All Things Rock Band Megathread- Rock Band 3 Coming Soon!

[BlueCali]

The Rock Band franchise is a series music video games developed by Harmonix Music Systems.

The game allows players to perform in virtual bands by providing up to four players with the ability to play three different peripherals modeled after music instruments (a guitar peripheral for lead guitar and bass guitar gameplay, a drum peripheral, and a microphone). These peripherals are used to simulate the playing of rock music by hitting scrolling notes on-screen. In addition to the songs included on the game discs there are hundreds of additional downloadable songs are being released via the PSN store; all of these songs, existing and future, are compatible with all Rock Band titles.

(Note: LEGO: Rock Band can only play songs that are rated E)

 

[jefXfree]

UPDATE: Editorial: Courtney Love needs to shut up, again

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: It was about 15 years ago when rock ‘n’ roll and a generation lost its icon. The band, Nirvana, was part of a movement set to evolve the flashy hair-bands of the ‘80s, and the front man, Kurt Cobain, encapsulated what it meant to be an anti-rock star. Then, in the flash of a shotgun, it was all over. The man who started a music revolution was dead; the band was done, and a bit of worldwide angst faded, revealing sorrow for a fallen legend.

One thing that hasn’t changed since Cobain’s death is his widow, Courtney Love. Her own brand of guitar-centered chick rock lasted about as long as her husband’s, but her career was cut short for lack of originality and ability. She was loud, outspoken, dazed, and overbearing in the early ‘90s, and the same can be said today. Love her or hate her, you have to admit she puts herself out for scrutiny, with nearly everything she does or says.

In her latest spewing of intellect, Love ‘voiced’ her outrage over Kurt Cobain’s appearance in Guitar Hero 5. It was recently announced that Cobain would be a playable character in the fifth installment of Guitar Hero, an addition many found disgusting, while others felt indifferent towards his inclusion. Cobain’s addition in GH5 feels creepy, we admit, but Love’s outrage gives us one thought: Courtney Love needs to shut up!

Love apparently posted on her Twitter account (via Perez Hilton) her true feelings towards Cobain’s inclusion in GH5. She wrote: “For the record this Guitar Hero **** is breach of contract on a Bullys part and there will be a proper addressing of this and retraction," She went on to write, “WE are going to sue the **** out of ACtivision we being the Trust the Estate the LLC the various LLCs Cobain Enterprises.”

It’s hard to back Cobain’s addition to GH5, but we mostly feel indifferent. It will not be the end of the world to play as Cobain, and it will most likely not make anyone run out to purchase the title. Sooner or later his widow needs to keep her mouth shut. The world cares very little what you think. Although, the fact that her ‘Tweets’ inspired this editorial and news around the Web only helps with publicity for the Love brand, and Guitar Hero 5.

UPDATE: According to a statement from Activision, Courtney Love did give her consent to Kurt Cobain’s use in Guitar Hero 5. In a statement to Joystiq, the Activision rep stated, “Guitar Hero secured the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a written agreement signed by Courtney Love to use Kurt Cobain’s likeness as a fully playable character in Guitar Hero 5.”

 

[jefXfree]

(Rumor) Rock Band: Pink Floyd

Another British band getting the music game treatment?

Pink Floyd’s drummer, Nick Mason, told the BBC the band would consider inclusion on a Rock Band or Guitar Hero-style game, although largely for business reasons.

While we may someday see a reimagining of Pink Floyd’s work in a videogame, perhaps in the same manner as the recent The Beatles: Rock Band, don’t expect any new material from the band.

“We’re all still interested in the catalogue and trying to make the most of it, re-mastering when necessary, and looking at other things that we could do with it,” Mason said. “I think we’re all still very proud of it – we do talk to each other occasionally.”

Even though the drummer said the band would consider doing a Rock Band/Guitar Hero game, Mason said he is not completely behind music genre games. “It irritates me having watched my kids do it – if they spent as much time practicing the guitar as learning how to press the buttons they’d be damn good by now.”

In regards to a possible Pink Floyd game, he said, “I think everyone’s looking at new ways of selling the music because the business of selling records has almost disappeared.”

With so many bands taking part in the music genre games, bands like Pearl jam, Aerosmith, Metallica, and The Beatles, we wonder what other bands will consider making the avatar transition. It may not be too long before we see Rock Band or Guitar Hero eat-up bands like U2, Led Zeppelin, Elvis, or Bob Dylan for full games.

 

[Horhay]

The Beatles Rock Band

Did anyone happen to pick this game up besides me?

Anyway, the game rocks! I love The Beatles music, yes some of is a bit too shaggadelic for me lol but regardless the game is solid.

The game takes you through their major performances and the different time periods.

The only negative I found was that you can't transfer the songs over to RB2, it's ok though The Beatles deserve their own game

 

[jefXfree]

A Brutal Legend Rock Band update

Brutal Legend is a game deeply immersed in the heavy metal world, and part of that world is coming next week to Rock Band. The Brutal Legend Pack includes music from Tim Schafer’s upcoming game. The update will also include tracks from Joe Satriani, L7, Kansas, Black Tide, and Blink-182.

The Brutal Legend Pack includes “(We Are) The Road Crew ’08,” by Motörhead, “The Metal,” by Tenacious D, and “More Than Meets the Eye,” by Testament. All of these songs are also featured in Brutal Legend.

Each song will cost $1.99 (USD)/£.99 (GBP)/€1.49 ( EU), or you can pick up the pack for $5.49/£2.49/€3.99. Starting on Oct. 13, you can get a free download code for the pack when you purchase the game from Best Buy.

“These are three great songs that totally capture the feeling of Brütal Legend. I can’t wait to play them in Rock Band,” said Tim Schafer, founder of Double Fine Productions. “I’ve air-drummed to all of them so many times, I’m sure I’ll be able to beat them on hard mode, no problem. Or at least on medium. Like medium plus. That’s a setting, right?”

Also, look for our review of Brutal Legend next week.

Here’s a full list of updates coming to Rock Band next week:

* Motörhead – "(We Are) The Road Crew ‘08"
* Tenacious D – "The Metal"
* Testament – "More Than Meets the Eye"
* Black Tide – "Show Me the Way"
* Blink-182 – "What's My Age Again?"
* Joe Satriani – "Satch Boogie"
* Joe Satriani – "Surfing with the Alien"
* Kansas – "Icarus (Borne on the Wings of Steel)" (Live from Two for the Show)
* Kansas – "Point of Know Return" (Live from Two for the Show)
* L7 – "Andres"

Tracks available for Rock Band Unplugged:

* Pearl Jam – "Jeremy"
* Foreigner – "Headknocker"

 

[jefXfree]

Did anyone pick this up?

 

[jefXfree]

Rock Band 3 Megathread

info

 

[jefXfree]

Dhani Harrison working with Harmonix on Rock Band 3

Dhani Harrison has let slip that he is currently working with developer Harmonix on a third Rock Band game.

Harrison, who previously collaborated with the studio on The Beatles: Rock Band, told the Chicago Tribune that fans can expect more realism when it comes to Rock Band 3’s peripherals.

“I’m working on Rock Band 3 and making the controllers more real so people can actually learn how to play music while playing the game,” said Harrison. “Give me a couple years, it’s going to happen”.

Touching on The Beatles: Rock Band, Harrison commented, "I guess I'm accidentally responsible for 'Rock Band' becoming the Beatles digital platform, but it was a no-brainer.”

“It's really difficult to get the Beatles to agree on anything, but I set up demos for them and [longtime Beatles confidant] Neil Aspinall instantly saw the potential."

 

[jefXfree]

Green Day: Rock Band - Unveiled!

Harmonix and MTV Games have lifted the lid on a fresh entry in the Rock Band franchise based on American trio Green Day.

Due out on PS3 Green Day: Rock Band features likenesses of all three bands members and will also include heaps of art and venues related to the group’s history. Apparently, the game is being touted as an ‘extension and expression’ of Green Day’s most successful works and key moments from the group’s illustrious career.

Fellow member Billie Joe Armstrong commented: "We've worked with the Rock Band team in the past year to enable our fans to play tracks from 21st Century Breakdown, and we’re excited to now be working on a game, spanning our entire career.”

"We want people to fire this up, choose their favourite Green Day tracks, and play along with us as Rock Band avatars so they can feel what it's like to perform on stage as Green Day."

Green Day: Rock Band will ship some time in 2010. Stay tuned for more info as it breaks.

 

[Wreck]

Wow ... now this will sell!

 

[MASSgains88]

This sounds really good!

 

[BlueCali]

Wow ... now this will sell!

LMFAO.. Green day songs are horrible on Rock Band... good thing you can import it into Rock Band 2.

 

[jefXfree]

Singstar Mic Support For PS3 Rock Band 2

Harmonix lead designer Dan Teasdale has today posted an entry on the US PlayStation blog announcing a Software Update that will patch Singstar Wireless microphone compatibility into Rock Band 2.

Here's an excerpt from Teasdale's post, "We’re perfectionists over here at Harmonix, and we want to make sure that everyone’s Rock Band experiences are as awesome as they possibly can be. With that in mind, I’m proud to announce that the Rock Band team has finalised a software update for Rock Band 2 on the PlayStation 3 that addresses some common feature requests from our fans."

Other updates include an option to sort tracks by their star ratings, a new in-game store front and velocity sensitivity for Ion drum kits. Rock and roll.

Singstar mic compatibility is already available in Europe. Now US players will be able to make their Rock Band experience totally wireless too.

The patch is available from tomorrow. Rock on.

 

[jefXfree]

Alice in Chains pack hitting Rock Band next week

MTV Games has revealed that a second helping of Alice in Chains will be hitting the Rock Band Music Store next week.

PlayStation 3 owners will be able to fork out for the Alice in Chains Pack 02 on January 14 as part of next week’s PlayStation Network update. The track pack contains the following songs:

-“Last of My Kind” (From Black Gives Way to Blue)
-“Your Decision” (From Black Gives Way to Blue)
-“Heaven Beside You” (From Alice in Chains)
-“Grind” (From Alice in Chains)
-“We Die Young” (From Facelift)

If you don’t fancy picking up the whole set, you can buy individual tracks for a measly USD $1.99/GBP £0.99. Those of you who want the full set, however, will have to part with USD $8.49/GBP £4.39.

Alice in Chains formed in Seattle, Washington back in the late 1980s and notched up a series of successful albums, including Jar of Flies and Alice in Chains, which topped the Billboard 200. Following the death of lead singer Layne Staley in 2002, the group reformed in 2005 with vocalist William DuVall, eventually releasing the album Black Gives Way to Blue last September.

 

[jefXfree]

Rock Band: Japan

Harmonix announced that it had begun codeveloping a Japanese version of Rock Band with Q Entertainment for exclusive release in Japan on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. According to Harmonix, Rock Band: Japan will be "the first US-originated rock music game to be heavily localized for the Japanese market". A release date has not yet been announced. While the game mechanics are expected to remain the same as Rock Band, the game will be localized and its soundtrack will include songs by popular Japanese artists, such as X Japan.

 

[MASSgains88]

Sounds pretty cool!

 

[Horhay]

That doesn't sound bad at all. I wonder what the playlist will be or if it's going to remain the same as the US version.

 

[jefXfree]

That doesn't sound bad at all. I wonder what the playlist will be or if it's going to remain the same as the US version.

it says it's completely localized to Japanese tastes and music. So, if it's region free, it should be a lot of new songs for everyone to enjoy... if you like japanese music.

 

[Horhay]

sweet!

 

[jefXfree]

Do I need the export key to play RockBand 2 DLC songs with LEGO RockBand? Not RB2 disc songs.

 

[BlueCali]

no, only certain songs will play though because of the rating of the game.