I've had this about a week and I'm loving it. Between the new awesome tracklist (I was never impressed by RB1's tracklist), improved notechart construction, the ability to make setlists, the re-introduction of my beloved hyperspeed and the totally kickass 1p tour mode (made even more awesome by the additon of DLC and the ability to import all the RB1 songs I liked), it's a total blast. The improvements are admittedly subtle, but literally everything I've had an issue with has been addressed. Even the fact that they now log high scores is nice (a minor sticking point in RB1) Added to that is the impressive DLC they've announced recently: Megadeth's Peace Sells...But Who's Buying, the Roadrunner Records pack (stuff from Megadeth, Dream Theater and Airbourne) and the upcoming Moving Pictures (Rush, who always manages to provide fun songs to play). 

Oh yeah and thanks to hyperspeed, I can finally clear Screaming for Vengeance...It's nice being able to spot patterns in the giant mess of notes coming at me, as opposed to the giant blur they look like at normal speed. If anyone wants a challenge, try Devil's Island...That damn song's INTRO kicked my ass for about an hour last night. My hand is still sore.

I still haven't gotten on the Rock Band wagon, so maybe this will be a good a time as any.  I would need to wait for the PS3 release next month, so tell me: would it be a good idea to just pick up the bundle set for Rock Band 2, or should I go back and pick up the first one first?

I'm hearing that the second's bundle will have a better drum set build.  Is this true?

Depends on the tracklist, I guess...You can export the RB1 songs to the hardrive and have them playable in RB2. Outside of maybe 10 songs, I didn't care for much of RB1's content (and I found a lot of the notechart contruction very haphazard), so mileage will vary. But given the 80+ songs on RB2's disc, I'd recommend buying some nice DLC instead. With RB2's layout, 1p tour mode and the export option on the original, my original is pretty much obsolete (well, unless I want to watch the cool "Highway Star" opening again!) I'd say rent RB1, export the songs, then return it.

From what I've seen, the newer drums are a real improvement. They're quieter and they come with a metal pedal (which, ironically, is probably a better pedal to play metal, because it won't break!) If I start playing drums on RB seriously, I'd probably upgrade. I haven't been able to handle the new RB guitar (I just use my 360 Aerosmith GH controller, which is amazing).

Cool fact.  Think I'll do just that, thanks! :)

It remains to be seen if it will let you do that.  I'm sure the export will phone out onto the internet to make sure that disc has content exported only to a single console.  Otherwise they'd be giving the first game's content out for free to anybody who takes it.

I don't believe it's actually free to export the tracks though... I think it's like 5 bucks to actually do it.  So even if people just rent the game, they're still gonna get your money.

I'm probably not going to get this... I never play RB1 anymore, plus it's too hard to get people I know to get together to make it worth buying RB2.

I got this game first thin sunday morning, week ago.
unbelievably good.
love the setlist, plus the weekly dlc keeps things fresh.
Megadeth's Peace Sells is amazing, one of the finest dlc yet(along with the Who Pack).
it's incredibly challenging, guitar and drums wise, I beat 6/8 songs on g and d(I'm waiting for my ION Drum Rocker - electronic kit to play these as my current RB drums have crack and doesn't work well).
day after tomorrow Rush's Moving Pictures is coming and it should provide solid drumming as well as shredding.
and the coming singles are good too.

Sorry to revive such an old thread but I found an interesting article concerning Rock Band/Guitar Hero at a magazine at work and I thought I'd share:

Charlie Rips Video Games
Charlie Daniels is upset about the way his classic "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" was used in the popular game Guitar Hero. In a statement on his official website, he complains that in the game players complete against "a horned, guitar-playing devil who battles the player and very often wins... I did not grant these people my permission to pervert my song and I am disgusted with the result." [Ironically] Charlie does not control the puplishing rights for the song, so his approval was not legally nessacary for its inclusion in the game.

My Thoughts:
I'm not sure if you can "prevert" a song about a satanic entity any further than it already is. It's a good song but I'd hardly call it wholesome family entertainment especially with the words SOB in there.

I'm sure there are many people that would not have heard this song any other way so I don't think it is all bad.

Maybe he was just mad because the battles in GH3 (and World Tour) were beyond lame and he didn't want his song (or arrangement) associated with them.

Also, I take back what I said about the RB2 drums...You have to hit the center for them to register apparently. The RB1 drums aren't like that. It's better than trying to hit the pads on the monstrosity that is the Rock Revolution drum set though.

I strongly recommend getting real e drumset for rockband 2 - ION Drum Rocker - amazing peripheral considered by enthusiasts to be ferrari of gaming peripherals:

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Drum-Roc … 070&sr=8-1

Being that retailers are clearing out all their Rockband 2 and GH World Tour kits at bargain-basement prices to make room for the upcoming titles, it's a great time to pick up some instruments.

I just bought the full RB2 bundle for $99!

At that price I just couldn't pass it up (Walmart takes a -24% loss at that price) so I snagged the last one we had in stock on the way out of work this morning.

The RB2 guitar strum-bar is buttery smooth and quiet compared to the cheapie 3rd-party GH axe I picked up long ago for the PS2 GHs, which made a very loud click with every strum...
Wireless sure is nice too (got the Wii version bundle, as it's the only current-gen system I own) although I haven't tried out the drums yet today.

I had been feeling quite tempted by the new Beatles version instruments, but considering that getting all of them would cost $450, that was a deal-breaker. Getting the RB2 instruments for such a steal was a no-brainer substitute.

I'm looking forward to picking up The Beatles game-disc!  I'll probably grab that AC/DC trackpack too.

Thanks for the heads-up, Carl.  I had been waiting for a price drop on this game for some time.  I just ordered the PS3 bundle from Amazon for the same price.

I really wish you guys didn't give this heads-up, because I am really and truly tempted to make the jump now.

I guess my only real question is whether to go for 360 or PS3.  The PS3's instruments are wireless, are they not?  But not bluetooth wireless, but through a USB dongle?  Is there lag input as a result, I wonder?

Also, I'd anticipate the purchasing of songs online, but I despise XBLA's points system.  Other the other hand, I do have a lot more HDD space on my 360, so......

Also, the exporting of RB1's songs over to RB2 that GoldfishX mentioned..... you can do that with both PS3 and 360, correct?

EDIT Word on the street is that Target stores will be carrying the RB2 bundle for $89.99 starting on 8/23/09 to 8/30/09.  If true, I'll most likely spring on that.

The Wii's wireless is via 2 USB dongles, I'd only guess that PS3's would be also. 

There's both auto-calibrations and manual-calibration options a plenty, but there's no latency or lag here for me.

I didn't see any exporting/importing of tracks options in the menu though.

I don't believe the Wii version features the exporting option.  Space constraints, perhaps?

As DMC's Dante elegantly once said: Let's Rock.

I sure have some unexpected news now... the Microphone is a KILLER! (quite literally I'm afraid)

Funny how the 1 instrument that isn't wireless has the problem, when I plug it into the rear USB port it STOPS the disc drive from spinning and the wii shows the message "an error has occured: please eject the disc and turn the power off".

To test the mic's functionality outside of RB2, I went over to my computer and plugged it into my PC.   
BOOM! - All power completely shuts off and my computer DIES INSTANTLY.

Woah.  Never had that shit happen and I hot-swap external HDDs on my computer all the time, so my conclusion is that the Mic's USB wiring must be, well, miswired.

Cripes, that sucks.  Is your Wii and PC down permanently?

Managed to get some game time in with RB2.  Of course, I jumped straight to the drums - one of the very few rhythm-music video game instruments I can't claim myself having very much experience on.  After an hour or so of play, though, I think I've got a pretty good handle on 'em already.  I still need to find the best positioning for the foot pedal, as my leg is hurting like all get-out, but I'm already racking up some serious high score streaks on Hard mode songs.

My only real qualm with the game is the lack of a tier-song system, a la the old Guitar Hero games.  It's difficult to know how far along I'm progressing, what with them allowing you to jump from city to city and venue to venue.  It's also a little annoying having to repeat certain songs when you choose the 'mystery' playlists.

Yeah Angie it's hard to play drums for extended times without getting major soreness, so I usually just drum one venue's worth of songs at a time, then switch to guitar and play the same ones with the other instruments to give my leg a break.

My systems are fine, nothing a reboot didn't fix.  EA's rockband service department was quick and polite about a warranty exchange, so a replacement mic is already on it's way, all I had to provide them was a scan of the sales receipt.