You may remember back in May when we reported Rock Band 3 would feature keyboards. It is now confirmed that two octave keyboards are coming and will feature 25 keys.
All the instruments are set for an increase in buttons. Guitars will include 102 buttons spanning 17 frets and 6 strings. A three symbol expansion is also being released for the drum kit allowing cymbal hits to be accurately mapped. If you already own a MIDI keyboard or drum kit you will be able to purchase a MIDI Pro Adaptor Box. This will allow you to connect your instruments up to Rock Band 3 without the need to shell out for new instruments.
Don’t worry, the usual modes you have grown to love (or hate) still only use the standard 5 buttons (even on the keyboard). The main benefit of the additional buttons comes in Pro Mode which makes every button “fair game”. Another new mode, dubbed “Road Challenges”, is described as “Band World Tour meets Mario Party” (sounds like a classic).
Rock Band 3 will also see a new menu system implemented to avoid some of the confusion in previous titles. Every player will have their own menu allowing them to change options, such as difficulty, without interfering with the rest of group. New filters will be introduced allowing players to navigate the library of songs based on criteria such as song length, game, decade of release and genre.
Rock Band 3 will ship with over 80 songs and is due for release sometime during “the holidays of 2010”.
Source: Kotaku
Gastos84
Holy fu.. That Guitar is going to be absolutely mental to play.
Can’t wait to see what they do with the keyboard, as a piano player, this is where I could shine! I’m still finding Hard mode on guitar to prove extremely difficult ;-)
Vaile23
i think i’ll get it. more of a challenge and learn the real thing at the same time!
G_The_Enemy14
It’ll be interesting to see how realistic it is. Also, i wonder if I’ll be as good at this as i am at normal guitar
project84music
Wow, that’s a hell of a lot of changes they’re introducing there. It’s gunna be interesting to see exactly how it’ll all work – I’m excited though because it would seem to be coming closer to simulating real instruments. It’s good that they are also not forcing these changes upon people, catering both for those out there who aren’t musicians and don’t want the extra layer of difficulty, as well as those who do.
Gunna be interesting to see how they’ll convey the patterns for 102 buttons.
3shirts
I’m pleased with how much of a change is going on. Annoying that my old instruments will basically need replacing but it looks awesome.
debasemasonsgrog
This looks impressive, but I’m holding out for Harp Hero.
lead_farmer92
lol or mabye a glockenspiel hero?
Boomshanks
+ 100 for improvement. Harmonix once again proves they are willing to try new things in their games which should result in an even better experience. And Pro mode sounds amazing
Kevling
“Guitars will include 102 buttons spanning 17 frets and 6 strings”
*checks date*
No, it’s not April 1st.
Woah. I struggle with 4 of the 5 existing buttons.
FrusciantesGhost
How the hell is the guitar going to work?
I’m guessing it will be like TAB.. 6 lines with numbers telling you which fret and string to play scrolling down the screen… I can’t think of any other way.
Any videos of it in action yet?
edisinsane
There aren’t any videos of guitar’s pro mode, only the keyboard (which looks incredibly fun btw), but in the screenshots it shows 6 strings with numbers representing which fret to hold down (so yes, tab) and there’s also some other notation like whammy and such.
edisinsane
There’s also a black fender guitar that uses real strings (it’s an actual guitar) and has some sensors in the neck to detect your finger position, and it looks a lot better than that mad catz guitar pictured here.
Reedus
this is blurring the definition of what a game is. this is becoming so much more than just a game. amazing!