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Download mp3: BGB at LGF: Rock Band 2 Preview and Interview
By wonderful coincidence, EA held the first UK preview event for the upcoming sequel to Harmonix’s fantastic band game Rock Band at the same time as BGB is in London! So, I headed on down to the event to go hands on with the improved sequel, and talk to lead designer Dan Teasdale.
Rock Band 2 is more of a ‘touching up’ of the first game than bringing many new features to the table. There are things like the improved career mode, drum trainer, but the day was mainly about the new hardware and the sheer range of tracks available to play. The standard drum kit is now quieter, with improved, velocity sensitive pads which are much nicer to play on with the improved bounce and feel, and similarly the sunburst Fender Stratocaster has been touched up with a bit more of a firm strum bar and fret buttons which are really nice to play on: and it’s my favourite guitar so far.
However, the true star of the show was the gorgeous Ion Drum Rocker. It’s pretty much a real electronic drum kit… now, sure, it’s expensive ($300, no UK price or date available right now) but it feels worth it – the pads are really high quality, and playing with cymbals is great fun (despite there being no cymbal cues within the game). If you regularly play drums in the game, it’s worth considering as the quality there is so high. Despite the fact that the one at the event wasn’t assembled perfectly and so the arm with the red pad and yellow cymbal slid around and fell off mid-song (I’ll be honest, it didn’t stop me trying to hit it).
I also sat down with Dan Teasdale from Harmonix in a ten minute interview, where we cover the big picture with Rock Band 2’s EU release on all platforms, the latest update on Rock Band Japan, and the lack of European focussed tracks… as well as the finer details that anyone playing the game might be bugged about, such as stars on the quickplay menu, cymbal notation in gameplay and patching Rock Band 2 on PS3 to support Guitar Hero: World Tour’s drums. If you understand those last few things, it’s really worth listening to when things head down the slightly more nerdy end of the conversation…
Posted in Features, Opinion | Also tagged Rock Band 2 |
Entertainment Weekly has revealed the titles of 6 upcoming albums to be added to the Rock Band’s music store, where new content can be purchased for use in the 4-player band game.
Coming to the store later this year will be Foo Fighters (The Colour and the Shape), Red Hot Chili Peppers (Blood Sugar Sex Magik), Jane’s Addiction (Nothing’s Shocking), Megadeth (Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying) and Stevie Ray Vaughn (Texas Flood), as well as a greatest hits collection from No Doubt.
The next album due for release was this Tuesday with Moving Pictures by Rush, which would have seen the debut of instrumentals in the game, but has been delayed due to technical difficulties: making it the first Tuesday since the American launch that Harmonix hasn’t had new content on the store. However, they do keep up their weekly record as a 3-pack from upcoming MTV Band of the Week (ugh) Locksley is going up today instead.
There’s a good set of albums there, though there is still one question to be asked: what happens when a track is on one of the albums, but is also on Rock Band 2’s setlist (for example, Everlong)?
Oh, right, one more, when the heck is Europe getting Rock Band 2?
Posted in News | Also tagged Rock Band 2 |
Harmonix and MTV Games have unveiled the entire setlist of rock and roll tunes that will be avaiable on Rock Band 2’s disc.
Comprised entirely of master recordings from some of rock’s most prolific and untouchable artists, including AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, Bob Dylan, Metallica, Pearl Jam and more, Rock Band 2 will deliver the most impressive and largest music catalogue of any music-based videogame ever.
Rock Band 2 will be an Xbox 360 Exclusive when it launches this September.
The full songlist continues, after the jump
1. AC/DC “Let There Be Rock”
2. AFI “Girl’s Gone Grey”
3. Alanis Morissette “You Oughta Know”
4. Alice in Chains “Man in the Box”
5. Allman Brothers “Ramblin’ Man”
6. Avenged Sevenfold “Almost Easy”
7. Bad Company “Shooting Star”
8. Beastie Boys “So Whatcha Want”
9. Beck “E-Pro”
10. Bikini Kill “Rebel Girl”
11. Billy Idol “White Wedding Pt. I”
12. Blondie ” One Way or Another”
13. Bob Dylan “Tangled Up in Blue”
14. Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer”
15. Cheap Trick “Hello There”
16. Devo “Uncontrollable Urge”
17. Dinosaur Jr. “Feel the Pain”
18. Disturbed “Down with the Sickness”
19. Dream Theater “Panic Attack”
20. Duran Duran “Hungry Like the Wolf”
21. Elvis Costello “Pump It Up”
Read More »
Posted in News | Tagged Rock Band |
Posted in News | Also tagged Dead Space, Dragon Age, E3 2008 |
Harmonix has officially announced Rock Band 2, titled Rock Band 2: The Opening Act. The game is intended as a polished and perfected version of the recently released (in Europe, that is) band simulator, Rock Band.
“As successful as the original Rock Band continues to be, we’ve now had the benefit of the last eight months to listen to our fans’ requests and to build upon that foundation,” said Alex Rigopulos, co-founder and CEO of Harmonix. “Rock Band 2 is a second-generation band game that will elevate the music game experience to the next level.”
Answering the million dollar question right off the bat, Lead Designer Dan Teasdale confirmed that all downloadable content for Rock Band will be playable in Rock Band 2, and vice versa.
The bundle will also feature improved instruments (but will be compatible with your original drums, guitar and mic) and will likely improve on navigation, add online World Tour and include “new ways for you to transition from Expert to real instruments”.
IGN – Rock Band 2: The Opening Act Interview »
Posted in News | Tagged Rock Band |
Up now on the Xbox Live Marketplace are some brand new Rock Band songs from Disturbed and Jimmy Buffett. While the Disturbed tracks are already cheap (at 80 points each, or 240 for the pack), the band wants to give away two of them for free!
Ok, so you’re supposed to buy their album from Best Buy first, but all I have is Tesco, HMV and Subway, so I guess I’m allowed to take advantage.
Head to Distubed 1 Xbox.com, enter “1lfa89″ and receive your download code. Shove this in your 360 and you’ll be the new owner of some pretty crappy songs!
Cheap Ass Gamer – 2 free Xbox 360 Rock Band songs with Preorder of Disturbed’s new cd »
Posted in News | Also tagged Free |
