RockBand
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Rock Band for iOS to remain playable after all
We had the original story on this waiting in our queue for a couple of days while we hoped EA would answer the question, "Why is an app people paid for being 'shut off' remotely?" Unfortunately we never got an answer. To sum up: EA released Rock Band for iOS way back in 2009, but within the past week users saw a notification (above), alerting them that the app would cease to function after May 31. As often happens when people are getting robbed by a major corporation, folks took to the Internet to express their displeasure. Today, we see reports that a new alert has appeared -- one stating the app will continue to be playable after May 31. Well, that's good, because bait-and-switch tactics don't win many fans. I don't know about you, but I think this whole thing is ridiculous and really not what Apple promised should happen with apps. Further, EA should have immediately sent out a release indicating this was an error. Unless it wasn't. Joystiq reports EA will tell us "soon" what was really going on here. I can't wait to hear the explanation.
You Rock strums its way into Rock Band 3 Pro mode
Those seeking the upper echelons of virtual guitar wizardry have a third option now -- the You Rock Guitar, which is now compatible with Rock Band 3's Pro mode. So long as you've also got Mad Catz' MIDI-Pro adapter handy, the multi-touch fret board sounds like a solid middle ground between the uber-realistic Squier Stratocaster strings and the tiny toy-like fret keys of the Mustang Pro, and at roughly $200 street it's priced right between the others as well. PR after the break, and find our early impressions of the You Rock here.
Rock Band Mobile will let four players jam over Verizon's 4G LTE network
There's no shortage of applications out there to demonstrate the potential of Verizon's 4G LTE network, but Electronic Arts' just showed off one of the more impressive ones to date at its CES 2011 press conference. It demoed its forthcoming Rock Band Mobile game for Android, which will let up to four players "jam together over the network," making it the first game that can be played with friends over the network at launch. Not much more than that to go on at the moment, but we're certainly eager to try this one out for ourselves. Update: Press release is after the break with the complete track listing. Jethro Tull is headed to 4G.
Best Buy nabs exclusive Rock Band 3 Squier Stratocaster
If you're in the market for a new Rock Band axe, it looks like you'll be heading to Best Buy very, very soon. That's right, the Rock Band 3 Squier Stratocaster is seemingly a BB exclusive. The $280 peripheral, which requires the MIDI PRO-Adapter to function, will hit shelves on March 1st. Until then, we'll just have to be happy with the Mustang Pro.
Mad Catz ships Rock Band 3 MIDI Pro adapter, gives your keyboard and drum set new life
Talk about just in time. With merely weeks to go before Mr. Claus makes his wintry journey 'round the globe, Mad Catz has decided to finally ship a peripheral that was introduced way back in June. Without a doubt, the MIDI Pro adapter is one of the more intriguing music game accessories to hit the open market, enabling Rock Band 3 owners to use most MIDI keyboards and drum sets with the title. The box is shipping as we speak for Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Wii, and the Xbox 360 variant should be headed to Best Buy in the coming hours. If you'll recall, this guy's also designed to work with the forthcoming Rock Band 3 Squier guitar / controller, and it even features a velocity sensitive adjustment for MIDI drums designed to reduce cross-talk during play. At $39.99, it's a no-brainer for those who already own a MIDI instrument or two, but we just might be more excited about the hacking possibilities than anything else. DIYers, get at it! %Gallery-108753%
Squier Stratocaster for Rock Band 3 set to tour March 1st for $280
We've been waiting on this one for quite awhile... and well, we've got awhile longer. Fender has come clean with the price and release date of its Squier-branded Stratocaster for Rock Band 3 will hit the road on March 1st for just a penny shy of $280. The six-stringed warrior -- which also serves as a MIDI controller and a real instrument -- has far and away been our favorite method of playing the rhythm game's new pro guitar mode, and though the button-laden Mustang is available now for just over half the price, it really doesn't compare to the real thing here. Even the January 1st pre-order seems a ways off -- guess we'll be brushing up on our keytar skills in the meantime.
Rock Band 3 Fender Mustang Pro guitar review
Next week's Rock Band 3 launch marks a giant step for the franchise, with the pro mode edging its gameplay closer to actual musicianship. The keyboards and drums are easier transitions to make, given what's essentially one-to-one mapping for notes and logical input solutions. But what about a guitar, arguably the genre's flagship instrument? We've seen and tried two solutions to the pro guitar input conundrum: the Squier Stratocaster, an actual guitar that's still not ready for primetime, and the Mad Catz Fender Mustang, a 102-button replica more reminiscent of peripheral than instrument. Still, with a mid-November release date, the latter's likely to be your only official option for pro guitar rocking this holiday. So, how does it fare? Read on to find out! P.S. For all your other Rock Band 3 queries, check out Joystiq's exhaustive review! %Gallery-105735%
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%
iLoveHandles turns nano iPods into oversized watches
What happens when Apple introduces a square-shaped new iPod and adorns it with an analog watch face for a lock screen? A whole new cottage industry sprouts up, whereby entrepreneurial types dust off old and mostly worthless watch straps, cut out an iPod nano-shaped compartment in them, and charge you $19.99 for the privilege of turning your tiny PMP into a somewhat bulky wristwatch. The saddest part about this is that we've got a feeling they might be on to a winner here.
Rock Band 3 crashing into living rooms on October 26
Look, it's summer break. What better to do than learn a little piano in preparation for the upcoming release of Harmonix's Rock Band 3? The next installment -- which promises to bring all sorts of new kit to the market -- was finally given a release date today, and not surprisingly, it'll be quickly climbing the Santa Lists of rug-rats the world over. According to the company, the title will ship on October 26th in North America, with the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 versions priced at $59.99 sans hardware and the DS rendition at $29.99. Hop on past the break if you're interested in learning about your wealth of pre-order options.
Rock Band 3 Fender Mustang Pro guitar controller and MIDI-Pro adapter eyes-on
We still can't get time with the Fender Mustang Pro guitar controller while actually playing Rock Band 3, but the gang at the Mad Catz booth were fine enough with us letting us toy around on its own, sans game. So, how does it feel just silently going through chords and scales? Sturdy as can be, sure, and the 100-plus buttons for the neck feel like they'll stand up for a good bit of time. That said, it felt harder than a real guitar locating the strings and frets -- especially a pain for faster chord changing. Also a burden? No ability to bend strings -- not that you'll be able to bend on the Squier Stratocaster either, as it turns out, but that's a whole 'nother issue. We also got some eyes on the MIDI Pro Adapter for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii; there isn't much to look at for now, but if you get your kicks from plastic dongles, hey, we've got all the photos you need below. %Gallery-95481% %Gallery-95483%
Rock Band 3 keyboard hands-on (video)
The internet at large has been joking about it long enough -- "hey, where's Keyboard Hero?" Well, here it is, and it's pretty killer. We're on the fence on how to describe our experience with Rock Band 3's not-a-keytar, because in many ways it's reflective of your own thoughts on the rhythm genre and pianos in general. Those with actual musical backgrounds are likely to scoff at the easy mode's use of five arbitrary keys for the tune -- not the groupings you see above, but a different set of colors, one per white note in the right half, with indicators just above the notes on that crevice between the top panel and keys themselves (picture's after the break). Even if the actual song calls for a F# note, hitting a F or even a B might be called for instead. It's a mentality that's as old as the genre, that what we're really doing is pantomiming instruments -- or in the case of drums, just hitting key notes and letting the game fill in the blanks on lower difficulties. This, however, is an actual piano. The over-simplification is probably a necessary illusion in standard mode -- or even when the keyboard is used as a replacement guitar / bass -- but having actual proper keys will probably drive the more musically apt insane. Then again, if you're not of that mindset, none of this will probably bother you at all, so feel free to ignore our impressions and bang away. Pro mode, on the other hand is pretty killer, for all the reasons that standard mode can be irksome. Even at the simplest levels, you're actually getting to play proper notation. Perfect for us, no matter how badly we flubbed up "Crosstown Traffic" on Expert. Sight-reading is a challenge, but nothing worse than actual notation. As we've seen before, the main lane doesn't show all two octaves, but the warning we're given before shifting to the right or left is easy enough to follow, but just like when you first grabbed the plastic axe, expect a good bit of adjustment frustration. See more pics below, and video after the break. Update: Clarification added to the different color groupings used for Pro and Standard mode. %Gallery-95363%
Rock Band 3 Squier Stratocaster plays both real and virtual guitar... at the same time (video)
As unfair as it is, what initially gave us hesitation about Mad Catz and Squier's Stratocaster Pro guitar controller was that, well, it's Fender's second-tier brand. Despite these prejudices from our youth, Harmonix pretty much sold us on it with one pretty badass trick: the ability to simultaneously play Rock Band 3 on Pro Expert and rock the same tune through an amplifier. Bonus: in the presentation we saw, extra notes and added fills didn't seem to affect score. So, that just about turns the uncanny valley of plastic peripherals on its head. Just make sure you crank your TV's sound system to 11 to not be drowned out from what's likely an even worse screw-up sound. See for yourself in the video after the break (caution: a few naughty words contained within).%Gallery-95362%
Rock Band 3's gear priced: keytar and Pro guitar sport MIDI out, adapter lets you use any keyboard / electronic drum set
Has your head cooled from all that rock news this morning? Nope? Well, we'd hate to rile you up again, but Mad Catz -- now the official provider of all Rock Band 3 equipment -- has priced its latest arsenal for the upcoming rhythm revival title. There's also a few new details on each instrument, so without further ado: Wireless Keyboard: That MIDI port many of you spotted is for output, letting you plug the two-octave (C3 to C5) velocity-sensitive keytar directly into MIDI sequencers for non-gaming use. It'll set you back $80, with an optional stand to be sold separately (no price given) alongside the game's launch. Buying the keyboard / game bundle will be $130, or about $10 off individual purchases. Oh, and if you want to feel a bit more techno, this puppy can be used as the guitar / bass input. MIDI PRO-Adapter: Want to use your own keyboard or electronic drum set? Here's the mediator you need, from MIDI to USB to console, and it sports the D-pad and other necessary gamepad buttons as well as velocity sensitivity adjustment controls. Asking price is $40. Pro Cymbals Expansion kit: three cymbals, apparently rejiggered from RB2's offerings for quieter play and a pre-defined 10 degree angle. It's $40 for this hi-hat, crash, and ride pack. Wireless Fender Mustang Pro Guitar Controller: Not the Squier hybrid we saw, this one actually sports a multitude of buttons for each string, spanning 17 frets (102 buttons in all). Actual strings are used for the plucking and strumming, and here's something interesting -- the axe has a MIDI output for software sequencers. This behemoth is $150, or approximately 1.5 Benjamins in your local currency. Pictures of each instrument -- and the yet-to-be-priced Squier -- in the gallery below, as well as a few screen caps of Pro mode so you can get an idea how exactly it'll "correct you" on proper Bohemian Rhapsody finger picking. %Gallery-94999%
Rock Band 3 gets 'Pro' mode, real guitar hybrid controller and keytar revealed -- Devo be praised
Wrap your head around this one: a 150-button guitar peripheral. That's for the pro version of Rock Band 3, whose goal is to actually turn the controllers into something more fitting of actual musicianship in a separate, more advanced "Pro" mode (the core game is still intact for those want it). First up is the aforementioned two-octave keyboard / keytar, whose difficulty goes from pressing within one of five ranges to actual dead-on notes. For drums, the three cymbals can now actually function as separate notes, sharing three lanes but given their own shape to know which to hit. Guitar, however, is a whole new beast. A $150 Fender Mustang pro (pictured up top) boasts 17 frets and 6 strings of accurate placement for a total of 102 buttons, and six nylon strings that must be plucked individually. Of course, if that hits the uncanny valley of plastic peripherals too closely, there's a Rock Band 3 Squier Stratocaster that'll be coming out that can actually be used as a real guitar or a Pro model. Vocal melodies from Beatles Rock Band carry over here. No concrete release date; head on over to new Joystiq for the preview, or if you want to see true trendsetters, watch Devo predict this game all the way from 1982 -- that video's after the break.
Rock Band 3 keyboard revealed, looks like a keyboard!
We've been wondering how a keyboard would look in the Rock Band universe: a row of colored buttons would make it hardly different than the guitar peripheral, while a real keyboard would... be just as hard to play as a real keyboard. Well, it looks like someone smarter than us has tackled the problem, implementing a Hannah Montana-style "Best of Both Worlds" solution. The keyboard spans two octaves of for-serious white and blacks, but there's a row of colored labels above those keys. How narrowly you're required to hit the "real" key corresponding to the note in the song is based on what difficulty level you choose -- on the easier levels you just have to smash into the correctly colored neighborhood. Oh, and for those hoping to play this keytar-style? the keyboard is designed to work on a lap or strapped over a shoulder. Check out the video below the fold to see it in action.
Gibson's Rock Band lawsuit ends in settlement, one way or another
Back in 2008, Gibson Guitar hoped to cash in on the Rock Band craze with a slate of patent infringement lawsuits of dubious quality, and though the firm lost to Activision a year later, its suits against Harmonix, Electronic Arts, Viacom, and six major retailers stirred something in Nashville's rock gods. Though exact terms weren't disclosed, the parties reached a settlement in a Tennessee federal court this week, and plan to bring the lawsuit to an end by June 14th. Meanwhile, we hear Harmonix v. Konami is meeting a similar end; retailers should be able to sell cheap plastic guitars with a infinitesimally cleaner conscience in a little over three months.
Rock Band 3 purportedly gaining keytar peripheral, infinite amounts of our love
Look, we've no qualms with keyboards -- Elton John is permanently embedded in our playlists, it'll be the first instrument we teach our robotic children, and it's easily the most underrated part of Justin Bieber's spectacularness. But there's no arguing that having a keytar peripheral is far, far more awesome in the grand scheme of things. According to the same mole on ArsTechnica that has correctly nailed a new PS3 bundle, the PSP go and Xbox 360 price cuts, Rock Band 3 will feature a new keytar peripheral, which will undoubtedly destroy our productivity for an indefinite amount of time. We're also told that Mad Catz will be taking over the production of RB hardware, leaving Harmonix only responsible for touching up the software. There's still no indication of when this mythical device will be hitting your local Game Stop, but it's certainly safe to slide your pre-order alert system to Orange.
Harmonix teases keyboards for Rock Band 3
Harmonix hasn't been dishing out a ton of Rock Band 3 details lately apart from confirming that it'll be out this holiday season, but it just revealed a big one in the demo for Green Day: Rock Band. If that not so subtle teaser above is any indication, it looks like Rock Band 3 will be adding keyboards to the equation. Nothing more to go on than that at the moment, but we can only assume this also means that Activision will soon be hard at work on Keytar Hero, and that "Axel F" will be stuck in your head starting right.... now.
Gameloft says they've got iPhone locked down
Gameloft is one of the bigger iPhone-specific (or at least mobile-specific) game developers out there, and in fact they're so big, they tell Mobile Entertainment that they're not scared of their development partner Ubisoft and other big game developers headed to the iPhone. Ubisoft developed the most recent Assassin's Creed game for the iPhone, but Gameloft developed the first, and Gameloft's Gonzague de Vallois says that their game had better ratings and sales. To a certain extent, yes, the App Store creates a level playing field for game developers, and allows companies even smaller than Gameloft to get their games out to a mass audience and gain a following based simply on gameplay, not necessarily marketing or other factors. But despite Gameloft's bragging, some of the most popular titles on the App Store, from Rock Band to Call of Duty: World at War Zombies, are able to tie a successful brand into an app that features solid gameplay. Yes, Gameloft has been able to shine on the App Store. But I wouldn't count big developers out yet -- they're still learning how to use the iPhone's marketplace, and I think we'll continue to see big successes from bigger developer in the future. [Via Slide-to-play]
