Rock Band disc content can be ported to RB2 for 'under $5'

by Jem Alexander { Jul 14th 2008 at 2:35PM }

The Rock Band 2 press release, which included the final set-list for the game, also mentions that Rock Band content from the discs will be transferable to the sequel, but for a price. The release states that "owners of the original Rock Band will have the ability to export most of the Rock Band disc tracks and upgrade them into Rock Band 2 gameplay-the first time ever in videogame history!" You will need to pay an unlocking fee to do so, which will be "under 5 dollars."

Rock Band 2 will also support full backwards compatibility for any downloadable songs that you may or may not have bought before now.

Tags: breakingnews, e3-2008, harmonix, rock-band, rock-band-2

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

jsn @ Jul 14th 2008 2:38PM

the win just keeps pouring in!

Kevin Leonard @ Jul 14th 2008 6:50PM

This comment makes me want to vomit.

rpeugh @ Sep 21st 2008 6:26PM

ok so i just bought Rockband 2 definetly enjoyable.. however how the hell do i import the songs from the first game so as to continue to enjoy them.. yes i know there's a $5 fee and a download of some sort but i have no clue how to do this... help please... you can even talk crap i just want an answer...

reign-♥-of-♥-love @ Jul 14th 2008 2:38PM

1st

reign-♥-of-♥-love @ Jul 14th 2008 2:39PM

nm.
sweet. 5 bucks not bad!!! that makes the set list 140 songs!!! wooh!

Dark Archon @ Jul 14th 2008 2:40PM

"MOST of the Rock Band disc tracks"?

Guess_Who @ Jul 14th 2008 2:47PM

You don't think Train Kept A Rollin' would still be included after GH:Aerosmith, do you?

baby sea tuna @ Jul 14th 2008 2:56PM

And somehow, I'm okay with that.

copa @ Jul 14th 2008 2:39PM

I am very happy to pay the fee, but the qualifier that 'most' songs can be exported is nagging at me. I hope they clarify what that means pretty soon.

Saria the Cat @ Jul 14th 2008 4:16PM

Yeah, "most" sounds just awful. If they can port any, why don't they allow ALL of them transferable? Maybe they're talking about DLC...?

jcmschwa @ Jul 14th 2008 5:24PM

probably has something to do with getting the rights to some songs for a second game.

josh @ Jul 14th 2008 5:32PM

The reasons are most like CONTRACTUAL, with the record labels. Perhaps there are songs where the artist agreed for the song to be on Rock Band 1, but they have since signed an agreement saying all future use of their songs will be exclusive to Guitar Hero for example. Or perhaps the particular artist simply was holding out for more money that EA was willing to pay, or they decided that they hated video games. Who knows?

Regardless, I would assume the reason certain tracks wouldn't be included in this is legal wrangling like the above, not any technical reason or "just for fun" type reason.

Saria the Cat @ Jul 14th 2008 8:32PM

Oh, I completely forgot about licenses. That makes a lot more sense. Now I'll direct my pitchfork-and-torchiness towards the music industry instead.

FOXHOUND @ Jul 14th 2008 2:39PM

ehhh... not exactly what people would want though. I mean, a $5 unlocking fee isn't bad. However, I'd rather have the option to pick and choose which songs I want to port over. Truth be told, I like RB2's set list over the first one(disc-wise, not DLC).

Vegnagun bwf @ Jul 14th 2008 2:40PM

This E3 is crazy. Just amazing announcement after amazing announcement. This is really incredible. Rock Band 2 is going to be really monumental. Such a huge track list...

colin17 @ Jul 14th 2008 2:45PM

YAAAY!!!! CAN'T WAIT FOR ROCK BAND 2!!! I think it deserves another so, YAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!

Matt @ Jul 14th 2008 2:41PM

so, 5 bucks so you don't have to swap discs to play RB1 songs? You can tell this is an EA run organization

jsn @ Jul 14th 2008 2:46PM

the $5 is more than likely some small compensation for the people who will rent RB1 just to rip the tracks. I wipe my ass with $5.

3cubed (4squared plus 2squared) @ Jul 14th 2008 2:53PM

That's what I was thinking jsn. My friend has the first Rock Band and I was just going to use his to get the songs. I don't mind the five$ fee.

copa @ Jul 14th 2008 2:55PM

Do you use bills or coins?

AwesomeTown @ Jul 14th 2008 2:59PM

Yea, but this way, you can play online world tour with the RB1 songs.

jsn @ Jul 14th 2008 3:01PM

copa: Depends on whether or not I want that "deep down clean" or just a surface swipe!

Saria the Cat @ Jul 14th 2008 4:19PM

Geez, guys, what are you complaining about? It clearly says "under $5." So it will only be $4.99!

josh @ Jul 14th 2008 5:37PM

They didn't have to offer it, and you don't have to buy it.

As others have pointed out on this post and others... the main reason they cant just give the songs away for free is because they most likely have a contract with the artists who appeared on RB1 saying "you give us the right to use your song on RB1 for $x" they cant then turn around and use the song on RB2 without paying the artist again, and they cant create software that would copy the songs from the RB1 disc to your hard drive, either, because that is a violation of copyright in itself, without a contract saying its okay.

so, the only legal solution is to pay those artists another fee to either allow for a download, or to allow for a copy of the songs to be made from the disc.

Jody Anthony (gamertag and psn: JodyAnthony) @ Jul 14th 2008 2:42PM

so $4.99?

pretty cool though!

defpoet1790 @ Jul 14th 2008 2:44PM

sounds sweet to me. i'd pay that $5.

LeMuRfArT @ Jul 14th 2008 3:07PM

rock on!

Jakka @ Jul 14th 2008 2:43PM

The slacker's dilemma.

Five-bucks or having to get up and swap the damn disc.

Kevin949 @ Jul 14th 2008 2:46PM

Industry first? Not true. Look at the dynasty warriors games that let you take content from the original game and port it over to the "expansion" game. And they did it for free with only two quick disc swaps needed (granted each time you turned the system off you'd need to do it again, but it was the PS2). I say eff your microtransaction BS, I already paid you 170 bucks for the game and a ton more for DLC, plus 60 bucks for the new game (no I'm not buying new damn instruments) so you can damn well let us port over the songs on the disc for "free" since you're getting tons of money from DLC and the game itself anyway.

Jakka @ Jul 14th 2008 3:15PM

Yeah, but people still think that Rock Band revolutionized the genre, despite obviously ripping-off DrumMania,GuitarFreaks and Karaoke Revolution so I'm pretty sure they would believe a little lie like that.

Sam Earl @ Jul 14th 2008 3:17PM

They probably mean industry first for a music game. I mean, there's a difference between RB and Dynasty Warriors, in that RB has licensed content on the disc and there's probably some hoops to jump through to even get this far.

I for on am happy paying $5, so long as "most songs" doesn't mean just over 50%...

Kevin949 @ Jul 14th 2008 3:21PM

Oh absolutely Sam Earl, I see there is a difference between RB and DW. But when they say "industry" I think video game, not music game (in this instance). And yes, there are always hoops to jump through to get licensed content on a disc (mainly just "pay us moneez, here's your content"). but it should really just be a no brainer. Hell, MS didn't charge for their data transfer kit and that was an actual hardware piece, and they're not charging (that I know of) for the license transfer stuff either (to play XBLA content offline). Eh, it's just...it doesn't sit right with me, personally.

josh @ Jul 14th 2008 5:43PM

As I stated above, they can't do this.

The reason they need to charge a fee to do this is because they had an agreement with the record labels saying "we will give you $x for use of your song in the product Rock Band 1". Now that there is a new product, Rock Band 2, they cant just turn around and use those songs for free. They also cant legally export the songs from Rock Band one, because their contracts without a doubt say something like "This usuage of the song is for Rock Band 1 only and you arent allowed to download these songs off of the game onto any other device".

This is how music licensing works... it's an industry which charges coffee shops and the like a yearly fee for the right to play music in their place of business... you really expect that they would let EA use the same songs in Rock Band 2 without making them pay again?

Kevin949 @ Jul 14th 2008 7:12PM

Fair enough, josh, but do you know for SURE what their contract says? While I'm disputing that it is a VERY SPECIFIC contract (as the music industry is supposedly hurting from downloaded songs) neither you nor I could say for sure what their contract says without seeing it. Personally I don't know if their contract is public record or not. Probably not. If you find it, let me know. Until then, I'll just switch discs. I know it's only five bucks, but it's five bucks I shouldn't have to pay.

Kevin949 @ Jul 14th 2008 7:15PM

oops, I meant to say "while I'm NOT disputing"

Jomolungma @ Jul 14th 2008 2:46PM

Worth it, IMO - but that caveat bugs me.

McWeen @ Jul 14th 2008 2:50PM

Doesn't the most apply to it updating to Rock Band 2 gameplay? Guess we will have to wait and see.

FSK405K @ Jul 14th 2008 2:52PM

BEST ROCK BAND NEWS EVER! Far more important than some new crap Guns N Roses song.

knowthyself @ Jul 14th 2008 2:58PM

Um. So people are HAPPY to pay more to replay the songs you already paid for? This is why companies get away with this crap. People just give up their cash too easily.

Guess_Who @ Jul 14th 2008 3:03PM

They didn't need to include the feature at all, you could just swap the disc. At the same time, they're giving us 20 songs for free that they could've charged $2 each for.

I think they're being generous myself.

Burritoclock @ Jul 14th 2008 3:08PM

Yeah, you are right, the old way of buying a $60 game and a year later buying another one that uses none of the downloads or original songs was alot better, those damn money grubbers!

Dumb ass.

Farseer (GDI) @ Jul 14th 2008 3:19PM

The replay and the variety is what makes this game fun.

Imagine you host a party where there over 20 people hanging around, many of them playing or watching Rock Band. If someone really wants to play Creep or Wanted Dead or Alive, you're in for a total party killer. Swapping out discs, waiting for the initial load, choosing characters again (different ones, mind you), and making sure everyone is signed in correctly will totally clear the room. On top of that, I guarantee you it will only be a few songs later that someone will want to play Everlong...

knowthyself @ Jul 14th 2008 3:24PM

If your hosting a party and rock band is the center of that party I think that getting back your old music is the least of your problems. You and the 20 other nerds need to go meet some girls at a club. Hot girls. Not the kind of girls that go to a rock band party.

felixlighter @ Jul 14th 2008 3:35PM

Is it possible to make yourself look like a bigger douche bag? I doubt it.

Farseer (GDI) @ Jul 14th 2008 3:47PM

Shit, man, thanks for showing me the way.

I'm sure my wife and daughter, as well as all of our married friends would have a much better time coked-up at a club. I'll run it by everyone next time we decide to fire up the grill and fill the cooler with beer. I don't think they'll be too keen on the idea, but hell, I'll just tell them that knowthyself suggested it...

Ghoti @ Jul 14th 2008 2:55PM

Okay, I have my $5 in-hand. I am SOOO all over this!!! Very reasonable charge, IMHO.

ScottG13 @ Jul 14th 2008 2:57PM

Epic win for Rock Band. Monster party game. I'll have like 250+ songs by Christmas. Jesus.

T. @ Jul 14th 2008 3:23PM

The "Most" phrase bothered me as well. Here's my guess, and it's totally at random here. I'm thinking they won't allow us to pull over the "covers" from the first disc. They've made a very large advertising blitz over the fact that every song on the new disc is a master track. Further, as time has gone on, they've almost always released master tracks as DLC (I admit openly there are exceptions to this).

That or there were just licensing issues. Just a thought.