Rock Band 3 - E3 2010 Interview

There is an undeniable rush from partaking in the legacy of a fake band made up of no-name musicians and plastic peripherals. You might feel goofy slinging a weightless guitar over your shoulder or tapping on foam-headed drums, but when you get your first gold star or earn another improvement for your band, it's hard to suppress a smile.

Dan Teasdale, Lead Designer for Rock Band 3, has been with the series since the very beginning. During our interview, Teasdale ran us through the biggest features for the upcoming game. The game's selling point, "Pro mode", is an attempt to simulate the true experience of playing drums, guitar, bass, or the game's brand new instrument, piano. To help make the guitar more realistic, a fret by fret controller will launch alongside the game, with a genuine, modified Squire Stratocaster releasing later on if you want to learn the absolute real thing.

Beyond new guitars, add-on cymbals for the drums, and new, more accurate microphones, Harmonix has also added vocal harmonies. The feature will be implemented in the same style that was executed in Rock Band: The Beatles and Rock Band: Green Day, allowing for a seven-person band if you've got three people willing to sing!

If all the new features and challenges become overwhelming, Harmonix has revamped their training mode to help veterans and newcomers alike through the game's more demanding segments. From practicing specific sections of a song to slowing down the tempo, players should be able to play the game without feeling stranded.

Rock Band 3 will hit store shelves on October 26th of this year. Assemble your band, block your stage, and live as much of the rock star dream as you can!

...in your basement.


Host: David Klein
Camera: Andrew Benninghoff
Sound: Chirs Bates
Edited by: Alea Ford
Motion Graphics: Andrew Benninghoff
Executive Creator: Spencer Striker
Producer: Thomas Schulenberg

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• GameZombie
• GZ
• game
• zombie
• games
• gamers
• Harmonix
• Rock
• Band
• Green
• Day
• The
• Beatles
• Keyboard
• Pro
• Mode
• Squire
• Stratocaster
• Xbox
• 360
• Wii
• PS3
• guitar
• bass
• piano
• vocal
• harmony
• Spencer
• Striker
• E3
• 2010
• Electronic
• Arts
• EA

[peteherbst]

yeah the keyboard is kinda cool because it actually teaches you how to play the instrament.....next up real guitar that makes you learn real cords?

[gamezombieutube]

@peteherbst Yup, the Squire Stratocaster should be out early next year. Since it's an actual guitar, playing Pro Mode on it will teach you how to play the song for real. Rock Band 3's training mode is pretty in depth for it, as well, so as long as players put in the effort, they should see some results!

[RevJesseJackson]

I was never a fan of the music genre as far as instruments go...it's a bit boring to me. I'm alright with ddr though. 

[gamezombieutube]

@RevJesseJackson I can kind of see where you're coming from. Does the inclusion of the new Pro Mode change anything for you? It certainly comes with a hefty price, but I think the implementation of practicing a real instrument would make it a little more interesting, not to mention more productive!

[DavisQR17]

Rock Band is where its at!

[MrVerticality]

the keyboard looks hard, but fun

[leoanrdijd27]

The real guitar aspect of Rock Band 3 is a really great addition. Can't wait to try it out

[ktwithawhy1]

definitely want to try out Rock Band 3... love music games

[ShepardLives]

Saw this interview awhile back, now I'm happily enjoying the game. Good stuff!

[dlkrizan]

Rock Band is definitely one of my favorite games.

[peteherbst]

pretty expensive game too without the keyboard...

[milzdr09]

keyboards look impossible

[ManofChaos88]

Nice video. fun game series, but I'd rather play the real thing