Rock n' Roll is a harsh mistress. There can be no doubt about that. It's so harsh, in fact, that Europe, Australia, and New Zealand won't be seeing Rock Band until next year. At least, that's what it looks like. Yes, we know. Let it out. Let it all out. We can hear the lamentations being shouted at computer monitors all the way on the other side of the Atlantic and Pacific. During a GameSpot interview, Red Octane founder Charles Huang noted that he didn't think Rock Band would see release in Australia and New Zealand by the end of the year. He then refined his statement to cover "multiple territories." When contacted by GameSpot UK for comment, their EA rep responded, "We don't think [Rock Band] will be released in Q4." Huang cited the difficulty of producing enough peripherals for a worldwide launch as a likely reason for any delays.
Keep in mind that Huang works for Rock Band's closest competitor, so a delay is probably in his best interests. Still, given EA's comments about the UK, Australia and New Zealand's rock fate isn't looking too bright this year.
We knew it had to happen eventually. EA and Activision have officially begun sniping one another in regards to Rock Band and Guitar Hero III. In one corner, you have Activision's Will Kassoy who sees Guitar Hero III as a highly accessible sequel in a genre-defining series. Furthermore, he says that Rock Band may prove too complicated for the average gamer, while Guitar Hero III offers fun for everyone. EA, naturally, takes a different stand. According to EA's Frank Gibeau, the various choices available in Rock Band (guitar, bass, drums, and vocals) is precisely what makes it accessible. As Gibeau notes, some folks would rather sing than play guitar. Which will ultimately win? Gamers will decide later this year.
So, initial response to our X3F meetup at Red Robin tonight has been good, but we've got some great news for those of you coming, and those of you on the fence. Nick King from Threewave Software shot us an email saying that he'll be showing up, and got the go ahead from his CEO to give exclusivedetails on the multiplayer component of their upcoming Wolfenstein game. We told him that if he had any swag lying around the office, that he's more than welcome to bring it along.
The Red Robin in question has been informed of our attendance and we have a reservation under "X3F" and scored the patio. The weather is cloudy, right now, so we'll gauge whether we take the festivities indoors or not later this evening. Again, feel free to RSVP in the comments section, or by shooting me an email at david [at] xbox360fanboy [dot] com, with the subject "Red Robin" to confirm your attendance. Bottomless Fries FTW!
When: 7:00 PM, Tonight (August 8th) Where: Red Robin at Broadway & Oak in Vancouver, BC, Canada What: Good food, times, giveaways, and Wolfy details Who: Full RSVP list after the break
Note: We're going to be bumping this story up throughout the day so that those in the Lower Mainland will have a chance to see it and perhaps make some last minute plans.
Well kiddies, it's starting to look grim for the rock stars out there looking to get some wireless guitar action in Rock Band. According to the details on Amazon.com, the Xbox 360 version of the Rock Band bundle (currently priced at $199) comes with a wired guitar. The PS3 version, on the other hand, has a wireless guitar listed. We can't help but recall the price memo that listed a $20 discrepancy between the PS3 and 360 wireless guitars. Is the cost cutting solution to include a wired guitar with 360 Rock Band? It's looking that way, yes. If you want wireless freedom, you may just have to add $79 to your Rock Band purchase. Granted, none of this pricing information is official at this point, but we must point out (along with Joystiq) that right now you're signing up for a wired guitar if you pre-order the Rock Band bundle.
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.
Rock n' Roll is a harsh mistress. There can be no doubt about that. It's so harsh, in fact, that Europe, Australia, and New Zealand won't be seeing Rock Band until next year. At least, that's what it looks like. Yes, we know. Let it out. Let it all out. We can hear the lamentations being shouted at computer monitors all the way on the other side of the Atlantic and Pacific. During a GameSpot interview, Red Octane founder Charles Huang noted that he didn't think Rock Band would see release in Australia and New Zealand by the end of the year. He then refined his statement to cover "multiple territories." When contacted by GameSpot UK for comment, their EA rep responded, "We don't think [Rock Band] will be released in Q4." Huang cited the difficulty of producing enough peripherals for a worldwide launch as a likely reason for any delays.
In the face of 
