Rock Band For iPhone Hands On!
Posted on October 19, 2009 by Michelle McGonagle
If you’re a Rock Band fan like me, then you’ll be happy to hear that there is FINALLY an app for the iPhone that allows you to play Rock Band anytime, anywhere! If you’re a guitar player, drummer, or singer of your Rock Band, this app allows the same console experience right to your phone to enjoy on the go, including a multiplayer option. Too good to be true? Well, there have been some downfalls to this app from testers.
Control Scheme Limitations
Because of limitations of the control scheme, you won’t have the option to advance to a true “expert” on this game.
For $10, it’s not that bad of a game, even though the limitations of the control scheme put a hard barrier on how difficult the songs can be. Even with hammer-ons and pull-offs in place, the guitar difficulty can never really progress beyond having you play with two thumbs at once and moving one thumb around really fast.
To Sing or Not To Sing
Unfortunately, if you’re the singer of the band, you won’t be using your vocals to sing to this game.
The singing is unfortunately NOT singing, and you’ll have to tap one of the four pedals on the side to “sing”. The drums are just like drums, and just like the guitar gameplay, so that’s not that surprising. So it’s only the singing that’s kind of a disappointment.
Alleviate Boredom but Suffer Hand Cramps
The app is designed to be played with the iPhone held at the base of your hands and played with your thumbs. Testers with normal size hands have complained that although this is bearable for a certain amount of time, their hands still cramp up.
Rock Band suggests that you play with your thumbs on the bottom of the phone, supporting the weight of the phone by gripping it at the base. People with normal-sized hands will find the position cramp-inducing, but bearable. I would recommend that you lay the top of the phone on the edge of your desk to support some of the weight and give you more freedom to lift your thumbs up to move around without worrying about dropping your phone.
Not much of a Rock Band fan but prefer Guitar Hero instead? No worries, Activision is in talks of launching their own iPhone app. Now, let’s see if they can outshine Rock Band by creating a blue-tooth enabled mini guitar key pad to make the game a little more interesting and hands on friendly.International Business Times