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So you've just blown $170 on Rock Band, and you're bored with it already, eh? Yeah, there aren't like three separate solo modes, online features, downloadable content, and a deep multiplayer World Tour mode or anything. Why not get those drums working with Windows?
 
A clever geek has messed around with some drivers, and has gotten Windows to recognize the drums. Pretty sweet right? Now what? Well, for now, nothing. Until someone comes up with a Rock Band-esque drum clone program a la Frets on Fire, or a virtual drum program, there's not much you can do. Still, this does open up some nice posibilities for the future. 
 
The author suggests plugging the USB drums into your PC to see if they're recognized first, and one comment on his site claims that the PS3 version of the drum controller are useable with no driver hacks. But if you must, simply follow the ten-step process, or take your chances with a provided installation file.
 
[Via Engadget]

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13 comments | showing # 1 to 13

kobewan0824's Avatar
kobewan0824 at 11/23/2007 14:57
Pretty cool, could have some good uses down the road. Time to see what those indie one-man dev teams can do with this!
Cheeburga's Avatar
Cheeburga at 11/23/2007 15:21
Hmmm. Very interesting.
fyre's Avatar
fyre at 11/23/2007 15:42
Cool. I wanna try it.
Alex's Avatar
Alex at 11/23/2007 15:57
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdYXjLd-9Xk
Alex's Avatar
Alex at 11/23/2007 15:58
Weighted Companion Cube's Avatar
Weighted Companion Cube at 11/23/2007 16:11
Hmmm, interesting. I see many interesting things resulting from this.

The PC needs moar rhythm.
rubadub's Avatar
rubadub at 11/23/2007 16:35
This is essentially already possible with a midi card. Its been a long time since ive really dealt with instrument interfaces especially for a pc but I dont see how a rockband drumset is really any different than any other drum synth which could be just about anything thats a trigger.

Deserves a few cool points regardless.
Holyetheline's Avatar
Holyetheline at 11/23/2007 17:09
Oh, um.... that's kinda neat.
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 11/23/2007 17:10
I'd much rather buy a full MIDI drumkit.
Wedge's Avatar
Wedge at 11/23/2007 17:29
There is probably already a PC version of Drummania. It'd be sweet to hook this up with that.
mrkonchu's Avatar
mrkonchu at 11/23/2007 21:19
You know my windows already had the xbox drivers loaded for a wired controller heck window found the driver for me back in the day. But I have all the functionality that this guy is claiming with the default drivers so not sure why he had to go to that trouble.
rand_max's Avatar
rand_max at 03/18/2008 18:14
...psst!
http://www.unsigned-game.com/forums/index.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SySMKdresc
SeanLind's Avatar
SeanLind at 09/29/2009 13:37
Hey, I just did a similar thing, but using the guitar. Basically it's a how-to blog and video of how to use the guitar as a wireless controller (in my case to control online poker). You could use the drums to do the same as well, or to control anything you like really. Check it out:

http://www.pokerlistings.com/blog/play-online-poker-with-your-rock-band-guitar
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