Don't stop a Rockin'

All this talk of Guitar Hero: World Tour recently has taken people's attention away from the original home console band game. Well, get ready to shift your focus back again because Rock Band 2 has now been officially announced.

It really sounds pretty much as I expected, with all DLC purchased in the first game being fully compatible with the sequel. It also sounds as though there will be no major changes in the instruments, so re-purchase of the entire set won't be necessary. However, for those who do wish to buy the whole kit, it will ship with "quieter, more realistic, and more reliable instruments". It's the "more reliable" part that interests me; I know I'm not the only one who's had problems with my peripherals, and getting some better manufactured ones that don't break would be a godsend.

There isn't any info in track listing yet, but in an interview with IGN, lead designer Dan Teasdale talks about many of the improvements this title will have over the original. Many of these things are just the usual upgrades we would expect to see; it sounds as though they listened to people's gripes with the first game and are working to improve many of these aspects.

Even though there isn't a lot of information available, this title has already jumped onto my must-buy list, and I will continue to post all news regarding it, as it's released.

The price is right?

It started out as a rumor on Joystiq two days ago. Someone sent in a picture of a K-Mart flyer, showing an Xbox 360 Premium edition going for only $299.99. Now they've received a high quality full page scan of the ad, with the date on it being June 13th. Why, that's only two weeks away! Does that mean there's going to be a price drop by then, or is this just a mis-print, or even an elaborate hoax?

For those unaware of the current pricing for the console, the Premium model (with 20GB hard drive) retails for $349.99. In the two-and-a-half years since launch, this model has only dropped in price once before, coming down from it's original $399.99. It would make sense for them to drop the price now, as summer is usually a slow time of years sales-wise, and this could help boost their numbers before the holiday season begins. It could also indicate that the other models of 360 will drop as well. At the moment, the Arcade edition (no hard drive) goes for $279.99 so a $50 cut would bring it down to only $229.99, which is $20 less than the Wii, and puts it much more into "impulse buy" territory. Not that I think it would knock the Wii off the top hardware spot, but it would certainly make a dent in their sales.
We will no doubt be hearing a follow up to this shortly, which will hopefully come in the form of an official announcement from Microsoft, confirming everything we suspect.

Who pixies songs?

Sorry about the terrible pun in the title of this post; I can practically hear the groans already.
This week in Rock Band, we see the largest selection of DLC released so far, with a whopping seventeen songs offered. The majority of these come from The Pixies' album Doolittle (the other song on the album is Wave of Mutilation, already in the game), but we also get a track pack from Weezer, with three songs from their new Red Album.
There was a little confusion over Doolittle, as some places had it listed as coming out last week, but now it's here for us all to enjoy. The album costs 1520 MS Points ($19), but the songs can also be bought individually for the usual price of 160 MS Points ($2) each.
The tracks offered this week are:

By The Pixies
Debaser
Tame
I Bleed
Here Comes your Man
Dead
Monkey Gone to Heaven
Mr. Grieves
Crackity Jones
La La Love You
No. 13 Baby
There Goes my Gun
Hey
Silver
Gouge Away

By Weezer
Dreamin'
The Greatest Man that Ever Lived
Troublemaker
Note: Click on any song for expert drum videos.

So which songs did I purchase this week then? Well, I'm not really familiar with The Pixies, but I know people who are fans. Although Wave of Mutilation isn't one of my favorite songs in the game, I remembered that the band did the song from the end of Fight Club, so there might be some good tracks in store. I listened to them one by one, and came to the conclusion that I really don't like The Pixies. I figured I would buy at least a couple of tracks, as I haven't purchased any for the last few weeks, but I didn't like a single one of them. Not one. Is it just me, or do they have a really bad singer? I mean, some of the songs started okay, with a good tune, but as soon as that guy started singing I had to skip to the next one.
So what about the Weezer songs? They have some good tracks in the game already, but I guess their new stuff isn't quite as good. Not only that, but all three of the songs offered are really easy (two of them are in set one for drums, the other's in set three). I feel bad about not having bought anything recently, as I would like to review some new tracks, but I just haven't cared for any of the songs since The Cars' album a month ago. Oh well, I know somewhere there is someone who's loving every one of these releases, and I'm positive they'll get back to the stuff I like before too long.

So what else in going on in the world of Rock Band this week? Well, we saw the release of the game for Wii. Unfortunately, it's going for the same price ($170) as the 360 version, despite the fact that it lacks custom characters, band world tour mode, online play, and downloadable content. The DLC is really what makes this game so special, so I can't call this offer a good deal. I suppose you could always but the Rock Band Track Pack if you want more songs, but it's not quite the same as being able to pick and choose.
One things the Wii version does have that the 360 doesn't is a wireless guitar. While this is cool, I don't think it makes up for everything that's missing. There's also a funny story on Destructoid, showing why wireless guitars aren't always preferable anyway.
Overall it seems to have basically the same functionality as the PS2 version, but that version was recently dropped to $100 (for a limited time), which makes it a much better deal if you have the choice. Of course, if there's any way you can buy one of the proper versions of the game, this is definitely the way you want to go.

One other piece of Rock Band news concerns a band who've been blatantly missing from any rhythm games or, for that matter, the iTunes music store. I'm talking, of course, about The Beatles. It looks as though the rights holders of The Beatles' library are finally beginning to talk to video game publishers about licensing out their music. Representatives held discussions with both MTV games and Activision (the publishers of Guitar Hero), which could reach a final deal "in a matter of weeks". I imagine that Activision may be interested in doing a Beatles themed Guitar Hero, much like their Aerosmith and recently announced Metallica versions; where as MTV and Harmonix may go the DLC route.
You can read the article here, for more information.

Graphic imagery

I was listening to last week's episode of The Hotspot, Gamespot's podcast, when a listener wrote in with an interesting question. They asked if, now that graphics in games are getting almost photo-realistic, developers would have to start focusing more on gameplay innovations to drive the medium forward.
First of all, I don't like the insinuation that developers are simply focusing on graphics. There has been progress in many other areas such as physics, AI, and online functionality in recent years. However, this isn't really the part of the question that I want to discuss; I'm more interested in the notion that games are getting as good as they can be, visually.

A title that certainly sticks in my mind, when discussing graphics, is Gears of War. The first major console release that used Epic's Unreal 3 engine, this title blew people away with it's amazing looking character models and environments. As good as it's graphics are, however, they are still a long way from "photo-realism".
Now, when I say "photo-realism", I mean looking at a computer generated image, and not being able to tell that it's CG. More that just that though, it still has to look real even when in motion, so physics are a part too. This is something that people are getting better at, but it's still going to be a while before they perfect it. Lets have a look at cinema for a moment. CG has become a huge part in movie making, with traditional models and special effects being gradually replaced as computers become more powerful. One could argue that this isn't a good thing, as it's usually obvious in films when CG is being used. A recent example is the new Indiana Jones movie, where computer graphics are used a lot, and just don't have the same feel as the old methods of special effects. In a scene where the characters are being chased by (CG) ants, I couldn't help but feel that it just didn't have the same impact as the insect scene in Temple of Doom, which came out 24 years beforehand.
The closest to photo-realistic graphics I think I've seen so far was in the 2007 film Beowulf. Although I never actually saw the movie, the imagery in the trailer blew me away; there is a computer generated Angelina Jolie that's really hard to tell from the real thing. This is the most impressive I've seen, but this is only in a movie; it's going to be a while before we see these kind of graphics in a video game.

An obstacle people are trying really hard to overcome is the phenomenon known as the uncanny valley. When talking about graphics, this simply states that the more realistic a character looks, the more we see the faults. For instance, back on the original Playstation, nothing looked realistic. Blocky, low definition characters and environments ensured that there was no mistaking anything for real life. However, graphics these days are a lot better but still not quite good enough, so characters can end up looking dead, or non-human. Eyes are a really difficult thing to get right (maybe because they really are a window to the soul), and this problem can make people look creepy. Just look at the 2004 movie The Polar Express to see a perfect example of this. It almost looks as though the film stars a bunch of re-animated corpses, or something like that. Instead, animators seem to be having much better luck when not trying for photo-realism, and instead just going for style, like in the 2006 film Monster House. This movie had exaggerated caricatures, instead of real looking people, and ended up looking a lot better because of it. This is the direction I think we may see game developers going to in coming years, with more cartoony styles replacing the gray and brown "realistic" graphics we're seeing a lot of these days.

The point is, graphics are long way from being as good as they can be. Even when they manage to make photo-realistic CG movies, it's still going to be a long time before we see those graphics in games. After all, there is so much more processing power involved when you have to worry about all the other aspects that go into a game, such as physics and AI. With every new console generation we are going to see improvements, but it's going to be less and less each time. I think there will come a day when graphics get about as good as they can, but this is when people have to start thinking about how they want to use those graphics. I mean, realism isn't always the right way to go. Look at some of the cell-shaded games from recent years such as Zelda: The Windwaker, or Okami to see how developers are using their graphical skills to make great looking titles in other ways. They still have many other areas to improve upon as well, before games could be mistaken for real life.

While this is a discussion that's going to continue to come up every time there is a new leap in technology, I think for now we should just enjoy games as they are because, photo-realistic or not, they're still a hell of a lot of fun!

Have a cuppa T.E.A.

This week on Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee takes a look at Metal Gear Solid 4. I suppose I should have seen this one coming. After all, this is the game everyone seems to be playing right now. Well, everyone except me, that is. No, I don't have a PS3, but I imagine I'd be playing it if I could.
The thing is, Yahtzee manages to re-affirm all the worries I had about this title, the main ones being far too many cutscenes (and far too long), and a completely over-the-top, bizzare plot. I guess if you don't like these things though, you probably didn't like the other MGS games either.

Okay, here's the video, then I have another thing to say. As always the review contains plenty of strong language and is definitely NSFW.


Now I have to give thanks to Yahtzee for helping strengthen my argument from a post yesterday, regarding how much I hate really long intro scenes in games when I want to get straight to the action. So it's 23 minutes in MGS4 is it? 23 minutes?! So you're saying I could press start, watch an entire episode of Friends, and still be back in time to see Hideo Kojima's name in the credits before the sneaking action begins? Yes, I'm sure if I was caught up to date on the whole plot then it would be worth it, but still......
Oh yeah, and by the way Yahtzee, you're not the only one who can use The Kinks in your posts. 5 Achievement Points to whoever spotted the reference.

Check out the rest of his videos here.

Viva video

Okay, this may not be the most exciting of videos, but I still thought I should post it. It's been out for a couple of weeks but I managed to miss it somehow. It's a nice little clip of the upcoming Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise for the DS.
For those who've managed to miss all the info on this title, it's a sim gardening game based on the 2006 title for Xbox 360. As you build your garden various pinatas visit and, once you achieve certain requirements, become residents. At this point you can start to work on additional sets of requirements in order to get your pinatas to mate (sorry, romance), or evolve. It's a surprisingly fun, deep game with plenty to keep you occupied.
From what I can tell, the DS title borrows a lot from it's 360 counterpart, which certainly isn't a bad thing. It's going to be hard waiting until September 8th for the release of this one.

Here's the video for you to check out:

Can I play yet?

Just a brief post regarding something that annoys me in games. You know the picture: You've just brought home a brand new game; you've seen videos of it's awesome looking action, and can't wait to try it out; you pop it in, fingers growing itchy on your controller, and.........wait.
That's right, first you have to endure the opening cutscene. I said "endure", does that mean I just can't stand cinematics in games at all? Well, no; I try to follow the story in games that have one, I just hate having to sit through twenty minutes of introduction before I get to play. The Final Fantasy series is certainly guilty of this, as is the Metal Gear series. Ah, Metal Gear, so that's why I'm talking about this now. It's true, discussions about the ridiculously long cutscenes in the recently released MGS4 have inspired me to write this. I'm not talking about long cutscenes in general though, just the opening ones in games. I haven't played MGS4 yet, so I don't know if the length of the cinematics is justified, but I do know that the opening scene in MGS3 was certainly frustrating. As I said before, I don't dislike cutscenes in general, but when I pop in a new game I want to play now; there is plenty of time to fill me in later on, regarding the plot. Just give me 15 minutes or so of fun gameplay, then I'll be happy to sit for the next 10 while I'm brought up to date with the story. I also tend to find that when I'm really eager to get past the opening, I don't pay enough attention to it, so can find myself losing track of the plot fairly quickly. I'm sure the story writers don't want this, so if any of you are reading this, heed my words of advice to avoid this problem in future.

While I'm here though, I may as well bitch about a couple more cutscene issues that sometimes bother me. No, I'm not going to say that every one should be skippable, but they should be pausable. I hate the fact that when I'm in the middle of a cinematic, and I suddenly have to go do something, I don't ever know if I can pause the game. Sure, some games allow pausing during the cutscenes, but others will skip if you press the start button. I never know, so I usually just wait until it's over before I hit pause. However, while I'm waiting I'm often preoccupied by whatever has just come up (like the phone ringing, or someone at the door etc.....) that I end up missing some of the plot. Please put pause in as a standard option during these scenes, and I'll never have to wonder in future if I'm about to skip anything important when I press start.

The one other thing I may as well mention is subtitles.I can't believe they still make games that don't offer an option to turn on subtitles. This relates to cutscenes again, as this is the time when they are most needed. I hate having to turn the volume up during talky bits, only to find that as soon as they finish talking, they start firing guns at each other. Suddenly the room is filled with the sound of automatic machine gun fire, and I'm left worrying that my neighbors are about to call the cops and have me charged with disturbing the peace. Turn it back down though, and now I can't hear the important plot that's being conveyed to me. Please developers, allow me the option to turn subtitles on or off as I choose. I played a game recently (Damn, what was it? Maybe Crisis Core?) that allowed you to turn the subtitles on or off during the cutscenes, with the simple press of a button. Genius.

I want to enjoy the storyline in games, and I feel that if developers conform to these simple guidelines, I'll be more likely to follow the plot that they've put so much time into writing.

Sequel Shock

What was the last Tony Hawk game you bought? Two? Maybe three? Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, the most recent game in the series, is number nine! What about Madden? There are close to twenty games in the popular football series, with no sign of stopping anytime soon.
Why am I mentioning this? Well, there was a recent announcement from Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, regarding the popular 2007 game Bioshock. Apparently, they are planning a movie based on the game. However, we have been told not to expect it in time for the game Bioshock 2, but rather Bioshock 3. Since I don't care one little bit about the movie announcement (video game movies always suck - deal with it), lets just focus on the other part of that statement shall we?

Bioshock 3, huh? I guess this should have been obvious. After all, the video game industry, much like the film industry, is out to make profits, and a proven franchise is a great way to minimize the risk you take when releasing something. It's assumed that certain games, and movies, will have annual installments, as long as the first one is successful. Sports games fall into this category, alongside superhero movies. The thing about movies is, every new episode has a brand new story, so you know that it won't be exactly like the one that came before it. Not all games focus on story though, and unless there are some huge improvements in gameplay, a sequel can end up feeling a lot like it's predecessors. This is the problem with a series like Tony Hawk; each one offers only minor upgrades from the last one, so people have gotten bored of them over the years.

So what about Bioshock then? After all, this is a very story-driven game. For those unfamiliar, it's the tale of a man who finds himself in an underwater city, following a plane crash, and must figure out what happened to this so-called utopia for it to end up in the state it's in. That's all I'm going to tell you about the plot, as it really is worth playing if you haven't already. The thing is, most of what propels you through the game is the feeling of wanting to know what happened, which you slowly find out as you make your way through. But of course, now that I know what happened, what the hell is the basis for the sequel? Is it just going to be the story of some other chump who finds himself in the underwater city of Rapture? Or maybe the protagonist finds that there was a different utopian city, which is also falling apart, and he must battle his way through this one too. Either way, it's a pretty poor premise. To be honest, I found the actual explanation for the destruction of the city in Bioshock to be rather disappointing. I didn't feel as though things were really explained thoroughly enough, and certainly not enough to sustain two sequels. No, the game was really a stand-alone product with a closed-off plot that doesn't lend itself to further installments.

But wait! Wasn't Bioshock already a sequel? Well, kind of. Before it, there were two similar games called System Shock (1 and 2) which - although I never played - I understand to be the same type of game. Rather than just carry on the System Shock series though, 2K Boston/2K Australia (previously known as Irrational Games) decided to take what they had learned, and apply it to a whole new game. This is what I think they should do with the next title in the series. Rather than simply make Bioshock 2 and 3, how about taking the basic gameplay elements and using them to create Terra Shock, or maybe Cyber Shock, or even a game without "Shock" in the title (though I don't think they would go this far). I'd like to think that video game fans (at least 360 and PS3 fans anyway) are a little bit more aware of what's going on in the industry than the average movie-goer, so would realize that they were the spiritual successors to Bioshock. I could be wrong though. Maybe video game fans are just as stupid as the people who go and see the forth movie in a series about a talking dog, or something like that. Maybe they just want something familiar that isn't too different from what they're used to. I don't think so though. The success of a game like Bioshock, which itself broke away from the traditions of first-person shooters, proves that people want originality.

I think this is a discussion that's going to come up a lot in the future. As publishers are spending more and more money, with games in development for years, they are much less willing to risk it all on an unproven product. Smaller publishers in particular have to watch out, as one flop could mean the end of the company. I'm glad we still have studios out there who are willing to take risks (such as SCEI with Shadow of the Colossus), but I also accept that people need a steady flow of income to keep the business alive. I just hope that with the profits generated from the Bioshock franchise, 2K can afford to put some money into the development of a brand new game.

A world of Guitar Hero info

Phew! There's a lot of Guitar Hero news to keep track of these days! We have GH: On Tour coming out for DS tomorrow; GH: Aerosmith out the following week; the recent announcement of GH: Metallica; and a bunch of new info on GH: World Tour, due out later this year.
Lets put aside any discussion of whether or not Activision are going to completely destroy the brand through over-saturation, and instead just focus on the games themselves.

It seems the spotlight this week is on GH: WT (which seems a little strange to me. Wouldn't Activision want to promote their titles that are just about to hit shelves?). Many sites have run previews, after being invited to check the game out for the first time, and it sounds as though there are a lot of additions to this installment of the popular franchise.
Little bits and pieces of info have been slowly leaking out about the new instruments and game modes. We already knew about the track creation mode; we had details on the drum kit, with it's
velocity sensitive pads; and just the other day we found out about the touch-sensitive neck slide on the guitar. It turns out that, yes, all of these things were true, and they sound a lot like we imagined. As far as new modes and options go, it really looks like they saw Rock Band and said "yeah, lets do this, only bigger." A world tour mode now exists, but online play is included, unlike it's competitor. It also has a character creation mode which sounds very robust, and even allows customization of the instruments. Of course the biggest new feature is the track creation mode, which allows users to make their own songs in a matter of minutes (more options exist for those who wish to spend a little more time), record them, and share them online. This mode also sounds pretty much as I imagined, but that doesn't make it any less exciting.
They also recently revealed that all DLC bought for GH3 will work in GH: WT, so you won't have to start your track collection all over again. What I want to know is, what about the extra instruments that weren't in GH3? I'm assuming that you'll only be able to play guitar in these songs, unless they planned ahead and put the other instrument tracks in all the existing DLC, in anticipation of the new game.

Overall, it sounds really good. Now we just need some decent songs to be confirmed and I think we're going to have a winning game on our hands. Harmonix really need to step up if they want to compete; as much as I'm rooting for Rock Band, I can't help but admit that GH: WT is looking really impressive, and it may end up being the must have title this holiday season.
Kotaku has posted a good preview of the game, along with impressions of the new instruments. Here are the links, in case you want to check them out:

Kotaku Guitar Hero: World Tour preview
Kotaku guitar controller preview
Kotaku drum controller preview

So this is popular music then?

This week in Rock Band, we see another bundle of DLC clearly not aimed at my demographic. No, I think this weeks songs are catering toward a slightly younger audience. At least, I think so. To be honest I'm not really sure. I mean, I've heard of Avenged Sevenfold and The Offspring but I've never actually known anyone who listened to them. Joining them is another track by Crooked X who you may know as they already have a song in the game, in the bonus section.
There was actually some confusion this week over which tracks would be available. The Pixies' album Doolittle was announced before this weeks songs and some sites listed it as being the next lot of DLC. However, the album is actually scheduled for next week so we'll all have to wait until then.
The songs offered this week are:

Avenged Sevenfold - Afterlife
Avenged Sevenfold - Critical Acclaim
The Offspring - Hammerhead
Crooked X - Rock N Roll Dream
Note: Click on any song for expert drum videos.

So once again, I skipped this weeks offerings. I watched the videos and while some of the tracks look like fun to play, I just don't want to listen to them. I figured that I would at least buy the Crooked X song as it's only a dollar, but sadly it's just as bad as the others. It's actually good to get a break from Rock Band though - I've had a chance to catch up a little on GTA4. It's also good to know that Harmonix are catering to every taste; if I loved every song that was released then there would be someone somewhere who couldn't stand any of it.

So what else is going on in Rock Band news? Well, it looks as though Mad Catz are about to release their own instruments for the game. Announced originally in January, the site Rock Band Mods just posted a story saying that they would be available starting next week. Apparently Amazon already had some of the listing available for purchase, but all the product links have since been removed.
The instruments include: Guitar, bass, microphone (with d-pad and buttons) and two different drum kits - one portable, one full-sized. All of them have unique features not available on the current peripherals and if you want to read all the details you can click here. Not that I have any intention of buying a whole new set of instruments, but it's good to know that consumers have choice. Unfortunately, looking at the picture of the drums (which is only an artists impression), it doesn't look as though they have enough pads to support the upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour, which would have possibly made them a worthwhile purchase. Oh well, maybe this will change by the time we get some more information, which should hopefully be fairly soon.

Purple haze

This week on Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee takes a look at Haze, an FPS recently released for the PS3.
I can't say I really know too much about this title. I remember seeing ads for it for a while, then some kind of controversy when this so-called "Halo killer" got a whole bunch of bad reviews. I guess that's what you get for having no original ideas and simply ripping off everything that's come before you. It's a strategy that Hollywood has been using for a number of years now, so it's nice to see that video game fans are a bit more discerning. The fact that it's so familiar is certainly not lost on Yahtzee either, who's clearly played enough shooters to know when something has been blatantly plagiarized from something else. Of course, the whole "space marines killing aliens" theme has been done so many times now, it's really impossible to tell who's ripping of who anymore. I guess a simple solution would be to try something new. Yes, I know, companies are putting too much at stake to try anything too original, but come on, someone out there's got to have some idea other than balding muscular space explorers saving the galaxy from bug-like extraterrestrials, right?
You know what? I think this is a good topic for an entire discussion. For now, lets just enjoy this weeks review. We can talk about game originality some other time.

Here's the video. As always it contains plenty of strong language and is NSFW.

The space between us

Back in the day, there was a little game known as Breakout, made by Atari, in which you controlled a little panel whose job it was to move back and forth and bounce a little ball toward the top of the screen. At the top were a series of blocks that were destroyed with a hit from the ball. Destroy all the blocks, and pass the level. Simple.
Then Taito came along in 1986 and released their totally original game called Arkanoid in which you controlled a little panel whose job it was to move back and forth and bounce a little ball toward the top of the screen. At the top were a series of blocks that were destroyed with a hit from the ball. Destroy all the blocks, and pass the level. Simple. But wait! There's more! In Arkanoid a number of power-ups sometimes dropped down, and by collecting them you gained some kind of useful ability, such as a longer paddle, or the ability to shoot bullets at the blocks.
The game has been released on many computer systems over the years, but it was the NES version that I played the most of. The gameplay was addictive, and it's unique power-ups set it apart from all the other Breakout-clones of the time.

Now, over 20 years later, Taito have decided that the DS is in need of a version of their classic game. In Japan the game launched with a turny-knob controller that plugs into the GBA port, but they apparently decided to omit the peripheral for the US release. That's okay, because the touch screen should be just perfect for this type of game, right?
Well, I got to check out the demo (thanks to the Nintendo Channel) and I think I played more than enough to build up an opinion of the game. The first thing I noticed were the graphics - although they are fine for the genre, there was just something about them that made me feel like I was playing a flash version of Arkanoid. The feel of the ball didn't help either - it just doesn't have the same weight to it that it used to. It's hard to explain exactly what I mean, lets just say it didn't feel quite right. Also, although some of the old familiar power-ups are included, they are joined by some new ones, some of which I wasn't even quite sure what they did.

The game offers multiple control schemes, but needless to say I chose the touch-screen method, which involves dragging your stylus back and forth to move the panel. Or does it? I quickly found that you don't need to drag back and forth, you can simply place your stylus wherever you want the panel to be, and there it appears. This seems to me like, well, cheating. Part of the skill in the old game involved anticipating where the ball was going to land so you could start moving your panel early, so being able to instantly warp it around makes the game a little too easy, if you ask me. I suppose there's always the option of using the old control method (d-pad), which would bring the difficulty back up a bit.

Now when Taito decided to bring their title to the DS, they wanted to use both screens. The only problem is the space between the screens. This is an issue other game developers have come across and there are two options. One - ignore the gap and pretend the screens just meet each other. Two - pretend there is a space in the gap, you just can't see it. For this title, they went with option two, which makes sense otherwise it would screw up your trajectory when bouncing the ball. The problem is that now there's an area you can't see. In the old Arkanoid, you soon got to levels where enemies started to float down towards you and the ball would ricochet off of them if hit. I don't like the idea of enemies being able to hide in the gap where I can't see them, and screwing up my shot. Another interesting design choice was to have the playing field take up only about the middle third of the screen, with the left and right sides doing, well, nothing. It seems to me that they could have avoided both of these problems by turning the DS sideways and having the entire game take place on the touch screen, with the other one for stats or something. Also, the thin playing area means your panel is comparatively huge, bring down the difficulty once again.

Overall, I would say that this just isn't a great demo. I played it because of the nostalgia I felt towards the original, but this version just doesn't stand up to it. I would rather wait until the NES version is released on Virtual Console, than spend my money on this poor imitation. If you do want to purchase it though, it was released on June 17th for $19.99, but I'd strongly recommend trying the demo before you do.

I am 16-bit

Looks like I've moved onto the next generation. No longer am I confined to just one awesome tie, now I have a choice, and this one's 16-bit!
Ah, Sonic the Hedgehog, one of my all time favorites that one. It was also right around the 16-bit era that I became old enough to start playing games all the way through, instead of on the NES when I often just played a game until I got bored of it. In the last few years someone sold me an old Genesis and with it copies of Sonic 1 and 2. I put in Sonic 2 with the intention of just checking it out for nostalgias sake, but I ended up playing it right through to the end, and it was just as good as I remember!

As for the tie, my girlfriend spotted it in a trendy clothing store when we were visiting friends of mine in Exeter, UK. It says ©1991 on the back with no other indication of manufacturing year, and it was the only one there so I think it may be vintage. I don't remember the name of the store but I'm pretty sure it deals in new and second hand, so this would make sense. What doesn't make sense is why anyone would ever want to get rid of such a fantastic tie, but I'm not complaining.
I think I'm going to try to get hold of other cool video game ties. There's always the Guitar Hero tie which is kind of neat, but a bit pricey and besides, I'm not sure if I even want a Guitar Hero tie! Oh well, I'm sure I'll find more and you'll be the first to know when I do.

Two screens of Scumm

A few weeks ago, Eurogamer ran an article in which they spoke to Chris Norris and Jeffrey Gullett from LucasArts about the possibility of bringing ScummVM to the DS. For those unfamiliar, this is essentially the programming language/game engine that allowed the creation of all of LucasArts excellent point-and-click adventure games, such as Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle. Okay, so the game engine itself isn't really the exciting part, it's the prospect of re-releasing all those classic games that I'm hoping for.
The Nintendo DS is a really excellent system, and part of the reason seems to be because developers are happy to take chances on game genres that have been long dead on other systems. Titles like Phoenix Wright: Ace Attourney or Hotel Dusk: Room 215 are essentially modern day point-and-click adventures, albeit with slightly less bizarre puzzles than their ancestors. Since the launch of the system, I've been waiting for some kind of announcement regarding the Scumm games, as they're really such an obvious fit on the touch screen system.

So what did the developers say? Although they have looked into the possibility of reviving their classics on DS, Gullett claims "The cart size of the DS makes it impossible to put out ports of any of our old graphic adventures. There's literally not enough room on those carts to put the games out." Well this is a really weird statement, as we all know that DS carts are huge when compared to the floppy discs these games used to ship on. I think he must mean that the carts aren't big enough to store their entire library of games at once. Well, that's fine, I'm not asking for one purchase that will get me every title, just stick a few on a cart, and I'll buy it like that. Of course, we have to remember that many of those games were released on floppy disc (sans voice acting) and CD-rom (with voice acting) and although a DS cartridge doesn't contain as much storage as a CD-rom, I don't think any of the games used up all of the storage space. For instance, as I was browsing around the ScummVM homepage yesterday looking for info I noticed that a few of their old games are now freeware (yes, I know on the internet you can get anything for free, but I still like to be legitimate when I can) including a title called Beneath a Steel Sky. This game wasn't actually made by LucasArts, but was designed for the Scumm engine around the same time as LucasArts were releasing their graphic adventures. Having only played a demo when I was younger, the idea of jumping back in time fourteen years to carry on seemed like a great idea. I downloaded the entire game (with voice acting) and uncompressed, it's still is less than 70MB. Well, DS carts can hold 128MB (256MB on new, slightly slower ones) so what's the problem? I can't imagine any of the other games take up much more than this so lets start releasing them, what do you say?

One more thing to mention is that it actually is possible to play the ScummVM games on DS already, although not through legitimate means. That's right, someone has made a port of the Scumm engine for DS and released in online, playable by those who have some kind of DS flash cart to store it on. So since it's proven to be possible, the original developers should stop giving us bogus lines about why it wouldn't work - it does work and we know it.
One final thing to mention is that maybe they realized how bizarre some of the puzzles were in those games and that many DS users may not have the mindset to solve them. I'm not saying that DS users are stupid or anything like that, it's just really easy to get stuck in those games and you have to think in just the right way to proceed. I remembered this as I played Beneath a Steel Sky yesterday, trying things out in the game that I only knew to do because of all the time I'd spent playing this kind of graphical adventure as a kid. Of course, these days we have a little thing called Gamefaqs so no one would really have to worry about getting stuck, at least not for too long.
So what do you say LucasArts (and others), when are we going to see your classic point-and-click adventures released for DS? In an age of high-def graphics and sandbox gameplay, it's nice to take a step back every once in a while, and remember that games could still be excellent even without all the fancy bells and whistles. I really hope this isn't the last we hear on this subject, and I'll be here, waiting for any more news regarding it.

Gimi some Jimi

Another leak, also from the NeoGAF forums, this one regarding the upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour (also known as Guitar hero IV). We now have an idea of price, some more info on the guitar peripheral and a few of the artists who will allegedly feature in the game.
Okay, so the price is listed as 179.99 which I think is fair at only $10 over the cost of Rock Band, if you consider that the game ships with wireless instruments which will no doubt be of higher quality than their competitor.
The new guitar is apparently touch sensitive and the Neck Slide "opens up the entire neck for unbound solos". Now this I think we're really going to need some more info on. Do they mean the entire neck will be touch sensitive, or will it still have buttons? I don't think they're going to lose the buttons at this point, but either way this is an interesting sounding concept that may or may not be well-integrated into the gameplay.
Probably the most important piece of Guitar Hero: WT news though, is the list of artists who are set so feature in the game (at the moment anyway). As if you hadn't guessed by now, yes, Jimi Hendrix is on the list. Ever since Spanish Castle Magic in the original Guitar Hero I've been desperately hoping for some more Hendrix, but I'm still holding out for a track pack or two in Rock Band. At least this means Activision are going in the right direction with this game. A nice surprise on the list is The Doors. This is another band whose music I've had my fingers crossed for a long time in hope of seeing in a rhythm game. However, Doors drummer John Densmore is well known for his refusal to license out their music, so we'll have so see how this one turns out. The other artists leaked so far are: Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins, Korn, System of a Down, Ozzy Osbourne, Interpol, Muse "and dozens more".

I'm honestly not too sure how to feel about this. I mean, I'm really rooting for Harmonix with Rock Band as I feel they deserve the credit for making these games so popular on home console but damn, Activision and Neversoft are really about to give them a serious run for their money with the release of this game. It sounds as though they are putting some real time and thought into how they can improve the arguably stale Guitar Hero franchise, and if all of the ideas so far (like the improved drums and alleged track-creation system) turn out to work well then I think EA and Harmonix are in big trouble. Who knows though? After all, no real info has been released on Rock Band 2 yet but if you ask me, we wont see the kind of peripheral changes that GH: WT is doing. Just keep that Rock Band Store going Harmonix, and maybe you can build up enough of a fanbase to keep yourself afloat after the holiday season.

Just call us Mii-crosoft

The Wii - a very popular system. Is is because anyone can pick up and play? Probably. Is it because of non-games and edutainment software such as Wii Fit? Possibly. Is it because you can create an avatar that sort of looks like you? Probably not. However, it is this feature that Microsoft have picked up on and are attempting to emulate, according to rumors released recently. That's right, soon you'll be able to create your very own Xbox Live persona for use in games as well as in your personal profile instead of a gamerpic. I could try to defend Microsoft here by saying that custom avatars have been around on computers for a lot longer than the Wii has been out but lets be honest, we all know where they got the idea from.
Of course, this is just a rumor, but I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be true. So what games will utilize these avatars? I mean, on the Wii they are only being used in select titles as a low-definition character just looks out of place in a game with decent character models. This will be even more apparent on 360 where titles like Gears of War are approaching near-photo-realism. I doubt if this is the type of game that will use the avatars, but it is a Microsoft published franchise so who knows?
Looking at the picture that's been leaked, it looks as though there will be a vast number of customization options, even including licensed clothing (which probably costs extra). Of course, they may be trying to tie this in with their rumored motion-controller, in which case they better not pretend that they came up with this idea all by themselves. I guess we'll find out more soon, hopefully when MS decide to confirm or deny this rumor.

Here's the leaked picture for you to check out:

A clean shot of DLC

Okay, I'm still a little behind, but I'm trying to catch up here. This week in Rock Band we get another set of budget songs. Who are the bands? Well, they are the top three finalists in MTV2's Dew Circuit Breaker '07 competition, whatever that is. As far as I can tell it's American Idol, except with whole bands.
I guess this is actually kind of a cool idea - getting a chance to win a place in Rock Band will certainly get your song exposure. In fact, they will probably sell more in the game than if they sell them as singles in stores or online. There is also one more bonus track that they threw in there for some reason. So what are the songs? Well, here they are:

The Material - Moving to Seattle
The Myriad - A Clean Shot
Them Terribles - Bullets & Guns
Maxïmo Park - Girls who play Guitars
Note: Click on any song for expert drum videos.

So once again, I skipped the tracks this week. Yes, they may be cheap and yes, they do look like they could be fun to play but I just can't stand any of the music. End of story.

Since I'm here though, I might as well mention something else that's going on in the world of Rock Band: MTV and Harmonix have announced that for a limited time Rock Band for the PS2 will have an MSRB of only $99.99! This is a saving of $60 and brings it much more in line with it's competitor. It's also just in time for the release of the first expansion - the Track Pack vol. 1 hit stores yesterday and provides 20 extra songs for the game. It's a shame that the PS2 version is kind of gimped when compared to the 360 and PS3 versions, but for 100 bucks it's definitely a good deal. If you were on the fence before, now's the time to buy. Of course, if you can get one of the other versions (no, not the Wii version) then I would still recommend that instead, if only for all the DLC. One thing's for sure though: This price cut makes the ridiculous cost over in the UK seem even more expensive than before..........

May NPD - What did you expect?

Well, the May NPD Data is in and I can't say I'm surprised - Wii and DS at the top of the hardware chart and GTA4 at the top of the software chart. Well actually, I am a little surprised. I mean, GTA4 launched right at the end of April and only had a few days to sell but still sold considerably more than in the entire month of May. It just goes to show that a lot of gamers these days are old enough to afford new titles on day one.
As for the hardware sales, Nintendo are still kicking all kinds of ass with numbers that any of their competitors would kill for, especially in these months so far from the holiday season. The Wii is apparently going to overtake the Xbox 360 in US install base soon and since the recent release of Wii Fit I'm sure the numbers will only go up. The only question I have is: Where is the PS2? I guess they finally decided that people didn't care anymore, either that or people finally stopped buying it. Oh well, here are the figures:

• Wii - 675,100
• Nintendo DS - 452,600
• PlayStation 3 - 208,700
• Xbox 360 - 186,600
• PSP - 182,300

As for the software sales, yes GTA4 is still number one (for Xbox 360) but Mario Kart Wii isn't far behind. I'm sure that Wii Fit would have been on top if there had been enough copies in stores on launch day. The rest of the chart is no surprise really with the usual Wii titles selling well and one PS2 game managing to sneak in there. Here are the figures:

01. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360) - 871,300
02. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 787,400
03. Wii Fit (Wii) - 687,700
04. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) - 442,900
05. Wii Play (Wii) - 294,600
06. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - 171,100
07. Iron Man (PS2) - 130,600
08. Guitar Hero III (Wii) - 116,800
09. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness (DS) - 107,000
10. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time (DS) - 102,000

NPD actually decided to release not just the top 10 games, but the top 20 this month. I didn't really find numbers 11-20 too interesting but if you really want to read them you can click here.

I'm in a nightmare

Sit back and I'll tell you a story. It's about a dream I had recently. As I've previously mentioned, I was hankering for some Rock Band while I was away on vacation. Then, a few days before I was due to leave and come back home, I had this bizarre dream (as if there were another kind!). I swear to God this story is true, I'm not making it up:
So in my dream I get back home after my vacation (not my current home but the house I grew up in - isn't that always the way?) and eagerly fire up Rock Band. But what's this I find? On the main menu there are all these weird game modes, none of the regular ones that I'm used to. There must have been some kind of update while I was away! I eventually get into the game and sit at my drum kit but when the game starts something isn't right. Instead of the notes scrolling vertically towards me, they are scrolling across the screen from right to left. Not only that but there are lots of them, many more than the number of drum pads. I can't seem to get the drums to work and somehow I figure out that it must be a keyboard mode. Yes! They've added keyboard - awesome! The only problem is, something must have gone wrong with the update as every time I try to play drums, keyboard mode comes up instead. While trying desperately to get the game to work properly lo and behold, I break my drum pedal. This has happened to me in real life and it usually doesn't take long to fix, but in my dream it's apparently unfixable. So now I'm trying to wedge my pedal so it stays together while at the same time attempting to figure out how to get the game into drum mode, all the time becoming increasingly frustrated and upset by the realization that I'm probably not going to get to play at all!

That's about all I remember. It's strange because I rarely have dreams that I remember at all, it's only occasionally that one stays with me into the waking world. If I had to guess at it's meaning I'd say the obvious - that I really wanted to play Rock Band and was worried that for some reason I wasn't going to be able to, maybe because my 360 wouldn't work when I got back or my house got robbed while I was away. This seems about right but then again, I have absolutely no experience in interpreting dreams so it could mean anything. Of course there are probably those who would say that dreaming about video games indicates some sort of deep-seated psychological issues, but I assume that none of those people are reading this blog.

Right?

Listen to the spirits

I heard about this game a while ago but for some reason I didn't really pay much attention to it, probably as I was wrapped up in one of the many great games of recent months (ahem....Rock Band). Then just the other day I was browsing briefly on the Nintendo Channel (well, I have to use the Wii for something) and saw a trailer I hadn't seen before. I thought to myself "Why the hell haven't I been following this game?" and proceeded to look up the details of what looks to be a really awesome title due out quite soon.
Wait! I know what you're thinking. Sorry, it isn't Ghost: the official game of the movie - believe me, you'd definitely have heard about that one right away, it's actually Bangai-O Spirits for the Nintendo DS. For those unfamiliar with the original, it was a 2D shooter developed by Treasure back on Dreamcast (and N64 in Japan) that put you in the shoes of some kind of awesome flying gun-toting mech and challenged you to work your way through levels that could scroll in every direction (unlike many 2D shooters that scrolled one way only) and through hordes of enemies, all armed to the teeth. Part of the strategy lay in the chaos, as the more stuff was flying around the screen for you to dodge, the more powerful counter-attacks you could pull off. Obviously there were multiple weapons that all had their pros and cons, the choosing of which being another layer of strategy but this is true of any shooter.
To be honest, I never played too much of the original. I have a Dreamcast and a copy of the game at home but I got the system only in the last few years and have had too many new games to play to really try and catch up on ones I missed. Of all the Dreamcast games I did spend some time playing though, this one was one of my favorites and seems like a perfect fit for the DS.

So what about the DS version then? Thankfully there is plenty of information out about it and everyone seems quite pleased with it so far (but then again, isn't that what previews are?). Keeping the same 2D style, just on a smaller scale, it sounds like the manic shooter action is back, only this time you won't have to go it alone. That's right - you can invite a buddy along for the ride, or two, or three. Yes, four player co-op (local ad-hoc only) will be a key feature in the title allowing you to create a roving gang of ass-kicking cyber mech things and take on the galaxy together. In fact, by the sound of it, this may be the only way of playing the game unless you're one of those inhuman expert shooter freaks sometimes seen in YouTube videos.
Another one of the new features is a very robust-sounding level editor, allowing you to fully customize every aspect from walls and enemies to backgrounds and start points. Useful tools allow you to quickly make crazy levels from nothing in a matter of minutes, infinitely increasing the titles longevity. Once you've made your awesome level, you can share it with other players, and this is where the most novel feature of all comes in: Each level is translated into a modem-like sound file that can then be played by your DS and picked up by another DS via the speakers and microphone. At first this idea sounds cool, but a little unnecessary. Sure, if they had done it, say, back on the original Gameboy it would have been about the coolest thing ever in a video game (they may well have had the idea since then), but in this day and age we have a little thing called Wi-Fi. "Surely I could just send it wirelessly to a friend, or convert it into a regular data file to share over the internet," I thought, until I realized that not all computers have built in Wi-Fi and there is no other way of connecting DS to PC. This way at least they can be sure that everyone can share levels with each other, assuming of course that the feature works as advertised.

Overall, it sounds like an excellent title for an excellent system and I shall certainly be following all the info up until it's release, which is currently slated for August 15th. Here's the trailer I saw the other day for you to check out:

Yahtzee on RPGs

It looks like Yahtzee is away in New York this week so no Zero Punctuation (well, there is a "rerun" episode). That gives me a chance to catch up on the two I missed while I was away.
It just so happens that they are both RPGs, and both games that I've played. How he managed to review two RPGs in two weeks is beyond me, but then again, it doesn't sound like he put too much time into either. The first is The World Ends with You by Square Enix. As he isn't a fan of Japanese RPGs, it comes as no surprise that he didn't like this one so much. Yes, it's true - you don't really have any decision regarding the actions of any of the characters but this is true of any JRPG. It's a shame that he didn't spend enough time getting to grips with the fighting mechanics - it takes quite a few hours to really feel like you're in total control, which some may say is a bad thing, but I think is quite refreshing after so many "context sensitive" one-button-combat games. It's also a shame he doesn't really mention the story too much - the premise may be weird (which he does mention) but it's got me intrigued and I certainly want to find out what's going on.

Here's the video. As always it contains plenty of strong language and is NSFW.


Next on the list is The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion by Bethesda. This game came out a couple of years ago, but it's so damn big it probably took him this long to review it (the size of the game is certainly something he mentions, and not in a good way)!
I totally understand everything he says in this video - you really have to be a certain type of person to get into a game so lengthy (and sometimes complex), and Yahtzee is clearly not that type of person. It's funny that TWEWY is a very linear RPG, where as Oblivion is incredibly open-ended and he dis-liked both of them. As he states at the beginning of the review though, he is an instant-gratification type of gamer and Oblivion a title that you need to play for a long time to really get any sense of accomplishment. Thank god he didn't play for long enough to have to get to grips with the backwards leveling system or this review may have been almost as long as the game!
Another fine video, definitely worth a watch, and as an added bonus both of the reviews feature songs by The Kinks in them which just proves that Yahtzee really does have fantastic taste and we should all take everything he says as gospel.

Here's the video - again, plenty of strong language and NSFW.

Paradise lost

Check out this new trailer just released for the upcoming Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise. Okay, it may not actually show off any gameplay footage but gives an idea of some of the new locations you'll be able to catch pinatas in. For those who know nothing about the title, check out this post following it's initial announcement.
The trailer might actually put some people off, as it's more in the style of the cartoon show than the game itself, but I think that's the image they're going for this time. The last game didn't really tie in at all with the children's show so I think they're making more of an effort to keep the products related this time. It's certainly getting me even more excited about the game that's already one of my most anticipated this holiday season.

Here's the trailer for you to watch (Note: Sorry about the poor quality, I can't seem to figure out how to embed flash player videos - if I figure it out, I'll update this post):

Let the good times roll

This week in Rock Band, I attempt to catch up on the songs I missed while I was away. I realize I'm kind of late and there is yet another set of songs out today, but I'll get to those later this week.
So what did we see? Well, the first week saw the release of the second full album, this one by The Cars, while the second week saw an interesting mix of Jimmy Buffet and Disturbed. Once again fans are left wondering what happened to Who's Next, the album promised a long time ago and still not delivered on. Well apparently some missing masters could be part of the problem, which is why we are seeing this unfortunate delay. Oh well, at least we're not being kept in the dark about it.
As for the tracks we can play this week, here they are:

From May 27th:
1 - Good Times Roll
2 - My Best Friend's Girl
3 - Just what I Needed
4 - I'm in Touch with your World
5 - Don't Cha Stop
6 - You're all I've got Tonight
7 - Bye Bye Love
8 - Moving in Stereo
9 - All mixed up

From June 3rd:
Jimmy Buffet - Margaritaville
Jimmy Buffet - Cheeseburger in Paradise
Jimmy Buffet - Volcano
Disturbed - Indestructible
Disturbed - Inside the Fire
Disturbed - Perfect Insanity
Note: Click on any song for expert drum videos.

So which tracks did I buy then? Well, I really have little interest in the too-soft Jimmy Buffet or the too-hard Disturbed, but I couldn't resist a few of the Cars' tracks. First I purchased Good Times Roll, My Best Friend's Girl and Just What I Needed, simply because they are all catchy songs, despite the easiness of them. It turns out though, that as far as the drums go, all three of these tracks are surprisingly similar. Maybe all the songs by the band are like this, or maybe I just happened to pick three that are. Pretty simple - mainly red and yellow pad with slow double and triple kick-drums throughout, easy fills, no real challenge on any of the songs. If you are only going to buy one just choose your favorite and don't worry about the others, you won't be missing much. I also bought You're all I've got Tonight because I wanted at least one song with a bit more difficulty to it. It turns out though, that even though the song is in tier 5, it's really pretty easy too - it has a lot of kick-drum, but it's generally in a constant rhythm like the song Maps so a little practice with that track should be all you need.
Like I said, I skipped all of the tracks from the following week but I may end up grabbing one or two of the Jimmy Buffet songs if I get bored sometime. Now that I'm back I can't wait to hear what's in store for next week!

Lime Green? Really?

The recent announcement of new DS colors hitting Europe has got me thinking. Thinking about how console manufacturers must have some weird concept about what colors look good and which ones make me want to throw up. For instance, the lime green DS looks pretty awful, as does the recently released Red PSP (with God of War's Kratos peeking out the back). Why do we have to be subject to these weird color schemes when there are plenty of much cooler shades of plastic available?
The one I'd like to see return most is the blue see-through variety used back in the PS1 and PS2 days for their controllers. Not only were they awesome looking, but being able to see the inner working of your controller added an extra layer of coolness. Is it because console makers don't want you to see the innards of their systems, or just because people's taste in design has changed over the years (for the worse!)? Not that any new color would cause me to re-buy a system I already had, but if my DS or PSP ever broke and I had to get a new one, I'd love one with a see-through case and would definitely purchase this variety over the standard ones we have now. Unfortunately, judging by the colors console makers seem to favor these days, it seems a lot more likely we'll see the release of neon yellow, green and pink before anything that's this cool. I guess I just don't understand fashion anymore......

Rockington's

There has been talk recently about the possibility of a sequel to the game I just can't stop playing - Rock Band. First there was the survey which asked people how likely they would be to purchase a second game, and now we are seeing supposed concept art for the box itself.
Is this really necessary? Wasn't Rock Band promised not as a game, but as a platform through which new music could be released on a regular basis? Well, they've been doing a damn fine job of keeping up this idea, but unfortunately there is another factor that comes into play - Guitar Hero World Tour. After the success of Rock Band it was pretty obvious that Activision would want a piece of the pie, so they announced their version of the virtual band game before Harmonix had even mentioned that Rock Band might have a sequel. Of course, many people don't feel the need to buy another whole set of plastic instruments, so what could RB2 have as a distinct advantage over GH4? Well, people already have the instruments, that's what.

This is my idea for how Rock Band 2 could be handled in order to please the most number of people: Don't add anything to the instruments. Sure, improve the quality of manufacturing if you want, or change the aesthetics but don't add any pads or fret buttons. This will keep RB2 fully compatible with RB1. Keep the Store going and continue to release new music each week - this way by the time the sequel is released there will be hundreds of tracks for people to purchase right from the start. If you keep the two games compatible with each other then people won't even have to buy the second game, they could just keep buying new music for the first one.
The most important point here is the Store - no one wants to have to start their Rock Band music collection all over again so by keeping the same Store going, as soon as you purchase the sequel you can re-download all the tracks you've already bought directly into RB2. They can add any number of new modes if they want, just keep all the old music compatible.
Of course there is a chance that they will want to add new pads to the drums, in order to keep up with GH4, but I think Harmonix are smarter than that. This also means that people could just buy the stand-alone game if they want, and not have to purchase any more plastic instruments. No real info (or even an official announcement) regarding RB2 have been released yet, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if this is how they choose to handle things. I guess we'll all find out soon enough.......