There's some seriously interesting stuff coming out of the news building up to E3 for Rock Band 2, but I still don't think I've seen enough to entice me to let this equipment replace my existing set. Although, I'm starting to wonder if that's what they are really trying to push with this, given that all I hear is backwards and forwards compatibility in almost every news story about the games. I think Guitar Hero: World Tour is more of a revolution for that series, but given the ground they needed to cover it was almost a given they would do something along those lines.

Looking forward to the new content for RB2, regardless, so I will very likely be grabbing the game when it comes out. Time to dust off those drums and let the non-stop tap-tap-tap-tap fest begin anew.

nick.soapdish

Looks good, but I'd rather spend my money on, you know, a new, real drumset. Sonor 3007 Force with Paiste Cymcbals here I come!

Pata-pwn(TM?)

@2NinjasTapedTogether: You are the only one. If you're playing it really loud, and you aren't wailing on them, it's less noticeable, but sometimes it just kills the song.

The Magnificen7

So Guitar Hero outdid Rock Band? I think not!

Fireblast

Interesting.

And please tell me I'm not the only one that really doesn't find the tapping sound of the drums to be all that big a deal.

Please?

2NinjasTapedTogether

The Ion kit is fucking amazing. The fact that it converts to a REAL electronic kit is stellar. Just goes to show that HMX truly is about the *music* side of the experience. Because of that kit, people like me who would like to try drums because of RB, but don't want to buy a kit can actually try them out. <3 HMX.

sircuddles

That is pretty nice, I gotta say.

@Silent Predator: No, Konami had support for all sorts of drum kits in DrumMania LONG ago. :D

[en.wikipedia.org]

Genocyde

The ion ones looks amazing but i guess that it will cost as much as they look.

Mike918

@fenderfuel08:

"maybe its an authentic, musical-instrument quality electonic drum kit that just so happens to have a USB port for videogame compatibilty? That would be awesome."

Well, from the looks of it, Harmonix seems to be aiming for that route. This Ion kit combined with that Drum Trainer feature looks like it will actually teach you real drums (minus the hi-hat of course, though that is an optional part of the instrument.) If the game actually teaches you drums, the ion kit actually doubles for a decent electronic kit, and it costs $100-150, I believe I'll buy it.

PurpleMonkey

[rockband.scorehero.com]

Pics!

sircuddles

@Treecubed:

It just means they're being neutral about their coverage, which is in all likelihood a positive thing.

RaptorShadow

@fenderfuel08: from what I read, it's a real electronic kit, just no brain. You buy a brain for it or get the right software on your pc and you got a real electronic drum kit.

Grumpz®

I'm definitely buying that Ion drum kit, no question.

CaptLtrl

I hope it doesn't cost too much.
Not that that will stop me from buying it.. -_-

Anayalata

The Ion drum kit sounds like a great thing for a game like Rock Band but seriously if anyone is serious about real drumming they shouldn't buy a videogame branded electonic drum set, assuming its a half step between a real intrument and a videogame controller.

Although, maybe its an authentic, musical-instrument quality electonic drum kit that just so happens to have a USB port for videogame compatibilty? That would be awesome.

fenderfuel08

I can't wait for those drums... And all the new feature sin the game, especially the "No Fail" mode, for when you're playing with non-gamers or just people who are new to the game.

eastx

@Treecubed: Should they play favorites or something?

Thorax

Wow, I was starting to think just maybe Guitar Heroe's drumkit might be better than rockband's, but I am happy to know that any of those thoughts are eliminated. You have got the standard kit for the casuals and the Ion for the ones who want the real challenge. A lot of actual drummers will be exited to hear this; I know I am.

This is why i support Rock Band over Guitar Hero (after Neversoft took over of course ^.^)

Invert-Blu

I may actually plunk down for Rockband 2. I just need that bass guitar.

ThatsMrOffDutyNinja

@Treecubed: how dare they show two games.

Grumpz®

I find it funny that Game Informer is covering Rock Band 2 when a couple of issues ago they had Guitar Hero: World Tour on the cover of their magazine.

Treecubed

Wow, that ion kit is impressive. Depending on the price, it may be worth buying for the electronic kit abilities alone.

Grocerspride

if there is a rockband 2 wahahahahaha now that they're being sued. im jp

ivan225

So are these also potentially infringing on Konami's patents? Anybody?

Silent Predator

I really wish they had teamed with an A-list (or even B or C list!) drum manufacturer: Roland, Yamaha, sheeeyit, even Alesis would be better than Ion.

Ion is the "Nyko" of drum manufacturers.

And yet, in a few months, there'll be one in my home.

I'm so easy.

topaz420

Truly awesome, but I'd rather spend my money on a console I don't have, an iphone, or something else of comparable cost that I would spend a ton more time with. That's just me, though . . .

bangbangblah

Wow, those drums bring me one step closer to being able to hit the road with my fake band, the Fighting Axolotles.

muffinmcmuffin

@Arsenicberyllium: they're redundant, so you'll have two greens, etc.

Grumpz®

@Arsenicberyllium:

No, they're just so you can position them anyway you want.

If you look, you can see how they're color coded just like the drums, meaning you can have multiple drums for the same output.

Neat, but only great if it'll work for GH4...

Terance: All you have to First question.

That Ion kit is so tempting, but I will at the very least be getting a bundle and a cymbal kit now. The new instruments are exactly what we needed, the same awesomeness with much higher quality, and sweet cymbals.

Grumpz®

I'm confused, what're the cymbals for?

Or does this mean RB1 drums are now incompatible?

Arsenicberyllium

I can see myself being really excited for this if I wasn't too cheap to buy it.

Murgatron

Kinda old, as this has been floating around in some places for a good 18 hours or so, but I'm glad it's an offical link and not .jpgs of crappy scanned images.

<3Kotaku.

Anyway, the special version drums look amazing!

Hit the crappy scan for a look:

[i334.photobucket.com]

Terance: All you have to First question.

Sweet jesus.

Solertia

@Terance: All you have to First question.:
I thought Rock Band 2 might not be able to out-do Guitar Hero on the drums but damn did they ever. That just looks fucking awesome.

GreyFoxV1

@Pata-pwn(TM?): That's fine but you won't be playing Rock Band 2 with that baby.

eastx

Harmonix have earned more of my love and money, but I'm being a little cautious about that Ion kit... Finally an excuse to buy an electronic drum kit. The only problem is, it's an Ion kit. They're not known for quality. I also don't like those little clicky pedals. One thing the RB drum kit got a little right as far as feel (but not build quality) was the tactile springiness of the kick pedal.

otakuhouse

More importantly, the article confirms Bass Solo Mode! About time!

Zerozaki Ishiki

sweet something to look forward to in the new game informer.

@Fireblast:

i'd say considering GH has the music creation option, that it's still in "the lead" at least IMO.

i guess E3 will tell though, as im sure both games will be present and rocking

demonknightinuyasha

I belive the comment system was hungry and ate my last one, so sorry in advance if this gets double posted...

@Silicis_Astrum: It could go both ways. Knowing how obsesive some people are with Guitar Hero and how many custom discs are because of hacks of the previous games, I have a very good feeling about the ammount of user created music that is gonna be there on GHIV.

Just look at a niche game like Daigasso Band Brothers that it didn't even came out of japan but because it's a fun game and has a music creation tool there are literrally hundreds of songs that cand be found on the web for that game.

The sequel alon (Wich is awesome and incredibly big) already has more than 600 downloadable songs and with some tools you can share the songs over the net. So there are more than a thousand available for a month old game.

Having said that, no lirycs is a bummer.

Falsoman

I need that Ion drum kit!!!

HoxtonHero

@ifalldownstairs: Because playing Rock Band with a bunch of buddies is way more fun and interesting to people. People should stop trying to compare music games to playing real music. It's like comparing real bowling to Wii bowling. It's the same motions, just more convenient!

The Magnificen7

WOW! That drumb kit is incredible! If the cymbals can actually be used different on gameplay or something, it's gonna be way cool. If it just for aesthetics, then cool, but not that much.

I'll have to wait and see. But i'm amazed.

Falsoman

@demonknightinuyasha:

For all I know, the music creation aspect might turn out fine, but something in my gut tells me that Neversoft doesn't have the chops to churn out a functional & fun music creation system that will even be worth the hours you will have to put into it to have any fun with it. Also, knowing that it isn't going to support vocals (reported in the last issue of game informer) is a big letdown. I'd rather wait for Harmonix to implement their system, whenever that may be.

Silicis_Astrum

@eastx:
No I'll be playing gigs.

Pata-pwn(TM?)

At this point I just have to wonder why a person wouldn't just get a real drumset.

ifalldownstairs

@Solertia: Basically. Those things have win all over em.

Karisu-Zero

@Pata-pwn(TM?): Doubt it.

Rembrandt

*sigh* Is there a way to do trade-ins with the drums?

Chef

@deadpanwalking: I don't remember being told that, but I wouldn't say no to it.

eastx

So today we see the drum kits and yesterday we were told that we'd be able to play over any imported mp3? I need to change my pants...

deadpanwalking

I cant wait for these drums. Cheap way to learn to play IMO. Maybe not as good as hands on from an instructor, but still nice.

Thugmunk

@eastx: [www.avclub.com]
"There's also a freeplay mode, where you can play drums over mp3's that you've ripped to your console." Good enough for me!

deadpanwalking

Really too bad they went with the Ion set. They're pretty much the worst midi kit you could get. There's a reason Drummania's supported the DTX series for so long.

Ueziel

I love how everyone keeps saying how "Rock Band outdid GH" when they offer the same damn features with drums for both Hit sensitive, wireless, cymbals, blah blah blah.

Heitz

This Love/Hate relationship between Guitar Hero and Rock Band is getting way too far out of hand now.

Trowble (XBL/PSN)

So, uh, did anyone else notice that Microsoft has apparently signed a timed exclusivity deal with Harmonix?

360 gets rock band before everyone else....means I'm going to be chomping at the bit for at least a month I guess. That'll give me time to save up the extra gobs of money I'm going to need come Christmas.

Señor Conquistador

I really like the idea of actually getting a kit that can double as "real" drums. We'll see how much it costs though, and how much of a footprint it will require.

psychobaka

"When I see some drums I'd like to beat...ERECTION!"

Yeah, I got erection.

You Cannot Untoast

@Juganawt: You do know that the old ones will work with RB2, right?

LoopyChew

As a Brit who has just bought Rock Band 1 on UK launch day (which was 23rd of May - just over 1 month ago) , I feel completely and utterly ripped off. First off we had to pay double for our instruments, and now we find out that they will be completely outdated 3 months after purchase.

This one can kiss my ass. There's only so many plastic instruments one person has the money and space for, and I'm not making the mistake of paying double what the US pays and picking these up, cos knowing my friggin' luck as soon as I buy RB2 they'll announce RB3 with yet ANOTHER set of instruments.

Juganawt

I like that the cymbals are optional on the standard RB2 kit. Usually I hate what companies refer to as a choice (ie Microsoft giving people "choice" to plunk down 100 bucks just to have wi-fi), but this is an example of it being put to proper use. Not everyone will want the cymbals since they have enough problems with the drums as-is. But for those looking to expand a little, they can pony up a little more for more diverse control.

That Ion set is nuts. If I had any kind of drumming ability I'd preorder them as soon as I was able to. Sadly for me my drum skills are firmly planted on "medium" difficulty and can progress no further.

KaneRobot

@Juganawt: Yeah I know how you feel on that

Lucky for me I do have alot of space, and plus I can just chuck old instruments away I guess?

Money is the biggest issue though, the whole paying double thing REALLY annoyed me, me and my friends all chipped in but I dont even they would wanna again for the Ion drumkit and Fender Strato, shame really they would be nice additions~

kopakauk

Why keep the bars underneath the kit??? It would make much more sense to stabilize the kit midway down the poles and be free to place the petal whereever you wanted.

mullinsmcd

@kagai: Rock Band fanboys, nothing new around here it seems.

Dalren

Some of you guys kill me. Guitar Hero announces band kit, "Oh my god, I have to buy new equipment...whine, whine, whine."

Rock Band announces new equipment, "OMG, EPIC! WIN! I"m so buying new equipment!"

Game whores!

kagai

Man if this drum kit is a midi one, I'm one step away from plugging my Roland V-Drum USB cable in rockband and playing from my real drum kit. THAT would be awesome!!!

JayTapp

I like where they are taking RB2. I might just buy the wireless drums for PS3 and replace my wired set. I believe it's possible to do drum competitions (I think) so that might be fun.

PumpkinPieman

When harmonix offically announce rock band 2 a couple of days ago i post that it sounded neat but i was just lacking that one thing that just blows my mind and makes me just really want to get it. Well i have that thing now.

Ion Drum set baby!!!!!

That is a genius idea to make two and let the customer decide. Plus being able to use it as a electronic kit is exciting too. Now for all those people on the Rock band forums that were complaining about ghwt and how they had better drums then rock band, it looks like harmonix just shut you up. or at least quieted you down some b/c god you guys were getting annoying. :)

Rising-Dragon-Fist

It's spelled symbols dude. cymbals. psh.

JFAN13

This is like, a thousand times better than that Guitar Hero music creation thing. Rather then trying to get you to make music in the game, it's actually encouraging you to go out and play your own real drums. Awesomenessauce.

NeoStarr

[www.zzounds.com]

That is ION's ED01. I bought it at a thrift store for 150 (new but open box), but at the time it retailed for 300. Mainly to satisfy my desire to play DrumMania Sims with a real drum set since I found out about them over 6 years ago.

It's quality? Eh... It does the job for DTXMAnia, the snare is kind of uncomfortable sicne you can only really have it horizontal, instead of slightly tilted tward you like real ones or Rock Band's are. It's something a non-serious drummer would buy, to pretend he's a rock-star for all of a week (like me!). It's similar to buying a 5-octave Casio light up keyboard from Target as a tool to help you study Chopin or Rachmaninoff. As in, if you're serious, you need to go all out and spend $1000+ on a realistic electronic piano or electronic drum set. Oh and the pedals are shit. Quadruple hits when I press down and lift off. I actually use Rock Band's pedal instead.

Rock Band 2's new premium drumset, however, looks VERY nice, and I have high hopes for it. Much better than Guitar Hero's. I think Rock Band's drums are better than ION ED01 in terms of quality, but ION ED01 more robust features since you have all the pads etc. I hope we get the best of both worlds, and hope Harmonix sets a high bar for ION

PS I hope it includes support for double kick pedals

I just hope its less than $150, though I think it may be more :/

TTCFCL

@kagai and @Dalren:

Yeah, so what? Rock Band did it right, and did it first. The issues they did have with the instruments, they were quick to replace, no questions asked.

I am definitely a fanboy of a company who listens to its customers and treats them with respect.

And I sincerely hope GH:WT crashes and burns, though I'm sure it won't based on name recognition.

You Cannot Untoast

@kagai: This new equipment is OPTIONAL. Everyone can keep playing RB1 and RB2 with the drums they have. You can't play GH:WT tour with the drums you have. You don't have a choice in what you buy and use. That's the point. People are fine having the choice to upgrade instruments. Needing to buy new instruments to play one game is a genuinely different issue.

BStu

@BStu: Maybe that's because Guitar Hero has never released a band kit until now. If we were talking WT 2 and the previous instruments didn't work from WT 1, then you would have a point. But, it's kinda hard to use drums for a game that has never released drums yet.

And don't give me the, "The instruments should be cross platform." Baloney. They are competitor's, as a company, why in the world would you want someone else making money off of the peripheral side at your expense? These aren't charitable organizations, they are all in it to make money.

There is room for both games and their is no reason for GH whores to ruin RB news just as there is no reason for RB whores ruining GH news. Grow up.

kagai

I'm thinking the Ion kit will be at least $200 alone. Hopefully I start getting some credit card offers in the mail.

kingofrain

@kagai: True, but you know... Activision/RO is just STUPID about their logic. Harmonix was trying to allow Activision/RO's guitar for their game.

Meaning, they're opening up the possibility to their players to buy an Activision/RO product instead of their own.

Activision/RO would have only made money by allowing GH3 guitars to work on PS3's RB.

Cos I'm sure they would have made more money off selling additional guitars to those that didn't like the RB ones... than they got people to convert completely from RB to GH3 by the exclusive guitar controller alone.

thezman

These are awesome. Even though they're redundant, the way you can set them up in so many different ways will just add to the replayability since it effectively and completely changes the way you'd have to play the sequences.

Plus, the fact that they can be used as a full-on electronic drum set just adds to the value.

I'm gladly handing over the money for this, since I don't need the full bundle... but will need new drums in a couple months, no doubt.

thezman

@kagai: You're seeing what you want to see. I could just as easily reverse your comment...

***

Rock Band announces band kit, "Oh my god, I have to buy new equipment...whine, whine, whine."

Guitar Hero announces new equipment, "OMG, EPIC! WIN! I"m so buying new equipment!"

***

...and it's STILL true, because there are fanboys and whiners on both sides.

Tzepish

I harmonix to do it better as they understand music better. RO/Activision is wanting to make as much $$$ while the fad is hot. I think Rock Band is in for the long haul.
I also think the GH music creator will be awful. It may not be, but I have no high hopes.

Still, for me, it comes down to music. Show me what you got, guys, and THAT'S what determines who gets my money.

Mal-Content

@Invert-Blu: i'm not a real drummer, but i'm very interested in learnig to play real drums since i have no room for real drums, this set is great!

i'm currently trying master expert drums, which is easier for me than i thought, so i can't wait till this comes out so i can just get that much closer to playing real drums.

still not the same thing, I KNOW, but it's as close as i can get.

presto117

Has anyone else taken a close look at the Ion kit? It looks to me like all the drums plug into the central "controller" part via removable cables; I imagine this is how they envision it being compatible with GH:WT; wherever GH maps the drums to on the 360 controller, you can mimic that with your RB Ion kit by moving those connections around. Not to say that GH won't do some crazy proprietary crap to make that not possible, but it's a good attempt, and it would also imply that breaking one drum head isn't the end of the world - just replace THAT drum head, instead of the whole kit.

Jakuub

@The Magnificen7: i bought those $20 rock band drum silencers, and i don't know how they compare to the home made ones, but they work great.

you can still hear them, but not nearly as much, and the small, dull thud on the rubber gets drowned out by the in-game drums.

presto117

Sweet but expensive. We'll see. It's not like RB2 PAL is coming out any time soon.

Shinryoma