Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Warner Music wants more money for licensed songshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/07/warner-music-wants-more-money-for-licensed-songs/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/07/warner-music-wants-more-money-for-licensed-songs/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/07/warner-music-wants-more-money-for-licensed-songs/#commentsFiled under: ,


Developers vying for a slice of the rhythm game pie may soon find the cost to dig in to be increasing -- at least if they want players to nod along with music they know. According to Reuters, Warner Music's top exec Edgar Bronfman has come forward, stating that game companies should pay more to the music industry in order to include licensed tunes in their music-based games.

Says Bronfman, who compared the relationship to the likes of MTV or Apple's iPod, "The amount being paid to the music industry, even though their games are entirely dependent on the content we own and control, is far too small." Given Warner's interest in music currently flowing through both Guitar Hero III and Rock Band, not to mention the war that is about to unfold on living room stages later this year, it will be interesting to see who will 5-star this game of financial tug-of-war.

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]]>ghwtguitar-heroguitar-hero-4guitarheromusicprofitrock-bandrock-band-2rockbandwarnerwarner-musicJason Dobson2008-08-07T16:00:00+00:00Rock Band adding seven countries to ticket in Julyhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/14/rock-band-adding-seven-countries-to-ticket-in-july/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/14/rock-band-adding-seven-countries-to-ticket-in-july/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/14/rock-band-adding-seven-countries-to-ticket-in-july/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


No longer will Belgium virtual rockers have to settle for playing air guitar to dreams of living room stardom, as Harmonix and MTV have announced plans to bring Rock Band to Belgians, as well as those in six other countries later this month, including Italy, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

According to the duo, the Xbox 360 version of Rock Band will be the lead SKU in these territories, shipping on July 24, with other fake instrument flavors arriving sometime later in the fall. As with the existing European release, the disc will include all 58 tracks found on the North American version as well as nine non-English tunes such as Die Toten Hosen's Hier Kommt Alex, Oasis' Rock 'n' roll star, and Playmo's New Wave. We welcome our new friends to the stage -- may you never fail out and your fingers never cramp.

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]]>E3-2008EAelectronic-artselectronicartseuropeharmonixMTVmusicrock-bandrockbandJason Dobson2008-07-14T22:00:00+00:00DIY: Make your Rock Band drum kit wheelchair accessiblehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/01/diy-make-your-rock-band-drum-kit-wheelchair-accessible/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/01/diy-make-your-rock-band-drum-kit-wheelchair-accessible/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/01/diy-make-your-rock-band-drum-kit-wheelchair-accessible/#commentsFiled under: ,


The raw, unbridled power of The Rocking is an equal opportunity force that can be tapped by anyone with a strong enough desire to evoke its boundless energies. Unfortunately, physical restrains can often limit a person's personal rocking aptitude, as most instruments are not created with those with disabilities in mind. Take, for instance, the Rock Band drum kit, which has a pedal that cannot be operated by those inflicted with paraplegia and other ailments affecting the lower body.

Fortunately, for every peripheral made unaccessible to those with disabilities, there's an altruistic, MacGuyver-esque modder with a solution. The folks over at Kinetic Communications recently solved the bass drum dilemma with a doorbell receiver and some audio cable, placing the foot pedal substitute directly onto a pair of drumsticks -- and it only cost them around $20. If you're in need for a stick-pedal, they've got simple instructions on how to make your own. Rick Allen would be so very proud.

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]]>drumdrumsdrumstickhandicapkineticcommunicationsmodparaplegiapedalperipheralrock-bandrockbandGriffin McElroy2008-06-01T19:00:00+00:00Rock Band Weekly: The Cars' self-titled debut albumhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/26/rock-band-weekly-the-cars-self-titled-debut-album/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/26/rock-band-weekly-the-cars-self-titled-debut-album/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/26/rock-band-weekly-the-cars-self-titled-debut-album/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


This week The Cars' 1978 self-titled debut record becomes the latest full album available from Rock Band's music store. Currently, it's keeping Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance company. Who's Next? Yeah, we're wondering that too.

The Cars album (1200 MS points / $15) -- All songs are also sold individually (160 MS Points / $2)
  • "Good Times Roll"
  • "My Best Friend's Girl"
  • "Just What I Needed"
  • "I'm in Touch with Your World"
  • "Don't Cha Stop"
  • "You're All I've Got Tonight"
  • "Bye Bye Love"
  • "Moving in Stereo"
  • "All Mixed Up"
Videos for all this week's songs (the second week in a row of large Rock Band Weekly post video hunts) can be found after the break. The Cars will be available tomorrow on Xbox 360 and Thursday on PlayStation 3.

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]]>harmonixrock-bandrock-band-weeklyrockbandthe-carsAlexander Sliwinski2008-05-26T11:30:00+00:00Mötley Crüe single downloaded on Rock Band five times more than on iTuneshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/24/motley-crue-single-downloaded-on-rock-band-five-times-more-than/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/24/motley-crue-single-downloaded-on-rock-band-five-times-more-than/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/24/motley-crue-single-downloaded-on-rock-band-five-times-more-than/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


We've heard tell of the incredible success Harmonix has seen with their weekly downloadable tracks for Rock Band. Often, their sales numbers are matched up against those of Guitar Hero III, where tracks are more seldom, but also sell like diamond-encrusted hotcakes. As enjoyable as these track packs are, we've yet to see any comparison between them and actual music retailers, digital or otherwise -- that is, until Mötley Crüe's new single simultaneously rocked the faces off of music downloaders and DLC collectors alike.

The song, "Saints of Los Angeles", came from the glam-band's upcoming album, and dropped onto iTunes, Zune, Amazon, and the Xbox 360 version of Rock Band on April 15. In it's first week of availability, digital distributors sold 10,000 copies of the single, but dedicated faux-rockers downloaded 47,000 copies of the track from the 360 Rock Band Music Store, according to Reuters. Could this inspire more record labels to debut new albums and singles on Harmonix's golden goose title? We certainly hope so.

[Via Evil Avatar]

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]]>amazondlcdownloadharmonixitunesmotleycruemusicrockbandsaintsoflosangeleszuneGriffin McElroy2008-05-24T18:00:00+00:00Rock Band Weekly: European release trackshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/16/rock-band-weekly-european-release-tracks/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/16/rock-band-weekly-european-release-tracks/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/16/rock-band-weekly-european-release-tracks/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Hopefully, people have been brushing up on their non-English. This week's Rock Band Weekly brings us the songs packaged with the European release of Rock Band. We've known for a while these tracks were coming as DLC, and Harmonix has seen fit to do it the week of Rock Band's European release. Also, all DLC available in North America should be available in Europe beginning May 20.

Individual songs
  • "Beetlebum" - Blur (Cover, 160 MS Points / $2)
  • "Hier Kommt Alex" - Die Toten Hosen (160 MS Points / $2)
  • "Countdown to Insanity" - H-BlockX (160 MS Points / $2)
  • "Perfekte Welle" - Juli (160 MS Points / $2)
  • "Manu Chao" - Les Wampas (160 MS Points / $2)
  • "Hysteria" - Muse (160 MS Points / $2)
  • "Rock N Roll Star" - Oasis (160 MS Points / $2)
  • "New Wave" - Pleymo (160 MS Points / $2)
  • "Monsoon" - Tokio Hotel (160 MS Points / $2)

Le sigh, videos for all of next week's tracks can be found after the break. The DLC will be available next Tuesday and Thursday for Xbox 360 and PS3 respectively.

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]]>europerock-bandrock-band-weeklyrockbandAlexander Sliwinski2008-05-16T15:30:00+00:00Rock Band ships 3 million 'bundled' units, 10 million songs downloadedhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/02/rock-band-ships-3-million-bundled-units-10-million-songs-down/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/02/rock-band-ships-3-million-bundled-units-10-million-songs-down/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/02/rock-band-ships-3-million-bundled-units-10-million-songs-down/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Harmonix's grand-parent company, Viacom, announced today as part of its Q1 earnings that Rock Band has shipped three million "bundled units." GameDaily reports that the company also stated that Harmonix has had over 10 million songs downloaded for the game.

The last report we had was that Harmonix hit the six million DLC song mark in mid-March, which means the new music store apparently did help accelerate sales. Viacom's CEO said that Rock Band is emerging as a valuable long-term franchise and he expects further success from the Wii and European launches.

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]]>harmonixmtv-gamesrock-bandrockbandviacomAlexander Sliwinski2008-05-02T19:00:00+00:00Rock Band Weekly: Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeancehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/22/rock-band-weekly-judas-priests-screaming-for-vengeance/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/22/rock-band-weekly-judas-priests-screaming-for-vengeance/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/22/rock-band-weekly-judas-priests-screaming-for-vengeance/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


The Rock Band store gets its first full album this week with Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance. The Rock Band forums also mention that The Cars' The Cars and the Pixies' Doolittle are coming in the "near future." The Who's Who's Next is still on the docket, but apparently isn't what's next.

Screaming for Vengeance album (1200 MS points / $15) -- All songs are also sold individually (160 MS Points / $2), except "The Hellion" and "Electric Eye," which are bundled at the price of one track.
  • "The Hellion"
  • "Electric Eye"
  • "Riding on the Wind"
  • "Bloodstone"
  • "(Take These) Chains"
  • "Pain and Pleasure"
  • "Screaming for Vengeance"
  • "You've Got Another Thing Comin'"
  • "Fever"
  • "Devil's Child"
The videos for this week's Rock Band DLC are after the break ... and sweet mercy, it'd better be appreciated this week. Screaming for Vengeance will be available today on Xbox 360 and Thursday for the PS3.

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]]>judas-priestjudaspriestrock-bandrock-band-weeklyrockbandAlexander Sliwinski2008-04-22T04:00:00+00:00Rock Band Wii 'bonus songs' already released on 360/PS3http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/15/rock-band-wii-bonus-songs-already-released-on-360-ps3/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/15/rock-band-wii-bonus-songs-already-released-on-360-ps3/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/15/rock-band-wii-bonus-songs-already-released-on-360-ps3/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


"Bonus" means different things to different people. Harmonix has revealed the Wii's additional Rock Band tracks, and they're a collection of songs you might have already downloaded on the 360 and PS3. There's nothing wrong with that, but why all the secrecy and hype? Here's the list of the five tracks that supplement the original roster:
  • "Dirty Little Secret" - The All American Rejects
  • "Don't Look Back in Anger" - Oasis
  • "Roam" - The B-52's
  • "Rockaway Beach" - The Ramones
  • "Roxanne" - The Police

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]]>bonus-tracksbreaking-newsbreakingnewsrock-bandrock-band-bonus-tracksrock-band-wiirockbandwii-bonus-trackswii-exclusive-tracksZack Stern2008-04-15T06:03:00+00:00Rock Band Weekly: Mötley Crüe stumbles in with 'Saints of Los Angeles'http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/14/rock-band-weekly-motley-crue-stumbles-in-with-saints-of-los-an/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/14/rock-band-weekly-motley-crue-stumbles-in-with-saints-of-los-an/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/14/rock-band-weekly-motley-crue-stumbles-in-with-saints-of-los-an/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Coming out of nowhere, a single off of Mötley Crüe's new album will be available as Rock Band downloadable content this week. This marks the first time a brand-new song is released as a playable track in the game. Needless to say, it is a master track.

Individual song
  • "Saints of Los Angeles" - Mötley Crüe (80 MS points/ $1)
We've placed what we believe is the song after the break -- we're not sure if there's an actual video yet. The rest of this week's Rock Band DLC was previously announced last Friday. The song releases tomorrow on Xbox 360 and this Thursday on the new PSN.

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]]>motley-cruerock-bandrock-band-weeklyrockbandAlexander Sliwinski2008-04-14T22:30:00+00:00Rumor: Europe's Rock Band rollin' onto PS3, PS2 and Wii Aug. 29http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/14/rumor-europes-rock-band-rollin-onto-ps3-ps2-and-wii-aug-29/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/14/rumor-europes-rock-band-rollin-onto-ps3-ps2-and-wii-aug-29/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/14/rumor-europes-rock-band-rollin-onto-ps3-ps2-and-wii-aug-29/#commentsFiled under: , ,


VideoGamer reports that EA has slated Rock Band's release on PS3, PS2 and Wii in Europe for August 29. This means the Xbox 360 will have three months of exclusivity on the exorbitantly priced enhanced cost game before it releases on other consoles.

Harmonix's PR states it has not made an official announcement on a European release for any other consoles beyond the Xbox 360. We'll update this story if things change, but for now this release date is still in the rumor territory. Either way, there's still plenty of time for non-Xbox 360 owners to sell a kidney (remember, keep at least one!) to afford the game.

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]]>europelaunchreleaserock-bandrockbandAlexander Sliwinski2008-04-14T16:00:00+00:00Harmonix: Wii needs hard drive for DLChttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/09/harmonix-wii-needs-hard-drive-for-dlc/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/09/harmonix-wii-needs-hard-drive-for-dlc/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/09/harmonix-wii-needs-hard-drive-for-dlc/#commentsFiled under: ,


Speaking to CVG, Harmonix Design Director Rob Kay states the Wii needs a hard drive for Rock Band to offer downloadable content on the console. Actually, Kay does more of plea, "Come on Nintendo, we need a hard drive."

Kay explains that Harmonix would "jump on" offering content if it could -- given sales of the DLC it's not surprising -- but notes that Nintendo's console just doesn't have the capabilities currently. He says that a three-song pack is about 100MB and the Wii only has 512MB of internal storage. The whole SD card issue probably gets messy due to retrieval times and DRM issues. Harmonix obviously wants to make more money, but it appears the company won't try to do it while running into a very clear storage (and possibly technological) issue.

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]]>harmonixmtv-gamesrock-bandrockbandAlexander Sliwinski2008-04-09T12:30:00+00:00Harmonix blames taxes, other 'little differences' for Rock Band Europe pricehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/08/harmonix-blames-taxes-other-little-differences-for-rock-band/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/08/harmonix-blames-taxes-other-little-differences-for-rock-band/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/08/harmonix-blames-taxes-other-little-differences-for-rock-band/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Reaction to Rock Band's European pricing -- the equivalent of about $360 combined (instrument bundle and game are sold separately) -- has been swift and vocal. For example, Guitar Hero III (with guitar) costs £65, while a Rock Band game disc and single guitar will cost roughly £110. VideoGamer spoke to Rob Kay, design director at Harmonix, during the London press event today who said the price difference is caused by "a myriad of little differences that all add up."

Kay explained that VAT adds 17.5% to the total UK price, adding, "We're not trying to screw people." He believes that people who purchase the game will think it's worth the money. Great, hopefully those people will remember to take the silver spoon out of their mouth before trying to sing.

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]]>eaeuropeharmonixmtv-gamesrock-bandrockbandAlexander Sliwinski2008-04-08T17:00:00+00:00Exclusive Euro Rock Band tracks will become DLChttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/08/exclusive-euro-rock-band-tracks-will-become-dlc/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/08/exclusive-euro-rock-band-tracks-will-become-dlc/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/08/exclusive-euro-rock-band-tracks-will-become-dlc/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Exclusive just ain't the word it used to be. Rock Band's European debut was going to have some exclusive tracks just for the continent, but ShackNews reports that MTV Games says those tracks will be available in North America as downloadable content. MTV Games did not specify price or timetable for release of the DLC. Now, let's be serious, did anybody ever think those songs would stay exclusive to the continent?

Also, there's some clarification going on in the Rock Band forums that the new songs will be "treated as DLC" in the European version. We're not sure exactly what this means, but we believe that the new songs (some which are sung in French or German) won't be part of the standard campaign.

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]]>europerock-bandrockbandAlexander Sliwinski2008-04-08T13:30:00+00:00Rock Band touring Europe in May, 360 getting it firsthttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/08/rock-band-touring-europe-in-may-360-gets-it-first/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/08/rock-band-touring-europe-in-may-360-gets-it-first/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/08/rock-band-touring-europe-in-may-360-gets-it-first/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Electronic Arts has finally announced a release date for fake instrument extravaganza, Rock Band, in the chronically shafted land of Europe. Eurogamer reports that the music-and-rhythmer will launch as a timed Xbox 360 exclusive on May 23rd, with PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and Wii versions following "later this summer."

The game will be sold separately from an "Instrument Edition," which is comprised of the drum set, guitar and microphone, priced at GBP 129.99 / EUR 169. Including the cost of the game (we're assuming you want to play something with all that kit), folks in the region are looking to shell out about $360 for tickets to their own concert. Sounds like there'll be less rocking and more wailing among this poor band of gamers. In addition, wireless guitars will be sold separately for GBP 59.99 / EUR 79.99, while the drum kit will go for GBP 69.99 / EUR 89.99.

As a minor consolation, the European version of Rock Band will come with several exclusive tracks from bands such as Oasis, Blur and Muse (you'll find the complete list after the break). If none of those appeal to you, Rock Band's extensive online store will open on May 27th, fully stocked with all existing downloadable tracks. New songs will then become available every week alongside the American releases.

English
  • "Beetlebum" by Blur
  • "Rock 'n' Roll Star" by Oasis
  • "Monsoon" by Tokio Hotel
  • "Hysteria" by Muse

German

  • "Hier Kommt Alex" by Die Toten Hosen
  • "Perfekte Welle" by Juli
  • "Countdown to Insanity" by H-Block X

French

  • "Manu Chao" by Les Wampas
  • "New Wave" by Playmo

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]]>BreakingNewsEAEuropeHarmonixMTVMusicRock-BandRockBandLudwig Kietzmann2008-04-08T06:36:00+00:00Rock Band Weekly: OXM disc now for downloadhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/04/rock-band-weekly-oxm-disc-now-for-download/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/04/rock-band-weekly-oxm-disc-now-for-download/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/04/rock-band-weekly-oxm-disc-now-for-download/#commentsFiled under: ,


The Rock Band songs featured in the February issue of OXM are now available to download for a dollar each. For those looking to save a couple bucks, there's always the option of hunting down an old issue of OXM at the local library and checking if the disc is still miraculously in there.

HMX pack (240 MS points / $3)
  • "Rock Rebellion" - Bang Camaro (80 MS points / $1)
  • "Shake" - Count Zero - (80 MS points / $1)
  • "Super Sprode" - Freezepop (80 MS Points / $1)
Videos for this week's Rock Band DLC can be found after the break ... yes, enough people asked, so we're going to keep doing it. Don't forget to download "Still Alive," which is available for free. The songs will be available next Tuesday for Xbox 360 and PSN owners will have it available when the store goes back up sometime in April.

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]]>bang-camarocount-zerofreezepopoxmrock-bandrock-band-weeklyrockbandAlexander Sliwinski2008-04-04T15:30:00+00:00April Fools' Alert #2: The Double Bass controllerhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/01/april-fools-alert-3-the-double-bass-controller/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/01/april-fools-alert-3-the-double-bass-controller/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/01/april-fools-alert-3-the-double-bass-controller/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Fantasy Guitar Hero controllers aren't new territory for April Fool's Day, but rarely have we wanted one to be real so badly. Imagine the class, the prestige of striding into the neighboring dorm with GAME's massive double bass controller slung over your back! Imagine how angry your significant other would be when you tried to explain it to him or her!

Also we love the feature bullet points like "Doesn't fold away for easy storage,""May facilitate escape from villains. On ski slopes," and "Fully compatible with Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Rock Band and the slopes of Val d'Isere." Well done, GAME ... now, could you actually make it?

[Thanks, Zak]

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]]>aprilfools08guitar-herorockbandJustin McElroy2008-04-01T09:35:00+00:00Counting Rupees: Battle of the brandshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/27/counting-rupees-battle-of-the-brands/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/27/counting-rupees-battle-of-the-brands/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/27/counting-rupees-battle-of-the-brands/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,


Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

When Guitar Hero 3 launched last year it was an immediate success, selling out at a fairly quick pace throughout the holiday season. Following just behind it was Rock Band, selling very well, but not nearly as quickly as Guitar Hero. So far, all versions of Guitar Hero III have sold about 9.1M copies, versus just roughly 1.5M for Rock Band. Of course, part of the discrepancy lies in the fact that Rock Band launched on two platforms while Guitar Hero 3 launched on four, but that is about to be remedied with Harmonix's recent announcement of Rock Band for Wii. While Rock Band was a more ambitious game and representative of an evolution of the music game, it did seem like Activision may have made the right choice in buying the Guitar Hero publisher (and thus the Guitar Hero brand), but not the developer. With so much brand awareness already built into Guitar Hero, was there any way that Harmonix could possibly top the original creation that it no longer owned the rights to?


Rock Band did have some advantages that would potentially help it close the sales gap. Its ambitious plan to release new tracks on a weekly basis would ensure a potential steady stream of revenue from Rock Band even from those who had already purchased it. In mid-January, Harmonix announced that it had sold over 2.5m songs, and just a few days ago it revealed downloads had surpassed the 6 million song mark. At roughly $2 a song, that's nearly $12,000,000 worth of purchases. If we assume that Microsoft takes 30% of this, that's basically $8.4M going directly to MTV/Harmonix. A $60 game would have to sell 140k copies to generate that much revenue -- altenatively, 52k copies of the Special Edition of Rock Band would have to sell at $160. That may not seem like much, but consider that the $8.4M from DLC does not get impacted by the far higher manufacturing and distribution costs associated with a retail product, nor the increased amount of royalties likely paid per retail product (since there are roughly 60 songs in the game), and it starts looking much better in terms of profitability. Now that Harmonix has unveiled its new in-game store, it seems likely that the developer could actually improve its ability to sell music.

Not to be outdone, though, Guitar Hero has also touted its DLC success, claiming to have sold 5 million downloads back in January. However, it's unclear to me whether that includes all the freebies that Activision released for the game up until that point, including the "boss" battles, the Halo theme song, and the free Christmas download. I'm inclined to think that the numbers Activision released in January actually included the freebies, but even if they didn't, the ratio of DLC per copy sold was still better for Rock Band. Clearly, the constant stream of weekly downloads has proven to be a successful and steady revenue stream for MTV/Harmonix.

While Guitar Hero has offered the occasional piece downloadable content, and has even had some success with it, Activision's strategy for success with the Guitar Hero franchise still appears to be through the retail channel. Like Guitar Hero Encore Rocks the 80's, which released last Summer, Activision intends to provide another "standalone expansion" of sorts in the Guitar Hero series this June with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. While it will probably sell decently, I was slightly skeptical about its appeal. Guitar Hero is unquestionably popular with gamers, and Aerosmith is an unquestionably popular band, but when it was announced I wondered exactly how many Guitar Hero gamers were actually also big enough fans of Aerosmith to buy a $60 game with a soundtrack mainly (but not entirely) focused on a single band.

Aerosmith has been around for a long time, but I wondered whether they had enough songs worthy of inclusion in a music game (Wikipedia lists 21 "Top 40" singles). Since its announcement, some new details have surfaced that indicate it won't be entirely composed of Aerosmith songs -- probably a good thing since I believe one aspect that people like about these games is the variety. Since the experience in the game will consist of a couple opening acts of music from non-Aerosmith bands, and then a set of Aerosmith music, it does seem like Activision may hit a good mix of both variety for the general Guitar Hero fan and depth for the Aerosmith fan.

Releasing two versions of the Guitar Hero franchise per year is certainly something that could negate the importance of selling Guitar Hero DLC for Activision. Using the current trends for Rock Band, by the time Guitar Hero: Aerosmith launches, Rock Band will have sold roughly 9 million songs, which would translate into about $12.6M for MTV/Harmonix. This would result in a needing to sell at least 210k copies of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, and then of course there's the additional development cost of creating a new game (rather than just new content), and the extra distribution costs associated with retail sales. Still, we can probably safely assume that if 500k copies of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith were to be sold, it would likely generate a profit for Activision. I have a feeling it will sell more than that, but for comparison purposes, Guitar Hero Encore Rocks the 80's sold 810k copies. Interestingly, Activision may not be stopping with the band-centric games after Aerosmith either, as there have already been rumors of a Guitar Hero: U2 and Guitar Hero: Beatles editions. Assuming these are being considered right now, the success of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will probably determine their futures.

The difference in sales strategies (at least so far) doesn't answer the question of whether Rock Band can catch up to Guitar Hero at some point, though. With Guitar Hero's massive advantage in brand awareness, and the fact that it launched a few weeks before Rock Band, Guitar Hero III was able to sell amazingly well. It does not appear that Rock Band will be able to catch Guitar Hero with the current installments, considering the 6 to 1 sales advantage that Guitar Hero III currently holds. However, with their next installments, the Rock Band property could potentially win on the "next-gen" platforms. While Rock Band has not sold more than Guitar Hero III on any platform, part of the huge discrepancy between the sales is Guitar Hero's dominance on the PS2 versus Rock Band. While it came out later, Rock Band for PS2 has only sold a paltry 30k copies compared to 3.59M for Guitar Hero. This could be due to the fact that the PS2 version of the game came slightly "crippled" compared to the next-gen versions, with no "World Tour" mode and no support for DLC. But, more likely, this is simply attributed to the fact that Guitar Hero was already established as a brand on the PS2 where people already had the hardware they needed to play the game, and most people probably didn't want to shell out for an expensive new game with new hardware for their aging system.

If we remove the PS2 and the Wii (for now) from the equation, instead of a 6 to 1 advantage, Guitar Hero III has just over a 2 to 1 advantage over Rock Band. That gap is also shrinking little by little, as in the last two months NPD reports, the 360 version of Rock Band has been outselling the 360 version of Guitar Hero III. With its weekly downloadable content, favorable media reports, and more mainstream sightings, the positive buzz for Rock Band is certainly spreading. Much like the early days of Guitar Hero, the word-of-mouth for Rock Band will ensure that when the next versions of the two games go head-to-head, the "Rock Band" name will at least be far more well known than it was the first time around. While nothing has been officially announced yet for this holiday season in either of these franchises, I have a feeling that we'll be able to test this theory out come November.
As co-editors of A Link To The Future, Geoff and Jeff like to discuss, among many other topics, the business aspects of gaming. Game companies often make decisions that on their face appear baffling, or even infuriating, to many gamers. Yet when you think hard about them from the company's perspective, many other decisions are eminently sensible, or at least appeared to be so based on the conditions at the time those choices were made. Our goal with this column is to start a conversation about just those topics. While neither Geoff nor Jeff are employed in the game industry, they do have professional backgrounds that are relevant to the discussion. More to the point, they don't claim to have all the answers -- but this is a conversation worth having. You can reach them at

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]]>ActivisionAerosmithCounting-RupeesEAGuitar-HeroGuitarHeroHarmonixMTVNeversoftRed-OctaneRedOctaneRock-BandRockBandJeff Engel2008-03-27T20:00:00+00:00Amazon selling Rock Band for $148, drums on sale toohttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/26/amazon-selling-rock-band-for-148-drums-on-sale-too/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/26/amazon-selling-rock-band-for-148-drums-on-sale-too/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/26/amazon-selling-rock-band-for-148-drums-on-sale-too/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Amazon.com has a little sale going on for those who haven't jumped on the Rock Band tour bus yet. Cheapy D and his frugal army point the way to savings, with both the PS3 and Xbox 360 Special Editions priced for $148 (which include the game, drums, guitar and mic). The $22 saved won't even come back to bite back on shipping with the use of "Super Saver Shipping."

For those who've already picked up the game and are just in the market for the drum set, the normally $80 peripheral is currently $54 on Xbox 360 and $69 for PS3. Feel free to use the money saved on some Rock Band DLC.

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]]>amazonpricerock-bandrockbandsaleAlexander Sliwinski2008-03-26T03:00:00+00:00Rock Band Weekly: Boston six-packhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/21/rock-band-weekly-boston-six-pack/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/21/rock-band-weekly-boston-six-pack/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/21/rock-band-weekly-boston-six-pack/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


We've got more than a feeling that next week's Rock Band DLC is bringing a six-pack of songs by Boston. All the tracks hail from the band's self-titled debut album which has sold over 17 million copies. Not bad for a bunch of guys from the small Minnesota town of Lake Wobegon -- no, they're actually from Boston.

Boston pack (800 MS points / $9.99)
  • Hitch a Ride (160 MS points/ $2)
  • More Than a Feeling (160 MS points/ $2)
  • Peace of Mind (160 MS Points / $2)
  • Rock & Roll Band (160 MS Points / $2)
  • Smokin' (160 MS Points / $2)
  • Something About You (160 MS Points / $2)
Videos for this week's Rock Band DLC can be found after the break and this may be our last week doing them as audio previews are now available through the Rock Band music store patch available now. The Boston songs will be available next Tuesday and Thursday for Xbox 360 and PS3 respectively.

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]]>bostonrockrock-bandrock-band-weeklyrockbandAlexander Sliwinski2008-03-21T15:30:00+00:00