EA's CEO nonchalantly mentions "coming launch" of Rock Band for Wii

Finally got around to trading in that raincheck for your very own Wii? Good. Ready to pick up Rock Band? Believe it or not, we think we know that the aforementioned title is indeed headed to Nintendo's darling -- that's according to EA's CEO John Riccitiello, who was reportedly heard mentioning its "coming launch" on a recent conference call. Apparently, IGN even went the extra mile and pinged EA for additional confirmation (and got it), and while no details surrounding a release date, price or wicked new setlist were uncovered, at least you've got a few ticks to start scrounging up spare change.

[Via Joystiq]

[John Johnson @ Feb 1st 2008 8:33AM]

Maybe someone secretly remapped some keys on this editor's Optimus.

[victor @ Feb 1st 2008 8:44AM]

Thank you jeebus.

[booticon @ Feb 1st 2008 8:50AM]

w00t for all-wireless instruments!

[Flashpoint @ Feb 1st 2008 9:04AM]

My girlfriend has DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION: Ultimate Party for Wii and I have DDR:Universe 1 & 2 for xbox360. One thing I noticed is that the Wii doesn't handle these games very well:

#1 support for Mi characters is typically skipped during development
#2 No Hard Drive means the system can't store information as freely as the 360 which leads to obvious lack of gameplay during port comparisons.
#3 the graphics aren't as good as what we are used to on 360.

[booticon @ Feb 1st 2008 9:06AM]

w00t for all-wireless instruments!

[Dan @ Feb 1st 2008 9:07AM]

Hm. Maybe I'll actually get some use out of it now, besides Sports.

I'm serious, I can't live on Mario and Zelda. Table Tennis is only good every once in a while. Bring on the music.

[Othello @ Feb 1st 2008 9:08AM]

Why does that woman have a beard?

[Dan @ Feb 1st 2008 9:15AM]

How will add on games work? I'm all for a Wii version, but buying more songs is actually important to me (even given their prices).

[Jaime Garza @ Feb 1st 2008 9:41AM]

I just hope the GH3 Wii-Guitar is compatible with this game =)

[David @ Feb 1st 2008 9:56AM]

For folks that have played both: which is more fun, Guitar Hero or Rock Band? My fiancee and I were just about ready to buy GH for Wii, but we have friends that are obsessed with Rock Band. Is Rock Band worth waiting for?

[buzzbean @ Feb 1st 2008 9:49AM]

For what it is worth I have heard that it is coming March 9th from a Friend that works for Target.

[o0joshua0o @ Feb 1st 2008 9:52AM]

Downloadable songs will be stored in internal flash memory built into the guitar controller.

[John B @ Feb 1st 2008 9:52AM]

Wow. Engadget and EngadgetHD are having some serious post/reply problems.

Anyway...

@Flashpoint:

1. If you're referring to the Miis, so what?
2. The Wii has an SD slot. Downloadable content should be able to be stored there.
3. Big f**ing deal. I wish people like you would knock it off. Graphics != gameplay.

@Dan:

Get "Guitar Hero III", then. I've been putting it a ton of hours (more than I should) to GH3 on the Wii. And if you think there's nothing beyond "Wii Sports" that's worth buying, you haven't been looking very hard.

[Shad0wguy @ Feb 1st 2008 10:02AM]

I will only buy this game if it has compatibility with the GH3 guitar. Otherwise, no deal for me.

[Steven @ Feb 1st 2008 10:04AM]

I bought a PS3 for rock band last year. The wii has since been untouched except to play the first level of no more heroes. /sigh
Having a 47" 1080p lcd & surround sound makes it hard to go back to the wii after experiencing the ps3 + hdmi + optical (and uncharted is probably the best game I've ever played and 1080p bluray movies are amazing and orange box, ratchet, and dmc4 are all fantastic too).
Funnily, if I'd been able to find GH3 for wii in stores, I might not have ever purchased the ps3, but now that I have gh3 + rock band, I'm basically done investing in wii items. Oh well. I'm predicting that this year the novelty of wii sports wears off and ps3 picks up a lot of steam.
Yes, I do have SMG and MP3:C and Zelda and all the other top-tier wii games and enjoyed most of them...I just think the wii's controls aren't enough to keep it going as more and more people get high-end tv and audio setups and want to utilize them.
/wii owner since 11/2006
//my family that used to love wii sports when they visit now are hooked on rock band
///same with my fiance

[Steven @ Feb 1st 2008 10:11AM]

@David: (reply link isn't working for me)
I used to love guitar hero, and bought GH3 for PS3 shortly after buying Rock Band. I played through it all and haven't touched it since.
Track listing and addon selection for rock band is a lot better (unless you can play all the previous GH games, which have a lot of good songs), and Rock Band guitar isn't nearly as hard as GH (but you'll still get a challenge on hard & expert modes). GH3, to me, is frustratingly difficult and with a weak selection of songs, even though it has some songs that are ++excellent.

[silverblackvoid @ Feb 1st 2008 10:15AM]

is that a guy or a gal with the devil horns? im kinda confused.

[Allan @ Feb 1st 2008 10:16AM]

@ buzzbean

GTFO...

Not really, but a Wii Rock Band launch on my birthday would make it quite possibly the best bday ever.

[jimmy @ Feb 1st 2008 10:36AM]

i returned gh3 for wii and got it for xbox because of downloadable content. I got tired of the included tracks pretty quick

[jake18oly @ Feb 1st 2008 11:41AM]

@David

In my opinion Rock Band is much better than Guitar Hero 3 but I am a drummer so of course I am going to like the game that lets you play the drums.

[jake18oly @ Feb 1st 2008 12:05PM]

@David

In my opinion Rock Band is much better than Guitar Hero 3 but I am a drummer so of course I am going to like the game that lets you play the drums.

[Ryan @ Feb 1st 2008 1:33PM]

@ Flashpoint

BEAT IT GEEK!!

this is great news...

[Ian Whelan @ Feb 1st 2008 10:48PM]

@ David

I would stay away from GH3 altogether. I have the 360 version and my neighbor has the Wii version, and I must say that the Wii version just sucks. The load times are slow compared to other consoles, the textures are atrocious and even the 'straight' lines are jagged. I would advise staying away from Rock Band if it does go to the Wii, because I have no doubt that it will turn out just as bad. If you would like to play either game, I would recommend getting a 360 with Rock Band, as it has the most triple A titles and it has by far the most powerful GPU in any console (yes, more powerful than the PS3). If you are worried about it RRoD'ing, I would like to tell you that the failure rate has dropped below 10% and that type of failure is covered by a three-year warranty.