Lady Gaga was already announced for Rock Band’s DLC update next week — but she’s bringing friends along. The pop sensation will be joined by some, ahem, actual rock bands.
Check out next week’s full list of releases after the break.
Continue reading Rock Band Weekly Redux: Lady Gaga, Cartman, 3 Doors Down, Mute Math, The Subways
Rock Band Weekly Redux: Lady Gaga, Cartman, 3 Doors Down, Mute Math, The Subways originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The one track we were most looking forward to from Green Day: Rock Band was, of course, “Brain Stew/Jaded” from the outfit’s 1995 album. It’s a powerful, triumphant tune — and, apparently, it’s also super hard. The Harmonix crew attempted the song during last night’s “Rock Band Bar Night” event at GDC, and — well, it ended in tears. Or rather, jeers.
You can check out some off-screen footage of their tremendous failure above, or footage of them actually playing the game past the jump. To be fair, the drummer didn’t see the flurry of notes coming at him, due to his attempt to refresh himself with some libations. You know who else was enjoying a few beverages? The drunk dude who kept trying to throw the devil horns up in front of our camera while we were filming. Really, drunk dude? Really?
Continue reading Harmonix gets its ‘Brain Stewed’ by Green Day: Rock Band
Harmonix gets its ‘Brain Stewed’ by Green Day: Rock Band originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ex-Yahoo exec Dan Rosensweig departs “to pursue other career opportunities” after less than a year on the job.
Last March, Activision made a splash by hiring former Yahoo COO Dan Rosensweig to serve as president and CEO of Guitar Hero developer RedOctane. Today the publisher announced that Rosensweig’s term of service with the company has ended, with the executive moving on “to pursue other career opportunities.”
Rosensweig took the helm of the Guitar Hero business as the music genre was beginning a precipitous decline. Despite a flood of releases, including Guitar Hero 5, Guitar Hero: Metallica, Guitar Hero: Van Halen, DJ Hero, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits, Band Hero, Rock Band: The Beatles, and Lego Rock Band, rhythm game sales were barely half what they were the year before. According to Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, US retail revenues from rhythm games totaled $876 million in 2009, down more than 47 percent from $1.66 billion the year before.
The executive’s stint with Activision may be best remembered for a September interview in which he claimed Guitar Hero 5 was outselling rival The Beatles: Rock Band 4-to-1 in the US. The following month when the industry-tracking NPD Group released its figures, The Beatles: Rock Band was the best-selling rhythm game with 595,000 copies sold, compared to Guitar Hero 5’s sales of 499,000.
Rosensweig’s role at Activision will be filled by David Haddad, currently the COO of the Guitar Hero business unit. Before joining Activision, Haddad served as COO of Vivendi Games’ Sierra Online division.
As for what other opportunities Rosensweig is pursuing, the executive is the new president and CEO of Chegg.com, an online textbook rental company. Looking to capitalize on frugal students who don’t want to shell out for expensive course materials, the service lets users rent books by the semester or the quarter.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
“You’ve just made a 28-year-old boy’s Christmas.” That’s what my friend’s wife told the GameStop employee as she was buying the store’s last copy of New Super Mario Bros. Wii several weeks back. That sentiment has summed up my own holiday season, as my cohort and I have continued our nostalgic domination of the new “Mario Brothers.”
Twenty-something years ago we were both anxiously awaiting the same Christmas Morning when we would unwrap our Nintendos, and shortly thereafter our gaming lives split two very different ways. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is the first and only game she has played with me for more than, um, “five minutes” (besides those late-night Rock Band parties), and its brilliance is in its ability to engage us both, on different levels, in the same level.
Continue reading Best of the Rest: James’ Picks of 2009
Best of the Rest: James’ Picks of 2009 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 02 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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In simple terms, Green Day and Rock Band are friends. There have already been several Green Day tracks released for Harmonix’s musically inclined baby and it was announced today that even more are on their way later this month. Starting December 15 on the Wii and Xbox 360 – and December 17 on the Playstation 3 – players will be able to grab three new Green Day tracks from the band’s 21st Century Breakdown album: “Christian’s Inferno,” “Last of the American Girls,” and “¡Viva La Gloria!“. The tracks will be available individually for $1.99 / 160
/ 200 Wii points. The full track pack will be available on PS3 and Xbox 360 for $5.49 / 440.
More Green Day headed to Rock Band originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Linux only (for now): If you love karaoke or really get into music-based games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, then you’ll love Performous. It’s an open-source band game that’s perfect for your next party or get-together.
Performous is a free computer-based game for one or more players. Players compete against each other to see who can score the most points with the game system as your judge. It’s got a practice mode so you can secretly get a head start on your friends before you get together to play, and auto-detects and works with Rock Band or Guitar Hero instruments you hook up.
Performous is more than just a game, though. It’s also a teaching tool you can use anytime to help improve your singing voice. It accurately detects your pitch even in noisy surroundings so you know when you’re hitting the right notes and displays musical notes onscreen to help keep you on track.
You can pick up several free songs from the web site, or you can add your own MP3s, along with song text and video files. So go snag the game, add some music, and get your groove on this weekend (without ponying up for a gaming console or a new game). Performous is a free, open-source download, currently Linux only. The download page points out that Windows and Mac versions are in the works, so keep your fingers crossed.
MTV Games confirms PSP installment of rhythm game has no new content releases in store for the foreseeable future.
When MTV Games and Harmonix announced Rock Band: Unplugged for the PSP, much to-do was made of the game’s in-game store. A first for the PSP, the in-game store allowed Unplugged owners to buy and download new songs for the portable rhythm game in a manner similar to how new content is delivered to the console editions of the game. Unfortunately, that store isn’t likely to see any new additions in the near future.
MTV Games has confirmed for GameSpot that Harmonix does not currently have any plans to continue releasing downloadable songs for Rock Band: Unplugged on the PSP. However, the publisher did note that Harmonix may add new tracks to the nearly 100 tunes currently available on disc or for purchase as part of special events.
“At this time we have run through our planned slate of Rock Band Unplugged DLC,” an MTV Games representative told GameSpot. “With almost 100 tracks available via disc and downloadable content, the PSP has proven to be an excellent place to experience Rock Band on-the-go. Right now, our DLC team is focused on Rock Band Network, weekly console DLC, and unannounced future projects.”
Last week, the Rock Band franchise hit a momentous milestone, when MTV Games and Harmonix announced that more than 1,000 songs are available either on disc or as downloadable content. Since Rock Band debuted on consoles in November 2007, Harmonix has supported the game with 105 consecutive weeks of new downloadable content.
For more information, check out GameSpot’s previous coverage of Rock Band: Unplugged.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
Harmonix and Child’s Play have announced that they’re banding together for a charity benefit
Rock Band night at San Francisco’s DNA Lounge the night of December 9. “Ümloud!” is an all-ages event organized by
GameLife’s Chris Kohler,
Gamehelper’s Joe Markert and
Telltale Games’ John “Seg” Seggerson, and staffed by a number of Bay Area games bloggers, including
yours truly.
The party kicks off at 7PM PT and runs through 2AM PT on December 10, with a suggested $10 donation for admission. Everyone who attends will automagically be made eligible for a chance to win some of the many raffle prizes that’ll be awarded throughout the night, but those who wish to donate more can sign up for two different “band packages” — which include reserved songs and the chance to play on DNA’s main stage — at the Ümloud! site.
Proceeds from the event will go to provide toys and video games to children’s hospitals nationwide, including the local Oakland Children’s Hospital.
Child’s Play & Harmonix rock San Fran for charity Dec. 9 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Dream Theater, a heavy metal band best known for creating songs that are impossible to play in Rock Band — and, based on the image above, for serving as the artistic inspiration for Metalocalypse’s Dethklok — has chosen to lend its potent rock powers to the soundtrack of God of War III. This announcement was made by Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, who mentioned on the band’s blog, “we will then enter the studio right after New Year’s to write and record a brand new instrumental track for inclusion on the upcoming Gods [sic] Of War 3 soundtrack.”
Between the inclusion of this track and the exclusive Trivium song (which was announced late last month), we appreciate the metallic infusion Sony’s trying to introduce to the title. However, if it doesn’t culminate in an unlockable electric guitar weapon, then you can expect us to be stricken with grief for a few months after the game’s release.
[Via VG247]
Dream Theater adding even more metal to God of War III soundtrack originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Add for unofficial OnRockBand.com in Brooklyn, almost as nondescript as the official Rock Band HQ.
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