Wow!! More Rock Band news on Kotaku!!! That's just...What's that word again?

One moment, it's coming to me.. bah they can keep their tracks.. I'd rather connect my x360 to my pc and play my own list. Hell, maybe I could even download those tracks off a torrent and play them that way.

I still want to know when they'll bring a Rock Band to the Wii. Or at least let us buy another guitar for GH3.

It is kinda sad when, as much as you want to blame these people for such an asinine structure of selling such trivial crap to people, you really can only blame the people actually buying the stuff. If this whole scheme of selling useless crud to people hadn't taken off, noone would be investing time in finding out just what else we'll gladly pay for. At some point, I think they might try to sell us cancer, or videos of their CEOs clubbing kittens in the alley. And something tells me that'd probably sell enough to pay for more zany brainstorming sessions.

@ ampillion : Will comment for money.: If you're lucky, it'll be in glorious mono like GH3 for Wii.

these are companies, not charities. if corporations like EA find a profitable business plan that requires minimal work but earns substantial profit, why wouldn't they go through with it? and apparently, the service they provide is worth it to enough people to make the business model viable. so seriously, what's the problem here? you don't like DLC? don't buy it. but don't grumble and complain at those who do decide to purchase.

I just wish Rock Band would hurry up and get released in the UK.

@ampillion : Will comment for money.: I still want to know when they'll bring Rock Band to the EU...

Shoo I just recently bought The Official Xbox Propaganda Magazine just for the 3 EXCLUSIVE tracks on the disk inside. Only 2 of them were decent. But if I look at as I was paying for the tracks and the magazine was a bonus, I win!

Hmm, I'm divided on this issue. On the one hand, bravo supporting those with no net access, on the other hand, are they gonna rape people on price? Making a physical disc has gotta be more expensive than a simple download.

@PaddyStardust: Think you'll find a disc would end up cheaper, since they bundle tracks in bulk

I want to know whether these physical discs would be like the Oblivion: Shivering Isles expansion (copy the content to your HDD with no further need for the disc) or like the GH Rocks the 80's expansion which was just an additional game that didn't link with the original GH2 at all.

I'm hoping for the former, as that means people would be able to buy the disc and then trade it in. Which would mean getting it preowned and getting loads of new Rock Band tracks fairly cheap. Doubt it though, as it makes little business sense.

I still just want rock band. D:

DLC of game soundtracks are a terrible idea, bad, bad, bad EA!

Maybe EA games will come without music too in the future, and "let" you buy the soundtrack for the game of your "choice"...

@Plunkett:

i'm hoping it'll be like singstar and let you swap disks on the fly to access new songs. If not then i need to get a much bigger HD for my 360 :)

I think I'm speaking for all European People, when I say, that my only concern right now is the release Date, which still hasn't popped up.
AT ALL! Do something about that, EA, before thinking the next step, damnit. Get your chinese slave machinery up and running to produce our Games.
Man... I cant take the waiting very much longer.

@ampillion : Will comment for money.: When they're finished porting the crappy PS2 version. Duh.

Hold on. Did EA miss the bullet point on the 360 about having CUSTOM SOUNDTRACK?

@tylerstyle: The supplier for my local game store here in Australia has it down for some time in March.

I had to be the party pooper, but how much do you think it actually costs to license 50-100 songs for a game? A lot. Indie bands may not charge a lot, but a bigger band could charge at least 10k just for usage IN GAME. The bands need to get paid, EA wants to make some money back, the labels are trying to survive----the consumer shouldn't be offended if they have to d/l 9.99 from iTunes for a few tracks or 12.99 for a CD. You pay 10 bucks to go see a movie in a theatre and then you buy the DVD for 20 bucks when it comes out.

@StorminNorman: MARCH?!? Oh man... I want it NOW!!! March?
I'm hyperventilating here.

I can't beleive how a game that simulate rock music which requires no musical skills to perform is so damn popular. It boggles the mind, I can't even imagine people paying for this thing, and the expansion packs...it's like throwing money away. When people post how they finish a game with a perfect score it's like....OK, am I suppose to be impress by your button mashing skills?

This to me is like bottled water when it came out, you're like...damn who would pay for bottled water. Aparently, everybody.

@nxp3:

Well because it's you know, fun? Having a bunch of friends playing togethermakes for a great night.

@nxp3: If this is throwing money away, then so is buying every other video game. Games are played for their entertainment value. If someone is entertained by playing rock band or guitar hero, who are you to judge them? What's different from getting a high score in rock band than getting a high score in any other video game? You're just a sad, wannabe elitist. The type of person who hates anything that's remotely popular...you think that by disliking anything popular it makes you a better or smarter person. You couldn't be more wrong though... I pity you.

@nxp3: I can't believe how a game that simulates football which requires no athletic talent to perform is so popular. It boggles the mind, I can't even imagine people paying for this game, and the annual full-priced roster updates... it's like throwing money away.

/sarcasm

Anyway, just because I don't find Madden fun, doesn't mean millions of people can't find great enjoyment from it. Maybe you should keep an open mind, too.

@nxp3: try and see the good side of things man, not everything popular is bad.

@Kabes

Here's an example:

I can't believe how a game that simulates jumping on platforms and collecting coins which requires no physical jumping skills to perform is so damn popular. It boggles the mind.

@ampillion : Will comment for money.: According to Toys R Us, the standalone guitar for the Wii goes on sale a week from today!

[www.toysrus.com]

When GameStop's game trade-in program is described as "parasitic," I think this is the only logical response from a game publisher. So let's assume it's possible that a gamer didn't pay the publisher a single penny to get their hands on a game, right? But the publisher can at least get a few bucks by selling them random DLC. It makes perfect sense to me.

I still won't be buying any of it, though.

@nxp3: Obligatory XKCD post: [www.xkcd.com]

@nxp3: I can't understand how a game that simulates killing cops can be so popular! It just boggles the mind. Why don't these people stop playing pretend cop-killer and start killing cops for real?

"Don't blame EA. Blame the people who have paid for things like cheat codes and unlockables, because they're the ones proving this is a sound business plan."

I blame people who pay for cheat codes and unlockables for overpriced downloadable content, then I blame the people who pay for overpriced downloadable content for overpriced downloadable extras.

I dunno what the problem is with selling Madden soundtracks. Remember, there's still a huge audience for the radio---many, maybe even most people would rather have their music chosen by professionals rather than do it themselves. Not my way---I still fondly associate At the Drive-In with playing Deathrow on the Xbox---but I can see why people (or rather, Madden fans, who are very similar to people) would be totally pumped to get some bone-crunchin' tunes, bra!

Again, it's not for me, but that's why I'm not going to buy it. And you don't have to either. That's the great thing about DLC---you can get the game, and not pay for crap you don't want.

@The Dark Defender:

Yeah, it's crazy! I mean, Rock Band is a video game and Kotaku is, what's the term? A video game blog? Wacky!

It's January guy, they're not exactly rolling in scoops around here. There aren't more Rock Band stories than usual, there's just less of everything else.

And yet again some numpty brings up the "its not real" arguement. Heres the thing, we've one that one a jillion times. There is nothing more to say about it anymore. Let it die.

On topic, I think I support this idea. It'll be great if you wanna buy loads of extras, but cant afford a couple of quid per song. Batching up like, 50 or so songs for £20 would be totally worth it.

The stuff on games aren't real yet you pay money, so why can't you do the same with DLC? In a sense it's like paying more money to make the game bigger, better, or longer.

The only time it's bad is when they leave it out of the product intentionally to make money. On Rock Band, you can only have so many tracks on a disc.

So instead of having in-game customizable soundtracks (remember that feature in the original xbox?) we have pay to rebuy music we probably already own? WTH happened fair usage rights?

@0starter0: The difference is in Rock Band you also pay to have some guy make note tracks for 3 different instruments and map the voice pitch vocals (although they probably have some semi-automated system by now, there is probably a "touch-up crew/playtester somewhere along the way).

Making people pay to have a customizable soundtrack for something they already own is kinda "@.@" in a bad way.

On another note, EA seems to be working hard on their peripherals as well. I received my replacement drum kit today, and I instantly noticed that the pads are made out of softer material than the one's I had at launch. Their quieter when I hit them as well. Anyone else notice this?

Whoa Nice :D

Hi guys,

We live in a capitalistic society, where everything is monetized and people expect to be paid for their work.

Why do you feel entitled to free things?

Thanks,
USA

I purchased several of the DLC tracks and due to a combination of hardware failure and moving to a rural area, it takes more effort than is worth to play any of my new tracks in Rock Band. So this news pleases me greatly.

I don't see the problem with the extra soundtracks as DLC at all. First, I assume the game does come with music to begin with. Second, nobody's forcing you to download the extra songs. And finally, it's EA, so you know it's just going to be horrible ear poison anyway. I'd probably pay money if there was an option to take the licensed music out of their games.

With that said, I am still 100% opposed to companies charging to unlock content that is already on the game disc.

CD killed the record. Rock Band discs will kill the CD.

Now all they have to do is release the game in countries other than the USA and Canada.

The UK wants some Rock Band lovin' too!

I give EA props. If a company can truly make a way for idiots to buy soundtracks to a yearly game such as Madden then so be it; money is money.

"Don't blame EA. Blame the people who have paid for things like cheat codes and unlockables, because they're the ones proving this is a sound business plan."

We already do. We also hate EA for figuring out even funnier ways to part fools with their money.

Horse armor is bad enough... paying for cheat codes (evidently they haven't discovered the internet yet) is moronic.

Sooo, what about the ability to have custom soundtracks on the 360? Isn't that available for ALL 360 games (someone help me if I'm wrong for I don't own a 360)? No sales on the 360 version then unless you have no music of your own, or just lazy. The PS3 has custom soundtracks available on a couple PSN titles now, and plans to add the feature across the board soon. Maybe they grab a few there for the ones who need it right now.

This is a jump the shark moment for DLC if there ever was one.