Today
A live version of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' "Mary Jane's Last Dance" is available next week within the band's Rock Band DLC six-pack. The song may not be everyone's cup of formaldehyde, but it's certainly memorable for conjuring up one of the creepiest music videos of all time. We h...
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 "S...
GamerDeals.net has posted what it claims are Wal-Mart's Black Friday deals and, if accurate, there are some serious savings to be had. Probably the most prominent deal would be the doorbuster on Rock Band 2 Special Edition for PS3 or 360, which will net you the full band kit and the game for a p...
Tuesday, Nov 17
Starting on Sunday: all DS and PSP games will be buy one, get one half off.Wii and Xbox 360 Arcade hardware purchases will be bundled with (seriously) a $15 gift card for Wendy's, Subway, or Cold Stone Creamery -- deal available in-store only"Select video games" will be bundled with a $25 iT...
Monday, Nov 16
The Beatles: Rock Band will get a hot DLC injection tomorrow when Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band releases as downloadable content. In preparation for the arrival of these new tracks, MTV has passed along the above trailer which offers a brief sample of new tracks in the Sgt. Pepper's L...
Saturday, Nov 14
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 st...
Friday, Nov 13
In a move no doubt inspired by the Movember Movement, Harmonix and MTV Games have revealed that the second DLC album for The Beatles: Rock Band, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, will release the week of November 17. Tracks from the British sensation's eighth studio album, as featured...
This article also contains excerpts from
gamesandlife (WordPress), Shacknews, TeamXbox, G4 TV, Eurogamer, Planet Xbox 360, 1up.com, GameGrep
Thursday, Nov 12
AFI will be available next week in a Rock Band DLC five-pack of ... oh wow, The Bangles' "Walk Like an Egyptian" is there too! Hey guys, it's "Walk Like an Egyptian!" So, all you foreign types with hookah pipes better do the sand dance, don't you know?
Tuesday, Nov 10
Citing what its key products were during its fiscal Q2 2010, Mad Catz obviously had a lot of love for Capcom, as several of the fight sticks it offered for 2D fighters were top earners. Aside from that, it pointed to its new line of Rock Band accessories and some Wii items such as its Remote and z...
A Harmonix developer responded to the complaints, asking for the specific circumstances of these server crashes and promising that the Beatles team is "investigating this issue to try to find out what's going on." That is to say, the Beatles: Rock Band development team -- not the Beatles...
Saturday, Nov 7
We wish Harrison and the entire Harmonix crew the best of luck in this endeavor, if only so they can finally stymie the infinitely deplorable "why don't you learn how to play a real instrument" contingency. Man, we hate those guys.Dhani Harrison: Rock Band 3 will make you better at actual roc...
Thursday, Nov 5
Considering the game actually came out (this week!), it's apparent that the team eventually banded together to finish the project. Why the change of heart, though? "Many of us started realizing that we weren't just skinning one franchise on another," Palmer explained, noting the need t...
According to the ad, the retailer will be offering free "Lego Rock Band video games" with purchases of $20 or greater on Friday, November 27. "Your preferred platform may not be available," the ad warns, presumably due to limited overall supply. We're wary that it could be a demo or somethin...
Wednesday, Nov 4
Even though John, Paul, George and Ringo have been rocking the disc tray of your favorite console with The Beatles: Rock Band, its expectation-exceeding sales haven't helped boost overall Rock Band sales. Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman told USA Today the "economics of our Rock Band franchi...
Tuesday, Nov 3
When contacted by Joystiq, Activision refused to comment on the matter. With no less than three new rhythm titles on the horizon, we presume publishers hope the trend of sluggish peripheral-based game sales comes to a screeching halt; like the days of disco music and, apparently, outlin...
Friday, Oct 30
Strope noted that Microsoft has a no refund policy and he wishes the company make it more difficult to purchase points. Our suggestion to Strope: Don't leave your controllers (or your Xbox, for that matter) within reach of the dog. Also, don't drink and play Rock Band. See Strope's interview...
Completely unrelated to Grohl (maybe there's a six degrees of separation in there?), there will also be one track from Ms. Joan Jett thrown in the mix. Check out the update after the break, along with what portable players can expect from Rock Band Unplugged's DLC.
This article also contains excerpts from
Kotaku, Kotaku.com, GayGamer.net, EL33TONLINE, Shacknews, TeamXbox, G4 TV, Go Nintendo, XboxSolution, XBox Solution, GameGrep
Wednesday, Oct 28
Normally when people mod real instruments for use in music-rhythm games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, they don't intentionally include the ability for someone else to play along by punching them. For Norway's Morten Skogly, that choice seemed only natural. On his website, you can see a s...
Tuesday, Oct 27
Know a music lover? Hey, how about The Beatles: Rock Band? If you know a comic junkie, then there's always the exceptional Batman: Arkham Asylum. Heck, if you got a couple friends, give 'em Borderlands, then use the credit to get yourself a copy for some co-op delight. How about some Uncharte...
If Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who, has his facts straight, we could all be windmilling and smashing plastic instruments in a Who-themed Rock Band. Daltrey told The Republican when The Beatles: Rock Band was brought up that "The game, yeah, yeah, they're going to be doing a Who one nex...
Monday, Oct 26
At this point, many of you have likely already formed an opinion on the blocky cousin to your regular, run-of-the-mill Rock Band: LEGO Rock Band. This latest trailer should then either completely excite you or induce a lifeless "meh." For us, it's definitely the former, with the best part o...
Friday, Oct 23
Select a platform below to view complete DLC listing: Continue reading Rock Band Weekly: Rob Zombie, Wolfmother and ... 'Daisy of Love' originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Thursday, Oct 22
Yeesh. To say the European PSN update hit a dry spell this week would be offensive to dry spells. Let's see, we got ... some DLC for EyePet, those ten Queen songs for Rock Band, and ... some DLC for Hannah Montana: Rock Out The Show. One piece of this downloadable content is something called a "Hannah Mon...
Wednesday, Oct 21
Why is Harmonix engaging in this seemingly self-destructive (but not in the cool rock star way) behavior? When the USPTO looked into the patent again, it changed the definition of "musical instrument" to include the characteristics of being "adapted for making musical sounds" and "th...
Tuesday, Oct 20
Oh, and don't expect to rent Lego Rock Band and extract all of its juicy tunes to your regular old Rock Band. Remember: you'll need a special code this time around. originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Monday, Oct 19
The sales de-feat must feel good for MTV Games and Harmonix -- what with B:RB being burned in the sales competition with GH5 by the kingdom that birthed the band (see: Chart-Track UK September sales rankings posted after the break). What was it? Right: Guitar Hero 5 supposedly outsold The B...
In a weird bit of cross-platform fickleness, The Beatles: Rock Band debuted in the top 10 for Xbox and Wii, but not PS3 -- while Batman: Arkham Asylum's PS3 version made a second appearance in the top 10 to the exclusion of the Xbox.
The new iPhone adaptation of Rock Band has arrived on the App Store -- thankfully free of tiny instrument attachments or $189 price tags. Although, now that we think about it, the $9.99 EA Mobile is asking for the music game might be the iPhone equivalent!
The Music Games Store will take a big step toward dealing with the clutter on Xbox Live, offering a one-stop shop for all Rock Band, Guitar Hero and Lips DLC. Aside from the convenience of a single destination for all music game DLC purchases, shoppers will also be able to preview each track f...
Friday, Oct 16
Check out the full Rock Band Weekly update, along with the update for Rock Band Unplugged, after the break. Select a platform below to view complete DLC listing: Continue reading Rock Band Weekly: A killer Queen pack originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:42:00 EST. Please se...
Thursday, Oct 15
Lego Rock Band is quickly becoming a who's who of famous musicians who don't mind having their hands rendered as cylindrical claws. But until recently, for a game called Rock Band, it's been heavy on the solo artists and suspiciously light on the actual bands.
Wednesday, Oct 14
Update: Dan Rosensweig's "2/2.5/3-to-1" sales comparison between Guitar Hero and Rock Band was a bit ambiguous (Europe? North America? Worldwide?), so we've contacted Activision for clarification.Activision: Guitar Hero 5 launch 'probably' franchise's best, DLC sales getting 'i...
Tuesday, Oct 13
In a recent interview with the BBC, Queen guitarist Brian May commented on his inclusion in Lego Rock Band, calling his brickification "the ultimate accolade." Shortly thereafter, the conversation got a bit more fascinating. May mentioned that there had been discussion "going on behin...
Friday, Oct 9
It's not like Rock Band where we wait for the masters to come in and just author them ... its like, send people to Abbey Road, use the original tape, separate them out," Drake detailed. In addition to the audio work that must be done, Harmonix has also promised to include original dreamscapes for...
This article also contains excerpts from
Kotaku, EL33TONLINE, Shacknews
Check out the full Rock Band Weekly update, along with the update for Rock Band Unplugged, after the break. Select a platform below to view complete DLC listing: Continue reading Rock Band Weekly: Brutal Legend pack, Black Tide, Blink-182, Satriani, Kansas, L7
This article also contains excerpts from
GayGamer.net, EL33TONLINE, PSU.com
The music genre may be slowing down, but Divnich notes that "both Guitar Hero 5 and The Beatles: Rock Band have performed at levels ahead of retail expectations," with sales predicted at 800k and 1 million units respectively. The same analyst at EEDAR previously predicted that Guitar Her...
This article also contains excerpts from
Kotaku, EL33TONLINE, Shacknews
Thursday, Oct 8
I was working on '(We Are) The Road Crew,' which is an upcoming DLC track," the Harmonix employee responded to inquiries about the track. Of course, Lemmy and his pals are no strangers to Rock Band or games in general; Mötorhead is featured in the upcoming Metal Track Pack, frontman Lemmy ha...
Touch Arcade has been jamming out to Rock Band on iPhone and it has the finger-tapping video to prove it. Revealed yesterday, Rock Band for iPhone takes the rhythm series and converts each instrument -- including vocals -- into a tapping title, asking players to hit the notes at the proper t...
Wednesday, Oct 7
While @EAmobile is twittering that "some big news from the EA Mobile camp being announced tomorrow morning" - leaving us in a would-be lurch for the next twelve hours or so - the insiders at IGN have spoiled the surprise. "Rock Band is coming to the iPhone," IGN Wireless declares. No equivoca...
We were just as perplexed as anyone when Guitar Hero 5 trounced The Beatles: Rock Band in the UK -- where we hear the Fab Four is fairly popular still. Thankfully, Activision's Guitar Hero business CEO, Rock 'n' Roll Dan Rosensweig, is there to explain it all. "The number one thing about Guita...
Tuesday, Oct 6
Warner Bros. today announced the inclusion of David Bowie as a second playable character in upcoming music/rhythm game, Lego Rock Band, and also handed over a mess of new media seen above and below. Coupled with last month's Iggy Pop announcement , the game's playable-musician-who-prob...
Friday, Oct 2
Say it with us, friends, in a high-pitched, sing-song voice: Queen is coming to Rock Band! A rumor we heard in late August claiming Harmonix is planning to bring a slew of Freddie Mercury-voiced tunes to its rhythm platform is true. In the last week of October, the Music Store will be visited...
This article also contains excerpts from
DigitalBattle, GayGamer.net, Gaming Bits
Thursday, Oct 1
Check out the full Rock Band Weekly update, along with the update for Rock Band Unplugged, after the break. Select a platform below to view complete DLC listing: Continue reading Rock Band Weekly: Raconteurs, Alanis Morissette, Electric Six, The Flobots
This article also contains excerpts from
GayGamer.net, EL33TONLINE, Kotaku
Saturday, Sep 26
Few details are included in the pamphlet: we know it weighs 3 kilograms and features a Sanwa JLF joystick and Hori buttons, and that it should be in Japanese stores sometime this winter. The mock-up image even uses Roman numerals for the button labels instead of anything that would identif...
Tuesday, Sep 22
We asked EA, who gave us a laundry list of launch dates for various European and African countries (listed after the break). Unfortunately, we were told that the exclusion of North America from the list means that the publisher currently has no intention of bringing the microphone bundle...
Friday, Sep 11
iTunes] Subscribe to the Joystiq Podcast in iTunes RSS] Add the Joystiq Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator For fans: Joystiq Podcast Facebook group The Do It Line!: 1-(877)-JOYSTIQContinue reading Joystiq Podcast 108 - Red Link edition
Wednesday, Sep 9
Although, doctors, isn't it just a tad irresponsible leaving the country in the middle of the PAXPOXalypse? Oh, and if you're unfamiliar with the song, we've taken the liberty of embedding it after the break.Continue reading Reminder: The Beatles: Rock Band DLC already available
Monday, Sep 7
The Guitar Hero: Whoever series reached its ridiculous extreme with the recent announcement that the Van Halen game would be given away as a freebie with Guitar Hero 5. While we appreciate it as a deal, it shows just how much even Activision thinks of it.
Sunday, Sep 6
We've heard about the Rock Band Network's near-boundless technical capabilities. We've seen the technology in action at Harmonix HQ. What we haven't seen is a popular musical artist adapting one of his songs through Reaper, Ember and the Rock Band Network peer-review process for our enj...
Saturday, Sep 5
In a real sense, debating the "fun" of The Beatles: Rock Band is a worthless exercise. As with other Rock Band games, how much fun you're having is directly proportionate to how much you enjoy the songs, and though you're absolutely entitled not to like The Beatles, it's pretty clear at this...
Monday, Aug 31
MTV Games is seemingly taking even more steps away from producing and distributing peripherals. Paul DeGooyer, senior vice president at the company, explains that its "core competency is media" -- he'd rather let Activision "take on the burden of getting those super-tight margin inst...
Thursday, Aug 27
Essentially, PS3 owners will have access to the "greatest hits" of the Rock Band Network, while members of the Xbox 360 Creator's Club will be able to play and review every song that passes through the servers. Wii owners, on the other hand, are completely out of luck. "We would love to get it r...
Wednesday, Aug 26
There's another scenario in which this year's Rock Band could prove more of a contender. "The only concern I have with my Guitar Hero vs. Rock Band analysis is that Activision may focus less on marketing Guitar Hero 5 and divert funding to DJ Hero, a new brand in their Guitar Hero line-up," EED...
Thursday, Aug 20
Warner Bros. has finally revealed the first screenshots and information about the mysterious DS version of Lego Rock Band. Unlike its DS Guitar Hero counterparts, Lego Rock Band doesn't make use of any peripherals beyond the standard DS stylus. Instead, it's an experience similar to Rock...
This article also contains excerpts from
GayGamer.net, Rock Band Content, 4 color rebellion, Go Nintendo, TeamXbox, IGN, Wired News, Fake Plastic Rock, Planet Xbox 360
Friday, Aug 14
Get the podcast: iTunes] Subscribe to the Joystiq Podcast in iTunes Zune] Subscribe to the Joystiq Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace RSS] Add the Joystiq Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3] Download the MP3 directly The Do It Line!: 1-(877)-JOYSTIQ
Unlike the previous Rock Band games, the entire setlist will be available from the get-go in The Beatles: Rock Band. Considering the mainstream appeal of the Beatles, Harmonix realized it was foolish to lock away the core content of the game from the masses. Instead, the story mode provide...
Monday, Aug 10
Yes, Guitar Hero 5 is getting all modern-like and letting those who buy it -- and own other GH games -- access all those songs they already bought (on disc or in DLC form) without firing up another title. GH5 and the upcoming Band Hero will work with songs from the Guitar Hero World Tour and Guit...
Wednesday, Jun 10
It's tempting to just take a review of Rock Band 2 and stick it under here and label it Lego Rock Band, because that's pretty much what it is, albeit with a few family-friendly tweaks. They're mostly aesthetic, and Harmonix is working with Lego, who has approval over all of the songs in the gam...
Wednesday, Mar 25
These days, it's impossible to talk about rhythm games without bringing up Guitar Hero and/or Rock Band. Nintendo's Rhythm Heaven, to use the nomenclature, could be described as Soccer Ball Bounce Hero, Love Potion Mixing Hero, Race Car Photography Hero, Lizard Mating Dance Hero (that...
Thursday, Dec 4
The guide continues, teasing that Harmonix "has not revealed the functionality for this input," which will "be announced at a later date, along with further details for double-kick functionality." So ... the port is for a second kick pedal, after all? Along with a ... what? Perhaps Harmonix is v...
Tuesday, Oct 28
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Rhythm This week marked the debut of a second contender in the full-band-simulator genre. It's hard to find a review for Guitar Hero: World Tour that utters Rock Band less than a half dozen times. Compar...
Wednesday, Sep 17
At its worst, Rock Band 2 feels like a massive expansion pack." (3) "If your initial exposure to [Rock Band 2] was to walk into the room when your friends were already playing it, you'd probably think there was nothing different from the first Rock Band." (9) "If you're playing one of the songs...
Thursday, Sep 4
Richard Mitchell, master and commander over at X3F, has put together a dandy little video chronicling what Xbox 360 owners can expect during the Rock Band export process, which Harmonix fully detailed today. The video shows the relatively painless process (with Benny Hill theme music i...
Tuesday, Aug 5
Best of Show Fallout 3(Bethesda Softworks for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360) Best Original Game Mirror's Edge(DICE/Electronic Arts for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360) Best Console Game LittleBigPlanet(Media Molecule/Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation 3) Best PC Game Spore(...
Tuesday, Mar 25
Call of Duty 4 DLC in the works for PC Guitar Hero: Aerosmith adds Mott the Hoople, The Kinks, Joan Jett Europe gets the shard with Warhawk 'Broken Mirror' expansion in April Darwinia rated by ESRB for Xbox 360 Darwinia+ confirmed for Xbox Live this Fall
Wednesday, Feb 27
A teeny-tiny Rock Band patch will be available this week which only affects a few DLC songs. Harmonix is apparently doing some early spring cleaning as it fixes some genre tags for songs and one vocal bug. The songs can simply be redownloaded today for Xbox 360 and Thursday for PS3 to receive t...
Wednesday, Jan 9
We love channeling our inner Keith Moon with the Rock Band drum set, but we do have some quibbles. Namely: When we break out with some tasty, tasty hi-hat work it just feels a little inauthentic. Sure, we could try applying some Rock Jam, but it's just not the same. You can understand then why our...
Friday, Jul 6
Filed under: Nintendo DS, E3 A 2004 prototype of the Nintendo DS from E3 2004 (via Tengaport). The little dual-screen has come a long way, hasn't it? Check out the highlights for today: Memo shows $20 gap in Xbox and PS3 Rock Band guitar Rumor: Sakaguchi working on Xbox 360 MMO
Tuesday, Jun 19
We knew the Rock Band guitar was going to be based on the Fender Stratocaster and now, thanks to a GameStop newsletter, we get the clear internet-ready picture of what it'll actually look like. The ten button controller (you read that right, check out another pic after the break) has five fr...
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