Rock Band Track Pack Vol. 1 coming to PS2, Wii this July

by Ludwig Kietzmann { May 5th 2008 at 12:56PM }

"I'm perfectly satisfied," you say to yourself as your fingers dart across spongy, fake frets. "I don't need those fancy high-definition graphics. As long as I can make out the notes, I'm happy. Heck, I can even see them when I close my eyes." Indeed, you're more than delighted with the PS2 version of Rock Band, the musical friend that keeps you company as you rock out in the basement. Alone.

EA, Harmonix and MTV Games can't help you with your graphics or self-deception issues, but they can offer you some of the downloadable tracks that Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners of Rock Band have been enjoying. Mind you, they won't be "downloadable" so much as they'll be purchasable for $29.99. The Rock Band Track Pack Volume 1, headed for Wii (the full game is out on June 22) and PlayStation 2 on July 15th, will contain 20 songs from such artists as David Bowie, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Weezer and Oasis.

Peer past the break for the full list and see if you go, "Ah, there's that song I like! I will gladly purchase this standalone set of tracks! I'm still talking to myself!"

30 Seconds to Mars -- "The Kill"
All American Rejects -- "Move Along"
Blink – 182 -- "All the Small Things"
Boston -- "More Than a Feeling"
David Bowie -- "Moonage Daydream"
Faith No More -- "We Care A Lot"
Grateful Dead -- "Truckin'"
The Hives -- "Die, All Right!"
KISS -- "Calling Dr. Love"
Lynyrd Skynyrd -- "Gimme' Three Steps"
Nine Inch Nails -- "March of the Pigs"
Oasis -- "Live Forever"
Paramore -- "Crushcrushcrush"
The Police -- "Synchronicity II"
Queens of the Stone Age -- "Little Sister"
Ramones -- "Teenage Lobotomy"
Smashing Pumpkins -- "Siva"
Stone Temple Pilots -- "Interstate Love Song"
Weezer -- "Buddy Holly"
Wolfmother -- "Joker & the Thief"

Tags: BreakingNews, DLC, EA, Harmonix, MTV, MTV-Games, Rock-Band, Rock-Band-Track-Pack, Rock-Band-Track-Pack-Vol-1

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Benjamin Breeg @ May 5th 2008 10:14PM

Hahaha, none of the 3 Metallica songs?

This is definitely the final nail in the coffin of my considering getting this for Wii. I'll just keep waiting for the price of the 360 to go down and pick it up for that eventually. Maybe.

Demaar @ May 5th 2008 9:22PM

I dunno, these tracks seem to fit in together, but I don't think Metallica would. The second pack will probably include them with more similar songs.

Anyway, this is super awesome news, and exactly what Harmonix needed to do. I think they should release it on PS3 and 360 as well though, as there are loads of people that don't even know what an ethernet cable is that own one of those two.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ May 5th 2008 1:00PM

Looks like a repeat of Beatmania on Playstation. Not a bad system, just would get annoying.

XanthouS @ May 5th 2008 1:01PM

Well this is good news for those who haven't jumped into the high-def gaming market yet.

Looks like the song list is a bit hit-or-miss.

[.sm0ke.] @ May 5th 2008 1:03PM

They can fit WAY more than 20 songs on that disc.

Oshi @ May 5th 2008 1:06PM

I'm sure they could, but consider the pricing. Downloading them all individually on XBL/PSN would cost about $40, and they're selling the disk for $30.

JJ Rooster @ May 5th 2008 2:22PM

chances are though, you only like 2/3 of these songs... which is exactly HMX's plan. Cheap enough, but not the best DLC they've released, so you are led to buy the next one months from now. Good for them.

[.sm0ke.] @ May 5th 2008 3:00PM

True, and that does include the cost of making the disc, packaging it, and shipping it. But out of those 20 tracks, I've downloaded 3. Maybe Harmonix could've coded the game to support downloads to the PS2's hard drive, for those that actually bought FFXI.

tl;dr I'm glad I have a 360.

mr mobius @ May 5th 2008 1:06PM

So would need to swap between two discs to get to different songs?

Martez @ May 5th 2008 1:07PM

Feh.

Mike @ May 5th 2008 1:15PM

I can't help but notice that this works out cheaper than the DLC - even in pack form.

XanthouS @ May 5th 2008 1:37PM

Assuming you've purchased all of this DLC, in the most efficient way (new songs for $0.99, track packs) you could get this DLC for $35.20.

Buying this pack, on disc, with a 5.5% sales tax would come to $31.48.

I own close to fifty songs, but only 10 from that list. The extra couple bucks is worth the ability to pick and choose tracks, IMO.

Mike @ May 5th 2008 1:49PM

that's some fuzzy math you have there - when you purchase any of these songs in a track pack, the track pack costs 440 ms pts, or $5.50, making each track about $1.83. The tracks on this disc come out to about $1.50 a piece. Now, yea, the difference in cost is about $6.60, which isn't much - but it's something.

I haven't picked up rock band yet, though I do plan on it. Personally, given the opportunity to buy these tracks as a $30 bundle on XBLM, or PSN would be awesome. That's my point here - I'm curious as to whether they'll offer the bundle at the discounted price for other platforms.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ May 5th 2008 1:58PM

Except five of the songs on that pack were released at $.99...

When Fuzzy Math versus Fuzzy Details....

If you guys don't use punch during the match, you could totally end it with a friendship...

Mike @ May 5th 2008 2:01PM

lol - fair enough, some of the tracks did release at 0.99, my bad.

My point remains valid though - it would be pretty sweet to have this as a big 'ol piece of DLC for the reduced price.

XanthouS @ May 5th 2008 2:16PM

Thanks, Sid

And I do respect your opinion Mike, I'm sure many people would be interested in a big ol' chunk o' DLC for a reduced price. My point was that I'd gladly pay the few extra dollars in order to have songs that I'm more into (Wonderwall over Live Forever, Heroes over Moonage Daydream, 3s and 7s over Little Sister, etc).

RastamanD @ May 5th 2008 3:09PM

you guys know those songs are no longer 99 cents right? so you are still saving more...

gundamxzero @ May 5th 2008 3:47PM

The fact that all my songs that I have chosen to dl individually all show up on the same list as my other songs and that I dont have to switch discs(wait for loading times, start menu, etc etc) and that I can play them in HD, makes the small extra sum completely worth it.

Robotic Earthling @ May 5th 2008 1:16PM

Yay, I guess. *is planning to get the Wii version*

Anyone know when the disc swapping would occur? I know no one has the game yet, but I know it's been done before in other games. Would you just swap the disc on the tracklist screen to see the new tracklist? Or would it save the titles of all the tracks on the same tracklist and prompt you to swap the disc after you choose a song that's on the other disc?

raptorspike @ May 5th 2008 1:17PM

At least this is a step in the right direction. Granted, they said they are working on the DLC situation, as well as online. Can the next big announcement be that we can use our super-sized classic controllers (GH3 guitars) for the game?

shadowchaoscontrol @ May 5th 2008 3:25PM

if i can use the les paul controller, this will be an instant buy, even without this disk, i have no care for DLC or online, i have 2 friends who can play bass and drums

raptorspike @ May 5th 2008 4:15PM

shadow, I know what you mean. If I could use my two (well, two after I buy the Aerosmith bundle) les pauls, I'd just buy the game, drums and mic. I don't play online (i would if I could), I don't really care about DLC (still love playing my copy of GH3). I just don't like the butchered world tour and the lack of customizable characters.

Roofie @ May 5th 2008 1:26PM

Oasis - "Live Forever"

That's a perfect example of how dumb this list of tracks is. Go with the songs that people might actually want? Obviously not.

J3 @ May 20th 2008 5:44PM

Oasis - Live Forever would be pretty much the reason for me to buy this Add-On.

Roofie - Music is subjective.

John Z @ May 5th 2008 1:28PM

Better than no extra content at all, I suppose.

Roto13 @ May 5th 2008 1:45PM

That's what I was thinking. :P

I'm still not getting a gimped version of the game, though.

deaftly @ May 5th 2008 1:29PM

I didnt read the article or the comments, I just saw faith no more and fuck all of ya, faith no more > you

baby sea tuna @ May 5th 2008 2:51PM

Though it's Chuck Mosley FNM...and everyone knows that Mike Patton FNM>>>Chuck Mosley FNM

deaftly @ May 5th 2008 4:01PM

no question there my friend

ScottG13 @ May 5th 2008 1:29PM

Pretty good pricing for the crippled system owners. Can't complain about that.

Gewurztraminer says: R.O.B. is the last Cylon! @ May 5th 2008 5:26PM

Other than I don't see how the "system" is crippled. The game, sure, it has to meet the limitations of the system which is less than that of the original. But the "system" is exactly the way it was designed to be. Nothing more, nothing less.

ScottG13 @ May 5th 2008 5:38PM

Its semantics, but probably a more apt description is crippled platform as in the Rock Band platform. The Rock Band platform on 360 and PS3 is the standard while the PS2 and Wii platforms are crippled or gimped if you will.

Crippled in the same way that paraplegics from birth are.

Wow, that's cruel.

MarkHawk @ May 5th 2008 1:34PM

Glad to see HMX is branching out to lower end systems. Most people would say it's their own fault for not upgrading but not everyone can. Again glad to see HMX finding a way to release some content for a decent price.

aristokrat @ May 5th 2008 1:41PM

How will this work? Does the Wii menu have an additional songs option or something? Would you insert the extra disc first, then switch to the original Rock Band disc, then switch back? Or can this be standalone, meaning that it would be a nice cheap way to get into Rock Band? I is confuzzed.

Duscrom @ May 5th 2008 1:42PM

Hmmm, not even the free stuff.. No "Still Alive"... but Move Along is actually quite fun to play.

So.. still not regretting the purchase 360 version.

Sora267 @ May 5th 2008 5:43PM

Yes, I also find it quite fun to play a song while ear blood is dripping down onto my peripherals.

Fun to play, but it's a terrible song.

Yoshi Likes Boys @ May 5th 2008 1:53PM

This is the right move at the right price. I'm pleased about this. Now if only HMX wasn't too lazy to allow the Wii Les Paul to work with Wii Rock Band.

CRiThIt @ May 10th 2008 2:43PM

The one thing that would make this PERFECT is custom discs that you could order from their website. It's a stretch, but I am pretty sure it's doable.

Eleniel @ May 5th 2008 2:17PM

I probably won't buy this, but I think it's fantastic that Harmonix is exploring alternative options to DLC for platforms that don't have that privilege. Way to go, you guys.

Kevin @ May 5th 2008 2:20PM

Advantages of this setup:

- The disc is portable, DLC is not.
- Corrupted memory will not require you to "Purchase All Your DLC Again(TM)"
- Slightly cheaper!

Disadvantages

- Less personalization of the tracks. (Though, could you imagine ordering a custom disc with... say... 20 songs for $40, any 20 songs of the DLC that you want? I'd do it.)
- Will suck if there's no hot swapping (change discs without power down for the uneducated or lazy)

Consider me possibly interested in actually getting the game now.

/For Wii
//4 GCN Controllers, 1 Wavebird, 4 GCN Bongoes, 4 Wii-Motes, 2 Nunchuks, 2 Classic Controllers, 1 Les Paul Guitar, 1 Wii Wheel, 5 Remote Condoms...

baby sea tuna @ May 5th 2008 2:56PM

The DLC, at least the 360 DLC, *is* portable...as long as the Xbox you're moving it to can access your LIVE profile. Granted, it's not ideal, but it is physically possible.

gundamxzero @ May 5th 2008 3:55PM

You also forget the wii/ps2 version of the game is completely gimped, no char customization, band world play is basically now just a set list. No rock band store to listen to song or ratings of difficulty.
No HD graphics(this game looks beautiful in HD) im going to cut the list there.

On top of that not all the songs on the list are even worth downloading.

Sure its nice they are trying to think up something, but the fact that you pay the same 179 msrp(or whatever it is) for less of a game. GG

Kevin @ May 5th 2008 4:53PM

To respond:

> no char customization

You mean the moving little coloured bars look different when you're playing? I don't think that's the case. If you're referring to the scenery, I don't EVER watch it when playing Guitar Hero, so I don't care what it looks like.

> band world play is basically now just a set list

I'll be forced to play the game I bought? That's kinda what I was expecting. Once I've unlocked all the songs, I don't need to play whatever "Career" or "Story" mode there is. I just want to play songs, I don't need an order or a purpose to it.

> No rock band store to listen to song or ratings of difficulty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_in_Rock_Band
http://www.youtube.com

> No HD graphics

I don't need HD graphics. Nobody needs HD graphics. Crysis may LOOK good, but that doesn't mean it IS good. As long as I can make out what's on the screen, I don't care what it looks like. I prefer smooth animation to pretty pictures.

Senator Dracula @ May 6th 2008 3:19AM

We can argue over whether World Tour mode is better than playing unlocked songs off a list, but wouldn't you rather have your choice of modes? I find it odd a Nintendo fan wouldn't like a cool in-game system to deliver unlockables.

Character customization is always cool! Well, maybe not always but it is definitely a nice option to have. I have had quite a bit of fun creating bands and suitable logos with the game's editing tools. Good fun.

Also, are you seriously saying you would prefer to not have HD at all? I agree that games are totally playable without it, but they are also generally playable without sound or color, too. I'm not sure hating on HD really makes any more sense than insisting on playing on a 13" black and white monitor with no speakers.

To each his own. Enjoy Rock Band, preferably with three friends.