• rock band 2

    Play Tenacious D On Rock Rock Band 2

    Are we done with Tenacious D yet? That one album was quite funny (who doesn't love a Dio joke?) and the videos are pretty good whenever Dave Grohl shows up. That movie got made, also.

    Fans of movie comedy guy Jack Black and acting and music guy Kyle Gass can try to prolong the magic by singing, strumming and thwacking along with the Tenacious Twosome on Xbox LIVE this Thursday. JB & KG will be appearing on LIVE to promote their new DVD The Complete Masterworks 2.

    Xbox LIVE Gold members can have a chance at playing with the band by sending a friend request to JBTenacious or KGTenacious and hanging out on LIVE for half an hour before the Game with Fame session starts on Thursday, November 20, 8:30 P.M. ET.

    Play with Jack Black and Kyle Gass of Tenacious D [Xbox.com]

    4:20 PM on Tue Nov 18 2008
    By Stuart Houghton
    3,499 views, 51 comments

  • ultimate band

    Ultimate Band's Band-Free Setlist

    Peripheral-free, douche-simulator Ultimate Band hits store shelves next week. While I found the theory interesting, I wasn't totally sold on the concept when I got a chance to check out Disney Interactive Studio's take on Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band. On the plus side, you don't need yet another set of plastic instruments to pack away in your slowly filling closet. On the negative side, the game when I played it was far too easy to feel satisfying.

    The song list for the DS and Wii versions of the game aren't that bad actually, with appearances by hits from The Who, Blondie, Devo and The B-52s. Too bad they're all covers, and from what I remember, bad covers. The full list is on the jump. More »

    9:00 AM on Tue Nov 18 2008
    By Brian Crecente
    3,270 views, 37 comments

    Most discussed CockroachMan: That's a pretty good song list actually. more »

  • rock band 2

    The Killers Also Coming to Rock Band

    Yesterday brought word that three tracks from The Killers would be available Nov. 25 for Guitar Hero: World Tour. They're also putting three cuts on Rock Band 2, available on the same day. (Nov. 25 is the day the Las Vegas band's next album, "Day and Age" is released in stores.)

    Rock Band 2 will feature the band's signature hit "Mr. Brightside," alongside "Smile Like You Mean It" and "Spaceman." (GHWT had "Human" and "Losing Touch" instead.) That information comes from MTV and was reported by Wired.com yesterday.

    Guitar Hero, Rock Band Add Killers Tracks [Wired.com, thanks Stephen Z.]

    10:00 AM on Sat Nov 15 2008
    By Owen Good
    2,505 views, 62 comments

    Most discussed DefHamster: Jeez, all I want is "All These Things That I Have Done," can't let that happen can they? more »

  • rock soap opera

    Guitar Hero World Tour Doubles Rock Band 2's October Take

    The release of yesterday's top ten best selling software in the U.S. was curiously absent of any rhythm game presence. No Guitar Hero World Tour, no Wii Music, no Rock Band 2, all of which saw new releases in October. A look at the top twenty, however, shows that, save for Wii Music, that Guitar Hero World Tour outsold the debut of Rock Band 2 on the PlayStation 3. And, according to a report from GameDaily, the Activision Blizzard published game outdid the Rock Band competition in dollar sales by about two to one.

    Yes, Rock Band 2's debut on the Xbox 360 in September gives Guitar Hero the advantage of dropping four new SKUs at once. But it appears Guitar Hero World Tour is already catching up, moving 534,000 units last month. Activision Blizzard is closing the gap and it would appear Harmonix, EA and MTV Games have some competition.

    Guitar Hero World Tour's Dollar Sales More Than Double Rock Band 2 [GameDaily]

    4:40 PM on Fri Nov 14 2008
    By Michael McWhertor
    3,811 views, 87 comments

    Most discussed MoeB: The better game made the most money? I'm not surprised. more »

  • ruh roh

    Grace Kim: Guitar Hero World Tour is a "Ripoff"

    Back when we told you the story of how Grace Kim became Playboy's Miss November, and how she was secretly getting super freaky with Rock Band while she was doing PR for Guitar Hero, word trickled back to me that her former boss at Activision was not the happiest person in the solar system. I'm thinking that disappointment will only deepen after this video, in which Grace plays Guitar Hero: World Tour on G4TV, is asked for her opinion of it, and calls it "a little bit of a ripoff of Rock Band." She disses the drum kit, too. She did have a kind word for the Guitar Hero franchise, however; she said GH III was more aesthetically pleasing than World Tour.

    You can watch her play all the instruments, which includes pounding the kick drum in a pair of less-than-sensible stiletto boots, and getting booed off the stage singing Blondie's "One Way or Another." I want to bring her into Kotaku tower to have her eat Kentucky Fried Chicken's Guitar Hero Super Smack Pack Whatever the Hell it Is Meal and tell us what she thinks of that.

    Playboy's Miss November vs Guitar Hero World Tour

    4:00 PM on Thu Nov 13 2008
    By Owen Good
    8,119 views, 193 comments

    Most discussed AvatarofJustice: Ys, bcs sm slt wh tks hr clths ff fr mny's pnn mttrs. more »

  • black friday

    Dell's Black Friday Deal: 360 With Free Rock Band 2

    It's no sell-at-a-loss Wii deal, but Dell's Black Friday offer isn't too shabby. The company's Dell Home catalogue has only a single game-related entry, but it's a decent one:

    XBox 360 Arcade Holiday Bundle w/Rock Band 2 Game - $199.00.

    For reference, the Arcade is $199 anyway. So you get a free copy of Rock Band 2 with it. And the free Sega Superstars Tennis. And the five free arcade games. It's most likely the disc-only version of Rock Band 2, but still, that's a handy saving should you be...someone who owns Rock Band 1 (with instruments) on 360 and...needs another 360...without a HDD...

    Dell Home [Black Friday]

    3:30 AM on Wed Nov 12 2008
    By Luke Plunkett
    4,491 views, 23 comments

  • harmonix

    Rock Band Devs Getting $300 Million In Bonuses

    It will be a very merry Christmas at the Rigopulos and Egozy households this year as the two Harmonix founders are about to have a December to remember — read: a new Lexus for the wife with obligatory gargantuan bow. In addition to rumored Jelly of the Month Club memberships, Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy have been paid a $150 million bonus for "exceeding performance targets" last quarter with Rock Band series.

    Another $150 million will be paid to the Harmonix dudes in 2009, making the total... carry the 1... an impressive $300 million in bonuses from owner Viacom.

    Given Sumner Redstone's current money issues with his other businesses (Midway, National Amusements) it may seem a little out of whack in terms of fund allocations, but a spokeswoman told Bloomberg "If they are making more money for us and we have to give a little back, that's OK."

    Viacom to Pay $300 Million Bonus to `Rock Band' Maker [Bloomberg]

    3:40 PM on Mon Nov 10 2008
    By Michael McWhertor
    4,021 views, 65 comments

    Most discussed DarthHater1137: Good, I hope it goes down to the "lowest" level of employee. It's good to see devs get what more »

  • rock band 2

    Harmonix Wants 'Authentic' Music Studio For Rock Band

    Even before Guitar Hero World Tour was released, Harmonix were saying that they didn't plan on rolling out copycat 'recording studio' features in Rock Band 2. Now that World Tour is out, their attitude seems to have solidified.

    Speaking to Videogamer.com, lead designer of Rock Band 2 Dan Teasdale said that he had played a little with World Tour's studio functions and come away with a few ideas.

    "The main one is that you can't do it half-arsed," said Teasdale "If you want to do a way to let players create and distribute music, you have to go all-in - not just do it as a bullet on the back of a box."

    "We actually want to find a way to for people to create music and express themselves, but when we do we want to make sure that people can sing, or the songs can be longer than three minutes, or that you can have more than 1200 notes. We want to make sure it's an authentic experience and it fits on the platform."

    Harmonix: music creation can't be half-arsed [Videogamer]

    2:20 PM on Mon Nov 10 2008
    By Stuart Houghton
    3,139 views, 55 comments

  • harmonix

    Next Week On Rock Band: Foo

    Next week sees the release of the rest of the Foo Fighters' sophomore album The Colour and the Shape for Rock Band owners. Those with Rock Band 2 in-hand are already playing radio hit "Everlong" from the 1997 album, but the remaining twelve tracks — including drummer's choice "My Hero" — will hit the Xbox 360 starting next Tuesday, the PlayStation 3 the following Thursday. The full list of songs follows. More »

    2:40 PM on Thu Nov 6 2008
    By Michael McWhertor
    10,255 views, 75 comments

    Most discussed asahn: i hate to say this, but the AC / DC track pack is AWESOME. Its a total ripoff, and I more »

  • clips

    Which Drums Are Louder: Rock Band 2 or Guitar Hero World Tour

    While playing Guitar Hero World Tour for my review of the game I started thinking that maybe the plastic and rubber drum kit was a bit louder that Rock Band 2's. So Adam and I made this short little video showing me playing a chunk of the same song. This isn't scientific at all (You'd need a way to make sure the exact same amount of pressure was exerted with each strike to do that) but if you've been curious about how the two drum kits sound comparatively maybe this will help you out a bit.

    After listening to both for a bit I'm starting to think they're both about the same, though one sounds deeper and the other has a higher pitched sound to strikes. More »

    1:00 PM on Thu Nov 6 2008
    By Brian Crecente
    19,986 views, 95 comments

    Most discussed chuffhoncho: Anybody have a quick review of how the RB drumset works with GHWT? Is it worth getting GHWT for more »