The first track pack will feature an assortment of 20 already-released tracks, from modern favorite such as 30 Seconds to Mars to timeless classics such as Boston and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Rock Band Track Pack Volume 1 will be available at retails outlets on July 15 for $29.99.
YOU CAN'T STOP THE ROCK!!
MTV Games, Harmonix and EA Announce "Rock Band™ Track Pack Volume 1" for Wii™ and PlayStation®2 System Will Be Available July 15, 2008
Cambridge, MA - May 5, 2008 - Harmonix, the leading developer of music-based games, and MTV Games, a division of MTV Networks, which is a division of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), along with distribution partner Electronic Arts, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced plans to release Rock Band™ Track Pack Volume 1 for the Wii™ home video game console from Nintendo and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. The 20-Track Pack features an electrifying mix of classic hits and current favorites, including songs by Boston, Nine Inch Nails, Stone Temple Pilots, and All American Rejects. The Rock Band™ Track Pack Volume 1 will be available on July 15th, 2008 for a MSRP of $29.99. Complete details are as follows:
Release date: Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Tracks:
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
**All 20 tracks utilize original master recordings** ** All tracks are available as DLC on competing platforms**
Price: $29.99 MSRP
Rock Band is the ultimate platform for music fans and gamers to interact with music like never before. The game challenges players to put together a band and tour for fame and fortune - all while learning to master lead/bass guitar, drums and vocals. Featuring the most master recordings of any music game ever by the world's biggest rock artists, Rock Band includes tracks that span every genre of rock ranging from alternative and classic rock, to heavy metal and punk. Rock Band has garnered over 40 awards this year including Game Critics Award: Best of Show E3 2007 and three awards at The 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards including Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, Family Game of the Year, and Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack.
Rock Band is rated "T" for Teen (lyrics, mild suggestive themes) by the ESRB.
Rock Band will be available for the Wii starting June 22, 2008. Rock Band is currently available on the PLAYSTATION®2 computer entertainment system, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, and on the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®.
EA is the exclusive distribution and marketing partner for Rock Band.
For more information on Rock Band and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.rockband.com and www.harmonixmusic.com.
LOL at Faith No More We Care A Lot
Does anyone really care about FNM?
Should sell Wii "albums" on 256MB SD cards that can be loaded while the RockBand disc is in...
But why the hell is an online console like the Wii getting denied online content?
I guess a nice way of saying mea culpa would be to offer all the DLC released to date as an expansion disc or included in this bundle. But that's some pie-in-the-sky vision, so don't mind me...
Let's say a RockBand track is 4 times the size of a Guitar Hero track. If a GH track is 10 MB, then our pretend RB tracks are 40MB. So, 20 tracks would be 800MB, which, I suppose, would require a 1GB SD card. Anyone know the cost to manufacture a 1 GB SD Card vs. a DVD?
And that's assuming it couldn't fit on a 512 card... Quick search shows 512MB cards selling for about $5/each. I know it'd be more expensive than DVDs, but it'd be way more user-friendly...
Oh, and we'll have to switch discs in and out to play what we want? [sarcasm]Great idea.[/sarcasm]
There are a lot of points that I am surprised haven't been made yet in this thread.
- This content could easily be included with the Wii version of Rock Band as an apology for the six month delay, lack of online play and DLC, and $10 surcharge over the identical PS2 version. Selling these songs separately on a disc isn't a truce offer to Wii owners, it's just an attempt to take more money from you. There's nothing wrong with capitalism, but don't pretend it's charity.
- It's only a good deal if you would have bought all twenty of these songs a la carte through DLC. Let's say the average person is only interested in half of this song list. They could have downloaded just the ten songs they want for about $18 through DLC, but this package forces them to spent extra money for songs they don't want. That's the whole point of Rock Band DLC -- you only have to buy the songs you want.
- Judging by the song list in Volume 1, there are a good many DLC songs that we'll never have access to anyway. For instance, only one of the Grateful Dead songs is on the list, and I don't see them putting the rest on Volume 2. This delivery method also precludes full album downloads, which are starting soon on the DLC service.
There are a lot of points that I am surprised haven't been made yet in this thread.
- This content could easily be included with the Wii version of Rock Band as an apology for the six month delay, lack of online play and DLC, and $10 surcharge over the identical PS2 version. Selling these songs separately on a disc isn't a truce offer to Wii owners, it's just an attempt to take more money from you. There's nothing wrong with capitalism, but don't pretend it's charity.
- It's only a good deal if you would have bought all twenty of these songs a la carte through DLC. Let's say the average person is only interested in half of this song list. They could have downloaded just the ten songs they want for about $18 through DLC, but this package forces them to spent extra money for songs they don't want. That's the whole point of Rock Band DLC -- you only have to buy the songs you want.
- Judging by the song list in Volume 1, there are a good many DLC songs that we'll never have access to anyway. For instance, only one of the Grateful Dead songs is on the list, and I don't see them putting the rest on Volume 2. This delivery method also precludes full album downloads, which are starting soon on the DLC service.
Also very user-corruptible.Since SD cards can be made read-only with the switches on the side, I would assume that they could simply be constructed to always be read-only.
Selling pre-loaded content on SD cards is not at all cost-effective. Flash memory costs far more to manufacture than does printing a DVD. It also doesn't fix any of the problems with this whole situation except that you could avoid switching discs... but if you could load songs directly from an SD card, Harmonix should just be able to deliver the songs online and let you save them to your own SD card, which is the totally obvious solution that is for some reason being ignored or thwarted.
Selling pre-loaded content on SD cards is not at all cost-effective. Flash memory costs far more to manufacture than does printing a DVD. It also doesn't fix any of the problems with this whole situation except that you could avoid switching discs... but if you could load songs directly from an SD card, Harmonix should just be able to deliver the songs online and let you save them to your own SD card, which is the totally obvious solution that is for some reason being ignored or thwarted.
I wonder if what I've heard may be the case. Maybe hardware wise the SD Cards are way behind the times when it comes to reading them. Look at how long it takes to copy something to an SD Card, that is NOT normal, leading me to believe this may be a hardware issue.
Selling pre-loaded content on SD cards is not at all cost-effective. Flash memory costs far more to manufacture than does printing a DVD. It also doesn't fix any of the problems with this whole situation except that you could avoid switching discs... but if you could load songs directly from an SD card, Harmonix should just be able to deliver the songs online and let you save them to your own SD card, which is the totally obvious solution that is for some reason being ignored or thwarted.
I wonder if what I've heard may be the case. Maybe hardware wise the SD Cards are way behind the times when it comes to reading them. Look at how long it takes to copy something to an SD Card, that is NOT normal, leading me to believe this may be a hardware issue.
I'm pretty sure the reason it takes so long to copy a VC game to an SD card is the process of encrypting the file and not because of a hardware problem. It takes a couple seconds for Excite Truck to start playing an MP3 that you have it load from the SD card, that would be a lot longer if there were a problem with the card reader.
I'm glad they are at least they are doing something, which is more than you can say for Activision. I won't be buying it due to all the reasons mentioned though.
There are a lot of points that I am surprised haven't been made yet in this thread.
- This content could easily be included with the Wii version of Rock Band as an apology for the six month delay, lack of online play and DLC, and $10 surcharge over the identical PS2 version. Selling these songs separately on a disc isn't a truce offer to Wii owners, it's just an attempt to take more money from you. There's nothing wrong with capitalism, but don't pretend it's charity.
- It's only a good deal if you would have bought all twenty of these songs a la carte through DLC. Let's say the average person is only interested in half of this song list. They could have downloaded just the ten songs they want for about $18 through DLC, but this package forces them to spent extra money for songs they don't want. That's the whole point of Rock Band DLC -- you only have to buy the songs you want.
- Judging by the song list in Volume 1, there are a good many DLC songs that we'll never have access to anyway. For instance, only one of the Grateful Dead songs is on the list, and I don't see them putting the rest on Volume 2. This delivery method also precludes full album downloads, which are starting soon on the DLC service.
All good points, thankfully I play real guitar so I don't need to worry. ;)
Oh, and we'll have to switch discs in and out to play what we want? [sarcasm]Great idea.[/sarcasm]
Where are you getting your info from? (http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/05/harmonix-expans.html)
Oh, and we'll have to switch discs in and out to play what we want? [sarcasm]Great idea.[/sarcasm]
Where are you getting your info from? (http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/05/harmonix-expans.html)
WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP IGNORING MY POST?
Oh, and we'll have to switch discs in and out to play what we want? [sarcasm]Great idea.[/sarcasm]
Where are you getting your info from? (http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/05/harmonix-expans.html)
WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP IGNORING MY POST?
Because it doesn't really add anything to the discussion. I think everybody assumed it would be a standalone game, which is all that link says. You'll still have to swap discs if you feel like playing a song that's on the other one.
You're just mad because my bear is scarier than yours.
Rock Band does the music game genre right by offering downloadable content instead of endless sequels and expansion packs.
You're just mad because my bear is scarier than yours.
Unless this perceived Guitar Hero IV offers something so utterly and mind-blowingly unique that it justifies the release of an entirely new game (which is unlikely given the nature of the genre itself), I really see little reason not to just add more songs to the current title.
And I truly, strongly feel that the simulated band experience is instantly cut down to almost nothing if you're forced to play as hideous, pre-made characters.
I'm glad they are at least they are doing something, which is more than you can say for Activision. I won't be buying it due to all the reasons mentioned though.
Activision's game was released day and date with other versions, has online play, isn't needlessly overpriced, and the Wii version actually has the best controller. The lack of DLC is far more understandable given when GH3 was released; it makes no sense for Rock Band, which is coming out after WiiWare and the announcement of Pay to Play.
You're just mad because my bear is scarier than yours.
People are going to ignore you again because of yet another creepy avatar.
This isn't DLC, this is from what I can tell a "not-exactly-a-sequel" with new songs and identical game play. I don't see why GH3 doesn't do this,...
The problem, outside of swapping discs, is that if you want a few extra songs you have to also suffer through the rest that are included. As for your theory, there is absolutely no reason that the Wii shouldn't be in real time. That is simply EA being lazy and throwing out a direct copy of the severely gimped PS2 port. Is the PS3 really doing so poorly that people have to put out PS2 versions as well? I don't see any new Xbox/GameCube games out and about.
No DLC on the Wii version actually makes sense for the same reason as no DLC on the PS2 version and it's not because of lack of storage. Unlike the 360/PS3 versions what goes on in the backgrounds during songs isn't realtime, it's FMV. Every song in the game has it's own FMV which in and of itself shot the game disc size way farther up than it would've been otherwise. Guitar Hero 3 Wii isn't dual layer, Rock Band Wii will be which approximately the same number of songs at launch. If the DLC was just the song with the model animation data like it is elsewhere that would be one thing, but with this and the PS2 one it would be the song, AND it's video which depending on the quality of the footage could range from anywhere between 50 and 70MB just for one song. That's just not gonna happen, especially on Wii.
So now instead of downloading it, we're getting the DLC in DVD form. Meaning we are STILL getting the songs, except you may have to disc swap. So WHAT'S the problem again? *rolls eyes*
