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Hands (and feet) on with ION's Drum Rocker Rock Band Premium Drum Set
Rock Band 2 might not be out yet, but ION was kind enough to send us the new Drum Rocker Premium Drum Set a couple weeks early. Built like a tank, this thing makes the original Rock Band drum set look like the toy it is -- we're talking aluminum tube construction that apes traditional electronic rack kits, soft trigger surfaces that register velocity, and quarter-inch connections that'll make modding a dream. Of course, all that heft means that set-up took over an hour and it eats up just about twice as much living room space as the original with no easy way to take it down, but if you're a hardcore fake rocker and you don't have the DIY chops to roll your own, this is $300 you're gonna want to spend. A couple more quick impressions after the break, and tons of pictures in the gallery.Update: Joystiq also got a chance to check this bad boy out, they didn't like it quite as much as we did. Take a peek here. %Gallery-30410%
DIY Rock Band drum kit ditches everything but the bare necessities
While there's certainly plenty of off-the-shelf options out there for folks dissatisfied by the stock Rock Band drum kit, those looking to really dial things up to eleven may want to follow the lead of this modder from EDrums.info, who created a mesh head drum set with some wood, some new components, and plenty of skill. As you can see in the multi-page how-to linked below, however, this isn't exactly a one-day project (for mere mortals, at least), and there's no shortage of opportunities for complete disaster once you start tearing the original drum kit apart. If you persevere though, you'll not only be able to impress you friends with your Rock Band skills, but your actual drumming skills as well, as it can also be turned into a real drum kit with the addition of a drum module. And, yes, there is a video -- head on past the break to check it out.[Thanks, Jonathan A]
Microsoft says Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour, and Rock Revolution instruments to be cross-compatible on 360 as well
It's sad that the petty bickering between Activision, Harmonix, and Konami required console makers to step up and ensure that gamers didn't end up with piles of redundant plastic instrument controllers, but things are starting to get better -- just as Sony did yesterday, Microsoft announced that it's requiring Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Revolution to be cross-compatible on the Xbox 360. The post on Redmond's Gamerscore blog isn't chock-full of details, but we'll commend Microsoft and Sony for getting involved to make sure that all the lawsuits and infighting don't adversely affect their customers -- now if they could only find a way to make those drumkits actually fit into a living room, we'd be all set.[Via Joystiq]
Sony nails down music peripheral compatibility with upcoming titles
With all the incompatibility out there among Guitar Hero / Rock Band instruments, it's a real treat to see something like this. The Director of Publisher Relations at SCEA has posted an update that promises compatibility between instruments and software for upcoming titles; for instance, Guitar Hero: World Tour's guitars and drums will work with Rock Band 2 and Konami's Rock Revolution software, and Rock Band 2's guitar and drum set will work with Guitar Hero: World Tour and with Rock Revolution. Furthermore, the team is still "working hard to ensure compatibility between the Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles currently on the market," though we are told that an announcement on that could surface "shortly." Rock 'n roll harmony, baby.[Image courtesy of BeSportier]
Warner Music wants more money for licensed songs
Developers vying for a slice of the rhythm game pie may soon find the cost to dig in to be increasing -- at least if they want players to nod along with music they know. According to Reuters, Warner Music's top exec Edgar Bronfman has come forward, stating that game companies should pay more to the music industry in order to include licensed tunes in their music-based games.Says Bronfman, who compared the relationship to the likes of MTV or Apple's iPod, "The amount being paid to the music industry, even though their games are entirely dependent on the content we own and control, is far too small." Given Warner's interest in music currently flowing through both Guitar Hero III and Rock Band, not to mention the war that is about to unfold on living room stages later this year, it will be interesting to see who will 5-star this game of financial tug-of-war.
Mad Catz Rock Band 2 cymbals, portable drums, premium mic, and more: spy shots galore
We promise this is the last Rock Band 2 post of the day (okay, maybe hour), but we were just pulled aside at E3 to peep some less-than over-the-radar product sheets for some upcoming Mad Catz accessories. First off, the Premium M.I.C. ($50) is said to have "studio quality" sound all the while including control buttons -- something we didn't realize was missing from the original Rock Band mic until we thought about it. Then we spotted the Portable Drums ($60), which is great news for those of you who excel at drums but like to play Rock Band on the road. They can be used on any surface and even come with foldable drum sticks. Next up, the Official Cymbals ($30 for a pack of 3 or $15 each) for the new Rock Band 2 drum kit are coming from Mad Catz. Remember those three 1/8-inch plugs on the back of the drum kit head? Yeah, these plug into those. Finally, the Kick Drum Screen doesn't really do much, but it certainly will make you look like a pseudo-real drummer (depending on the angle). Mad Catz says all of these random accessories will hit store shelves this fall. Oh, and apologies for the image quality -- these were literally taken in the corner of a crowded room with maybe two seconds of view time per page.%Gallery-27964%
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero: World Tour to work with Rock Band instruments
Good news, plastic rockers -- Activision announced at E3 today that its upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour game will work with Rock Band's controllers, including the drumkit, and that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith on Xbox 360 has received an update that "should" make the game compatible with Harmonix's axes. Nothing too wild on the Aerosmith tip, as the guitars should just work now (finally!), but Activision's had to do some work to make World Tour play nice: the game is designed for a five-pad drumkit, but it'll compress down to four to work with Rock Band's set. See? Friends all around. Is that so hard, guys?Read - Guitar Hero: Aerosmith updatedRead - Guitar Hero: World Tour
StarPex wooden guitar controller adds a little heft to your rock
Sure, Guitar Hero and Rock Band have fake plastic Gibson and Fender controllers, but cheap plastic ain't exactly rock'n'roll -- which is why this new StarPex PS2 / PS3 guitar controller looks pretty sweet. The ersatz Strat features a hardwood body and neck crafted by "a leading guitar manufacturer" (we'd bet $100 it's made by Samick), as well as solo buttons, an Overdrive / Star Power button in addition to the tilt sensor, and both wired and wireless capabilities. On top of that, the electronics are modular, so you'll eventually be able to swap parts and build your own custom axe. Sounds great -- but you better start singing in the subway, since this thing'll set you back $179 when it goes on sale late next month. Yeah, maybe we'll stick with the plastic axes after all.
Rock Band adding seven countries to ticket in July
No longer will Belgium virtual rockers have to settle for playing air guitar to dreams of living room stardom, as Harmonix and MTV have announced plans to bring Rock Band to Belgians, as well as those in six other countries later this month, including Italy, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Luxembourg. According to the duo, the Xbox 360 version of Rock Band will be the lead SKU in these territories, shipping on July 24, with other fake instrument flavors arriving sometime later in the fall. As with the existing European release, the disc will include all 58 tracks found on the North American version as well as nine non-English tunes such as Die Toten Hosen's Hier Kommt Alex, Oasis' Rock 'n' roll star, and Playmo's New Wave. We welcome our new friends to the stage -- may you never fail out and your fingers never cramp.
Ion's $300 "Drum Rocker" premium drum kit for Rock Band unveiled
Well, that was quick. We mentioned Ion's fancy drum kit yesterday, which will be released around when Rock Band 2 ships, but works with both Rock Band games, and now we've got a price and a press shot of the Drum Rocker. The $300 set has high-durability pads, which are supposed to play quiet and will register the velocity of your hits, but the real win is the re-configurability of the whole set -- much like a for-realises electronic drum kit. We're also really digging the metal-reinforced kick pedal, which seems a major improvement over the junky, difficult pedal packaged with the original game. Only $300? We'll take two.[Via Joystiq]
Rock Band 2: Ion drum kit, real Fender Strats, 7 new songs
Another seven songs have been revealed from Rock Band 2's tracklist of 80 songs in the latest issue of Game Informer magazine. This makes a total of 17 songs officially known so far. The 7 songs are: Bon Jovi - "Livin' on a Prayer" Steve Miller Band - "Rock 'n Me" Joan Jett - "Bad Reputation" Social Distortion - "I Was Wrong" Rage Against the Machine - "Testify" Avenged Sevenfold - "Almost Easy" Billy Idol - "White Wedding Pt. 1" Notice that every single one of these songs are on the earlier leaked list from 8bitfix, so that increases the possibility the rest of the songs on the list are correct. Other improvements disclosed in the extensive article include a more user-friendly lag calibration, quieter buttons on the guitar and quieter pads on the drums, simulated tuning during loading screens and more.Ion, a maker of real drum kits, will release a premium Rock Band drum kit which will have "amazing" cymbals and pads, and the option to plug it into a real drum brain and for usage as a real electronic drum kit. Harmonix will also be producing limited edition guitars by taking a couple of real Fender Strats, ripping out the insides, and replacing each one of them with Rock Band parts. Sounds fancy, and very expensive. Who's first in line to sell their organs for one?[Via Joystiq]
Konami sues Harmonix, Viacom, and MTV over Rock Band
Alright, this is getting a little silly. First it was Gibson claiming that Rock Band and Guitar Hero violated a patent covering "simulating a musical performance," and now Konami is suing Harmonix, Viacom, and MTV Game because Rock Band allegedly violates a similar set of patents covering "simulated musical instruments" and "musical rhythm-based matching games." Filed in good ol' Marshall, the suit seeks the big green in damages and an order preventing the sale of Rock Band's instruments. Interestingly, Gamasutra noticed last year that the fine print on Activision's Guitar Hero homepage says the game is covered by the Konami patents in question, so it appears that Activision's managed to reach a licensing agreement with Konami -- which, if true, doesn't necessarily bode well for Harmonix and company. No one's commenting yet, but we hear Harmonix's lawyers are furiously punching in the old up-up-down-down trying to get this to go away.Read - Wired article on the lawsuitRead - Gamasutra articleRead - Konami's complaint (PDF)Read - Konami patent covering simulated musical instruments (PDF)Read - Konami patent covering musical arcade machines (PDF)Read - Konami patent covering musical game machines (PDF)
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith won't play nice with Rock Band guitars
While the axe that comes with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is pretty sweet, if you were hoping to just get the game and use your Rock Band guitar, you're out of luck. Despite rumors that Activision had opened its doors to the Harmonix-made Rock Band guitar controllers, early users of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith are reporting that the Xbox 360 version game isn't being so friendly after all. The sad message: "An unsupported guitar peripheral has been detected. Connect either a Guitar Hero guitar or Xbox 360 controller and press START to continue." It's like they never even knew each other.
Rock Band 2 gets official for this fall, new guitar revealed
While the original Rock Band is still going strong, Harmonix is already looking towards the next bit of kit that it hopes will be cluttering your place, with it now getting official with Rock Band 2 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This time around, it seems the Xbox 360 will be getting a jump on things with a launch in September, with the PS3 version set to follow "later in the year." Both of those will, naturally, be coming with all new instruments, including the tasty Fender Stratocaster pictured above, but you will be able to use your current gear if you want to spare the extra clutter and save a few bucks. What's more, you'll also be able to carry over all your current downloaded content and, as IGN reports, you'll even be able to download and play new tracks on Rock Band 1 once Rock Band 2 is out. Of course, Harmonix is saving most of the details for E3 next month, but you can find a few more tidbits in IGN's interview with Harmonix's Dan Teasdale available at the read link below.
Mad Catz apt to release Rock Band instruments next week
Whoa, wait a minute -- Mad Catz signed on to produce Rock Band instruments? Sure enough, the deal was announced shortly before CES 2008 consumed our lives, and now we're hearing whispers that the first products from said agreement could hit stores as early as next week. We're talking a Fender bass ($69.99), Telecaster ($79.99), microphone ($59.99), portable drum kit ($49.99) and a premium drum set ($149.99). From what we can glean, everything listed above will be tethered, but we aren't writing off wireless versions just yet. Oh, and be sure you consult with the SO before you up and purchase a second kit for the den -- you can't afford for that first one to get defenestrated.
Rock Band's drum kit for Wii tested, actually a bit different
Oh, hey, is that the Wii Rock Band drum kit? On shag, you say? And wireless with the included dongle? Say, is that all white plastic? Well, it turns out this kit has basically the same feeling as its other-platform counterparts, with the exception of some softer drum pads and a strengthened kick pedal. Sold, Harmonix, sold.
DIY: Make your Rock Band drum kit wheelchair accessible
The raw, unbridled power of The Rocking is an equal opportunity force that can be tapped by anyone with a strong enough desire to evoke its boundless energies. Unfortunately, physical restrains can often limit a person's personal rocking aptitude, as most instruments are not created with those with disabilities in mind. Take, for instance, the Rock Band drum kit, which has a pedal that cannot be operated by those inflicted with paraplegia and other ailments affecting the lower body.Fortunately, for every peripheral made unaccessible to those with disabilities, there's an altruistic, MacGuyver-esque modder with a solution. The folks over at Kinetic Communications recently solved the bass drum dilemma with a doorbell receiver and some audio cable, placing the foot pedal substitute directly onto a pair of drumsticks -- and it only cost them around $20. If you're in need for a stick-pedal, they've got simple instructions on how to make your own. Rick Allen would be so very proud.
Rock Band Drum Kit accessibility mod helps everybody rock harder
While we of course rock oh-so-very-hard on Rock Band's drums, the pedal just never felt right under our weakling calves. The problem is naturally exacerbated for folks in wheelchairs, since there's no way to avoid the kick drum or re-route it to another button -- at least out of the box. Some folks at Kinetic Communications modded up a doorbell to work as the kick drum button and screwed it to a drum stick. Not the prettiest mod in the world, but it got their wheelchair-bound buddy drumming for about $20, and it shouldn't be hard to replicate their instructions.
Rock Band Stage Kit smoke machine and strobe light in pictures
GameStop leaked the existence of the $100 Rock Band Stage Kit back in January, and it's updated the listing with the first pictures we've seen of the included smoke machine and strobe light. The smoke machine looks fairly ordinary, but the light features controls so Rock Band vocalists can apparently blind themselves while making selections. The kit's listed with a ship date of August 15, but who knows if that's accurate -- and considering you can pick up a real fogger and strobe light sufficient to glam out your living room for all of $50, we're not exactly waiting on pins and needles.[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Rock Band Weekly: The Cars' self-titled debut album
This week The Cars' 1978 self-titled debut record becomes the latest full album available from Rock Band's music store. Currently, it's keeping Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance company. Who's Next? Yeah, we're wondering that too.The Cars album (1200 MS points / $15) -- All songs are also sold individually (160 MS Points / $2) "Good Times Roll" "My Best Friend's Girl" "Just What I Needed" "I'm in Touch with Your World" "Don't Cha Stop" "You're All I've Got Tonight" "Bye Bye Love" "Moving in Stereo" "All Mixed Up" Videos for all this week's songs (the second week in a row of large Rock Band Weekly post video hunts) can be found after the break. The Cars will be available tomorrow on Xbox 360 and Thursday on PlayStation 3.
