All Entries Tagged With: "Harmonix"

Green Day: Rock Band Gets a Release Date

Fans of Punk Rock you can officially start celebrating. Green Day: Rock Band (for better or for worse) officially has a release date now. Get ready because on June 8th you’ll get your trip down memory lane all the way back to… the 90’s.

Following in the footsteps of the successful The Beatles: Rock Band, GD:RB will also feature “three part vocal harmony” technology, that way you can get even more people involved when you play. As the norm these days, all 47 of the game’s track will be exportable and compatible with Rock Band, Rock Band 2 and the just announced Rock Band 3. Check out all of the pricing details for the upcoming game below.

Harmonix, MTV Games and MTV at SXSW 2010

Harmonix, MTV Games, and MTV will be showcasing the all new Rock Band Network at SXSW 2010 being held March 12-24, 2010 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. The Rock Band Network gives musicians, labels, and publishers the ability to promote and sell their songs as playable tracks in the Rock Band Games.

Lady Gaga Arrives on Rock Band

Harmonix and MTV Games have announced today that Lady Gaga will be making her debut on the Rock Band Music Store next week. The pop star’s four track pack known as the “Lady Gaga Pack 01,” along with a special surprise, will be available on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The songs will be available only as individual tracks on Wii.

The White Stripes to Rock Band

Today Harmonix and MTV Games have announced 9 new tracks, which will now only be referred to as “The White Stripes Pack 02.” The pack includes the main attraction The White Stripes (duh), as well as tracks from The Futureheads, Shaimus, and randomly enough The Hockey Theme. I guess the Winter Olympics were pretty darn good.

Otis Redding Coming to Rock Band and More!

Harmonix and MTV Games let it be known today that next week “King of Soul” himself Otis Redding will be featured in a five-song download pack for Rock Band Music Store on the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii.  Rock Band gamers should appreciate the addition to their store and the fresh songs will breathe new life into the game at an affordable price.  You can also expect singles from All Time Low, Alphabeat, Brian Setzer, and The Chemical Brothers.  Rock Band, the game that never runs out of DLC.  Here is a full list of all the songs and their prices:

Download 5 Song Pack: Otis Redding Pack 01 $8.49 (680 Microsoft Points) £4.39 UK, €6.59 EU

Otis Redding – “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) (200 Wii Points) £.99 UK, €1.49 EU

Otis Redding – “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)” $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) (200 Wii Points) £.99 UK, €1.49 EU

Otis Redding – “I’m Sick Y’all” $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) (200 Wii Points) £.99 UK, €1.49 EU

Otis Redding – “I’ve Got Dreams to Remember” $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) (200 Wii Points) £.99 UK, €1.49 EU

Otis Redding – “Love Man” $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) (200 Wii Points) £.99 UK, €1.49 EU

All Time Low – “Weightless” $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) (200 Wii Points) £.99 UK, €1.49 EU

Alphabeat – “Fascination” $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) (200 Wii Points) £.99 UK, €1.49 EU

Brian Setzer Orchestra – “Stray Cat Strut” $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) (200 Wii Points) £.99 UK, €1.49 EU

The Chemical Brothers – “Let Forever Be” $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) (200 Wii Points) £.99 UK, €1.49 EU

Rock Band Announces The Who Super Bowl S-Mashup Available Sunday

After The Who rocks the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show, MTV Games and Harmonix has announced a special recording of the performance will be made available following the game to purchase, download and play in the groundbreaking music video game, Rock Band. “The Who Super Bowl S-mashup” will be available in the Rock Band Music Store immediately after the game on Xbox 360, Wii, and coming soon to PlayStation 3. The Who Super Bowl S-mashup will be available for $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360). Prepare to rock Gamers.

Download “All You Need Is Love” to help Doctors Without Borders

Microsoft has announced that the world-wide sales of “All You Need Is Love” on Xbox Live and The Beatles: Rock Band Special Edition Bundles has raised $217,780 for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which is working to help those in Haiti who have had their lives changed by the devastating earthquake that struck the country, killing and injuring thousands on January 12. When you download “All You Need Is Love” on Xbox Live, the value of 112 Microsoft Points will be donated to the MSF. This offer ends on January 31, 2010. Microsoft, Apple Corps Ltd, MTV Games and Harmonix have really stepped up to help those in need and it really says a lot of not only the gaming community as a whole, but also what these corporations are doing for a good cause.

MSF has been in Haiti since 1991, helping the residents of Port-au-Prince with medical emergencies and treatment. 800 staff members went right to work on that terrible day, setting up triage centers and performing life saving surgeries to those with major trauma, broken bones, and crush injuries. An inflatable MSF hospital equipped with two operating centers has been erected and is helping those in need, and MSF cargo planes loaded with emergency personnel and supplies are now on the ground doing what they can. MSF is running 15 hospitals in and outside of the capital, has treated over 6,000 patients, and has conducted nearly 1,000 surgical operations. This cause needs our help though.

“We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of people around the world who have contributed to us through the download of “All You Need Is Love” and the sales of the one-of-a-kind Xbox console,” said Dr. Matthew Spitzer, president of the Board of Directors for MSF-USA. “It is because of funds generated from initiatives such as this that MSF was able to respond to the Haiti earthquake so quickly, providing urgent lifesaving medical care immediately in the aftermath.” he added. “With your continued support, we will be able to carry on our medical work in more than 60 countries to assist people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe. On behalf of our patients, MSF says ‘Thank You.’”

Check out www.xbox.com/thebeatlesrockband and www.doctorswithoutborders.org for more information and how you can donate to this great cause. Download it today everybody, because you can make a difference.

Rock Band Network Beta

Harmonix and MTV Games invites the public to get their rock on with the announcement of the Rock Band Network Beta officially being ready to roll. The Network is designed to allow musicians, publishers and record labels to submit their music into the gameplay files to help promote get their recordings out to the public at the soon to be released Rock Band Network Music Store (RBN Store). Fans will be able to rock and roll with their favorite and lesser known bands and enjoy the great gameplay that Rock Band has to offer.

“We are excited to democratize the Rock Band platform and expand the music discovery experience to the greater music community with the Rock Band Network,” said Alex Rigopulos, CEO and co-founder of Harmonix.  “We believe this will be great for fans, music lovers, bands and the music industry as a whole.”
“The Rock Band Network opens the Rock Band universe to musicians at any stage of their career, empowering them to release the songs they choose, on their timetable, via our proven music distribution platform,” said Paul DeGooyer, Senior Vice President of Electronic Games and Music for MTV Networks Music Group. “It is a high-value business proposition that features powerful promotional impact for artists and songwriters, while at the same time adding real sales to their bottom lines.”

Up and coming musicians can submit their work to http://creators.rockband.com/docs/Website for approval and see if they can grab Rock Band Glory. And if your a music lover and consider yourself to be a critic you can head over to http://creators.rockband.com/docs/Website to sample what these bands have to offer. Sounds like a good time to be a Rock Band Fan.

Rock Band Adding Six More and One Debut

Next Week, Harmonix and MTV Games will be releasing 6 new tracks from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and debuting onto the Rock Band scene, Phoenix. The tracks will be available via the Rock Band Music Store. Some of the new tracks will also be available on the family-friendly LEGO Rock Band. The tracks will be available for Xbox 360 and Wii on January 19, and for PS3 on January 21. The tracks will be available as “Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live Anthology Pack 02″ for $10 (800 Microsoft Points) or $2 per track (160 Microsoft Points, 200 Wii Points). The tracks as a package will not be available for the Wii, sorry folks… So sorry… well here is a detailed list of the tracks!:

• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “A Woman in Love (Live)” +
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Breakdown (Live)” +
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Century City (Live)” +
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Jammin’ Me (Live)”
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Nightwatchman (Live)”
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “The Waiting (Live)” +
• Phoenix – “1901” +
• Phoenix – “Lisztomania” +
• Silvertide – “Blue Jeans”

The tracks with the “+” next to them will also be available on LEGO Rock Band. All tracks will be original master recordings. Have fun downloading!

Some New Rock Band DLC For You to Rock To

Whenever I hear news of Rock Band DLC heading to our digital stores, my nipples harden and I begin to hyperventilate. ‘Why,’ you ask? Simply because there are songs out there that I would love to play and probably never would; so, these kinds of DLC news is some sort of hope that the songs will evidently be made available for download. However, today isn’t one of those days.

Although there is some excitement that a new batch of songs have been prepared as DLC for you Rock Band fans, I myself am just OK with it. There’s no Tool, Slipknot or Incubus on there (damn you!), but there is some really cool music by The Psychedelic Furs, The Ramones, some previously announced Paul McCartney stuff, and Blink-182. Don’t believe me? Then here!

Blink-182 02 ($5.49/440 MS Points for the pack, $1.99/160 MS Points/200 Wii Points per song)

• “Adam’s Song”
• “First Date” +
• “I Miss You”

Single songs ($1.99/160 MS Points/200 Wii Points per song)

• The Psychedelic Furs – “Love My Way” +
• The Psychedelic Furs – “Sister Europe”
• The Ramones – “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School” +

_{(“+” indicates the tracks are also downloadable and playable in Lego Rock Band)}

If anyone is familiar with Blink-182’s “Adam’s Song,” please be aware that it is one of the most suicidal songs that I’ve ever heard. Why the hell Harmonix decided to implement a song that promotes an insane amount of sorrow and self-mutilation is beyond me; but I’m pretty sure emo Rock Band players will be happy to know that this song made its way onto the track list.

The last time I played Rock Band was during the event we had almost two months ago. I’m feeling a bit rusty and am thinking about picking up my plastic guitar and getting back on my “I’m the friggin’ man” grind; which means that I will have to start buying some Rock Band DLC again. One thing’s for sure, though – there ain’t no way in hell that I’m playing through “Adam’s Song.”

Paul McCartney’s Live Tracks Coming To Rock Band

A fan of Paul McCartney?  Love Rock Band?  You’re in luck!  Harmonix and MTV Games announced today that a three pack of songs from his latest live album will appear on the Rock Band store for use on both Rock Band and Lego Rock Band.  These songs will be available on all three platforms – PS3, Wii, Xbox 360.

The following songs will be available starting the first week of January:

• “Band On the Run (live)”
• “Jet (live)”
• “Sing the Changes (live)”

As usual, standard prices apply:

• Price: $1.99 USD, £.99 UK, €1.49 EU (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) per track
• $5.49, £2.49 UK, €3.99 EU (440 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for “New York City Pack 01”
• $2.00 USD (200 Wii Points™) per track

More Weezer (and others) Headed to Rock Band

Just when you thought it was safe to go outside, the team at Harmonix decides to hit us over the head with even more Weezer. Can we blame them for it? Nope, I’ll take all the Weezer I can get, you know why? It’s probably the only stuff in the game I can sing on expert, that why! We’re also getting a little something from Yellowcard, Limp Bizkit, and The Offspring. I’m pretty excited because the bulk of the update is Weezer, considering there’s 3 tracks from them, however it’s still leaves me waiting for my personal favorite “Island in the Sun.” Come on Harmonix, let’s get on that!

The tracks cost the usual $1.99 per track (or 160 MS Points or 200 Wii Points). The 3 song Weezer track pack clocks in at $5.49 (or 440 Ms points). Tracks hit all the stores this coming Tuesday (even the PS3 store, as it’s updating on the Tuesday due to the Christmas holiday falling on it’s usual update day Thursday). Check out the comple track list below!

Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 system (Dec. 22)

• Limp Bizkit – “Build a Bridge” +
• The Offspring – “A Lot Like Me” +
• Yellowcard – “Ocean Avenue” +
• Weezer – “Beverly Hills”
• Weezer – “Let It All Hang Out”
• Weezer – “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To”