It has happened. The Beatles will finally be gracing a rhythm game next Holiday season (that’s 2009 folks). Harmonix/MTV Games and Apple Corp, the company that represents the Beatles, held a conference call this morning to announce the joint venture.
The details are slim for now, but we know it will be a full game based on The Beatles’ music. You’ll be able to follow the band from their humble beginnings all the way through the huge hits. It’ll have the Rock Band feel, so gameplay-wise, I wouldn’t expect anything crazy. All your instruments will work, so don’t worry about having to buy new gear.
Getting to hear it all go down live this morning was pretty fun. I was really hoping to hear “and you’ll be able to download Beatles tracks in Rock Band this week”, but I guess we’ll have to wait a while. It’s gonna be awesome either way.
In an already crowed rhythm game market, Disney looks to capitalize on the family friendly and younger gamer segments with Ultimate Band. Coming this Holiday for the Wii and DS, the game looks to simplify the genre to get everyone involved and keep things a little safer for the young ones.
Ultimate Band for Wii allows players to live the life of a rock star, by advancing their music careers and popularity from playing in a neighborhood garage to performing in front of an international audience at a world famous venue. Ultimate Band utilizes the innovative Wii Remote and Nunchuk™ to give fans the ability to play the drums, bass guitar, lead guitar, or take on the role of the front man. Players can also create and customize characters that reflect their own unique personalities and attributes. Along the way, players will unlock new songs, venues, and accessories that can be used to customize their band members.
Ultimate Band for Nintendo DS is a rhythm-based music game with a built-in recording studio. Players can jam to current and classic songs using the drums, lead guitar, bass guitar, or rhythm guitar. Players can also create their own original songs using the DS touchscreen and stylus to lay down tracks for each instrument and apply creative mixing effects. Ultimate Band for Nintendo DS will also include DGamer functionality which will allow players to engage with others in a secure online community via their DS (Wi-Fi or ad hoc) or computer.
No word yet on how exactly the gameplay mechanic will work on both platforms or what songs we can expect in the game. I’m interested to see how this all plays out with only using the Wii-mote and Nunchuk or the DS stylus.
In an effort to ease the searching of rhythm game tracks, and to boast about the set list of their own game, MTV released a pretty damn cool track finder. The tool allows you to easily view what songs each rhythm game has, as well as searching by artist and game platform.
With my rhythm game library growing like whoa, this has come in handy already. The only think about it that bothers me is how it displays songs per game. Right now, Rock Band is listed at 96 songs, which includes all the downloadable tracks. Personally, I’d like to see it broken down to show songs that ship with the game separately from those that are available for download. Either way, it’s a great tool to find that elusive song from rhythm games of old.
The two rhythm games that are tearing up the charts this year, Guitar Hero III and Rock Band, have a few songs in common. In particular, “When You Were Young” by The Killers, “Sabotage” by Beastie Boys, and “Cherub Rock” by Smashing Pumkins. But which game is harder, and which is more fun? From the looks of it, GH3 ramps up the difficultly level on Rock Band significantly, but the note placement on Rock Band looks funner.
Check out the video and let us know what you think. Either way, I’ll be playing both.
Sony sent over the newest editions in the SingStar line, 80s and Amped, for us to review. I spent a bit of time with each and really like the song selections.
If you’ve never played SingStar, it’s a karaoke rhythm game for 1-8 people. You have 2 microphones where you have to sing, in time, with the lyrics on the screen. You get points for how well you do, similar to all rhythm games.
The 80s edition got me ready to rock out with some high socks and sweatpants, but my closet was empty so I didn’t have a wardrobe change. My favorite songs in 80s are “The Final Countdown” by Europe, “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” by Wham, and “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor. The Amped edition brings in some of the greatest alternative and rock songs. Favorites there are “Love and Memories” by O.A.R., “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” by Poison, and “Alive” by Pearl Jam.
I’ll have a full review for both in the middle of next week as I spend more time with the game. I’ve got some beer and tequila ready for a SingStar party this weekend.
I’ve been a PaRappa the Rapper fan since the days of the PS1. It’s what got my into rhythm games, and I’ve been hooked ever since (except for DDR, I just couldn’t bring myself to look like a complete fool in the middle of a mall). It’s been a while since we’ve seen a PaRappa game (2002 to be exact), and the rhythm game scene has changed dramatically. We’re now in the days where Guitar Hero is a household phrase, but there’s never been another rapping rhythm game like PaRappa… until now. Sony is bringing PaRappa back to the PSP. The game fits the portable genre perfectly. But how well does it work this go-around? Here is a breakdown of some of the facets of PaRappa the Rapper for the PSP:
Presentation and Graphics: PaRappa has always had a unique graphic style, with paper-like characters and environments. The PSP version of the game is no different. The graphics here look very similar to the PS2 version, which is great for the PSP. I did have an issue with the menus, as they aren’t the easiest to navigate. Once you get past that, the presentation is pretty damn good. There’s some cool phrases scrolled across the screen during loading to refer to waiting to play, such as “soon enough…”, which is fairly amusing. The graphics of the cutscenes are crisp and provide a good story to follow through the game. Overall, it’s not the best looking PSP title we’ve seen, but it does keep to the PaRappa style very well. 4 of 5
I’ve been playing PaRappa the Rapper for PSP for a few days now and I love it! If you’ve never played a PaRappa game, you owe it to yourself to check it out.
You go through 6 stages of rapping against the “Master Rappers” to see who’s best. It works like most rhythm games, where you time a button press with what you see going on screen. The music has some good beats, and I’ve found myself singing some of the songs while walking around.
The game is pretty tough on Normal for those who’ve never played, as you get no indication whether your button press was late, early, or perfectly on time. But this is something you get used to.
Expect a full review of the game this week. For now, it’s back to rap battling Chop Chop Onion Master.
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