Rock Band 2 rocking on 360 in Sept. - PS3, PS2, Wii 'later in the year'

So you're annoyed that you own Rock Band for the PS3, then.

That's not what he means at all. Distribution across all platforms, no matter how difficult, should try to be as equal as possible. The guitar thing was ridiculous, as well as the other issues he pointed out.

I can answer the DLC question. DLC will work for RB1 and RB2, so once RB2 is out, any DLC announcements will be for BOTH RB1 and RB2. So PS3 owners will still be able to keep up with the DLC, even if they have to wait for the sequel.

@Sheppy

"2. We don't know where DLC priorities will exist for Rock Band when Rock Band 2 ships. Mainly, we don't know if PS3 fans just get a couple months of nothing while the DLC focus shifts."

This is one thing that you don't need to worry about. Dan Teasdale said in the IGN interview that:

"As far as Harmonix is concerned, there's no difference between 'Rock Band 1 DLC' and 'Rock Band 2 DLC' – we're just releasing awesome songs every week onto the Rock Band platform, all of which are playable by the Rock Band titles that support DLC.

1. Yeah, MTV still has not figured out how to handle worldwide launch and distribution of such a peripheral-heavy product.

It is indeed fucking annoying, but they just don't have the resources or experience to handle this, so they have had to stagger regions and platforms in their release schedule. I really can't believe that Australia still hasn't got RB1 yet.

2. Sheppy, Dan explained in the interview that all DLC, past and future, will work with both RB1 and RB2. So they DLC release schedule will be completely orthogonal to the RB2 release, and PS3 fans will not get 'a couple of months of nothing.'

3. That free sharing exemption has always been very generous on the PS3 (and there is a lesser known, but slightly more complicated way to do the same thing on the XBox 360). I definitely agree that it's a nice thing for consumers, but I can also understand licensors expecting people to actually buy the songs if they want to play them.

4. I suspect they once again don't have the ability to do a full launch across all regions and platforms. Also, it's possible that Sony might not be ready to support the DLC backward-compatibility. And yes, it helps that Microsoft is willing to step up with big marketing dollars.

5. I have no emotional response to that.

I agree with your comments 1, 2, & 4. But 3 just escapes me. No matter how I read that I can't understand it the way your intending it. Anyone care to explain that bit?

I wasn't going to go through point by point because that's just annoying. But why not!

1. Yes, it was ridiculous that Sony allowed Activision to block a patch for a competing game. What does this have to do with Rock Band 2?

2. They've announced that all DLC will be compatible. I don't understand the concern here?

3. That's how any multiplayer DLC works. This is hardly a Rock Band issue.

4. I'll agree on that one. I wonder if it isn't anything to do with exclusivity, though, and more to do with streamlining development to have the 360 out quicker.

As you can see, 4 is really the only point that has anything to do with RB2... The rest are really just complaints about RB or the PS3 network in general.

So, you're annoyed that you own RB for the PS3?

Allow me to clarify...

1. PS3's Rock Band was severely screwed initially. I can't believe Harmonix will once again put PS3 fans out to pasture after the HUGE scandal they had last year over basically hiding the claims of guitar compatibility.

3. This wasn't a concern initially. As an example, I don't have the Metallica pack. I don't care much for them. Around launch, I played online Rock Band with some CGtalkers. Despite me having not bought the packs though, the leader was able to select the song and after a brief download time (~1 minute on the "loading" screen), we were playing Blackened. We did this with a few other songs but she couldn't pick songs we had downloaded. It was, in essence, the Leaders library was open to the group. This was disabled in the patch which added the music store.

I was thinking the same thing. If they would let you load all your RB1 songs onto your HD (along with your profiles even, which make would it sweeter), that'd be awesome.

You do know there are legal, technical, and financial reasons you get things later right? Maybe you should yank some of that anger away from game companies and aim it towards the EU system. The makers don’t do this because it’s funny to them - It makes them lose money.

"They may as well put a flag on the cover, and call it "Rock Band USA: Fuck you Europe"

Dear god I wish that they had the balls to do that.

I agree, it just seems like MS is doing everything that they can to slow their competitors sales. Essentially, if all of the DLC will work between both RB games, there can't be too much tweaking required for the engine; programming delays aren't likely the reason for the seperate release.

I can't say it's due to the holiday layout, though, since it is stated the other systems will get theirs 'later in the year'. So long as I have it eventually, I'll be just as happy.

ooh get angry and bang your fists because you don't read!

Rock Band isn't being dropped. The same DLC works for both versions. You've lost nothing, get back in the sand box keep playing!

343 Guilty Fart
"I thought Rock Band was supposed to be like "it's own platform" or whatever they called this. Jesus, all I want is for Pink Floyd on the original, not another game!"

better hope they dont release it on RB2 only


@jsn

So what your saying all new DLC for RB2 will also work for Rock band number 1 ***


***[exception ps2/wii systems]

@jsn - But what's the point then of releasing a new game anyways if all DLC is going to be compatible? Wouldn't it just make more sense to use the "platform" they've already developed rather than releasing a whole new game/set of peripherals? Even if they are backwards compatible, it still seems like a waste, why not just release it all as DLC then?

Plus, I'm really just more annoyed that they just released the original RB not even a year ago, it's not like we needed a new RB or there was some sort of desire in the community to have one released.

It's from a statement you made above, but I'm replying directly to you so that you'll see this.

You mentioned above that there was a workaround for the 360 for sharing songs with others online as long as the leader has purchased the DLC, but that it is "lesser known". How can this be done? Do you know how, or have just heard of it?

That would be really awesome if it was true.

Since the March patch for Rock Band, the authorization process for DLC has changed. Now you can recover your gamertag on a friend's machine, download and authorize the content, and then the content will continue to work even after you recover your gamertag back to your original machine.

That depends...

are you made of money?

I don't understand. The GH3 guitar works with GH4, and the new instruments didn't exist before.

Unless you're mad that the RB controllers don't work with GH4 - then I understand.