Rock Band for Wii

Well, Rock Band was finally released for Nintendo Wii, and for the most part, I think it was worth the wait. Although I didn't personally shell out the $160 or so that the game costs, I'm lucky enough to have a couple of friends who made the financial decision to do so.

So, let's talk about the game... for me, it's all about the drums! I have a fair amount of musicality and hand-eye coordination, but playing the drums requires hand-eye-FOOT coordination. Somewhere along the way my wiring got crossed, because I have the hardest time trying to play the kick-drum beats with the foot pedal. This is probably also why I cannot pick up simple choreography either... the feet don't know what to do, and when given the choice, they will generally do the wrong thing. However, when you find your rhythm and hit your beats, you feel like a total rock star!!

The guitar controller is not as good a fit for me as the controller for Guitar Hero. The strum bar doesn't click and feels "soft", so I'm finding it difficult to play quick runs. Then again, after doing a little internet research, it seems a lot of people are having issues with the strum bar not registering down strokes, or sometimes registering double strums, so maybe that's the problem. All I know is that I am playing on Expert level on Guitar Hero, but seem to be struggling with songs on Rock Band's Hard level.

Also, the + and - buttons are way too close to the strum bar, so sometimes during the middle of a song, my pinkie will accidentally tap a button and the song will pause. You can imagine how annoying this can be to your fellow bandmates. Ummm, oh yeah, the fret keys are flush with the neck of the guitar, so I find that it's easier to lose your place if your hand shifts... I much prefer the raised fret keys on the Guitar Hero controller. The Rock Band controller does have some unique features that are pretty cool, including the guitar effects switch and the solo fret keys (which I've yet to use).

The singing part is pretty easy. You don't have to be able to carry a tune or even know the lyrics, but you must be able to modulate the pitch of your voice in order to keep the arrow level with the pitch lines. I don't think I've scored less than 90% on any song that I had to sing, and most of the songs on the set list were new to me. And for songs that I actually know, I tend to score 100% or in the high 90's. Sweet! :)

This fall Guitar Hero IV will be released, and it will also feature drums and a mic, so that's the game I'm going to spend my hard-earned moolah on. From everything I've read about it so far, it's going to be a far superior game... can't wait to play it.