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Rock Band Weekly: Anthrax, Doobie Brothers and more
Next week's Rock Band DLC will digitally distribute a whole lot of Anthrax. A five-pack of the thrash metal band's hits will be available, with "Caught In a Mosh" held up in the Rock Band 3 disc. Individual tracks will also make it into the store from the Doobie Brothers, My Chemical Romance, 30 Seconds to Mars, Atreyu and Buckcherry. Check out the set list details after the break.
Rock Band Weekly: Bob Marley's 'Legend' album
The rumor of Bob Marley's "Legend" coming to Rock Band next week is true, reports MTV Multiplayer. The one notable song missing from the DLC album release is "Get up, Stand up." You won't be stuck waiting in vain for this uplifting track, however, it's actually on the Rock Band 3 setlist. People, get ready, the complete "Legend" DLC details are posted after the break.
Rock Band 3 Pro guitar preview: the guitarist vs. the guitar hero
Since our brief glimpses at E3, we've managed to pick up Rock Band 3's new Pro guitars a few times -- both live on the Engadget Show and otherwise -- and have gotten a better feel for how both the Squier Stratocaster (a.k.a. the "real guitar") and Mad Catz's 102-buttoned Fender Mustang replica play. We'll save the in-depth coverage for the final review, but what follows is two separate impressions coming from two different perspectives: one from Ross Miller, a former guitar instructor with 12 years playing experience, and one from Sean Hollister, a Guitar Hero player with no musical background whatsoever. Head on after the break for our full impressions. %Gallery-101752%
Rumor: Bob Marley's Legend comes to Rock Band Sept. 21
RockBandAide reports that a recent special on VH1 revealed that the Bob Marley "greatest hits" compilation album "Legend" will hit the Rock Band Store on September 21. If true, this would put many of Marley's best songs up for grabs as DLC. Check out the full track list after the break and cross your fingers! Update: It's true.
Rock Band Weekly: Dio, Morrissey and many more
Next week's Rock Band DLC represents quite the buffet of artists. Dio's "Holy Diver" and "Stand Up and Shout" are in there, but you'll have to wait until Rock Band 3 to play the band's classic "Rainbow in the Dark." There's also a double-dose of Morrissey with "Irish Blood, English Heart" from his later solo days and "This Charming Man" from The Smiths era. Finally, you'll find tracks from Juliana Hatfield, Silverchair and Underoath. Check out the details after the break.
Rock Band 3 trailer shows off the power of love (and keyboards)
Don't call it a keytar! If you've been waiting for a chance to see Rock Band 3's new keyboard in action, Harmonix delivers just that in its latest trailer for October's music/rhythm release. We're certainly enticed by its addition to regular gameplay, but that Pro mode? Well, we'll leave it to ... someone else.
Video: See Rock Band 3 for DS in action
Maybe you had trouble picturing our description of Rock Band 3 for the DS -- that it looks and plays almost exactly like Rock Band Unplugged for the PSP. Don't worry though, because we're saving you all that mental taxation by posting an actual trailer right here. Alll you have to do is watch!
Rock Band Weekly: Snoop Dogg
Fo' rizzle, Snoop Dogg be the Rock Band DLCizzle next week. The track pack has been a long, long ... long time coming, but it's finally here to bust out flows like ... no. Sorry, no. We can't do this.
Rock Band Weekly: Country Pack 4
Next week's Rock Band DLC features various Grammy-winning, multiplatinum-selling country artists ... and yet, the one who jumps out is the lady who had her own sitcom. Complete details of the fourth country track pack can be found after the break.
Rock Band 3 trailer tickles the ivories
If our preview doesn't have you pumped to try out the keyboard in Rock Band 3, perhaps the latest trailer will. The video shows off a number of the songs suited to the new peripheral, including Yes' "Roundabout," Foreigner's "Cold as Ice" and more. Our only question: Where's the Rach 3?
Rock Band Weekly: More Disturbed tracks, We Are the Fallen debuts
You've had more than enough time to get up, come on get down with the sickness (haven't we all?), so this coming week's worth of other tracks from Disturbed in Rock Band should be quite pleasing. And hey, three tracks from Universal's Motown Republic label were thrown in as well for good measure.
Rock Band 3 songs leaked by video
A video coming out of Germany's Gamescom convention yesterday may have accidentally revealed a whole mess of unannounced tracks for upcoming rhythm/music title Rock Band 3. During an interview shot by YouTube user GottGamesShow (since taken down), an RB3 rep could be seen scrolling through the entire setlist for the game, apparently revealing tracks from John Lennon's "Imagine" to Devo's "Whip It." RockBandAide grabbed the whole list before the video went down, which we've dropped for you after the break. And though we've reached out to Harmonix and MTV Games for confirmation, we'd like to point out that, for now, the songs could potentially be future Rock Band Network tracks or simply placeholder. That said, we're hoping they're not -- we're pretty psyched about the two songs we already mentioned, and frankly, it's all about James Brown. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Preview: Rock Band 3 (DS)
Harmonix wouldn't provide any screenshots or footage of the DS version of Rock Band 3. But here's a good idea of what to expect. Yep, Rock Band 3 for DS is a lot like Rock Band Unplugged for PSP. If you're familiar with Unplugged, you should be able to jump right into Rock Band 3's Expert modes on DS. The gameplay is identical: all the instruments and the vocals are charted at once, and you freely switch between them as you attempt to successfully play note phrases to keep each part "alive." It's Harmonix's classic Frequency game, but with rock music. Rock Band 3 for DS doesn't take advantage of the touch screen or the built-in mic -- nor does it require you to pay attention to both screens at once. The top screen displays your characters performing, while the bottom screen is the familiar note stream. Nearly all of the features of Unplugged make a reappearance, but some are given new names. For example, "Band Survival Mode" is now called "Pro Mode," adopting the moniker given to the console game's biggest new feature (but you won't be plugging your MIDI instruments into the DS). Additionally, The Tour and Career modes have been enhanced in the some of the same ways as the console version: there are now "unique gameplay challenges" (objectives) that you'll need to achieve to progress.
Preview: Rock Band 3 keyboard, Pro Keys and Keys trainer
At a Harmonix event a few weeks ago, I finally got some solid fingers-on time with Rock Band 3's keyboard, and as a guy who took nearly 10 years of Friday afternoon piano lessons as a kid, I can say that it's a nice set of keys. The quality of the plastic ivories is not quite as good as your Grandma's classic Steinway, but better than a cheap Casio, and Harmonix has put just as much thought and design into the keytar* as it did into the previous Rock Band instruments. I also got to play with the game's trainer modes for the first time. Training is available for each of the three instruments, and rather than just a simple tutorial, the trainer is a fully interactive game that teaches you, step-by-step, the finer points of playing both the real and plastic gear. When teamed up with the instruments and a little bit of time and practice, Rock Band 3's trainer really seems like it can teach you the same things that Mrs. Crane taught me all those years ago.%Gallery-99242%
Rock Band 3 gets 10 more songs: Bob Marley, Slipknot, Roxette and more
Eurogamer has revealed 10 more songs that we'll be playing in Rock Band 3, and the list is all over the place -- Bob Marley, Roxette and Slipknot join eclectic groups like Mexico's Maná and Germany's Tokio Hotel. The music game series is definitely stretching the limits of its title, although "rock" as a genre can be pretty widespread anyway. You can find the full list of new songs after the break. These 10 tracks bring the list of known songs in the game to around 40, about half of the 83 to be included on the disc. And if that's not enough, you'll also be able to import songs from all of the previous Rock Band games, including the Rock Band Network and LEGO Rock Band. So there'll definitely be no shortage of music to play when the game comes out on October 26 this year.
Rock Band Weekly: The Black Keys, Neon Trees
It's a double dose of three packs for Rock Band DLC next week. The Black Keys were already revealed to be on the bill, while the Neon Trees remained relatively hidden -- irony. We've placed next week's Rock Band update details after the break.
Rock Band 3 Achievements charted
Rock Band 3 runs the gamut on its 1250 Achievement points (including DLC), as revealed by Xbox360Achievements.org. You'll get points for everything from calibrating your system to hitting all Triple Awesomes in three-part harmony on "Bohemian Rhapsody." 25G for me, for me, for meeeeeee!
ESRB reveals unannounced Dance Central tracks by warning about lyrics
The ESRB, in its noble quest to protect young ears from potentially offensive songs that were on the radio twenty years ago, has inadvertently revealed some unannounced Dance Central tracks. The ratings board identified several problematic lyrics, which Siliconera matched with their origin songs (warning: we're about to reproduce the offensive lyrics!) "Did your girl's butt" and "You're bound to get shot" can be found in Craig Mack's "Flava In Your Ear," "Meet him at the door with nothin' on" comes from Christina Milian's "Dip It Low," and, best of all, "Body is soft, makin' me wanna squish her" means that Wreckx-N-Effect's "Rump Shaker" is in the game (yessssssss). Other cited lyrics that Siliconera didn't identify include "The interior like suicide wrist red" (from Snoop Dogg's previously announced "Drop It Like It's Hot") and "Remove your underwear," which we can't quite identify either. We Googled it, but ... yeah.
Rock Band Weekly: Ministry
Ministry are back with a second pack of three songs for Rock Band DLC next week. Yes, it's been a long time since a Rock Band Weekly only had three tracks in it. We'll have to wait and see if this remains the trend leading up to the release of Rock Band 3 on October 26. We've administered next week's Rock Band update details after the break.
Viacom loses less on Rock Band year-over-year
It seems Viacom's striking fewer sour notes this year, with operating profits up $789 million -- good for 14 percent -- in its Media Networks division (the umbrella its video game business is under). According to the mega-corp, gains are due in part to lower losses from the Rock Band franchise. You know, we dinged Green Day: Rock Band for being a less lavish production than its Beatles-based predecessor, but it seems that (from a big picture perspective at least) the scaled-back approach and getting out of the instrument biz is paying off.
