Suave Peanut
09-10-2009, 10:34 PM
Greetings Colony! Your friend and Rock Band fan Suave Peanut here, ready to deliver to you my experiences from PAX.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2520/3908704500_283e44b8d3_m.jpg
Suave Peanut knows how to rock.
I spent a great deal of time around the Harmonix booth, at their panel, and hanging around the devs, and I now provide my full report!
FRIDAY: The Booth
On Friday, naturally my first stop was to check out the Harmonix booth. Located all the way in the back of the show floor, it was a mad dash through hundreds of other eager gamers to get anywhere in the exposition hall. I grabbed SadiePepper and Kielaran, my impromptu band, and we raced towards our destination.
When we found it, we saw that there were two parts to the booth: on the left was an impressive stage, featuring The Beatles: Rock Band. It truly had the feel of a musical performance, with The Beatles-branded instruments placed around, three mic stands for singers, and display monitors on stage so the performers could look down and see the game as they played. Behind all of this were a mounted screens displaying the game for the audience.
Spotting UWCrash nearby, we rounded out our band, lined up, and prepared to take the stage!
CRxrEvROCeE
What a rush! It was a fun experience, really giving the feeling of actual music performance.
On the right half of the booth area, behind the stage, there was a tent containing four full Rock Band setups. Two of which featured The Beatles, one for LEGO Rock Band, and a fourth with Rock Band 2 complete with the upcoming patch, some of the Rock Band Network tracks, and (as far as I could tell) all of the DLC. Throughout the weekend I gave each of the games a spin. Despite some minor on-stage sync issues with the LEGO game, the new "family-friendly" songs proved incredibly fun--especially with an audience! LEGO Rock Band is expected just in time for the holidays 2009, and you certainly will be able the export the tracks for use in other Rock Band titles. Prices for neither the software nor the export license have yet been confirmed, but rumors have them leaning toward $50 and $10, respectively.
SATURDAY: The Panel
On Saturday night, Harmonix hosted a panel where they provided many details on the soon-to-be-released Rock Band Network. This was the real meat of the weekend here.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3465/3908704852_37e2e85e34_m.jpg
The first 15 minutes of the panel were spent discussing much of the same information revealed last week (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=11546). After that, however, things got real when Jonathan Coulton took the stage and delighted attendees with a performance of his song "The Future Soon," completely winning the crowd with a guitar tilt (going into "overdrive") midway though.
Following the performance, a producer from Harmonix took the mic. He proceeded to show the crowd how they have been using the Reaper (http://www.reaper.fm/)software (with a few special Rock Band plug-ins) to convert Jonathan Coulton's master recording of "The Future Soon" into a Rock Band Network track. The producer went into great detail on this process, more than I could possibly remember, even with notes! The process begins with importing the individual instrument tracks, calculating the beats-per-minute, placing the gems, etc. They played back the track and, using one of the plug-ins, we were able to see in real time what the song would like in-game.
He compiled the tracks and notes into a Rock Band-compatible file and used their new "Magma" software to add ID3-style tags, including artist, song, album, genre, etc. Then, using Magma (Get it? It's where rock comes from!), he connected to an Xbox 360 and transferred the new track to its hard drive. After the transfer, a few lucky panel attendees were invited to demo the track live along with Coulton. Great times were had by all, and when time ran out at the conclusion of the panel, the developers invited a few interested members of the audience to follow them outside for more personal interaction. It was a great experience talking with these developers, who obviously care so much about their product and for music in general.
SUNDAY: Billy & The Co-Opticrew
My Rock Band-filled PAX weekend would be capped off by myself and mightbe accompanying The Co-Opticrew (bapenguin, OrigamiPanther, and txshurricane) to their appointment to check out The Beatles: Rock Band.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3506/3908704664_f3c7494993.jpg
Once again, it was a thrill to be on stage! As my final experience with Rock Band for the PAX weekend, it made for a perfect ending.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2654/3908704786_f0de237be4.jpg
L to R: mightbe, OrigamiPanther, bapenguin, txshurricane, with Suave Peanut in front
The Beatles: Rock Band is in stores now for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii.
LEGO Rock Band will be available beginning November 30th for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS.
The Rock Band Network begins beta testing this month, and will be available in November for all Xbox 360 Rock Band 2 players.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2520/3908704500_283e44b8d3_m.jpg
Suave Peanut knows how to rock.
I spent a great deal of time around the Harmonix booth, at their panel, and hanging around the devs, and I now provide my full report!
FRIDAY: The Booth
On Friday, naturally my first stop was to check out the Harmonix booth. Located all the way in the back of the show floor, it was a mad dash through hundreds of other eager gamers to get anywhere in the exposition hall. I grabbed SadiePepper and Kielaran, my impromptu band, and we raced towards our destination.
When we found it, we saw that there were two parts to the booth: on the left was an impressive stage, featuring The Beatles: Rock Band. It truly had the feel of a musical performance, with The Beatles-branded instruments placed around, three mic stands for singers, and display monitors on stage so the performers could look down and see the game as they played. Behind all of this were a mounted screens displaying the game for the audience.
Spotting UWCrash nearby, we rounded out our band, lined up, and prepared to take the stage!
CRxrEvROCeE
What a rush! It was a fun experience, really giving the feeling of actual music performance.
On the right half of the booth area, behind the stage, there was a tent containing four full Rock Band setups. Two of which featured The Beatles, one for LEGO Rock Band, and a fourth with Rock Band 2 complete with the upcoming patch, some of the Rock Band Network tracks, and (as far as I could tell) all of the DLC. Throughout the weekend I gave each of the games a spin. Despite some minor on-stage sync issues with the LEGO game, the new "family-friendly" songs proved incredibly fun--especially with an audience! LEGO Rock Band is expected just in time for the holidays 2009, and you certainly will be able the export the tracks for use in other Rock Band titles. Prices for neither the software nor the export license have yet been confirmed, but rumors have them leaning toward $50 and $10, respectively.
SATURDAY: The Panel
On Saturday night, Harmonix hosted a panel where they provided many details on the soon-to-be-released Rock Band Network. This was the real meat of the weekend here.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3465/3908704852_37e2e85e34_m.jpg
The first 15 minutes of the panel were spent discussing much of the same information revealed last week (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=11546). After that, however, things got real when Jonathan Coulton took the stage and delighted attendees with a performance of his song "The Future Soon," completely winning the crowd with a guitar tilt (going into "overdrive") midway though.
Following the performance, a producer from Harmonix took the mic. He proceeded to show the crowd how they have been using the Reaper (http://www.reaper.fm/)software (with a few special Rock Band plug-ins) to convert Jonathan Coulton's master recording of "The Future Soon" into a Rock Band Network track. The producer went into great detail on this process, more than I could possibly remember, even with notes! The process begins with importing the individual instrument tracks, calculating the beats-per-minute, placing the gems, etc. They played back the track and, using one of the plug-ins, we were able to see in real time what the song would like in-game.
He compiled the tracks and notes into a Rock Band-compatible file and used their new "Magma" software to add ID3-style tags, including artist, song, album, genre, etc. Then, using Magma (Get it? It's where rock comes from!), he connected to an Xbox 360 and transferred the new track to its hard drive. After the transfer, a few lucky panel attendees were invited to demo the track live along with Coulton. Great times were had by all, and when time ran out at the conclusion of the panel, the developers invited a few interested members of the audience to follow them outside for more personal interaction. It was a great experience talking with these developers, who obviously care so much about their product and for music in general.
SUNDAY: Billy & The Co-Opticrew
My Rock Band-filled PAX weekend would be capped off by myself and mightbe accompanying The Co-Opticrew (bapenguin, OrigamiPanther, and txshurricane) to their appointment to check out The Beatles: Rock Band.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3506/3908704664_f3c7494993.jpg
Once again, it was a thrill to be on stage! As my final experience with Rock Band for the PAX weekend, it made for a perfect ending.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2654/3908704786_f0de237be4.jpg
L to R: mightbe, OrigamiPanther, bapenguin, txshurricane, with Suave Peanut in front
The Beatles: Rock Band is in stores now for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii.
LEGO Rock Band will be available beginning November 30th for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS.
The Rock Band Network begins beta testing this month, and will be available in November for all Xbox 360 Rock Band 2 players.