"Band Games" Wishlist

[Kalyx triaD]

Alright, we've played the Hell out of what has become a renaissance in gaming - the music-based band titles. We love them. Shit, just three years ago it was a niche deal where some of us might have been ribbed for admitting to play Guitar Hero. Now discussions over set-lists, DLC music, and guitar controllers are commonplace in this forum. So after playing the Rock Bands and the Guitar Heroes, what's next. Where do we want Rock Band 3 and Guitar Hero 5 (World Tour 2?) to go as far as features? I mean really... music is no longer an issue. I actually have this thought that all the most wanted acts will be signed in the next two or three years. We used to day dream about what bands we want to see in these games but a lot of them have been delivered, or will be. The only thing left to speculate and think about is feature sets.

Rather than make two wishlists for RB3 and GH5 I think it's better to mash them up in one thread. You could split up your ideas in two lists or, and this can only happen with these sort of games, lay down general ideas that could work for both games. Me - I like to think certain things work better for one game over the other. And here weeeeeeeee........ go.

Rock Band 3:

Of course I don't actually own RB2. But I've played it multiple times and know/sampled most of the feature sets. Still, if I hit a beat that's actually in RB2 - kick me in the mouth and correct me.

• Effects Switch should toggle effects all the time. It's already next to useless in most people's eyes, and when the effects sweep in after Star Power (Overdrive, whatever) is activated the altered notes become jarring. However, I mostly like how guitars sound in all the songs anyway, so I would like an option for the effects to either be static, Overdrive, or solo-section only. Of course the classic configuration should be default as well. And how about effects for the mic as well? I guess that would need a special mic, huh?
• Speaking of the mic, where's my option to play and sing at once? I rather not use 'sign-in' tricks to do this. Also, it should be represented in game by my avatar as well. And this may be pushing it (why not, it's a wishlist), but where's my third party Rock Band licensed Mic Stand!? I'd buy one in a hot second! Sure I could get a real one but really... RB logos make all the difference. It should be able to set up for child and 'everyone else' heights. This is mostly to help out with playing and singing, but even when I just sing I may wanna Steve Tyler the damn thing.
• In between the different tracks loading when playing multiple setlists, I want the crowd to cheer whenever I say something in the mic. Just general cheers whenever I say something loud enough between acts. Hell, how about an option to rest somewhere in the middle of a long setlists, where the singer and drummer could screw around with the crowd?
• The big Rock Out endings should be earned with four stars performances or more. It should be on more tracks.
• When playing a set, your band's best song should drive the crowd more nuts than usual when it begins playing. It would add to the atmosphere to save that song until the end (or middle) of a setlist.
• I want another set of fret buttons on the neck of the guitar controller. They would be in between the primary and solo frets of course, and medium sized (not normal but larger than the tiny solo buttons). They wouldn't have any special operations like tap-solo play, but I should have the option to use them instead of the normal frets like the solo ones. They should be spaced a good distance from both existing buttons so you don't make mistakes hitting Green near Orange. With this, I should receive bonus points for 'playing the scales' or something. But even if I don't, this idea was inspired by the fact that I often miss notes when going from solo-frets to normal ones. A bridge set of frets would give me a new stop point between soloing and normal frets. That's the biggest and only change I'd want for the guitar.

General:

• Lead, Bass, and Rhythm tracks should be made available for certain songs in either RB3 or GH5. There should be a mode to support three axes should all three be taken up by players. This would of course leave no room for a drummer, unless the game can have four charts on screen (which I'm sure it can). But if a trade-off need occur, nixing the drummer would be my sacrifice.
• Mic and Drums should have an Easy+ mode. This would remove penalty for those positions, so you could essentially sing or drum whatever to the music. This idea was inspired by what GH: Metallica is doing with the drums. Yeah, you might end up destroying somebody's favorite tune, but the option might render some surprises. And the Christian crowd could import 'holy' lyrics! Me and the guys did that as a joke sense RB recognizes range and not actual lyrics, and turned a number of songs into Christian ballads. Hilariously, some songs are fucking perfect. We used to go to church a lot so the comedy may not resonate with you but maaaaaan... lol.

Guitar Hero wishlist later.