Rock Band 3 demonstration at E3 2010

Rob Updegrove 15 Jun, 2010 at 5:34pm ET Article published in Gaming

Icrontic's band shows us their chops.

Once we heard Rock Band 3 would be presenting at E3 this year, Icrontic just had to be first on the scene. As E3’s show floor officially opened, IC’s posse hustled to the MTV Games/Harmonix booth to make the first appointment of the day. We fully expected to be underwhelmed by the game. Blahblahblah keyboard, yadda yadda.

We were shocked, though—at one point in the presentation, we actually broke out into heartfelt applause. Sure, the game has a keyboard, but that’s really not what makes Rock Band 3 great. The game’s single most powerful feature is Pro mode for all instruments. Pro mode includes the ability to play a true MIDI keyboard, or a real guitar.

"Guitar Hero is dead!" claims UPSLynx.

I repeat for emphasis: a real guitar.

Fender will be releasing a Stratocaster model to complement the game. The new Stratocaster will act as either a Rock Band 3 controller, or—by plugging into an amp—a true electric guitar. Rock Band 3’s Pro mode will allow a range of true guitar play, from plucking a single string on Easy to actually playing along with the song on Expert. Finally the rhythm game genre has matured to the point where you can pick up a game and learn a real instrument.

All of the existing mechanics of the series are carried over: three part vocal harmonies, no fail mode, party or career gaming, and an enhanced version of the character builder. Menu systems have been enhanced, allowing any player to drop, join, or change settings at any time during a song.

Harmonix put on a strong presentation for the game, and then unleashed Icrontic onto a demonstration set. To sum it up: do want.

Comments

15 Jun 2010 ~ 5:38pm BuddyJ Can I hook up my Epihphone Dot? The day I can hook any real guitar into it is the day they win.
15 Jun 2010 ~ 5:46pm CrazyJoe I dunno about a guitar, but they did mention the fact that you could hook up a real mini keyboard with an adapter that they will be making and use that, so the guitar might actually be possible too.
15 Jun 2010 ~ 5:47pm mertesn Probably not (although I had the same thought). The big requirement is for the MIDI output, which will likely require an analog-digital converter. The RB3 MIDI adapter converts the MIDI signal to controller input, which is why you'll likely need the specific guitar...until someone makes a MIDI converter box for a regular guitar (if it doesn't already exist).
15 Jun 2010 ~ 6:29pm Zanthian Joe you need more bouncing in the video
16 Jun 2010 ~ 4:17pm Bill thinksmartgames.com Wow, a real guitar? Would you have to buy a special guitar for it to work?

Wait... is that what mertesn is saying? You'd need a guitar with MIDI output?

I've always wanted to play guitar, but been too lazy/self-defeating to pull it off. This sounds like a darn fun way to do it, with friends playing along, no less.
16 Jun 2010 ~ 4:59pm kryyst They are putting out a special edition 'real' guitar that has full strings full frets and can connect to a regular amp if you want.
More info here
17 Jun 2010 ~ 4:37pm UPSLynx Joe is SO into. I love this clip.

Keyboards are way more difficult than I ever expected.
17 Jun 2010 ~ 4:42pm GHoosdum You can't use just any real guitar for RB3, but a special real guitar model from Fender (likely followed by a Gibson) will do dual duty as a controller and can be amped, either at the same time you play RB3 or independently.