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    Rock Band 4

    Game » consists of 2 releases. Released Oct 06, 2015

    An installment of the band-focused rhythm game for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Focusing on the core vocals, drums, guitar, and bass instruments, Rock Band 4 offers a new set of on-disc songs while supporting players' existing DLC libraries.

    Rock Band 1.1

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    Penderton

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    Most of the features the series has progressed with over the years have disappeared in this.

    - No online play.

    - No keys.

    - ION drums don't work.

    - No RBN songs.

    - No practice mode.

    - No setlists in quickplay.

    - No custom bandmates anywhere.

    - No sliders or body types for your character.

    - No art for your character or instrument. (Can still choose instrument color.)

    - Songs will no longer switch to a correctly gendered singer so males will sing female songs and female singers will sing male songs.

    - No individual breakneck speed option.

    I know they're going to add some of this stuff later but this a poor show to start with.

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    BradBrains

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    #2  Edited By BradBrains

    what does "no keys" mean? like no keyboards? they said they when they announced the game .

    outside of the setlists thing most of this seems pretty unimportant/minor. seems like getting frustrated over nothing.

    99% of people play in the same room with friends. as long as thats a great epxeriance they can build from there.

    the setlist thing is also really specifically worded. is there an either way to create setlists on the fly?

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    MezZa

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    Wait, is this game really coming out in two days? Why have I heard absolutely nothing about it. I was kind of curious about maybe getting back into playing some of my favorite songs, but I assumed we were still a month or two away because of how silent things have been.

    As for this list of stuff not being in, eh. None of that is really a deal breaker for me. I usually just chill and play a song or two when I'm bored. Not really into the whole larger custom band and online experience.

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    Slang_N_Bang

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    To be fair, they have been pretty upfront about stripping things back and making this on the cheap compared to the old games. Harmonix isn't exactly the powerhouse it was a few years ago.

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    cmblasko

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    #5  Edited By cmblasko

    @penderton said:

    - ION drums don't work.

    Wait, for real? This would be super disappointing if true. You can still do 3 cymbals + double bass pedal though, right?

    I don't know, I get that they are doing this on a shoestring budget but for the price they are asking some of these things should have been included.

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    SMTDante89

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    @cmblasko: According to the instrument compatibility list, it seems if you have an ion drum kit for the PS3, it will work on the PS4, but the 360 version will not work on the Xbox One. I'm not entirely sure about the cymbals and double bass though.

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    Penderton

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    http://www.twitch.tv/thegametechnician/v/18211642 This guy on his steam was still using symbols but there's only 2. I don't play drums myself so don't really know. That was one of the things they said they'd fix though.

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    GunstarRed

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    The only one I care about is the setlists, and I know they've said stuff is going to be added over time, but there's definitely been a lack of info on the game up until now. It wasn't until the last few days that people knew exactly how you would get all your old DLC. (each song individually it seems)

    I'm thankful for a new RB game, but this is a weird release. So little information, bad on disc setlist, and a bunch of features removed. If I hadn't already put a ton of money into these games already there'd be no way I'd be buying this.

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    StarvingGamer

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    At twitch con or something they announced they're going to have a couple big features update patches later on so I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of that stuff come back. Just wasn't priority to hit holiday release.

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    mrcraggle

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    Seems odd to release something that's super stripped back compared to where they were with 3 but hopefully they can deliver on 4 as a platform they originally envisioned rather than making new sequels. I'm just not super into the setlist and the lack of features just makes me want to wait and see how this develops.

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    Corvak

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    Price tag still too hefty for me, even the guitar bundle runs $200 in canada.

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    kagato

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    They sent out a questionaire to everyone who registered to the site asking for the order in which we all thought features are in terms of importance, they have put out a verion of the game that featured as much as they could for what we requested. They are patching more stuff in but they knew they had a short time frame (due to song licenses expiring) so they pushed out what they could to get us started and they will add the rest as we go. It was either that or we would lose the ability to important over half our previous purchases, i am happy enough with how they have handled it.

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    BradBrains

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    #13  Edited By BradBrains

    they didnt "remove" anything. they just made it a simpler dev experience because of cost and didnt devleop those things for the initial product.

    I know NO ONE that played the game online

    and most of the stuff they added were so unimportant. seems like people want a second nhl 14 and are triyng to make not having a fat avatar as the same thing.

    they were very clear on what they were doing (bringing the game back to its core and keeping it simple because they are a small team) . its also why there hasnt been tons of coverage. because it is what it is

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    newmoneytrash

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    @bradbrains: I wouldn't say that all of those things are entirely unimportant

    and at such a larger price point having a game with less features is frustrating

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    BradBrains

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    @tajasaurus: almost all those features listed are pretty unimportant to their goal. im not saying people shouldnt care (to each their own) but things like "male characters can sing female songs" really doesnt do make a difference.

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    newmoneytrash

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    @bradbrains: to you. you don't really get to choose what people do and don't find important. i bet that character representation, both in image and voice, were important for a lot of people. and even if it was only a few people, that doesn't make that importance meaningless

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    BradBrains

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    @tajasaurus: see my previous post ". im not saying people shouldnt care (to each their own)"

    but those people are in the minority who care about that. nearly all people ive talked to either just use it to play a song or two t home or use it for parties and groups. im not gonna have those things missing is a good thing but it seems minor in the grand scheme of things.

    what you think is a good value is up to you. if not having art on your guitar is a deal breaker its fine. I think its silly but hey I have the same right to opinion as you do.

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    corporalgregg

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    As someone who has played Rock Band since day one, and still plays 3 with tons of DLC and customs, everything about RB4 has been super disappointing for me. No online multiplayer makes the game not remotely interesting to me. I don't have any friends who want to regularly play Rock Band but over the years I have made several online friends that I'd play with frequently and for a couple years did DLC videos each week with them at 5am when the new songs would go up. This blows. I switched to PS4 this time around and have had no reason to get an Xbox One, but I was ready to buy one for this game after they announced the DLC would transfer and old instruments would work. That would have been worth it to update one of my favourite series to the current gen and get back to playing with friends who don't live in the same city or state or country as me, but it becomes almost impossible to justify for myself when the game now offers me a RB1-era track pack with new lighting, cool stuff for vocalists (I never sing because I am a bad person,) and a feature that couldn't be any less appealing to me.

    I like playing plastic guitar. It's the best. It's really fun and I'm really good at it. The best part of playing my stupid fake guitar to rock songs is the solo! Freestyle solo mode is a neat feature for a lot of people and seems technically impressive. Makes sense to me why it's a big feature, but oh man is that not something I want to hear or play, I like note matching the actual solo and hearing the actual solo. So this neat feature is something I can't see myself ever using except maybe once or twice as a novelty or on songs I don't really like.

    No online multiplayer is fucking crazy though! I can't think of any other franchise where people would be so OK with that feature being removed from it after being there since the beginning, but I guess no one besides me and my weird online friends care. Everyone has Rock Band parties and multiple people down anytime to play with them nearby I guess? I'm not so lucky. I hope Harmonix has something definitive to say about online. I can't buy your game until that happens because as it stands I still have my 360, Rock Band 3, my wired guitar (that works great but wouldn't work in RB4 because the required adapter doesn't support wired) and a whole disgusting amount of customs. And the only downside to those customs is the fact I can't play them online...oh shit. That sucks. Wish I had a stream of new songs to play AND play with others online.

    I really hope this game is successful enough that they are able to get RB4 even remotely close to the feature list of RB3. I realize I'm probably a very specific demographic, but it sucks how much almost everything about RB4 has bummed me out. On the bright side I am saving a bunch of money. Maybe it's money worth spending in 2016 at some point. Can't wait to see if any reviewers give a shit about the lack of online multiplayer or if I'm the edgest of edge cases here and no one else notices. I'm not even mentioning all the tiny things that are baffling omissions or the song selection menu that is rather lacking, but I have faith those are the kind of thing that will get addressed whereas I really can't get a read on Harmonix's intentions with supporting online features.

    PS the Canadian dollar stinks right now oh god does it stink. $350-400 Xbone. $180 for game and guitar. Nope.

    PPS I realize how bitter/angry this may all sound, but it's just disappointment. I hope lots of people enjoy the game!

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    Dayve86

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    #19  Edited By Dayve86

    I think I'm going to skip this for now and pick up guitar hero live when that comes out. Guitar hero live is significantly cheaper than the guitar/game bundle of rock band 4. At least in Canada. I wouldn't be going for the drums either way.

    I might pick up rock band later next year used or if the price drops.

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    travellinman

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    i've never been so torn about buying a video game as i am with Rock Band 4.. i know buying the game now, instead of waiting for a price drop, will only help with future development and features being added.. but the lack of those features has created a game that doesn't match the asking price.. for me..

    People can be dismissive of some of the features they stripped out.. but with a friends list full of former rockers and a DLC library of hundreds and hundreds of songs.. no online play, no practice, no breakneck speed, etc.. is a tough pill to swallow..

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    thefriend

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    #21  Edited By thefriend

    Super disappointing to have no multi in. I moved for work and all my RB pals are in another state. Hope they patch it in.

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