Rock Band 2

by MTV

Product Features

• Tour Challenges - mini-campaigns focused on the best songs by instrument, decade, genre, etc
• Quickplay - with prefab or customized characters that can play on any instrument. Make customizable set lists and organize your song lists in different categories
• Customizable Set Lists keep the music rolling and your band rocking in Quickplay mode
• Drum Trainer - gives you the fundamentals of different beats and fills, translating gameplay into real drumming skills
• Character Creator - new choices in clothing, accessories, tattoos, hairstyles, etc

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001BX6JY6
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches ; 4 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: December 18, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,026 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #12 in Video Games > PlayStation 2 > Rhythm > Musical Instruments
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: PlayStation2 | Edition: Game only

Amazon.com

Continue Your Rock and Roll Fantasy

Rock Band 2 lets you and your friends take your band on an even more expansive and immersive world tour and continue your rock and roll fantasy.

Harmonix, deliver Rock Band 2, the next step to the platform that lets audiences of all ages interact with music in an all-new way. Rock Band 2 lets players vicariously jam out as some of the best guitarists, bassists, drummers and singers of all time.

Featuring a track list with more than 80 on-disc tracks from some of the most hallowed bands of the rock pantheon, Rock Band 2 by challenges rockers to master lead guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals.

Key Features Take your band on an the improved Band World Tour mode, record albums, tackle the addictive Set Challenges...plus all of the modes you know and love from the first Rock Band. Rock Band 2 pushes music simulation farther than it’s ever gone with a tool that actually teaches you how to play the drums in real life - or you can just have fun jamming and playing along to songs like an animal in the Freestyle Drum mode. Track List Abnormality - "Visions" AC/DC - "Let There Be Rock" AFI - "Girl's Not Grey" Alanis Morissette - "You Oughta Know" Alice in Chains - "Man in the Box" Allman Brothers - "Ramblin' Man" Anarchy Club - "Get Clean" Avenged Sevenfold - "Almost Easy" Bad Company - "Shooting Star" Bang Camaro - "Night Lies" Beastie Boys - "So Watcha Want" Beck - "E-pro" Bikini Kill - "Rebel Girl" Billy Idol - "White Wedding Pt. I " Blondie - "One Way or Another" Bob Dylan - "Tangled Up in Blue" Bon Jovi - "Livin' on a Prayer" Breaking Wheel - "Shoulder to the Plow" Cheap Trick - "Hello There" Devo - "Uncontrollable Urge" Dinosaur Jr. - "Feel the Pain" Disturbed - "Down with the Sickness" Dream Theater - "Panic Attack " Duran Duran - "Hungry Like the Wolf" Elvis Costello - "Pump it Up" Fleetwood Mac - "Go Your Own Way" Foo Fighters - "Everlong " Guns N' Roses - "Shackler's Revenge" Interpol - "PDA" Jane's Addiction - "Mountain Song" Jethro Tull - "Aqualung" Jimmy Eat World - "The Middle" Joan Jett - "Bad Reputation" Journey - "Anyway You Want It" Judas Priest - "Painkiller" Kansas - "Carry On Wayward Son" L7 - "Pretend We're Dead" Lacuna Coil - "Our Truth" Libyans - "Neighborhood" Linkin Park - "One Step Closer" Lit - "My Own Worst Enemy" Lush - "De-Luxe" Mastodon - "Colony of Birchmen" Megadeth - "Peace Sells" Metallica - "Battery" Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "Where'd You Go" Modest Mouse - "Float On" Motorhead - "Ace of Spades " Nirvana - "Drain You" Norman Greenbaum - "Spirit in the Sky " Panic at the Disco - "Nine in the Afternoon" Paramore - "That's What You Get" Pearl Jam - "Alive" Presidents of the United States of America - "Lump" Rage Against the Machine - "Testify" Ratt - "Round & Round" Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Give it Away " Rise Against - "Give it All" Rush - "The Trees" Silversun Pickups - "Lazy Eye" Smashing Pumpkins - "Today" Social Distortion - "I Was Wrong" Sonic Youth - "Teenage Riot" Soundgarden - "Spoonman" Speck - "Conventional Lover" Squeeze - "Cool for Cats" Steely Dan - "Bodhitsattva" Steve Miller Band - "Rock'n Me" Survivor - "Eye of the Tiger" System of a Down - "Chop Suey " Talking Heads - "Psycho Killer" Tenacious D - "Master Exploder" Testament - "Souls of Black" That Handsome Devil - "Rob the Prez-o-Dent" The Donnas - "New Kid in School" The Go-Go's - "We Got the Beat" The Grateful Dead - "Alabama Getaway" The Guess Who - "American Woman" The Main Drag - "A Jagged Gorgeous Winter" The Muffs - "Kids in America " The Offspring - "Come Out & Play" The Replacements - "Alex Chilton" The Sterns - "Supreme Girl" The Who - "Pinball Wizard "

Grab the Mic View larger image Rock the Songs View larger image Give the Crowd a Show View larger image

Product Description

A hundred new songs, better instruments, and original modes ensure you'll be rocking past the wee hours. And once your band has mastered their craft, you can take on around-the-world rockers in "Battle of the Bands" online competitions. Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, MTV Games, T.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A suitable Sequel for Rock Band for PS2, December 26, 2008

By 

D. Back - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

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

The PS2 is showing it's age with Rock Band 2 in comparison to Xbox360 & PS3 versions of Rock Band 2. This is understandable as it's not fair to compare Apples to Oranges. As a whole, Rock Band 2 is fun game. For musicians (like myself), it's not a simulator though, some of the new features within RB2 can definitely help a new wannabe drummer in learning some important rhythm techniques. This is where RB2 can be a great catalyst in a young person's musical career.

Some of the negatives about the game is that contrary to even Amazon's line-item in the description of the game, there is no character creation in PS2. If there is, I haven't found it yet.

No Online Support for PS2. Disappointing. I would rather lose graphics to have the ability to play with other RB2 players online. I could understand not having the Downloadable Content that the XBox360 and PS3 enjoys since there is no hard drive, but why can't we play online like other PS2 games?

The major plus on RB2 over the original, is the fact that on the PS2, it has a much quicker loading time between songs, and at the moment, no freeze-ups on my fat PS2 (Built in 2001). On the original RB, I had to set it in "diagnostic mode" every time I played it. With 2 days of playing, I did not have to do any of those steps and with no stoppage in play.

The final plus on RB2 are the selection of songs. There are more of them, and some interesting information is provided on the songs (Year, Band Name, Album, and Album Art). With over 84 songs to choose from, it has a wide selection of Indie, Rock, Metal, and New Wave songs to pick. The ability to play The Replacements, Devo, and Journey in the same game, is A-OK.

For PS2, Rock Band 2 is a worthy sequel. It packs as much into this game as the PS2 can allow. For having a delayed release date, it also looks like they solved their Manufacturing bugs from the original RB on the PS2.

Enjoy!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Would be a 5 overall...if it worked., January 13, 2009

By 

durman620 (Concord, CA USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

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

I've read the other reviews here and think another voice from the negative side is needed.

Unfortunately, I'm one of the users that can't enjoy the game fully. I have a "fat" PS2 that has worked great for many years. Out of the box, the disc booted fine, which is better than some who never get past the Disc Read Error message, but was only able to play for 5 minutes before the game froze up. I used my long-lost Atari 2600 and NES skills to blow on the disc and inside the PS2, tried again, and made it about 10 minutes before it froze up again.

Realizing something was wrong, I did some research and found that the game was pressed as a dual-layer disc, which some PS2 units have difficulty reading. Various users have contacted Harmonix and/or Sony to be told that the disc was pressed as a dual-layer in error. The best option many are given is to return their PS2 to Sony, where they will replace the laser for a fee that is determined by whether they detect "excessive wear" on the system. No matter what, this is a lot of money, time and effort to get a $50.00 game to work as it should.

I found other resources that gave instruction on how to reset the position of the PS2 laser, under the theory that the preset location is too close or too far from the disc to effectively read dual-layer discs. I can say that this resulted in over 30 minutes of play time (three clicks to the right was the sweet spot), but it still freezes up. I also tried turning the PS2 updside-down during play, recalling that this worked for the original Playstation when it reached its last legs, which gave another 15-20 minutes, but still not great. The freeze-up can occur during loading, or most annoyingly, in the middle of a song.

So the options are pretty limited here. No refunds on opened video merchandise, and an exchange would be useless, as all accounts indicate this is a global problem with dual-layer discs, not the specific one I purchased. It wouldn't be worth my time or money to try to upgrade my PS2 for this one game, since upgrading to PS3 could be a possibility in the future, especially when they finally cut the price back. In the end, I'll keep watching official Harmonix/Sony statements to see if either/both own up to this unacceptable situation, and hope they either release a single-layer version or reimburse customers fully for products they admit won't work without additional consumer expense. No "quit whining and get a PS3" comments, please. They shouldn't have released a PS2 version if they weren't going to take care to get it right.

From what I have been able to play, the game looks like a definite upgrade from RB1, with great songs, upgraded gameplay that allows more flexibility, and more. Unfortunately, I can't vouch for more than that.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional Sequel, how did they fit it in there???, January 6, 2009

By 

Christopher Zach (Arkham, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

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

This might be one of the most impressive games I have seen for the PS2. I've been playing guitar games since GHII, and Rock Band II is without a doubt the best of the genre.

The play quality is flawless, the graphics are perfect, and to be honest it looks even better than Rock Band I. All of the instruments I have (GH2, GH3, RB1 guitars and RB1 drums) play without a hitch or hint of lag.

The game play is much improved over RB1. They still don't allow custom avitars (apparently they just can't do 4 avitars plus the 4 tracks) however they do have a much improved tour mode, much better ratings on the songs for complexity, and a much better training mode. Game play is a lot more fun; you can have people join you as you progress, and it's a lot less linear. You get groupies, tour bus, airplane, manager, the works.

In short it's a lot of fun. The songs are all pretty neat, and the vocal quality is much improved over RB1.

Overall I have to say that Harmonix really did an excellent job with this port of Rock Band to the PS2. They took their time, and the result is an amazing product. I'm not sure how they fit it all on a single DVD, but this pretty much takes the Emotion Engines of the PS2 to the absolute limit.

Chris

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