Rock Band (series)

[Sprite Machine]

The floodgates are OPEN, baby!

Green Day, MTV Games, Harmonix and Reprise / Warner Bros. ™ Records Unleash Green Day: Rock Band on the World June 8, 2010

New York – March 11, 2010 – Multi-platinum selling and Grammy® Award winning group Green Day, along with  Harmonix, the leading developer of music-based games, MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B ), and Reprise / Warner Bros. Records today announced that Green Day: Rock Band™, the full standalone music video game experience that celebrates Green Day’s historic career and genre-defining albums will launch worldwide June 8, 2010, for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and the Wii™ system from Nintendo.

Green Day: Rock Band allows players to step onto the stage and into the shoes of Green Day, the multi-platinum, Grammy® Award-winning band that jump-started the punk-pop revival and has continued to pave the way for American rock music into the 21st century. Taking on the likenesses of Green Day members Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool, players progress through the story and history of Green Day, gaining access into the band’s media vault, where they can unlock more than 100 collectible images, and more than 40 minutes of rare and unreleased video from interviews, outtakes and performances.

Featuring the three-part vocal harmony technology Harmonix introduced with the award-winning The Beatles™: Rock Band™, Green Day: Rock Band gives players access to an incredible setlist of 47 tracks that span the band’s career including “Brain Stew,” “Jaded,” “Hitchin’ a Ride,” “American Idiot,” “Wake Me Up When September Ends” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” All 47 tracks are fully exportable, providing players with the opportunity to play the songs in Rock Band™, Rock Band 2™ and the recently announced Rock Band™3! Green Day: Rock Band™ features an export fee of $9.99 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system.  The export feature is not available for the Wii system. In addition, the six Green Day tracks already available in the Rock Band Music Store as downloadable content can be played in Green Day: Rock Band with added vocal harmonies, unique performance visuals, and exclusive archival material.

Green Day: Rock Band pricing is as follows:

Green Day: Rock Band standalone game for Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 system
US MSRP $59.99

Green Day: Rock Band standalone game for Wii system
US MSRP $49.99

Green Day: Rock Band Plus for Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 system (US/Canada only)
US MSRP $69.99
Includes special packaging, export and six Green Day DLC tracks ($22 total value)

 Green Day: Rock Band will be released simultaneously in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and other territories on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and Wii. The game is compatible with all Rock Band™ instrument controllers, as well as most Guitar Hero® and other third-party music video game peripherals and microphones.

This latest Rock Band title aims to encapsulate the spirit and energy of a band that has sold more than 50 million records worldwide and been hailed as one of the best live acts touring today. Green Day has won critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including Grammy Awards for Best Alternative Music Performance for Dookie, Best Rock Album for American Idiot and Record of the Year for their smash hit "Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” Earlier this year, Green Day released their eighth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown, on Reprise Records. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, as well as on the Rock, Active Rock and Alternative charts, fueled by the alternative radio No. 1 single “Know Your Enemy,” and won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album.

Green Day: Rock Band is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB.

Green Day: Rock Band is published by MTV Games and developed by Harmonix, the world’s premier music video game company and creators of the best-selling Rock Band. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) is serving as distribution partner for the game.

[Monty]

Shame it's only Green Day.

[seaempty]

THREE TRACKS FROM NEW ARTIST LITTLE FISH, INCLUDING FREE DOWNLOAD OF "AM I CRAZY?"

Guildford, UK. – March 19, 2010 – Harmonix and MTV Games today announced that a four pack of songs from American punk rockers X, three singles, including a free track, from British garage rockers Little Fish, as well as singles from Ace Frehley, Carrie Underwood and OneRepublic will be added next week to the Rock Band Music Store of downloadable content for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Wii™.

These are among the more than 400 artists currently available through the Rock Band platform. With more than 1,100 songs available, Rock Band is, without question, the industry leader in providing the best selection of interactive musical content, songs and artists.

Rock Band DLC Additions for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 System and Wii
Los Angeles-formed punk rockers X make their Rock Band debut next week with “Blue Spark” and “The Hungry Wolf” from 1982’s Under the Big Black Sun, “I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts” from 1983’s More Fun in the New World and “Los Angeles” from the band’s 1980 debut album Los Angeles, which Rolling Stone named one of its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and 100 Greatest Albums of the 80s.

Three singles from British garage rockers Little Fish will also be available, including “Am I Crazy,” “Bang Bang” and “Darling Dear,” all from the band’s debut album, set to be released in July and titled Baffled & Beat. “Am I Crazy” will be available only on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system and will be a free track. Baffled & Beat was produced by Linda Perry and released on her label, Custard Records. After successful opening slots for acts such as Hole, Alice in Chains and Eagles Of Death Metal, Little Fish is headlining their own UK tour in March in support of Baffled & Beat, when they also open for Them Crooked Vultures at the Royal Albert Hall.

Additional singles from Ace Frehley (“Outer Space”), Carrie Underwood (“All-American Girl”) and OneRepublic (“Stop & Stare”) will also be available in the Rock Band Music Store next week.

Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (March 23) and PlayStation 3 system (March 25):

• X – “Blue Spark” +
• X – “The Hungry Wolf”
• X – “I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts”
• X – “Los Angeles”
• Little Fish – “Am I Crazy” +
• Little Fish – “Bang Bang” *
• Little Fish – “Darling Dear” *
• Ace Frehley – “Outer Space”
• Carrie Underwood – “All-American Girl” +
• OneRepublic – “Stop & Stare” +

(All tracks are original master recordings)

These tracks will be available for purchase as “X Pack 01,” as well as individual tracks on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system, and as individual tracks only on Wii. Tracks marked with “+” are also available for download in the family-friendly LEGO® Rock Band Music Store. “Am I Crazy” will be available only on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system and will be a free track.

Price: £.99 UK (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) per track
£3.49 UK (560 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for “X Pack 01”
Denotes £.59 UK (80 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360)
(200 Wii Points™) per track

[Sprite Machine]

The Green Day: Rock Band tracklist:

Dookie (1994)
Burnout
Having a Blast
Chump
Longview
Welcome to Paradise
Pulling Teeth
Basket Case
She
Sassafrass Roots
When I Come Around
Coming Clean
Emenius Sleepus
In the End
F.O.D.

American Idiot (2004)
American Idiot
Jesus of Suburbia
Holiday
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Are We the Waiting
St. Jimmy
Give Me Novacaine
She?s a Rebel
Extraordinary Girl
Letterbomb
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Homecoming
Whatsername

Warning (2000)
Minority
Warning

Nimrod (1997)
Hitchin? a Ride
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
Nice Guys Finish Last

Insomniac (1995)
Brain Stew
Jaded
Geek Stink Breath

21st Century Breakdown(2009)
Song of the Century
21st Century Breakdown
Before the Lobotomy
Last Night on Earth
Peacemaker
Murder City
¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)
Restless Heart Syndrome
Horseshoes and Handgrenades
The Static Age
American Eulogy
See the Light


I would have liked more Nimrod, as it's my favourite album, but I'm assuming further tracks will be made available as DLC. I never expected them to take the 'full albums' stance with this. The entirety of Dookie on the disc?! Wowzer.
I like their newer stuff too, just not as much. I probably would have prefered a more varied selection of the best tracks from each album, but I'm sure they'll release everything eventually, so no big deal.
Only three 'venues' in the game, seems a bit low.

[tubaros]

Where the hell is "Time of your life"?

[SurfEd]

its called 'Good Riddance' and its there

[tubaros]

Ah yeah = good riddance (the time of your life) forgot

[tubaros]

Heres a video of a song called New Orleans is Sinking by my fave canadian band, the tragically hip, due out  onthe RB network soon/now

The guitar is fucking sweeeeeeeeet. I just hope they release some more of their material. Then my life will be complete..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NgMpsDpZz0&feature=player_embedded

[Sprite Machine]

First batch of RBN tracks hitting the PS3 on 4/22

Hey gang,

We're thrilled to announce that tomorrow (Thursday 4/22) we'll see the first batch of Rock Band Network tracks hit the PS3! We've looked at the download numbers and the feedback on the forums and we've put together a selection of some of the most popular tracks for this initial group. Here's what's hitting the PS3 tomorrow:

Flogging Molly - Drunken Lullabies (Live)
Jonathan Coulton - Code Monkey
The Shins - Australia
The Slip - Even Rats
Steve Vai - For the Love of God (Live)

We're still going to keep any eye on the forum feedback to put together future releases on the PS3, and we'll continue to work with Sony to ensure that we're able to get as much content out as consistently as possible without disrupting the regular weekly RB DLC flow. We're still working on finding the best RBN solution for the Wii, which has it's own entirely different set of technical challenges, but we'll let you know as soon as we have more news.

You can turn your eyes down one post to get some additional info from RBN guru HMXjohnd. Thanks again to the all the PS3 RBN fans for your patience!

Yay, Even Rats!

Hi Guys:

I just wanted to take a quick second to clarify how RBN tracks will be rolling out on the PS3. As HMXHenry just confirmed, we'll be launching 5 great tracks tomorrow from the RBN catalog in the PS3 RBN store. These tracks are awesome. Get excited.

Because of the way submissions work on PS3, we will only be able to release songs when we update the normal Rock Band DLC store (currently Thursdays). Furthermore, because of the way the submissions process works, we're currently capped at 5 songs per week. We're working hard to expand the number of songs we'll be able to do each week, but for now you can expect 5 songs a week, every week, plus your normal DLC releases.

We're using a few different criteria to pick these select tracks. The best selling tracks play into it, but we're also balancing that information with songs that we know are in demand from the core Rock Band users. Keep being (politely) vocal about what songs you want to bring over! We have a long lead time for submissions, but we'll continue to tweak what we bring over based on what we're hearing from you!

To be clear, the reason that we can update in real-time on Xbox 360 is because Rock Band Network on Xbox 360 is built on the XNA infrastructure that allows users to submit their own content, with the sales and distribution of those tracks managed by the XNA backend. That infrastructure doesn't exist on other platforms. We're looking into ways to bring as much stuff over as possible, but there are practical realities that aren't in our immediate control. We hope you understand.

I can only ask you to believe us when we say that we're limited in what we can currently do, but we want to bring as much music to you as possible. We're working on it and we hope you enjoy the songs we do bring in the meantime. We want your feedback, especially if the discussion is civil and informed.

Otherwise, Rock On!

HMXJohnD
Program Manager, Rock Band Network
Manager, Communications - HMX

[Sprite Machine]

[iknowgungfu]

This is getting out opf hand....an effn keyboard?!

[tubaros]

4 has a monkey and an elephant icon.

[Sprite Machine]

Green Day Rock Band out tomorrow, BUT NEVER MIND THAT....

ROCK BAND 3 DETAILS EMERGE!!!!


http://www.vg247.com/2010/06/10/rock-band-3-5-minutes-of-video-interviews-keyboard/#more-99578

Rock Band 3 - FIRST LOOK!

Kotaku:

Rock Band 3 will, as expected, let you do something you've never been able to do in a Rock Band (or Guitar Hero) game before: play the keyboard.

Yes, the fifth wheel of the rock world makes its long-overdue debut in Harmonix's Rock Band 3, a report on USA Today showcasing not only the new controller in action, but a revamped tracklist designed to make the most of it.

The keyboard is a "25-key, fully functioning MIDI" version of the real thing, and is one of two key improvements made to the game, the other being the introduction of a new "Rock Band Pro" mode for expert players, which replaces coloured tabs with real musical symbols in an effort to get players on the track to playing real instruments.

To complement Pro mode, there are two new guitar controllers in development that feature actual strings, one a full-sized replica of a Fender Stratocaster, the other a Fender Mustang Pro. "You can go from plucking single notes to power chords and bar chords, we have crazy stuff like tapping and slides," Harmonix's Sylvain Dubrofsky says. "If you ever had any aspirations of connecting with the music in a deeper way ... you are really going to like Rock Band 3."

A partial tracklist has also been revealed, and is predictably keyboard-heavy.

2000s
Combat Baby — Metric
Dead End Friends — Them Crooked Vultures
Get Free — The Vines
Lasso — Phoenix
Me Enamora — Juanes
Oh My God — Ida Maria
Portions of Foxes — Rilo Kiley
The Hardest Button to Button — The White Stripes

1990s
Been Caught Stealing — Jane's Addiction
In the Meantime — Spacehog
Plush — Stone Temple Pilots
Walkin' on the Sun — Smash Mouth

1980s
Crazy Train — Ozzy Osbourne
Here I Go Again — Whitesnake
I Love Rock and Roll — Joan Jett
Just Like Heaven — The Cure
Rainbow in the Dark — Dio
The Power of Love — Huey Lewis and the News
Sister Christian — Night Ranger

1960s-1970s
Bohemian Rhapsody — Queen
Break On Through — The Doors
Crosstown Traffic — Jimi Hendrix

There are plenty of other minor tweaks and adjustments being made to the series' successful formula, which you can check out at the USA Today report below.

From the USA Today website:

Development of Rock Band 3 began immediately after the September 2008 release of Rock Band 2, says project director Daniel Sussman at Cambridge, Mass.-based Harmonix.
As work continued, the music category's slide in sales made the design team deepen their focus. "We saw a kind of staleness in terms of game-play innovation," Sussman says. "Really, the main focus of Rock Band 3 development was finding new ways to experience the music and actually doubling down, if you will, on our investment in compelling game play.

"We are adding a new instrument (a 25-key, fully functioning MIDI keyboard) and we're adding a whole new mode, which is designed basically to answer that staleness factor."

The result, he says, is "an experience that is both accessible to players who are just getting into this thing, and builds something for the hard-core player who is maybe a little bored with where music games are."

Sussman and several key members of the Rock Band team (Harmonix senior designers Sylvain Dubrofsky and Dan Teasdale, and public relations gurus John Drake of Harmonix and Jeff Castaneda of MTV Games; you can see them all playing the game in the accompanying video) recently demonstrated Rock Band 3 for USA TODAY's Game Hunters and offered a test drive of the new keyboard controller, as well as the game's new authentic Pro mode aimed at helping players develop skills usable on real instruments.

"Everybody who wants to keep playing on the instruments they already have, we have enhanced new features and new gameplay for you," Dubrofsky says. "It's up to you to decide where you take this."

More on the advances for Rock Band 3 (due for the holidays for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS):

•Better story. Design your own characters and session musicians from improved character models and watch their story unfold throughout the game. Your band members are seen getting into the van to go to a show, and practicing as well as performing. They even appear as you choose songs to play. "It is a really cool way to make sure you are always in the narrative no matter which mode you are in," Teasdale says. "The entire game is essentially one story of your band."

Everything you do earns achievements in the goal-based career mode. "Previously our career modes weren't really about getting better as a Rock Band player, it was about investing time," Teasdale says. "We developed this entirely new career mode based around unlocking achievement-like goals to show your progression through the game, and also give you incentives to get better.

"We have hundreds and hundreds of these goals across instruments and gameplay modes and across (downloadable content). It is a really great way to finish Rock Band in your way, based on your skill, and not on some predetermined path of songs."

•More fluid gameplay. Players can jump in or out of songs without interrupting a song already in progress. They can also change instruments or difficulty settings during a song without pausing. "It's a really cool way to get rid of that friction that players have when they are in a party situation," Teasdale says.

Another party-friendly mode, "road challenges," is described by Teasdale as "taking Rock Band 1 and 2's band world tour (mode) and merging it with Mario Party. We tried to find a way to get the core experience people had playing the band world tour and the things they really enjoyed, like getting the van or getting random set lists, and putting that into a setting that you can finish in an evening instead of a week. So now we have all these tours which are actually you going on a tour of the East Coast or touring across the world, and you are finishing that in three hours or whatever time you think you have to play."

•Revamped song-filtering system. With the Rock Band library expected to grow to about 2,000 songs by year's end, it has grown too big for simply scrolling. With the new system, "you can say, 'only show me songs in Rock Band 3' or 'only songs under three minutes' or 'Eighties metal songs from my (downloadable) collection,' " Teasdale says. "It's a really cool way to take your full library down to a manageable list of songs."

Not to be forgotten, the keyboards' addition — along with carrying over the three-part harmonies from The Beatles: Rock Band and new Green Day: Rock Band games — means that "you can play as a seven -player band," Teasdale says, "which is an amazing experience."

•Rock Band Pro. This new music learning mode lets players develop real-world music-playing fundamentals for keyboards, guitars and drums. More realistic music notations replace the standard color-coded notes during gameplay. For guitar, numbers flow down the screen along six guitar strings, telling you where to place your hands on the neck and when to strum.

Two new guitar controllers in the works have actual strings where you strum; one is a full-sized, fully functional six-string Squier Stratocaster from Fender. "It can tell where your fingers are based on technology in the neck and the bridge of the guitar. No buttons," Drake says. "While you're playing it, it feels exactly like playing a real guitar," because that's what you're doing.

The other is a Fender Mustang Pro controller from accessory maker Mad Catz with a field of buttons in each fret. As your fingers compress the smaller non-colored buttons on that guitar's neck, your finger positions are represented in the game's display. "You can go from plucking single notes to power chords and bar chords, we have crazy stuff like tapping and slides," Dubrofsky says. "If you ever had any aspirations of connecting with the music in a deeper way ... you are really going to like Rock Band 3."

For drums, three new cymbals are added to the standard four drum pads, and you are forced to play the correct cymbal at the right time. "It really immerses you more. You feel more like a drummer," Dubrofsky says. "It's not only for expert levels. You can come in on easy and actually play Pro drums. We have all the different levels established. It's actually really fun. You are playing up on the high hat or down on the snare, and it feels more like a kit than ever before."

On keyboards, Sussman says, "we're actually utilizing the full two-octave range that the keyboard controller has. Everything that you are playing, whether you are playing on easy or expert, is accurate musical information. The track looks like a real keyboard track, and you are playing notes on the keyboard that if you were to step away from the game and were to play on a real piano, they would be the right notes."

Pro players can use the mode for private practice or incorporate it while others play the game's standard arcade modes. "You can be an expert keys-player playing with an all easy band, no problem," Drake says.

Best game ever, confirmed.

[Madjeski]

I have had enough of all these music games and didn't bother with RB2 or GH5, but I am SO getting this simply for that keyboard!!!

[iknowgungfu]

TBH....I think this got stale a long time ago.  But, y'know each to their own.  GH2 made me realise that I was 'wasting' my time on these games when I could learn the real thing.  That's not meant to belittle anyone else's enjoyment, I love the games for their accessibility and great group fun but I didn't feel right practicing my way through expert mode when I could practice my way through on a real guitar.

Great fun games, but I think it is going as far as it can go.  What next...triangle? Kazoo?

Rock Band 4: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra edition?

[Sprite Machine]

TBH....I think this got stale a long time ago.  But, y'know each to their own.  GH2 made me realise that I was 'wasting' my time on these games when I could learn the real thing.  That's not meant to belittle anyone else's enjoyment, I love the games for their accessibility and great group fun but I didn't feel right practicing my way through expert mode when I could practice my way through on a real guitar.

RB3 will use a real guitar, designed to teach you the real thing.

[iknowgungfu]

I'm waiting for the version with dry ice and light show (miniature stone henge not included).

[Sprite Machine]

I'm waiting for the version with dry ice and light show (miniature stone henge not included).

You can already get that. I'm not even joking!

(Although it's smoke rather than dry ice, but whatever. No Stone Henge either.)

[tubaros]

When RB3 was announced with the keyboard, I first thought it was a stupid idea, but Ive thought about it since, and it could well be bloody brilliant, just tihnk how many cool songs to play there are with keyboards, from the doors, elton john, keane, coldplay, hooty n the blowfish, the list goes on for a long time. Ill be getting RB3 and the keyboard, definately.

[iknowgungfu]

Keane?!
Keane?!?!?!?!?!
Keane?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!