Rock Band's European pricing doesn't take the piss, it extracts it in industrial quantities, packages it with ruthless efficiency then ships it to consumers across the Old World. So it should please you to know that it's in line for a price cut, with the instrument bundles coming down from £130/€170 to £110/€140. Still outrageous, yes, just a little less outrageous! Oh, MTV would also like you to know that not only will Rock Band finally be appearing on Wii, PS2 and PS3 between September 22 and September 29, it'll be appearing in more countries than the United Kingdom, France and Germany (like Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria and, yes, Luxembourg!).
Guildford, UK – September 8th, 2008 – Rock Band™ continues its European invasion as Harmonix, the leading developer of music-based games, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom's MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), along with distribution partner Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced a European price cut for the Rock Band Instrument Edition on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. In addition, Rock Band for the PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems and Wii™ will ship to retail and will be available in the UK the week of September 8th, in France the week of September 15th, in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria and Luxembourg the week of September 22nd and in Spain the week commencing September 29th. The Instrument Edition of Rock Band will retail for €139.99 in Europe and £109.99 in the United Kingdom for the Xbox 360®, PLAYSTATION®3 system, PlayStation®2 system and Wii™. Rock Band is an all-new platform for music fans and gamers to interact with music. The game challenges players to put together a band and tour for fame and fortune, mastering lead/bass guitar, drums and vocals. With more master recordings than any other music game, Rock Band features some of the world's biggest rock artists and spans every genre of rock ranging from alternative and classic rock to heavy metal and punk. In addition to the 58 tracks from the North American release, Rock Band will feature nine additional tracks including: • 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) (*cover song) In addition, Rock Band's unprecedented library of more than 200 songs available for purchase and download to date in North America is now available in Europe for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system and PLAYSTATION 3 system. All new Rock Band downloadable content will be available simultaneously in the US and Europe on a weekly basis. For a complete list of Rock Band songs available for purchase to date, please go to http://www.rockband.com/dlc. Since its North American release in 2007, Rock Band has garnered more than 40 awards 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 12+ by PEGI. For more information on Rock Band and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.rockband.com and www.harmonixmusic.com. Developed by Harmonix, MTV Games is the publisher of Rock Band. EA is the exclusive distribution partner for Rock Band.