Harmonix has a knack for making music game. The Massachusetts based studio is the driving force behind the plastic instrument trend that swept the world a few years ago, creating the Guitar Hero, Rock Band and Dance Central franchises. But before all that, the studio was behind EyeToy: Antigrav, a motion controlled game for Sony’s PS2 Eye Toy, and now it seems that the studio is looking to get back into the non-rhyhtmic ring.

“I think we’re always open-minded about new opportunities,” Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos told Joystiq in an interview at the Tokyo Game Show. “Certainly our focus always has been and probably always will be on music-themed games,” he added, but his company’s involvement with Dance Central has rekindled the studio’s interest in other types of motion-based gaming. “A perfect example is the Kinect, which I think that through our work on Dance Central we’ve developed an affinity for — towards motion gaming.”

The studio has quite the track record when it comes to motion games, creating not only the early EyeToy favorite, but Dance Central, widely regarded as the Kinect game. The studio’s next release will be Dance Central 2.

LOS ANGELES — Here we are at E3, a magazine from Boston. And from Boston, there are some amazing developers of video games.

The biggest local question: Can Harmonix keep it going with Dance Central 2, or have we seen the end of the music video game?

Four local game makers had big news to unveil at the show so far this year, including Irrational Games, of Quincy; Turbine Inc., of Needham, Quick Hit Inc., of Foxborough and of course Cambridge’s own Harmonix Music Systems Inc.

Harmonix has the most riding on the expo. The music game maker is on troubled waters. In February, Harmonix, which created the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises, announced nearly 40 layoffs amid slumping sales figures that spurred parent company Viacom/MTV Games to unload it in a firesale.

At E3 this year, Harmonix showed off the sequel to its latest project, Dance Central, an Xbox 360 exclusive title that was one of the first games built on Microsoft’s Kinect motion capture technology.

Dance Central 2 continues the trend of completely controller-free, full-body motion capture which has made Kinect different than Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s Move technologies.

The sequel adds real-time multiplayer, allowing two people to bust their moves at the same time. And if you get tired, another friend can jump right in mid-song without penalty.

“We just wanted to get people dancing together,” said Kasson Crooker, senior producer at Harmonix. “The game really shows off Kinect really well. Whenever people talk about Kinect, they talk about our game.”

Dance Central was developed parallel to Kinect, and released around the same time.

“Harmonix adapted and embraced Microsoft’s Kinect peripheral, making Dance Central the system’s first killer app,” said Will Tuttle, a video game industry expert and editor in chief at GameSpy.com. “While this week’s announcement of multiplayer dancing in Dance Central 2 wasn’t earth shattering, you can bet that fans of the first game will snatch it up.”

Dance Central 2 will include more than 40 songs, including music from Rihanna, B.o.B, Usher, Nicki Minaj, and Far East Movement. AL CQ

Harmonix introduced Dance Central here at E3 last year. The game was a success when it launched, selling about 2.5 million copies so far, Crooker said.

Tuttle thinks the company will come out of this year successfully.

“No matter what they do next, I think Harmonix has shown that they know music games far better than any developer in the game industry,” he said. “More importantly, the musicians themselves now respect Harmonix enough to work closely with them, ensuring a finished product that is more polished than competing games.”

But a change was obvious for Harmonix at the show this year. In years past, the company was a larger-than-life presence at E3. In 2009, during the Beatles Rock Band hype, the company erected mock concert stages and had one of the largest booths at the show. Last year’s was 100,000 square feet, with Dance Central. Harmonix had dance floors created to show off the game. This year, Harmonix, under new ownership, was relegated to sharing space with five other Kinect games inside Microsoft’s booth.

The problem for Harmonix has been the plateauing and quickly declining popularity of music games. Sales problems resulted in conflict with Harmonix parent company Viacom/MTV Games, which put Harmonix on the block. In December, Harmonix was bought by New York investment firm Columbus Nova LLC for $50 in cash and the assumption of $100 million in liabilities.

Elsewhere around the Bay State’s presence in LA, tiny Quick Hit actually busted out of the gate first, with the announcement Monday that it would be essentially bought out by Majesco Entertainment Co., of New Jersey.

Quick Hit produces a free online football strategy game which received a coveted NFL license last year.

Majesco paid about $800,000 for nearly all of the company’s assets and will hire all of its employees, CEO and founder Jeffrey Anderson who will join Majesco as its Senior Vice President of Social Games.

The move makes sense for Majesco, as the company is focused on casual and social gaming and is trying to make a big move into sports this year. Majesco also announced Monday that it would develop an NBA licensed basketball game that uses casual elements combined with motion capture technology. That game is due out next spring.

Irrational, the Quincy-based arm of 2K Games, is the studio behind the Bioshock video game franchise. It did not exhibit at E3 last year, but this year it showed off a new game and hinted at a second new title in the works.

At a Sony press event Monday, Ken Levine, Irrational’s creative director, announced that the PlayStation 3 version of its upcoming Bioshock Infinite game would be compatible with PlayStation Move for motion capture. Levine also said that he had a “pet project” in the works – a Bioshock game for Sony’s new PlayStation Vita handheld system. He did not give the project a name or release any other details on the game.

The barebones announcement still set off fuses of excitement in the gaming community.

“That’s all we know. But like, isn’t that enough to pique your interest? It’s enough for us,” blogged Justin McElroy, the reviews editor at Joystiq, who was covering the Sony event.

Another consistent local success story at E3 is Turbine. After being purchased by Warner last year and taking its popular online role playing game The Lord of the Rings Online from a subscription model to a free play model, Turbine now runs the number 3 and 4 online RPGs in the world, in Lord of the Rings and Dungeons and Dragons Online.

At E3 this year, Turbine announced the Rise of Isengard expansion pack, which adds three new regions for players to explore as well as expanding the leveling-up ability to 75, and adding a 24-player cooperative mode as players explore and save Middle Earth. (more on that later this week)

Also at E3, Immerz Inc., with an office in Cambridge, showed off a new and improved version of its KOR-fx device, which places an audio peripheral on the user’s chest, allowing them to actually feel what’s going on in a game or a movie. The company sees applications for the device in movie theaters, theme parks, and now with video games. Inventor Shahriar Afshar CQ announced yesterday the company’s first partnership for a video game built with KOR-fx technology, High Flyer Death Defyer, upcoming from Game Mechanic Studios, which also makes the Resistance franchise on the PlayStation.

The newly designed version of the KOR-fx was a brilliant move. Immerz waited until the product was ready in order to set a release date. Blast checked out this product at E3 last year, and it just wasn’t ready for shelves. There were too many wires, and it felt like you were being hooked up to some kind of polygraph by the time you turned on your movie or video game. The new version can be used wired (with fewer wires) or wireless, so that it does not get in your way. It was a smart move that will help the product when it launches this fall, especially in its near $200 price point.

When Activision announced that they were effectively killing off the Guitar Hero franchise, the next obvious question was, what would happen to Rock Band. Rest assured, Harmonix, the game’s Massachusetts based developer has no intentions of killing off the series, instead, they’d rather re-imagine it.

“The marketplace is clearly demanding something very new,” Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos said in an interview with Edge Magazine. “It’s clearly demanding a dramatic evolution of the Rock Band franchise, I think that’s actually exciting for us.”

Things haven’t been so great for Harmonix lately,as the development studio was recently sold by Viacom and has since gone back to it’s humble beginnings as an independent developer. Still though, Rigopulos is very optimistic for the future of the franchise and the music genre in general.

Rigopulos noted that Rock Band 3 will still receive DLC and updates throughout the year, and that the company is working on a sequel to it’s wildly popular Kinect title Dance Central, but also added that the company is looking past the titles, to something new in the motion control field. ”It’s safe to say you’ll see a lot more in that domain from Harmonix beyond Dance Central,” Rigopulos teased. “We’d be absolutely open-minded about that.”

In an industry seemingly in love with zombies, it’s not hard to believe a game could rise from the dead. Hell, just look at Duke Nukem Forever. But could we be seeing a Guitar Hero resurrection down the road?

Maybe.

Speaking with CNBC about the decision to discontinue the Guitar Hero franchise, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick left the door open to the series returning in some way. “”We can never say never, but over the past two years we have seen rapid declines in the music genre, and unfortunately, based on current demand, we simply cannot continue to profitably make these games given the considerable licensing and manufacturing costs.”

Kotick also talked about the company’s decision to scrap a long running, but albeit thinning fan favorite. “We had three fantastic products in the marketplace in the [music] genre this year, our two games, DJ Hero 2 and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, and then Rock Band did a terrific game, but it’s just not a category that’s getting consumers enthusiastic right now, and so I think you need to focus your resources on the things that really gets consumers excited.”

“”If something’s not working, we’ll take it off the table, maybe reinvent it in the future, but our focus is really on figuring out what are the things that are going to excite audiences the most.”

Earlier this year, Viacom announced plans to sell off Cambridge-based Harmonix, creators of the Rock Band and Dance Central franchises. You didn’t expect it to get ugly did you?

Gamasutra reports that Harmonix founders, along with a group of now ex-shareholders have filed a lawsuit against Viacom for failing to pay on performance based incentives for the Rock Band franchise.

The lawsuit claims that the acquisition deal promised that Harmonix shareholders would be awarded with 3.5 times any gross profit of the Rock Band franchise over $32 million in 2007, a deal that Gamasutra states had “no cap.” A similar deal applied to 2008 for profits over $45 million. According to the suit, the shareholders allege that Viacom negotiated a deal with EA that intentionally raised Rock Band profits, but lessened what was to be received by Harmonix.

As of this writing, Viacom has yet to comment on the suit or the allegations.

When Viacom announced plans to sell off Rock Band and Dance Central  developer Harmonix, it was all but assumed that EA, publisher of the Rock Band games would pick them up. According to an interview with John Riccitiello; it’s not looking likely.

“We’re still out of favor,” EA’s CEO John Riccitiello told Bloomberg. “Moves that look like I’m doubling down on yesterday would make it harder still to convince investors that tomorrow is the Promised Land.”

“I’m sure some smart investor will buy the business feeling that they can catch a falling knife,” he continued, “but more people have been cut trying to catch falling knives than have benefitted from getting the timing exactly right.”

Taylor Momsen attends the Material Girl collection launch at Macys Herald Square on September 22 in New York. (WireImage)

Controversial actress, Taylor Momsen, 17, has been sort of gone this season on “Gossip Girl.”

Momsen is contracted through season seven, but she has been sidelined for most of this year.

Us Magazine reports that she simply doesn’t care about the plot or the other “Gossip Girl” members.

Momsen, who also fronts the rock band Pretty Reckless, has grown up and changed a lot since her debut at age 7 in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

Us Weekly even reports that she flashed her breasts to the crowd at her Oct. 21 Pretty Reckless concert in NYC.

Momsen had requested that her dressing room include a full bar. The request was denied.

Media giant Viacom has announced that they plan on selling Harmonix, the Cambridge-based game developer responsible for Dance Central on Kinect and the Rock Band franchise.

The move comes on the heels of word that Harmonix has recorded its fourth straight year of loses, and that sales of music genre games like Rock Band and Activision’s rival Guitar Hero series (which was also created by Harmonix) in recent years. Just how bad are things for the developer? Viacom revealed in a regulatory filing that Harmonix had a net loss of $87 million on $362 million in revenue in 2009 and a net loss of $24 million on $678 million in revenue in 2008.

Harmonix has many potential suiters for a buyout, including Electronic Arts, which has a long standing publishing deal with the firm, and Activision, who may look to reacquire the studio in an effort to regain a larger, nearly complete, portion of the music video game genre.

Stick with Blast Magazine for more on this developing story.

The music industry is filled with albums we’ll never forget. The Beatle’s Abbey Road defined a generation in transition. Michael Jackson’s Thriller announced the arrival of a new standard. Nirvana’s Nevermind was the voice of a changing American landscape. Rock Band 3 is all of this, and more; much more.

Rock Band 3 is a phenomenal achievement that not only rejuvenates a dying genre, it redefines it. With a slew of tweaks and a set of cool new features, the newest Rock Band title bridges the gap between musical game andmusic in general.  Simply put, Rock Band 3 proves that Harmonix are still the masters of the genre, even with a whole new set of challengers.

Rock Band 3 succeeds mainly on the strength of its own ambition of all else.  While most music games are okay with the idea of being just that – a game – Rock Band 3 aims a bit higher. With the game’s new Pro Mode, it becomes less about high scores with plastic peripherals and more about learning actual music notes. Rather than merely matching up the now expected colored boxes, Pro Mode tasks players with playing actual notes. Please note, the mode isn’t for everyone, in fact – some will hate, but it opens up a brand new, and much deeper experience for those already fluent, or looking to become so at their instrument of choice. Pro modes requires a new instrument – be it a drum-kit add-on or the insane pro-mode guitar complete with 102 buttons and the ability to use it as an actual guitar, but if you’re serious about music – you’re going to want to experience pro mode. Take that Prince.

The Rock Band experience has always been about vocals, guitar, bass and drums, but Rock Band 3 introduces players to a new addition to the band – the keyboard. Now, it may not seem as badass as the other choices, it is a great addition to the lineup, and tons of fun to play. There’s a ton of keyboard centric tracks here, and you can use the controller as an extra guitar for those songs that don’t make much use of the peripheral. While the keyboard feels just as rewarding as the drums or guitar, certain sections of certain songs can be downright challenging. While learning the ins and outs of the keyboards, odds are you’ll probably going to fail…a…lot.

Speaking of the set list, I can honestly say that Rock Band 3’s is easily the best of the franchise. Come on, how can you down a game that features both The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News and Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen? There’s a pretty wide variety of content here, and though not everything is going to please everyone, you should be able to find enough to keep you busy – especially considering that all of the previous songs from Rock Band 1 and 2 are compatible with the third game. Seriously, that’s over 2000 songs you can choose from. With that much content, it can be pretty hard to navigate, but luckily Rock Band 3 comes packed with a whole new way to sort your tracks. Now, you can sort by everything from number of vocal parts (the game also supports the three part harmonies introduced in Beatle’s Rock Band), decade, genre and more.

Rock Band 3 is also much more accessible than its predecessors. In previous titles, you had to earn fans strictly by playing the career mode, here though, you can do that in just about any game mode (save for the Tutorial of course). Players can now drop in and drop out of gameplay as they wish, as well as being able to navigate menus for each player without disrupting the experience of others.

The Blast Factor: If you’re into music games – Rock Band 3 is an absolute must buy. If you’ve been burnt out on the genre and haven’t played on in a while, here’s the perfect chance to come back.  Rock Band 3 is a cultural achievement because it questions what a music game can be. Simply put, it doesn’t get much better than this.

In support of the coming release of Rock Band 3 in October, MTV Games confirmed the launch of four web sites catered to the European Rock Band fanbase. The websites will feature, in addition to franchise information and local community forums, localized news features and links to an ecommerce store, operated by Mad Catz, which will sell Rock Band software, hardware, and accessories.

“"The Rock Band community is one of the most vibrant in the world, and we’re pleased to give European Rock Band fans a localized place to go for news, forum postings and ecommerce," said Roy Campbell, VP of MTV Games International. "We’re really looking forward to hearing from the international community, in their own voices.”

To check out the Rock Band local websites, follow the links below:

http://www.RockBand3.co.uk/

http://www.rockband3.de/

http://www.rockband3.fr/

http://www.rockband.se/

Harmonix and MTV Games today announced that a nine pack of country songs from artists including Eric Church, Jamey Johnson, Lady Antebellum and more will be added next week to the Rock Band Music Store of downloadable content for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii.

The DLC pack will be available for purchase as the “Going Country Pack 04″ and also as individual tracks for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, while on the Wii they will be available for purchase as individual tracks only. The full list of tracks is below:

·         Dierks Bentley—"What Was I Thinkin’"

·         Eric Church — "Hell on the Heart"

·         Jamey Johnson — "Women"

·         Josh Turner — "Would You Go With Me" +

·         Keith Urban — "Days Go By" +

·         Lady Antebellum — "Lookin’ For a Good Time"

·         Laura Bell Bundy — "Rebound"

·         Reba McEntire — "Fancy" +

·         Sugarland — "It Happens" +

Songs marked with a “+” will also be available in the family friendly LEGO Rock Band Music Store.

For more information, please visit http://www.rockband.com/music.

Harmonix and MTV Games have announced that tracks from punk legends Bad Religion and The Stooges will be available this week in the Rock Band Music Store, for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and the Nintendo Wii.

Bad Religion, who recently celebrated their 30th anniversary, and who will be releasing a new album on September 28 called “The Dissent of Man”, will offer up two tracks for download. “New Dark Ages” from their 2007 album, New Maps of Hell, and “No Control” from their 1989 album of the same name.

The Stooges will be coming to the Rock Band Store with “The Stooges Pack 01″, which will include “1969″, “I Wanna Be Your Dog”, and “No Fun”, all from the group’s debut album, “The Stooges”, which was originally released in 1969.

All of these tracks are the original master recordings, and will be available for download tomorrow, July 20.

One of the best bands to listen to while you’re pounding beers, Creedence Clearwater Revival, make their debut in Rock Band’s Music Store today with the “Creedence Clearwater Revival Pack 01″.

The Creedence Pack features 12 of the bands biggest hits, including “Bad Moon Rising”, “Born on the Bayou”, “Down on the Corner”, “Fortunate Son”, “Green River”, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”, “Lookin’ Out My Back Door”, “Proud Mary”, “Run Through the Jungle”, “Travelin’ Band”, “Up Around the Bend”, and “Who’ll Stop the Rain”.

These tracks will be available for purchase for download via the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and the Nintendo Wii.

Fans of terrible music (and more than likely, NASCAR) will no doubt be very excited to know that starting tomorrow, June 29, Nickelback will be making their debut in Rock Band’s Music Store with a six-pack of downloadable songs. “Nickelback Pack 01″ will include “Burn it to the Ground” and “This Afternoon” from 2008′s album, Dark Horse. Also included in this shit-fest of downloadable content are “Photograph” and “Rockstar” from 2005′s All the Right Reasons, “Figured You Out” from 2003′s The Long Road, and “Never Again” from 2001′s Silver Side Up.

These tracks will be available for purchase on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii.

Just in time for the release of his new album “Scream”, Ozzy Osbourne will be making his Rock Band debut on Tuesday, June 15th, with a six-pack of songs in the Rock Band Music Store of downloadable content for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Wiiâ„¢.

"It’s great to bring my songs to Rock Band, especially material from the new album, Scream," said Ozzy Osbourne. "I hope Rock Band players around the world are ready to have their living rooms invaded by me!"

“Harmonix and MTV are excited to bring Ozzy Osbourne’s epic music to Rock Band,” said Paul DeGooyer, SVP, Electronic Games and Music, MTV Networks. “It’s very cool that Ozzy fans will get to experience both his classic and very latest songs through our platform.”

Oh, and if this isn’t all enough for you Ozzy super fans, MTV is celebrating Ozzy Osbourne’s debut in Rock Band across its television channels, including the following:

·         VH1 Classic: Airings of a special 30-minute show celebrating Ozzy’s career and new album that will begin airing June 15

·         MTV2: Ozzy will host a special edition of Headbangers Ball and You Rock the Deuce, airing the week of June 20

·         MTVU: Special Ozzy segment in The Feed

Harmonix and MTV Games announced today, that indie rock darlings (and Billy Joel soundalikes) Spoon, and Nu-Metal/Mook Rock/God Squadders P.O.D. will be making their Rock Band debut early next week, via the Rock Band Music Store.

The “Spoon Pack #1″ will feature their songs “Trouble Comes Running”, “Don’t You Evah”, “I Turn My Camera On”, and “Got Nuffin”.

P.O.D. will only be getting one entry, with their 2001 radio hit “Alive.” (What, no “Youth of The Nation”?!)

These will all be available for download in the Rock Band Music Store, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii on June 1.

While Rock Band (and games of that ilk) are without a doubt not as popular as they were just a couple of years ago, many gamers are still anticipating the release of  Green Day: Rock Band, due out next month for the Xbox 360, Ps3, and Wii.

Well, as of today, your wait for this games release just got a little easier, as Harmonix and MTV Games made a demo of Green Day: Rock Band, available for download on both Xbox Live, and Sony’s Playstation Network Store.

The free demo features full, playable versions of “Welcome To Paradise” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”.

Green Day: Rock Band, features full integration of motion capture band performances and the three-part harmony technology first introduced in last year’s award-winning The Beatles: Rock Band.

The series finale of LOST aired last night. Twitter exploded, heads rolled and tears were shed.

Though the show may now be over, it won’t soon be forgotten, as songs from the sci-fi drama will arrive in the Rock Band music store in the near future.

Gaming site and television channel G4 is reporting two original songs, heard only in the show, will make their way to the popular music game. If you’re a fan of the series, you probably have a guess at which songs were chosen, but for those outside the loop, here’s the skinny.

The cast

Driveshaft’s “You All Everybody” and Geronimo Jackson’s “Dharma Lady” are the tunes in question and G4 thinks they’ll show up on the Rock Band Network in the next few days.

Don’t know about you, but I think it’s pretty neat when two major mediums: television and videogames, pool their creative essences and end up with a mash-up like this. No mention of price or specific date of availability. But wouldn’t it be great if both songs were free?

via G4

In my estimation and based on my personal experiences, people either love or hate the 90s metal band Pantera.

If you’re in the latter group and enjoy the melodies and biting guitar riffs of the late Dimebag Darrell, you should be pleased to learn Pantera’s 1996 The Great Southern Trendkill is coming to the world of Rock Band next week.

Each song is $2/160 MS Points/200 Wii Points or $15.99/1280 MS Points for the entire pack (not available for Wii).

Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 system (May 25):

· "The Great Southern Trendkill"

· "War Nerve"

· "Drag the Waters"

· "10′s"

· "13 Steps to Nowhere"

· "Suicide Note Pt. II"

· "Living Through Me (Hell’s Wrath)

· "Floods"

· "The Underground in America"

· "(Reprise) Sandblasted Skin"

(All tracks are original master recordings; "Suicide Note Pt. I" is not included in this pack.)

(These tracks will be available in Europe on PlayStation 3 May 26)

Harmonix made no mention in the release if these songs will also be available in the kid friendly LEGO: Rock Band music store, but, being Pantera, we wouldn’t expect to see them there anyway.

Harmonix, makers of the famed Rock Band series, are primed and ready to unleash Green Day: Rock Band, their second band-specific game, following The Beatles: Rock Band of last year, in just a few weeks on June 8. However, if some is good, more seems to be better as the game-maker has posted a survey today in hopes of gauging interest in the next big thing.

The survey is short and sweet; only two questions long.

The first asks, “would you be likely to buy a dedicated Rock band video game by ANY of the following artists, knowing the game would contain music ONLY by the specific artist?

The options are:

Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Queen, U2 and Led Zeppelin.

The next question asks, “which artist would you like like to see in a dedicated Rock Band video game,” where you can select up to three of the above options.

It might happen

Actually, there are three questions. The third asks you for a write-in vote, which you can answer with anything you’d like.

Of course, Harmonix issued a disclaimer, to hopefully nullify the wild rumors that are likely to immediately spread.

“In the interest of immediately addressing suspicion and heading rumors off before they start, this poll is not an indication, implication, hint, suggestion, guarantee or promise that Harmonix is going make games based on any or all of the bands listed in this poll. We know how excited Rock Band super fans get about uncovering the next big thing, so we wanted to clear that up right from the start,” reads the statement.

Well now, it looks like this little thing we call the music-game genre is in fact going nowhere, instead growing and growing. Just imagine; a Led Zeppelin: Rock Band, that’d sell millions and millions you’d have to think.

Take the survey here.

Harmonix and MTV Games today announced next week’s downloadble songs coming to the world of Rock Band and named a solid six-pack from famed rockers Grateful Dead, the tunes you’ll rock out to.

Oh, and a couple songs from The Smithereens are there too.

Songs with + indicate availability in the LEGO: Rock Band Music Store. All songs are master recordings and will cost you $2 each or $9.99/800 MS Points for the Grateful Dead pack.

Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 system (May 18):

·         Grateful Dead — "Beat It on Down the Line" +

·         Grateful Dead — "Cumberland Blues" +

·         Grateful Dead — "Scarlet Begonias" +

·         Grateful Dead — "Throwing Stones"

·         Grateful Dead — "Touch of Grey" +

·         Grateful Dead — "U.S. Blues" +

·         The Smithereens — "A Girl Like You"

·         The Smithereens — "Only a Memory" +

Green Day’s own Rock Band title, Green Day: Rock Band, which is due out in just a couple of weeks, will feature 47 tracks from the band’s storied career, but that’s not enough for the punk rockin’ trio.

Green Day

In an interview with the Game Informer magazine, Green Day drummer Tre Cool expressed interest and readiness to extend the band’s digital legacy to beyond the tunes on the disc.

We wanted it all to go on there, but I guess you have to leave something for later. The technology is pretty sweet. You can download more material on all the consoles. Personally, I like PS3. I watch Netflix on my PlayStation 3. So, we’re going to have more stuff going through the pipeline later, like the old records once we get them on digital and get the stems. Hopefully, we’ll come up with some new looks.

This all sounds wonderful, only thing is, Harmonix said there would be no additional downloadable songs from the game, saying there are already “sculpted experiences” for each song and adding new tunes to that mix would not jive.

What gives?

Green Day: Rock Band is out June 8. Expect more details soon.

via Kotaku

Harmonix today announced next week’s Rock Band downloadable tunes, revealing Judas Priest’s entire British Steel album, the tunes in question.

The tracks are live recordings from the band’s 2009 tour. Personally, when it comes to Rock Band, I’d rather play studio recordings, but that’s just my take on it.

Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 system (May 11):

"Breaking the Law (Live)" +
"Rapid Fire (Live)" +
"Metal Gods (Live)"
"Grinder (Live)" +
"United (Live)" +
"Living After Midnight (Live)"
"You Don’t Have to Be Old to Be Wise (Live)"
"The Rage (Live)" +
"Steeler (Live)" +

If you’re thinking about pre-ordering the upcoming band-specific music game, Green Day: Rock Band, specifically its “Plus” version, you may want to mull this over.

The “Plus” version will run you $69.99 and comes with a token to download and export all 47 Green Day tunes to your Rock Band library as well as six free DLC tracks (six songs not included on the disc from the band’s most recent album, 21st Century Breakdown) from the Music Store. Sounds wonderful, right?

Maybe not.

An associate GameStop store manager sent us an image this morning revealing the retailer’s intention of bundling the export token for the standard, $59.99, version of the game, provided you pre-order it.

So, by reserving the standard edition of the game, you save $10, receive the free export code for all 47 tunes, and can use the $10 you saved to by any of the six “free” songs you wish, making the “Plus” version of the game pretty much worthless.

Update: A quick check of GameStop.com reveals the above is true and reserving the standard edition gets you the free export code, but not the songs.

Thank you, Harmonix.

As if Rock Band music-gamers didn’t already have enough Gwen Stefani to shake a microphone to, Harmonix and MTV Games today announced next week’s Rock Band DLC tunes naming No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom album the songs in question.

Most of the album’s singles, you know, the popular ones “Just a Girl,” “Excuse Me Mr.,” “Spiderwebs,” Sunday Morning” and “Don’t Speak,” are already available in the Rock Band store. But next week Harmonix adds the “deep cuts,” to complete the album.

Oh, one song each  from Orianthi and Picture Me Broken are also arriving next week. Here’s the full list.

Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 system (May 4):

No Doubt — "Different People" +
No Doubt — "End It on This" +
No Doubt — "Happy Now?" +
No Doubt — "Hey You" +
No Doubt — "Sixteen" +
No Doubt — "The Climb" +
No Doubt — "Tragic Kingdom" +
No Doubt — "World Go ‘Round" +
No Doubt — "You Can Do It"
Orianthi — "According to You" +
Picture Me Broken — "Dearest (I’m So Sorry)" *

+ available in the LEGO: Rock Band music store

* 99 cent song

If you didn’t notice, next week marks the first week that songs have arrived in all three system’s respective Music Stores on the same day. Awesome!

Harmonix today announced next week’s Rock Band downloadable songs, naming a tune each from Silverchair, Busted and Flyleaf as the tunes in question.

Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (April 27) and PlayStation 3 system (April 29):

Busted — "Thunderbirds Are Go!"
Flyleaf — "Again"
Silverchair — "Tomorrow"

All songs are master recordings and will set you back $2.

Adding to the excitement, Harmonix and MTV Games will release Green Day: Rock Band in a little over a month on June 8 and the studio today promised more news and information concerning Rock Band  3 will be coming soon.

Guess the music-game genre isn’t dead yet, is it?

I’m somewhat enamored with stage monitors that were developed for use in music video games. But I can’t help but wonder — WTF took you guys so long?

Between the Polk Audio Hitmaster, which my friend Big Jim Murray reviewed a few weeks back, and the Altec Lansing Stage-Gig, we have a few good ideas here that have come out several years after Guitar Hero and Rock Band (and about a year after the games hit their maximum popularity).

At its core, the Stage-Gig is a versatile, 40-watt speaker with strong bass response and clear highs. It plugs in via standard Red/White audio plugs, so it works with PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and anything else that, you know, makes sound.

It’s only about 1/2 as big as a “real” stage monitor. It’s meant to give you some more realism when you (and hopefully your friends) are making fake music in your living room. You can also string together multiple units for added audio power.

The problem is, and the problem was with the Polk product, is timing. This would have been a fantastic product to showcase at all the music game booths at E3 in 2008.

But as a bonus, both stage monitors we’ve tested are just $100. The Stage-Gig is a great speaker, which will sound fantastic at a party with your iPod or stereo. It even hooks up to your computer if you want it to.

If you already have a great home theater setup, you don’t need the Stage-Gig, but if you’re relying on your television’s speaker, this will make everything sound better.

Blast Factor: The Stage-Gig is a great speaker, if you need a great speaker. While it might be more practical for picnic music than for pretending to be the next great American band, the product does what it says it will do without costing much.

The Altec Lansing Stage-Gig is $99. A sample was given to us by the developer for reviewing purposes.

Harmonix and MTV Games today detailed next week’s Rock Band DLC inclusions, naming a three pack from Coheed and Cambria as well as singles from Supergrass, The Violent Femmes and Siouxsie & The Banshees as the digital tunes.

The triple shot of Coheed and Cambria are tunes from their band’s latest album, Year Of The Black Rainbow, which debuted on Tuesday.

All songs are master recordings and those denoted with + mean they’re also available in the child friendly LEGO: Rock Band Music Store.

Coheed and Cambria — "Guns of Summer" +
Coheed and Cambria — "Here We Are Juggernaut"
Coheed and Cambria — "The Broken" +
Siouxsie & The Banshees — "Peek-a-Boo"
Supergrass — "Sun Hits the Sky" +
The Violent Femmes — "American Music"

When Green Day: Rock Band releases in early June it’ll come packed with Achievements/Trophies for the punk rock faithful to amass and hoard.

The list was compiled by the helpful folks at MyGamerCard and though it’s exciting to have a look at the rewards, they don’t reveal too much.

But don’t think the repeated four chord punk rock formula will lend itself to easy rewards, songs like “Longview” will certainly test the music-gamer. Not familiar with the song? Check it out here.

It’s Fun Until Someone Gets Hurt - Play “Longview” on Hard or Expert Bass, playing all hammer ons and pull offs without strumming.

Below is the full list.

• You Had the Time of Your Life — Five-star every song in Green Day: Rock Band with any instrument. 50G
• We’ve Come So Far — Earn at least 3 stars on all songs in Green Day: Rock Band with any instrument. 25G
• It All Keeps Adding Up — Score 1,000,000 points in a single song. 20G
• I Threw My Crutches in the River — Earn at least 3 stars on any song in Expert difficulty. 15G
• Hysteria, Mass Hysteria! — Get a Unison Bonus on the listed songs with 2 or more players. 20G
• Scream at Me Until My Ears Bleed — Use Overdrive 100 times as a vocalist. 20G
• In Good Health and Good Time — Earn at least 3 stars on all songs in Green Day: Rock Band as a bassist. 20G
• Won’t Make It for Dinner — Start a new Career and reach the credits within 12 hours as part of a 4-player band. 40G
• Feel Like They’re Gonna Bleed — Play through a setlist of 20 songs without failing. 25G
• Louder Than Bombs and Eternity — Hit 100% of the drum kick notes for “Brain Stew / Jaded” on Expert. 30G
• We’re on a Roll, No Self Control — Get an 8x Band Multiplier. 10G
• What’s Left of My Mind — Finish any song with Lefty Mode turned on, hitting at least 50% of the notes. 10G
• American Unity — Get all unison bonuses in the song “American Idiot” with 2 or more players. 15G
• Freaky Monkey — Complete Dookie Album Challenge with any instrument. 20G
• Award-Winning Idiot — Five-star every song on the American Idiot album. 25G
• Mud Fight — Complete the listed songs without the crowd meter going red. 15G
• Tr©s Cool — Hit 40 notes in one drum fill. 15G
• The World Around — Play a Setlist made up of songs in every venue. 10G
• Pacemaker — Earn at least 3 stars on “Peacemaker” on Expert Bass. 15G
• Not Growing Up, Just Burning Out — Earn at least 3 stars on the listed songs on Expert Vocals. 20G
• Twiddle My Thumbs Just for a Bit — Earn at least 3 stars on “F.O.D.” with each instrument in Solo play. 15G
• St. Jimmy — Get Gold stars on the listed songs. 35G
• I Got a Rock ‘n Roll Girlfriend — Get Gold stars on the listed songs. 35G
• Your Burning Light — Hit 100% of the notes in the solo of “Whatsername” on Hard or Expert Guitar. 10G
• Past the Point of Delirium – Hit 100% of the notes in the solo of “Hitchin’ a Ride” on Expert Guitar. 30G
• Ability to Operate Machinery — 100% the Guitar Solo in “Jesus Of Suburbia” using only finger tapping on Hard or Expert. 20G
• Blue — Get a 95-note streak playing “Last Night On Earth” with the guitar. 15G
• Rudy’s Can’t Fail Cafe — Hit 100% of the notes on “Welcome To Paradise” on medium or higher difficulty bass. 20G
• Warning: Burning Drums — Hit 100% of the drum notes on one of the listed songs. 15G
• It’s Fun Until Someone Gets Hurt — Play “Longview” on Hard or Expert Bass, playing all hammer-ons and pull-offs without strumming. 25G
• Make the Best of This Test — Finish all Challenges (Career owner only). 35G
• Stage Dive — Complete a Challenge in The Warehouse venue. 10G
• On a Mission — Complete a Challenge in the Milton Keynes venue. 10G
• Stereo in the Static Age — Complete a Challenge in The Fox Theater – Oakland Venue. 10G
• This Is How the West Was Won — Earn at least 3 stars on all songs in The Warehouse. 20G
• Billboard on the Rise — Earn at least 3 stars on all songs in Milton Keynes. 20G
• Another Turning Point — Earn at least 3 stars on all songs in The Fox Theater – Oakland. 20G
• Live Freaky, Die Freaky — Complete any Challenge with both of the following: 100% a Guitar solo; 100% a Harmony part. 25G
• I Walk a Lonely Road — Earn at least 3 stars on “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” with each instrument in Solo play. 15G
• On My Own… Here We Go — Score 400,000 points in a single song in solo mode. 35G
• A Very Troubled Youngster — Complete all of Tr©’s Greatest Hits. 35G
• Frank Edwin Wright III — Complete all the Drum Lessons. 20G
• Step Up to the Mike & Billie Joe — Hit All Double Harmonies on any song. 10G
• Misleading the Choir — Hit All Triple Harmonies on any song. 15G
• Strong Arm, Billie Joe – Earn a Guitar Career score of 1,000,000. 20G
• Dirnt Dirnt Dirnt Dirnt — Earn a Bass Career score of 1,000,000. 20G
• Sweet Children — Earn a Vocal Harmony Career score of 1,000,000. 20G
• I Play the !@#% Out the Drums — Earn a Drum Career score of 1,000,000. 20G

Source: MyGamerCard via Joystiq

Harmonix and MTV Games released a new trailer for the upcoming Green Day: Rock Band music game recently and it pumps the punk up to 11.

The songs in the trailer are “21st Century Breakdown,” “She” and “Holiday” and of  we get a look at Billy Joe’s blue hair and Tre’s green stylings.

Green Day: Rock Band releases for every home console June 8 and is compatible with most plastic instruments (even Guitar Hero ones).

In the past few months a few of Green Day: Rock Band’s songs have trickled out leading fans to clamor for the complete track listing.

Well my friends, that day is today, as Entertainment Weekly’s Music Mix blog has gushed the details and revealed all 47 on-disc tunes.

Get ready for lots of American Idiot, Dookie, 21st Century Breakdown, as those albums made the cut, with a smaller number of songs from older albums Warning, Nimrod and Insomniac also on the disc.

Dookie (1994)

• “Burnout”
• “Having a Blast”
• “Chump”
• “Longview”
• “Welcome to Paradise”
• “Pulling Teeth”
• “Basket Case”
• “She”
• “Sassafrass Roots”
• “When I Come Around”
• “Coming Clean”
• “Emenius Sleepus”
• “In the End”
• “F.O.D.”

American Idiot (2004)

• “American Idiot”
• “Jesus of Suburbia”
• “Holiday”
• “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”
• “Are We the Waiting”
• “St. Jimmy”
• “Give Me Novacaine”
• “She’s a Rebel”
• “Extraordinary Girl”
• “Letterbomb”
• “Wake Me Up When September Ends”
• “Homecoming”
• “Whatsername”

Warning (2000)

• “Minority”
• “Warning”

Nimrod (1997)

• “Hitchin’ a Ride”
• “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”
• “Nice Guys Finish Last”

Insomniac (1995)

• “Brain Stew”
• “Jaded”
• “Geek Stink Breath”

21st Century Breakdown (2009)

• “Song of the Century”
• “21st Century Breakdown”
• “Before the Lobotomy”
• “Last Night on Earth”
• “Peacemaker”
• “Murder City”
• “¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)”
• “Restless Heart Syndrome”
• “Horseshoes and Handgrenades”
• “The Static Age”
• “American Eulogy”
• “See the Light”

Downloadable Content (not included)

• “21 Guns”
• “Know Your Enemy”
• “East Jesus Nowhere”
• “Last of the American Girls”
• “¡Viva La Gloria!”
• “Christian’s Inferno”

Source: Joystiq

Get your digital money ready, Harmonix and MTV Games today announced next week’s downloadable content for the world of Rock Band naming tunes from System of a Down singer Serj Tankian, Smash Mouth and The Used, the tunes in question.

All songs are master recordings and sell for $2 each. Songs designated with * indicate availability in the LEGO: Rock Band music store.

Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (April 13) and PlayStation 3 system (April 15):

Serj Tankian — "Empty Walls"
Serj Tankian — "Sky is Over" +
Smash Mouth — "All Star" +
The Used — "Blood on My Hands"
The Used — "Born to Quit"
The Used — "The Taste of Ink"

Here’s something for your viewing pleasure — five things that are technically possible in real-life, but that a normal person can never do.

1. Throw a Major League fastball.
2. Take a cruise on the Titanic
3. Do ridiculous skateboarding tricks without ever dying.
4. Reunite the Beatles or just become a rock star.
5. Fly an F-14 Tomcat like in “Top Gun.”

What do you think? Leave comments.

Green Day: Rock Band’s June 8 release date is rapidly approaching and yet details remain scant. The band’s American Idiot album, in its entirety, was recently confirmed, Dookie is rumored to be there as well, and Nimrod, at least in part will be on the disc as today’s gameplay video reveals.

Spotted on Green Day fansite Green Day Authority are the below two Green Day: Rock Band videos. They show off popular songs title track “American Idiot” and Nimrod’s “Hitchin’ A Ride.”

In a recent interview with G4, Harmonix GDRB lead, Chris Foster, confirmed that the ‘American Idiot’ album will appear complete in the retail release of the title. The game comes with 47 tracks, most of which remain unannounced outside of the content from American Idiot.

The UK retailer Play.com indicates that ‘Dookie’ will appear in its entirety on the retail disc as well. This has yet to be confirmed, but more official news will surely pour out in the coming weeks as Green Day Rock Band is set to release June 8th…

Are you single and ready to mingle? If so, next week is your week, as Rock Band developer Harmonix today announced next week’s downloadable content for the top-tier music game, naming six singles the tunes in question.

Songs from Christian rock bands Thousand Foot Krutch and  Skillet, then some others from alternative rockers Anberlin, and even more, grace the Rock Band world beginning next Tuesday.

Here’s the full list. Rock Out.

Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (April 6) and PlayStation 3 system (April 8):

Anberlin — "Feel Good Drag"
Hawk Nelson — "Live Life Loud"
Skillet — "Monster"
Superchick — "Stand in the Rain"
Switchfoot — "Meant to Live"
Thousand Foot Krutch — "Fire It Up"

When Green Day: Rock Band launches June 8, it’ll have Green Day albums American Idiot and Dookie, in their entirety, on the disc.

The news comes from European retailer Play who confirmed tracks from the “classic” Dookie Green Day to newer, more political American Idiot offerings.

What’s more, the listing says Green Day members Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool all lent their digital likenesses to the game and provided full motion capture to bottle the band’s sometime zany on-stage antics appropriately.

And probably best of all, the game’s songs will be fully exportable to Rock Band and Rock Band 2. So if you’re looking to add some of the trio’s most famous songs to your library, you’re in luck.

Check out more at the game’s Play listing.

Next week the deceased rocker, Jimi Hendrix, storms onto the Rock Band scene with a host of tunes from the man’s storied career, specifically his “Axis: Bold As Love” album.

The news comes by way of Rolling Stone magazine, which also reports that Jimi Hendrix avatars and props are also coming to as part of the studio’s commitment to releasing “a wave of downloadable content” from Hendrix’s career.

Below are the goods, headed to Rock Band and Rock Band 2 gamers, beginning March 30.

• “Up From the Skies”
• “Spanish Castle Magic”
• “Wait Until Tomorrow”
• “Ain’t No Telling”
• “Little Wing”
• “If 6 Was 9″
• “You Got Me Floatin’”
• “Castles Made of Sand”
• “She’s So Fine”
• “One Rainy Wish”
• “Little Miss Lover”
• “Bold As Love”
• “Valleys of Neptune”

Do people even care about the Rock Band/Guitar Hero genre anymore?

While I do think a firm “no” as an answer to that question would be hyperbole, there’s no question that those games popularity is most definitely not what it was just a few short years ago. And look no further than the sales trending downward and trouble at Cambridge-based Harmonix for proof.

That said, I find it somewhat odd that Polk Audio has chosen now to release their new Hitmaster stage monitor.

Yes, you read that right. It’s a stage monitor.

Something normally reserved for REAL bands with REAL instruments, but, here’s one for use with Rock Band and or Guitar Hero.

First, you audiophiles should know the all important stats.

The Hitmaster comes in at roughly 14 inches wide and 9 inches tall, and is packed with a 6.5 inch sub-woofer and two 1-inch neodymium tweeters housed in 2.5-inch by 5.5-inch horns, and 80 watts of amplification.

Look, I’d be lying to you if I said I knew exactly what all of that exactly means, but I CAN tell you that the Hitmaster does “go to 11″ (no, literally!) and, it sounds pretty awesome.

Especially if you’re comparing that to the sound from your T.V. speakers.

For example, while playing Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades” for Rock Band 2, I was pleasantly surprised by the big sound, in this relatively small speaker.

Lemmy’s baseline is immediately much more punchy and bottom heavy with the Hitmaster.

A sound you’re clearly not going to get through ANY t.v.’s speakers, no matter how fancy it may be.

Still though, as much as I enjoyed the obviously better aural experience of playing Rock Band 2 through the Hitmaster, I couldn’t help but feeling that much more…um, dorkier for doing so.

I mean, let’s be honest. It’s silly enough wailing out on the plastic guitar or drums at this point, but to then add a stage monitor to blast music into your face while you’re playing?

It just feels like overkill.

I guess if you were say, a bar owner who still held a Rock Band or Guitar Hero “night,” I’d recommend picking one or more of these up (they can be daisy chained) but I just can’t see blowing a hundred bucks on one for your home.

That is unless you’re without any kind of home theater system.

If that’s the case, well, then the Hitmaster ends up being an incredible bargain.

See, as long as it uses RCA stereo cables (T.V.’s, DVD/Blu-Ray players, your iPod, etc.), you can plug it into your Hitmaster, crank it up, and annoy your neighbors!

Obviously, Polk isn’t advertising this monitor for that kind of thing, but after using the Hitmaster with my iPod out on my porch while grilling delicious meats this past weekend, I came to this conclusion.

The Hitmaster for use with Rock Band and or Guitar Hero?

Kind of dumb.

The Hitmaster for use with outdoor bbq’s and or for people too fiscally conservative to blow money on a real home theater system?

Kind of awesome.

The Blast Factor:Based solely on the fact that you’re getting an all in one three speaker and amp for just 99 bucks, the HitMaster not only sounds better than expected, it’s also a pretty good bargain. The unit is incredibly easy to hookup, and thanks to this, you’re not forced to use it exclusively with your gaming console, solely for RockBand or Guitar Hero. Summer’s coming. So, if you’re the party hosting type who wants to blast their MP3 player outdoors and get things moving for relatively short money, I’d recommend picking one up.

As if this week’s Lady Gaga Rock Band DLC wasn’t enough, next week country diva Carrie Underwood, that dude who can’t stop apologizing, and more, grace the Rock Band stage.

All songs are master recordings and come to Xbox 360 and Wii March 23 and PS3 March 25. Songs marked with + are also available in the LEGO: Rock Band music store and * denotes 99 cent songs and “Am I Crazy” will be a free cut for Xbox 360 and PS3, sorry Wii owners.

• X — "Blue Spark" +
• X — "The Hungry Wolf"
• X — "I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts"
• X — "Los Angeles"
• Little Fish — "Am I Crazy" +
• Little Fish — "Bang Bang" *
• Little Fish — "Darling Dear" *
• Ace Frehley — "Outer Space"
• Carrie Underwood — "All-American Girl" +
• OneRepublic — "Stop & Stare" +