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Rock Band Weekly: Weezer, Yellowcard, Offspring, Limp Bizkit

by Alexander Sliwinski { Dec 18th 2009 at 11:30AM }

Beverly Hills ... that's where I want to be (gimme, gimme), living in -- wait, not really. Next week's holiday Rock Band Weekly update has some catchiness, but it's short on cheer. There's a new track pack from Weezer, featuring two songs from the band's latest album, Raditude. There's also songs from Limp Bizkit, The Offspring and Yellowcard.

One last reminder: Rock Band Unplugged DLC is on hiatus until further notice. Check out pricing and track details for the console releases after the break.

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Green Day: Rock Band trailer unveiled, songs will be exportable

by Griffin McElroy { Dec 13th 2009 at 3:00PM }

One of the least surprising "World Exclusive" reveals during last night's Video Game Awards show was the unveiling of Harmonix's next single-band opus, Green Day: Rock Band. In case you missed out on the late-to-the-party announcement, you can check out the debut trailer after the jump. If you don't feel like watching a streaming video at the moment, we'll summarize: It looks a heck of a lot like when you play those Green Day DLC songs on Rock Band 2.

The MTV Games press release that landed in our inbox shortly after the trailer aired contained one particularly interesting piece of news -- unlike The Beatles: Rock Band, all of the tracks in Green Day's outing will be exportable to the core Rock Band games. In addition, all the Green Day DLC released so far for the music platform, as well as the three 21st Century Breakdown tracks that will hit this Tuesday, will be compatible with Green Day: Rock Band. No release date has been given thus far, but the presser specifies that its coming to the Wii, PS3 and 360.

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MTV teases 'Green Day Rock Band' [update 2]

by Ben Gilbert { Dec 12th 2009 at 5:25PM }

Update 2: Yeah, it's real. Check out this clip from the VGAs to see the eyeliner-wearing band's big announcement.

Update: We also spotted some of the trailer during the "Rehearsal Sneak Peek" video over at Spike, which Geoff Keighley followed up with "You gotta tune into the VGAs to see the announcement of the next Rock Band game." Sure sounds like a full Rock Band game to us!

While perusing the internet today, we happened upon a particularly interesting video of Green Day performing "American Idiot" on MTV.com -- though rather than the usual real-life version of Green Day, Rock Band avatars of the group took the position, followed closely by the logo you see above. Is it a full standalone Rock Band game with Green Day? Is it a really robust downloadable content pack? We'd bet our bottom dollar that we'll find out in a few hours when the Spike VGAs start. As per usual, we've fired off an email to MTV Games and Harmonix to find out what's up in the meantime. Check out the full video after the break.

[Via Jared Rea's Twitter]

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Rock Band Weekly: Green Day, 30 Seconds to Mars, All-American Rejects, Beatles: Rubber Soul album

by Alexander Sliwinski { Dec 11th 2009 at 11:30AM }

For the sake of clarity and brevity in this week's Rock Band Weekly, let's split this info up:

The Beatles: Rock Band will have the album Rubber Soul available next week. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road were previously released on November 17 and October 20, respectively.
The standard Rock Band music store receives new tracks from All-American Rejects, 30 Seconds to Mars and even more Green Day.

As a reminder, Rock Band Unplugged DLC is going on holiday for an unspecified amount of time. Check out pricing and track details after the break.

Update: MTV Games/Harmonix has corrected the pricing for Rubber Soul.

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Restructuring layoffs hit Harmonix, the band plays on

by Alexander Sliwinski { Dec 10th 2009 at 12:37PM }

http://www.joystiq.com/media/2009/12/harmonixlogo_121009.jpg

MTV Games has confirmed to Joystiq that 39 positions at developer Harmonix were eliminated today. The move was part of a restructuring to "better align [the] staffing to best suit [Harmonix's] product development plans and schedules moving forward." The publisher claims that "those affected were primarily in QA. The others affected ranged from administrative to other various roles within the company." At least one staff designer seems to have fallen under the "other" category.

Although Electronic Arts has a partnership with Harmonix, these layoffs are "totally and completely unrelated" to EA's issues.

Update: MTV Games/Harmonix answer some follow-up questions.

This Wednesday: XBLA gets its Qix ++ [update: screens]

by Richard Mitchell { Dec 7th 2009 at 1:00PM }

Update: We've unearthed some screens of the PSP version, courtesy of Game Watch. There may be some difference between it and the XBLA version, but they'll probably look pretty similar. Peruse them in the gallery below.

Microsoft's Major Nelson has announced that Qix ++ is headed to Xbox Live Arcade this week. Apart from the price (800

/ $10), that's really all we know. The "++" in the title might be a clue, though, given that Jeff "Why'd you buy Frogger" Minter seems to have an affinity for throwing plus signs at the end of retro game titles. It's also worth noting that Minter worked on the XBLA version of Space Invaders Extreme which, like Qix, is a Taito (via Square Enix) game. For now, with no assets of the game available, you'll have to settle for a video of the original Qix posted after the break.

In other news, the Xbox Live Deal of the Week is Rock Band DLC, specifically No Doubt's The Singles 1992-2003 album. The DLC has been discounted from 1600

($20) to 1200

($15).

Shortcut: Download The Singles 1992-2003 [Xbox.com]

Gallery: Qix ++ (PSP)

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More Green Day headed to Rock Band

by Richard Mitchell { Dec 5th 2009 at 6:30AM }

In simple terms, Green Day and Rock Band are friends. There have already been several Green Day tracks released for Harmonix's musically inclined baby and it was announced today that even more are on their way later this month. Starting December 15 on the Wii and Xbox 360 – and December 17 on the Playstation 3 – players will be able to grab three new Green Day tracks from the band's 21st Century Breakdown album: "Christian's Inferno," "Last of the American Girls," and "¡Viva La Gloria!". The tracks will be available individually for $1.99 / 160

/ 200 Wii points. The full track pack will be available on PS3 and Xbox 360 for $5.49 / 440

Rock Band Weekly: Slipknot, Simon & Garfunkel, Lights Resolve

by Ben Gilbert { Dec 4th 2009 at 2:00PM }

Harmonix and MTV Games are dropping a couple of classic Simon & Garfunkel tracks alongside the first Slipknot track pack this coming week as DLC, appealing to that very specific crossover niche of people who like 30-year-old folk music yet like to go blackout partying on the weekends. Take out your terrifying masks and acoustic guitars, folks. It's going to be a weird one. Check out all the tracks for the upcoming week after the break.

Select a platform below to view complete DLC listing:

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Fun with math: Some Rock Band UK packs inconsistently priced on PSN [update]

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 27th 2009 at 3:00PM }

It appears that, in some cases, the PSN Rock Band track packs in the UK are receiving a price hike in comparison to the individually purchased songs. An EU PlayStation forum user notes the discrepancy, which applies no discount to pack purchases, making it cheaper to purchase all of a pack's tracks individually. The issue had previously been contained to packs with over three songs, but next week's update appears to break that trend. However, reviewing previous weeks with track packs of three, it appears that the EU and UK pricing were accidentally reversed for next week, but we won't be able to confirm that until the update goes live.

We've confirmed the pricing anomaly for the UK PSN Store and we're following up with Harmonix to figure out what's going on. Check out examples of the pricing inconsistencies after the break.

Update: Harmonix responded to Joystiq, saying, "We are aware of the issue and working with SCEE to resolve the problems asap."

[Thanks Si]

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Philanthropic rockers playing 1,000 Rock Band songs for Child's Play

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 27th 2009 at 11:00AM }

We know you've probably already spent an irresponsible amount of dough this morning on hot Black Friday deals, but there's a unique gaming marathon for charity (a charithon?) taking place right now that could use some help meeting its $3,000 donation goal. Check out the web page of Clan of the Gray Wolf, where four gentlemen are attempting to play 1,000 Rock Band songs for approximately 80 hours, all the while collecting money for Penny Arcade's Child's Play Charity.

So, instead of buying that set of Growing Pains-themed salt shakers simply because they're 75 percent off, why not lend a helping hand to four guys who, in 80 hours, are going to have the worst blisters anyone's ever had, ever?

Rock Band Network rolls out fully in early 2010

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 26th 2009 at 1:15PM }

Harmonix's Rock Band Network is still working out the kinks and will launch in "early 2010." In a statement to Kotaku, the developer explained that it's working on getting the public beta tools out "before the end of the year," with the store front to launch sometime at the beginning of next year.

Musicians with ample time and high computer proficiency can begin preparing their tracks now with the creator tools, but the open beta will grant access to the private website where all the RBN community stuff will occur. If you're a musician or programmer (or ... procisian?), let us know what you think about the tools in comments.

Gallery: Rock Band Network

All the great Rock Bands started at Old Navy

by Justin McElroy { Nov 25th 2009 at 5:30PM }

We can't tell you the number of times we've been packed into the mall during holiday season like angry, sweater-draped sardines and thought "This is great, but what if four people could swing plastic instruments around and warble an off-key version of 'Thunderstruck' just a few feet from us?" Finally, a retailer has stepped up to cater to our needs as Old Navy has announced it'll be putting Rock Band kiosks in 700 of its stores beginning on Black Friday.

Also, on Dec. 9 and Dec. 16, those who spend more than $25 at the store will get a free Rock Band track to take home, though we can't imagine why you'd want to play Rock Band at home when you could be playing in Old Navy.

Check out Joystiq's Black Friday Game Deals Hub or jump to a retailer guide below:

For more Black Friday coverage, check out Black Friday Deals, Cyber Monday Sales,
And other Black Friday 2009 stories today from Walletpop.com

Rock Band Weekly: Nirvana, Night Ranger

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 25th 2009 at 3:20PM }

Ummm ... "Smells Like Teen Spirit." That is all one needs to know about next week's Rock Band DLC. How many of us out there will finally learn the lyrics to the song we mumbled for years every time it popped up on the radio?

Remember radio? Wow, feels like forever ago. Check out the full update after the break.

Select a platform below to view complete DLC listing:

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Rock Band platform now has over 1,000 songs

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 25th 2009 at 2:00PM }

A recent press release has informed us that with the release of today's Rock Band 2 DLC pack, Harmonix has met its goal of having over 1,000 songs on the platform before the holidays. According to the presser, these tracks represent the work of 390 musical artists. The rhythm gaming community has downloaded over 60 million songs from the Rock Band Music Store, which Harmonix has kept alive and kicking with new musical additions for 105 consecutive weeks.

To put this achievement in chronological terms, we'd estimate that the average length of these songs is, oh, about four minutes. By our calculations, a full playthrough of the Rock Band catalog would take you two days, 18 hours and 40 minutes. Not accounting for the number of times you'll inevitably fail out on "Painkiller," of course.

Congratulations, Harmonix, on this rocking accomplishment! Now, get back to work. That Paul Simon track pack isn't going to program itself.

Confirmed for Black Friday: Old Navy giving Lego Rock Band with $20 clothing purchase

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 24th 2009 at 1:10PM }

We hope you've been putting off purchasing that that new fleece jacket you've had your eye on, because Old Navy will be running one hell of a video game deal this coming Black Friday. As suggested by a supposedly leaked circular earlier this month, anyone who spends $20 on the store's merchandise will receive Lego Rock Band for free on the platform of their choice.

The rumored deal was recently confirmed by a television spot (which unfortunately has yet to find its way online). We contacted a handful of locations in Texas, Ohio and Illinois, all of which said the offer would be valid at their stores. However, both the advertisement and the store representatives we spoke to mentioned that copies of the game will be "extremely limited," so we suggest getting to your nearest store as close to its 3 a.m. opening time as your tryptophan-infused body will permit.

Check out Joystiq's Black Friday Game Deals Hub or jump to a retailer guide below: