My most anticipated titles going into E3 were 1) the hardcore Nintendo titles that never showed up at their press conference, and 2) EA and Harmonix’s Rock Band 2, a meeting for which NintendoGal got to attend. Harmonix has some extremely awesome stuff planned for this game; they listen to their customers extremely carefully, and they’ve responded by adjusting the game experience accordingly. Check out what you can expect from the sequel to the hit game, and let’s hope that as much of it gets into the Wii build as possible.

At the meeting we went to, many cool features were announced, which I’ll list here as completely as I can. First off, the soundtrack for Rock Band 2 is going to be fantastic, including music by AC/DC, Bob Dylan, and a new Guns ’n Roses track; all of its 80+ tracks are master tracks, plus you can play old Rock Band DLC, plus you can export Rock Band tracks from the first disc to the new game, for a total of over 500 playable tracks by year’s end. Song selection now mimics the online music store, with some bonuses; each track displays separate difficulty meters for each musical track, and you can now make up your own custom quickplay playlists, or decide to play all songs by a certain artists, or from a certaiin album. You’ve got a lot of options here.

The hardware has seen some serious improvements, too. The guitars have been refined to have more of a wood-grain look, the buttons are softer, and the strum bar is "less mushy" to quote Harmonix, though I’m sad to say it still lacks a clicking strum bar. One cool thing about the guitar is that it comes with an auto-calibration system; just hold up the guitar to the TV at the calibration screen, and the hardware takes care of itself.

The best hardware improvement, though, is in the drum kit, which I got to try on stage at the conference (and I apologize to the woman who wanted to try it out but couldn’t because I hogged it). The plastic foot pedal has been replaced with a metal-reinforced one, and the loud, plastic drum pads have been replaced with quieter rubber ones, which also make the sticks bounce back more satisfyingly. Also interesting is the opportunity for drum expansion packs, allowing for double-pedal, cymbals, etc. You can even purchase an Ion Drum Rocker, by Alesis, and convert your drum controller into a full-on electronic drum kit. On the subject of drums, Rock Band 2 will come with some drum lessons to teach you basic drum beats, as well as fill trainer to make you sound awesome in those sections where you do whatever on the drums.

The game’s World Tour mode has been expanded, and you can thankfully take it online and play with your online band; there will also be Tour Challenges, having you take on certain setlists to see how well you do. Another addition is Jukebox Mode, which lets you just watch the virtual band play; good for parties, we’re told, when the pizza arrives and everyone is eating. Lastly, and most interestingly, is the Battle of the Bands mode, which will be a collection of differnet band challenges. You’ll upload your score to your friends leaderboard, and if you top that, you’ll move on to the local leaderboard, etc. This mode will, amazingly, have a new challenge every single day. The Harmonix rep seemed highly intimidated by this prospect.

After the presentation, I got a chance to play drums for Rock Band 2 on a drum set with cymbals added. The basic gameplay is the same, but everything is just so much smoother now, most notably song selection. The drums feel much more responsive and satisfying, and if you manage to get yourself some cymbals, they are extremely satisfying to use for fun, though they probably will just distract if you’re trying for score or to beat a difficult song. If you know the song, and know when you’re hitting cymbals, it’s a lot of fun playing with them.

Besides the presentation, I got maybe two hours of time with the game on the show floor while I was at E3, and tried out all the instruments. The guitar’s strum bar does feel less mushy, but unfortunately, a strum bar with no click still doesn’t give you the proper feedback about what notes you are and are not hitting; hopefully people like Nyko can get that fixed up. The microphone isn’t too much different from the previous game; as I sang my way through "Livin’ On a Prayer", a song that was played just about once every 15 minutes all three days, it felt almost identical to the original Rock Band.

The general improvements to the game, besides drum hardware improvements, are all internal. Menus are streamlined, more features are available, and the setlist is absolutely massive, not to mention phenomenal. If you’re a fan of music games, Rock Band 2 is probably everything you’re ever going to need when it gets released this September. Keep in mind, though, that the Wii version may be lacking in some of the features; I think Disc Importing will probably get the axe, but I’m hoping that DLC and Battle of the Bands will remain. Guitar Hero: World Tour is showing that the Wii is certainly capable of a great experience, so let’s hope that Harmonix capitalizes on it.