Hopefully the short notice isn't too much of a bad thing, but if you live in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada, X3F (myself) will be wining and dining at the Red Robin in Vancouver (Broadway & Oak) tomorrow, Wednesday the 8th, at 7:00 PM PDT. As an added bonus, there will be a couple Rock Band shirts that'll be given away, the sizes of which are XL, along with some other goodies leftover from E3.
Directions can be found here, as well as contact info for the restaurant itself here. Use the comments section as a form of RSVP, or shoot me an email at david [at] xbox360fanboy [dot] com, with the subject line Red Robin. Based on response, I'll shoot a reservation to the Double R under X3F. Depending on the weather, we may stake out the patio overlooking downtown. If you're in the area, we hope you can make it down.
Posted Aug 7th 2007 11:00AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
Major Nelson sends word that a Dashboard Update is now available. Users will be prompted to download the update the next time they sign into Xbox Live. Before everyone goes crazy looking for fabulous new features, you should know that this is not the Fall Update. Most of you probably figured this out, as it is still summer. All the update does is ready the 360 to accept those fabulous wireless guitars that ship with Guitar Hero III and Rock Band later this year. It's good to know that the 360 will play nice with the wireless guitars and all, but we'd really like to know how much they're going to cost.
In the face of Rock Band, Activision seemingly has an uphill battle on its hands with Guitar Hero III. As one of our blogging buddies on Joystiq put it, "if you have Rock Band and a guitar, you already haveGuitar Hero." Naturally, the addition of more instruments would seem to expand this value even further. According to Activision Senior VP of Marketing, Will Kassoy, however, Guitar Hero III is not down and it's certainly not out. First of all, Kassoy notes that Harmonix (developers of Rock Band and previous GH games) are experienced in software, not hardware. In other words, the Rock Band peripherals may not stand up to the standards set by Red Octane. A little more on point, Kassoy notes that the two games are likely to have a very large price disparity, with Guitar Hero III on the winning end of the spectrum. This makes much more sense, although it's somewhat mooted by the fact that Rock Band will support Guitar Hero II controllers. Still, there is no denying that the cost of entry for GHIII is lower than aiming for the full experience of Rock Band, and that may work in Activision's favor.
After an intense session of Rock Band from Harmonix -- we totally nailed the vocal for Stone Temple Pilots' "Vasoline" by the way -- we noticed that the guitars had dangling wires tethering them to the Xbox 360. Considering the game has been widely advertised as having wireless guitars, this made us curious. Remembering the recently leaked price memo, you may recall that the wireless 360 guitar was listed at $79.99 while the PS3 guitar was listed at $59.99. Some have speculated that the 360 discrepancy is the result of having to pay Microsoft to use its proprietary wireless technology. Is MTV Games making cheaper wired guitars for those that can't afford wireless? Mmm ... could be.
Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos announced that Rock Band has some serious plans for delivering content to players. First off, Harmonix plans to release new music tracks every week. They can be released in singles, multi track bundles, or more deliciously, full albums. As an example Alex announced that The Who's Who's Next would be available for download following the game's release.
As icing on the proverbial cake, selections spanning Metallica's musical career will be made available, with "Enter Sandman" playable on the retail disc. All in all, Harmonix is pushing Rock Band more as a platform than just a game, and we couldn't agree with the prospect more. We'll be back with hands on impressions and a proper tribute to Weezer as soon as we can.
An anonymous employee from Game Crazy sent a tip and scan to Joystiq of their pricing for Harmonix's Rock Band peripherals for both the PS3 and Xbox 360. The microphone and drum kit cost $29.99 and $79.99, respectively. Unfortunately, the guitar controller has a price discrepancy between the two platforms, with the PS3's wireless guitar costing $59.99 and the 360's $79.99, a twenty dollar difference.
As the story goes, Red Octane supposedly couldn't get a wireless guitar because using Microsoft's proprietary wireless technology would jack the price on the controller. Could the PS3's wireless technology be easier and cheaper to implement that would cause it to be cheaper than the 360's? Harmonix denied their being any discrepancy when asked that question, so we'll have to wait for either an announcement on pricing or some more concrete evidence from retailers.
Gametrailers has a new video up of a Pre-E3 Rock Band playtest, akin to the one our fellow 'Stiqqers attended, and shows off the menu UI, along with band member selection prior to the song. Speaking of which, today's performance is "Mississippi Queen", and despite Player 2 pausing twice during the jam session, it all went well, especially since the song featured more cowbell. The guitar players are using the Fender Stratocaster, and the drum kit is different than the one seen in the earlier video, as it is all black. Also, at the beginning, other songs in the play list that are different from the ones revealed earlier are David Bowie's "Suffragette City" and The Hives' "Main Offender". All in all some cool tidbits, and we can't wait to play "Say it Ain't So" at E3 next week.
Of all the wonderful things we've learned about Rock Band, we were completely unprepared for the bombshell dropped in Joystiq's hands-on with the game. It is truly the best thing we have heard in a long time. Yes, that's right, the microphone not only doubles as a tambourine, it also serves as a cow bell. If you're playing Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper," you can bet your booties that you'll be applying some judicious cow bell. Of course, Joystiq's hands-on preview contains much more information, and you really should read it, but it is our job to extract the essence of all that we cover. If there be anything purer than cow bell, we haven't seen it.
More Rock Band instruments have crept onto the internet this week. Found in the latest Game Informer, we now have our first glimpse of the drums and microphone. The microphone has a very polished and professional look to it. What's more, it looks like it can stand up to some punishment, which is good since it's going to double as a tambourine. The drums (currently a prototype model) take a step back towards a more toy-like appearance, which is unfortunate in light of the authenticity of the guitar. Each drum pad is surrounded by the corresponding color, which we definitely prefer to coloring the pads themselves. There is also what appears to be a pedal for the bass drum as well.
So, which instrument will you "play" when Rock Band makes its debut?
In the latest GameStop newsletter, we get our first glimpse of the Rock BandFender Stratocaster guitar. It's clear that Harmonix, EA, and MTV are aiming for an authentic music experience, as the controller appears to be a genuine guitar at first glance. As we've revealed before, the controller features 10 buttons, five at the top of the neck and five at the bottom. The button colors are cleverly positioned on both sides of the neck, effectively ditching the toy-like design of previous Guitar Hero controllers. The newsletter also reveals that players will have many effects, including, "reverb, flange, wah, delay and more." We have to agree with Joystiq though, it's high time we started hearing about how much Rock Band is going to cost.
Posted Jun 15th 2007 11:15AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
Over at NeoGAF, Sallokin posted brand new Rockband details that come from next month's issue of Game Informer. Highlights from the article include descriptions of all the instrument peripherals (sorry, no pictures), confirmation that the microphone doubles as a tambourine during longer guitar solos, extensive character customization, and the idea that the whole band doesn't fail when one member doesn't live up to their rockstar status. Also interesting to note is that Rockband branded guitars will include five additional fret buttons (ten total) for special solo sections. The article also confirms four songs from the game (all master tracks) including Weezer's "Say It Ain't So", Black Sabbath's "Paranoid", The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again", and Nirvana's "In Bloom". Make the jump for random tidbits of Rockband info that may make you say "Guitar Hero III who?".
Posted Jun 7th 2007 10:30AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
Harmonix needs your help. With their wannabe Guitar Hero killer Rock Band releasing later this year, Harmonix is looking to the community for songs to include in the game. To tell them about a song/band, head on over to Rock Band's official website and suggest up to four rocking songs that you feel would be a great fit for the game. MTV and Harmonix will then look at all the suggestions, tally up the most popular, and try their darnedest to include the top songs in the game. It's kind of like a musical democracy.
We just have to ask, what songs will you be requesting to be included in Rock Band?
Harmonix and EA announced that their upcoming rhythm game, Rock Band, will feature a Fender Stratocaster guitar peripheral, and Fender guitars, basses, amps, and other equipment in game. Rock Band will also feature BOSS and Roland in game. CEO of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation Bill Mendello showed great interest and enthusiasm in Harmonix using Fender equipment in the game, commending the developer's ability to capture the essence of rock 'n' roll in digital entertainement. So, since the GH II Gibson X-plorer will play nice with Rock Band, which one are you going to side with? Fender or Gibson?
For those about to rock that just plunked down $90 for Guitar Hero II, we have some good news. On the official Rock Band website, a Harmonix developer by the name of Jason Booth has confirmed that older Guitar Hero guitars will work with the upcoming title. We assume he's referring to the Xbox 360 X-plorer guitar, as the PS2 guitars are essentially incompatible with the PS3.
The politics of this announcement are interesting, as the next iteration of Guitar Hero will be developed by Neversoft instead of Harmonix. Harmonix, meanwhile, is working with MTV and Electronic arts on Rock Band. If Harmonix owns the rights to the Guitar Hero controller, it could mean Neversoft will have to develop a completely new one for Guitar Hero III. Throw in RedOctane's (and thus Activision's) legal battle with The Ant Commandos and it gets even more confusing.
Granted, GHIII is still a ways off, but we don't relish the idea of dishing out gargantuan sums of money every time a new music game hits.
Here's hoping the X-plorer will be compatible across the board.
In the face of Rock Band, Activision seemingly has an uphill battle on its hands with Guitar Hero III. As one of our blogging buddies on Joystiq put it, "if you have Rock Band and a guitar, you already have Guitar Hero." Naturally, the addition of more instruments would seem to expand this value even further. According to Activision Senior VP of Marketing, Will Kassoy, however, Guitar Hero III is not down and it's certainly not out. First of all, Kassoy notes that Harmonix (developers of Rock Band and previous GH games) are experienced in software, not hardware. In other words, the Rock Band peripherals may not stand up to the standards set by Red Octane. A little more on point, Kassoy notes that the two games are likely to have a very large price disparity, with Guitar Hero III on the winning end of the spectrum. This makes much more sense, although it's somewhat mooted by the fact that Rock Band will support Guitar Hero II controllers. Still, there is no denying that the cost of entry for GHIII is lower than aiming for the full experience of Rock Band, and that may work in Activision's favor.
Over at NeoGAF, Sallokin posted brand new Rockband details that come from next month's issue of Game Informer. Highlights from the article include descriptions of all the instrument peripherals (sorry, no pictures), confirmation that the microphone doubles as a tambourine during longer guitar solos, extensive character customization, and the idea that the whole band doesn't fail when one member doesn't live up to their rockstar status. Also interesting to note is that Rockband branded guitars will include five additional fret buttons (ten total) for special solo sections. The article also confirms four songs from the game (all master tracks) including Weezer's "Say It Ain't So", Black Sabbath's "Paranoid", The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again", and Nirvana's "In Bloom". Make the jump for random tidbits of Rockband info that may make you say "Guitar Hero III who?".
Harmonix needs your help. With their wannabe Guitar Hero killer Rock Band releasing later this year, Harmonix is looking to the community for songs to include in the game. To tell them about a song/band, head on over to Rock Band's official website and suggest up to four rocking songs that you feel would be a great fit for the game. MTV and Harmonix will then look at all the suggestions, tally up the most popular, and try their darnedest to include the top songs in the game. It's kind of like a musical democracy.
Harmonix and EA announced that their upcoming rhythm game, Rock Band, will feature a Fender Stratocaster guitar peripheral, and Fender guitars, basses, amps, and other equipment in game. Rock Band will also feature BOSS and Roland in game. CEO of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation Bill Mendello showed great interest and enthusiasm in Harmonix using Fender equipment in the game, commending the developer's ability to capture the essence of rock 'n' roll in digital entertainement. So, since the GH II Gibson X-plorer will play nice with Rock Band, which one are you going to side with? Fender or Gibson?
For those 
