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Review on ๐ŸŽฎ Enhance Your Gameplay with the PlayStation 3 Rock Band 3 MIDI PRO Adapter by Eugene Cox

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Midi adapter points the way forward

If you're looking to add a keyboard to your Rock Band 3, you have a choice between a keyboard and this unit. Since we already had a MIDI-capable keyboard and the adapter was the cheaper option, we decided on this one. This is for the Wii version, by the way. The device is a bit light (but being in Australia it helped me pay for shipping I think.) but then it won't thump like a guitar controller or drum kit. It connects to the console with a long USB cable (about 3m) and to a MIDI instrument with a standard MIDI cable. One is NOT included with the device, but can be purchased relatively cheaply if your MIDI instrument doesn't have one. From the Wii's point of view, it's good that the device doesn't resort to the Wiimote. There is a bi-directional clip on the back that can be mounted either on a belt clip (for guitar use) or at right angles to the headphones. Case (to be placed on a ledge, e.g. with a keyboard). It seems solid enough. The buttons mimic the standard Wiimote buttons: A, B, 1, 2, +, -. There's also a power button (labeled rock band "RB"), a directional button, a volume wheel, and an overdrive button in the lower-right corner. The latter can be a dubious design decision, as it's fairly easy to knock the device off the keyboard in the heat of the moment. A possible solution is to attach your adapter more firmly, maybe with velcro dots? There is also a switch to install the device on a keyboard, guitar or drum kit. There were no issues connecting and using the device, but there was a limitation with Rock Band 3 itself that was NOT documented in the game or the adapter. In normal play mode you are limited to guitar, bass and keyboards. In order to play all three at the same time, you'll need to set it to "All Instruments Mode" (which the game will ask you about as soon as you plug in the third instrument - it's user-friendly), but that in itself has a few limitations. First, there is no online play, although you can access other modes. Second, and more annoyingly, the vocals are thrown into light mode, losing both appreciation and overdrive. Of course, you don't need a Wiimote for that anymore and you can have three people (lead and two backups), but that doesn't help if you want (dubbed) vocals, keyboards, guitar and bass. Harmonix should fix this. However, these are claims not on the device itself, but on the game, and of secondary importance. In operation, the device works normally. Since most of the actual hands-on activities involve your connected instrument, mileage will vary. In any case, you can adjust the reaction time in the game as usual. Simple keys are just one note at a time, five keys (c through g) are mapped to each of the five notes. Medium adds chords. Haven't tried higher levels or pro mode yet (I'm a wimp). The adapter can also be used to get your keyboard to play guitar or drum parts - we haven't explored that in detail yet as we have all the other instruments. , a very neat little module that does exactly what it's supposed to do. I also see it as a blueprint for future music games that integrate real instruments into the game itself. In theory, there's no reason why something like this couldn't be done cross-platform.

Pros
  • Great design
Cons
  • Crumpled packaging