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Early Rock Band demo auction back on eBay [update]
[Update: It turns out that the auction was pulled when the seller realized he had purchased a demo unit of Rock Band, which includes all the instruments and a limited song list. He has relisted the item (at $326 as of this update) with the appropriate description. Thanks to our crafty readers for figuring this out.]The original headline to this story was something more along the lines of "Guy gets Rock Band early, eBays it." As you may have guessed, and as Joystiq speculated beforehand, it seems the auction was shut down by the mighty gilded hands of eBay. Still, there's something worth reporting here. That, of course, is that this lucky soul managed to procure a copy of Rock Band nearly three weeks before release. The game was purchased from a Marina, California Best Buy, where it was nestled among copies of Guitar Hero III. Seizing opportunity, he bought it posthaste.Ah, the poor schlub. Now he's stuck with the grim task of trying to sell it locally, or worse, actually playing it.[Via Joystiq]
Come one, come all for a Rock Band unboxing
It's like Christmas when video game related unboxings occur and lucky for us, we've been treated to a big (emphasis on big) Rock Band unboxing.The WIRED Blog crew received an early copy of Rock Band recently (with the elephant sized box it came in) and decided to unbox the big guy for all to see. And after skimming through the unboxing pictures we realized a few things. First off, we truly realized how unusually large and girthy the box is when compared to an already big GHII box. We can almost guarantee there will be Rock Band box fort pictures popping up on the internet soon after release. The second thing we noticed was the sheer amount of cables, plugs, adapters and cords for all the game's peripherals. Big no-no Rock Band, we love ourselves wireless. But you're new to the game, so we'll let you off the hook this once. The final thing we noticed was the sheer amount of individually wrapped craziness going on. Bags, boxes, straps, paper ... it's like the packaging gods were on a mission to destroy the planet when they created this thing. Anyhoo, check out more pictures after the jump and allow yourself to dream of your own unboxing session that'll go down in a few weeks. Oh, and be sure to line up a dumpster rental too.
Rock Band kiosks being installed at Best Buy
Brian over at MEGATONik sent work that he spotted a Rock Band demo kiosk being set up at his local Best Buy store. The kiosk he saw wasn't fully functional yet due a scratched game disc, but he did get to play with and inspect the peripherals. We're guessing Best Buy's around the country will be getting Rock Band kiosk installations soon (if not already), so keep your eyes peeled. And since you've already had some hands on time with Guitar Hero III, your Rock Band vs GHIII comparison will be complete once your fingers grace Rock Band's instruments. Oh the anticipation!
Fanpoll: feature ideas for the Fall Update
We're going to do something a little different for our Fanpoll this week. Rather than take a static poll, we're going to ask our readers to submit individual ideas. Radical thinking, hmmm? As it turns out, we're also straining to come up with a question that would be easily answerable by a static poll, so we've decided to steal a topic from our Joystiq mother ship: what features would you like to see in the Xbox 360 Fall Update? We already know that it won't be IPTV, so what could it be? Do we have any prognosticators out there that can foresee the next big Xbox 360 bell and/or whistle? Let us know what you'd like to see -- or predict what you think will come true -- in the comments.Also, check out the results from last week's Fanpoll after the break.
Rock Band's USB hub caught on camera
The folks over at 1UP have gotten their mitts on the USB hub that will ship with the Xbox 360 version of Rock Band. At first glance, it doesn't look to bad at all. It almost looks like it would fit where the wireless adapter fits (assuming you're not using one already. However, it looks decidedly less chic when you find out that the hub is powered by an ugly A/C adapter. As a gamer, chances are you could do without another black brick behind your entertainment center. But hey, it's not like you actually have a choice in the matter, right? You've got to plug those instruments in somewhere, and the Xbox 360's three USB ports just won't cut it. Why the game makers didn't opt for a self-powered USB hub, we don't know, but there you have it. Hit the "read" link for more pictures.[Via Joystiq]
Xbox 360 Rock Band USB hub revealed
While we're already fairly well acquainted with most of the Rock Band kit, the much-need Xbox 360 USB hub has so far been kept under wraps, leaving the amount of clutter soon to be occupying many a living room entirely up to the imagination. The folks at 1Up have now changed that situation, however, posting a slew of pictures of what they say is the finalized four-port USB hub. As you can see above, it's a powered-hub, meaning you'll have yet another cable snaking its way to your power outlet and, for those curious, it's apparently made by a company called ViPowER. If that shot above isn't enough to whet your appetite, you can find plenty more by hitting up the read link below.[Via Joystiq]
Sexy shots of Xbox 360 Rock Band USB hub
Some may think Rock Band's Fender Stratocaster-inspired guitar is the sexiest thing in that $200 box [correction: $170 box!], but they're forgetting about the USB hub that Xbox 360 players will be using to plug in all those wired instruments. We have to admit, we got a little hot and bothered when we first spied the above picture of the sleek, stylishly-designed four-port hub.1UP has even more naughty, gratuitous shots of this bad boy, and baby oh baby, they are smoking. We just can't wait until we get to fondle that hot piece of tech for ourselves come Nov. 20. *Drool*Update: We just noticed that this hub seems to require external power from an A/C adapter wall unit. Significantly less sexy ...
The big games left for 2007
We've already had some of the big bombshells of 2007 come out already, including the big boys like Halo 3, Heavenly Sword, and Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction ... but what's still coming down the pipeline? Guitar Hero III will be out tomorrow, and the rest of October and all of November are bringing a ton of great games out for every platform from the Xbox 360 to the Nintendo DS. Megatonik has put together a great list, chock full of release dates and goodies, or what's left in store for the rest of this year. Chances are once these games start dropping, you're not going to have much left in your wallet for the holidays. So it's time to start figuring out where you're going to get that cash from and get your game on.
Rock Band's track list (almost) fully revealed
Official tracks for Rock Band have been trickling in every now and again, but today IGN received the (nearly) complete track list and decided to share. Posted after the break is a list of all 45 licensed Rock Band music tracks plus one that is unlockable. This is almost every song in the game except for the twelve yet to be revealed unlockable tracks which, when announced, will give us a total of 58. The game's musical selection is broken down by year released with music ranging from the 60's to the 2000's, so take a look already and see what 45 official tracks you'll be able to strum, drum or sing to this November. I wanna rock, ROCK![Via MEGATONik]
Rock Band strat may not rock with Guitar Hero 3
Although various guitar models provide disparate tonalities, string action, etc., they all still let you pluck through the arpeggio intro to Green Day's "Good Riddance" (we only wish it had such a power). Such is not the case for the virtual world of Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band. According to early tests conducted by IGN, the most compatible controller is Xbox 360's Guitar Hero 2 X-plorer model, which works with both upcoming titles, although you cannot use the special effects due to the lack of a five-way switch. The GH3 Les Paul controller works with everything except the PS2 version of GH2 (played on a PS3, natch) and, like the X-plorer, cannot activate effects.Rock Band's Stratocaster, however, does not work with any Guitar Hero title on the Xbox 360. (IGN has not been able to test the PS3 version yet.) A statement released by Harmonix said, among other things, that they "welcome any 3rd party software that wishes to support Rock Band guitars. If a 3rd party guitar / music game does not support the Rock Band guitar controller, questions regarding this should be directed to the game manufacturer." There is no word yet from Guitar Hero publisher Activision. And when everything is finalized, we'll be sure to make you an colorful, easy-to-read compatibility chart.
Former Harmonix developer shoots down PS3 tech in rant
A former developer at Harmonix, the team behind the hotly anticipated Rock Band, had some choice words against Sony's PS3 in his personal blog. His outrage comes as the most recent in many public outcries against Sony's next generation machine. He tackles so-called "misconceptions" that PS3 fans seem to have. Firstly, he says that the graphics capabilities of the machine have been misconstrued. "Fill rate is one of the primary ways to measure graphics performance - in essence, it's a number describing how many pixel operations you can perform. The fill rate on the PS3 is significantly slower than on the 360, meaning that games either have to run at lower resolution or use simpler shader effects to achieve the same performance ... And I'm not talking about small differences here, we're talking roughly half the pixel pushing power."In regards to Blu-ray, the developer criticized the lower read speeds of the medium. "Great for watching movies, but not so great for games. Getting data off the Blu-ray drive takes about twice as long as it does to get the same data off the 360's DVD drive. That translates into longer load times."The challenges that developers face when coding for the PS3 have inevitably led to "sloppier" ports, where the PS3 versions of games on Xbox 360 run more sluggishly. Jason Booth postulates that "Getting equivalent performance out of the PS3 requires a lot of work unique to the platform, and in many cases, even with all these tricks, you still won't see equivalent performance. Thus, many PS3 games have simplified shaders and run at lower native resolutions than the 360 versions. On top of this, there is shrinking incentive to do this work; the PS3 isn't selling."[Via NeoGAF][Update: Added "former" to description of employee.]
Study: Guitar Hero III has more groupies than Rock Band
Sure, we may go crazy over Harmonix and Electronic Arts' love child Rock Band, but data from IGN's GamerMetrics reminds us that the franchise has a ways to go if it wants to overtake its distant cousin Guitar Hero III. According to the statistics, there were 22 million page views on IGN for Guitar Hero III-related articles, vs. 10 million for Rock Band (a 120% increase). GHIII was also on almost twice as many wishlists (5,755 vs. 2,928) as its competitor and over six times as many message board posts (25,000 vs. 4,000).The Guitar Hero series has a lot more going for it right now, including a two-year history of commercially and critically successful titles. Commentary provided with the data notes that Rock Band has "experienced a noticeable surge in both awareness and purchase intent metrics" in the past three months, which bodes well for the game due out November 20. Guitar Hero III is coming next week.
New Rock Band release date, website, song revealed
Hey, remember how Rock Band was releasing on Black Friday, the most hellish of all shopping days? Well, guess what? "What?" you say. Harmonix has confirmed that the release of Rock Band has been pushed forward to November 20, three days shy of the original November 23 release date. Of course, this means two things. One, you can avoid the hellmouth of your local mall come Black Friday. Two, you can play Rock Band on Thanksgiving. Rock Band is great, but Rock Band with a side of turkey and gravy is even better.Also revealed by Harmonix are plans to relaunch RockBand.com with new community features to help virtual bands get their message out. The new site is set to include leaderboards, band pages, personal blogs, forums, and a classifieds page (it's really hard to keep drummers). The site is also set to include a photo shoot feature that will allow players to light and photograph their in-game avatars.Finally, GameTrailers has revealed a new Rock Band track, "Green Grass and High Tides" as made famous by The Outlaws. You can check it out in the video above.
Fanpoll: Rock Band Vs. Guitar Hero III
It's time for another Fanpoll kiddies. This week we take on one of gaming's most pressing questions: Rock Band or Guitar Hero III? Neither of these games are available just yet, but they're both right around the corner. We're sure many of our readers (pssst ... that's you!) already have at least some idea of which one they desire more. As such, we ask that you follow your heart and place your vote accordingly. Once you place your vote, feel free to explain your reasoning in the comments. Also, you'll find the results of last week's Fanpoll, skate Vs. Tony Hawk's Underground, after the break. Which do you plan to buy, Rock Band or Guitar Hero III? Rock Band Guitar Hero III I'm getting both I'll wait for the reviews, thank you very much Neither
Rock Band achievements revealed
More Rock Band news today as the full achievement list has been revealed by DaKing240.com. There are 49 achievements in all, ranging across the various instruments and game modes. The most obvious are achievements for completing each instrument tour on each difficulty. In other words, you'll have to complete the easy, normal, hard, and expert difficulties with the drums, guitar, and vocals. It's unknown whether or not completing a certain difficulty will unlock the achievements from a lower difficulty. The list also reveals the various locales that will be featured in the game (good evening, Reykjavik!). There are a smattering of online achievements too, such as winning 20 ranked Duel matches.Gamers with commitments like, say, a job, will be happy to hear that there are no "five star all songs" achievements. There are achievements for hitting 100% of a song's notes with each instrument on expert, but that's not nearly as taxing. Our favorite achievement has to be beating the drum tour on expert, which is labeled "AN-I-MAL!!!" Head over to DaKing240.com for the full list.
Marvel at the Rock Band drum kit assembly video
Here at X3F, we have a profound understanding of the fears of our readers. For instance, we know right now that the primary fear of all our readers (on average) is how difficult it is to set up the Rock Band drum kit. Well, you can officially lay those fears to rest, as Multiplayer has posted a video demonstrating just how easy it is to disassemble and reassemble the drum kit. It really is a snap and the kit shouldn't be too big for anyone with even small amounts of storage space. The best part of all is that there are no screws or fasteners of any kind. Check out the video after the break.[Via Joystiq]
Another analyst: Wii will beat the other things this holiday
We were initially going to suggest that opposing analysts Jesse Divnich and Michael Pachter engage in battle to establish this holiday's winner (or Wii-ner, as it were), but this line of thought invariably winds up with two people hurling calculators across the room, yelling percentages and excitedly pointing at bar graphs. Not a very exciting showdown, really.Quite unlike this holiday's battle royale, with Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft sending out their best troops to clash for consumer cash. While Pachter believes the Xbox 360 will come out on top this month amidst the pile of price-slashed consoles, simExchange analyst Jesse Divnich reckons the Wii will continue to be the top seller from now until the end of the year. "There is no cost effective strategy that either Sony or Microsoft could implement this late in the season to change the minds of the consumers," said Divnich. "The prediction market expects the current home console trend to continue through the holiday season with the Wii leading the pack followed by the Xbox 360 and then the PS3." Divnich also throws in a prediction regarding the impending battle of the fake bands, predicting higher review scores and higher sales for Activision's Guitar Hero III compared to EA's Rock Band. "Given the month lead Guitar Hero III has and the projected higher review scores; it would take a strong marketing campaign by EA to convince consumers to hold their purchases until Rock Band's release." Of course, the fact that Rock Band is all bundled up until 2008 may also have a deleterious effect on its chances.
Rock Band: no separate instruments until 2008
Speaking to Bits Byets Pixels & Sprites, a Harmonix rep confirmed that Rock Band instruments will not be sold separately from the game until 2008. In other words, if you were planning on buying a copy of the game and a set of drums separately, you're out of luck. If you want Rock Band this year, you'll be paying $170 for the whole kit and kaboodle. The rep gave two reasons for this. First, creating multiple bundles would increase costs and lead to fewer bundles being available at launch. Second, retailers aren't exactly keen to have 3 different (and large) versions of Rock Band clogging their shelf space.The rep also speaks about a few other issues, the most pressing of which is probably DLC pricing, a hot topic among Guitar Hero II fans. The rep is quick to point out that Rock Band tracks require more development than Guitar Hero tracks, as there are more instruments to be dealt with. In other words, we're expecting they won't be cheap, though the rep explains that there are many ways to pick and choose DLC. For instance, whole albums will be available as well as single songs, and there may be special offers for those that purchase multiple tracks. DLC is expected to arrive every week after the game ships through the end of the year, starting with The Who's Who's Next. Finally, the game is expected to have nearly 50 songs on the retail disc, not including bonus unlockables.
Rock Band venues revealed, video preview
Rock Band is about more than just music. It's about Rock N' Roll, and that means glitz, glamor, and fame. Playing in a cramped club is a vastly different experience from playing in front of a stadium filled with thousands of people. A new video has been released featuring some of the venues that will appear in Rock Band. Alongside the video is a Yahoo Games interview with Rock Band senior artist Peter McDonald, who elaborates on the game's venues -- there are forty-one in total, by the way -- and what part they play. As you might expect, your band won't be playing stadiums from the get-go. You'll have to work your way up from smaller clubs and increase your fan base before larger venues become available. Also revealed, players can start in one of twelve different cities including Los Angeles, New York, Boston, and others. Hit the "read" link for the full interview.[Via Joystiq]
Rock Band's virtual venues unveiled
Yahoo! Games has posted a video preview of this holiday's multi-instrument music extravaganza, Rock Band, paying special attention to the venues you and your faux band will be tearing up, bringing down and figuratively destroying. Spread across the cities of Boston, Los Angeles and New York, the initially revealed venues (out of the final 41) are divided into three size groups, with your band's surging popularity pushing you out of small clubs and into large arenas. In an accompanying interview, Rock Band's senior artist Peter McDonald explains that the fancy venues provide not only bigger crowds, but also more spectacular stage effects and sophisticated camera work (read: "crazy crane shots"). Have a look for yourself at places like "Heebie Jeebie's," "Empire Square Garden" and "The Snake Pit" by clicking that Read link.[Thanks, Whymog]
