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Posts with tag rock-band

80+ tracks for Rock Band 2, no music creation

Posted Jul 3rd 2008 5:00PM by Majed Athab
Filed under: News

It's not surprising to hear that Rock Band 2 will be at E3 with some megaton details being dished out (including playlist), but it is quite luscious to hear that round two will feature over 80 tracks. That's quite an ambitious feat for MTV Games and Harmonix, especially with all songs being master recordings. Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos has said: "With Rock Band 2, the focus is on perfection of the experience. We've had a year to listen to our fans and build out the scope, depth and polish ..." Rock Band 2 is set to add more variety to the rhythm game with more female-fronted bands and new artists who've never contributed to games before.

On another note, Rigopulos addressed that user-created music won't be coming to RB2. "We really felt like we wanted to do it right," said Rigopulos. "We're taking a radically different approach to that problem. It's something we wanted to take more time to do it right. It's actually something we're not focused on in Rock Band 2. We're really focused on other areas related to the music and bringing the community together." With 80+ tracks for the second game and a constant stream of DLC, we think we'll be too busy to actually care about user-created content anyway.

Rumor: Partial Rock Band 2 set list leaked

Posted Jul 1st 2008 11:00PM by Majed Athab
Filed under: Rumors

Sharp eyes from ScoreHero forum-goers have led to a possible set list leak for Rock Band 2. Spotted on a preview from X-Play, we now have a list of some songs that could either be: 1) new songs for Rock Band 2, or 2) future DLC. Here's a list of what you can see from the screenshot above:
  • "Panic Attack" - Dream Theater (or Finger Eleven)
  • "Chop Suey" - System of a Down
  • "Give It Away" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
  • "Everlong" - Foo Fighters
  • "Kids in America" - Kim Wilde
  • "Ace of Spades" - Motorhead
  • "Hello There" - Cheap Trick
  • "Anyway You Want It" - Journey
  • "Pinball Wizard" - The Who
Also note, songs that weren't mentioned on the list above were left out because they are currently available for purchase. If any of these songs prove to be true, whether DLC or on the next disc, then we're certainly happy with what the future of Rock Band holds.

[Via Kotaku, X3F]

The Who Rock Band DLC tracklist unveiled

Posted Jul 1st 2008 8:00PM by Alan Tsang
Filed under: News


Buried in the recent announcement of Rock Band 2 was a note about the July 15th release of a 12-song compilation from The Who. Originally they were to release the Who's Next album but were unable to locate all the masters. Instead, they will put together a collection called The Best of The Who Rock Band Edition. The pricing will be $20 for all 12 songs while individual songs will be $2. Of course, every track will be presented in their master recordings. Tracklist is as follows:
  • "Amazing Journey"
  • "Baba O'Riley"
  • "Behind Blue Eyes"
  • "Eminence Front"
  • "Going Mobile"
  • "Leaving Here"
  • "My Generation" (Live at Leeds)
  • "Real Good Looking Boy"
  • "Sea & Sand"
  • "Summertime Blues" (Live at Leeds)
  • "Who Are You"
  • "Young Man Blues" (Live at Leeds)
[Via Joystiq]

Rock Band 2 is official and it's coming this year

Posted Jun 30th 2008 7:00AM by Jem Alexander
Filed under: News

IGN has released an interview with Dan Teasdale, Lead Designer at Harmonix, in which they discuss the evolution of the band-based gaming platform Rock Band. The sequel, Rock Band 2, will be available stateside sometime this year (the Xbox 360 version has a September release date). The interview reveals a lot of tasty info about the game and reiterates to us why Harmonix is the king of rhythm-based gaming.

There's a whole lot of interesting stuff to read about, but the most exciting has to be the fact that Rock Band 1 and 2 DLC will be completely compatible with both games. "As far as Harmonix is concerned, there's no difference between "Rock Band 1 DLC" and "Rock Band 2 DLC" – we're just releasing awesome songs every week onto the Rock Band platform." Are you listening, Activision?

Rock Band 2 will obviously have some advancements over the original, including new and improved features and instruments. Teasdale also teases about an amazing lineup of songs, with announcements to be made in the near future. Check out the full interview for more info about your new favorite rhythm game.

As for you European PS3 owners, still waiting for Rock Band 1 ... Try not to cry.

Crüefest Rock Band DLC next week

Posted Jun 27th 2008 7:30PM by Majed Athab
Filed under: Downloads, PlayStation Store

Next week's DLC for Rock Band will have a Crüefest flavor to it. In honor of the late July event, three tracks (and only one of them actually from Mötley Crüe themselves) have been bunched up into a nicely packaged pack. A fourth song is also planned; this one is a free download. The song is titled "Promised Land" by Vesuvius and comes from the film The Rocker.

The three Crüefest Pack songs are "Down At The Whisky" by Mötley Crüe, "Time Is Running Out" by Papa Roach, and "Who's Going Home With You Tonight" by Trapt. The Crüefest pack costs $2.99 altogether and, as usual, you can buy them individually for 99 cents. And, if we haven't already made it clear, "Promised Land" is free ... or will cost you only the electricity and internet service for the seconds it will take you to download the song. All tracks will be available Thursday, July 3.

[Via Joystiq]

Activision, MTV Games going for Beatles rights?

Posted Jun 23rd 2008 12:00PM by Majed Athab
Filed under: Business, News

The Beatles are still a hot commodity after almost 50 years. Everyone wants to get a piece of the Fab Four's music and make oodles of boodle for themselves through either commercial usage, digital downloads, or even appearing in videogaming. Speaking of videogames, according to Financial Times, reps for the British music legends are currently in talks with both Activision (Guitar Hero) and MTV Games (Rock Band) in regards to potentially bringing Beatles master recordings to either rhythm game. Both Activision and MTV Games have not outright said that they have been gunning for Beatles rights.

Back in March, we heard rumblings about interest in a Beatles solo-Guitar Hero game similar to what's going on with Aerosmith and Metallica. Around that same time, rumors of Beatles songs going to iTunes hit and gave signs of a potentially broadening license catalog where there virtually was none before. What this means is that we know for sure the rights holders have interest in bringing out the songs; the question now is: who will get them? A victor might be found quickly as a deal could be "reached in a matter of weeks." E3 fits into that time frame; perhaps we'll know then?

[Via Gamasutra]

Play LittleBigPlanet early with PlayStation Experience

Posted Jun 19th 2008 4:00PM by Majed Athab
Filed under: News

Have you been aching to play LittleBigPlanet? If you have, then perhaps you might want to check out the PlayStation Experience -- a roving 10-wheel truck of PlayStation gaming goodness -- when it swings by your town, or a town near your town. The truck will be making stops at certain events across the USA this summer and people can come up and try out LittleBigPlanet, SingStar, and Rock Band.

A second mammoth truck dubbed PlayStation Patrol will also be going cross-country. This one will have kiosks and a player's lounge for playing Metal Gear Solid 4, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, and tons of PSP games. For tour dates and when to expect these trucks to roll into a place near you, check here for Experience and here for Patrol. Hit up the PlayStation.Blog for some pics of the big rig sets.

Survey asks for opinions on Rock Band 2 art

Posted Jun 5th 2008 3:45PM by Andrew Yoon
Filed under: Rumors


Considering its success, Rock Band 2 shouldn't come as a surprise. An anonymous tipster sent Joystiq a few conceptual images used in a survey about a potential sequel to Harmonix's peripheral party game. Previous surveys revealed Rock Band 2 may feature an enhanced World Tour mode, with the ability to record music videos and hire staff members. Battle of the Bands and drum trainer modes are also rumored to be included in a sequel.

While nothing concrete has been confirmed by Harmonix, these early leaks seem quite plausible. We're hoping that, unlike Guitar Hero, DLC from the original Rock Band can be safely played in any future iterations of the franchise. If not, we're certain there's going to be a lot of angry rockers out there.

Rock Band expands to Japan

Posted Jun 2nd 2008 3:00PM by Andrew Yoon
Filed under: News


PS3 Fanboy-favorite multiplayer music game, Rock Band, is heading to Japan. The ensemble peripheral game will be "heavily localized" for the Japanese market, which will undoubtedly mean the addition of playable Japanese songs in the Rock Band lineup. It's unclear at this moment whether or not Japanese language content will be made available as DLC in other territories, but considering the wide availability of European tracks on the Rock Band Store, we wouldn't be surprised. If only Rock Band featured SingStar-like video production, you'd be able to see all of us make fools of ourselves singing J-Rock songs. Be thankful that we won't subject you to that.

[Via press release]

UK retailers slash Rock Band price by £40

Posted May 27th 2008 3:35PM by Majed Athab
Filed under: News

Retailers in the UK are not adhering to the suggested retail price for the Euro Rock Band kit and are selling the whole thing for 40 quid cheaper than it was supposed to. The game disc alone costs a staggering £50 while the instrument set originally tacked on an extra £130. Listening to customer disapproval of such inflated prices, places like Play have dropped the price for the disc down to £39.99 and the instrument set down to £99.99. That's a huge difference with all things considered.

Now, before you get all excited, just remember the PS3 version is yet to come out in Europe and doesn't even have a solid date -- this new pricing scheme is related to the Xbox 360 edition that came out last Friday. However, it should follow logically that the PS3 version, when it gets a release date, would see a similar discount. At least, we're hoping so for the sake of our UK readers.

ICO and Siren creators speaking at Nordic conference

Posted May 7th 2008 12:00AM by Nick Doerr
Filed under: News

With all the excitement going on with PlayStation Day in Europe, we're going to turn your attention to another conference coming up soon. The Nordic Game 2008 conference. It's a little more technical of a conference, but it's still got some great developers giving speeches. Sony's own Fumito Ueda, creator of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus will be taking part in the "Game Creation and Technology" program. This program focuses on new game niches and continuing to innovate creatively.

Other celebrated panelists in the discussion include the creator of Silent Hill and Siren, Keiichiro Toyama, Rock Band's Roby Kay and Ninja Theory co-founder, Tameem Antoniades. We don't really expect any announcements out of these folk, but they might bring something new to the table when giving their presentation. Like whatever direction Ueda is taking with his third game. We'll keep you posted.

Harmonix and MTV announce first complete album download, more to come

Posted Apr 18th 2008 11:00AM by Majed Athab
Filed under: News

Harmonix and MTV Games have announced that the first complete album download for Rock Band will be coming next week (April 24). The first album? It's Judas Priest's 1982 hit "Screaming For Vengeance."

All 10 tracks on the album are original master recordings. The full album is priced at $14.99, but if you just want individual songs, you can still purchase any of the ten tracks for $1.99 a pop. Also, Newsweek's N'Gai Croal got the scoop on next month's downloadable album: "The Cars" by The Cars. The future of full albums will continue to grow with "Doolittle" by The Pixies, which is expected for June.

PS3 Fanboy hands-on: Nyko's Front Man guitar

Posted Apr 13th 2008 6:15PM by Andrew Yoon
Filed under: Peripherals, Hands-on


The popularity of games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero has created an extraordinary demand for guitar peripherals. However, many PS3 fans are left cold knowing that their Guitar Hero controllers won't work in Rock Band, and vice versa. It seems ridiculous to have a small army of guitar controllers lying around to play these two games. Thankfully, Nyko has an excellent solution.

The Front Man guitar is an excellent option for those looking for an extra guitar. Unlike the official options from Activision and Harmonix, this third-party solution allows for playback on both games, with a simple flip of a switch. For those looking for one guitar that works with both music games, this is obviously an ideal choice.

However, we found that the Front Man guitar is simply the best guitar available on the PS3. Like other guitars on the platform, you will need to connect a dongle to the system for it to work wirelessly. The dongle is rather cute, looking like a guitar foot pedal. There are lights on the front of the pedal, each corresponding to the five buttons you can press on the guitar. They light up according to what you're pressing down. Neat!

Continue reading PS3 Fanboy hands-on: Nyko's Front Man guitar

Rock Band guitar modified for stompbox overdrive

Posted Apr 10th 2008 5:30PM by Majed Athab
Filed under: Hacks and Homebrew

Were you ever annoyed by the tilt activation controls for the guitar overdrive in Rock Band? One gamer apparently did, and actually decided to do something about it, too. He basically took the thing apart and re-wired his mighty axe to read the overdrive activation through an effects pedal.

Ultimately, this mod gives more control to a player as it won't accidentally trigger off the overdrive. This is especially interesting for those restless rockers out there that really want to move and grove while playing. Think you're good enough to give this a try? Read up on the instructions here.

[Via Engadget]

Harmonix justifies overpriced Euro Rock Band, exclusive songs not so exclusive

Posted Apr 9th 2008 12:30PM by Majed Athab
Filed under: News

Yesterday you may have heard about the news of Rock Band finally coming over to Europe and the kit's slightly inflated price tag. Harmonix explains that "We're not trying to screw people," and that it's all in the 17.5% (UK) VAT. We guess that makes sense as all EU goods have a Value-added tax. But what doesn't, is why the game and instrument kit are being sold separately for such a high price -- that's what's really burning a hole in the pocket of consumers.

Oh, and also, did we forget to mention that those exclusive songs are not so exclusive after all? North Americans will have those tracks available for download sometime in the future, too. So far there's no set date for the Euro songs for North Americans, but we presume it will be some time away after the Euro launch. That is ... when we get a date for the PS3 version.

[Via Joystiq]

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