These instruments getting all “compatible” with each other borders on pornographic.

Harmonix, Neversoft, Konami, and Activision have all signed an agreement with Microsoft and Sony that guaranteed that all of the new peripherals coming out for the newest batch of music games would all be compatible with each other. Read more…

Rock Band 2 is the perfection to Rock Band 1’s innovation, according to the Harmonix development plan. Even the start menu is way more hardcore, with a snarly white tiger and slithering snakes. Read more…

We reported yesterday that Konami had filed a suit against the makes of Rock Band, claiming that Harmonix, MTV, and parent company Viacom, violated patents filed by Konami dating back to 2002 and 2003.

Today, Harmoix swung back at Konami, as a company spokesperson stated:

“Konami’s actions are extremely surprising. Unfortunately, successful products such as Rock Band can often become targets for baseless litigation … We have substantial defenses to this claim and intend to vigorously defend it.”

I smell a corporate rock off in the making! An epic battle, to be fought with plastic guitars and scaucer shaped drum kits! Extra points go to the first executive from either side that grows their hair out and adopts a “nothing but full body spandex will do” clothing policy.

Source: Game|Life

Like a pureed blend of Tetris, Harmonix’s cult-classic Amplitude, the wickedly obscure PlayStation game Vib-Ribbon, and some fashion of Windows Media visualizer, AudioSurf might just be one of the best indie games ever made. For one, its content is only as limited as your personal music library. Read more…

Rock Band has been bringing in money for Harmonix. And it just brought in a lot more. Viacom recently paid Harmonix a reported $208.7 million as a bonus for the company’s success. The bonus was outlined in Viacom’s 2006 buyout of Harmonix for $175 million. Read more…

We want to reward one lucky Riptenner with a copy of Guitar Hero 3 and the wireless Les Paul guitar for the Xbox 360.

The rules are simple, just register to be a member of our community, upload an avatar and leave a comment below with the words”air guitar”. We will pick one lucky Riptenner at random and send them out a Wireless Les Paul Guitar and Guitar Hero 3 game for the Xbox 360. Contest ends February 29th at Midnight EST. Good luck.

If Rock Band DLC keeps pouring in every week, it’s only a matter of time before your favorite band makes it in (if they haven’t already). Harmonix mixed it up a little this week with some Iron Maiden, Stone Temple Pilots, and the Hives. Details after the break. Read more…

The Next Big Thing!

Official Xbox Magazine’s February issue will come packed in with new Rock Band songs Bang Camaro’s Rock Rebellion, Count Zero’s Shake along with Freezepops’ Sprode. I read OXM– it’s a great magazine with a fantastic group of writers and I bear no ill will toward them or Harmonix. But this pisses me off beyond belief.

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Harmonix doesn’t want you to hate them because their Rock Band controllers have a bad habit of breaking. In fact, they’re practically bribing their customers for forgiveness by offering them a free game. Read more…

Rock Band is a fun, fun game. I have been a musician, so this whole debate about real instruments vs. plastic guitars and electric drum kits can just take a break while I talk about how cool this game is. You may not be making music, but you are having one hell of an immersive musical experience. Read more…

Gift givers looking for Guitar Hero, Rock Band, or Dance Dance Revolution merchandise this holiday season beware, knock-offs are out there, and while you may not know the difference, the individual receiving the gift likely will. Read more…

If you even think of wearing suits like this, WE will sue you

Activision’s release of “Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80’s” has spurred a lawsuit from American rock group, The Romantics. Lawsuits are common place these days, however the grounds for the suit against the publisher of the successful video game franchise seems like a stretch. Read more…

The Battle of the Bands is heating up, with challenger Rock Band offering more instruments and more downloadable songs. Why does Rock Band belong in the Hall of Game with Guitar Hero 3 performing extremely well, considering our review? We went to MTV spokesperson Ton-Essa La’Rocque to explain what makes RB special. Read more…

Guitar Hero is finally facing some tough competition this year due to Rock Band, and the behind-the-scenes maneuvering between companies is probably pretty confusing to most music game fans.

The creators of Guitar Hero may have moved on to develop Rock Band, but the GH license is still going strong with big-name contributors and more addicting guitar gameplay. We talked with Activision’s Alex Ortiz, who is Guitar Hero 3’s production coordinator, about how the legal and licensing changes have affected this popular series. Read more…

Anyone who has played video games in the 8 or 16-bit era remembers a genre that has since become the black sheep of 3D gaming culture: the platformer. Platformers made up a huge percentage of all console games and arcades of the day, and would all be started by one game in particular, that put it’s highly pixilated main character through every kind of death trap imaginable. Read more…