Behold, Rock Band!

by Alex Pasco

In the last 100 years, pretty much every decade has had a defining invention that changes the way we experience music in a fundamental way. The victrola, the phonograph, the radio, the 45-RPM record, the 33-RPM LP, the cassette tape, the CD, the recordable CD, the MP3 player... and now we've just started to experience a brand new one, and it's about to get even better.

When music games first happened onto the scene, they were primarily built around pressing buttons or dancing in time with on-screen visual and audio cues. Dance-Dance Revolution, Parappa the Rapper, and the like all relied on (and in many cases improved upon) a player's sense of rhythm to get through the game. Then Harmonix created Amplitude and Frequency, two games that took the rhythm genre to a new place, adding style and purpose. Not content to sit on their laurels, they began working on the two games that I believe will lead to the Next Big Breakthrough in music appreciation and experience: Guitar Hero and Karaoke Revolution. Both games allow you to sing along or play guitar on some of the most famous songs of the last several decades.

This fall, it all changes again - and this one is The Big Deal. Harmonix will be releasing Rock Band, the most anticipated music game in history. Upon release, you and three of your friends will finally be able to get together in person or on-line and play these games the way everyone has always wanted to - rocking your house down and irritating your neighbors as a band! Guitar, Bass, Drums and Vocals, everyone playing the whole song together. Rock Band will initially come with dozens of songs, but the really exciting part is that since Harmonix has partnered up with the some of the biggest names in the games and music industry, Electronic Arts and MTV, they have the economic muscle to make some really interesting things happen.

First of all, most of the tracks that come included with Rock Band are the real studio master tracks, by the original artists. Those sounds coming out of your speakers when playing 'Enter Sandman' by Metallica will be the exact same ones that James and Kurt recorded in the studio. That's exciting and unbelievably awesome. Second of all, they are planning to start releasing full albums to be played on Rock Band. For the first time in history, you'll be able to experience an album as an active participant, and not just a passive listener. This is A Big Deal. So next time someone tries to squirt you a tune or two on their brand new Zune (coming to a landfill near you! Ha! Oh I kid Microsoft.), you can invite them over to your house to play that song instead.

Also interesting to note - since Harmonix sold the Guitar Hero franchise off to Activision, they will essentially be competing with the game they invented with their evolutionary product. And I bet they're gonna win.

We conclude with a demonstration of an early build of Rock Band: Welcome to the Jungle. Looks fun, doesn't it?

Comments

[Earlene]

Good words.