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1. 

   A. Jefferson
   May 14th, 2011 - 10:18

   112 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

   
   RB2 on the Wii delivers! Best game on Wii so far IMHO., December 18, 2008

   By 

   A. Jefferson (Long Beach, CA USA) –
   
     

   Fun: 

   This review is from: Wii Rock Band 2 Special Edition (Video Game)

   I managed to get my hands on Rock Band 2 a bit early, and spent the entirety of the evening playing. What a drastic improvement over Rock Band 1 on the Wii! This is identical to the Xbox 360/ PS3 versions of the game, and I was even more impressed than I anticipated. I was having a blast before I even had a chance to play a single note: The character creator tool was a welcome bonus! You create a band and members, and then you hit the road. It was a really satisfying experience! This is really the first time that a Wii game has been truly competitive with other Next-Gen console games.

   The World Tour mode is now available locally or online, and there are also challenges and battle-of-the-bands. There was a “Wii pre-release” battle available for the select few who managed to snag the game early, and I was able to compete head to head with other bands (there were only 3 other bands online since the game was not yet available @ most stores).
   There are sure to be plenty of lengthy reviews, so I will just note some of my observations:

   *Band Members – once you create your band-mates using the Character Creator, when you play a gig, there they are! I knew this feature was present, but I had no idea how exciting it would be the first time my character (who happens to look JUST LIKE ME!) appeared on stage! It was really satisfying! This feature was really well done. My first order of business was to create characters for my wife and all our friends. Whenever they come over and play from now on, they can use their characters. Also, these characters can be moved around, dropped etc. Also, whenever you select a character to play a gig with your band, they get a “cut”, earning that character money which can be used to buy clothes, accessories, instruments, etc. Of course, my wife blew all her money on some designer jeans, some pink driving gloves, and some shoes before she even played one gig! Typical… =)

   *Online – Some of the online features haven’t been enabled yet, but I was able to play in the online battle of the bands. I was playing during a weather storm, and my internet connection was suffering. I had a hard time checking my email from my computer in fact! But, much to my surprise, the game chugged along, and I didn’t see any problems with the online interface. The whole game is played “connected”, so you don’t have to keep logging on and off if you switch between local and online play. The interface was really polished and well done, unlike other Wii games that seem to tack on the online portion after the fact. A+++.

   *Updated instruments – The new guitar and drum look and feel really good. The drums are sturdier, and also the pads are quieter. Other than that, not much of a change here, but I had no complaints about the previous generation of instruments.

   *Music – This game seems to have a much more varied mix of music. Much like when I began playing RB1, I only knew a handful of the songs that I initially was able to play. A few of the songs that I initially played were somewhat familiar, but some were way off the radar for me. Still, what I have heard so far is great! As you may already know, there is a Music Store built in the game where you can use Wii points on your system to buy new songs, so there will be no shortage of great music to be played! I was also surprised to see that details about the band and even album art appear on the song selection screen. The interface is really clean and polished; it really doesn’t feel like a “game” at all. There is really no end to this games replay value. There are already close to 500 songs available in the DLC catalog (and all of this will come to the Wii shortly), and new songs are added weekly. Guitar Hero: World Tour can’t even begin to compete in this area!!!

   Do yourself a favor and go buy this game. I loved RB1 on the Wii, and really didn’t think I was missing out on much… as it turns out, the additional features in RB2 are really astounding! The solid gameplay of Rock Band 1 is there… the great music game is completely intact. RB2 adds the “Band” experience: Touring, Band-mate selection, losing fans if you quit a “set” prematurely, battle of the bands, never-ending amounts of fresh content to play, expansive leaderboards and band data, even the ability to order posters and figurines of your band!!! Rock Band 2 for the Wii delivers!!

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2. 

   Erin
   May 14th, 2011 - 10:41

   197 of 207 people found the following review helpful:

   
   Got Kids? Girls, even? Rock on! — A Mom’s perspective on Rock Band 2, November 1, 2008

   By 

   Erin (France) –

   Fun: 

   This review is from: Xbox 360 Rock Band 2 Special Edition (Video Game)

   I’m a 36 yo mom with two girls. Rock Band 2 had become a phenom in our house. There’s a magic in making music together, esp with loved ones, that can’t be explained, only experienced. I have to say I’m woefully, pityfully unmusical, and frankly, Rock Band intimidated and scared me – embarassed me at the thought – and I was afraid to even touch it, and I never ever, in ten million lifetimes thought I would like it. Kids, sure– kids try everything once. But me? Now here I am waking up at 6am to play the drums with them before they go to school? I have two pre-teen girls that are drummers now? Wow talk about your ‘I never saw that coming’ moment.

   I know Rock Band is a little bit intimidating to us people who aren’t musical. But just order the big box, let it come to the door and set it up in the privacy of your house and no one will be the wiser. It sets up in a snap, no wires at all, no plug-ins, no softwear — very mom (or tech) friendly.

   Rock Band 2 is much improved over Rock Band 1 in ease of set up, maintenance, totally wireless, no plugs, cords, etc., and zero STRESS. The drums have been improved so they don’t hurt your wrists like the previous set which were like hitting concrete, they, now, have lots of give. I’ve been playing it about 60 hours in total, now, and no painful wrists like the previous Rock Band 1 set gave me. The pedal is also metal-reinforced now so you can’t snap it, like it’s purely plastic predicessor.

   I am trying to reach down into my soul and explain to parents what a wonderful ‘video game’ this set is. How 189.00 is nothing when you think of how much gas, time, energy, and stress it is to run around entertaining them on a regular basis. With four positions to occupy (guitar, drums, singing, and a bass if you get an extra guitar) there is always something for even a little younger sibling of four to do: either sing along or play the drums, gosh they learn it fast. Four year olds are no slouches. Rock Band 2 also has a wonderful ‘no fail’ option so that the song doesn’t crash if one of the members falls out of tune, you can keep playing with no stress, unlike rockband 1. Altho, admittedly, soon, even inexperienced players seem to dislike the ‘no fail’ option as, strangely enough, not ‘failing’ is really the key to it feeling like you *are* real band.

   If your looking for a way to meld your family unit, the last thing you would dream in the world might do it would be rocking out to old classics together, but somehow, like a magical mystery tour, it works wonders on the family unit. No one is more surprised than me. I swear I was convinced this would be the last thing on god’s green earth I’d could ever dream of having enough coordination to ever enjoy.

   Quick Mom-like Points:

   Pros:
   -An amazing dads/daughters/sons way to bond. Not too hard to talk dad into a nice redition of ‘Eye of the Tiger’ when he gets off work–where as trying to get him to have a tea-party of play some basket ball is a bit more challanging. Dads LOVE this game, and kids don’t get ‘in the way’ – everyone is an asset in rockband. Which is the sheer genius of it when it comes to familes and their differing ages.
   -No musical ability or lessons required. Literally any age over 4 can play.
   -Promotes family and sharing and harmony. Appreciation of each other’s musical attempts, and that promotes respect as one ‘musician’ to another.
   -Produces confidence and self-esteem via performing. We really don’t get much of a chance to ‘show off’ or ‘express’ our selves infront of each other often. This experience really builds – do i dare say it – self-love and pride in self-ability. When you totally rock the drums or sing a great rendition of a song, or play an amazing solo on the guitar, everyone else knows how hard it is because we all take our turn at ‘bat’ so to speak.
   -Great mental concentration, hand-eye coordination improvement as you make music.
   -No painful learning curve. Each member of the band plays at their own skill level without it slowing down any other member.
   -A fun way burn up all that pent-up energy, and surprisingly, emotion, we build up over the day.
   -The drums are quiet. You can literally work in the same room and concentrate on a mental task on a computer while four kids rock wildly on rock band. Why? Becuase they shut up for 4 minutes at a time! WOO!! And they are in a good mood when they play. No one gets angry, it’s such a singular thing of concentration to work as a whole (if that makes sense.)

   Cons–
   -might agrue over who is to play the drums next. I make everyone switch around ever few songs to play their favs. One of my favorite things about rock band is ‘making’ everyone rotate thru guitar, singing, and drums. Great experiences, all.
   -someone or everyone in the house will be addicted. great ‘when your homework is done’ inducement tho.
   -the…

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