Rock Band Patches Up to v1.4

Harmonix released a new patch for the PlayStation 3 version of Rock Band today, version 1.4, to fix up the in-game store. The store was broken after the launch of the new PlayStation Store, but it is now fixed. The store will also get the new songs before the PlayStation Store does, making it all nice and easy. Enjoy!

[Rockband 1.4 Patch Released for PS3]

Portal's "Still Alive" Coming to Rock Band Next Month

On April 17, 2008, the PlayStation Store will be receiving some cake. It's not a lie this time. The famous ending song of Portal, titled "Still Alive" by Jonathan Coulton will be arriving on April 17, 2008 for the low price of $0.00. Yeah, that means free.

We should of been receiving it this Thursday or tomorrow, but due to the "no updates" till April 17, 2008, we will have to wait.

[Rock Band Weekly: Still Alive free tomorrow on XBM, April 17 for PSN]

Rock Band In-Game Store Launches

The new Rock Band patch that includes the in-game store and faster loading of downloadable content was just released today. The new patch should be a 30-second download allowing users to use the new in-game store, showing us previews of songs and difficulty levels for each song, and load up our downloadable content much faster.

If you own the game, load up that disc and get that update!

Rock Band Patch Adding In-Game Music Store

A new patch for Rock Band will be releasing soon with some new features. The most noticable addition for the Rock Band patch is that there will be a new in-game music store. The full list of updates below.

• Increased diversity in Band World Tour song selection.
  
• Improved phoneme recognition
  
• Microphone latency on PS3 improved.
  
• Faster loading of DLC

Some of the new pictures reveal that they plan on releasing full rock albums as downloadable content.

[Rock Band patch adds in-game store]

Rock Band: Earache Thrash Pack Coming Next Thursday

Next Thursday, Rock Band is going to be giving us an earache with the new downloadable content that will be added to it's growing list. Thats right, Rock Band will be receiving the Earache Thrash Pack ($5.49), with the songs below.

- "Blinded By Fear" by At the Gates ($1.99)
- "Thrasher" by Evile ($1.99)
- "D.O.A." by The Haunted ($1.99)

Look forward to seeing these in the store during the next PlayStation Store update.

[DLC Week of 3/18]

Rock Band Going for $150 at Target This Week

If your still deciding whether or not to buy Rock Band (great game, by the way), and are worrying about the price, then you might want to check out Target this week. The game will be going for $149.99 instead of it's regular $169.99 which is a great savings of $20. So, decide quick, and start rocking.

[Rock Band bundle only $149 at Target this week]

Upcoming Rock Band DLC for February 7, 2008

This Thursday's upcoming PLAYSTATION Store content features what else, more Rock Band songs. This week, we get some Kiss, Faith No More, and B52's. The list below.

- "Calling Dr. Love" by Kiss
- "We Care A Lot" by Faith No More
- "Roam" by the B52's

Expect to see this content on the store Thursday.

[New DLC Week of 2/05/08]

Rock Band Is Now "Playing" On The Radio

If your ready to read something that headlines "ultimate geekiness", then read on.

A DJ at east coast radio station WFMU will be playing his copy of Rock Band live on the air tomorrow morning with the help of some of his local listeners via online play.

Screams ridiculous much? Imagine hearing the bad singers over the radio. I smell many confused listeners tomorrow.

[Radio Station to Broadcast People Playing Rock Band on Air]

Rock Band Microphone Spotted in the Wild

The Rock Band Microphone along with drum sticks for the Rock Band Drumset have been spotted at a Best Buy in Cuyahoga Falls, OH.

The microphone is going for $50 with no mention of the drum sticks. Even though they announced the Drumset and Guitar are going on retail next month, the microphone was missing from the announcement. It makes sense for in stores.

[Via JoyStiq]

Rock Band Instruments Going Stand Alone In February

Starting February 12, 2008, individual instruments for Rock Band will begin shipping to stores in the United States. These instruments include the Guitar, Drum Set, and Microphone. You can view the press release below. [Thanks GT]

Harmonix and EA Confirm Plans to Ship Stand Alone Instruments for Rockband on February 12th

Harmonix, one of the world’s leading developers of music-based games, and MTV Games, part of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), along with distribution partner Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), announced today that individual instrument peripherals for Rock Band™ will start shipping to U.S. store shelves beginning on February 12th.

“The release of standalone instruments allows Rock Band musicians to enjoy the full Rock Band experience, including drum, microphone and guitar head-to-head modes, creating a whole new level of competitive fun,” said Alex Rigopulos, CEO and co-founder, Harmonix. “We’re also delivering a stand-alone wireless guitar solution for all versions of Rock Band as well as providing the opportunity for consumers to build their band one instrument at a time.”

With standalone instrument peripherals being made available, players have the opportunity to expand the full Rock Bandexperience by competing in challenging play modes such as Microphone vs. Microphone, Drum vs. Drum and Guitar vs. Guitar. With instrument “versus” modes, gamers can battle against each other in “Score Duel” mode for the high score or in the challenging “Tug-O-War” mode, where giving the best performance is key. These exciting “versus” modes can be played locally or online and work with all Rock Band downloaded song tracks. In order to play downloadable content for head-to-head matches all players must own the same downloadable track. In addition, gamers can buy a new wireless standalone guitar to round out their Rock Band Special Edition Bundle or choose to build their band piece by piece through the purchase of individual software and instruments.

EA: Rock Band to Get Physical Expansions

Rock Band's song list just keeps growing and growing. Every week, we get some new downloadable songs, and soon we should be getting full album downloads. What if a Rock Band owner doesn't have the internet though?

MTV have told Reuters that once full albums start hitting and more and more artists are brought onboard, they'll be releasing standalone expansions. MTVN's Van Toffler:

We are talking to tons of bands, from indie to the most established ... to release not necessarily their entire catalog, but maybe some of their classic albums and do special packages around that.

Well, good to hear for those not connected to the world that is the internet (how are you reading this?). It's all about the money, baby.

[Via Kotaku]

Rock Band Song Creator in the Works?

Rock Band is an extremely fun game to play, trust me, my brother has it and I can't wait to pick one up for myself. The song set for Rock Band is a mass list, with new songs being added to the PLAYSTATION Store for download each week. Wouldn't it be better to put our own music in the game though?

In a new interview with Boston.com, Harmonix's VP of Product Development Greg LoPioccolo was asked if a program to make your own tracks into Rock Band songs would be possible. He answered, "It is conceivable, and would be awesome. We continue to talk about this possibility. I can't commit to such a thing at this point, but would love to tackle it if we could find a way."

This would be no problem to do on the PLAYSTATION 3 due to their allowance of user-created content, but for the Xbox 360 version, it may cause' a problem, as all DLC has to go through to Microsoft.

[Via GameDaily]

Mad Catz Making Rock Band Accesories

Mad Catz has obtained the rights to manufacture, market, and sell Rock Band peripherals such as new guitars and drums.

Mad Catz are going to produce instrument controllers for the PLAYSTAITON 3, Xbox 360, and PS2, with guitars coming in wired or wireless varieties.

“The addition of the Rock Band license is consistent with Mad Catz’ stated goal to align ourselves with the most attractive brands and highly-anticipated software releases while seeking additional accessory opportunities to further diversify and grow our revenue base," said Mad Catz CEO Darren Richardson in a statement.

[Via Next-Gen.biz]

Rock Band Upcoming DLC (for January 3, 2008)

Due to Sony's offices being closed down for the holidays, our next PLAYSTATION Store update will be on January 3, 2008. That means we will see our Rock Band content a week after Xbox Live does, although we were supposed to receive it at the same time. Here is the content that will be coming late.

- Attack - 30 Seconds To Mars ($1.00)
- The Kill - 30 Seconds To Mars ($1.00)
- Dirty Little Secret - All-American Rejects ($1.00)
- Move Along - All-American Rejects ($1.00)
- Song With A Mission - The Sounds ($1.00)

Be sure to check our update post next week when we see what else is coming with the January 3, 2008 store update.

[Via Rock Band Forums]

Rock Band Downloadble Content Coming to PLAYSTATION 3 Late

In an official post on the Rock Band forums, Harmonix Developer HMXSean revealed that due to the PLAYSTATION Store not having an update next week, the Rock Band DLC will come a week after schedule.

"Harmonix Developer

There will be DLC next week. An announcement will go out today or Monday.

Sony's offices are closed next week and the DLC will be postponed for a week until they come back (but they'll be back on schedule the following week when they get a double-dose of DLC awesomeness). It will go up in the Xbox Marketplace as regularly scheduled."

Hopefully, your presents will keep you occupied.

[Via Kotaku]

Activision Explains Rock Band Patch Delay

Activision revealed today the reasons behind the delay of the Guitar Hero III controller patch for the PLAYSTATION 3 version of Rock Band.

They explained that compensation is the issue halting the release of the patch. Currently, the Xbox 360 version of the game is the only version allowing the use of the Guitar Hero III guitars. Harmonix submitted the patch to Sony a while ago, but it was stopped.

Activision spokeswoman Maryanne Lataif clarified earlier statements. "Unfortunately for Rock Band users, Harmonix has been unwilling to discuss an agreement that will allow us to provide that option in a manner that maintains the high standards people have come to expect from Activision," she told the newspaper, adding, "We believe we should be compensated for the use of our technology."

Hopefully, this will be resolved soon.

[Via Game Informer]

Rock Band: Site Updated: Rocker's Home

The official site for Harmonix's Rock Band was revamped today. The new update includes new community features in the rocker's home part of the site.

You can view the latest rockers that are just joining the phenomenon that is Rock Band, you can view the newest bands, leaderboards, etc.

Visit the site at the link below.

[Via Rock Band]

Sony Neutral On Rock Band Patch Issue

Harmonix once said if the consumers demanded it, they will do it. Consumers demanded a patch for Rock Band to support Guitar Hero III's Les Paul PLAYSTATION 3 controllers, so they got to work. They submitted a patch to Sony Computer Entertainment America, but Activison objected to its release. Sony's stand?

"This is a matter that needs to be resolved between Harmonix/MTV and Activision regarding Intellectual Property," said a SCEA spokesperson to 1UP. "At SCEA, we of course want this resolved and to ensure the best possible gaming experience. We encourage MTV, Harmonix and Activision to discuss this among themselves so there can be an amicable resolution in the best interest of the consumer."

Hopefully, MTV and Harmonix will force to patch to a go-ahead, as this doesn't really give us much answers. Hopefully we will see the patch early 2008.

[Via 1UP]

Rock Band PLAYSTATION 3 Controller Patch Confirmed

A Harmonix associate has confirmed today that a patch for Rock Band regarding the PLAYSTATION 3 controller is on it's way. He wrote.

"PS3 Controller Compatibility Routine Patch

Hey
everybody,

Good news, see below (this patch should be available quite soon, maybe even up now as of this posting)-

Available today is a routine update for the PLAYSTATION 3 version of Rock Band that addresses a number of items related to guitar controller compatibility. Should Rock Band owners choose to obtain the update, they will need broadband internet access connected to their PLAYSTATION 3. The update will be downloaded once the game is started.

Enjoy,
Sean"

The patch will be available today but is not yet up for download. Keep watchuing your Rock Band.

[Via Rock Band Forums]

Broken Rock Band Guitar? Get a Free EA Game!

If you've been waiting for your broken Rock Band guitar to arrive in the mail, and still haven't received it, chances are that you will probably receive a free EA Game with it when you do.

A member of the official Rock Band forums received an e-mail today from EA about the situation.

"Greetings Rocker,

Congratulations on your purchase of Rock Band!

After reviewing our records, we see that your recent request for a replacement guitar has been subject to an unacceptably long delay due to a late shipment from our manufacturer.

By the time you receive this, your replacement guitar should be on its way to you. However, the Rock Band team is committed to providing a world-class customer experience and we do not believe we have met this commitment in connection with your request. As a token of our appreciation for your patience and understanding, we will be offering you a FREE EA game. Details will follow shortly.

We are sorry if your first experience with Rock Band has not met your expectations. We hope our gift will show you how committed we are to your satisfaction.

Thank you,
The Rock Band Team"

So far, there is no details on what the selection of games will be. If we find out, we will let you know.

[Via Rock Band Forums]