RockBand
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Mtley Cre single downloaded on Rock Band five times more than on iTunes
We've heard tell of the incredible success Harmonix has seen with their weekly downloadable tracks for Rock Band. Often, their sales numbers are matched up against those of Guitar Hero III, where tracks are more seldom, but also sell like diamond-encrusted hotcakes. As enjoyable as these track packs are, we've yet to see any comparison between them and actual music retailers, digital or otherwise -- that is, until Mötley Crüe's new single simultaneously rocked the faces off of music downloaders and DLC collectors alike.The song, "Saints of Los Angeles", came from the glam-band's upcoming album, and dropped onto iTunes, Zune, Amazon, and the Xbox 360 version of Rock Band on April 15. In it's first week of availability, digital distributors sold 10,000 copies of the single, but dedicated faux-rockers downloaded 47,000 copies of the track from the 360 Rock Band Music Store, according to Reuters. Could this inspire more record labels to debut new albums and singles on Harmonix's golden goose title? We certainly hope so.[Via Evil Avatar]
Guitar Hero IV gets a name, official features, and release date-ish
When it comes to sussing out info on Guitar Hero IV, we've seen blurry images and scanned pictures, but now Activision is getting all official on us with a Fall release date and complete feature list. So here's what we know: Guitar Hero: World Tour (as it's called) will include a drum kit with cymbals, a new guitar controller, and a microphone. In terms of game modes, look for a Music Studio music creator that will let you compose, record, edit, and share your own music -- fear that -- and an 8-player "Battle of the Bands" should keep things interesting both on and offline. They're calling it "The Guitar Hero experience reinvented" and we can't argue with that, at least until the game actually comes out in Fall 2008 for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and PS2. Peep the official trailer and Lenny Kravitz ubiquity after the break.[Via Boy Genius]
Rock Band Weekly: European release tracks
Hopefully, people have been brushing up on their non-English. This week's Rock Band Weekly brings us the songs packaged with the European release of Rock Band. We've known for a while these tracks were coming as DLC, and Harmonix has seen fit to do it the week of Rock Band's European release. Also, all DLC available in North America should be available in Europe beginning May 20.Individual songs "Beetlebum" - Blur (Cover, 160 MS Points / $2) "Hier Kommt Alex" - Die Toten Hosen (160 MS Points / $2) "Countdown to Insanity" - H-BlockX (160 MS Points / $2) "Perfekte Welle" - Juli (160 MS Points / $2) "Manu Chao" - Les Wampas (160 MS Points / $2) "Hysteria" - Muse (160 MS Points / $2) "Rock N Roll Star" - Oasis (160 MS Points / $2) "New Wave" - Pleymo (160 MS Points / $2) "Monsoon" - Tokio Hotel (160 MS Points / $2) Le sigh, videos for all of next week's tracks can be found after the break. The DLC will be available next Tuesday and Thursday for Xbox 360 and PS3 respectively.
Konami unveils Rock Revolution drums, forgets to try
Brilliant, just brilliant. As if Rock Band wasn't living room clutter enough, Activision is busting out a drumset for Guitar Hero IV, and now Konami is getting in on the "pretending to play music" meme with its very own Rock Revolution title. If the oversaturation of incompatible music peripherals wasn't enough to make you take pause, the janky-ass nature of Konami's kit certainly might. Granted, there are more things to hit on Konami's set, Rock Revolution allows you to improvise in between the proscribed hits, and doesn't require that pesky kick drum until midway through its five difficulty levels, but MTV Multiplayer's Patrick Klepek didn't have too easy of a time hitting on it, while his buddy did a lot of plastic smashing attempting to improvise -- not a promising start. Oh, what was that? We can play "Sk8er boi"? We take it all back, when can we buy?[Via Joystiq]
Rock Band ships 3 million 'bundled' units, 10 million songs downloaded
Harmonix's grand-parent company, Viacom, announced today as part of its Q1 earnings that Rock Band has shipped three million "bundled units." GameDaily reports that the company also stated that Harmonix has had over 10 million songs downloaded for the game.The last report we had was that Harmonix hit the six million DLC song mark in mid-March, which means the new music store apparently did help accelerate sales. Viacom's CEO said that Rock Band is emerging as a valuable long-term franchise and he expects further success from the Wii and European launches.
PS2 to PS3 converter bridges the Rock Band / Guitar Hero divide
It doesn't look like Activision and Harmonix are ever going to make nice and implement broad hardware compatibility for Rock Band and Guitar Hero controllers, but if you've got a sizable investment in PS2 gear, The Ant Commandos' new converter might let you ignore all the nastiness and keep rockin' anyway. TAC's Universal PS2-to-PS3 Converter is compatible with PS3 Rock Band and PS2 / PS3 GHIII, and it works with basically every PS2 axe you can think of, wired and wireless. Not bad for just $20, but c'mon, guys, let's just make this stuff work for real, alright?
Rock Band kick pedal modded for double bass action
It's one thing to use a real live stompbox to activate Overdrive; it's another to hack up your Rock Band kick pedal to enable that sweet, sweet double bass action that Lars Ulrich, Joey Jordison and the rest of the crew (read: you) just have to have. As you'd expect, there's a bit more to it than just adding in a splitter, but if you're not frightened by circuitry diagrams and having to ask the hobby store guy for a 5-volt power supply, you'll be more than fine. Check out the video demonstration after the jump, and tap the read link for the full list of instructions.[Via MAKE]
Xbox 360 wireless Rock Band guitar starting to show up in stores
We've been waiting for Harmonix to deliver the promised Xbox 360 wireless Rock Band guitar controller for a while now, and it looks the company is stealthily getting them out there. Pre-orders have been trickling out for about a week, and alert reader Greg just sent us these shots of the controller in the wild at his local Best Buy. Oddly, he says the in-store price is $79.99 while the BestBuy.com price is $59.99, so if you're looking to cut the cord, you might want to save some cash and order online. Oh, and remember -- this bad boy doesn't work with Guitar Hero, so don't say we didn't warn you. One more shot after the break.
Rock Band Weekly: Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance
The Rock Band store gets its first full album this week with Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance. The Rock Band forums also mention that The Cars' The Cars and the Pixies' Doolittle are coming in the "near future." The Who's Who's Next is still on the docket, but apparently isn't what's next.Screaming for Vengeance album (1200 MS points / $15) -- All songs are also sold individually (160 MS Points / $2), except "The Hellion" and "Electric Eye," which are bundled at the price of one track. "The Hellion" "Electric Eye" "Riding on the Wind" "Bloodstone" "(Take These) Chains" "Pain and Pleasure" "Screaming for Vengeance" "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" "Fever" "Devil's Child" The videos for this week's Rock Band DLC are after the break ... and sweet mercy, it'd better be appreciated this week. Screaming for Vengeance will be available today on Xbox 360 and Thursday for the PS3.
Guitar Hero IV to get drumkit, microphone?
Hey hey, what's this? Not only is Activision CEO Bobby Kotick quoted in this month's Conde Nast Portfolio saying that future versions of Guitar Hero will have "other instruments" and "vocals," but our crew over at Joystiq says that a source within Activision has confirmed that Guitar Hero IV will feature a microphone and drumkit, and that Activision is planning on pumping out new downloadable content as often as "weekly" once Guitar Hero: Aerosmith comes out in June. These aren't particularly surprising developments, considering how well Rock Band went over, but here's hoping Activision and Harmonix can set aside their differences at least long enough to make those drumkits compatible -- as anyone with Rock Band knows, they don't exactly disappear in a living room.Read - Interview with Activision CEO Bobby Kotick in PortfolioRead - Joystiq post about Guitar Hero IV
Rock Band Wii 'bonus songs' already released on 360/PS3
"Bonus" means different things to different people. Harmonix has revealed the Wii's additional Rock Band tracks, and they're a collection of songs you might have already downloaded on the 360 and PS3. There's nothing wrong with that, but why all the secrecy and hype? Here's the list of the five tracks that supplement the original roster: "Dirty Little Secret" - The All American Rejects "Don't Look Back in Anger" - Oasis "Roam" - The B-52's "Rockaway Beach" - The Ramones "Roxanne" - The Police
Rock Band Weekly: Mtley Cre stumbles in with 'Saints of Los Angeles'
Coming out of nowhere, a single off of Mötley Crüe's new album will be available as Rock Band downloadable content this week. This marks the first time a brand-new song is released as a playable track in the game. Needless to say, it is a master track.Individual song "Saints of Los Angeles" - Mötley Crüe (80 MS points/ $1) We've placed what we believe is the song after the break -- we're not sure if there's an actual video yet. The rest of this week's Rock Band DLC was previously announced last Friday. The song releases tomorrow on Xbox 360 and this Thursday on the new PSN.
Rumor: Europe's Rock Band rollin' onto PS3, PS2 and Wii Aug. 29
VideoGamer reports that EA has slated Rock Band's release on PS3, PS2 and Wii in Europe for August 29. This means the Xbox 360 will have three months of exclusivity on the exorbitantly priced enhanced cost game before it releases on other consoles.Harmonix's PR states it has not made an official announcement on a European release for any other consoles beyond the Xbox 360. We'll update this story if things change, but for now this release date is still in the rumor territory. Either way, there's still plenty of time for non-Xbox 360 owners to sell a kidney (remember, keep at least one!) to afford the game.
Rock Band wireless guitar for Wii hits the FCC
The wireless Rock Band guitar's in the FCC (again), this time supposedly for the Wii. Oddly, the images depict it running on a PS3 (which we've already seen). Bring it on, Harmonix, it's hella difficult to do power slides when plugged in via USB.
Rock Band guitar hack enables stompbox to activate Overdrive
Not even 24 hours after catching a whiff of those sick Mushroom-headed Rock Band drum pads comes yet another mod that oozes awesomeness. The Rock Band Stompbox tackles an issue any digital rocker has faced -- accidental (and often unwanted) activation of Overdrive / Star Power. Put simply, this engineering fellow ripped his axe apart, ganked a spare effects pedal and put his superb wiring skills to good use. Hit up the read link for a pictorial step-by-step, or jump on past the break for a video demonstration.[Thanks, Brad]
Rock Band Mushroom Drum Pads: nearly too awesome to hit
Until very recently, Rock Band on the Wii was little more than a pipe dream. Still, that didn't stop Jennifer and Vance from whipping up what's likely the hottest Rock Band drum kit mod we've seen to date -- one Mario and friends would unquestionably appreciate. We doubt the shrooms will help those fragile pads resist breakage if you're heavy-handed by nature, but it's entirely likely to make rocking out that much more fun when banging on these guys. Leap on past the break for a video demonstration, and check the read link for lots more pics.
Harmonix: Wii needs hard drive for DLC
Speaking to CVG, Harmonix Design Director Rob Kay states the Wii needs a hard drive for Rock Band to offer downloadable content on the console. Actually, Kay does more of plea, "Come on Nintendo, we need a hard drive."Kay explains that Harmonix would "jump on" offering content if it could -- given sales of the DLC it's not surprising -- but notes that Nintendo's console just doesn't have the capabilities currently. He says that a three-song pack is about 100MB and the Wii only has 512MB of internal storage. The whole SD card issue probably gets messy due to retrieval times and DRM issues. Harmonix obviously wants to make more money, but it appears the company won't try to do it while running into a very clear storage (and possibly technological) issue.
Harmonix blames taxes, other 'little differences' for Rock Band Europe price
Reaction to Rock Band's European pricing -- the equivalent of about $360 combined (instrument bundle and game are sold separately) -- has been swift and vocal. For example, Guitar Hero III (with guitar) costs £65, while a Rock Band game disc and single guitar will cost roughly £110. VideoGamer spoke to Rob Kay, design director at Harmonix, during the London press event today who said the price difference is caused by "a myriad of little differences that all add up."Kay explained that VAT adds 17.5% to the total UK price, adding, "We're not trying to screw people." He believes that people who purchase the game will think it's worth the money. Great, hopefully those people will remember to take the silver spoon out of their mouth before trying to sing.
Exclusive Euro Rock Band tracks will become DLC
Exclusive just ain't the word it used to be. Rock Band's European debut was going to have some exclusive tracks just for the continent, but ShackNews reports that MTV Games says those tracks will be available in North America as downloadable content. MTV Games did not specify price or timetable for release of the DLC. Now, let's be serious, did anybody ever think those songs would stay exclusive to the continent? Also, there's some clarification going on in the Rock Band forums that the new songs will be "treated as DLC" in the European version. We're not sure exactly what this means, but we believe that the new songs (some which are sung in French or German) won't be part of the standard campaign.
Rock Band touring Europe in May, 360 getting it first
Electronic Arts has finally announced a release date for fake instrument extravaganza, Rock Band, in the chronically shafted land of Europe. Eurogamer reports that the music-and-rhythmer will launch as a timed Xbox 360 exclusive on May 23rd, with PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and Wii versions following "later this summer." The game will be sold separately from an "Instrument Edition," which is comprised of the drum set, guitar and microphone, priced at GBP 129.99 / EUR 169. Including the cost of the game (we're assuming you want to play something with all that kit), folks in the region are looking to shell out about $360 for tickets to their own concert. Sounds like there'll be less rocking and more wailing among this poor band of gamers. In addition, wireless guitars will be sold separately for GBP 59.99 / EUR 79.99, while the drum kit will go for GBP 69.99 / EUR 89.99.As a minor consolation, the European version of Rock Band will come with several exclusive tracks from bands such as Oasis, Blur and Muse (you'll find the complete list after the break). If none of those appeal to you, Rock Band's extensive online store will open on May 27th, fully stocked with all existing downloadable tracks. New songs will then become available every week alongside the American releases.
