PS2 Rock Band Shipping Tomorrow

[Junaid Alam]

PS2 Rock Band Shipping Tomorrow

The PlayStation 2 version of Rock Band: Special Edition Bundle will ship to stores on December 18.

The PS2 version of the game, developed in collaboration with Pi Studios, shares the same core features as the PS3 and 360 versions, according to the developers.

Some of the same music and gameplay modes are included, Band World Tour and Score Duel among them.

"Our team was honored to work side by side with Harmonix to
create Rock Band for the PlayStation 2 and extremely proud of the result," said Robert Erwin, CEO of Pi Studios.


"Together, we were able to deliver the addictive nature and
brilliance of the core Rock Band gameplay while giving PS2 owners the ultimate rock experience just in time for the holidays."

The bundled version, comprising a wireless Fender Stratocaster guitar controller, an electronic drum kit, real drum sticks, a microphone and software will sell for $160 and the standalone software will go for $50.

Those who upgrade to a PS3 will only need to replace the software, as all the instruments are shared.

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[Geoffrey42]

[a href=http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/15/ps2-version-of-rock-band-lacks-online-play-world-tour-mode/]Joystiq[/a] says no Band World Tour, Escapist says Band World Tour.

Who am I to believe?

EDIT: Asked and answered:
"The band world tour mode has also been scaled down considerably. In the next-gen versions, you create a band and then tour from city to city, amassing cash, gaining new fans, signing record deals, playing in battle-of-the-bands challenges, and so on. On the PS2, you can still play a four-player career game, but you'll simply progress linearly through each tier of songs, as you would in a Guitar Hero game or one of the single-instrument solo tours in Rock Band. That also means the character creator is gone, so you won't be able to customize your own rock dude or dudette before jumping into the world tour gameplay."
- Source: [a href=http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/puzzle/rockband/news.html?sid=6184009&om_act=convert&om_clk=newlyadded&tag=newlyadded;title;1]Gamespot[/a]

 

[Lord Leinad]

I think I'm getting this for Christmas. Which is good, because I haven't touched Guitar Hero since June and I want to satiate my wannabe rock star fit.

 

[KaynSlamdyke]

Since Rock Band doesn't get released for another few months here, I decided to do some digging and find out what the features of the game would be and whether I truly would get a kick out of drumming on a computer game controller as I would on the silent training drum kit that sits in my flat.

And unfortunately the answer is a resounding "I'm still not moving up to XBox 360 and I'm not buying another Harmonix game unless it was released before 2004". For one big, horrific, monolithic reason.

No online Band Career Mode.

Who thought of that? Own up. Who said to themselves that making a game that is meant to encourage huge multiplayer bands should have the online functionality removed from seventy percent of thier game? How are they meant to cater for the hardcore gaming fanatic with no friends within a thirty mile radius? I may as well play the PS2 version for all the fun it'd give me...

I'm going to go back to trying to unlock Sabotage on GH3 now. Somehow I'll be able to play two controllers at the same time...

 

[Geoffrey42]

I believe the answer to your question, KaynSlamdyke, resides [a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/80038-Rock-Band-Dev-Discusses-Common-Questions-With-MTV]here[/a]. They're working on it, but there are still kinks in their system for keeping all the career stuff sync'd.

Also, the career mode would be the only thing not online. You could still play with your friends outside a 30 mile radius, in 4-player band mode, just not in the career format. With, of course, the knowledge that they're going to attempt to add a patch that allows Band World Tour Online at a later date.

(It makes me a little sick to think that I just suggested someone put their potential faith in a CONSOLE PATCH. Those two words should never have existed side-by-side...)

 

[KaynSlamdyke]

I believe the answer to your question, KaynSlamdyke, resides [a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/80038-Rock-Band-Dev-Discusses-Common-Questions-With-MTV]here[/a]. They're working on it, but there are still kinks in their system for keeping all the career stuff sync'd.

Yeah. That post came up an hour after I posted that rant. And yeah, I understand the kinks there, but it's still the single most dissapointing thing in the entire game. Not being able to form a virtual rock band with my friends in London and Middlesbrough and Miami is going to be a pain. Even though quick-play mode exists, we'd probably all feel better killing each other on a persistant game solely because it won't feel like the experience had to end

(It makes me a little sick to think that I just suggested someone put their potential faith in a CONSOLE PATCH. Those two words should never have existed side-by-side...)

This is why it and the next generation won't get purchased until it's sorted out.
Notice the word "until". I'd never have that kind of hope for a console game before.