Two bits of news, the first of which is that there's a demo for Green Day: Rock Band available now on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. I looked for it on my console and I couldn't find it, but you can queue it up online right here. It features full offline band play (including harmonies) and two songs, "Welcome to Paradise" and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams."
That's cool and all, but I suppose the bigger news bomb comes when you select "exit" on the game demo. You get a teaser for Rock Band 3, which displays all of the series' iconic instrument logos plus... a keyboard. Yeah, you're seeing that correctly -- it looks like keyboards will be a playable instrument in Rock Band 3.
How will they work? What will the peripheral look like? What songs will be playable using this fancy thing with the black and white keys!? If I knew anything, I wouldn't be able to tell you anyhow, so I should just shut up and let you guys do all of the speculating.
(Dear lord, Harmonix, please include Harold Faltermeyer's "Alex F" on the Rock Band 3 disc.)
KEYBOARDS CONFIRMED FOR ROCK BAND 3!! [JoeCamNet]
Contest:
9:30 PM on 05.25.2010 | 
Let's hope the full band bundles don't get even MORE expensive with a new instrument...
"More Faith No More please!"
THIS.
@SpacemanRoo:
Yeah, maybe I should keep my cymbals. I was going to give them away, but now you've got me thinking.
Please Neversoft, go away and stop bothering. A single edition of RB is more than enough every few years.
Tall and reckless
Ugly seed
Reach down my throat
PLEASE!!!!!
It's great way to keep the third game fresh and exciting.
Also, Faith No Nore sucks.
Ha! Good one.
I could also do with other Mike Patton projects as well.
It also helps that I'm a fairly competent Keyboard and Piano player fo' realz.
Care not if it's a normal keyboard, BUT A MOTHERFUCKING KEYTAR?!?!?!?! FUCK YES.
Aaaaaaaand relax.
To be honest I'm super hyped for RB3 just with my guitar and drums.
Harold Faltermeyer? Yes.
Alex F.? No. I'll take Axel Foley instead of Alex Foley any day of the week. :P
Granted, this means I have to buy a new plastic instrument, but I'll survive.
With harmonies, isn't that SEVEN people that can play at the same time? That's brilliant. Too bad the Xbox only allows 4 controller inputs at once. I wonder how they'll remedy that.
At any rate, "Holiday 2010" cannot come soon enough.
Now we can finally get some Crocodile Rock up in this bitch.
I will hit a girl, God help me.
I would find it interesting if people now start kicking off for the opposite reason - what I mean is now people complain if someone can play a solo on expert on a plastic guitar-looking-peripheral they still can't play the guitar. Now I bet people will start complaining that if they can play it on expert ("OMG YOU'VE MADE PIANO PLAYING FUN!") that they've ruined years worth of training and dedication by making it actually fun for gamers to learn at instrument (without knowing they're doing it). Then you would have people naturally good at games being able(ish) to play a piano without actually realising it.
That's obviously assuming the peripheral will look/feel like a piano. Not just a plastic block with 5 shapes on it looking like a piano in the same way the guitar controllers look like guitars. Then it would be a complete waste.
I think it's a great idea though, as well as being a good addition to the game it might actually push some people to learn the piano. Not in the way that people say if you can play a guitar solo on expert you might as well learn the guitar (because they won't) - it just means you're good at RB/GH. At least this way if you can play a solo on expert on a piano - I think you really should consider playing the piano, because you'd literally be doing it anyway.
The only bad point is we'll see a string (read: thousands) of videos with people playing Muse piano parts on "expert" on a real piano because they've figured out it's exactly the same.
What's next then - Rock Band: Philip Glass?
And I agree with Xzyliac about FNM sucking balls.
Also, music games suck, blah blah blah.
Your damn right Beatles Rock Band was good.
2) I hope I can use my actual midi keyboard, lol.
3) Wondering if it will just be playable on the guitar peripheral... I know that sounds kinda mental; it wouldn't be realistic, but it would be fun, and would mean no one would chart synth to guitar anymore!
Yeah, hopefully they mean keyboards and keytars. That would be quite perfect.
*waits to be flamed*