''Rock Band 3'' is a 2010
music video game
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs. Music video games may take a ...
developed by
Harmonix
Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., doing business as Harmonix, is an American video game developer company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in May 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy. Harmonix is perhaps best known as bei ...
. The game was initially published and distributed by
MTV Games
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
and
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
, respectively, in late October 2010.
Mad Catz
Mad Catz Global Limited (formerly Mad Catz Interactive, Inc.) is an American Chinese-based company that provides interactive entertainment products marketed under Mad Catz, GameShark (gaming products) and TRITTON (audio products). Mad Catz distr ...
took over both roles and re-released the title on November 23, 2011. It is the third main game and the 6th major
console
Console may refer to:
Computing and video games
* System console, a physical device to operate a computer
** Virtual console, a user interface for multiple computer consoles on one device
** Command-line interface, a method of interacting with ...
installment in the ''
Rock Band
A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...
'' series. As with the previous titles, ''Rock Band 3'' allows players to simulate the playing of
rock music
Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...
and many other subgenres using special instrument controllers mimicking
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
and
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
,
keyboard
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
,
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
, and
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
. ''Rock Band 3'' expands upon previous games by including three-part vocal harmonies — previously used in ''
The Beatles: Rock Band'' and ''
Green Day: Rock Band'' (up to 3 singers on a song) — plus support for
MIDI
MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...
-compatible keyboards, electronic drumkits, and even use of a real guitar in "Pro" mode.
Distinguishing it from all previous rhythm music games, ''Rock Band 3'' features "Pro" mode, which is designed to accurately mimic playing of real instruments. In Pro mode, real guitar and bass players have to match specific fingering on
frets and strings, drummers have to strike cymbal pads in addition to snare and toms, and keyboardists have to use precise fingering across the whole keyboard.
Mad Catz
Mad Catz Global Limited (formerly Mad Catz Interactive, Inc.) is an American Chinese-based company that provides interactive entertainment products marketed under Mad Catz, GameShark (gaming products) and TRITTON (audio products). Mad Catz distr ...
manufactured a 102-button controller with 6 strings meant for bass and for lead guitar
Fender lent a real Fender Squier stringed guitar modified with built-in electronics and enhancements to support Pro mode. Real instruments and original Basic controllers can be played simultaneously in various combinations within the game to simulate playing in a real band. Before a song starts, the players choose which instrument they will represent within the song. If the right note is hit or played, it is heard in the audio. If notes are missed, they are not heard.
The game includes a list of
83 songs, fully upgraded to Pro — many emphasize the keyboard instrument. Existing game content, including prior
downloadable content
Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enablin ...
and songs from the
Rock Band Network, carry forward into the game, with the full ''Rock Band'' library reaching 2,000 songs at the time of game launch (surpassing
4,000 songs by the end of October 2012, almost a year after its re-release). ''Rock Band 3'' is designed as a platform to take advantage of players' existing libraries by providing user-created set lists and challenges and tools to easily search and select songs from the library.
''Rock Band 3'' was initially released worldwide during the last week of October 2010 for the
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...
,
PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
,
Wii
The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
and
Nintendo DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
. The game received universal acclaim from critics, with praise for the addition of keyboards that broadens the potential music library for the series and the revamped career structure to keep players invested in the title. The game's Pro mode was particularly highlighted by reviewers, who stated that the mode brings the rhythm game genre to the point of teaching players to learn real instruments and have fun doing so by disguising practice into gameplay. ''Rock Band 3'' is cited by some to be one of the
greatest games of all time
This is a list of video games that multiple reputable video game journalists or magazines have considered to be among the best of all time. The games listed here are included on at least six separate "best/greatest of all time" lists from differ ...
while also considered a pinnacle of the genre. It was also the last ''Rock Band'' game to be distributed by Electronic Arts as Mad Catz signed on to produce future ''Rock Band'' games.
Gameplay
''Rock Band 3'' allows for 1–7 players, either locally or through online game services, to use various instrument controllers to accurately simulate the playing of music. In addition to supporting the four Basic instrument controllers from previous ''Rock Band'' games (
lead guitar
Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...
,
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
,
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
and
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
), ''Rock Band 3'' adds support for two additional microphones for singers to provide backup vocal
harmonies
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...
(previously found in ''
The Beatles: Rock Band'' and ''
Green Day: Rock Band''), an
electric keyboard
An electronic keyboard, portable keyboard, or digital keyboard is an electronic musical instrument, an electronic derivative of keyboard instruments. Electronic keyboards include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs a ...
as a new instrument (or any MIDI-compatible keyboard), plus support for a specially made 102-button MIDI bass, and an actual Squier guitar by Fender. Support for MIDI compatible electronic drum kits as well.
Prior to a song, each band member selects from one of four difficulty levels, Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert, which influence the number and rate that notes appear on the note track; they also can select the Pro mode for real guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums. As the band performs, they score points. Each player can build up a multiplier by hitting consecutive notes correctly, which increases how many points each note is worth, but the multiplier is set back to 1× if a note is missed. After successfully completing a song, the performance of each player and the band as a whole is rated on a 5-star scale. The best performance by a player for each song in the player's library is tracked separately based on instrument, Basic or Pro mode, and difficulty, then is used to provide and compare leaderboard statistics at the end of the song.
The overall goal of the band is to successfully complete a song and earn as many points as possible by using their selected controllers to play the notes shown on the screen at the proper time; or, in the case of the vocalists, to sing in relative pitch to the original artist. Players can also gain additional points by using "Overdrive". Once a player has enough energy, which is collected by perfectly playing marked sections of the song, he or she can activate Overdrive to double the number of points the whole band earns while it is deployed. Each instrument deploys overdrive differently, and some instruments have multiple methods of activating it.
In point competitive mode (without the "no-fail" option on — not recommended for Pro mode), players who are doing poorly might be forced to drop out of the band, which silences their part temporarily while the rest of the players continue to play. A dropped player can be saved up to two times by another player activating Overdrive; if the player is not saved soon enough, the whole band may fail the song and need to restart or exit to the song library. In some game modes, an option is also available to continue the song right from where the band failed at the cost of not being able to record a score for the rest of the song's playthrough.
Although ''Rock Band 3''s gameplay in Basic mode is very similar to that of previous games in the series, it does introduce a new gameplay mechanic designed to make fast sections such as
trill
TRILL (Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links) is an Internet Standard implemented by devices called TRILL switches. TRILL combines techniques from bridging and routing, and is the application of link-state routing to the VLAN-aware cus ...
s,
tremolo picking
Alternate picking is a guitar playing technique that employs alternating downward and upward strokes in a continuous fashion. If the technique is performed at high speed on a single string or course voicing the same note, it may be referred to ...
, and
drum roll
A drum roll (or roll for short) is a technique used by percussionists to produce a sustained sound for the duration of a written note.Cirone, Anthony J. (1991). Simple Steps to Snare Drum', p.30-31. Alfred. . "The purpose of the roll is t ...
s easier to play. In such sections, players are rewarded for being exactly on cue, but they are not penalized for small differences.
Song library and game modes
Players have better tools to sort through songs to help manage a song library that was expected to be larger than 2,000 songs after the game's release by the end of 2010.
Necessary sorting options include filters based on Pro mode support, keyboard or vocal harmony support, variable difficulty settings, music genre, decade, numbers of times played, leaderboard positions, and when the player acquired the song; any numbers of these filters can be applied to fine-tune the sort, such as selecting all "moderate-difficulty metal songs from the '80s that support keys and harmony vocals".
Players are able to rate songs from 1 to 5 "lighters" and use this as a sorting metric.
The rating system also allows Harmonix to suggest new songs to players in the Rock Band store. Players are also able to create, save, name, and design art for custom set lists which they can share through the game's online services or through the ''Rock Band'' website.
The "Battle of the Bands" mode featured in ''
Rock Band 2'', in which Harmonix created daily and weekly themed challenges based on the library of songs, extends into ''Rock Band 3'', but allows players to create the challenges themselves from within the game or the website, including the type of challenges, what instrument(s) it is aimed for, and how long to allow the battle to run, then advertise them through social media services like
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
and
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
.
Harmonix also creates custom setlists and battles.
The official ''Rock Band'' website was updated to reflect these new features, as well as allowing players to track their own bands or friends' bands.
The game features a more in-depth career mode; players are able to design more detailed characters, which appear nearly at all points alongside the narrative, making the game "one story of your band", according to Harmonix senior designer Dan Teasdale. The career mode includes over 700 career goals, similar to Xbox 360 Achievements or PlayStation 3 Trophies, which helps to drive players to progress in the game.
"Road challenges" combine features of the Tour mode of ''Rock Band'' and ''Rock Band 2'' with ''
Mario Party
is a party video game series featuring characters from the ''Mario'' franchise in which up to four local players or computer-controlled characters (called " CPUs") compete in a board game interspersed with minigames. The games are currentl ...
'' concepts, according to Teasdale, and is based on feedback from ''Rock Band'' players. For example, the band may be challenged to re-invigorate the virtual crowd using copious amounts of Overdrive after they were disappointed by an opening act, or in another challenge, the band will be required to play as accurately as possible for a crowd of critics.
Numerous versions of these challenges are available, that vary in the amount of time to complete (from 30 minutes to 3 hours) and difficulty. Some of these challenges feature multiple gigs; after playing through one gig, the band is presented with three choices for songs to play at the next gig, either from pre-made set lists, customized set lists, or random selection from all available songs. With each song completed within a challenge, the players earn spades; one spade for each star based on the overall scoring, and additional spades for meeting the challenge goals. These challenges are tracks on the scoring leaderboards for the game.
The playing modes are wrapped in an "overshell", which allow players to sign in or out of game console profiles, manage players in the band, and jump in or out of the game with any available instrument at any point, including while playing a song.
Players also will have the ability to pause the game and make changes in difficulty; when leaving the pause menu, the song rewinds a few seconds to allow all players to synchronize before the scoring restarts. Due to the limitations in the number of local players on this generation of consoles, only four of the five parts (lead and bass guitar, drums, harmonized vocals, and keyboards) can be played in online and local career and competitive modes. The game attempts to provide the option of a local "All Instruments" quick play mode where all five parts are used allowing the full seven-member band to play; to side step system limitations the vocals are not assigned to a console player but instead are based on the input, if present, from
Wireless USB
Wireless USB (Universal Serial Bus) was a short-range, high-bandwidth wireless radio communication protocol created by the Wireless USB Promoter Group which intended to increase the availability of general USB-based technologies. It was unrelat ...
-connected microphones, and the vocal results are not scored along with the other playing members.
Custom character support
"Rock Band" includes support for using pre-made and custom avatars to represent band members on stage during performances, as in previous ''Rock Band'' games. These avatars can include a variety of clothing styles, hair styles, accessories, makeup, and instruments to allow users to customize their performance. While custom characters have been a part of the ''Rock Band'' series from the start, Harmonix wants players to feel more connected with their characters and band within ''Rock Band 3''.
Harmonix' Chris Foster stated that they realized the game is wish-fulfillment for most players in taking one's band through the rise of success, and structured a weak, non-presuming narrative to help guide this without forcing any particular aspect of the band's story. One aspect to connecting the player to their band was to constantly show the characters throughout all parts of the game screens, such as on the main menus, during song selection and loading screens, and during practice mode.
Another approach was to allow more detailed customization tools to encourage the player to create themselves or other characters as they wanted in the game. They wanted to advance the looks of the avatar characters, making them like living dolls with near-realistic features but highly idealized visual elements, such as smooth skin and hair. This was achieved through the use of improved
shader
In computer graphics, a shader is a computer program that calculates the appropriate levels of light, darkness, and color during the rendering of a 3D scene - a process known as ''shading''. Shaders have evolved to perform a variety of spec ...
s that gave the appearance of realistic surfaces but with the ''Rock Band'' stylized art aesthetic.
The team aimed to provide something that was in between the complex creation tool for ''
Mass Effect
''Mass Effect'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Casey Hudson, Drew Karpyshyn and Preston Watamaniuk. The franchise depicts a distant future where humanity and several alien civilizations have colonized the known unive ...
'' and the simple set of tools for
Mii
A Mii ( ) is a customizable avatar used on several Nintendo video game consoles and mobile apps. Miis were first introduced on the Wii console in 2006 and later appeared on the 3DS, Wii U, the Switch, and various apps for smart devices. Miis c ...
s.
''Rock Band 3'' custom character creator allows for more direct customization of the character's facial looks, using a combination of pre-made face styles (including those already from ''Rock Band 2''), facial components such as noses or chins, and adjustment sliders to change size, position, and other details. Numerous additional hair styles are available in addition to the existing elaborate and showy styles from the previous game. Additional controls can be used to further adjust the tone of the character's body, and players are able to apply tattoos across most anywhere on the character's body. Players can then get clothing and instruments in the various in-game shops, with items becoming unlocked as the player progresses through the game. In addition, premium T-shirts with real-life bands are being sold as downloadable content for the players' created characters.
Pro mode
''Rock Band 3'' is the first game in the ''Rock Band'' series (or any previous rhythm game) to include "Pro" mode, which can be used simultaneously in conjunction with "Basic" mode (which has been standard in every game in the series). Pro mode is based on the individual player's instrument – so those playing real instruments can play alongside or with those playing Basic controllers – locally, or online.
Pro mode requires the player to learn the actual instrument in some capacity and play the songs note-for-note.
Pro mode players may select difficulty levels for their instrument; one can play Pro mode on the "Easy" difficulty level, which reduces the number of notes to hit, but still would require proper fingering or hitting the correct cymbal.
The progression of difficulties in Pro mode is aimed to help the player familiar with Basic 5-button controllers to become familiar with and more easily adjust to Pro playing style. On Easy Pro guitar, for example, the player may only be required to finger single notes, while Medium introduces chords.
Pro mode is available across all RB3 game modes, and can be selected at the same time as difficulty. Pro players play alongside Basic players in all game modes.
To further help players with the Pro mode, extensive trainers are included in the game. The trainers were developed with the
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...
to help ease current players into a realistic playing experience.
The trainer mode uses music specially created by Harmonix artists with the intent to help players become comfortable with their instruments over a series of lessons. Or, the player can skip the trainers and go straight to figuring out a song from the Music Library. (According to Harmonix's Dan Sussman, there were about 60 to 80 songs specifically made for the trainer section, and they were only available for that mode; but Harmonix placed some of the full songs onto the
Rock Band Network at a later date.)
Players are able to slow down a song in Practice Mode as well. Practice Mode also allows choosing a song from the player's Music Library for the purpose of selecting specific sections of a song to focus on, such as a guitar solo, or bridge section. The selected sections can then be made to loop in order to help refine the player's handling of a particular part of a song which they might be having trouble handling note-for-note. There is also a free-form play for pro drums where a drummer can play whatever they wish and utilize effects to change the sound of the drum set.
Guitar and bass
(Existing "5 button" guitar controllers from previous ''Rock Band'' and other compatible games (such as ''Guitar Hero'') can still be used interchangeably with real Pro instruments for non-Pro parts in ''Rock Band 3'', but not vice versa.)
Both the Fender Mustang Pro-Guitar MIDI 102-button/string controller and the Fender Squier Stratocaster 6-string guitar and MIDI controller have "fret sensing" ability, in order to display fingering on specific frets to the video display for instant feedback on where the player's fingers are on the fret board at any time.
Mad Catz based the Fender Mustang Pro-Guitar MIDI 102-button controller on the actual
Fender Mustang
The Fender Mustang is a solid body electric guitar produced by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. It was introduced in 1964 as the basis of a major redesign of Fender's student models, the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic. It was produced unti ...
bass guitar, for the game software's Pro mode, as a way for 5-button players to have an intermediary step up to a real guitar using a combination of buttons and strings. Instead of five colored buttons, the Mustang has 6 buttons across 17 different frets, for a total of 102 buttons; the player needs to strike the corresponding buttons on the right frets similar to guitar strings.
The player uses the "string box" that contains six stainless-steel strings which can detect which strings are being strummed, in place of a "strum bar" from the typical legacy "5 button" controller.
Though modeled after a bass guitar which only has 4 strings, Mad Catz gave it 6 strings in order for it to also be used for pro lead guitar play. In addition to Pro mode use, the Mustang can be used to play the game in Basic mode,
and it functions as a full MIDI guitar, with a MIDI output connector providing compatibility with MIDI software sequencers and hardware devices. For use in gaming mode, each Mustang controller can only be used with the game console it is designed for (except unofficially if you connect through a MIDI-Pro Adapter, then any console's Mustang can be used with any console for Pro mode game play, although direction pad buttons, overdrive detection and Basic 5-button game play will be disabled). The Mustang Pro-Guitar is only a few inches smaller in length than the actual Mustang bass guitar, and being made of plastic, is much lighter to hold than an actual guitar. The neck is removable from the body for easier storage and transport.
Fender made an even further step up by turning an actual full-sized, 6-string Squier Stratocaster guitar into a Rock Band 3 Pro mode real guitar game controller. This is a true six-string electric guitar, with electronics built in to allow it to interface with the game to provide added features such as on-screen fret sensing. The Squier Stratocaster Guitar And Controller therefore has full MIDI output capabilities outside of the game in addition to being an actual standard guitar.
A demonstration of the Fender Squier Stratocaster Guitar And Controller at its
Electronic Entertainment Expo debut showed it being played directly through an electric amplifier alongside other players on the other controllers while playing the game. Unlike the Mustang controller which uses fret buttons, the Squier being an actual guitar, uses real guitar strings, therefore it cannot be used in Basic button mode. However, it can be played in the game (locally or online) alongside other players using 5-button Basic controllers.
The Squier is "console-neutral": instead of having to buy a console-specific guitar, players need only purchase the MadCatz MIDI Pro-Adapter made for their Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or Wii console, then simply plug any Squier Stratocaster Guitar And Controller into that for in-game use.
The Mustang Pro-Guitar controller was not available until a month after game launch. The Squier Stratocaster Guitar And Controller was not available at the game's launch either – it was finally released in March 2011 due to manufacturing delays in order to perfect the fretboard-sensing feature while keeping cost down as much as possible. In that time some players discovered that though unofficial, a third controller option was readily available from Inspired Instruments called the
You Rock Guitar. The You Rock was a
guitar synth
A guitar synthesizer is any one of a number of musical instrument systems that allow a guitarist to access synthesizer capabilities.
Overview
Today's guitar synths are direct descendants of 1970s devices from manufacturers (often in partner ...
much like the Mustang Pro-Guitar. In looks, and in function for the game, will play similar to the Mustang controller. It has six short nylon strings for strumming and picking on the body, like the Mustang, albeit with a rubber mesh in place of buttons along the fretboard. While the Mustang only has a MIDI jack, The You Rock has an additional standard 1/4"-inch audio jack, which can also be used to simulate a real guitar playing synthesized sounds from a standard 1/4" jack. This guitar also has a standard MIDI interface. Using firmware update 1.2 the You Rock is capable of sending the correct signals to the Mad Catz Midi Pro-Adapter in the same way as the Fender Squier Stratocaster. The You Rock guitar can be put into Rock Band Pro mode by simultaneously pressing the "Game" and "Guitar" buttons. The LED will display "rb".
Pro mode gameplay
During Pro mode play for guitar and bass, single notes are represented by a number, representing the fret on the guitar, over a single string. Chords are represented by solid bars that mimic waveforms. The base position for the player's hand on the fretboard is given by a number on a specific string. The shape of the bar over the other strings provide relative fret positions for the player's hand on the controller.
The instrument controllers provide feedback to the player by sensing the player's current fingering, which is then shown as a waveform drawn at the base of the note track, in the same style as the chord representation, allowing the player to match their waveform to the chord's shape.
Chord names are shown at the side of the track, and players can optionally enable a feature that numbers every fret position for a chord,
closely resembling the appearance of
guitar tablature
Tablature (or tabulature, or tab for short) is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches.
Tablature is common for fretted stringed instruments such as the guitar, lute or vihuela, as well as many fre ...
.
In addition, Pro Guitar and Bass include ''
legato
In music performance and notation, legato (; Italian for "tied together"; French ''lié''; German ''gebunden'') indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, the player makes a transition from note to note wit ...
''-style playing through
hammer-on
A hammer-on is a playing technique performed on a stringed instrument (especially on a fretted string instrument, such as a guitar) by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on to the fingerboard behind a fret, causing a note to sound. This ...
s and
pull-off
A pull-off is a stringed instrument playing and articulation technique performed by plucking or "pulling" the finger that is grasping the sounding part of a string off the fingerboard of either a fretted or unfretted instrument. This intermediate- ...
s, as well as
slides on sustained notes along the strings represented by sustained note gems with slanted tails.
Pro Guitar also includes
open chord
In music for stringed instruments, especially guitar, an open chord (open-position chord) is a chord that includes one or more strings that are not fingered. An open string vibrates freely, whereas a fingered string will be partially dampened u ...
s,
arpeggios where the player holds a chord and plucks specific strings for it, and
left-hand muting Left-hand muting is a performance technique for stringed instruments, where string vibration is damped by the fingering hand. (Left-handed players use the right hand.)
First variant
A string is played with the right hand, while the left hand pres ...
of notes.
On Easy difficulty Pro mode, the game will only present single notes to the player; Medium difficulty introduces chords, while Hard difficulty is a less-dense version of the full guitar track charted for Expert mode.
The game adjusts which frets are used depending on which Pro model guitar is used, because the Mustang, being only a couple of inches smaller than a real guitar, has fewer frets than the Squier real guitar. Some leeway is given on Pro Guitar such as by missing a chord by one offset string.
Instrument controllers
![PS3 Rock Band 3 MIDI Pro-Adapter](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/PS3_Rock_Band_3_MIDI_Pro-Adapter.jpg)
All existing ''Rock Band'' and other compatible controllers continue to work for Basic mode.
Basic guitar controllers can also be used to play Basic keyboard parts after unlocking the ability to do so in-game, while the keyboard controller can also in turn be used to play Basic guitar and bass parts without requiring the feature to be unlocked.
A special MIDI adapter, also made by MadCatz and sold separately, allows players with existing MIDI-compatible keyboards, or drums to use them within the game; the unit will not work for most existing MIDI guitars due to the additional data that Harmonix registers over the MIDI data.
In April 2010, Harmonix and game controller manufacturer
Mad Catz
Mad Catz Global Limited (formerly Mad Catz Interactive, Inc.) is an American Chinese-based company that provides interactive entertainment products marketed under Mad Catz, GameShark (gaming products) and TRITTON (audio products). Mad Catz distr ...
entered a multi-year deal to allow Mad Catz to produce and sell its controllers alongside the ''Rock Band'' games.
In addition to the standalone game and controllers, Harmonix and MadCatz released a ''Rock Band 3'' bundle package which includes the Basic/Pro RB3 keyboard controller and the game. Licensing prevented this bundle from being sold to PlayStation 3 users in the United States, but Harmonix worked with vendors to offer a "soft bundle" of the standalone game and keyboard at the same cost as the bundle, and to honor existing pre-orders for the bundle.
Three more bundles were made available in November 2011. Each bundle came with the game itself, a voucher for complementary downloadable song content, and choice of Mustang Pro-Guitar, Rock Band 3 Stratocaster Basic, or Rock Band 3 Fender Precision Wireless Bass (Basic) controller.
Premium Basic Guitar and Bass controllers
Existing "5 button" Basic guitar controllers from previous ''Rock Band'' games and other compatible games (such as ''Guitar Hero'') can still be used interchangeably with real Pro instruments for non-Pro parts in ''Rock Band 3'' (but not vice versa).
However, in addition to Pro mode guitar controllers, Harmonix added new dimensions of realism to their Basic guitar controller lineup. Premium and Limited Edition replica versions of Basic 5-button guitar controllers were released for the game by Mad Catz which resemble actual guitars in size, appearance and performance while remaining true to Basic 5-button game play.
For example, the (Basic) ''Rock Band 3'' Wireless Fender Precision Bass Controller features, as the actual guitar it is modeled after – a thumb rest. The strum bar is now a double-strum bar, for emulating realistic two-fingered bass playing. The double strum bar can also be used interchangeably as a standard strum bar during game play, to suit the player's preferred playing style. Since real bass guitars do not have whammy bars, there is no whammy bar, but as in the real guitar, a knob dial can be used to manipulate in-game whammy notes. It is compatible with the 'Electro-Harmonix Overdrive Pedal' for controlling whammy effects with the player's foot. The controller is available in various colors to choose from such as seafoam green, candy apple red, and white.
The ''Rock Band 3'' Wireless Fender Telecaster ''Player's Edition'' replica guitar controller features quieter more responsive buttons to replicate the feel of frets plus allow easier sliding chords, an upgraded strum bar, and touch activated overdrive directly above the strum bar. The whammy bar is adjustable and made by Bigsby out of solid metal. It is available in colors such as wood-grain butterscotch and light blue.
The ''Rock Band 3'' Wireless Stratocaster Guitar Controller replica was released in November 2011 and is an upgrade to the original version. It also features quieter buttons and smoother action, to further replicate the feel of frets, allow sliding chords, and an improved strum bar.
The ''Rock Band'' Wooden Stratocaster Replica was released at the time of the game's release and is basically, a full-size actual wooden guitar body with all of the tuning keys, bridge, metal parts and fittings of the actual guitar left intact; but instead of strings, it has Basic 5-button premium buttons built into the neck. Since there are only 5 buttons and no strings, this one is for Basic game play only. The difference from the other Basic premium controllers is that it is the actual size and weight of a real guitar. It was made available in sunburst and candy apple red colors.
Drums
Existing drum kits from ''Rock Band'', ''Guitar Hero'', and other games, including the ION electronic drum kits, can be used for Basic mode play in ''Rock Band 3''. For Pro drums, a three cymbal-pad set is added to the core drum kit; notes on screen are marked as a rounded note instead of rectangular to indicate a cymbal hit instead of a drum hit.
MadCatz and other manufacturers already produced a cymbal add-ons for ''Rock Band 2'' drum kits, but introduced a new version with the release of ''Rock Band 3''.
The player can optionally use 1 or 2 additional cymbal pads, configuring the Pro Drums mode to only recognize those.
Players can also add a second foot pedal and configure the game to act as a
second bass drum pedal or as a
hi-hat pedal.
Additionally, existing ION drum kits will work in Pro mode for ''Rock Band 3''.
Keyboard
![Rock Band 3 Wireless Pro Keyboard PS3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Rock_Band_3_Wireless_Pro_Keyboard_PS3.jpg)
''Rock Band 3'' introduced keyboard parts for songs for the first time in a rhythm game. MadCatz produced the new keyboard controller for the official release which resembles a
keytar with a handle to one side; this allows it to be either worn using a guitar strap
or placed on a horizontal surface.
The keyboard features 25 full-sized velocity-sensitive keys, and is MIDI compatible, allowing it to be used outside the game.
For instance,
Freezepop
Freezepop is an American electronic music, electronic band from Boston, Massachusetts, United States, formed in 1999 by Liz Enthusiasm, Sean T. Drinkwater, and The Duke of Pannekoeken (an alias for Kasson Crooker). Since December 2009, the curre ...
, a band which has close ties to members of Harmonix, has used the keyboard controller as a keytar for their stage shows.
Players need to strike notes and chords, marked to specific keys on the display, to score points. In Basic mode, five white keys, from the middle C to G, each correspond to colored notes on screen, and are played in a similar manner to existing guitar and bass parts; these keys can also be used to play guitar and bass parts on the keyboard.
Overdrive is activated by pressing a special button on the controller.
A touch-pad in the handle of the unit functions as a
pitch wheel
In electronic music, a pitch wheel, pitch bend or bender is a control on a synthesizer to vary the pitch in a continuously variable manner (portamento).
The first synthesizer with a pitch wheel was the Minimoog, in 1970.
Alternatively, pitch be ...
, providing for a
whammy bar
A vibrato system on a guitar is a mechanical device used to temporarily change the pitch of the strings. Instruments without a vibrato have other bridge and tailpiece systems. They add vibrato to the sound by changing the tension of the stri ...
-type effect on sustained notes.
Pro mode for keyboards shows during gameplay ten white keys and the corresponding black keys, as the full range cannot be displayed on screen; Two visual cues are given to the player to identify what position on the controller they should play relative to the keys shown on-screen.
One cue is through highlighting the entire lane that corresponds to a played note whether correct or not; this is designed to help keep the player's hand positions correlated on the unit.
A second cue is uniquely grouped coloring of a channel containing a set of 5 keys matching similar markings on the keyboard unit to identify the correct area of the keyboard that the player should be on.
Pro keyboard charting includes notes and chords using a combination of white and black keys. On Easy or Medium Pro keys, the range of keys on screen does not shift, but on Hard and Expert the range of keys shown on the screen shifts as the song necessitates, requiring the player to move their own hands in turn.
Arrow indicators are displayed to indicate when the displayed area is about to shift left or right, giving the player time to compensate.
Vocals
Any
USB
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad ...
-compatible microphone can be used for the vocal parts. A USB hub can be used for up to three microphone players. ''Rock Band 3'' does not require the vocalists to be signed in on the console's systems; this allows ''Rock Band 3'' to surpass the usual limitation of four local players that exists on the Wii and Xbox 360.
Vocal harmonies cannot be performed by separate players over networked connections due to latency issues.
Pitch correction
Pitch correction is an electronic effects unit or audio software that changes the intonation (highness or lowness in pitch) of an audio signal so that all pitches will be notes from the equally tempered system (i.e., like the pitches on a piano) ...
technology developed by
iZotope
iZotope, Inc. is an audio technology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. iZotope develops professional audio software for audio recording, mixing, broadcast, sound design, and mastering which can be used in wide range of d ...
has been integrated into the game, allowing vocalists to add effects to their vocal performances within the game.
Nintendo DS version
The
Nintendo DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
version of ''Rock Band 3'' follows the gameplay format of ''
Rock Band Unplugged
''Rock Band Unplugged'' is an spin-off of the Rock Band, ''Rock Band'' series of music video games released for the PlayStation Portable. The game is developed by Backbone Entertainment in conjunction with Harmonix, published by MTV Games and di ...
'' for the
PlayStation Portable
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...
and the Nintendo DS version of ''
Lego Rock Band
''Lego Rock Band'' is a music rhythm game developed by TT Fusion in partnership with Harmonix and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the 4th major console installment of the ''Rock Band'' series; it incorporates elements ...
''. There are no special instrument attachments; instead, gameplay is designed around matching notes using the face buttons on the DS. Each of the 25 songs, a subset of the songs available on the ''Rock Band 3'' disc for other consoles, are presented as a set of four tracks, one for each instrument, with the player able to move between them. To perform well, the player must move between tracks using the shoulder buttons and succeed to match a phrase of notes using the face buttons of the controller in order to boost the band's performance meter; in normal game modes, this will cause the track to play automatically by itself for a brief period allowing the player to focus on the other tracks. The player can fail a song if they cannot match notes correctly, or by ignoring a single track for too long. The DS version includes a single-player career mode and both cooperative and competitive play modes.
Additional features that were present in ''Unplugged'' also are included in ''Rock Band 3'' for the DS, but have been renamed to match changes in the game's console modes. For example, the "Band Survival" mode from ''Unplugged'', requiring the player to keep all the instruments going without any respite after successfully completing a track section, is called "Pro Mode" in ''Rock Band 3'' for the DS.
Development
Despite previous success of
rhythm game
Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to pres ...
s, the genre as a whole saw nearly a 50% drop in revenues in 2009;
sales of top-tier titles ''The Beatles: Rock Band'' and ''
Guitar Hero 5
''Guitar Hero 5'' (initially referred to as ''Guitar Hero V'') is a 2009 Music video game, music rhythm game, rhythm video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fifth main installment in the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar He ...
'' were significantly off from initial projections.
Part of this has been attributed to the
late-2000s recession
The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...
limiting new purchases, but other analysis have speculated that consumers had grown tired of purchasing new iterations of instrument controllers for the same gameplay. While designing ''Rock Band 3'', Harmonix sought to capture the playing experience that "really started this whole phenomenon in the first place", according to project director Daniel Sussman.
Harmonix's CEO, Alex Rigopulos, stated that "Our ambition for ''Rock Band 3'' was really to re-energize and reinvigorate the (music game) category and advance it and move it forward."
In introducing the game to journalists at a closed media event about a month prior to the 2010
Electronic Entertainment Expo, Harmonix called ''Rock Band 3'' a "disruptive title" for the music game industry.
Another aspect that Harmonix considered was "a ground-up rebuild of the ''Rock Band'' platform" and how players could interact better with the game and music library, according to Sussman.
Harmonix included the keyboard controller to help address these goals. The keyboard functionality was "designed basically to answer that staleness factor" that has been seen in music games, as said by Sussman.
The gameplay for Basic keys was designed so that it was party-accessible, simple, and easy for existing ''Rock Band'' players to learn. Pro keys, on the other hand, was designed so that it would be fun playing the accurate actual notes of the song.
The team also included Pro mode to help invigorate existing players to give them new challenges, aimed at those that "had any aspirations of connecting with the music in a deeper way", according to senior designer Sylvain Dubrofsky.
Sussman commented that the combination of existing and new gameplay modes provides "an experience that is both accessible to players who are just getting into this thing, and builds something for the hard-core player who is maybe a little bored with where music games are".
Sussman noted that there still remains a large gap between mastering the Pro modes and playing real instruments: "We see Pro as a different experience from the five-button simulation, but not necessarily a track to expertise."
Sussman further commented that inclusion of Pro mode, particularly at higher difficulty levels, was "because it shows the potential ceiling of where this can take you".
However, Harmonix was still dedicated to helping to "open doors" for players interested in learning real musical instruments, such as by including appropriate music fundamentals that can be used outside of the game.
Harmonix created the Pro Guitar charts for songs through careful audio interpretation of master tracks and through watching live performances of the songs to ensure they were using the correct chords.
Promotion
![RockBand3ComicCon2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/RockBand3ComicCon2010.JPG)
''Rock Band 3'' was distributed by Electronic Arts after the two companies reached a continued agreement for distribution of the series, which was initially set to expire in March 2010, with the final EA-distributed title to have been ''Green Day: Rock Band''.
A pre-E3 event occurred on May 20, 2010, to provide exclusive coverage of the game to selected gaming journalists, who would remain under
news embargo
In journalism and public relations, a news embargo or press embargo is a request or requirement by a source that the information or news provided by that source not be published until a certain date or certain conditions have been met. They are of ...
until June 11, 2010, just prior to E3. The first evidence that ''Rock Band 3'' would include keyboards came from a teaser image for the game in the ''Green Day: Rock Band'' demo, released in late May 2010; the image showed 5 icons, 4 representing the existing instruments in the game and the fifth showing a keyboard layout.
Ars Technica
''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sci ...
claimed via a
mole
Mole (or Molé) may refer to:
Animals
* Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America
* Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...
, that the unit would be a "keytar", and that the game would include Pro mode. Ars Technica later claimed that Harmonix requested to have the article removed due to the embargo, and insisted that the unit should not be referred to as a "keytar". Ars Technica further commented that while other gaming sites had to wait until June 11 when the embargo was lifted, ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' was able to reveal their stories the day before, scooping the other sites who had originally remained quiet on Ars Technica's story for fear of breaking the embargo.
The 2010 E3
Game Critics Awards
The Game Critics Awards are a set of annual awards held after the Electronic Entertainment Expo, E3 video game conference since 1998. The awards are given to products displayed at E3 with the title Best of E3 of their category.
Format
The nomine ...
awarded ''Rock Band 3'' for the "Best Social/Casual Game", and included both the new keyboard and the Pro guitar peripherals as "Best Hardware" nominees. The game was also awarded the title of "Best Music Game" as well as being nominated for "Most Innovative" by
GameTrailers
''GameTrailers'' (''GT'') was an American video gaming website created by Geoffrey R. Grotz and Brandon Jones in 2002. The website specialized in multimedia content, including trailers and gameplay footage of upcoming and recently released v ...
.
Several offers were made available to players who pre-ordered the game, depending on vendor.
In North America, those that pre-ordered through
GameStop
GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer. The company is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas (a suburb of Dallas), and is the largest video game retailer worldwide. , the company operates 4,5 ...
received early access to three downloadable tracks for the game; "
Burning Down the House
"Burning Down the House" is a song by new wave band Talking Heads, released in July 1983 as the first single from their fifth studio album ''Speaking in Tongues''.
Inspiration and composition
"Burning Down the House" is a new wave and funk s ...
" by
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.[Talkin ...](_blank)
, "
My Own Summer" by
Deftones
Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by Chino Moreno (vocals, guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Abe Cunningham (drums), and Dominic Garcia (bass). During their first five ...
, and "
Blue Monday" by
New Order. Players preordering the game through
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
or
Best Buy
Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...
received immediate access to a unique in-game guitar for their avatars.
After the dissolution of MTV Games, MadCatz took over the publication and distribution rights for the game. They re-released the game in several promotional instrument bundles in November 2011, including one featuring the Fender Mustang Pro-Guitar controller. All of the bundles included access to five downloadable tracks with Pro mode.
Post-release support
Harmonix continued to support ''Rock Band 3'', not only through additional downloadable content, but by continually updating the core software for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owners, addressing critical issues and incorporating new features. This included adding support for the
Rock Band Network Audition mode for Rock Band Network 2.0 (supporting the unique ''Rock Band 3'' feature set), and, due to high demand from the game's fans, unofficial support for the light-and-fog stage kit device previously developed for ''Rock Band 2'' on the Xbox 360. Official support for Rock Band 3 ended with the release of six downloadable songs in 2015. These final six songs were "
Shepherd of Fire" by
Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance, ...
, "
R U Mine?
"R U Mine?" is a song by the English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys. It features lyrics written by Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner, as well as music composed by the entire band. The song was released as a digital download in the United King ...
" by
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, back ...
, "
Something from Nothing" by
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...
, "
I Still Believe" by
Frank Turner
Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981), is an English Punk rock, punk and Folk music, folk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primar ...
, "
Rize of the Fenix
''Rize of the Fenix'' is the third studio album by American rock band Tenacious D. Produced by John Kimbrough, it was released in North America on May 15, 2012 by Columbia Records. In addition to the band's core members Jack Black and Kyle Gass, ...
" by
Tenacious D
Tenacious D is an American comedy rock duo formed in Los Angeles, California in 1994. It was founded by actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass, who were members of The Actors' Gang theater company at the time. The duo's name is derived from "tenacio ...
and "
Back to the Shack
"Back to the Shack" is a song by the American rock band Weezer. It was released as the first single from their ninth studio album '' Everything Will Be Alright in the End'' on July 22, 2014. The song was sent to radio stations and uploaded to Wee ...
" by
Weezer
Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing v ...
. "
I Still Believe" was released for free while all other songs were priced with Rock Band 3's standard pricing scheme.
Soundtrack
![Wall of Rock Band songs (E3 2010)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Wall_of_Rock_Band_songs_%28E3_2010%29.jpg)
The full soundtrack for ''Rock Band 3'' features 83 songs, including a mix of tracks that made use of the new keyboard peripheral.
The full setlist was formally announced a few days after the 2010
Gamescom
Gamescom (stylized as gamescom) is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Since 2018, it has been organised by ''game – Verband der deutschen Games-Branche'' (English: Associa ...
, at which the list was accidentally revealed during a video interview which had it scrolling in the background. The Nintendo DS version of the game features a 26-song subset of the consoles' setlist.
Harmonix released new downloadable songs for ''Rock Band 3'' each week, starting launch week with a set of twelve songs from
The Doors
The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...
.
Downloadable songs since the game's release include, when appropriate, keyboard and vocal harmony support within the base cost of the song (normally about US$2 per song). Due to the cost and effort to create Pro guitar and bass tracks, Harmonix releases these additional authored parts as a separate download for certain songs with an additional US$1 cost.
Downloadable songs released by Harmonix after ''Rock Band 3s release are not compatible with previous games in the series due to changes in the song format.
The majority of songs from previous ''Rock Band'' games, including both on-disc songs and songs offered as
downloadable content
Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enablin ...
, are playable in ''Rock Band 3'',
which led to more than 2,000 songs already being available when the game was released.
''Rock Band'' Network can also be played in ''Rock Band 3'' and, unlike in ''Rock Band 2'', they can be played in all game modes. A new version of ''Rock Band'' Network, called ''Rock Band'' Network 2.0, allowed songs to be authored with harmonies, Basic and Pro keys, and Pro drums, but did not support Pro Mode real guitar and bass charting due to the complexity of authoring those parts and a lack of qualified users able to test them.
Reception
''Rock Band 3'' received universal acclaim from gaming journalists who considered the game to be a major jump from ''Rock Band 2'' and a pinnacle of the rhythm game genre. Matt Miller of ''
Game Informer
''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...
'' called the title "a culmination of Harmonix's efforts to bring music to the masses".
Ben Kuchera of
Ars Technica
''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sci ...
commented that for ''Rock Band 3'', "This is the new state of the art for rhythm games, and it's hard to find fault with what's being offered."
Joystiq
''Joystiq'' was a video gaming blog founded in June 2004 as part of the Weblogs, Inc. family of weblogs, now owned by AOL. It was AOL's primary video game blog, with sister blogs dealing with MMORPG gaming in general and the popular MMORPG ''W ...
's
Griffin McElroy
Griffin Andrew McElroy ( , born April 17, 1987) is an American podcaster, actor, writer, composer, and former video game journalist. He is known for his work on podcasts such as ''My Brother, My Brother and Me'' and ''The Adventure Zone'', as we ...
asserted that ''Rock Band 3'' "is the greatest rhythm game ever made, and quite possibly the only rhythm game you need to own".
Reviews praised the incorporation of realistic instruments and the education of how to play them into the video game setting, seeing the title as a means of preparing players to pick up real instruments. Chad Sapieha of ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'' said that with the release of ''Rock Band 3'' "we are just a hair's breadth away from moving beyond make believe"
while the
''New York Timess Seth Schiesel stated that "Harmonix has brilliantly torn down the wall between music games and real music".
Reviews praised the introduction of keyboard and the new controller. Miller described the keyboard peripheral as "small and light" with a number of options for how one can play it,
with Johnny Minkley of
Eurogamer
''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson.
Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...
adding that the keytar approach makes the keyboard peripheral "gaming's next must-have shame-maker".
Many reviews noted that while there are some enjoyable and difficult non-Pro versions of the keyboard charts, playing in this mode was not much different from the established "five button" guitar method, and that the real enjoyment from the peripheral was through Pro mode.
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
's Hilary Goldstein noted that the keyboard addition allows Harmonix to expand the types of songs that one would previously have never expected to appear in a ''Rock Band'' game, such as
Warren Zevon
Warren William Zevon (; January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and musician.
Zevon's most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", "Lawyers, Guns and Money", and " Roland the Headless Tho ...
's "
Werewolves of London
"Werewolves of London" is a rock song performed by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon. It was composed by Zevon, LeRoy Marinell and Waddy Wachtel and was included on ''Excitable Boy'' (1978), Zevon's third solo album. The track featured ...
" or any
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
song.
Sam Machkovech for ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' expressed similar sentiments, adding that with the ability to include more keyboard or synthesizer-heavy songs into the game, "the songs are just plain better".
The new Pro mode was critically acclaimed as the primary feature that distinguished ''Rock Band 3'' from other music games in the field. Minkley stated that the inclusions of Pro features "at once dramatically expand the potential of the game and fundamentally change the approach required to play and enjoy it".
Reviewers appreciated the training modes, including their integration into the overall game's career progression and the breadth of material that is covered.
Nina Shen Rastogi of ''
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
'' commented that ''Rock Band 3s training modes helps to overcome the discouraging early period of trying to learn guitar as "the gaming elements will mask the rote, homeworklike nature of the guitar training process".
Kuchera noted that the modes were aimed at those who have some understanding of
music theory
Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...
already; "If this is your first introduction to music theory, though, you may need a little more explanation", he concluded.
This lament was similarly stated by Machkovech, who felt the lessons had "text that was written by a musical savant" that would be too confusing to those without musical backgrounds and too simple for those trained in music arts.
Chris Kohler of ''
Wired
''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...
'' described the experience he and a friend had where after playing through
Devo
Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...
's "
Whip It" on Pro guitar and keyboard, they were able to retain enough
muscle memory
Muscle memory is a form of procedural memory that involves consolidating a specific motor task into memory through repetition, which has been used synonymously with motor learning. When a movement is repeated over time, the brain creates a long-te ...
to play their respective parts on real instruments, albeit not perfectly; Kohler summarized his experience that "Just playing ''Rock Band 3'' taught us a little bit of actual music".
A primary consideration for the game was the cost of entry to enjoy the new features of the game particularly in Pro mode; both the cost of the new keyboard and Pro guitars (ranging from
$80 to 280) and the time investment to learn these aspects was considered high and may only cater to niche players.
The ''
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
'' noted that if one does not purchase any of the additional hardware controllers, "it's not much different to ''Rock Band 2''".
Goldstein commented that the amount of investment into the game will affect one's perception of the game's value: "either something completely new and challenging or just more tracks to rock out to".
Goldstein further noted that with the cost and time spent on the Pro guitar models, "why not spend a little more and buy the real thing".
Several reviewers commented that the buttoned Mustang Pro guitar is not as sturdy as other instruments and does not have the same tactile feel as a real guitar. Specifically, the reviewers noted that the width of the button impressions do not vary in width as real guitar strings would, and there is no tactile feedback as one would have with a fretboard. These reviewers suggested that players, if dedicated to the Pro guitar mode, to wait for the stringed Fender Squier which had more favorable reviews.
The game's soundtrack was considered to be "the most unusual and varied in the franchise" by Miller,
and "an eclectic collection that's a little more pop than metal" by Goldstein.
Kuchera considered the set list to be one of the best in any music game, "spanning decades and genres and bringing a wide variety of songs to suit any taste".
Sales
Initial sales figures from the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
showed that, for the two days that the game was available, only about 7,400 units were sold across all platforms, placing ''Rock Band 3'' as the 26th-best-selling title during the week ending October 30, 2010. The title was the 15th best selling game in North America for October of that year based on sales data from the
NPD Group
The NPD Group, Inc. (NPD; formerly National Purchase Diary Panel Inc. and NPD Research Inc.) is an American market research company founded on September 28, 1966, and based in Port Washington, New York. In 2017, NPD ranked as the 8th largest mar ...
. In an interview with ''
Edge
Edge or EDGE may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Edge computing, a network load-balancing system
* Edge device, an entry point to a computer network
* Adobe Edge, a graphical development application
* Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
'' after the holiday season in February 2011, Alex Rigopulos stated that ''Rock Band 3'' hadn't "yet sold to the level we hoped it would out of the gate", but believed that there would still be significant potential in the title, in considering the then-recent discontinuation of the ''Guitar Hero'' series and then-pending release of the Fender Squier PRO guitar unit.
Though exact numbers had not been revealed by Harmonix, Rigopulos did state that ''Rock Band 3'' had trailed Harmonix's other game, ''
Dance Central
''Dance Central'' is a music rhythm game series developed by Harmonix, creators of the ''Guitar Hero'' and ''Rock Band'' franchises.
Series
Dance Central (2010)
''Dance Central'' was released exclusively for the Xbox 360 and was a launch title ...
'', also originally released in 2010, which had reportedly sold 1.2 million units in North America by the end of the 2010 holiday season. On the eve of the release of ''
Rock Band 4
''Rock Band 4'' is a 2015 music video game developed and published by Harmonix. ''Rock Band 4'' allows players to simulate the playing of music across many different decades and genres using instrument controllers that mimic playing lead and bas ...
'' in October 2015, 1.2 million units of ''Rock Band 3'' had been sold, with 400,000 of those units sold after Mad Catz had taken over publication of the game.
In 2012, after the end of the holiday season following the 2011 re-release, Harmonix released a statement saying they were pleased with the continued performance of ''Rock Band'' and its downloadable content. The statement said weekly releases would continue with no plans to stop, then announced several new projects were in the works, going from the end of the year into 2013.
Regular DLC for ''Rock Band 3'' was discontinued in April 2013, though special packs were released just prior to Harmonix' announcement of ''
Rock Band 4
''Rock Band 4'' is a 2015 music video game developed and published by Harmonix. ''Rock Band 4'' allows players to simulate the playing of music across many different decades and genres using instrument controllers that mimic playing lead and bas ...
'' in early 2015.
Notes
References
External links
Official ''Rock Band 3'' website*
{{Authority control
2010 video games
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03
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Video games developed in the United States
Harmonix games
Multiplayer and single-player video games