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Rock Band Weekly: Megadeth's 'Rust in Peace,' The Who mashed-up
Hey, Rock Band aficionados! Are you ready to spend your hard-earned Microsoft Points, Wii Points or good old-fashioned cash money on tracks which you'll never be able to play without injuring your tender, fragile metacarpals? Brace your bones -- the Music Store is about to get a healthy dose of Megadeth, in the form of the outfit's 1990 album "Rust in Peace." Or, as it's more commonly known, "The one with 'Hangar 18' on it." The nine-track album will be available for $14.99 (1200, bundle not available on Wii), and can also be purchased piecemeal for $1.99 (160, 200 Wii Points) per track. In addition, the Who's "Super Bowl S-mashup" medley will be made available on Sunday after the big game for $1.99 (160, 200 Wii Points). Check out all the songs included in next week's update after the jump.
Rock Band Weekly: Chesney, Gentry, Flatts, Evans, Adkins & Willie Nelson
Next week's Rock Band Weekly update puts country stars on the road again, yup, they just can't wait to get on the road again. So, this is the part where I confess that I know little to nothing about the artists featured in the next update. Honestly, the closest I get to country is driving in my friend's pick-up along the forest-filled back roads of Connecticut. Check out the full pricing and track details for the console releases after the break.
Rock Band Weekly: Blue Oyster Cult, Motörhead, Rage Against the Machine
Next week's Rock Band update is a raucous blend of heavy-hitting tunes, comprised of songs from Motörhead, Blue Oyster Cult and Rage Against the Machine. The metal mayhem, for obvious reasons, won't be compatible with Lego Rock Band -- somehow we just can't picture Lego people playing "Godzilla" by Blue Oyster Cult without being rocked to pieces. Check out the full pricing and track details for the console releases after the break.
Rock Band Network open beta begins tonight [update]
If you've been tinkering around with the Rock Band Network song programming tools, turning your heartfelt ballads into batches of multicolored gems, you'll be able to place your work in front of an audience for the first time today. Harmonix is launching an open beta of the platform at some point this evening, which will allow musicians with an XNA Creators Club membership to publish their songs, and peer-review the work their fellow artists have contributed. Of course, we won't be able to download the songs until the platform officially goes live -- which Harmonix recently informed Destructoid wouldn't be until "we accrue a good base of content, though we're already really excited by what we have in the pipeline." If you were curious about what that pipeline currently looks like, we suggest checking out this Harmonix forum post, which compiles all the bands who've shown interest in Rock Band-ing their ditties. Update: Okay, the beta is actually live now! Let the rocking commence.
Rock Band Weekly: Tom Petty, Phoenix, Silvertide
OK, so next week's Rock Band DLC doesn't include "Mary Jane's Last Dance" (pictured above) -- that was included in the previous Tom Petty live anthology pack -- but that video is all we can think of when someone mentions Petty. Well, that and the "Don't Come Around Here No More" video, which had Petty playing The Mad Hatter and is also positively frightening -- but that song is in neither pack. Beyond Petty memories of our broken childhood, next week's update also includes tracks from Phoenix and Silvertide. Check out pricing and track details for the console releases after the break.
Rock Band Weekly: Alice in Chains
Rock Band Weekly features one act next week: Alice In Chains. The band, which has sold 17 million albums worldwide, released a new album last September after ... yikes, fourteen years! (Hey, at least they didn't go all Duke Nukem Forever, right?) Next week's DLC track pack includes two songs from the new album, along with "We Die Young" from the band's debut record, plus two ditties from their self-titled 1995 album. Check out complete pricing and track details for the console releases after the break.
Rock Band 2 patched on PS3 to make way for Rock Band Network
Harmonix continues to show that it cares about Rock Band 2 fans with more than just weekly DLC. The developer has announced a patch for the PS3 version of the game that adds support for the upcoming Rock Band Network Store -- the interface for selling songs added to Rock Band by fans, musicians and record labels through the new Rock Band Network. If you were lamenting your current inability to purchase songs made by some dude, now you can take heart! The update also adds the "much more robust handling of chord hammer-ons and pull-offs" found in The Beatles: Rock Band, support for SingStar wireless microphones, support for velocity sensitivity with Ion Drum Rocker drums, and the ability to sort songs in Quickplay by the number of stars you've earned on each song. The update will be available this Thursday.
Rock Band Weekly: Paul McCartney, Blink-182, Psychedelic Furs, Ramones
Paul McCartney, in a non-Beatles outing, rings in the new year for next week's Rock Band Weekly update. The 67-year-old rocker (good on him!) will have the company of a Blink-182 pack, along with individual tracks from The Psychedelic Furs and The Ramones. Ringo might be in there too, but nobody would notice either way -- poor Ringo. Check out pricing and track details for the console releases after the break.
Rock Band Weekly: Weezer, Yellowcard, Offspring, Limp Bizkit
Beverly Hills ... that's where I want to be (gimme, gimme), living in -- wait, not really. Next week's holiday Rock Band Weekly update has some catchiness, but it's short on cheer. There's a new track pack from Weezer, featuring two songs from the band's latest album, Raditude. There's also songs from Limp Bizkit, The Offspring and Yellowcard. One last reminder: Rock Band Unplugged DLC is on hiatus until further notice. Check out pricing and track details for the console releases after the break.
Green Day: Rock Band trailer unveiled, songs will be exportable
One of the least surprising "World Exclusive" reveals during last night's Video Game Awards show was the unveiling of Harmonix's next single-band opus, Green Day: Rock Band. In case you missed out on the late-to-the-party announcement, you can check out the debut trailer after the jump. If you don't feel like watching a streaming video at the moment, we'll summarize: It looks a heck of a lot like when you play those Green Day DLC songs on Rock Band 2. The MTV Games press release that landed in our inbox shortly after the trailer aired contained one particularly interesting piece of news -- unlike The Beatles: Rock Band, all of the tracks in Green Day's outing will be exportable to the core Rock Band games. In addition, all the Green Day DLC released so far for the music platform, as well as the three 21st Century Breakdown tracks that will hit this Tuesday, will be compatible with Green Day: Rock Band. No release date has been given thus far, but the presser specifies that its coming to the Wii, PS3 and 360.
Savings on Wii, Spirit Tracks, music games at Target next week
Target's circular for the week of December 13 includes some near-Black Friday discounts on brand new items. With a promotional price of $24.99, Target has the best deal yet on the just-released The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (along with other recent DS releases like Style Savvy and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days). While you're buying a $25 game, you can also impulse-buy a Wii, which includes a bonus $30 gift card, or a DSi with a $10 gift card. Or a copy of Tony Hawk: Ride for $88 (not the only time we'll see discounts on this one, we're guessing).
Rock Band Weekly: Green Day, 30 Seconds to Mars, All-American Rejects, Beatles: Rubber Soul album
For the sake of clarity and brevity in this week's Rock Band Weekly, let's split this info up: The Beatles: Rock Band will have the album Rubber Soul available next week. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road were previously released on November 17 and October 20, respectively. The standard Rock Band music store receives new tracks from All-American Rejects, 30 Seconds to Mars and even more Green Day. As a reminder, Rock Band Unplugged DLC is going on holiday for an unspecified amount of time. Check out pricing and track details after the break. Update: MTV Games/Harmonix has corrected the pricing for Rubber Soul.
Rock Band Weekly: Slipknot, Simon & Garfunkel, Lights Resolve
Harmonix and MTV Games are dropping a couple of classic Simon & Garfunkel tracks alongside the first Slipknot track pack this coming week as DLC, appealing to that very specific crossover niche of people who like 30-year-old folk music yet like to go blackout partying on the weekends. Take out your terrifying masks and acoustic guitars, folks. It's going to be a weird one. Check out all the tracks for the upcoming week after the break. Select a platform below to view complete DLC listing:
Fun with math: Some Rock Band UK packs inconsistently priced on PSN [update]
It appears that, in some cases, the PSN Rock Band track packs in the UK are receiving a price hike in comparison to the individually purchased songs. An EU PlayStation forum user notes the discrepancy, which applies no discount to pack purchases, making it cheaper to purchase all of a pack's tracks individually. The issue had previously been contained to packs with over three songs, but next week's update appears to break that trend. However, reviewing previous weeks with track packs of three, it appears that the EU and UK pricing were accidentally reversed for next week, but we won't be able to confirm that until the update goes live. We've confirmed the pricing anomaly for the UK PSN Store and we're following up with Harmonix to figure out what's going on. Check out examples of the pricing inconsistencies after the break. Update: Harmonix responded to Joystiq, saying, "We are aware of the issue and working with SCEE to resolve the problems asap." [Thanks Si]
Philanthropic rockers playing 1,000 Rock Band songs for Child's Play
We know you've probably already spent an irresponsible amount of dough this morning on hot Black Friday deals, but there's a unique gaming marathon for charity (a charithon?) taking place right now that could use some help meeting its $3,000 donation goal. Check out the web page of Clan of the Gray Wolf, where four gentlemen are attempting to play 1,000 Rock Band songs for approximately 80 hours, all the while collecting money for Penny Arcade's Child's Play Charity. So, instead of buying that set of Growing Pains-themed salt shakers simply because they're 75 percent off, why not lend a helping hand to four guys who, in 80 hours, are going to have the worst blisters anyone's ever had, ever?
Rock Band Network rolls out fully in early 2010
Harmonix's Rock Band Network is still working out the kinks and will launch in "early 2010." In a statement to Kotaku, the developer explained that it's working on getting the public beta tools out "before the end of the year," with the store front to launch sometime at the beginning of next year. Musicians with ample time and high computer proficiency can begin preparing their tracks now with the creator tools, but the open beta will grant access to the private website where all the RBN community stuff will occur. If you're a musician or programmer (or ... procisian?), let us know what you think about the tools in comments. %Gallery-71018%
Rock Band Weekly: Nirvana, Night Ranger
Ummm ... "Smells Like Teen Spirit." That is all one needs to know about next week's Rock Band DLC. How many of us out there will finally learn the lyrics to the song we mumbled for years every time it popped up on the radio?Remember radio? Wow, feels like forever ago. Check out the full update after the break. Select a platform below to view complete DLC listing:
Rock Band platform now has over 1,000 songs
A recent press release has informed us that with the release of today's Rock Band 2 DLC pack, Harmonix has met its goal of having over 1,000 songs on the platform before the holidays. According to the presser, these tracks represent the work of 390 musical artists. The rhythm gaming community has downloaded over 60 million songs from the Rock Band Music Store, which Harmonix has kept alive and kicking with new musical additions for 105 consecutive weeks. To put this achievement in chronological terms, we'd estimate that the average length of these songs is, oh, about four minutes. By our calculations, a full playthrough of the Rock Band catalog would take you two days, 18 hours and 40 minutes. Not accounting for the number of times you'll inevitably fail out on "Painkiller," of course. Congratulations, Harmonix, on this rocking accomplishment! Now, get back to work. That Paul Simon track pack isn't going to program itself.
Rock Band Weekly: Tom Petty, Go-Go's, Kelly Clarkson, Pink
A live version of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' "Mary Jane's Last Dance" is available next week within the band's Rock Band DLC six-pack. The song may not be everyone's cup of formaldehyde, but it's certainly memorable for conjuring up one of the creepiest music videos of all time. We have no idea what the song is actually about, but it will always be the story of Tom Petty stealing Kim Basinger's corpse from the morgue, dressing her up, and then at the end .... AHHhhHhHHHH! Check out the full update after the break, no new Rock Band Unplugged DLC next week. Update: PSN will updated on Tuesday. Select a platform below to view complete DLC listing:
Rock Band Weekly: AFI, The Bangles
. AFI will be available next week in a Rock Band DLC five-pack of ... oh wow, The Bangles' "Walk Like an Egyptian" is there too! Hey guys, it's "Walk Like an Egyptian!" So, all you foreign types with hookah pipes better do the sand dance, don't you know? Check out the full update after the break, along with Rock Band Unplugged's new DLC. Select a platform below to view complete DLC listing:
