happens that if you own a ps3, you will lose out on more potential happiness than a 360 owner.

As for bluetooth battery life, I'll admit that I don't know enough about it since I don't have a benchmark to compare to. I prefer wires myself because they are reliable, and will always do their job better (though the difference is becoming less and less noticeable). But it seemed to me that bluetooth uses relatively little power, considering the common use of bluetooth in things like headsets and computer peripherals. Heck, the ps3 controller itself is running on bluetooth and it seems to have enough battery life. Now whether this is a result of a lot of money spent on the programming, I can't really tell, since I've never needed to program for bluetooth. With the ps3 controller, I can see a lot of funding being allocated if needed due to the necessity for it to actually last the entire generation, and sony willing to lose money on controller sales if the bluetooth technology would have made it prohibitively expensive to the consumer.

Though when you say bluetooth is a horrible technology, that makes me wonder, compared to what? I can't think of a technology out there that will get you the same performance to cost ratio. If there was one, it would probably be better known.
 
Bluetooth isn't the only wireless standard... there is also the newer WUSB (Wireless-USB) standards; not to mention, the straight up IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n standards. Out of all three standards, Bluetooth is undeniably the worst of them all. It does have more range than WUSB, but it has less range than 802.11; and the more range you need, the more power it consumes. Meanwhile, it has a lower data transfer rate than either of it's major competitors. This is why BLuetooth is only used for small-scale applications, keyboards, mice, and headsets. It is also the most expensive of the three. The only advantage Bluetooth has is its user-friendliness... the standard makes it very easy to sync and desync to multiple devices.

The power consumption problems with Bluetooth is a widely known problem. Its such an issue that simply turning off the Bluetooth reciever on your cell phone will probably triple it's battery life. Its such an issue that Sony didn't originally plan for a DualShock3 controller... they had yet to figure out how to redesign the technology so controllers wouldn't die out after only 4 hours of play. (Bluetooth + Rumble = nuclear bomb?) But yes... wires are the way too go in essential applications. But if I had a choice between non-standardized WiFi and Bluetooth, I would go with Bluetooth. The Rockband 2 controllers use non-standardized WiFi... it was the only way to make a design that would accomodate both 360 and PS3... damn 360.
 
Bluetooth is cheaper than 802.11 when you are working with small throughput at short distances, which a lot of wireless applications involve. Its not like your wireless controller is trying to output 100 mbps from 150 feet away. Oh, and 802.11 isn't a pinnacle of energy efficiency either...anything wireless is bound to take more power, that's a given.
 
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