Who else is waiting patiently for the revival of the plastic instrument genre?

[legend166]

Everything is cyclical, and I am totally ready for plastic instrument games to make a comeback. It's been over a decade since they peaked, and I miss it. A couple of things need to happen though to make it worthwhile and hopefully avoid some of the pitfalls of what happened last year.

1. Probably time to move into the subscription era. Will make it more sustainable for the devs as well as giving a steady stream of new content. Heck, partner up with Spotify and make it an add it to a Spotify sub or something. Software as a service has matured dramatically over the last decade and it suits this genre perfectly.

2. Limit scope creep - focus on guitar, singing + drums. I appreciated what they tried to do with the keyboard in Rock Band, but it ended up being too small to be worth it.

3. This one is most important - complete and total cross platform support. I'm talking instruments and library. No excuse not to do this now.

Who's with me?

 

[Owlet]

I'd be so down for a new Guitar Hero or Rockband.

I spent the better part of my childhood playing those games.

I'm honestly a career musician because of those kind of games as stupid as that sounds lol

 

[Jawmuncher]

Deifnitely waiting as well. I'm glad I went with xbox for RB4 though, should be able to play RB4 on XSX which is nice.

 

[Deleted member 10629]

Bring DDR back.

 

[EvilChameleon]

It would only be worth it if you could play any song in existence. Just load up the song, it creates a chart for you based on the difficulty and instrument you pick, and away you go.

 

[ghostcrew]

Never died mate. I've been blasting out Ace of Base and Belinda Carlisle on my RB4 set tonight 😅

 

[Wet Jimmy]

I'm down for that.

I occasionally still play Rock Band 4, and I'd be quite happy if they just remastered it with a new lick of paint and higher quality assets, and then just kept adding content to the song library.

 

[Wet Jimmy]

Never died mate. I've been blasting out Ace of Base and Belinda Carlisle on my RB4 set tonight 😅

Click to shrink...

My man.

 

[Ryuelli]

I want to play Rock Band again so badly, specifically drums. I can't wait for the day I can walk in to a store and buy a set again.

 

[Jahranimo]

Rock Band 2 on the Wii holds some of my fondest memories. Harmonix is awesome. I really hope their next game Fuser finds some success (even though there's no plastic instruments)

 

[ElephantShell]

Rock Band 4 drum kit with cymbal attachment sitting under my stairs right now says I am that person.

 

[Cort]

Clone Hero is a really good alternative for the time being if you want to dig in now.

 

[Wet Jimmy]

I want to play Rock Band again so badly, specifically drums. I can't wait for the day I can walk in to a store and buy a set again.

Click to shrink...

I tried my little heart out, but getting my hands and feet to coordinate enough for the drums was just beyond me...

 

[AusGeno]

It would only be worth it if you could play any song in existence.

Click to shrink...

Seems like you're setting the bar a little high...

 

[Okabe]

I'm ready for Monster Hunter Hero tbh

 

[EvilChameleon]

Seems like you're setting the bar a little high...

Click to shrink...

It's not as high as you think.

 

[Ryuelli]

I tried my little heart out, but getting my hands and feet to coordinate enough for the drums was just beyond me...

Click to shrink...

Haha, I was never great but did well enough. The only song I could never quite get my hands and feet coordinated enough to play at hard or expert was Run to the Hills.

 

[pswii60]

Both EA (Edit: Harmonix) and Activision tried a revival in 2015 and both games tanked.

My local Costco had the biggest pile of unsold Rock Band games that Christmas, they definitely took the wrong gamble on that one.

 

[ghostcrew]

It would only be worth it if you could play any song in existence. Just load up the song, it creates a chart for you based on the difficulty and instrument you pick, and away you go.

Click to shrink...

Some rhythm games do this but it's always incredibly basic (like two notes that just match the rhythm) and wouldn't work for something like Rock Band. It's far too complex.

Not to mention the licensing.

 

[RedMercury]

I feel like it should just be guitar focused, just do one thing and do it well. People don't generally want to have a bunch of plastic laying around

 

[purseowner]

Yooka-Laylee needs a spin-off that fully exploits its namesake.

(As does Banjo, of course)

 

[Deleted member 11637]

So glad I held onto my old DJ Hero deck, those two games were perfect at what they did.

 

[JehutyRunner]

Both EA and Activision tried a revival in 2015 and both games tanked.

My local Costco had the biggest pile of unsold Rock Band games that Christmas, they definitely took the wrong gamble on that one.

Click to shrink...

EA didn't publish Rock Band 4. Harmonix self-published it.

 

[Dogui]

I could expect more GH styled games existing in a future where vr is cheaper and more popular. Using a PS move like controller instead of getting plastic garbage just for these games would be definitely a plus.

 

[pswii60]

EA didn't publish Rock Band 4. Harmonix self-published it.

Click to shrink...

Thanks

 

[2shd]

Still love Rock Band. (not GH). The games is timeless, imo.
My library of 1000+ songs + forward controller compatibility is a big reason why I'm picking up a Series X at launch.
It never fails to entertain me whenever I pick it up.

However, I really hope there is a RB5 because:
1) Our instruments are failing and we need new hardware
2) The RB DLC has been awful the past couple years, and they'd have to have a solid set list for it. Hoping Harmonix has been saving on licensing to invest into it.

I'm not expecting, though. Producing hardware is too risky.

2. Limit scope creep - focus on guitar, singing + drums. I appreciated what they tried to do with the keyboard in Rock Band, but it ended up being too small to be worth it.

Click to shrink...

That's pretty much what Rock Band 4 was. They dropped the real guitar and keyboard stuff and said they won't ever bring back keys.
Too bad people dropped out of the genre before Rivals because the online team and score chasing features added a lot.

 

[newmoneytrash]

i mean rock band 4 and guitar hero live both tried it and failed miserably

also the plastic instrument fad is what killed the tony hawk franchise the first time so fuck it

 

[Strangelove_77]

I still have my PS3 RB set and a GH guitar.
But I don't have RB4. It's never gone on a deep discount digitally before. Waiting for that $20 price.

 

[Meia]

Have my instruments from RB3 as well for the PS3, never got RB4 thinking I could later. So much for that. :p



My problem was doing all the way through Expert guitar to the point where only the hardest songs stumped me, and figured if I have to practice to play a song with a plastic instrument, I'd rather go the real route. This of course led me to buy Rocksmith. Someday I'll give that the attention it deserves as the guitar for it is sitting in a nice little case collecting dust. :p

 

[stumblebee]

Clone Hero is fuckin awesome

 

[legend166]

Both EA (Edit: Harmonix) and Activision tried a revival in 2015 and both games tanked.

My local Costco had the biggest pile of unsold Rock Band games that Christmas, they definitely took the wrong gamble on that one.

Click to shrink...

Problem with that it was way too soon. Also, the casual audiences that propelled Guitar Hero (and Rock Band to a lesser extent) to the stratosphere didn't exist on the PS4 and XB1 at that point. Plus, in a generation where you had a significant number of people changing console makers, not being able to use the same instruments (you couldn't use Xbox 360 instruments on a PS4) was a big downside.

The Switch has brought back some of that audience so I feel like now is the time. Plus, it's long enough that people will actually have nostalgia for those games.

 

[2shd]

i mean rock band 4 and guitar hero live both tried it and failed miserably

also the plastic instrument fad is what killed the tony hawk franchise the first time so fuck it

Click to shrink...

It was Activision's horrible management of the respective series that killed off Tony Hawk games and their GH brand, not the music game genre/fad itself.

 

[Minthara]

I think a Rock Band/Guitar Hero entry once per gen then supported over the length of a gen is about the perfect amount of time until we need a new one. So yes! I'd like a Rock Band V within the next year or two.

 

[Ganado]

I got so sad when the RB4PC kickstarter failed. Clone Hero works but I'd love for the real deal. I really liked RB for X360 but I can't bother to connect it up nowadays.

 

[ghostcrew]

The Switch has brought back some of that audience so I feel like now is the time. Plus, it's long enough that people will actually have nostalgia for those games.

Click to shrink...

I honestly think that a Switch Rock Band release would sell a shitload right now.

 

[JustinH]

I kinda was only into it when I rented a house with 3 other roommates who all loved to play together. Since then I haven't cared for it and it felt so "freeing" to dump all those instruments in the dumpster.

What I need to do is to get back into playing my guitar (I hard-quit after a disability made it uncomfortable. I think I can learn to live with that, though...)

Never died mate. I've been blasting out Ace of Base and Belinda Carlisle on my RB4 set tonight 😅

Click to shrink...

Not even joking, this makes me wish I still had roommates lol.

 

[Tbm24]

I am forever ready for another rock band. My XBL account has a solid $200ish spent on DLC spent across titles. One day, I hope to be able to use them again.

 

[spam musubi]

Clone Hero is very much alive and the community is doing well. CH is better than any actual plastic instrument game out there in terms of QOL features and gameplay quality. It's free, and it will likely be supported indefinitely by the community.

 

[Protome]

I'm more interested in a new Rocksmith tbh. I hope Ubi do that

 

[tokkun]

Clone Hero is very much alive and the community is doing well. CH is better than any actual plastic instrument game out there in terms of QOL features and gameplay quality. It's free, and it will likely be supported indefinitely by the community.

Click to shrink...

Is it fueled by piracy? That seems to be the issue with most games of this type.

 

[AlexBasch]

*raises hand

I just want to keep singing dammit, I love playing drums and it led me to play real ones, but I'd love to play again with people doing vocals. I never get anyone in matchmaking anymore in RB4. :(

 

[ghostcrew]

Is it fueled by piracy? That seems to be the issue with most games of this type.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I'm never gonna see Clone Hero as a viable alternative for me in this market when it's circumventing the licensing model and just sharing tracks on Google Drive or whatever.

As someone who works in the music industry and has licensed countless songs to RB/GH/Rocksmith... fuck that noise.

 

[spam musubi]

Is it fueled by piracy? That seems to be the issue with most games of this type.

Click to shrink...

The game itself is perfectly legal. You can download just the chart for the songs and supply your own music. There is also a very large community of creators who create music just to be used in the game. If you want to pirate, yes, no one is stopping you, but you can pirate songs without Clone Hero either. I have a couple albums I've made and have allowed for the tracks to be used in CH and worked with charters to make charts. Other artists have as well.

Here's an example of one of the more famous community created songs:

 

[ghostcrew]

The game itself is perfectly legal. You can download just the chart for the songs and supply your own music. There is also a very large community of creators who create music just to be used in the game. If you want to pirate, yes, no one is stopping you, but you can pirate songs without Clone Hero either. I have a couple albums I've made and have allowed for the tracks to be used in CH and worked with charters to make charts. Other artists have as well.

Here's an example of one of the more famous community created songs:

Click to shrink...

Gotta say, I liked the Alan Partridge medley I saw someone do.

 

[Psychonaut]

It's not coming back. Still, this thread is a good reminder not to sell my PS4 until Rock Band library support is confirmed.

 

[affeinvasion]

I'd settle for a Kickstarter for a rerelease of instruments for rock band that don't suck. I've got the pdp drums for rb4 and they are God awful.

 

[Aurica]

Why wait? Never went anywhere if you're playing (superior) Japanese rhythm games, but maybe they're not exactly what you're looking for. For me, I'd much rather play Taiko no Tatsujin, IIDX, and then all the arcade exclusives I love.

 

[tokkun]

The game itself is perfectly legal. You can download just the chart for the songs and supply your own music. There is also a very large community of creators who create music just to be used in the game. If you want to pirate, yes, no one is stopping you, but you can pirate songs without Clone Hero either. I have a couple albums I've made and have allowed for the tracks to be used in CH and worked with charters to make charts. Other artists have as well.

Click to shrink...

I understand it is technically legal, but other games I have played similar to this - such as Stepmania and Beat Saber custom charts - are dominated by pirated tracks. Like 99.9% of stuff you find is pirated.

A lot of people want to play songs from popular artists, which should come as no surprise. I mean that is what got Guitar Hero popular among a mass audience in the first place, back in the days when I was struggling to get my friends into the import GuitarFreaks games. The clone games don't give that to people unless they want to get into piracy, so that's why I think there is still a place for a company to come in and release a game with licensed tracks.

 

[Shoeless]

It's not coming back. Still, this thread is a good reminder not to sell my PS4 until Rock Band library support is confirmed.

Click to shrink...

I'm still playing Rock Band 4 on my PS4 as well. For some reason, I just assumed RB4 would be backward compatible on the PS5, but now that you've brought this up, I realize there's a chance Harmonix might not do that, and I don't know if they have any plans for a Rock Band 5.

 

[Belthazar90]

Man, how I miss playing this with my brother when we were younger. He was always on the guitar with me on the vocals... we always had a blasd playing Rock Band.