Rock Band FAQ, nuff said

A lot of people are excited about Harmonix Music Systems’ Rock Band for the Xbox 360 and PS3 and why wouldn’t they be? They upped the ante on Guitar Hero by adding another guitar, a drumset, bass guitar and even a microphone for the game.

If that’s not awesome enough, the gameplay video that was released was just ripping featuring the engineers working on it and a cover track of Welcome to the Jungle. So if that’s not enough reason to at least look at the game, I don’t know what is. Anyway, if this game has grabbed your attention as much as it has ours, then listen up. Kotaku posted the FAQ for the game with lots of details that any gamer should take note off.

Gameplay

• Guitar gameplay (Rhythm and Lead): Rock blistering solos to rock’s best tunes! Challenge your rock star status on the screen while strumming a slick guitar that’s modeled after the legendary Fender Stratocaster.
• Drum gameplay: Capture the power, physicality, and sheer fun of real drumming with Rock Band’s custom drum kit controller featuring four pads, kick pedal, and real drum sticks.
• Bass gameplay: Bust out defying rock rhythm with the bass guitar option, which offers different parts to play in every song, and some unique gameplay twists.

Modes

• Tutorial Mode: Master the basics! No need for experience. Pick your weapon of choice and ascend from beginner to rock god.
• Practice Mode: Perfect your tune! Breakdown any part of any song at your preferred speed.
• Quickplay: Perfect your tune! Breakdown any part of any song at your preferred speed.
• Solo Tour: Take it on the road! Pack up your instrument of choice and set out on the open road for a fun and challenging single player career mode.
• World Tour: Conquer the world! Live the ultimate rock band lifestyle when you form a band locally or online and set out on tour. The journey to rock stardom takes you from small town bars to world-renowned venues. Earn fame and fortune along the way to secure rock star necessities.

Want to read more? Click on our full article for the full FAQ!

A lot of people are excited about Harmonix Music Systems’ Rock Band for the Xbox 360 and PS3 and why wouldn’t they be? They upped the ante on Guitar Hero by adding another guitar, a drumset, bass guitar and even a microphone for the game.

If that’s not awesome enough, the gameplay video that was released was just ripping featuring the engineers working on it and a cover track of Welcome to the Jungle. So if that’s not enough reason to at least look at the game, I don’t know what is. Anyway, if this game has grabbed your attention as much as it has ours, then listen up. Kotaku posted the FAQ for the game with lots of details that any gamer should take note off.

Gameplay

• Guitar gameplay (Rhythm and Lead): Rock blistering solos to rock’s best tunes! Challenge your rock star status on the screen while strumming a slick guitar that’s modeled after the legendary Fender Stratocaster.
• Drum gameplay: Capture the power, physicality, and sheer fun of real drumming with Rock Band’s custom drum kit controller featuring four pads, kick pedal, and real drum sticks.
• Bass gameplay: Bust out defying rock rhythm with the bass guitar option, which offers different parts to play in every song, and some unique gameplay twists.

Modes

• Tutorial Mode: Master the basics! No need for experience. Pick your weapon of choice and ascend from beginner to rock god.
• Practice Mode: Perfect your tune! Breakdown any part of any song at your preferred speed.
• Quickplay: Perfect your tune! Breakdown any part of any song at your preferred speed.
• Solo Tour: Take it on the road! Pack up your instrument of choice and set out on the open road for a fun and challenging single player career mode.
• World Tour: Conquer the world! Live the ultimate rock band lifestyle when you form a band locally or online and set out on tour. The journey to rock stardom takes you from small town bars to world-renowned venues. Earn fame and fortune along the way to secure rock star necessities.

Key Features

• Unrivaled song library! Major record labels and leading music publishers have signed on to provide unrivaled access to master recordings and legendary rock artists – from punk, metal and alternative to classic and southern rock.
• Rock ‘n’ Roll Never Dies! Full support for downloadable content delivers never-ending challenges.
• Play together in your living room or across the world! Rock Band™ offers deep online functionality, allowing players to rock together whether they’re in Rhode Island or Reykjavik.
• Create your own rock avatar! Mold a unique rocker using Rock Band’s character creator. Chose from gender, body shape, face, hair, clothes, tattoos and signature moves. Don’t forget to pick your specialized rockin’ instrument. Drumming in the spotlight! Showcase a real drum solo with Rock Band’s freestyle drum fill windows featured in each song. Break out your own rhythm and style as anything goes!
• Call out the crowd! Vocalists can bring the crowd to their feet during Rock Band’s freestyle vocal fill windows. Ad-lib your own words or shout to the crowd to raise the rock intensity of the performance.
• Save your mates! Band mates can fail out of a song for poor performance, but the band still plays on. Rescue your failing mate by busting out signature moves and blistering solos to wow the crowd with showmanship.
• Boost your bonus! Earn bonus points for your band during Rock Band’s Unison Phrase opportunities if everyone plays perfectly. A single mistake blows the phrase for everyone.

Songs

• Major record labels and leading music publishers have signed on to provide unrivaled access to master recordings and legendary rock artists with hits from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s. Record labels partnering with MTV Games and Harmonix include EMI Music, Hollywood Records, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group’s Universal Music Enterprises and Warner Music Group‘s Rhino Entertainment. Music publishers partnering with MTV Games and Harmonix include EMI Music Publishing and Warner/Chappel Music.
• Some of the songs that will ship on Rock Band™ disc include:
• The Who: Won’t Get Fooled Again (master)
• Mountain: Mississippi Queen (cover)
• David Bowie: Suffragette City (master)
• Black Sabbath: Paranoid (cover)
• Blue Oyster Cult: Don’t Fear the Reaper (master)
• Nirvana: In Bloom (master)
• The Hives: Main Offender (master)
• Weezer: Say It Ain’t So (master)

Instruments

• Guitar Controller
• Modeled after the legendary Fender® Stratocaster® and used for both guitar and bass parts.
• A second set of fret buttons on the neck of the guitar. Using these buttons players can “finger tap” notes in solos – no strumming required
• A five-way FX switch lets players choose their own showboating audio FX, including flanger, wah wah, echo, and chorus
• Wired & Wireless versions
• Drum Controller
• Captures the raw power, physicality, and sheer enjoyment of real drumming.
• Big circular pads that can take a bashing
• An awesome foot pedal that emulates the resistance and speed of a real kick drum pedal
• Real drum sticks
• Built in joypad with buttons and direction pad for easy control of menus and other UI
• Microphone
• Let’s players belt out the lyrics to some of the most recognizable rock anthems of all time!
• Hand held microphone with authentic styling and weight
• Rates singers in real-time, using pitch, rhythm and phoneme detection
• Percussion breaks – tap the mic against your hand to play the tambourine and cowbell notes

So there you have it, a listing of what we should expect to get if we pick up this game. No news yet on how much the game will cost along with the peripherals involved. Still, I know there will be quite a few players who would be willing to pony up around US$ 200 to get a complete set of the instruments. More news on this as more develops.

Via Kotaku