Having now played Rock Band, I can say that while the drums may be more realistic than the guitar or bass, it’ll still little like playing the drums. I almost think I should have cranked it up to advanced as that would be more like playing the actual drum part to a song. Anyway, fun thing to do with co-workers.
.:.
The worldwide polls for the US presidency: not even close.
Americans may still be undecided, but the rest of the world has made up its mind about who should be elected president of the United States.
A Gallup poll of 70 countries conducted from May through September has found widespread international support for Democratic candidate Barack Obama.
Around the world, respondents favoured Mr. Obama 4 to 1 over Republican John McCain.
[From the Globe and Mail]
Guitar hero had me feeling the same thing; the game was more pattern recognition than guitar playing. Although I was pretty impressed with the noise that was played when you miffed a note (and they had “Paint It Black”).
Here’s a video of a guy playing an expert Rock Band drum chart on a real set:
The guy in the video admits he’s nothing better than a mediocre hobbyist drummer, just doing it for fun, but it gives you an idea of what the expert level is like.
I’ve had the game at home for a few weeks now, and from my experience the drum difficulty is set up in a pretty good progression in the solo tour:
Easy = people who have difficulty walking while holding something in their hands.
Medium = teaches basic limb independence. The harder songs in this level (Tom Sawyer, Run to the Hills) give you a bit of an idea of what it’s like to play a drum part.
Hard = Very close to playing an actual song, the major difference being no hi-hat pedal. Granted, there are a few other liberties taken in the translation because the most of the songs you’re playing use much larger kits.
Expert = You play the exact same notes as Hard, but you can only see about 2 beats ahead on the screen, so you have to learn the song.
So yes, it’s not exactly like playing a real drum part, but it’s certainly not a bad way to determine if you’ve got an affinity for it before laying out the scratch for a kit and a soundproof room.