New to Rock Band? Go here to the old OP. This Week's DLC Rob Zombie 01 "Burn" "Dragula" "Superbeast" Wolfmother 01 "New Moon Rising" "Pilgrim" "Sundial" "White Unicorn" "Woman" Single Tracks "Rock Me" by Liz Phair "Best of Me" by Morningwood* "Sugarbaby" by Morningwood* Price: $1.99 USD, £.99 UK, €1.49 EU (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) per track $5.49, £2.49 UK, €3.99 EU (440 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for “Rob Zombie Pack 01” $8.49 £5.25 UK, €6.59 EU (680 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for “Wolfmother Pack 01” *Denotes $0.99 £0.59 UK, €0.79 EU (80 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) or $1.00 (100 Wii Points™) per track $2.00 USD (200 Wii Points™) per track Tracks available for Rock Band Unplugged (Oct. 29) "Kool Thing" by Sonic Youth "My Old School" by Steely Dan Price: $1.99, £.99 UK, €1.49 EU per track on the PSP system Next Week's DLC No info yet. Future DLC White Stripes 3-pack in November '09. Unreleased tracks from the Track Pack series. Unreleased tracks from Rock Band Unplugged. ROCK BAND RELEASE DATES Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Rock Band North America: Available now for PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, and the Wii Europe: Available now in most countries for PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, and the Wii Australia: Available now for PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, and the Wii depending on the store/location Rock Band 2 North America: Available now for PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, and the Wii Europe: Available now for the Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and the Wii Australia: No release date yet Rock Band Unplugged North America: Available now for the PSP Europe: Available now for the PSP Lego Rock Band North America: November 8th, 2009 for PS3, Xbox 360, the Wii, and the DS The Beatles: Rock Band International: Available now for PS3, Xbox 360, and the Wii HARMONIX PODCAST The podcast is linked up on the 'Zine page of the RockBand.com page. Subscribe via iTunes Episode 2 The second episode! Always better the second time around! Interview with Paul & Storm of Paul& Storm fame. Also the first episode of Social, RBN music overview and a DLC roundtable. 1:22 – Interview with Paul and Storm 10:36 – RBN Transmission ep1 15:08 – Social ep1 21:05 – DLC Roundtable Music: The Main Drag - Dove Nets The Cold Goodnight - Give Full-Source - Up Stem (Down Stem) Jonathon Coulton - The Future Soon DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT Rock Band DLC list via WikiPedia Rock Band Unplugged DLC list via WikiPedia Albums available for download so far: Screaming for Vengeance by Judas Priest The Cars by the Cars Doolittle by the Pixies Peace Sells...But Who's Buying by Megadeth Moving Pictures by Rush Blood Sugar Sex Magick by the Red Hot Chili Peppers Dr. Feelgood by Mötley Crüe The Colour and the Shape by the Foo Fighters The Singles 1992-2003 by No Doubt Texas Flood by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble Ten by Pearl Jam Chinese Democracy by Guns 'n Roses Nothing's Shocking by Jane's Addiction Back from the Dead by Spinal Tap Backspacer by Pearl Jam 738 Downloadable songs by October 27th, 2009. 55 of 58 Rock Band 1 tracks exportable to Rock Band 2 (360/PS3) 84 Rock Band 2 on-disc tracks 18 AC/DC Live tracks exportable to Rock Band 2 (360/PS3) ------------------------------- 897 Total tracks available for Rock Band 2 PLAYING WITH PA FOLKS If you're on Xbox LIVE, go ahead and add Rock Band PA as a friend. Then look at that gamertag's friends list and send out messages to people to coordinate a band or you can post in this thread. If you want to find people with DLC, it helps to know what you have and you can go to DLC Quickplay and make your own list (and tag it in your sig like some people). It is generally accepted to play in your difficulty range (i.e. not constantly failing out) and it's cool if you have a headset to be able to talk to people. IF YOU WANT YOUR HANDLE HERE, PM ME PSN Handles Forum Handle / PSN Name midgetspy / Fiddlehumper Ketar / Ketar toolbert / toolbert Junior Yank / junioryank Wii Number Insanity Homestar Gunner 3336-5117-8458 zimfan 0372-9861-1361 MetroidZoid 0759-5314-6010 psych0 0759-5338-3394 ======================== The Beatles Rock Band 09/09/09 Xbox 360, PS3, and the Wii Time to get you homps pumped up. Videos hiding behind spoiler. Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Cinematic Intro Gameplay #1 Gameplay #2 WHAT'S NEW? Compatibility - Due to restrictions by Apple, on-disc and DLC tracks for the Beatles Rock Band will not be compatible with any other Rock Band game. Harmonies - Two additional people can sing back up vocals. All microphones are tied to one controller allowing for any combination of singers, potentially up to 6 people (3 singers, 3 instruments) can play because of this. Overdrive/Beatlemania! - Due to restrictions by Apple, it seems the freestyle drum fill to activate Overdrive/Beatlemania! on drums no longer exists. Instead, you're given a glowing green gem to hit to activate it minus the drum fill. Effects - Guitar switch effects are disabled in-game. Whammy doesn't always produce a modified noise. Most of this has to do with the lack of split tracks. Unlockable media - Never before seen videos, photos, and other neat goodies relating to the Fab Four. Dreamscapes - While the game follows the Beatles' career at the start, they end up being cooped up in Abbey Road Studios in the later half. In order to present better visuals than just strumming in the studio, Harmonix has gone ahead and created these dreamscapes - imagined cinematics of the song that plays out while you play. Downloadable Albums - Abbey Road has been announced to be the first full album with more full albums to come after the game's release. See below for release dates and albums. New Instruments - Based on the Beatles' own gear: John Lennon’s Rickenbacker 325 guitar Sir Paul McCartney’s trademark Höfner bass George Harrison’s Gretsch Duo Jet guitar Ringo Starr’s drums with classic black oyster pearl finish and Ludwig-branded Beatles kick drum head Tracklist Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler * I Saw Her Standing There * Boys * Do You Want To Know A Secret * Twist And Shout * I Wanna Be Your Man * I Want to Hold Your Hand * A Hard Day’s Night * Can’t Buy Me Love * I Feel Fine * Eight Days A Week * Ticket To Ride * Day Tripper * Drive My Car * I’m Looking Through You * If I Needed Someone * Paperback Writer * Taxman * Yellow Submarine * And Your Bird Can Sing * Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band * With a Little Help from My Friends * Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds * Getting Better * Good Morning Good Morning * I Am The Walrus * Hello Goodbye * Revolution * Back In The U.S.S.R. * Dear Prudence * While My Guitar Gently Weeps * Birthday * Helter Skelter * Hey Bulldog * Don’t Let Me Down * Come Together * Something * Octopus’s Garden * I Want You (She’s So Heavy) * Here Comes The Sun * Dig A Pony * I Me Mine * I’ve Got A Feeling * Get Back * Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows * The End Album DLC Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Abbey Road (1969) Release Date: October 20, 2009 Pricing: $16.98 (or 1360 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for album $1.99 (or 160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for individual tracks • “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” • “Oh! Darling” • “Because” • “You Never Give Me Your Money” • “Sun King” • “Mean Mr. Mustard” • “Polythene Pam” • “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window” • “Golden Slumbers” • “Carry That Weight” • “Her Majesty” In addition, purchasers of the full album download of Abbey Road will have the option to play the famous 16-minute B-side medley as a single continuous track. The medley includes “You Never Give Me Your Money,” “Sun King,” “Mean Mr. Mustard,” “Polythene Pam,” “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window,” “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight” and “The End." Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) Release Date: November 2009 • “Fixing A Hole” • “She’s Leaving Home” • “Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite” • “Within You Without You” • “When I’m Sixty Four” • “Lovely Rita” • “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)” • “A Day In The Life” Rubber Soul (1965) Release Date: December 2009 • “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” • “You Won’t See Me” • “Nowhere Man” • “Think For Yourself” • “The Word” • “Michelle” • “What Goes On” • “Girl” • “In My Life” • “Wait” • “Run For Your Life” ======================== Lego Rock Band 11/30/09 Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and DS WHAT'S NEW? Exportable - The entire setlist will be exportable to your hard drive (just like Rock Band) for a small fee. Importable - Some current Rock Band DLC will be playable in Lego Rock Band once it goes through a content filter. Difficulty - The game is targeting the younger crowd and/or families. As such the difficulty curve is set much lower. This includes Super Easy mode. Gameplay - While the music sections maintain the usual Rock Band gameplay, there are Lego specific challenges that have your band create/destroy buildings. You will also collect Lego Bricks to build and customize your avatars and your "rock den." Nintendo DS version - The handheld version for the DS will be quite similar to the PSP's RB Unplugged. You will switch between the four instruments and play with four buttons. Downloadable content - There was mention of downloadable content but to what extent and in what form has yet to be revealed. Lego-ized Rockers - So far Iggy Pop and David Bowie are confirmed with more Lego rockers to be revealed. 45 Master Tracks Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler "A-Punk" by Vampire Weekend "Accidentally In Love" by Counting Crows "Aliens Exist" by Blink 182 "Breakout" by Foo Fighters "Check Yes Juliet" by We the Kings "Crash" by the Primatives "Crocodile Rock" by Elton John "Dig" by Incubus "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" by the Police "Fire" by Jimi Hendrix "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty "Dreaming of You" by the Coral "Grace" by Supergrass "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr. "Girls and Boys" by Good Charlotte "I Want You Back" by Jackson 5 "In Too Deep" by Sum 41 "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas "Let's Dance" by David Bowie "Life is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts "Make Me Smile" by Steve Harly "Monster" by the Automatic "Naïve" by the Kooks "The Passenger" by Iggy Pop "Real Wild Child" by Everlife "Ride a White Swan" by T. Rex "Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)" by Lostprophets "Ruby" by Kaiser Chiefs "Short & Sweet" by Spinal Tap "So What" by Pink "Song 2" by Blur "Stumble and Fall" by Razorlight "Suddenly I See" by KT Tunstall "Summer of 69" by Brian Adams "Swing, Swing" by the All-American Rejects "The Final Countdown" by Europe "Thunder" by Boys Like Girls "Tick Tick Boom" by the Hives "Two Princes" by Spin Doctors "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves "We Are The Champions" by Queen "We Will Rock You" by Queen "Word Up!" by Korn "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi ======================== Rock Band Network November '09 Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii WHAT'S THIS? The Rock Band Network is a system designed by Harmonix Music Systems with the help of Microsoft to allow musical artists and record labels to make their music available as playable tracks for the Rock Band series of rhythm video games. The Network was designed to allow more music to be incorporated into Rock Band than Harmonix themselves could produce, and it is seen as a way to further expand the games' music catalog into a wide variety of genres. The Network is set to start beta testing in September 2009, with it becoming publicly available to all Xbox 360 players in November; Harmonix hopes to be able to also bring these songs to the PlayStation 3 and Wii consoles. The Rock Band Network is based on the XNA Creators Club model and uses peer review to check songs for playability, copyright violations, and profanity. Harmonix has developed a suite of software tools, including a modified version of REAPER, a digital audio sound tool, and Magma, a metadata packaging tool, for use by artists and labels. In addition, Harmonix has helped to spawn the creation of several third-party companies, based on the previous hacking environment for the creation of custom songs, that will author an artist's song into a Rock Band track. Artists retain full control on their songs, and receive 30% of the sales from the Network. Several artists and labels have already committed to expanding the distribution of their music through the network.

So wait, were we just complaining that the start and guide buttons now force you to hold them momentarily in order to active? How is this not a good thing? Personally I love it because my wife somehow manages to bump the guide button more often than I care to remember. Why are you jamming on the button? It's just a release mechanism. You hold it for half a second and release to pause, same with the guide button.

Some people live their life one quarter of a mile at a time. They don't have time to waste on holding a button down for 1.5 seconds. Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler I honestly don't know how it works but the argument is sort of funny to me.

i feel this discussion is detracting from us listing out our favorite songs from the game octopus' garden is pure joy

Fuck the Let It Be tracks are so epic

I like the songs that I can play before I have to fucking go to work. Those are the best songs.

So wait, were we just complaining that the start and guide buttons now force you to hold them momentarily in order to active? How is this not a good thing? Personally I love it because my wife somehow manages to bump the guide button more often than I care to remember. Why are you jamming on the button? It's just a release mechanism. You hold it for half a second and release to pause, same with the guide button. The Guide button cannot have a delay to function per MS rules. So just pressing it will act like the 'old' pause buttons.

Its a good feature if you are playing with 3 others who have ADD and must always be playing with the buttons at all times. It can be an annoying feature if you are playing by yourself for serious and you must all of a sudden pause the game to answer a phone etc... However take consolation in the fact that if you have to pause your game mid song, you will almost certaintly drop combo when you unpause.

The PAX pox stealing my voice for the week of Beatles Rock Band release is the saddest thing. My guitar gently weeps, but I remain silent.

A summary of the last page of the last thread: "Waaaaaaaah I need some stupid bullshit to complain about because there's really not much else to complain about in-game"

So wait, were we just complaining that the start and guide buttons now force you to hold them momentarily in order to active? How is this not a good thing? Personally I love it because my wife somehow manages to bump the guide button more often than I care to remember. Why are you jamming on the button? It's just a release mechanism. You hold it for half a second and release to pause, same with the guide button. The Guide button cannot have a delay to function per MS rules. So just pressing it will act like the 'old' pause buttons. Really? Um... then I must have a pair of defective instruments, because both my Hofner Bass and my new B:RB drums both delay the Guide button.

Some people live their life one quarter of a mile at a time. They don't have time to waste on holding a button down for 1.5 seconds. Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler I honestly don't know how it works but the argument is sort of funny to me. Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler Evander is no stranger to ridiculously overblown complaints. So just to triple-confirm: The Lips wireless mics do work with Beatles RB, right? And don't work with RB2 now but allegedly will in the upcoming patch? EDIT: Also, to reiterate because Imran and a few others have asked this recently: So, I want this game. I want a guitar or two and a mic and this game. I have a 360, what is the cheapest way I can do this? Welcome to the fold. Dragonsama detailed a way above and the question just came up a page or two ago, but in a nutshell, your best bet right now: 1) The RB2 full band kit, which is $100 in-store at GameStop and a few other places now IIRC, gets you a mic, a drumset and one guitar 2) Standalone Beatles game 3) Either standalone separate guitar (on 360 any GH or RB guitar will work) or a GH game+guitar bundle if you want a GH game as well Or, if you want more tracks, lower quality instruments, and lower price, do the $80 RB/RB2 combo deal from Harmonix in lieu of number 1. Though the extra 20 bones is well, well worth it for reliability of instruments and overall quality, plus you can then rent or borrow RB1 and export all of those tracks for only $5.

So wait, were we just complaining that the start and guide buttons now force you to hold them momentarily in order to active? How is this not a good thing? Personally I love it because my wife somehow manages to bump the guide button more often than I care to remember. Why are you jamming on the button? It's just a release mechanism. You hold it for half a second and release to pause, same with the guide button. The Guide button cannot have a delay to function per MS rules. So just pressing it will act like the 'old' pause buttons. Really? Um... then I must have a pair of defective instruments, because both my Hofner Bass and my new B:RB drums both delay the Guide button. Then I guess I should say 'should not'. I can't imagine why MS would allow, even for this, the Guide button to not immediately bring up the Guide button menu.

The pause delay is already in RB2 as Stage Mode.

It's killing me inside that I do not yet possess B:RB. Tonight, after work, after school, after I help move all this junk to my in-law's house for the yard sale, after I lovingly cook and eat dinner with my beautiful wife... I will slip out into the night and purchase this game. Also ABC has to be the easiest expert guitar track in the game(RB2), maybe I will finally get that 100% on expert achievement.

So wait, were we just complaining that the start and guide buttons now force you to hold them momentarily in order to active? How is this not a good thing? Personally I love it because my wife somehow manages to bump the guide button more often than I care to remember. Why are you jamming on the button? It's just a release mechanism. You hold it for half a second and release to pause, same with the guide button. The Guide button cannot have a delay to function per MS rules. So just pressing it will act like the 'old' pause buttons. the guide button DOES have a delay, though again, try using the flipping thing before you rush out defending it.

Belated props to HMX for the chapter-montages.

So wait, were we just complaining that the start and guide buttons now force you to hold them momentarily in order to active? How is this not a good thing? Personally I love it because my wife somehow manages to bump the guide button more often than I care to remember. Why are you jamming on the button? It's just a release mechanism. You hold it for half a second and release to pause, same with the guide button. The Guide button cannot have a delay to function per MS rules. So just pressing it will act like the 'old' pause buttons. the guide button DOES have a delay, though again, try using the flipping thing before you rush out defending it. I said in the last thread that I tried to get one and settled instead for the B:RB game. I then said a few posts up that I find it odd that MS would allow such behaviour in their own functionality inputs. And that you care so much about breaking a combo streak is rather... You know what? I think it's better that you get this upset about it. Rock on, HMX!

So wait, were we just complaining that the start and guide buttons now force you to hold them momentarily in order to active? How is this not a good thing? Personally I love it because my wife somehow manages to bump the guide button more often than I care to remember. Why are you jamming on the button? It's just a release mechanism. You hold it for half a second and release to pause, same with the guide button. don't get me wrong, I ABSOLUTELY see how this feature could be useful for some people. What I don't see is why it has to be forced on EVERYONE through the instrument's firmware itself, rather than either set as a toggle, or at least done through the game software (my bass has this delay even on the dashboard.) I have personally never had an issue with accidentally hitting start or guide, but now, when I want to bring one of those up in the heat of a song, I have to drop my focus on the music, and concentrate on hitting the button for the right amount of time (extra annoying on the guide, because instead of a "press" vs. "hold" function, it now has two different "hold" functions, depending on how long you hold it, which means trying to bring up the guide can often give you the "turn off console" menu)

So wait, were we just complaining that the start and guide buttons now force you to hold them momentarily in order to active? How is this not a good thing? Personally I love it because my wife somehow manages to bump the guide button more often than I care to remember. Why are you jamming on the button? It's just a release mechanism. You hold it for half a second and release to pause, same with the guide button. The Guide button cannot have a delay to function per MS rules. So just pressing it will act like the 'old' pause buttons. the guide button DOES have a delay, though again, try using the flipping thing before you rush out defending it. I said in the last thread that I tried to get one and settled instead for the B:RB game. I then said a few posts up that I find it odd that MS would allow such behaviour in their own functionality inputs. And that you care so much about breaking a combo streak is rather... You know what? I think it's better that you get this upset about it. Rock on, HMX! if one shouldn't care about breaking a combo streak, then why do we care about accidentally pausing in the first place. seriously. you have no idea what you're talking about. there's something up with the hardware that users are not happy about. rushing out to defend it without even seeing the hardware, or knowing the full extent of the thing, just makes you seem like either a fanboy or an ass.

Pretty sure the only user that's bitched about it is you.

Have you, I don't know, just tried pushing the button "with intent" instead of the usual tap? the delay is supposed to eliminating pausings from brushing it.

Priorities, man. If you can't afford to replay a 3 minute song due to a botched pause incident, perhaps you should not answer the phone/door. It's obviously much more important to get that gold star than help your neighbor or talk to Mom.

Pretty sure the only user that's bitched about it is you. go read the last thread

Priorities, man. If you can't afford to replay a 3 minute song due to a botched pause incident, perhaps you should not answer the phone/door. It's obviously much more important to get that gold star than help your neighbor or talk to Mom. and you could say the exact same thing about why you shouldn't care if some one accidentally pauses the game. that is what is so mind-boggling about forcing this. it solves one issue by creating an equal and opposite issue