We’ve all been here before, and it seems all too familiar. A promising new music game falls victim to the perils of being niche and under-performing in the hostile retail world.
We had noticed that BandFuse had been pretty quiet on the social media front. They hadn’t updated their Facebook since February 28th and their twitter activity was close to non-existent. Our suspicions of bad news were confirmed hours ago via their Facebook Page:
@BandFuse This is truly terrible news. I hope it can get resolved soon. I hold out hope that there will be more DLC coming in the future.
— Scott Dillon (@elvenoracle) March 13, 2014
The BandFuse news is pretty awful 🙁
— Steve (@SteveMightSay) March 13, 2014
Very sad news from @BandFuse
— Tommy John (@tommyjohn4400) March 13, 2014
Woah woah woah, what happened with Bandfuse/Realta?
— Craig Munn (@CraigAMunn) March 13, 2014
I was really looking forward to playing Bandfuse when it would come to the UK. Another nail in the coffin for music games 🙁
— Tom (@GrumbleVolcano6) March 13, 2014
Some sad news for BandFuse USA that can finally be shared. I will post something more personal shortly. http://t.co/0yxqndv6Na
— GrumpyFuse (@GrumpyFuse) March 13, 2014
We will update with more information regarding future content and patches as it becomes available.
Update 3/14/2014:
Future DLC may still be released.
Update 3/17/2014:
“One parting tip – Its my understanding that Hendrix’s “Foxey Lady (Live) is suppose to come out from being a “hidden” track and only available by code at the end of this month. Check the store and grab it, its an awesome version of the song!
Until we meet again…”
All good things come to an end. MY time at @BandFuse is over today. Its been a lot of fun. THANKS 4 UR support! http://t.co/pHky3fF5PS
— Jeff Marshall (@BandFuseJeff) March 17, 2014
Post by Jeff Marshall.
Update 3/19/2014:
@TheRiffRepeater looks like FOXEY LADY will be “unhidden” and available for purchase on 3/25…but don’t quote me 😉
— Jeff Marshall (@BandFuseJeff) March 19, 2014
Update: June 16th, 2014
bandfuse always looked really complicated but someone that only plays bandfuse would say the same thing about rocksmith
Meanwhile
Rocksmith 2014 had a 3/5 pack DLC EVERY WEEK and the game is considerated like a reference tool for learning guitar
Crazy.
RS definitely wins in the quantity department, but Bandfuse has Jimi Hendrix, better note detection, better sound, colored tabbing for proper finger placement (really love this feature), and uses the multi-track stems for note-for-note tab accuracy.
I like Bandfuse better, but RS is a great game, too.
My biggest pet peeve about this game is the lack of a “restart song” button/option.
Bummer. I had a feeling it was coming, though. Personally, I think a lot of it comes down to sightreading tabs just not being feasible for beginning guitarists. It might have been easier with Rocksmith’s level-up-as-you-play approach, but as it, it’s a lot of great potential gone potentially to waste. I hope that, like Rocksmith, they get the chance to turn a promising but flawed first effort into a polished and playable second try.
Forgot to mention, I like Bandfuse’s polyphonic tuning and audio recognition quite a bit & I hope it continues to be used in the future.
Also I liked that Bandfuse had something resembling a tour mode, even if it wasn’t as good as it could have been. It gives a sense of guidance that I think Rocksmith lacks.
Sounds like the whole creative team got canned so much for hope. I guess chance of seeing any dlc or updates in next few months is zero just hope it makes a comeback at some point in the future
I bet anything the massive delay in release is what killed them.
I’m actually really upset because I JUST started getting into this game. I stated with RS, lime everyone else, then RS14. I never really liked the setlist, being a lot of rock and classic rock.
Then BF came out and I bought that just to have both. At first I didn’t like it… It looked like it was made by amatures as a game. The lessons were horrible and the advice was horrible… Then I couldn’t pick it up and play it on the fly.
That’s when it hit me, this wasn’t a game. These are transcriptions meant to be learned like real tabs. The problem with RS is that I could never remember a song outside of playing it in RS. BF makes you remember the songs and engraves it in your head… Plus I love metal and when I saw that they have CoB, Megadeth, Pantera, and Testament I knew that they were liable to get even greater metal acts/songs.
…. Then they left me…
Come on Deon – RS does have a master mode that has notes disappear forcing you to remember songs.
RS has megadeth, judas priest and others.
It still guides you through with hand placement cues… Now I’m not talking down on RS but it’s just my experience with it, I’ve been playing it since the first.
And as far as the setlist goes I was talking in game, although RS did have Cemetery Gates… mmmm. Anyway, my point is that the most difficult songs on RS are more on the rock side of the spectrum, and that’s cool. The end of BF setlist was pretty much dominated in metal lol.
At the end of the day I started learning guitar through tablature so it’s easier, for me, to study. In RS I usually crank the difficulty all the way up in RR so that I can learn the song properly so it’s kind of the same thing. I just prefer to look at tablature, even though BF does look a little out of date. That’s just my op
Understand. I’m a long time tab guy, and still use sites like songster.
Hand placement cues are in both games. In Bandfuse they use colors for fingers. I don’t understand how letting someone learn proper technique is a strike against either game.
Oh, oops. During master mode you mean…
It’s a point of view I guess. I don’t understand why memorizing a song is better then focusing on learning guitar. Or why the hell should I memorize something I’m not even able to play yet. On related note I can’t imagine how can I improve my song performance if I can’t hear the nuances of the original (because it was cut from the song).
At least for me RS approach is better, I want to get better at playing guitar and get better feeling for differences in timing and phrasing, I want to hear myself matching the backing track.
Also it is a big advantage that RS can put out more DLCs because they don’t need master tracks, I’m not really a target audience for BandFuse track list.
All BandFuse mistakes, “mismanagement”, even missing PC support aside, maybe RS just got it right…
Like a lot of people I’ve been patiently waiting for a UK release, hopefully it will still happen.
I Dont think this can be for financial reasons after all they have enough money to sponsor the experience Hendrix tour in the US. This has to be due to some form of litigation threat.
I’ve never been a fan of Bandfuse. The UI is unintuitive, the lessons and legends were near useless, and it oozed too much of hard rock and heavy metal in every last inch of the game. I found this last point very off-putting and too niche for the general population. Additionally, the scrolling tablature format, while more useful for reading online tabs in the long run, is tediously difficult to learn or read on the fly. On the other hand, Rocksmith 2014 has a very clean and easy to understand UI, excellent lessons, and a very straightforward approach to learning the guitar.
All things said, I am a bit sad to hear that Bandfuse may be collapsing. Competition breeds innovation, and with Bandfuse out of the way, I worry that Rocksmith may begin to slump.
Bummer! Is there a band in the UK named Bandfuse?? Hopefully Jimi comes to RS now, though.
there was a band called rocksmith in uk which seriosly postponed the origial rocksmith…
The game is actually pretty fun when you get used to tabs. Rocksmith is cool because it gives you a good idea where to move your fret hand but after you learn that, bandfuse in my opinion is better. You can learn a lot more a tools and it’s groovier. Come on they got Hendrix! Everybody buy it! This news makes me wanna throw up! Buy Bye
Well, I guess I can stop hoping for a PC version now.
I’m always sad when a rhythm game dies.
Thank God it’s the inferior game.
From the way the facebook post is worded, it honestly sounds less like a financial problem (though that might be part of it), and more like a legal issue they’ve run into. We all know licensing is hard (TM).
I was somewhat wondering that myself. One of the members made a comment “we cannot legally discuss what is going on because of any possible court proceedings”. Which seemed a little odd.
Keep in mind that there are multiple investors that backed the project that might not be pleased with their investment re: sales.
I am sad for the People that like Bf. But, to my opinion, I think Rocksmith is better. I have been playing RS since it’s begining and bought BF when it came out, I dont have the “feel” when I play with Bf.
I home everything will settle for good thing for Realta, it’s never happy when a company have to cut or close operations.
I hoped Bandfuse would get a second chance…..
RS wasn’t a killergame at first strike at all.
Poor guys .. that must feel bad.
Bummer. It sounded like it had promise, and if it had been for the PC I’d have been more tempted. I was looking forward to seeing what the sequel could do – if it was as big a leap as Rocksmith was. Sounds like that’s unlikely now.
I have to say that this isn’t a surprise. The people imvolved with this game have handled it poorly from the beginning. I am glad I finally bought it even though I paid full price and now it seems I may have been able to pick it up really cheap. I would never have bought dlc for the game but it is good for 2 things really and that is all it is good for the tab practice and the tone is far better than RS. The game itself is pretty bad and man though legend “lessons” are so bad I can’t believe they actually paid for them!! Too many broken promises and not enough delivered…
Yeah, those videos are pretty awful.
fix the Lick Lab 4 fuck sake
RS could acquire them for their sound engine…which I have read is more accurate…
Or, Harmonix could also buy them and add it to RB, but I don’t think there will ever be another RB…
I know for me, I almost never played it as it wasn’t easy for me to transition between the 2 games. I wanted BF to use colored strings, like RS…it should have been easy for folks to buy both. As it is now, I am ok with only RS as there is a lot to learn and I am still a beginner…
Bummer for the team, hope they can get other positions.
That would be great. Their sound engine is the best part.
Back to online tabs after this news. Im done with rocksmith it got old and now bandfuse is done after 4 months. Bandfuse had so much promise compared to Ubisoft and their bloated crapware
good one
Is it?
pretty much
Well that sucks. I just bought the game last week during Gamestop’s $30 sale. *sigh*
The jury’s still out for me for sure, but I like Rocksmith more (now at least, without having explored all the features). I think I’ll still like RS more even after, but I was enjoying the different styles and looking forward to more DLC that is different from that of RS.
Wow….I wonder if Gamestop knew it was on its way out. It’d be pretty low for them to try to move the product before the news got out, but I wouldn’t put it past them for a second.
Yay we win!!!
No “we” don’t. Having two major programs out there made both sides work harder to come out with the best game possible, as well invest back in better DLC.
I don’t think the RS team will slack off, but having two teams of lawyers signing up bands was best for everyone.
Feel no sympathy for this terrible video game. It’s death is deserved and necessary. As a species we have grown to deserve a higher quality of edutainment. For software like Bandfuse to even exist is a smear not just on mankind, but the concept of life in general.
The people who made this video game just weren’t cut out for the job. It is best for them to return to their homes and report to their families “we failed”. It is only through this acknowledgment that they can help to improve in the future. The world exists because the Bandfuses of this world fall by the wayside and are left for the ants.
Celebrate this death.
Nice trolling there.
Nice generic, meaningless response there.
The game is objectively bad. It will not be missed. Pew should celebrate the market punishing the makers of bad products.
I don’t consider your foaming at the mouth level of hatred to be meaningful and since it doesn’t seem justified, it seemed obvious you were trolling. Nice job keeping the act going though.
Well it is sort of justified to he honest.
The game does suck. Shame they weren’t around when RS1 came out. They may have stood a chance.
Maybe your trolling wouldn’t be so apparent if you actually said what you didn’t like about the game.
Hey someone said what I was thinking!
I was patiently hoping that there would some day be a release for PC. Guess this news squashes that. The tab format was the biggest feature I was hoping to experiment with, but overall, it just never looked any where near as good as RS. I also thought that competition was good for both games. Hopefully this news doesn’t scare away other artists from releasing their music for ‘games’.
But my biggest question and first thought when I heard ….. Does this open the door for RS getting Hendrix? Or does it make it more difficult and unlikely?
As crappy as it is for the guys who worked/are working on BandFuse I had the same thought, hopefully we’ll see the exclusives come across to Rocksmith.