Threat of music piracy one reason Rock Band 4 isn’t coming to PC for now

[Syntaxvgm]

So are local co op games rare because PCs are not commonly on living rooms or is it the other way around? I guess we won't find out because fuck pirates right?

No one was saying this is good, we all were saying it was not a big business hit for them. these kinds of games tend to sell on console more than PC...multiples more.  

[Nowak]

Wasn't the console version of a Rock Band cracked and the tracks were leaked, including DLC tracks, though? And GTA V cracked 4 days before launch on the Xbox 360? It's not like the threat of piracy is non-existent on the consoles or anything.

[Guest Kloaked]

You can record audio for anything you're playing on your PC with something like Audacity (but it will usually record windows sounds if you don't mute em) Also a second device works ok (i.e. play on your mobile phone and connect a cable from headphones to your microphone input on the pc)

 

It's usually more trouble that is worth though.

 

I knew that was one way to do it but I was thinking about actually grabbing the files from Spotify downloads itself somehow.

[Shakaza]

Plenty have PCs by their HT setups, thats never been an issue. Its that PC gaming has decidedly been catered to "lonely gamers" (its true, they don't market PC games or PCs in any social context, especially not in the way that they market consoles and console games). So whats the point? Yea ,they could make Rock Band 100% compatible for PC but who does that in enough numbers to make it worth it? Not many people. 

 

That won't change till PC developers as a whole give PC games the same "social friendly" considerations that console games get. Console games get split screen, multiple local player play and all that fun stuff without any hassles. PC games? Pfft. Be lucky to find that at all these days. 

Yes, that makes sense.

 

And about the split-screen thing, I always thought it would be fun to have that kind of co-op or whatever across two screens and have controllers or something instead of using a keyboard. Okay, so maybe that's not the most commonly wanted thing, but I'd like one developer to do that.

[Syntaxvgm]

Yes, that makes sense.

 

And about the split-screen thing, I always thought it would be fun to have that kind of co-op or whatever across two screens and have controllers or something instead of using a keyboard. Okay, so maybe that's not the most commonly wanted thing, but I'd like one developer to do that.

done it with that BL2 mod, it's great. 

[stconquest]

If anyone really cared to crack the data on console versions, they would... data is data is data.  It is just a barrier to break (PC vs console) that makes it a step or two more difficult.

[Shakaza]

done it with that BL2 mod, it's great. 

Oh, wow. I didn't realize that. Thanks!

[GoldSrc]

Is not like it would be impossible to rip that data from the console versions anyway.

[Syntaxvgm]

Is not like it would be impossible to rip that data from the console versions anyway.

well it's easier on PC by far. You can change the way your PC renders and plays back stuff very easily. It would be very easy to turn off certain channels of audio playback, the crown and game sounds, for example, and leave just the vocal track or something. 

[GoldSrc]

well it's easier on PC by far. You can change the way your PC renders and plays back stuff very easily. It would be very easy to turn off certain channels of audio playback, the crown and game sounds, for example, and leave just the vocal track or something. 

Sure, on PC that's easier, but still is not impossible on the console versions, it could be really difficult but it can be done.

[Unrealmaster]

Ok, after reading the article all i have to say is what a garbage excuse!

 

The core issue appears to be the same thing that has been rehashed for many years. Music rights holders are worried about piracy, nothing more nothing less, every point they bring up is irrelevant.

 

The fact that there are multi track high quality recordings doesn't mean anything because, as a quick google search will show, both the high quality tracks and their multi track versions are already available online.

 

Moreover, if they use the same encryption on the files for the PC version as the console version then then it should not matter, yes the files on pc maybe easier to work with and hence crack, but that hasn't stopped any other company like spotify from allowing people to access music apps on their PC. Its called a risk. 

 

Finally, do you want to know the most ironic thing in all of this so far? That same google search I conducted earlier to check the multi tracks out, showed a website that got its multi tracks from the console version of rock band. This COMPLETELY undermines their argument.

 

Piracy existed on the console version beforehand, not bringing it to PC will not change that!

 

/rant

[Cookie Monster]

How'd you do it?

No anti-piracy technique has ever closed the analogue loop. If you can see or hear something you can copy it.

[silberdrachi]

Im confused, are they implying because rockband comes out on the pc ill pirate songs? Wouldnt i have the same urge if i heard the song on a console and went to pirate bay?

 

Its not like the easiest way to get media is by ripping open encrypted data stores that are shipped with a game.

[Syntaxvgm]

Im confused, are they implying because rockband comes out on the pc ill pirate songs? Wouldnt i have the same urge if i heard the song on a console and went to pirate bay?

 

Its not like the easiest way to get media is by ripping open encrypted data stores that are shipped with a game.

well VS said it's about the separate guitar, vocal, drum, ect tracks that are normally not released.

Though the logic is stupid, in part it makes sense why they['d want to protect this.

[silberdrachi]

well VS said it's about the separate guitar, vocal, drum, ect tracks that are normally not released.

 

I guess maybe, but i have a friend who used to amuse himself by ripping vocals out of some songs or different tracks out of things and splicing them together. and he did that all by just taking audio off youtube.

 

I mean i get what they are saying i guess, but it seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Unless of course they have another reason for not going to pc that they dont want to talk about, like the fact that all these games have driven sales of consoles and by holding exclusivity of some sort they might receive extra support from the console makers... Or just the fact they dont want to deal with writing the port and testing it, because they dont think sales will justify it. Just seems like a BS excuse.

[Syntaxvgm]

I guess maybe, but i have a friend who used to amuse himself by ripping vocals out of some songs or different tracks out of things and splicing them together. and he did that all by just taking audio off youtube.

 

I mean i get what they are saying i guess, but it seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Unless of course they have another reason for not going to pc that they dont want to talk about, like the fact that all these games have driven sales of consoles and by holding exclusivity of some sort they might receive extra support from the console makers... Or just the fact they dont want to deal with writing the port and testing it, because they dont think sales will justify it. Just seems like a BS excuse.

Oh yea their logic is shit, but I do think what you get when you isolate vocals from an audio file is different / lower quality than what is in games like rock band- the actual studio independent tracks. I am no audio engineer, and audio is a weak point for me (ask @SSL) but I think isolating tracks isn't an exact science.

[SSL]

Oh yea their logic is shit, but I do think what you get when you isolate vocals from an audio file is different / lower quality than what is in games like rock band- the actual studio independent tracks. I am no audio engineer, and audio is a weak point for me (ask @SSL) but I think isolating tracks isn't an exact science.

 

It's the science of digital signal processing. There's a demonstration in there somewhere of just such a technique used to extract a vocal track from an orchestral accompaniment.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

recording audio with a pc is easy enough, so if you can play each individual stream on the console it would only require the right audio cable and a few input recordings to catch everything on the PC.

Also if anyone tech-savvy extracts the data from the console's disk and digs through it, it shouldn't be too hard to get the files either. Modders have been doing that for ages, in the GTA3 days (more than a decade ago) we already used to rip the higher-quality models and textures out of the PS2 version and put them in the PC version. What makes them think nobody could extract those audio files from a PS4 or Xbone and turn them into another format (if that last step is needed at all) ?

As usual, this won't make a blind bit of difference and the only losers here are the potential customers of the PC version.

Well done, "partners in the music industry". Note to self : Think of this whole thing if you ever feel the urge to buy another song.

[Virus__]

The game doesn't hold single tracks versions of the songs. It holds multiple tracks of a song. Individual streams if it were. That stuff is never seen outside of a studio environment for the most part, THAT is what the record companies don't want getting out there. They have a legitimate reasons for not wanting a PC versions at this point in time. 

 

Do any of you even read the fucking articles or do you just start shitposting? 

Yeah, they don't want people to remaster the music so it sounds better in any way over the original CD master. They learnt their lesson after Guitar Hero: Metallica & the Death Magnetic clipping fiasco i'd say..

[SIGSEGV]

This is dumb... They'll just pirate it from the console game lol

[exyia]

Guitar hero was better anyways.

 

(I preferred the round notes to the square bar thing that rockband does, can't adequately explain it.

 

Been a long time since I played guitar hero, but every time I hear a track that was on it, I have flashbacks to hard mode (never could get the hang of expert)

 

edit: except two songs, which I knew so well I 100% them on expert the first time I tried them on expert, Iron Man, and Carry on My Wayward Son.

 

same, I couldn't distinguish the non-strummed (whatever the term is) notes in guitar hero's UI at all. was so frustrating

 

**I'm a casual GH/rockband player - if it's easy to you as a seasoned player, good for you

[Trik'Stari]

same, I couldn't distinguish the non-strummed (whatever the term is) notes in guitar hero's UI at all. was so frustrating

 

**I'm a casual GH/rockband player - if it's easy to you as a seasoned player, good for you

Wait, wat? I said I had trouble with the UI of rockband, and preferred guitar hero.

 

Or where you saying that you had the same issue, but in reverse?

[exyia]

Wait, wat? I said I had trouble with the UI of rockband, and preferred guitar hero.

 

Or where you saying that you had the same issue, but in reverse?

 

no, I meant the same

 

with GH, the "strum" notes were easy to distinguish with the blackened center, and the "non-strum" notes were clear white with nothing in the circle. rockband's notes are so narrow as those silly rectangles I can hardly tell them apart

 

**again, I'm sure there's a correct term for what I'm trying to describe. someone more versed in GH can correct me

[Trik'Stari]

no, I meant the same

 

with GH, the "strum" notes were easy to distinguish with the blackened center, and the "non-strum" notes were clear white with nothing in the circle. rockband's notes are so narrow as those silly rectangles I can hardly tell them apart

 

**again, I'm sure there's a correct term for what I'm trying to describe. someone more versed in GH can correct me

I can't remember either. My problem was timing the square notes, whereas guitar hero's round notes always seemed much easier to me. That and I felt like GH had a longer board than rockband.

[MrDynamicMan]

I don't really mind... It doesn't suit a Pc game anyway. Most people getting it that had a Pc would get it on consoles anyway.