RipTen Videogame Blog » Harmonix

Harmonix Head is Americans for a Better Tomorrow Tomorrow’s Sugar Daddy

Gavin Bard — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:00:41 +0000

I really hate politics. At least, I hate the way politics actually work in this country. I won’t bore you with the details of my political belief system or how inherently corrupt essentially all of our everything is right now, but let’s just say I’m probably to the left of Rudolf Rocker at this point. So, to say I greatly enjoy Stephen Colbert’s thorough mocking of the power corporations and the extremely wealthy have over our elections would be an understatement. He does this through the “Americans for a Better Tomorrow Tomorrow” super PAC which is only a slightly dumber name than any of the other ones around. They should all just be called “Bend Over and Take This Proles” but I guess politics was never big on truth and transparency.

Of course, this doesn’t have anything to do with video games on the surface, but today the New York Times decided to actually act like journalists and put out a piece on who is financing the various bullshit super PACs that Citizen United enabled to destroy our democracy. It is about what you would expect for most of them. Wall Street puppets for Romney, Texans who don’t actually care about Texas for Perry, Jon Huntsman’s actual daddy for Jon Huntsman, and it goes on. The most surprising name though, is Alex Rigopolus- a name you might recognize as the head of Harmonix. While his $9,600 bucks to Colbert’s super PAC pales in comparison to the millions of dollars being passed around by big business, Christian hate groups, and incestuously swapped back and forth by other super PACs in a sort of “two Super PACs one donation” thing, it is still enough to make him the top donor to a good cause- a cause that shines a light on just how awful money in politics has really gotten.

Maybe I’ll take back all the bad things I said about Rock Band 3.

Source

RipTen Review: Dance Central 2 (Xbox 360)

Dan Landis — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 02:45:17 +0000

Believe it or not, I’m a damn fine dancer. Or, at least according to Dance Central 2 via the Kinect interface, I’m pretty good at following on-screen instructions for how to wiggle my body parts to the beat of a song. I got the “Say What Arms” down. I can do “The Torch” with my eyes closed. I can do the “Humpty Thrust” for a good five minutes straight before I need to rest. That’s right, friends. I am a machine.

Dance Central 2 improves upon the already fun experience of the original Dance Central with more songs and the ability to play cooperatively with a buddy/hot random person you’re trying to hook up with at a party. Gone are the days of girls not dancing with me because we have to battle and I always destroy them with my manly rendition of Salt N Peppa’s “Push It.” Now I can cooperatively “Push It” all up in their faces, and they love it because it adds to our score. It makes our bond that much stronger and assures me that candlelight dinners and long walks on the beach are just around the corner.

Aww Yeah.

So what is it you want to know about this game? Does it make good use of Kinect? Yes, the body tracking works well and menu navigation is easy — you can even use voice commands to pick your song. The soundtrack is bigger than the original’s, but I’m not totally sure if it’s better. There are a lot of more recent songs, such as Far East Movement’s “Like a G6,” but collectively, the soundtrack is around the same ratio of “Oh sweet!” to “Why the eff would I want to dance to that song?” as the first game (which is pretty good, if you didn’t know).

Still, the dance moves themselves are a bit more varied and fun to perform, so even the easy songs are kinda fun instead of just alternating between three simple arm movement’s like in Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.” Like Rock Band, you can also import all of the songs from the previous game for use in the sequel, and the relicensing fee is only 5 bucks. It’s actually even cheaper than that if you use the 240 Microsoft space bucks included in the box.

Combining the songs from Dance Central 1 and 2 and the two Marathon DLC packs, I’m sitting pretty with 105 ways to get my groove on. All of the songs can be broken down into their individual dance moves, all of which can even be performed in slo-mo until you nail it. You don’t have to go through the entire song any more either; you can pick and choose which moves you want to practice. On top of that, you can even video record yourself performing the move, and it will play it back with the avatar performing it next to you so you can compare what you’re doing to what you’re supposed to be doing (or if you just want to embarrass yourself). I must admit that I have video recorded myself practicing moves that my avatar will likely never replicate in an E-rated game.

Work It.

After practicing a song, of course, it’s time to perform it. In ‘Perform It’ mode, you can bust a move by yourself or with a friend, as mentioned earlier. In Battle Mode, however, you have a dance off against another player. The new Battle Mode features Free-4-All sections where random dance moves are thrown out there to mix things up. Combined with all of the new songs, simultaneous multiplayer dancing is probably the best reason to pick up Dance Central 2.

Additionally, there’s a Fitness Mode and a new Crew Challenge campaign mode, in which you dance through a couple of songs with each of the different crews to unlock super special surprises. The crews replaced the individual characters from the original game, so every time you dance, you dance as a whole crew. In Fitness Mode, you just dance until you have a heart attack, and it estimates how many calories you’ve burned along the way.

It's On.

In every respect, Dance Central 2 is a worthy successor/addition/replacement for the original Dance Central. Every aspect of the game is just plain better. After importing all of the original’s songs, you can give the disc to a homeless person because you have no reason to ever go back to it.

If someone told me a year ago that I’d really like a dancing game, I probably would have punched them in the mouth for disrespecting my manliness. After Dance Central came out, that all changed, and now Dance Central 2 is making me want to play it until I memorize some of the moves and can bust them out on the streets. These are the cheapest dance lessons you’re going to find, and it’s an exceptional investment for the rhythmically challenged of the world, i.e. my brother and pretty much all white people. If you plopped down the money for a Kinect and want to actually use it for anything other than voice-controlling your Netflix, you owe it to yourself to pick up Dance Central 2.

Here’s The Rundown:

+ Teaches you how to jerk
+ Makes you feel so fly like a G6
+ Lets you relive Night at the Roxbury
+ It likes it when you do that right thurr
+ I’m your Venus, I’m your fire, stroke me sire
+ Lil’ Jon got the moves to make your booty go *smack*
+ Oh my god, Becky, look at her butt
+ Better than Thor
– Some of the moves hurt my wang
– Not enough nudity
– Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” is just a terrible song
– Doesn’t automatically summon hot chicks to my dance floor

Dance Central 2 was developed by Harmonix and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It released on October 25, 2011, for the Xbox 360 and the required peripheral Kinect. A copy of the game was provided by Harmonix because they are trying to infect me with the need to dance. This game will be in my 360 for my Halloween party (dancing + alcohol + costumes = a good time). You so jelly.

Super Meat Boy Tracks Coming to Rock Band Network

Sam Naylor — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 20:51:56 +0000

Three tracks from Super Meat Boy will be coming to the Rock Band Network “soon.”

Since super Meat Boy has one of the best soundtracks of all time (big words but I’ll stand by them any day), this can only be a brilliant idea. “The Battle of Lil’ Slugger”,”Can o’ Salt” and a retro remix of “Betus Blues” will all be coming to the network in extended form, giving players a new challenge.

Danny Baranowsky, the soundtrack’s creator, said: “I wanted to have some stuff in there for the people who delight in 100-percenting expert Dragonforce.”

Via Joystiq

Harmonix Bought By Investment Firm – Given Control Over Own Destiny

Matt Wadleigh — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 21:26:39 +0000

Viacom issued a press release today confirming the sale of Harmonix, the Rock Band developer that had been on the ‘shopping’ block since November. While the industry speculated that a number of suitors from EA to Activision might purchase the studio, Harmonix was ulimately sold to Columbus Nova, an investment company located in New York, returning the studio to private control. Viacom announced the deal earlier today and, as of press time, terms of the sale were not announced.

What does the sale mean for fans? Harmonix’s John Drake reassured fans in a forum post that Harmonix “will continue [their] support of previously released titles” and that “the DLC schedule marches on for Rock Band.” The tone of the announcement and the forum post suggests that Harmonix, though now owned officially by an investment firm, will retain full control over the studio’s direction.

Viacom Selling Harmonix After Earnings Dip (Update)

Dave Ernst — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 14:55:53 +0000

Just four years after purchasing Harmonix for $175 million, Viacom has said it wants to sell off the music game studio. Viacom has seen a third-quarter dip in earnings.

Viacom has seen extreme fluctuation in financial gain and loss with Harmonix since its purchase and has finally decided to cut their losses. Viacom expects a $299 million loss from “discontinued operations”.

Rock Band 3 released in October and despite being one of the best games in its genre (via our review) sales were mediocre. Dance Central has just released for Xbox 360′s Kinect and while critics seem to like it, sales figures haven’t been released. I can’t see the sales figures being very high as in order to purchase the game you must also invest in a Kinect first.

Whatever happens in the situation, I hope another large company will see the tremendous talent at Harmonix and scoop them up. The music genre may not be the most popular, but they’ve been the best at what they do for nine years.

Source: MCV

UPDATE:

Harmonix has come out to say the selling of the company will not affect future development of titles, as well as supporting existing games.

This morning’s announcement does not affect the ongoing work at the studio as we continue to support our existing franchises, Rock Band and Dance Central. As stated earlier, Viacom is in discussions with several potential buyers and will continue to fully support the business until a sale is completed.

Regarding potential publishers, it’s premature to discuss specific publishers at this time, though we look forward to working with Viacom to find the best home for our studio. Please keep speculation about that to a minimum in this conversation.

Many of you have asked about DLC. To be clear, our earlier statement that we will continue to support our existing franchises holds true and work at the studio is not affected by this announcement. RB DLC will continue unabated. We’re excited to confirm that The BeeGees are our next DLC pack.

Some of you have been chiming in about our different partners and what this announcement means for [the Fender Squier/Mad Catz Hardware/EA Distribution]. Those partnerships are unaffected by this announcement with regards to existing titles.

Most importantly, the Rock Band and Dance Central will continue to be worked on at Harmonix for the foreseeable future. We’re not leaving them behind.

Employees from Harmonix will be posting in this forum thread when they have the chance to answer some questions.

I spoke with John Drake of Harmonix and it looks like employees with be continued to be supported and paid while Viacom finds another company to buy them.

Viacom’s decision to exit this business reflects our strategy of focusing entirely on what they do best: make great branded entertainment content and deliver it through a variety of platforms. Harmonix has and will continue to create terrific video games. But for us, it is about focus. Viacom is in discussions with several potential buyers and will continue to fully support the business until a sale is completed.

I’m sure this is a very hard and strange time for everyone at Harmonix. My heart goes out to these hardworking folks and I truly hope they will be bought by a great company and will continue making the games that I obsess over.

RipTen Review: Rock Band 3 (Xbox 360)

Dave Ernst — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 21:04:10 +0000

When the first Rock Band released, it was a huge welcome into the gaming world and gave gamers a nerdy opportunity to fulfill their rock fantasies. At that time, there was only one Rock Band and one Guitar Hero. Times have changed and since then five Rock Bands (not including PSP or stand-alone track packs) and nine Guitar Heroes (not including DS titles) have been released. There have even been a few games trying to get into the music game scene, that have since failed. *cough* Rock Revolution *cough* I assume you agree with me when I say the music game genre is overpopulated and milked to death. Rock Band has always been the one music franchise to make sure every release improves upon the previous iteration, and not in a gimmicky way like the inconsistent mess of a series that is Guitar Hero. Every Rock Band title manages to breath fresh life into the franchise and keep gamers coming back for more. Harmonix’s Rock Band 3 is no different. The new experience is highly ambitious, greatly improved and grants itself the title of a proper sequel.

Rock Band 3 takes design cues and improvements from its recent releases. The graphics have been greatly improved, looking a lot smoother and with richer detail. Character creation goes into greater detail while creating your face, height, muscle tone, skin color and clothes than previous iterations have. It’s highly robust and Rock Band 3 is the first game in which I have ever been able to create a character that closely resembles myself. With the improved graphics and better character creator, Rock Band 3 does a perfect job at making you look as if you’re part of a band.

As soon as the game is loaded, a menu prompting you to calibrate your TV will appear. I was really hoping Rock Band would take a look at what Guitar Hero is doing with calibration these days. Instead of showing me a section of a song and helping me calibrate the gameplay until it feels right, Rock Band 3 provides you with a mini-game disconnected with the gameplay. It takes a few tries to get the game calibrated just right. Luckily, I copied my calibration numbers from the second game and manually input them in. That being said, the official Rock Band 2 and 3 wireless instruments will calibrate it for you automatically. (This is good)

After calibration, the game then slowly loaded all of my DLC that I have accumulated over the years. Once it completed, I realized I now have over 235 downloaded songs. Some of these include Rock Band 1 and Rock Band: AC/DC imports, but the rest are paid-for songs. I kind of cringed when I realized how much money I’ve tossed into Rock Band, including it’s instruments and DLC. Probably not the best idea from a business perspective to give me that realization, but it was definitely interesting to see.

The World Tour mode has been gutted and replaced with an improved structured mode called Road Challenges. This career mode will feel familiar as you play through setlists with music spanning over different genres and decades. On top of the basic gameplay, each setlist contains a challenge, allowing you to earn up the five spades, unlocking more content for your character. However, the career mode is a tad short. I managed to knock it out in one day, although I was playing it non-stop for review purposes. Hell, I probably would have done it even if I wasn’t reviewing the game. Any Rock Band enthusiast will finish the career mode over one weekend. Before playing any songs, you have the option to create a band name, logo, and band members to assign to specific instruments — a feature I have long waited for. Cut scenes provide a somewhat cohesive story that shows your band go from a local band to global, mega stardom.

Even though the career mode is short, Rock Band has always been about replayability. Quickplay is still very much intact and is the mode I usually play when I want to play a few songs and am not looking for a long gaming session. The game definitely loads a lot quicker, especially when browsing the music store. The game no longer locks up for a bit when exiting the Rock Band Network store as well. (This is good)

Quickplay is also a little more customizable this time around. Unlike Rock Band 2, all of your custom band characters are loaded into Quickplay. Each song has an iTunes style rating system. Unfortunately, it didn’t take the system one step further and add preferences when picking random songs. For instance, it would be nice to have the random option only choose songs with three stars and higher. Saving setlists has also been added to Quickplay. This feature is such a small tweak, but of high importance. You can create and name your setlists, customizing with songs as you see fit. Rock Band 3 comes preloaded with some playlists including “The Endless Setlist III.” For anyone unfamiliar, each Rock Band title has had an Endless Setlist, containing every single song from the disc compiled into a nonstop frenzy of songs. Rock Band 2 even included an achievement/trophy for completing the setlist without pausing!!

Rock Band 3 has taken the party game approach and given the game’s menus a complete overhaul in the way it adds in instruments and players. Each player receives their own mini-menus at the bottom of the core main menus, allowing everyone to change characters and settings at the same time, at any time. Players can drop-in/drop-out at anytime as well as change difficulty mid-song. This makes the initial set up much more streamlined and with the quick player additions/subtractions mid-game, Rock Band 3 lends itself well to a party. A no-fail mode can also be applied in case you are playing with non-veterans or are really drunk. Any of Rock Band 3‘s modes can be played online over Xbox Live or PSN.

The addition of another instrument is warmly welcomed to Rock Band. You can now use a keyboard peripheral (Keytar) to play 63 of the 83 songs on the disc that support it. Gameplay with this instrument will feel familiar to anyone that has played Rock Band before. The note highway consists of five colored notes that correspond with five keys that sit on the upper range of the keyboard. Just like with the guitar peripheral, notes drift towards the screen in patterns that correlate with the music. Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to get a hold of the keyboard for purposes of this review. (Insert sad face here)

Rock Band 3 splits itself into almost two separate games. For everyone used to playing Rock Band with the plastic instruments and scrolling colored notes, that mode is mostly untouched. For anyone wanting to learn any instrument, already know an instrument, or just want to master something new, there is Pro Mode. Guitar and bass players will have to match specific fingering on frets and strings, drummers will have to strike cymbal pads in addition to snare and toms, and keyboardists will use precise fingering across the whole keyboard.

Of course, this means additions to your already large collection of video game instruments and more money invested. Two different Pro Guitars will be available at later dates. (I find it somewhat ridiculous that they aren’t available at launch) In November, you can purchase the semi-realistic guitar with 102 buttons that sense finger placement to mimic actual guitar playing. For the gamer that intends to take their newly found guitar abilities out of the game, the Squier Stratocaster is a a full-sized, six-string electric guitar that works within Rock Band 3 and can be plugged into a real amp. This guitar will be available early 2011. The drums have an additional pack to be added to Rock Band 2 or 3 drum sets that adds symbols for Pro Mode.

Since the guitars haven’t been released, I have had no time with guitar in Pro Mode, but did have a chance to try out the drum portion of Pro Mode. Overall, the difficulty is raised, but for the most part the difficulty comes with having different types of yellow, blue and green. A circular symbol is used when you need to hit the notes with your newly added cymbals. Every drum track in the game, including all older tracks that you may have exported to your hard drive, also support Pro mode. This mode makes use of cymbal attachments (up to three), and even features support for a hi-hat pedal if you choose to go that route.

If you are tired of the music genre or never had any interest, it’s unlikely that Rock Band 3 is going to change that for you. For fans of the series and the music game genre, Rock Band 3 is a must-buy, simply because it’s unsurprisingly the best iteration in the series yet. It’s not only going to replace similar and competing games in your music library, but it makes them look downright dated in comparison. Harmonix has not only introduced a new instrument and Pro version, but has tweaked the original formula just enough to keep the hardcore fans happy. Rock Band 3 is undeniably the finest and most refined full band music game the market has ever seen.

Here’s The Rundown:

+ Excellent imitation of playing a real instrument
+ Pro Mode will give veterans a new challenge
+ Promotes playing a game as a group
+ Streamlines player drop-in / drop-out
- Poor implementation of calibration for HDTVs
- Needs more customization when choosing random songs

Rock Band 3 was developed by Harmonix and published by Electronic Arts for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. The game released in the United States on October 26th, 2010 with a retail price of $59.99 for the standalone disc and $129.99 for the disc and keyboard bundle. The copy used in this review was for the Xbox 360 and given to us by Harmonix for review consideration. Career mode was played through completion and some of quickplay was played online for this review. Total play time was around 12 hours.

Rock Band 3 Hits US Stores Today, Launch Week Buyers Get Free DLC

Chad Lakkis — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 14:53:01 +0000

The third installment of Harmonix’s wildly popular Rock Band franchise will be available in North American stores today (October 29th in all other regions).

And if the tag team introduction of Pro Mode and a freshly minted keyboard peripheral doesn’t send you sifting through your garment collection for a pair of zebra print leather pants, the launch week DLC promotion offering free access to The Doors “Light My Fire,” “Riders on the Storm,” and “Touch Me” should have you loving Harmonix madly.

Our own Dave Ernst has been Rock Banding his residence like a heavy metal madman, so look for our Ripten Rock Band 3 review this week.

PS3 Rockband 3 Keyboard Bundle Not Available in North America

Garrett Hartman — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 17:41:56 +0000

The Playstation 3 Rockband 3 Keyboard Bundle will not be available in the US, Mexico, or Canada.

While People have pre-ordered the bundle, recently some began to notice the bundle no longer offered by retailers. When questioned Harmonix recently responded:

“Unfortunately, this SKU will not be available in the U.S. (including Canada and Mexico) due to the agreement terms for the region.”

Fortunately, Mad Catz and MTV Games are working with retailers who accepted preorders by giving them the option to offer a “soft bundle” which is essentailly the two seperate products combined and offered for the bundle price. Being as it is an option, it is up to each individual retailer to decide.

Those wishing to purchase the bundle are out of luck (unless you live in Europe) and will have to purchase each seperately for an additional $10.

Source

Official Rock Band 3 Track List Revealed

Sam Naylor — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:49:48 +0000

After a bit of a leak a while back, Harmonix has given in and released the full tracklist for Rock Band 3, and my, it’s a scorcher.

The full track list is below, and as you can see there are some brilliant songs in the game. Primus’ “Jerry Was A Racecar Driver” is an inspired choice (Primus sucks!), but there are some great songs from David Bowie, The Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, Faith No More, The White Stripes, and even Yes.

It’s not got as much Metal as previous games, which disappoints me a lot. I suppose the fact that the two best Megadeth albums are available on the Rock Band store already, as well as the fact that Guitar Hero have nabbed Metallica and Dave Mustaine, have taken the two biggest names out of the question. There’s some Anthrax in there, though- still, there’s nothing like some Judas Priest or Dream Theater for the drummers to aspire to. Remember, however, that you can import songs from Rock Band 1 & 2 into Rock Band 3.

2000s:

Amy Winehouse, “Rehab”

At the Drive-In, “One Armed Scissor”

Avenged Sevenfold, “The Beast & the Harlot”

Dover, “King George”

The Bronx, “False Alarm”

The Flaming Lips, “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1”

HIM (His Infernal Majesty), “Killing Loneliness”

Hypernova, “Viva La Resistance”

Ida Maria, “Oh My God”*

Juanes, “Me Enamora”

Metric, “Combat Baby”*

Paramore, “Misery Business”*

Phoenix, “Lasso”*

Poni Hoax, “Antibodies”

Pretty Girls Make Graves, “Something Bigger, Something Brighter”

Queens of the Stone Age, “No One Knows”

The Ravonettes, “Last Dance”

Rilo Kiley, “Portions for Foxes”*

Riverboat Gamblers, “Don’t Bury Me…I’m Still Not Dead”

Slipknot, “Before I Forget”

The Sounds, “Living in America”

Tegan & Sara, “The Con”

Them Crooked Vultures, “Dead End Friends”

Tokio Hotel, “Humanoid”*

The Vines, “Get Free”*

The White Stripes, “The Hardest Button to Button”*

1990s:

Faith No More, “Midlife Crisis”*

Filter, “Hey Man, Nice Shot”

Jane’s Addiction, “Been Caught Stealing”*

Maná, “Oye Mi Amor”

Marilyn Manson, “The Beautiful People”

The Muffs, “Outer Space”

Phish, “Llama”

Primus, “Jerry Was a Racecar Driver”

Rammstein, “Du Hast”

Smash Mouth, “Walkin’ On The Sun”*

Spacehog, “In the Meantime”

Stone Temple Pilots, “Plush”

Swingin’ Utters, “This Bastard’s Life”

1980s:

Anthrax, “Caught in a Mosh”

Big Country, “In a Big Country”

The Cure, “Just Like Heaven”*

Def Leppard, “Foolin’”

Devo, “Whip It”

Dio, “Rainbow in the Dark”

Dire Straits, “Walk of Life”

Echo & the Bunnymen, “The Killing Moon”

Huey Lewis and the News, “The Power of Love”

INXS, “Need You Tonight”*

J. Geils Band, “Centerfold”

Joan Jett, “I Love Rock N’ Roll”*

Night Ranger, “Sister Christian”*

Ozzy Osbourne, “Crazy Train”*

The Police, “Don’t Stand So Close to Me”

Roxette, “The Look”*

The Smiths, “Stop Me if You Think You’ve Heard This One Before”

Tears for Fears, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”

Whitesnake, “Here I Go Again”*

1970s:

The B-52’s, “Rock Lobster”*

Blondie, “Heart of Glass”

Bob Marley, “Get Up, Stand Up”

Chicago, “25 or 6 to 4”

Deep Purple, “Smoke on the Water”

Doobie Brothers, “China Grove”*

Elton John, “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”

Foreigner, “Cold As Ice”*

Golden Earring, “Radar Love”

John Lennon, “Imagine”

Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Free Bird”

Queen, “Bohemian Rhapsody”*

Ramones, “I Wanna Be Sedated”

Steve Miller Band, “Fly Like an Eagle”

T. Rex, “20th Century Boy”

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “I Need to Know”

War, “Low Rider”

Warren Zevon, “Werewolves of London”

Yes, “Roundabout”*

1960s:

Beach Boys, “Good Vibrations (Live)”

David Bowie, “Space Oddity”

The Doors, “Break on Through (To the Other Side)”*

James Brown, “I Got You” (I Feel Good) – Alternate Studio Version*

The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Crosstown Traffic”*

The Who, “I Can See for Miles”

*Songs available on Rock Band 3 for Nintendo DS

Is This The Full Rock Band 3 Set List?

Brandon Fenty — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:56:47 +0000

Been looking forward to Rock Band 3? You might have seen a leaked set list for the game in the last couple of days. However, Harmonix made a public announcement to shut down those rumors, and remind us that they haven’t released any info on the full setlist yet.

Harmonix obviously has a sense of humor, however, because in the background of the entire announcement, there is the set list, scrolling by. Thanks guys!

The Complete Rock Band 3 Setlist

Amy Winehouse – “Rehab”
Antrax – “Caught in a Mosh”
At The Drive-In – “One Armed Scissor”
Avenged Sevenfold – “Beast And The Harlot”
The B-52s – “Rock Lobster”
The Beach Boys – “Good Vibrations” (Live)
Big Country – “In a Big Country”
Blondie – “Heart of Glass”
Bob Marley & The Wailers – “Get Up, Stand Up”
The Bronx – “False Alarm”
Chicago – “25 or 6 to 4″
The Cure – “Just Like Heaven”
David Bowie – “Space Oddity”
Deep Purple – “Smoke on the Water”
Def Leppard – “Foolin’”
Devo – “Whip It”
Dio – “Rainbow in the Dark”
Dire Straights – “Walk of Life”
The Doobie Brothers – “China Grove”
The Doors – “Break On Through (To the Other Side)”
Dover – “King George”
Echo & the Bunnymen – “The Killing Moon”
Elton John – “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”
Faith No More – “Midlife Crisis”
Filter – “Hey Man, Nice Shot”
The Flaming Lips – “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1″
Foreigner – “Cold as Ice”
Golden Earring – “Radar Love”
HIM – “Killing Loneliness”
Huey Lewis and the News – “The Power of Love”
Hypernova – “Viva La Resistance”
Ida Maria – “Oh My God”
INXS – “Need You Tonight”
The J. Geils Band – “Centerfold”
James Brown – “I Got You (I Feel Good)”
Jane’s Addiction – “Been Caught Stealing”
The Jimi Hendrix Experience ˆ”Crosstown Traffic”
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts – “I Love Rock ‘n Roll”
John Lennon – “Imagine”
Juanes – “Me Enamora”
Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Free Bird”
Maná – “Oye Mi Amor”
Marilyn Manson – “The Beautiful People”
Metric – “Combat Baby”
The Muffs – “Outer Space”
Night Ranger – “Sister Christian”
Ozzy Osbourne – “Crazy Train”
Paramore – “Misery Business”
Phish – “Llama”
Phoenix – “Lasso”
The Police – “Don’t Stand So Close to Me”
Poni Hoax – “Antibodies”
Pretty Girls Make Graves – “Something Bigger, Something Brighter”
Primus – “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver”
Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Queens of the Stone Age – “No One Knows”
Rammstein – “Du Hast”
Ramones – “I Wanna Be Sedated”
Raveonettes – “Last Dance”
Rilo Kiley – “Portions for Foxes”
Riverboat Gamblers – “Don’t Bury Me… I’m Still Not Dead”
Roxette – “The Look”
Slipknot – “Before I Forget”
Smash Mouth – “Walkin’ on the Sun”
The Smiths – “Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before”
The Sounds – “Living in America”
Spacehog – “In the Meantime”
Steve Miller Band – “Fly Like an Eagle”
Stone Temple Pilots – “Plush”
Swingin’ Utters – “This Bastard’s Life”
T. Rex – “20th Century Boy”
Tears for Fears – “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”
Tegan and Sara – “The Con”
Them Crooked Vultures – “Dead End Friends”
Tokio Hotel – “Humanoid”
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers – “I Need to Know”
The Vines – “Get Free”
War – “Low Rider”
Warren Zevon – “Werewolves of London”
The White Stripes – “The Hardest Button to Button”
Whitesnake – “Here I Go Again”
The Who – “I Can See for Miles”
Yes – “Roundabout”

Rock Band 3 Release Date Announced

Brandon Fenty — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:03:06 +0000

On October 26th, there’s a rock concert coming to your neighborhood. Mark the date on your calendar, and plan to attend. Wear whatever you want, PJs allowed, or even underwear. (we won’t ask). Harmonix and MTV have announced Rock Band 3 is coming live to your living room. Be ready.

The game has a myriad of pre-order options available to gamers looking for a good deal.

Reserve at GameStop get three free song downloads, (“Burning Down The House” by Talking Heads; “My Own Summer” by Deftones; and “Blue Monday” by New Order).

Pre-order from Amazon, get access to an exclusive in-game guitar.

Hit up Walmart.com for your pre-order, get a $10 eGift card.

The game is being released for 360, PS3, Wii and DS. Ready to rock?

Rock Band 3 Trailer Shows Pro Mode In Action

Sam Naylor — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:52:30 +0000

A new trailer for Rock Band 3 has been found deep in the crevices of the internet, and shows us the first footage of Pro mode in motion. It also confirms the ability to import tracks from all previous Rock Band games, including LEGO Rock Band.

Some new songs have also been revealed: Chicago‘s 25 to 6, Faith No More‘s Midlife Crisis, INXS‘ Need You Tonight, and Blood, Sweat and Tears‘ Spinning Wheel. I am a big fan of Midlife Crisis, the other not so much. Still Rock Band has a habit of making me enjoy songs I didn’t previously.

As you can see, the Pro mode looks like it could be exactly what fans have been pining for. The note charts look very accurate to me, although perhaps someone with a better eye for that sort of thing could confirm or deny this. Let us know what you think in the comments. Do so now before you shred your fingertips trying to play Green Grass and High Tides on Pro mode.

[Via Gamevideos]

iZotope Pitch Detection Technology Coming to Rock Band 3

Sam Naylor — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 16:54:34 +0000

iZotope Technology has been licensed for use in Rock Band 3, Harmonix announced today. iZotope’s “real-time pitch detection and pitch shifting middleware” will supposedly be used to help make the singing experience much closer to that of a real rock star on stage.

“The ability to have pitch correction in real-time helps to enhance the vocal gameplay and players’ in-game performance in Rock Band,” said Eran Egozy, CTO and co-founder of Harmonix. “We’re excited to feature iZotope’s technology and this new middleware in Rock Band 3 so that our players can enjoy the type of vocal effects that professional rock stars utilize for live stage performances in their homes this holiday.”

“With the production values of video games rivaling that of commercial albums and blockbuster films, consumers expect the same caliber of video and audio quality during dynamic, real-time game play,” explains Mark Ethier, CEO of iZotope. “Rock Band is an ideal platform for us to showcase iZotope’s technology so we can provide gamers with studio-grade audio effects that professional mixers, sound designers and others in the entertainment industry have relied on for years.”

iZotope is essentially “Pitch Detection and Pitch Shifting” tools for making you sound better when you’re singing. Which will be a bloody miracle if you ask me, given that a huge majority of the people I’ve heard “singing” on Rock Band sound like a bag of Vuvuzela-toting cats being swung against a wall. No technology in the world is going to make them sound like David Bowie.

Mom Plays Rock Band Naked While Kids Watch (Video)

Chad Lakkis — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 12:35:54 +0000

Now, when I was a kid, my mother used to forgo buying herself lavish things so that we could have the things we wanted growing up. That said, she never deprived herself of clothes to the point of nakedness like the free spirited Rock Band playing nude mama in the video below.

I’m not even sure what else to say here. Yeah. Just watch the video.

Harmonix: Dance Central could come to the PS3, not the Wii

Demi Adejuyigbe — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:25:15 +0000

Despite the fact that Microsoft’s E3 keynote was ridiculously lame, I was actually interested by Dance Central, the new dancing game courtesy of Harmonix. Harmonix has a pretty good track record of music games, and every hands-on with the game has been pretty positive. I don’t think it’s worth buying an Xbox 360 if you don’t own one though. According to Kotaku, you might not have to.

In an interview with Harmonix’s CEO, Alex Rigolopolous, Rigolopolous mentioned that they are trying to get Dance Central working on the PS3 with Move. When asked about the Wii, he also said that it’s not possible, as the Wii’s motion tracking doesn’t collect enough data to work the way Move and Kinect could work with Dance Central. Ouch. While I’m not sure how Move would work, as it looks like Dance Central works with your entire body, but I’m always glad to hear about games coming to multiple platforms. (via Kotaku)

E310 Preview: Rock Band 3, Surprisingly Impressive

Danielle Cantrell — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 10:43:41 +0000

With the saturation of music games at this year’s E3, I expected close-to-nothing new from Rock Band 3. Even as waited for the presentation to begin, I was preparing myself to be bored and unimpressed, but as it started, I became more intrigued, especially as the curtains were drawn and there were seven people standing there. Seven.

Three vocalists, one guitarist, one bassist, one drummer, and one guy on keyboard. The guitar and bass had strings, which is an obvious upgrade from the buttons on previous guitars. It increases the realism of the game, as well as increasing the difficulty and involvement with the game. Including a keyboard means that there are more songs available, and at launch, it’s estimated that there will be 2000 songs available in the Rock Band library.

This means, of course, that Rock Band 1 and 2 songs will be available to import into the Rock Band 3 game, similarly to how the first was to the second game.

Sorting through 2000 songs would be tedious for anyone though, so Harmonix has come up with several ways to sort the music. If there are kids around, the library can be filtered to family friendly songs, or the filters can be used to find all long songs, 90′s songs, metal songs, or whatever you want to play.

Another new feature is the ability to turn off the drum controls — not to stop the drummer from playing, but to stop the drummer from screwing around and making you miss the song you wanted to select.

There is also in game drop-in, drop-out mode, so if you want to go get a drink in the middle of a song, you can, and you can jump right back in when you’re done. You can also change the difficulty of a song halfway through, if you decide that it’s too hard or too easy.

Introducing the new Fender Rock Band 3 Squier Stratocaster guitar.

Now you can play video game music with a real guitar.

Fender is also collaborating with Harmonix and making a Rock Band 3 Squier Stratocaster guitar that can be plugged into the game, and into an amp. This means you will be playing a real guitar.

Rock Band 3 definitely stood out from the rest of the music games at this E3, even as a returning franchise. It will be coming out later this holiday season.

Full 3DS Release List Revealed

Sam Naylor — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:39:49 +0000

A full list of games coming to the 3DS has been revealed, which includes Super Street Fighter IV 3D, Star Fox 64 3D, Paper Mario, Animal Crossing, and many others.

The full list is below. As you can see, it’s gigantic, and has loads of brilliant games and franchises to come to the new system. Ocarina of Time for 3DS has just been announced as well, so we can’t even call this list comprehensive. The 3DS just keeps getting better and better. Well done, Nintendo. Well done.

Nintendo

Animal Crossing
Kid Icarus: Uprising
Mario Kart
nintendogs + cats
Paper Mario
PilotWings Resort
Star Fox 64 3D
Steel Diver

Activision Publishing

DJ Hero 3D

AQ INTERACTIVE

cubic ninja

ATLUS

Etrian Odyssey
Shin Megami Tensei
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor

Capcom

Resident Evil Revelations
Super Street Fighter IV 3D (name not final)

Electronic Arts

FIFA Soccer
Madden NFL
The Sims 3

Gameloft

Asphalt GT

Harmonix

Music Game

HUDSON SOFT

Bomberman franchise
DECA SPORTS franchise
KORORINPA franchise

KONAMI

Baseball franchise
Contra franchise
Frogger franchise
Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D “The Naked Sample”
PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER franchise / WINNING ELEVEN franchise

LEVEL-5

Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle (name not final)

Majesco Entertainment

BloodRayne: The Shroud
A Boy and His Blob
Face Racers: Photo Finish
Lion’s Pride: Adventures on the Serengeti
Martha Stewart
WonderWorld Amusement Park

Marvelous Enteratinment

BOKUJYOUMONOGATARI 3D (name not final)

NAMCO BANDAI Games

Dragon Ball franchise (name not final)
Gundam franchise (name not final)
PAC-MAN & GALAGA (name not final)
RIDGE RACER (name not final)
Super Robot franchise (name not final)

ROCKET

Crash-City GP
VS-robo

SEGA

Sonic (name not final)
Super Monkey Ball (name not final)

Square Enix

CODENAME: Chocobo Racing 3D
Dragon Quest franchise
Final Fantasy franchise
Kingdom Hearts 3D (name not final)

Take-Two Interactive

Carnival Games franchise

TECMO KOEI GAMES

Dead or Alive 3D (name not final)
Dynasty Warriors (name not final)
Ninja Gaiden (name not final)
Samurai Warriors 3D (name not final)

TOMY

Lovely Lisa 3D
Naruto Shippuden Action

THQ

de Blob 2
Kung Fu Panda Kaboom of Doom
Marvel Super Hero Squad Infinity Gauntlet
The Penguins of Madagascar
Puss N Boots
Saints Row: Drive-By

Ubisoft

Assassin’s Creed: Lost Legacy
Battle of Giants: Dinosaur Strike
Driver Renegade
Hollywood 61 (name not final)
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory

Warner Bros

Batman franchise
LEGO franchise

A Look At Rock Band 3′s New Instruments

Demi Adejuyigbe — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 07:18:12 +0000

Rock Band 3 was only shown off for the first time two days ago, but now that the embargoes are up on the game, news is beginning to trickle out. The newest Rock Band news is about the brand new hardware, including the game’s awesome two-octave keyboard from MadCatz and the option 102-button Pro guitar, which is one of the craziest plastic instruments I’ve ever seen.

Both of these instruments are part of Harmonix’s push to introduce the learning of actual instruments into the Rock Band series, a welcome push in my opinion. While Harmonix says that you won’t be able to actually jump on stage and blow through songs professionally, Rock Band Pro (which utilizes the new Pro guitar) will teach you enough to have basic skills for recreational jamming.

I’m really interested in the direction Rock Band 3 seems to be going. While I’m not exactly psyched about plucking down a ton of cash for a bunch of different instruments, I’m excited to check it out myself when it comes out this holiday season. Check the gallery below for a better look at the instruments and the game itself.

[nggallery id=144]

Rock Band 3 Keyboard For Real Men, In Lumberjack Shirts

Chad Lakkis — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 05:25:11 +0000

The latest edition of Rock Band has been announced, and though millions of fans like me had hoped to play a harmonica in this year’s installment, we quickly accepted the keyboard into their living room band family. Maybe next year harmonicans.

And as if being a sexy plastic video game instrument isn’t enough these days, the 25-keyed tribute to Piano Man also doubles as an MIDI keyboard for all the computer musicians out there.

While talking a bit about the focus of Rock Band 3, Harmonix Manager of Communications, John “Lumberjack” Drake stated:

“We’re really trying to draw the player in, and help them develop skills.”

Translation: All you kids out there who are sick of mashing on multi-colored buttons will soon be able to graduate to actual strings without having to give up the video game aspect. Now, if you’re saying “wait a minute, that sounds like a real guitar”, go ahead and grab yourself a cookie because according to Drake, that’s exactly what it is. Well, maybe not exactly.

“It can tell where your fingers are based on technology in the neck and the bridge of the guitar. No buttons … While you’re playing it, it feels exactly like playing a real guitar,”

Hey I’m all for the transition to more realistic instruments. Who knows, in about ten years or so, we may be listening to hit songs on the radio performed by kids who learned their craft in a video game. How scary would that be?

We’ll of course be assembling our own make shift Rock Band at E3, so make sure to check in for our hands-on impressions of Rock Band 3.

[Source: USA Today]

THQ Partners Announced, Duplicated Success of EA Model Benefits Gamers

Chad Lakkis — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:32:09 +0000

Since the creation of EA Partners by John Riccitiello in 2004, the company has successfully teamed up with numerous developers to deliver hit games like Crysis, Rock Band, and Left 4 Dead to consumers. With the inevitable addition of BulletStorm around the corner, it should come as no surprise to hear that THQ is launching a Partner group of their own.

THQ Partners VP, Tim Walsh, issued the following statement regarding the announcement:

“I’m extremely pleased to join THQ and launch THQ Partners, and I’m looking forward to working with a select number of world-class developers and publishers to distribute their great games through our global network.”

What’s that saying about copying being one of the most sincere forms of flattery? Well, if flattery equates to copying and copying leads to results, we as gamers should be grinning from ear to ear with hopes that the inception of THQ Partners will help to bring even more great new games to life. Congratulations THQ Partners — now get to work.

The full press release can be found below, and those of you interested in reading about the history of EA Partners should head on over to Game Informer’s website for a really well put together piece by Bryan Vore.

THQ Announces THQ Partners
Plans to Offer Select Developers and Publishers Access to THQ’s Industry Leading Global Retail and Online Distribution Network

AGOURA HILLS, Calif. - THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced the launch of THQ Partners, providing select developers and publishers access to THQ’s global retail and online publishing network.

With offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, THQ’s industry leading global publishing operation reaches all major video game territories worldwide. THQ has consistently been recognized as a best-in-class vendor by retailers around the world.

THQ Partners will be led by Tim Walsh, who brings extensive experience in global publishing and online distribution to the position. “I’m extremely pleased to join THQ and launch THQ Partners,” said Tim Walsh, Vice President, THQ Partners. “I’m looking forward to working with a select number of world-class developers and publishers to distribute their great games through our global network.”

“THQ Partners is charged with maximizing the efficiencies of our global distribution network by enhancing our product offerings with quality games from developers and publishers who don’t have the benefit of our extensive retail and online sales operations,” said Ian Curran, Executive Vice President, THQ Global Publishing.

Tim Walsh has more than 20 years of publishing experience, spanning interactive entertainment, in-game advertising and music. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President of Publisher Relations for IGA Worldwide.

THQ Partners will be meeting with interested parties at E3.