Rock Band Gets a Music Keyboard – Gamer’s Rejoice – Real Pianists Laugh

 18 Jun 2010 - By Omar Mariño+
 omar@myddnetwork.com


If you’ve ever wanted to rock the plastic ivory to some eighties synth-pop or wail away on a whiny hair band ballad, the Rock Band 3 keyboard is the peripheral for you.  That’s right, I said Keyboard, not keytar! 

The device is about what you’d expect from a Rock Band peripheral:  cheap, lightweight, and plastic but it does open up a whole new level of gameplay for Rock Band fanatics.  However, it is not and should not be compared to a real keyboard.  First of all, it only has 25 keys (including the black ones) and on easier difficulty levels the color notes you’ll be playing encompass a group of keys rather than individual ones.  While this will lead to inevitably epic keyboard solos with much head-bobbing and maybe a few peace signs or devil’s horns thrown into the air, it’s not a very realistic experience.

However, when you crank the difficulty level up to expert, you will have to watch your finger placement very carefully.  While the game still isn’t a one-to-one translation of an actual song, it’s much closer and may even give a few experienced keyboardists some challenge – if only because the keys are crammed together on a foreshortened board.

There’s no word yet on price but I would expect this peripheral to fall in line with the plastic axes and drum kits already available for the game.  If it’s price too much higher, nobody will buy it.






Disclaimer - Category: Control, Digital, Gadget