For the past week my Xbox 360 has been reminding me that starting tomorrow Rock Band fans can expand their minds with a six-song set of Grateful Dead tracks done up rhythm-game style. As a Dead fan on the DL I can say that I approve of this idea, and I suspect that the combination of the Dead’s music and brightly colored flashing lights will be a dream come true for a certain demographic.
But there are a couple problems with the execution. For one, there doesn’t seem to be an option to extend the songs so they’re longer than the album versions, which dashes the dreams of those of us who’d hoped to pretend-play the loopy druggy bullshit live jams that are the Dead’s greatest work. (It’s not like I play a lot of Rock Band, though–maybe you know a trick I don’t.) And two: no “Touch of Grey.”