Despite drummer Nick Mason’s comments that “It irritates [him] having watched [his] kids do it – if they spent as much time practising the guitar as learning how to press the buttons they’d be damn good by now,” he has expressed that the band could be interested in a Rock Band/Guitar Hero Pink Floyd game. “I think we’d consider it,” he told the BBC. “I think everyone’s looking at new ways of selling the music because the business of selling records has almost disappeared.”

Seems like he’s only in it for the record sales, but to be honest, I don’t care. A Pink Floyd Rock Band game would, to me, be one of the best music games possible. In fact, just a spin-off as simple as “Rock Band: Progressive Rock edition” would be brilliant. Nick Mason lives near to me, so if they say no to this I will go round to his house and give him a good talking-to. (this worked for Daft Punk in DJ Hero, there’s no reason why it can’t work twice).

Via Kotaku

September 9th is approaching quickly, and my rush to gather $250 for The Beatles: Rock Band is becoming a lot more difficult, but I’m starting to realize that it’s going to be worth the work.

Today, Harmonix added another trailer to the pre-order club site that is only accessible for people that pre-ordered the game, and the trailer reveals a bunch of new tracks from the Fab Four, including (but not limited to) Revolution, Paperback Writer, and Twist & Shout. But there are a lot more songs than the ones featured in the trailer being revealed soon.

Tomorrow, when all of the previews for the game go online, many new tracks will be revealed, and you can see the list of songs being revealed after the jump. Above is the trailer, so leave your thoughts on it in the comments!

* Paperback Writer
* Yellow Submarine
* I’ve Got A Feeling
* Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
* Dig A Pony
* Birthday
* Do You Want To Know A Secret
* Eight Days A Week
* Twist And Shout
* Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows (LOVE remix version)
* With a Little Help from My Friends
* Revolution
* Can’t Buy Me Love
* I Wanna Be Your Man
* And Your Bird Can Sing

Big thanks to Pepsi and Harmonix for sending us this 1 of 30 limited edition Rock Band guitars designed by artist Matt Moore. Ripten’s guitar is the Xbox 360 version and numbered 22 of 30. You can enter to win it below by leaving a comment (one per reader) and telling us why you think you should win. Our editors and myself will review the submissions and pick a winner by midnight next Saturday.

In addition to the guitar you can win right here, Pepsi and Harmonix are teaming up for a Drink Up, Rock Out summer promotion. Submit a Rock Band music video of yourself and enter to win an MTV Video Music Award Moonman for “Best Performance in a Pepsi Rock Band Music Video”. If you want a little more immediate gratification, check under the caps of Pepsi bottles for a chance to win one of 5,000 Rock Band downloadable tracks and other cool prizes between now and September 13, 2009.

Drink Pepsi and rock out with your coc…err web cam out.

As of this point, we’ve seen almost everything The Beatles Rock Band has to offer. The beautiful trailers, the astounding opening cinematic, the gameplay, the screenshots- everything except for the setlist itself. We only know of the ten confirmed songs that played over the opening cinematic for the game, but if the information we just received is correct, then the game’s full setlist is out there- and it’s great.

The rumored setlist features all of the songs that were in the cinematic, from “I Saw Her Standing There” to “Here Comes The Sun”, but features some new Beatles classics such as “Can’t Buy Me Love”, “Help!”, and “Revolution”. There are some songs that were obviously not going to be in the game- piano heavy songs like “Hey Jude” aren’t present, but I’m still ready to plunk down $250 for the full game bundle. (Especially with my current absence of any Rock Band gear.) I’m not going to try and influence you, though- you can make your own decision after viewing the “leaked” setlist after the jump.

[Thanks tazar!]

* “I Saw Her Standing There”
* “Please Please Me”
* “Twist and Shout”
* “All My Loving”
* “I Wanna Be Your Man”
* “She Loves You”
* “I Want to Hold Your Hand”
* “A Hard Day’s Night”
* “And I Love Her”
* “Can’t Buy Me Love”
* “I’m A Loser”
* “Baby’s in Black”
* “I Feel Fine”
* “Help!”
* “Ticket to Ride”
* “I’ve Just Seen a Face”
* “I’m Down”
* “Drive My Car”
* “In My Life”
* “If I Needed Someone”
* “Day Tripper”
* “Taxman”
* “She Said She Said”
* “And Your Bird Can Sing”
* “Paperback Writer”
* “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
* “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”
* “Good Morning Good Morning”
* “I Am the Walrus”
* “Hello Goodbye”
* “Revolution”
* “Back in the USSR”
* “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
* “Birthday”
* “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey”
* “Helter Skelter”
* “Hey Bulldog”
* “Come Together”
* “Something”
* “Octopus’s Garden”
* “Here Comes the Sun”
* “Don’t Let Me Down”
* “Dig a Pony”
* “I’ve Got a Feeling”
* “Get Back”

Straight out of E3 today is yet another video for The Beatles: Rock Band, but this time with gameplay. The trailer for the game gives us a good look at some of the visual changes added to The Beatles: Rock Band, namely the psychedelic background visuals, addition of 3-part harmonies, and slight changes to the note boards.

One of the things that kind of irks me about the trailer is the game’s rendition of “Get Back”. It’s a lot different than the one I’m used to, but it still takes place atop the headquarters of Apple Corps. I’m sure I’ll get used to it eventually, but I’d much prefer the version with McCartney’s higher-pitched vocals. Oh, and the trailer’s gorgeous too!

If you care, hit the jump for a list of the songs featured in the trailer, in the order you hear them in. I might be wrong, but this is what I got, and I’m pretty sure it’s right.

I Saw Her Standing There
I Wanna Hold Your Hand
I Feel Fine
Day Tripper
Tax Man
I Am The Walrus
Back in the USSR
Octopus’s Garden
Here Comes The Sun
Get Back

There’s really no other way to describe this cinematic, other than to say it’s absolutely fantastic. It’s beautiful. From the style, to the animation, to the music, to the surreal ending, it’s absolutely gorgeous, and it hurts my brain to even think of how much work went into making this on Harmonix’s part. I challenge you all to find a better cinematic than this, because I simply can’t find one.

But enough of me singing it’s praises. Although I knock on Activision for their use of the Guitar Hero franchise, I can’t wait until September 9th, when The Beatles: Rock Band comes out. Although it’s only 45 Beatles songs, as one of the greatest bands ever, I’m sure I’ll have an insane amount of fun with the game. You can look forward to it too, when it hits the PS3, Wii, PS2, and Xbox 360 this September.

If you go to the official website for The Beatles: Rock Band, you’ll be treated with two new suprises. One is a entrance section to the preorder club, for those who preordered the game, and the other is a brand new site backdrop, with the sounds of a million screaming fans in the background. But what is that background? Why, it’s the set for the Ed Sullivan Show, of course!

Beatles fans out there surely know just how popular and frequent the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan’s show, so it only makes sense that this stage would appear in the game in some form. Though we don’t have a surefire confirmation, it’s pretty safe to say that the Ed Sullivan Show set will indeed be a stage/arena for you to play in in The Beatles: Rock Band. Click the image above to see the full image.

LEGO Rock Band has been officially announced today, after plenty of internet rumours and speculation. The game will ship in “Holiday 2009″ for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and DS. Harmonix and TT Games will be working together for all versions of the game, and Rock Band Unplugged developer Backbone Entertainment will join in the fun for the DS version. Hit the jump for a little more info and a few confirmed tracks (The Final Countdown is in there).

• Blur: “Song 2″
• Carl Douglas: “Kung Fu Fighting”
• Europe: “The Final Countdown”
• Good Charlotte: “Boys and Girls”
• Pink: “So What”

Warner Bros. have issued the following statement, too:

“LEGO Rock Band combines the multiplayer music experience of Rock Band with the fun, customization and humor of the LEGO videogame franchise packed with brilliant chart-topping songs and classic favorites suitable for younger audiences.”

So LEGO Rock Band is to be aimed at youngsters. Makes sense, but since when do youngsters need a LEGO version of Rock Band to get your plastic guitar all sticky? They do it fine with the normal version.

As I’m sure you audiophiles know, the annual Coachella music festival is going on right now, with both world famous and seldom-known acts performing on the grand Coachella stage. Today, Paul McCartney played a pretty lengthy set of songs, with “Got To Get You Into My Life” in the middle of it. McCartney’s fans were surprised, though- during “Got To Get You Into My Life”, the backdrop had videos of The Beatles: Rock Band playing over it.

As if hearing Paul McCartney’s dulcet tones at Coachella wasn’t enough, this is actually the first time any footage of The Beatles: Rock Band has ever been shown. Although you couldn’t see any note charts, the footage, which seemed to be of the Beatles in the Rock Band background styling. It’s definitely enough to get the most diehard of Rock Band and Beatles’s fans blood pumping, but be forewarned that the game still has that $250 price tag. Is it worth it?

Hit the jump for the video, though it’s not of the greatest quality, since it’s was filmed by a fan in the crowd.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Harmonix and PDP have announced that they will be shipping a kick pedal and double bass pedal adaptor pack for $24.99. The pedal is compatible with all iterations of Rock Band (every console), as well as Guitar Hero: Metallica and Guitar Hero: World Tour.

This is great for those who are either really good at the drums, or those who like to be frustrated by even greater difficulty. It’s a good deal considering that you might have had to shell out for a new drum kit to play the Expert+ mode in GH:Metallica. Oh, and don’t forget, folks, Guitar Hero:Metallica has the Zungre Seal of Approval™.

It’s not like we didn’t see this coming, but at least now we have a 100% solid source. Harmonix’s Dan Teasdale published his full presentation from GDC, including a slide that listed every Harmonix game coming out over the next year, including Rock Band for PSP, The Beatles: Rock Band, and Lego Rock Band. Problem is- Lego Rock Band hasn’t yet been announced.

Teasdale got wise to his egregious boner and promptly fixed the PDF, but as with anything posted on the internet, nothing stays hidden. The PDF, though interested in its entirety as well, also holds a bit of information as to the future of the Guitar Hero franchise. Not only did Teasdale reinforce my theory that the Guitar Hero franchise is dead in the water (That’s about 20 games in two and a half years. Christ, Activision! Harmonix only made 3 games in two years!) but he also displayed rumored Guitar Hero games, such as GHDS 4, GHWT Backstage Pass, and Guitar Hero: BH and MC. No idea what either of those acronyms mean, but I can only hope it’s not Buckethead and Motley Crüe.

Of course, since the LEGO cat is out of the bag, what could this game possibly have regarding LEGOs? Hit the jump to find out.

My Predictions:
•Lego Note Charts – the standard red, green, blue, yellow, and orange rectangles will be replaced with LEGOs, and they’ll break whenever you hit them.
•Brick-based songs – The first tier will probably be along the lines of “Brick House” by the Commodores, “Brick” by the Ben Folds Five, “Hip to Be Square” by Huey Lewis and the News, and “Square One” by Coldplay. Last tiers? All of “Thick as a Brick” by Jethro Tull.
•LEGO Instruments – New instruments! A LEGO guitar, LEGO microphone, and LEGO drums. The LEGO drums are much louder, mich less tactile, and easily broken. But it’s cool, because they’re LEGOs. If they break, you can just put them back together yourself. For this reason, there is no warranty.
•LEGO World Tour – You start off as a greeter at the Legoland gift shop, playing songs for tourists at they enter the door. But you eventually get enough fans to move around the world- to other Legolands! Livin’ the dream, kid!
•LEGO Vehicles – The current Rock Band franchise sports regular vehicles that move you across the world, but none of that crap gets into LEGO Rock Band. As a matter of fact, traveling is very difficult. You could just walk, but then your feet would get stuck in the craggly, symmetrical LEGO ground on occasion. You could drive- but your wheels are bricks. It’s a hard knock life, son.
•Special shoes for drumming – Double LEGO bass pedals. That is all.
•Release date and price - April 9th, 2025 for $196. They’re square numbers.

I’m sure some people will be upset by this week’s Rock Band offerings, but it’s not as if this is the first time that Harmonix has released Nickelodeon songs. And for those of you that are upset (for reasons unknown) about the Spongebob songs, you can always just skip it and download Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing or even Pat Benetar’s Heartbreaker, which was previously a GHWT exclusive.

As always, songs are 160 MS Points or $1.99, while the Spongebob bundle is up for 440 MS Points or $5.50. Though, I should note that the song in the video isn’t in the game. Even if it were, it’s a David Glen Eisley song. Hit the jump for the full list of this week’s song releases.

Journey – Don’t Stop Believing
Pat Benetar – Heartbreaker
Glasvegas – Geraldine
The Von Bondies – C’mon C’mon
SpongeBob Squarepants – I Can’t Keep My Eyes Off You
SpongeBob Squarepants – The Best Day Ever
SpongeBob Squarepants – Where’s Gary?

Gamers have accomplished some very amazing things with musical instruments. I’ve seen a man beatbox while playing the Super Mario Bros. theme on the flute, I’ve seen someone perform the Tetris theme with a tesla coil, and I’ve even seen a man play the Legend of Zelda theme on his hands. But this, my friends, is a first. Not only did an aspiring gamer manage to play the Portal anthem “Still Alive” on a theremin- he managed to input this play into Rock Band.

In the video above, you’ll see YouTube user conquerearth manage to play Portal’s “Still Alive” on a theremin, an instrument that measures the movement of your hand in the air to make sounds. Of course, with a theremin, the only way to hear the sound is through headphones, so the musician managed to put the headphones right over his Rock Band microphone and score a 138,685 5-star run, with 95% on Expert in the process. Impressive!

Though he doesn’t have any other videos of what he calls “Theremin Hero” in his YouTube channel, you can see him play some other amazing songs on the theremin, including the Zelda theme, the Halo 3 Title Screen music, and Epona’s Song (Ocarina of Time) all on his channel.

Every once in a while, we here at Ripten come across barbaric rumors that seem too good to be true, and othertimes, too strange to be true. Sure, there are some weird rumors that have turned out to be true- the Beatles in Rock Band, Street Fighter IV LBP DLC, and even Punch-Out! for the Wii- but I don’t see any way this rumor could be true. According to VG247, Traveler’s Tales is currently hard at work, making a LEGO™ Rock Band game.

I don’t see how this would be in any way different from regular Rock Band game, except for the addition of LEGO™ singers and note charts, but I don’t think that justifies a game. I’d probably just write this off as another joke if it weren’t for VG247’s source assuring them that they are 100% correct. I guess we’ll just have to wait for further comment from Traveler’s Tales or MTV Games.

One thing you could probably say for sure: If this game exists, it’s final song has to be ‘Brick House’ by the Commodores.

Source: Videogaming24/7

Ever wonder what Radiohead’s song ‘Creep’ would sound like pumping through the digital soundsystem of a classic NES? Wonder no more, because it would sound pretty much exactly like what it does here.

Okay, I realize this song was made a year ago, but I’ve been playing a lot of Rock Band recently and this made me think about what Rock Band would be like if it came out 20 years ago. Pretty awesome, all things considered.

Have something you think we should show on Geeked-Out? Email it to us.

As part of Microsoft’s Game With Fame program, Jack Black and Kyle Gass of Tenacious D will be rocking out in Rock Band 2 tonight on Xbox Live. And the best part is, you can play with them!

The process is actually quite simple: add the GamerTags JBTenacious and KGTenacious to your friends list. Then wait for a game invite from the guys between 6 and 8 EST tonight, and you just lucked your way into gaming with Tenacious D.

Microsoft’s Game With Fame program has usually been, in my opinion, kind of lame. It usually involves some “celebrities” (that I’m not really sure qualify as being famous) playing Gears of War and that’s it. Tenacious D playing Rock Band is actually something that makes sense, especially considering the fact that Tenacious D has a song in the game.

I’m curious if they’re just going to play Master Exploder over and over or if they’ll let the fans decide the song. If any of you readers out there happen to get an invite from the guys, let us know how it goes.

EA, Harmonix and MTV Games have announced a new expansion for Rock Band in the form of Rock Band Track Pack Volume 2. Filled with 20 songs previously offered as DLC, this disc will be offered up for Wii, 360, PS3, and PS2. The disc can be played as a standalone game, or 360 and PS3 users can import the content into their hard drive similar to the process of bringing original Rock Band songs into Rock Band 2.

Hit the jump for pricing and full song list.

1. Avenged Sevenfold – Afterlife

2. Blondie – Call Me

3. Weezer – El Scorcho

4. Devo – Girl U Want

5. Maximo Park – Girls Who Play Guitars

6. Disturbed – Indestructible

7. Angels & Airwaves – It Hurts

8. The Cars -Just What I Needed

9. The Police – Message in a Bottle

10. Pixies – Monkey Gone to Heaven

11. Duran Duran – Rio

12. Mötley Crüe – Saints of Los Angeles

13. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Simple Man

14. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Snow ((Hey Oh))

15. Nine Inch Nails – The Perfect Drug

16. Fall Out Boy – This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race

17. Papa Roach – Time Is Running Out

18. Garbage – Why Do You Love Me

19. Judas Priest – You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’

20. Smashing Pumpkins – Zero

The pricing is set at $29.99. A pretty cool deal if you don’t already have all or most of the songs. Anyone here planning on running out and grabbing a copy November 17th?

We previously reported that The Beatles would be coming to Rock Band 2 based on what the Wall Street Journal Online deemed information from “several people familiar with the matter”. Unfortunately, those individuals apparently weren’t familiar enough.

The reality of the situation is still pretty cool for gamers and hardcore fans of the group, as a deal for an undisclosed amount has been struck between MTV and Apple Corps. Ltd. to create a stand-alone Beatles game due to come out during next years holiday season.

While an exact amount was not revealed, Martin Bandier, CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing shared the following:

“We signed a deal that would be considered very rich by the videogame company but fair for the artists. It will have online implications that will be enormous.”

This marks the first official digital licensing of the groups catalog, so one can assume that it didn’t come cheap, and Variety reports that discussions between all parties involved began over 17 months ago.

No comment was made regarding the potential remastering of the tracks, which are said to have not been touched in over 20 years. What is known at this time, is that developers will be able to select 45 songs for inclusion into the Beatles game.

When asked for comment, Apple Corps CEO Jeff Jones, did little outside of confirm that the game was already under development.

“The game is in development … We don’t want to talk about how it will turn out a year from now. We’re in the process of creating the game.”

This is great news. I’m thinking “Rock Band: The Beatles Edition”. Now if only someone could convince Zeplin to drink some video game Koolaid.

Source: Variety

Wow. The (remaining, R.I.P.), Beatles have just licensed a number of their songs to Rock Band. This would just be the most popular DLC to date. On top of that, it’s revolutionary (especially for Harmonix & EA) because The Beatles never license their songs to anyone. You can’t even buy their music on iTunes, and Apple’s been trying for years.

The following is a quote from the Wall Street Journal which broke the news:

The Beatles have licensed songs to MTV Networks’ Rock Band videogame series, according to several people familiar with the matter, a coup for the Viacom Inc. unit in its battle with rival Activision Inc. for supremacy in the world of rock and roll video games.

How Harmonix & MTV Music managed to swing this (rumor has it that all they needed was love.), I’ll never know, but somewhere, Steve Jobs is sitting in his eggshell white iFortress crying. I’m sure the Guitar Hero: World Tour development team will soon join him, cymbals in tow, for this is also a huge blow to GHWT, whose launch has produced relatively unfavorable results. I, on the other hand, spent the past 30 minutes trying to seep Beatles puns into this post, and failed miserably. Help! Hit the jump for the press release.

Apple Corps Ltd. and MTV to Announce Exclusive Agreement to Develop Unprecedented Global Music Project

WHAT: Apple Corps Ltd. and MTV to announce an exclusive agreement to develop a global music project.

WHO: Jeff Jones, CEO of Apple Corps, Ltd. Judy McGrath, Chairman and CEO of MTV Networks Van Toffler, President of MTV Networks Music/Logo Group

WHEN: Thursday, October 30, 2008 2:00 pm UK Time, 10:00 am ET, 7:00 AM PT

About Apple Corps. Ltd. Apple Corps Ltd. was founded by The Beatles in 1968 to look after the group’s own affairs. The London-based company has administered the catalogue of The Beatles releases of the 1960s that have sold to date more than 600 million records, tapes and CDs. Since the 1990s Apple has piloted new Beatles projects that have become benchmarks for pioneering accomplishment and which have included The Beatles Anthology projects, the 28 million-selling album The Beatles 1 and the The Beatles LOVE show and CD. Further information on The Beatles’ projects can be found at www.thebeatles.com.

About MTV Networks MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world’s leading creators of entertainment content, with brands that engage and connect diverse audiences across television, online, mobile, games, virtual worlds and consumer products. The company’s portfolio spans more than 150 television channels and 350 digital media properties worldwide, and includes MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Harmonix, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Noggin, The N, AddictingGames, Neopets, COMEDY CENTRAL, Spike TV, TV Land, Atom, Gametrailers and Xfire.

Source: Wall Street Journal (thanks, p0wer-glove!)

UPDATE: It seems that the Wall Street Journal’s report citing “several people familiar with the matter” were not familiar enough. Rather than appearing in Rock Band 2, The Beatles are going to be getting their own game. Read more…

Seven classic Nirvana songs are set to release as downloadable content for Rock Band and Rock Band 2. Costing the usual 160 Microsoft Points (or $1.99) per song, the DLC will be available starting October 21 for Xbox 360 and October 23 for PS3. Another option would be to pick up the Nirvana Track Pack for a modest discount, getting all seven songs for 880 Microsoft Points (or $10.99). So, what’s on the playlist? Why, these effing songs right here:

• Breed
• Lounge Act
• On a Plain
• Polly
• Something in the Way
• Stay Away
• Territorial Pissings

When the hell are we gonna get some Teen Spirit?

Hey look up there! It’s me; I’m so famous! I’m in this band called Your Favorite Constellation, you’ve probably heard of us. No? Probably because we’re not a real band, just a Rock Band…band. But if I chose, I could make myself into an collectible figure, which obviously means I’m famous.

Now you can feel as cool as I do and get all sorts of customized gear for for your plastic instrument-wielding band in Rock Band’s newly launched Merch Store. From cheap stuff like keychains ($3) to full on customized Bandmates™ figures ($69) the store has everything you need to promote your virtual band.

The service is fairly easy to use; you simply have to sign up for RockBand.com and link up your Xbox Live or Playstation Network account to the site. Once that’s done, you can choose your band member, pose them and throw a background in and you’re all set to start making merch! The swag list is pretty long: Buttons ($2), keychains ($3), bumper stickers ($4), posters ($14), shirts ($29) and more. You’ll have so much stuff with your band members and logo on it, people might start thinking that you’re in a real band.

Imagine yourself walking down the street in a shirt with your band’s logo, when a couple of tween girls run up to you screaming, “OMG IT’S THAT GUY FROM THAT BAND!!” You whip out a poster, slap down your priceless autograph and pose for a photo. The life of a rock legend is yours!

Hey, it doesn’t hurt to dream right?

Source: Destructoid

If you grew up listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers like I did, then the headline will make sense to you — if not, here you go.

Rock Band 2 owners will be able to power up their Xbox 360 and download the entire Blood Sugar Sex Magik DLC for 1,600MS Points from XBL. In other words — what XBL got “you got to get it put it in you.” Yeah, I know that song isn’t from BSSM, but I wanted to say it anyway.

So many great tracks in this one album like “Breaking the Girl”, “Under the Bridge”, and a favorite of one of my ex girlfriend’s, “Sir Psycho Sexy”. I wonder if she was trying to tell me something…

Hit the jump for the full track list.

• “The Power of Equality”
• “If You Have to Ask”
• “Breaking the Girl”
• “Funky Monks”
• “Suck My Kiss”
• “I Could Have Lied”
• “Mellowship Slinky in B Major”
• “The Righteous & The Wicked”
• “Blood Sugar Sex Magik”
• “Under the Bridge”
• “Naked in the Rain”
• “Apache Rose Peacock”
• “The Greeting Song”
• “My Lovely Man”
• “Sir Psycho Sexy”
• “They’re Red Hot”

For anyone that’s ever thought “Where the hell am I supposed to put this drum kit?” after a long Rock Band session, Mad Catz has the solution for you. Take away all that plastic that makes the drum kit so bulky (and also allows it to, you know, act like a drum kit) and what you are left with is the drum pads themselves, a kick pedal, and the pseudo-controller. Mad Catz calls this the “Portable Drum Kit”. Genius!

In actuality, the Portable Drum Kit is one of those so-simple-why-didn’t-I-think-of-that kind of devices. Instead of taking up half of a closet or standing as a nerdy eyesore in the corner of your living room, the Portable Drum Kit can be packed up in a bookbag or thrown under the bed. Then, whenever you decide to bust out the drums, you can just use the floor (not very practical) or a coffee table as your drum pad holder… thing. I don’t know how thick and impact-absorbant the pads themselves are, so I would suggest that you probably shouldn’t use your mom’s antique endtable or anything made of glass. Yes, I am quite wise, I know.

One of the stats listed in the product description is that the “drumheads” are designed to withstand over a million strikes. I would sure hope so! Knowing how my brother rocks the drums, a million strikes is only like a week’s worth of play.

I actually stumbled across this thing last night while I was shopping for baby gates on Amazon.com. According to the site, the Portable Drum Kit releases on October 14th and appears to only be available for the Xbox 360 (for 50 bucks). Maybe we can snag one and let you know how it compares. Stay tuned!

In an effort to promote the just-released Rock Band 2 (and the Rock Band experience in general), EA/Harmonix/MTV decided to take the show on the road. Up on the stage at the York Fair in York, Pennsylvania, I got my first taste of Rock Band 2 this past weekend, and it was sweet.

As I watched and took pictures of some random schmoes from the audience, I began talking to one of the Rock Band “Tour Crew” guys. Turns out that a bunch of locations all around the U.S. were assaulted by other Tour Crews, armed with copies of Rock Band 2 and mobile stage trailers. Then I was asked, “Do you wanna play?”

Um, duh? Of course I want to play! They took me around the side of the stage to the back and let me “practice”. I played a few songs before I got called up to rock out for an actual audience, and rock out I did. Unfortunately, the inexperienced fools I was playing with actually failed out, and no amount of stellar awesomeness from yours truly could keep the band afloat until the end of the song.

It was kinda neat, though, that I was the last man standing and got some cheers from the people in the audience that were impressed with my axe-shredding skills on Hard. It was an easy song, though– I’m not quite as good as they thought I was. Regardless, the feeling of fake rocking-out for an actual audience of real people was truly special. The Rock Band 2 special edition bundle should throw some fans in that box, or you could just get off your ass and actually participate in a Rock Band concert.

Can you guess which one of these awesome dudes is me?
(Hint: the one that is the most awesome)

My wife was given the duty of taking my picture while I was up there, but because of all the photo-snapping we had already done that day, the camera was unfortunately out of juice by the time I finally made it on stage. Since she couldn’t use taking my picture as a way to display the “I’m busy” signal, she instead was forced to fend off all these guys attempting to hit on her. In lieu of a picture of me, she scored a bag full of Stride gum for her troubles — I would still rather have the picture.

Even though my time was cut short with the game, the little bit of it that I did get to play really had me excited to run out and buy it. Fortunately for me, the game came out in a few short days and is at this point sitting in my 360’s disc tray. Expect the full Ripten Review soon.

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.

What this means is that any fake guitar, drum set, and microphone that you may purchase along with Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour, or Rock Revolution would work in any of those games. You only need to buy one set of instruments to enjoy any and all of these pretend rock experiences.

Sony is supposedly working to get SingStar microphones to also be compatible, as well as getting the current Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band guitars to play nice together.

Source: Gamasutra via Gamerscore Blog

When most people get stuck with something they don’t like, they just sit in their own filth and complain about it. Some people, however, like this guy over at eDrums.info, take matters into their own hands.

Not everyone likes the Rock Band drums, understandably. This guy really didn’t like them, so instead of just posting “Harmonix are full of lose” on a forum, he decided to MacGyver it and whip up his own set of RB drums with some everyday materials and a whole lot of ingenuity. He uses lots of wood, some cut up buckets, window mesh, and guts the Harmonix drums to make his own kit – and the end result seems responsive, a lot quieter, and looks like a whole lot of fun. They’ll even double as the real thing if you hook them up to a drum module.

Check them out in action, playing “I Think I’m Paranoid,” in a video after the jump.

Source: Edrums.info via Engadget