Wednesday morning thoughts
I spent about 2 hours with Rock Band last night (entirely on the drums) and while the game is very good.. I am running into some of the hardware issues with the drum kit that others have reported. I'm playing through medium just to get my drumming groove back and while I'm getting 4 stars on every song, I should be getting 5's. I'm noticing a lot of red notes that are missing for no good reason, so I'm going to try out the taping solution that was posted in the comments and see if I have better luck with that. I do like that the first thing that a drummer does is to put some tape on the pads. I don't have any pictures of my old kit, but I had tape all over my drum heads just to get the right sound that I wanted. It's funny that tape is needed with pads just to get them to work right as well.
Two other things that I think I'll probably pick up are a new drum throne and some new sticks. The sticks that come with the game are decent, but there were sticks that I used in the past that I know that I liked better. I just need to find them again. As far as the throne goes... it's just awkward sitting on a couch and playing the drums. Maybe that's just me though.
Somehow I also got my wife to come into the theater and sing some vocals for a few songs. She said she was coming down for 1 song, but she ended up singing 5... and we ended up making a character for her. I think that's a good sign that a small band is forming in the house.
Oh, I never even took the guitar out of the package. I might look at that sometime this weekend.
- Mr. T is still a very funny man. This commercial proves it. Shatner's spot is decent... but Mr. T rules.
- According to early reports Super Mario Galaxy sold over 500,000 copies in the US in it's first week. Not too shabby. Finally something that can knock Wii Play off of the top spot on the Wii game charts.
- I picked up the Wii Zapper yesterday at Walmart...which strangely is one of the only stores that has it at the MSRP right now. Any thoughts as to which Zapper compatible game I should rent to try it with? Medal of Honor 2, Ghost Squad, or Resident Evi: Umbrella Chronicles?
- If you have a PS3, they're having a sale on a few of their downloadable games through November 29th. Calling all Cars, FlOw, Everyday Shooter, and Pixeljunk Racers are all $4.99. I picked up Everyday Shooter last night and was it was well worth 5 bucks. Thanks to limelicker for posting this in the forums.
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Dan:
November 21st, 2007 - 12:29
I’m having couch issues as well with my drum kit. I need a stool or something. My knee is killing me from hitting the kick pedal thingy.
I’d say go with Ghost Squad. MoH is only half light gun and Ghost Squad lets you dual wield Wiimotes. Dual wield > shooting zombies in my book.
Wish I had known about Wally World selling the Zapper for 20 bucks. I paid 25 at Target yesterday. D’oh!
November 21st, 2007 - 12:39
A stool would work, but thrones are much more comfortable. You can find them starting around $30 bucks at most music stores.
I’m the reason Dan bought his at Walmart. I let him know that it’s one of the only stores selling it for $20. CompUSA being another.
I guess it’s just another reason why everyone should be reading Sportsgamerblog.com
Tell your friends!
heh.
November 21st, 2007 - 12:49
Seems solid and pretty cheap ($20):
http://www.worldmusicsupply.com/drums/drum-thrones/EXO/EX108.asp
I ordered Sunday…they shipped Monday and it’s due to arrive Friday with default ground shipping.
November 21st, 2007 - 13:16
Not too shabby.
I’m hitting a local shop at lunch today, so I’ll see if they have any good thrones for decent prices… if not… I’ll just grab some new sticks and then order a throne online.
November 21st, 2007 - 14:16
That’s what I meant by stool. I didn’t know they were called thrones. Who knew being a drummer was such a regal calling!
November 21st, 2007 - 14:20
It’s just the one way they trick you into believing that the drummer is important in the band. They give you expensive equipment… fancy chair names… and then sit you in the back… in the dark.
November 21st, 2007 - 15:02
Oh and one other tip…if you don’t like the clatter of the sticks go to your local Home Depot (or whatever) and pickup a length of rubber tubing. It’s not super cheap (about $15 for more than you will ever need for this purpose) but you can cut it to fit then slip it over the tips of your sticks. Should provide more of a thud than you get now. Seems a lot cheaper than the practice sticks you see online.
November 21st, 2007 - 16:36
I just went and picked up some new sticks. I wasn’t really sure about the throne options that they had at the local place, so I held off on that.
As far as sticks go, I’d recommend that people just go to a local music store and try some out. There are a ton of different options, so it might be worth your time to try out a few different types of sticks.
November 21st, 2007 - 23:30
You can also duct tape a sock over the end of each stick.
It seems that you were one that was concerned about the price of the game and now you are out buying new sticks and “thrones”. Its cool to see a nice turnaround.
November 22nd, 2007 - 03:37
Well, I’m a drum geek too. Once I have something like this, I’m not half assed about it. heh.
November 22nd, 2007 - 04:29
My red pad is also very loose, so if you end up taping it, then leave us an update.
November 23rd, 2007 - 16:36
If my wife brings home the tape tonight, I’ll give it a try and let you know.
My red pad isn’t loose… so I wonder if there is just some sort of defect there. That seems to be the case since every pad has issues.