Kotaku: Harmonix

Next Week On Rock Band: Classic Cred

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 09 May 2008 18:20:00 MDT

Next week's batch of fine Rock Band downloadables brings some classic credibility to the table, with a trio of individual songs that you won't be able to buy in some sort of value added, cred-building bundle. Each new download will set you back the standard $1.99 USD (160 Microsoft Points) when they hit next week. Damn, that "Train In Vain" is quite the toe-tapper. I'm so into it, my overbite is showing.

"Hanging on the Telephone" by Blondie
"Train in Vain" by The Clash
"Kool Thing" by Sonic Youth

DLC Week of May 13th [Rock Band Forums]

Cheap Rock Band Tracks Are For PS3 Owners As Well

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 08 May 2008 06:20:00 MDT

S'OK, PS3 owners. When McDonalds inked their little Rock Band advertising deal with Harmonix and MTV, they weren't just catering to the 360-owning demographic. They're thinking of you, too. So while the initial announcement may have come from Microsoft, MTV have since contacted us to let us know that the deal - which sees a range of songs on sale for 50% off - will apply for Rock Band on the PS3 as well.

Rock Band Tracks Go Cheap Til June

Luke Plunkett — Mon, 05 May 2008 21:00:00 MDT

What do you get when MTV, Harmonix and McDonalds decide some Rock Band-themed advertising is in order? You get cheap Rock Band tracks, that's what. Starting May 6 (tomorrow) and running until June 2, eight Rock Band tracks will be offered - two per week - for the bargain price of 80 MS points each. This week, it'll be "Crushcrushcrush" by Paramore, along with Boston's "Rock 'n Roll Band", with later weeks including Grateful Dead's "Sugar Magnolia", Faith No More's "We Care A Lot" and Lynyrd Skynrd's "Gimme Three Steps". No word yet on whether this includes PS3 owners as well, hopefully we'll hear more about that tomorrow.
Grab selected Rock Band tracks for only 80 points each [Microsoft]

Wii And PS2 Get Rock Band Track Packs In July

Mike Fahey — Mon, 05 May 2008 11:20:00 MDT

PlayStation 2 Rock Band owners have to be sick of playing the same songs over and over again by now, and with Wii owners eagerly awaiting the June 22nd release of the game, the question of delivering downloadable content to the online-handicapped systems is finally being addressed - offline.

MTV Games, Harmonix, and EA will be releasing the Rock Band Track Pack Volume 1 for the PS2 and the Wii on July 15th. $29.99 at your local game purveyor nets you an additional 20 songs for the game, chosen from the DLC already available on the PS3 and 360. It's an okay mix I suppose, with some of my favorites - NIN's "March of the Pigs", Faith No More's "We Care A Lot", and Weezer's "Buddy Holly", but I much prefer being able to pick and choose my songs rather than be handed a chunk all at once.

I am going to assume these packs are standalone, going by the size of the files and both systems lacking a hard disk. Still, more Rock Band fun is more Rock Band fun, right? Hit the jump for the full track listing, and see where you fall between delighted and disappointed.

YOU CAN'T STOP THE ROCK!!
MTV Games, Harmonix and EA Announce "Rock BandTM Track Pack Volume 1" for WiiTM and PlayStation®2 System Will Be Available July 15, 2008

Cambridge, MA - May 5, 2008 - Harmonix, the leading developer of music-based games, and MTV Games, a division of MTV Networks, which is a division of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), along with distribution partner Electronic Arts, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced plans to release Rock Band™ Track Pack Volume 1 for the Wii™ home video game console from Nintendo and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. The 20-Track Pack features an electrifying mix of classic hits and current favorites, including songs by Boston, Nine Inch Nails, Stone Temple Pilots, and All American Rejects. The Rock Band™ Track Pack Volume 1 will be available on July 15th, 2008 for a MSRP of $29.99. Complete details are as follows:

Release date: Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Tracks:

30 Seconds to Mars The Kill
All American Rejects Move Along
Blink - 182 All the Small Things
Boston More Than a Feeling
David Bowie Moonage Daydream
Faith No More We Care A Lot
Grateful Dead Truckin'
The Hives Die, All Right!
KISS Calling Dr. Love
Lynyrd Skynyrd Gimme' Three Steps
Nine Inch Nails March of the Pigs
Oasis Live Forever
Paramore Crushcrushcrush
The Police Synchronicity II
Queens of the Stone Age Little Sister
Ramones Teenage Lobotomy
Smashing Pumpkins Siva
Stone Temple Pilots Interstate Love Song
Weezer Buddy Holly
Wolfmother Joker & the Thief

**All 20 tracks utilize original master recordings**
** All tracks are available as DLC on competing platforms**

Price: $29.99 MSRP

Rock Band is the ultimate platform for music fans and gamers to interact with music like never before. The game challenges players to put together a band and tour for fame and fortune - all while learning to master lead/bass guitar, drums and vocals. Featuring the most master recordings of any music game ever by the world's biggest rock artists, Rock Band includes tracks that span every genre of rock ranging from alternative and classic rock, to heavy metal and punk. Rock Band has garnered over 40 awards this year including Game Critics Award: Best of Show E3 2007 and three awards at The 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards including Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, Family Game of the Year, and Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack.

Rock Band is rated "T" for Teen (lyrics, mild suggestive themes) by the ESRB.

Rock Band will be available for the Wii starting June 22, 2008. Rock Band is currently available on the PLAYSTATION®2 computer entertainment system, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, and on the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®.

EA is the exclusive distribution and marketing partner for Rock Band.

For more information on Rock Band and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.rockband.com and www.harmonixmusic.com.

Rock Band Sells 3 Million Games, 10 Million Songs

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:20:00 MDT

Rock Band's new in-game store was introduced for two reasons. One was to make things easier for you as a shopper. The other, more important (for MTV/Harmonix) reason was to make sure you just buy more damn songs. Which seems to have worked a treat, because Viacom have announced that ten million Rock Band songs have now been downloaded, up four million from March 20. Which was only a month-and-a-half ago! They also report that they've sold three million copies of the game itself, which when you consider the vast majority of those would have been bundle sales, is a number that must have the accounts types at Viacom, MTV and Harmonix tickled seven shades of pink.
Rock Band Ships 3 Million; 10 Million Songs Downloaded [GameDaily]

Next Week's Rock Band DLC Makes The Scene

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 02 May 2008 16:40:41 MDT

Next week's batch of Rock Band downloadable tracks arrive just in time for the new, officially licensed Rock Band Lip Ring controller, adding extra authenticity to what Harmonix is calling the Scene Pack. Individual hipster tracks will hit you in the wallet for $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) each or $5.49 (440 Microsoft Points) as a bundle. They're all master tracks, fortunately, and should show up on the service of your choice starting next Tuesday.

"This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race" by Fallout Boy
"Date With The Night" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
"It Hurts" by Angels & Airwaves

DLC Week of May 6th [Rock Band Forums]

Harmonix Dudes Make Proper Time 100 List

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:30:00 MDT

Forget the list Miyamoto made. That one was an internet popularity contest, and considering the mobilisation powers of Nintendo fanboys, his prominence should surprise nobody. What is a pleasant surprise, however, is the presence of some gaming luminaries on the real Time 100, the list put together by the magazine themselves. They've honoured Harmonix's Alex Rigopolous and Eran Egozy, both for their innovation with Guitar Hero & Rock Band, as well as the knock-on effect of saving "classic rock for generations to come". Rock Band: not just a game, an instrument of history.
Alex Rigopulos & Eran Egozy [The Time 100] [Pic]

Rock Band Gets More Smashing Pumpkins, Mother Hips Next Week

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:40:41 MDT

Next week's downloadable content additions to Harmonix's Rock Band have been announced on the official forums. They'll go for the standard $1.99 USD or 160 Microsoft Points, depending on your platform of choice, and will give you one more chance to see if you can vocally outperform Billy Corgan. It almost seems unfair to actually grade players on the singing portions of Smashing Pumpkins songs, doesn't it? Anyway, the line-up is...

Smashing Pumpkins - "Zero"
The Mother Hips - "Red Tandy"
The Mother Hips - "Time Sick Son of a Grizzly Bear"

DLC, week of April 29th - three singles [Rock Band Forums]

Rock Band Stand Reviewed, Declared Decent

Mark Wilson — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:40:00 MDT

In most households, Rock Band has destroyed any semblance of a classy living room. But this stand by Dude Thing Creations hopes to organize your life and justify your tax bracket with their Rock Band stand (for everything but drums). Running $55 and constructed of wood, Gizmodo had a hands-on and declared, "It works! propping up your guitars against this thing is much classier than leaning them against walls, cabinets, chairs, dogs or ottomans. There's even two sets of hooks on either side so you can wrap your cables around them for even more neatness."

Anticipating the comments, I'm going to point out that, yes, you could make such a contraption at home for less money. But given what we've already spent on Rock Band, what's another fitty?

Lightning Review: Rock Band Stand Keeps Your Guitars, Controllers and Mics in Check [Gizmodo]

Rock Band's First Album Announced, Our Harmonix Q&A

Mark Wilson — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 07:00:00 MDT

Today, Harmonix has officially announced the first album that will hit the Rock Band store: Judas Priest's Screaming For Vengeance. Arriving April 22/24 on Xbox 360/PS3, this10-track album will cost $14.99 with individual tracks being offered for $1.99 apiece. Then in May, The Cars' self-titled record will become the second full-album release from Rock Band. The Pixies' Doolittle will follow in June.

While this is precisely the news that all Rock Band fans have been waiting to hear, it raises a ton of new questions. Is $14.99 the new standard album price? And how often can we expect new albums? Luckily, we had the chance to discuss the announcement with Harmonix's CEO Alex Rigopulos, who was more than happy to answer all of our fanboy questions. We posted an abridged, cleaned (sans-Mark's-question-stuttering-and-boring-parts) Q&A after the jump.

What took you so long?
...a big reason that it's taken us so long to get them to market is that the actual technical delivery of the assets required for any one song - they're actually pretty complicated. You're often dealing with masters for the older stuff that were recorded on analog. Often it takes a long time to even locate those masters. The right takes and the right edits have to be found, and in some cases old gear that's not in use anymore has to be resuscitated to transfer the stuff to digital. And so for any one song, the actual process of finding the right tape, resuscitating it and transferring it to the right digital format that we need and all that is an undertaking...

If you're just going for a handful of tracks by a particular artist and they're slow to locate one of them, well you just pick a different track and go on. Well when you're looking for a dozen tracks ina a particular album, you cant really release the album until you've tracked every one of those assets.

What happened to The Who?
We will have a specific announcement about that coming up soon regarding some work that we have coming down the pike with The Who in general that I think people are gonna be pretty happy about...and in general what you're gonna see sorta deep dives with particular artists, where with some artists...of the appropriate stature, you'll see us doing more than whole albums, potentially even entire catalogs.

What kind of schedule will album release be on?
For album releases, in particular, there isn't a set schedule like an album a month...we do want to release albums regularly...generally, the amount of content we release in a week you'll see growing over the course of the year substantially.

Will albums ever represent the majority of your music releases?
I don't think albums will be the dominant release. I don't think we're going to switch to primarily releasing albums, but I will say, in addition to these three we've just mentioned, we actually have MANY in the pike...suffice it to say, it will be a substantial portion of our content offering going forward.

So is $14.99 the new standard album price?
It's not a standard. There's not going to be a standard album pricing. It's going to be a function of how many songs are included in the album...essentially there will be a volume discount applied.

Do you think a variable price rate on albums is disadvantage, especially when stores like iTunes sell albums for a flat rate?
Perhaps, but I think...consumers have demonstrated that they feel that the value they're getting for a game level based at $2 is enormous...[and] there's quite a lot of appetite for music at $2 a song...[so] volume discounts for more music represents quite a good value for the consumers.

Will you ever offer 3-Pack discounts for album tracks?
At this time we're not...I'm not ruling that out as something we're doing in the future. It's just not something we're doing right now.

Would you ever consider releasing "greatest hits" albums?
I don't see any particular reason why we would rule them out...I think that for the right artist under the right circumstances, there's no reason we wouldn't consider doing a greatest hits album that either exists in the world already as a recorded compilation, or [as] in some cases, we've actually had artists come to us who are interested in kind of curating their own new greatest hits compilation for the purpose of Rock Band release. And so I think we're really pretty versatile to ideas of that sort.

So basically, a Rock Band Greatest Hits album?
Exactly.
(Ed note: Rigopulos later explained that they kind of did this with Grateful Dead tracks already, unofficially.)

At the end of the interview, Rigopulos let me know that Rock Band had recently surpassed 8 million song downloads. That's about 2 million just since their new store opened (and Still Alive became offered for free).

Rock Band Wii Bonus Tracks Aren't Much Of A Bonus

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:30:00 MDT

So the Wii gets five "bonus" tracks on its version of Rock Band, does it? Five exclusive tracks, perhaps, to ease the pain over the fact the system won't support DLC? Course not. The five tracks are simply a quick, cheap workaround to that DLC problem, as they're all currently available as DLC for both the 360 and PS3. The "bonus" tracks are:

Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger
The All-American Rejects - Dirty Little Secret
The B-52s - Roam
The Police - Roxanne
The Ramones - Rockaway Beach

Eh. Remember, though, if you're feeling a little let down by this (and indeed the whole DLC/Wii mess in general), don't blame Harmonix, they're on your side. Blame Nintendo.
[Pic]

Mötley Crüe Still Alive, Releasing New Song Via Rock Band DLC

Luke Plunkett — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:30:00 MDT

Can't let the competition get one up on you! After Def Leppard announced last week that one of their new songs will be debuting in Guitar Hero III, Mötley Crüe have today been wheeled out by the Rock Band camp, with news that their latest single, "Saints of Los Angeles", will be premiering not on the radio or TV but as a piece of Rock Band DLC. I'm trying to get excited over this, but really, wheeling out new stuff from these decaying old bands really doesn't do it for me. I want "Kickstart my Heart", not some new, inevitably-rubbish song.
New Motley Crue Song to Debut as Rock Band DLC [Shacknews]

European Rock Band Wii, PS3, PS2...Not Until August 29th [Update]

Mark Wilson — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:00:00 MDT

According to Videogamer.com, the controversial European release of Rock Band just got a little worse. While we knew that Xbox 360 owners would get Rock Band earlier than everyone else (May 23rd), EA has announced that the Wii, PS2 and PS3 versions will not be released until August 29th. That's a loooong delay...namely for those who sleep next to their PS3 at night, one bed over, waiting intently to take their relationship "to the next level" over a game that's already been finished.
Rock Band coming to PS3, PS2 and Wii on August 29 [VideoGamer]

UPDATE - Videogamer's report was based on a Rock Band fact sheet sent to European press outlets, which listed a release date of August 29. EA have since retracted that date, saying it "isn't confirmed, and is on the fact sheet in error".

Harmonix On Europe: Let Them Eat Cake

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:20:00 MDT

Rock Band's impending European launch isn't getting the kind of PR Harmonix and MTV would like. Something about the price, or something. Well, feeling the sting of the internet barbs that have been slung their way, Harmonix have spoken out in defence of their pricing structure, with VP Greg LoPicolo posting on the official boards a ton of reasons why the game's going to be so expensive. Some seem entirely plausible, some a little less plausible (the guitars are made in China? They were for the US edition, too), all lead to him concluding his defence with this:

...we're not gouging you, primarily because doing so doesn't serve our interests. We can only build our franchise if you buy our games. You may conclude that Rock Band isn't worth the price charged, and that is your prerogative. But it's not magically going to get cheaper because you wish it to be so.

Oh Greg. I feel for you, because you have no other choice but to say that. But deep down, surely you know it's not going to stick with consumers. All those arguments about VAT and shipping, all your desire to steadfastly defend your product, they're all ignoring the key issue on the consumer's end: this price is straight-up unaffordable. They couldn't give two shits how much it costs to ship some plastic guitars from China if they walk into a store and see that a single game will cost them more than a Wii or Arcade 360.
Commentary on Euro Pricing Flamefest [Rock Band Forums]

Pro Wrestling Has Discovered Guitar Hero

Mark Wilson — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:40:00 MDT

Yes, this TNA Wrestling clip is from way back in January, but after MTV spotted it and we hit the play button, it was truly one of those magical gaming sights that one simply can't unsee. Two 250+ pound men running around a ring while pretending to play fake, plastic guitars in front of thousands of fans is such a sight.

Pro Wrestlers Torn Between Love Of 'Rock Band,' Love Of 'Guitar Hero' [MTV Multiplayer]

Rock Band Stompbox Mod Allows Unfettered Hip Thrusts

Mark Wilson — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:40:00 MDT

Not that this has ever happened to us, but sometimes, we've heard, if you're like jumping around and stuff, while playing Rock Band/Guitar Hero—once again, not that we'd know—it's theoretically possible for your Overdrive/Star Power to be accidentally activated. What can a gamer do in such a situation? One industrious modder cracked the controller's case, removed the Overdrive activation mechanisms completely and then wired a guitar effects pedal to the circuit board. Now, he's able to get really crazy while playing Rock Band—if he's into that sort of thing—not that we'd know.

Sure, some might call it overkill. But we're calling it just enough kill. Hit the link for the full tutorial. Images seem to have been pulled (probably for bandwidth purposes).

Rock Band Stompbox [Bashhh via Engadget]

Hey, Mushroomy Rock Band Pads

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:40:22 MDT

Grey drum pads? Cripplingly boring. Super Mario Bros. style mushroom drum pads? Oh, yes, please! This adorable little Rock Band drum controller mod is, I hope, the start of a trend, inspiring more custom controller art and hopefully fewer video game tattoos. Express yourself via pad, kids! There are plenty of photos on Flickr, proving that Rock Band is still fun when played in front of a sliding glass door, with video backing up the theory.

Super Mario Mushroom Drum Pads for Rock Band [Behold the Mundane - thanks, Alexandre!]

Harmonix to Nintendo: Wii Need A Hard Drive

Mark Wilson — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:00:00 MDT

When we heard that Rock Band was coming to the Wii without DLC, we'd long since anticipated the problem, our psychic powers stemming from the Wii's obvious lack of decently proportioned internal hard drive. Now Harmonix's design director Rob Kay has confirmed that the Wii's lack of storage was indeed the reason Rock Band Wii will not have DLC:

Come on Nintendo, we need a hard drive.

He continued:

That's what we want. The whole problem is there's nowhere to store [DLC]...If the platform could do it, we'd jump on it.

But the Wii isn't a completely closed system. It can accept SD cards, a cheap form of media storage that Hamonix seems to be overlooking.

Sure, they couldn't depend on everyone to be able to download multitudes of tracks, but I'm betting that those shilling out big bucks for Rock Band wouldn't mind investing in a larger SD card—one that wouldn't cost much more than a Wii hard drive anyway (and could be packaged with the game). Or as an alternative, small SD cards could be sold in brick and morter stores with large track packs and whole albums. It's under $5 to buy an SD card for the average consumer, so imagine how low the prices become in bulk.

That said, come on Nintendo. Harmonix says they need a hard drive so please make it happen.

"Come on Nintendo, we need a hard drive," says Rock Band dev [CVG]

Rock Band European Release Doesn't Include Australia

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:30:00 MDT

Hey, Australia. All that fuss over Rock Band that went down last night? You know, about the release, and then the price? Don't worry about it. None of it applies to you. While European and Australian release dates are normally in-step, for Rock Band they're not, with EA Australia only telling us "There is no announcement on Rock Band for Australia yet". Bummer. Now's as good a time as any to remind you that over Christmas I heard rumours from retailers that thanks to fears over its price the game may not be coming here at all, so between that and the inevitably astronomical price, I'd be getting intimate with the online importing scene if I were you. Just in case.
[Pic]

Harmonix: We're Not Trying To Screw You On Rock Band, Europe

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:40:00 MDT

With the announcement from EA that Rock Band's European release would arrive in the continent on May 23 came the inevitable bad pricing news. At an impressive 240 Euro (or £180) for the full package, the Being European Tax was like a swift guitar smashing square in the bollocks. (Am I doing it right?)

Rob Kay of Hamonix feels your pain, defending the price at the Rock Band press conference, reports VideoGamer.com. Kay points to VAT, nearly 18% of the price alone, plus "a myriad of these little differences that all add up."

"We're not trying to screw people," he added, hoping that the kids can get past their sticker shock and European privilege to enjoy Rock Band. See if you can find any comfort in the extended explanation.

Rock Band dev: "We're not trying to screw people" [VideoGamer.com]

European Rock Band Tracks Coming To US

Mark Wilson — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:40:00 MDT

Were you drooling over Europe's Rock Band track list, but ultimately happier that you didn't need to buy peripherals separate from the game for an astronomical price? Yeah, we were too. But MTV Games has confirmed that the UK-exclusive tracks will actually be reaching US Xbox 360s and PS3s through optional DLC. A price, a date and just how the powers that be are going to divide up the 9-track list have yet to be divulged. But we're betting that we'll see typical 3-track packs for standard prices.

Hit the jump for the list of tracks that you may or may not be buying.

• Blur "Beetlebum" (English)
• Oasis "Rock 'n' Roll Star" (English)
• Tokio Hotel "Monsoon" (English)
• Muse "Hysteria" (English)
• Les Wampas "Manu Chao" (French)
• Playmo "New Wave" (French)
• Die Toten Hosen "Hier Kommt Alex" (German)
• Juli "Perfekte Welle" (German)
• H-Block X "Countdown to Insanity" (German)

Hmm, I wonder if the foreign language tracks will go through localization.

UK Rock Band Tracks to Hit North America as DLC; Includes Muse, Oasis and Blur Songs [Shacknews]

Europe Totally Fucked Over On Rock Band Pricing

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 04:30:00 MDT

When Rock Band was released in the US, it cost $169, and came with the game, guitar, microphone and drums. Not a bad deal. But in Europe, on May 23? Good heavens. The game won't come in a single bundle. Instead, there's two products available at lauch. One is called the "Instrument Edition", which costs £130/€170. It comes with a guitar, drums, and mic. That's it. No game. No, if you want the game as well, it'll cost you another £50/€70. That brings the cost of the game and three instruments to £180/€240. Or, USD$378. Three hundred and seventy-eight dollars. I know, things are always more expensive in Europe, but...damn. Whether it's MTV or EA behind this price, you can take that price, and you can stick it up your arse.
EA clarifies Rock Band pricing [Eurogamer]

Rock Band Gets Official European Release Date [Update]

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 01:30:00 MDT

Quit rubbing your eyes, kid, this is real! EA have formally, officially and properly announced that Rock Band will be launching in Europe on May 23. The catch? As was pretty much already surmised, it's only appearing on 360, with the PS3, Wii and PS2 versions only vaguely scheduled for "Summer". ~~No official price as of yet (I imagine they'll want to break that probably-awful news gently)~~ OK, we do have pricing, and it takes the piss. Songs will be 160 MS points each, and all downloadable songs currently available in the US will be available from launch, along with nine bonus Euro-specific tracks. Oh, and starting May 27, all new DLC will be simultaneously available in both the US and European stores. Click through for the list of European-exclusive songs:

* "Beetlebum" by Blur
* "Rock 'n' Roll Star" by Oasis
* "Monsoon" by Tokio Hotel
* "Hysteria" by Muse
* "Hier Kommt Alex" by Die Toten Hosen
* "Perfekte Welle" by Juli
* "Countdown to Insanity" by H-Block X
* "Manu Chao" by Les Wampas
* "New Wave" by Playmo

Rock Band Gets Official Euro Date [Eurogamer] [Pic]

Rumor: Rock Band Dated For Europe (So Sorry, PlayStation Fans!)

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:20:43 MDT

Back in February, we heard from a reliable source that the release of Rock Band in Europe was going to finally happen in May, but only for the Xbox 360 crowd. Those in the PlayStation 3 camp were going to have to settle for September. We contacted EA for confirmation, but they opted to neither confirm or deny the information. Today, we've heard from two other sources, neither of which are total confirmation, that that may have been accurate.

First, Kotaku reader Brooza was notified by Amazon UK that his pre-order, dating back to June 2007, finally had a ship date of May 15 to May 22. We have yet to hear from anyone who had pre-ordered the PS3 SKU.

Second, a poster on the NeoGAF forums, citing a retailer memo, also pegs Rock Band's European tour will start on May 22, retailing for 169.99 Euro (about $260 in current US dollars). That memo is said to also list the PS3 and PS2 editions for the fall. We're following up again with EA's European folks and will update when we hear back.

Next Week's Rock Band Tracks Require Many, Many Friends

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:20:00 MDT

Next week, the "HMX Pack" of Rock Band bonus tracks—previously only available via the Official Xbox Magazine—will be released from its physical confines and arrive on the Xbox Live Marketplace via digital alchemy. The pack contains the following trio of jams, each of which will be 80 Microsoft Points, bundled for 240 Microsoft Points. PlayStation 3-style Rock Band owners will get them on or soon after April 15, when the PlayStation Store reappears, for 99 cents each.

"Rock Rebellion" by Bang Camaro
"Shake" by Count Zero
"Super Sprode" by Freezepop

We should note that Bang Camaro features approximately 14 lead singers, so make sure you have plenty of hard rock lovin' friends available to perform "Rock Rebellion" with authenticity.

DLC Week: April 8 [Rock Band Forums]

Video "Proof" That Rock Band Learns You Some Drummin'

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:40:00 MDT

Was Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopoulos spot on when he said that Rock Band would be "training an army of a million drummers"? Maybe. It, at the very least, helped train one, Attack of the Show's Kevin Periera. He recently applied his 89% expert-level skills on Coheed and Cambria's "Welcome Home" to some real life Coheed and Cambria. How's he do? Well, I won't spoil it.

Okay, I will. He nails it. I have no idea how much real life drum experience Mr. Pereira's had, but if it's strictly limited to Rock Band, I'm impressed. If not, at least Kev got to rub elbows with the C&C music factory. Next time some internet d-bag asks why you don't just play a real instrument, fire back that maybe, just maybe, you will. Clip via FakePlasticRock.

Still Alive for Rock Band Free Tommorrow

Brian Crecente — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:00:00 MDT

No this isn't an early April Fool's joke. Harmonix, MTV Games and Valve have teamed up to release Portal endsong Still Alive on Rock Band tomorrow for free. That's free for the Xbox 360 and free for the Playstation 3.

"While the cake may be a lie, the free download of "Still Alive" is confirmed truth," said Greg LoPiccolo, VP of product development at Harmonix. "'Still Alive' is an awesome song that brings together great gaming and great music. We've teamed up with Valve to deliver a free download of "Still Alive" as a "thank you" to our fans for their incredible support."
"Rock Band has lit the industry on fire by opening a new market for cooperative musical gaming," said Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing at Valve. "We're delighted Harmonix has selected the track for inclusion in the growing library of tracks available for this phenomenal title."

With the suspicious timing I actually emailed the publisher's back just to make sure they weren't pulling a fast one, but they say it's 100 percent true.

Can't wait to play it again.

ROCK BAND Media Alert

ROCK BAND™ TO FEATURE FREE DOWNLOAD OF "STILL ALIVE" FROM VALVE'S PORTAL™

This is a triumph ... Harmonix Music Systems and MTV Games have teamed up with Valve to bring the song "Still Alive", released as part of The Orange Box collection of games on PC, 360 and Playstation 3, into the Rock Band library. And, as icing on the cake, the track will be available as a FREE download on April 1 for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and April 17 for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.

Written by Jonathan Coulton and originally performed over the end credits of Portal, the experimental single-player game in The Orange Box, "Still Alive" found its way into the heads and hearts of gamers and quickly became a cult classic.

"While the cake may be a lie, the free download of "Still Alive" is confirmed truth," said Greg LoPiccolo, VP of product development at Harmonix. "'Still Alive' is an awesome song that brings together great gaming and great music. We've teamed up with Valve to deliver a free download of "Still Alive" as a "thank you" to our fans for their incredible support."

"Rock Band has lit the industry on fire by opening a new market for cooperative musical gaming," said Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing at Valve. "We're delighted Harmonix has selected the track for inclusion in the growing library of tracks available for this phenomenal title."

With the addition of "Still Alive" to the Rock Band library, there are now more than 70 tracks available for download in addition to the 58 tracks in the original game. To date, gamers have purchased more than 6 million downloadable songs for Rock Band since its launch on November 20, 2007.

Downloadable content for the Xbox 360 will be available via Xbox LIVE® Marketplace using Microsoft Points and is downloaded directly to the Xbox 360 hard drive. Downloadable content for the PLAYSTATION 3 system's version of Rock Band will be available on the PLAYSTATION®Store through the free PLAYSTATION®Network and is downloaded directly to PLAYSTATION 3 system's built in hard drive.

Rock Band is rated "T" for Teen (lyrics, mild suggestive themes) by the ESRB.

European Rock Band Launch Imminent?

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 05:30:00 MDT

MTV & Harmonix have been so quiet of late on European release dates/plans for Rock Band in Europe that many have - quite rightly - begun worrying whether it'd be appearing outside North America at all. This should calm you right down. It's a promo site for the Stag & Dagger Music Festival that'll be taking place in Shoreditch, East London for the first time on May 15. Ostensibly it's a "proper" music festival, with over 100 bands, DJs, etc due to play over the course of the day. But look at the show's sponsors. That big Rock Band logo, for one. And the Harmonix and 360 logos. And the MTV and EA logos elsewhere on the site. If (and going by this scant evidence that's a BIG if!) this is some kind of pre-launch European Rock Band promo, it certainly ties into the April-June timeframe we first heard in January.
[Stag & Dagger, thanks Luke!]

Rock Band Semi-Deal of the Day. Still no ...

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:00:00 MDT

Rock Band Semi-Deal of the Day. Still no Rock Band in your life? Perhaps Amazon's discount on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions will get you on board. That's $148 (US) with cheap bastard shipping included. Don't sleep! Rock Band Special Edition for Xbox 360 and Rock Band Special Edition for PS3 [Amazon]

The Onion Settles Gibson Vs. Guitar Hero

Mark Wilson — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:40:25 MDT

It's difficult to see Gibson and Harmonix/MTV fight over patents—like watching your once ice-cream-loving parents argue about the financial merits of eating in—the fun has been sucked from dessert and nothing that Bryers can say will fix it.

So does Gibson's 1990's filing entitle them to a a piece of the Guitar Hero pie? No clue. Luckily we have the Onion who ran some "man on the street" responses to the difficult situation. Our favorite was from Bruce LaSaard, Elevator Installer. "Excuse me, but after last week's championship game at Ray's Creekside Tavern, I believe it is I who owns Guitar Hero."

Well said, fictitious man-on-the-street. Well said, indeed.

Gibson Sues Over Guitar Hero [The Onion] Thanks MrPants!

Rock Band Wii: No Waggle, No GHIII Support

Luke Plunkett — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 23:30:00 MDT

Few more bits of info regarding the freshly-announced Wii version of Rock Band, courtesy of Harmonix. First is that the game's almost a straight-up port of the PS2 version, so don't expect any Wii Remote-specific treats like you got in Guitar Hero. And while we're on the subject of Guitar Hero, Harmonix have also said that the Wii's Guitar Hero controller won't - as you've probably guessed by now - work with the Wii's Rock Band. As with the PS3 version, they're instructing all upset gamers to go right ahead and blame Activision.
[GH compat via Joystiq]

Harmonix: No DLC for Rock Band Wii...Yet

Brian Crecente — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:00:28 MDT

As soon as I received the press release announcing Rock Band Wii's ship date, I emailed back to find out what the deal would be when it comes to downloadable content.

Both the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions have it and Rock Band gamers have been responsible for more than six million downloads so Nintendo would certainly support it... right? Right? Guys?

Not so much.

Regarding downloadable content: During Rock Band for the Wii development Harmonix focused on making the core gameplay experience as solid and enjoyable as possible while tailoring it specifically to the strengths of the platform. The Wii version still contains the robust four-player band experience and all the fun at the core of other versions of Rock Band. However, because the Wii's online capabilities and potential have yet to be fully realized, we wanted to wait before we explored online functionality for Rock Band to ensure that players get the high-quality of online performance they've come to expect.

Way to stick to your online-gaming-hating ways Nintendo. I'm sure one of these days someone over at Nintendo Japan is going to wake up and suddenly realize that there's this neat thing called the Internet.

I contacted Nintendo for comment but haven't heard back yet, maybe they forgot my Friend Code.

Harmonix Respond To Sue Happy Gibson

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:20:00 MDT

Gibson's first lawsuit against Activision was stupid enough, but subsequent filings against retailers and now Harmonix and MTV show they're clearly suffering from a particularly acute case of STUPID LAWSUIT FEVER. Harmonix are having none of it, and have issued a statement claiming Gibson's suit is "completely without merit".

It is unfortunate that Gibson unfairly desires to share in the tremendous success enjoyed by the developers of Rock Band and Guitar Hero. This lawsuit is completely without merit and we intend to defend it vigorously.
Gibson's patent, filed nearly 10 years ago, required a 3D display, a real musical instrument and a recording of a concert. Rock Band and Guitar Hero are completely different: among other things they are games, require no headset and use a controller only shaped like a real instrument.

[Pic]

Rock Band Gets Boston Six Pack

fdemarco — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:20:00 MDT

An announcement has gone up in the Rock Band forums that next week's DLC will be a Boston pack. And not just three measly songs, but six and each and every one a Master Track! The list of songs is as follows...

"More Than a Feeling" (Master)
"Peace of Mind" (Master)
"Smokin'" (Master)
"Rock & Roll Band" (Master)
"Something About You" (Master)
"Hitch a Ride" (Master)

Individual songs will cost $1.99 each with the whole back going for $9.99. I'm already getting my fingers all fired up for More Than a Feeling which was a major song of my youth. If you are a Boston fan these tracks will be a definite must have. The pack hits XBL and PSN March 25.

DLC Week: March 25th - Boston Pack [Rock Band Forums - Thanks, Kevin]

Harmonix Talks About Rock Band Albums

Brian Crecente — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 08:00:20 MDT

You may have noticed that in the Music Store, coming with the Rock Band update later this week, is a reference to albums. In fact albums have their own selection (with a Coming Soon next to it) on the front page of the Music Store. But still no official word about when albums may be coming. What gives?

When we sat down with the game to check out the new menu at GDC we asked our Harmonix guide just that. He said that albums were a very important goal for the game and that Harmonix was in the "process of finalizing albums."

It sounded to me like one of the hang-ups might have been figuring out pricing and how to deal with people who have already bought chunks of albums through Harmonix created music packs. But it's definitely on it's way and soon. So take heart.

Rock Band Gets In-Game Music Store

Brian Crecente — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:30:01 MDT

Along with a slew of other updates, the latest patch for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 version of Rock Band includes a new in-game music store. The music store will let you preview and purchase songs from inside the game by selecting the option from the main menu.

The store lets you sort all of the games' music by a selection of categories, view original album art for the masters recordings, listen to song previews and check out some extended information about specific songs, like the difficulty rating for each instrument.

We had a chance to check it out in Harmonix suite during the Game Developers Conference earlier this year and were pretty impressed. The menu allowed you to sort by artist, song, genre, album, pack and the difficulty of the song.

Selecting the Music Store from the main menu brings you to a slick interface that allows you to quickly look at new releases, a list of songs available for purchase, song packs and, eventually, entire albums for sale. The front page of the Rock Band Store will also include a sizable box that can show off cover art for the latest album, pack or song and an place where Harmonix can add a message to gamers.

Hopping into the list of songs, gamers can quickly sort by a number of options. When a song is selected on the list, located on the right side of the screen, box art for the music swings down on the left side. It can also show the album name, genre, year it was released and other information.

Hopping into an actual song will bring up an option to preview a snippet of the music as well as a break down of the song's difficulty for each instrument. It will also include a listing of which DLC pack the song is part of.

When Mark and I checked it out at GDC we were very impressed with what we saw, the store will not only help gamers sort through what is increasingly becoming an unmanageable selection of songs, it also looked really damn neat.

Rock Band Goes Sextuple Platinum Releases New Patch

Brian Crecente — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:30:00 MDT

Gamers have purchased more than six million songs for Rock Band since its November launch, Harmonix reports in a release that also details an upcoming patch for the music game that will include an in-game music store.

"Thank you to the music lovers who have helped Rock Band reach an incredible milestone of over 6 million purchased downloads at such an early stage," stated by Paul DeGooyer, SVP DVD, Gaming and Audio, MTV. "The success of Rock Band downloadable content to date firmly reinforces our vision and its potential as a platform for music discovery. By empowering players with the ability to customize their Rock Band library with a rapidly growing selection of rock artists and songs on a weekly basis and adding great new features such as the in-game music store, we are thrilled to give fans more ways to enhance and enjoy their Rock Band experience."

The free update for the game, set to hit Xbox Live and the Playstation Network this week, will include the music store as well as quite a few tweaks.

Music Store: The store will allow you to preview and purchase new songs from within the game, viewing and previewing songs as well as difficulty ratings for each instrument.

Revised Fan Caps: The number of fans a player can earn in easy, medium and hard settings have been increased to let players progress further in the Band World Tour.

More diverse songs in Band World Tour: Harmonix has fixed a bug that caused the same songs to pop up multiple times in teh same our of Band World Tour play.

Improved phoneme recognition: The detection and scoring for phoneme recognition has been tweaked.

Microphone Latency on PlayStation 3 improved: The microphone latency on the PS3 has been optimized.

Xbox 360 Band Logos are now visible through Xbox LIVE: A problem with parental controls was blocking them, now custom band logos are visible.

Faster loading of downloadable content: Load times have been sped up and DLC is now cached.

This Week In Rock Band Tracks

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:30:03 MDT

It may have had some of the surprise spoiled by OXM a few months ago, but this week's Rock Band downloadable tracks have been revealed. The Earache Thrash Pack as the kids from Harmonix are calling it, features a trio of thrashers that, I assume, are known for their tinnitus inflicting abilities.

The pack, which hits Xbox Live Tuesday for 440 Microsoft Points and PlayStation Network Thursday for $5.49, features "Blinded By Fear" by At the Gates, "Thrasher" by Evile, and "D.O.A." by The Haunted. They're all master tracks and can be had for $1.99 each. Thrash on!

Europe's Exclusive Rock Band Tracks (No Actual Europe, Sadly)

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:20:01 MDT

Europe, whenever you finally get Rock Band, you're going to think it's worth the wait. Oh, I haven't touched it in weeks, but when I did have the time to play things like Rock Band, it was just fantastic. Fortunately, EA and Harmonix are throwing you a bone in the form of some Europe-only jams, possibly as an apology for the long, long wait. A batch of EU-only songs was revealed at this weekend's Play.com LIVE fest, including things like Blur's "Beetlebum", Muse's "Hysteria", Die Toten Hosen's "Hier Kommt Alex" and Indochine's "L'Aventurier."

Maybe, when keyboard support is added in Rock Band 2 with an awesome keytar controller, we'll finally get a playable version of Europe's "The Final Countdown." Until then, this'll have to do.

Play.com Live: EA - Rockband, exclusive EU only tracks revealed [ButtonBandits]

MTV Are Hungry Like The Wolf (For Developers)

Luke Plunkett — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 11:30:00 MDT

What, buying Harmonix and hooking up with Jerry Bruckheimer aren't enough for you, MTV, you've gotta go looking for more dev studios to buy-up? Fine. It's your money. You do what you want with it. MTV Networks' Mika Salmi has told MCV that while they're deliriously happy with how the Harmonix deal's worked out, it's probably just the start of a long, serious move into games publishing:

We haven't pulled the trigger on any deal, but we're looking at things all the time. We're definitely open to it, and the kind of consumer that we focus on. If it works with our family, music and games brand value and comes at the right price, we'd definitely be excited about it.

Does the world really need another big publisher? If you're interested in somebody eating away at EA and Activision's market share - or at least keeping them on their toes - your answer should probably be "yes".
INTERVIEW: MTV [MCV]