No home-made music for Rock Band 2

By Robert Purchese Published 3 July, 2008

Harmonix needs time to do it "properly".

Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopulos has said that you won't be able to make your own music in Rock Band 2.

This is a key feature in rival game Guitar Hero World Tour, but Rigopulos said it was the sort of mechanic Harmonix would rather take time over than rush.

"We really felt like we wanted to do it right," Rigopulos told Associated Press. "We're taking a radically different approach to that problem. It's something we wanted to take more time to do it right.

"It's actually something we're not focused on in Rock Band 2. We're really focused on other areas related to the music and bringing the community together."

Rock Band 2 was unveiled earlier this week and will let you carry downloadable songs between the first and second game as well as make good on hordes of fan feedback to expand the party and online options.

There will be the usual update in instrument peripherals, too, although the existing set will be compatible.

All that plus more songs; the first indications point to "Give It Away" by Red Hot Chili Peppers and "Ace of Spades" by Motorhead leading the charge.

Rock Band 2 is due out in September across America as a timed exclusive for Xbox 360. Other platforms are to follow.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (28) Latest comment 4 years ago

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  • Bumhug360 #1 4 years ago

    In other words, they want to see how it works on GH4 and how the fans react to that.

  • Zomoniac #2 4 years ago

    Indeed. I strongly suspect it will be one of these things like Forge where everyone goes OMG when it first appears (because, technically, it's really, really cool) but after a week the novelty wears off and everyone just goes back to the standard game. I don't think it'll catch on or be a major selling in GH4.

  • TheNinkyNonk #3 4 years ago

    ""We really felt like we wanted to do it right,"

    "We really want a decent excuse to make Rock Band 3 once the inital appeal has worn off and we've milked everything we can from the feel good factor that will fuel Rock Band 2"

    Fixed.

  • Zomoniac #4 4 years ago

    "We really want a decent excuse to make Rock Band 3 once the inital appeal has worn off and we've milked everything we can from the feel good factor that will fuel Rock Band 2"

    Actually I think the real reason is "we need to have a game to launch alongside GH4 as a direct competitor, and we don't have time to this in and still get it out in time to fight the war effectively".

  • Rodafowa #5 4 years ago

    Suits me. From the description in GH4 it sounds like something that's a really excellent and worthwhile feature if you're a musician and don't need it, but will be too complicated for the layman to get anything worthwhile out of it.

  • MasterNameless #6 4 years ago

    To be honest, I doubt I would be bothered to make my own note charts either. I can imagine it'll be way too time-consuming, and really doesn't sound like fun to me.

    On the other hand though, if other people can make and share them, that's something entirely different. I'll be more than happy to download user-created content! I just can't be arsed to do it myself.

  • Ace_McCloud #7 4 years ago

    So any ideas as to when this will be released in europe? Are we still gonna have to wait forever?

    ...and "More than a feeling" > every other song ever

  • moggsy #8 4 years ago

    I think the point is that with GH4 even if you don't make your own content you'll be able to download other people's - so in effect you get a lot of extra tracks for free. They may even be covers of classic tracks rather than new creations which would be great.

    Rock Band is missing a trick here.

  • Erinan #9 4 years ago

    Except that you won't have the vocals, only the instrument tracks. That's a bit rubbish. Plus, who would actually spend countless hours with friends just to make a 3 minute song? Not to mention that it will probably a very tedious task getting the timing and the notes right (try playing the guitar with a 5-button plastic guitar).

    Mind you, that's probably an answer from Neversoft to the fact that their charts are badly charted: just let the players make them.
    Edited by 3 at 03/07/08 @ 16:30

  • Garulon #10 4 years ago

    Great news. Spend the devs time on something worthwhile instead.

  • peteb #11 4 years ago

    ^^ like new and interesting ways to shake us for more cash! :)

  • chanderzz #12 4 years ago

    This smells of, we need to get RB2 out so we can compete with GH: world tour. This is essentially gonna be a load of DLC on disc. If their gonna do a number 2. Do it properly, inc new stuff.

    This statement its self confrims there rushing it out. Come on Harmonix dont whore out RB like activision are doing to GH!

  • InsoFox #13 4 years ago

    So what if it is? Harmonix have to stay competitive, and as a bonus they can fix all the small complaints people had about RB1 and add in some new stuff. Sounds like a good deal for everyone, especially with the forwards and backwards compatibility.

  • chanderzz #14 4 years ago

    @InsoFox

    Im all for staying competitive i appreciate its a buisness after all. My complaint is as a consumer, as a european having to wait the additional 5 months was bad enough, but to hear that the second one will be out so soon is crap feeling!

    I could have just waited and got the superior version a mere 4/5 month down the line.

  • Markusdragon #15 4 years ago

    "We want to see just how much Neversoft can cock it up first."

  • grussbarbar #16 4 years ago

    @Erinan

    I'm actyually chomping at the bit to try and make my own music to play to. I'll probably be completely rubbish at it, but that doesn't mean it'll be less fun. XD And yes, the ability to download hundreds of tracks for free is a huge plus. =)

    On the other hand, I'm feeling somewhat confident that Harmonix is truly trying to make a platform out of Rock Band, so I'm hoping DLC will stay compatible across all future RB games. Having access to all songs ever released through one game is very appealing too...

    Edit:
    Anyway, I'm wondering if you're an actual guitar player? I'm asking since you're slagging off on Neversoft's note charts. I've been reading a lot of negative comments about Neversoft's note charts lately, saying that they aren't realistic, but there are so many complainers that I'm beginning to wonder if all those people actually know how to play the music on a real guitar. After all, if not, then how could they claim the note charts are bad?
    Edited by 1 at 03/07/08 @ 18:11

  • Kyle #17 4 years ago

    I was contemplating getting Rock Band but I think I'll wait for the sequel now. I really want to like RB more than GH, because I have more faith in Harmonix making it a platform, rather than something you update every year.

  • daz_john_smith #18 4 years ago

    Ok, can someone actually tell me exactly what new features RB2 is going to have, cos it really just sounds like its primarily just going to be new songs. I'm sure they'll add the ability to play Band World Tour online; a feature that should have been included originally or added as part of a free update like they promised, but so far I've not heard of anything else and yet they intend to release it this autumn/winter to compete with GH:WT.

    As for GH3 having crappy note charts; change the record already! Its seems very fashionable right now for a small number of RB fans to hate GH3 & Neversoft cos they're beloved Harmonix wasn't involved. Considering it was Neversofts first ever rhythm action game I think they did a pretty good job and actually like alot of their note charts and I've heard people who actually play guitar agree. Harmonix dont always get it right. Their version of Reptilia on RB copies most of the best bits from GH3 and then foolishly mixes in the rhythm guitar part to make it easier. Their Metalica note charts are fairly dull and easy until they throw in a guitar solo which is way out of proportion in difficulty to the rest of the song.

  • Tweakmonkey #19 4 years ago

    Sounds like it's being rushed out for the holidays. Have they mentioned how you can play your RB1 songs with RB2? Yes they've mentioned DLC but what about all the songs that are actually on the disc?

  • Fallen_Angel #20 4 years ago

    @grussbarbar I'm thinking the opposite. I'm wondering if its only musicians, or people who actually have an ear for music who complain about the note charts. I play the game by listening to the music and taking it from there, rather than simply playing "simon says". GH3 fucked me right up, since they started throwing in extra notes where there was no actual chord played in the original song. As well as that, the note progression just felt...wrong. Where I expected certain patterns, Nevervision played around with it to make it artificially harder, but it also made no sense when you considered it within the whole of the track. Same problem happened with HO/PO's.

    Edit: @daz_john_smith
    Yes it was there first game, but first impressions count. its likely Activision only went with Neversoft to develop GH3 after rejecting Harmonix wanting to take the brand in a different direction (Full Band). Activision had bought the GH brand, and didn't want to mess with it, instead milking it for all its worth. The fact is, that alone makes me less likely to like GH stuff, since Activision have other brands to fall back on if GH fails. They only care about selling loads of copies, so tracklisting etc is more important to them than actually putting effort into the backend.

    Harmonix on the other hand, while also wanting to make lots and lots of money (I'm not denying everyones in this as its a monetary goldmine), but they have a vested interest in making sure the fans enjoy it and want more. Harmonix only has 1 game genre, and one game at a time, always has since Frequency. If they fuck up a game, and everyone decides to go over to the competition, they're likely going to go under.

    Simple fact is, its in Harmonix's best interests to make the better game. Activision/Neversoft can give or take and milk the franchise till it dies, then rely on Call of Duty, Tony Hawks or the iD games they publish to pull in a profit. My point is I guess, trust the company more thats got more to lose. Or better the devil you know.
    Edited by 1 at 03/07/08 @ 20:40

  • Eraysor #21 4 years ago

    I'd rather have good DLC than be able to make my own songs, especially considering GH DLC is terrible apart from Any Way You Want It.

  • InsoFox #22 4 years ago

    I stand by RB2 only being a good thing. Even if you ignore all the tweaks and improvements they've made which we'll find out more about in a few months, you can just think of it as a MASSIVE song pack, for a discounted price.

  • grussbarbar #23 4 years ago

    @Fallen_Angel

    Hmm... I agree that the chord progression seems to be overly hard, but what do you mean with the same thing happening to HO/PO's? Is it that you have to strum in the middle of some of them? That seemed more realistic to me, since you now have to strum the notes that you can hear being strummed in the music too. Apart from that, loosening up the timing window a bit actually made HO/PO's easier, which helps immensely in the solo's; that's an improvement too as far as I'm concerned.

    About Activison and Harmonix, I'm not really sure sure why you would trust Activision/Neversoft any less because of those reasons. You could very well say that Harmonix have the most reasons to do this right, but that doesn't automatically mean that Neversoft isn't doing it's very best to do this right too. At least to me, Neversoft seems to be working hard to move the genre forward too. In GH III they added battle mode (which might not be realistic, but is extremely fun to play in multiplayer as far as I'm concerned; it's the one mode where a better player doesn't automatically win but actually has to put in as much as an effort as the other player). And for GH:WT they're expanding the bass to 6 notes to make it more interesting (which is sorely needed) and adding the music creator.

    As long as they do that stuff, add truly new features to the games, I'm not bothered by them releasing what seems like too many games.

  • CaptianScarlet #24 4 years ago

    oh well, I love Rockband but it looks like I'll be moving back to Guitar hero then so I can make music.

  • Toothball #25 4 years ago

    I don't really mind that I won't be able to make music. The people who get paid millions for that are usually better than me at it anyway.

  • daz_john_smith #26 4 years ago

    @FallenAngel
    "after rejecting Harmonix wanting to take the brand in a different direction (Full Band)"

    Where did you get that from? I've never heard that before. I'd heard that the Band formula was being worked on with RedOctane whilst Harmonix were still at Activision and they jumped ship to team up with EA/MTV.


    It annoys me that noone ever mentions or praises RedOctane, its always Harmonix that gets all the credit. RedOctane came up with the idea for GH (after "borrowing" it from Guitar Freaks), they secured the initial investment, they made and designed the peripherals, they co-designed the game and enlisted Harmonix to make it. Harmonix make great rhythm action games, but what sold GH and makes GH and RB unique is the peripherals.

    @grussbarber
    +1
    Sure we don't exactly know what new features RB2 will have (and I love both brands btw), but it does seem that Activision/RedOctane/Neversoft are making more of an effort to add features and new gameplay mechanics. The Bass Guitar has been crying out for something to set it apart from Lead Guitar and the open chord is a welcome addition
    Edited by 4 at 04/07/08 @ 13:15

  • grussbarbar #27 4 years ago

    @daz_john_smith

    You're absolutely right. Red Octane should be given their due credit, since much of the subgenre's popularity stems from the excellent peripherals. The first Guitar Hero was indeed a great accomplishment by both Harmonix and Red Octane.
    And Red Octane is continually thinking of ways to improve the Guitar Hero peripherals. I love the easy way the GH III guitar can be taken apart for traveling purposes and the elevated cymbal pads on the GH:WT drum kit look great fun to play with. (Striking them both at the same time to activate Star Power must feel awesome! =D ) And I'm really looking forward to seeing what things the GH:WT guitar neck touch pad can do.

  • daz_john_smith #28 4 years ago

    @grussbarbar
    +1... again :)