Casting website Gotcast has confirmed “Rock Band 2: The Show” will be an MTV reality TV show. The Rock Band 2 game-based show will be officially launched this week, at the Alice Cooper/Sebastian Bach showoff in Hollywood’s Viper Room, confirms Kotaku.
Here’s what the casting call says:
“Producers with MTV are currently looking for a group of 4 people [lead vocalist, guitarist, bass guitarist, and drummer] to form their own “Rock” band and show their stuff live on stage for the chance to win the Ultimate Rock Band Experience!
MTV’s official show for Rock Band 2! The creator of Rock Star and The Apprentice, Mark Burnett and MTV bring you the first show based on the new game Rock Band 2. That’s right everyone Rock Band 2 is almost here.
If you ever dreamed of being a rocker, MTV’s giving you your chance! Are you up for the challenge?”
With the original Rock Band title providing millions of players with a new way to interact with the music and artists they love, Rock Band 2 builds upon its core band foundation to offer an unparalleled, deeper, dynamic gameplay experience.
Rock Band 2 is set to revolutionize music gaming with the ability to export most of the songs from the original Rock Band disc, Online World Tour, daily Battle-Of-The Band Tournaments, Auto-Calibration to eliminate TV lag, wireless drums, quieter, velocity sensitive drum heads, support for up to three cymbals (sold separately), advanced voice detection technology, No Fail Mode, and a real Drum Trainer. Rock Band 2’s massive list of innovations (read below) also includes the ability to export your in-game band avatar to the internet and order custom Rock Band merchandise including apparel and figures.
The loose Rock Band 2 game is out now on Xbox 360 first, along with the new standalone guitar and drums. To get the whole set (in the special edition) you’ll have to wait until October 19th though. PS3, PS2 and Wii gamers will have to wait until the October 19th, November 18th and November 16th, respective release dates.
Bust out your lighter, it’s time for an encore. Find out all about it in this Rock Band 2 video review.
Key Rock Band 2 features in the Xbox 360 version are:
* Local and global online modes to connect the entire Rock Band community.
* World Tour mode, now online, simplifies the best of gameplay from the original Rock Band by fusing Solo Tour and Band World Tour modes and cranks it up a notch with an all new collection of opportunity gigs, challenges, cities, venues and hirable staff.
* Tour Challenges that offer rockers a chance to play through mini-campaigns focused on the best songs by instrument, decade, genre, artist, album and more.
* Battle of the Bands mode challenges players to go head to head against other bands in constantly refreshed contests* created by Harmonix (*internet connection required).
* Quickplay makes it easier than ever to get in and jam without hassle while allowing for new prefab characters or customized characters that can play on any instrument plus lets you make your own set lists and organize your song lists in a variety of categories (genre, era, etc.).
* Customizable Set Lists keep the music rolling and your band rocking in Quickplay mode.
* Drum Trainer mode gives players the fundamentals of different beats and fills, translating gameplay into real drumming skills.
* Character Creator completes your look with all new choices in clothing, accessories, tattoos, hairstyles, instruments and more to keep your unique rock avatar playing the full rock part.
* Backwards compatibility with all Rock Band downloadable music content released to date.
* Disc Export Feature gives owners of the original Rock Band the ability to export most of the Rock Band disc tracks and upgrade them into Rock Band 2 gameplay.
* The Rock Band 2 songs list will feature over 100 songs - with over 80 songs on disc plus an additional 20 bonus tracks which will be made available for free download this fall.
* Unrivaled Blend of Classic, Developing and Emerging rock acts including Pearl Jam, Metallica, Allman Brothers, Motorhead, Devo, Jane’s Addiction, Megadeth, Paramore, Modest Mouse and more.
* Rock Band 2 is the first and only video game to feature the music of AC/DC. It includes their epic rock anthem, “Let There Be Rock”.
* After 14 years since Guns N’ Roses last official music release, Axl Rose selects Rock Band 2 to debut official new track, “Shackler’s Revenge” from the highly-anticipated album Chinese Democracy.
* For the first time ever, music from American music icon, Bob Dylan, is featured in a video game with “Tangled Up In Blue”.
* With ongoing weekly Downloadable Content (DLC) releases including individual tracks, track packs and full albums, the Rock Band music library will feature more than 500 songs through 2008!
To quote the IGN video review: “Rock Band 2 improves in several areas over the original. The track list is better, the difficulty has been bumped up, it’s more accessible, all previously released DLC works from the get-go, and Battle of the Bands is a brilliant online mode. But there’s no getting around the fact that almost nothing was done to the main mode, World Tour. This is still the primary feature of Rock Band and yet it seems to have been neglected. It’s hard to notice the newness when there’s a big chunk of game that is just the same as it ever was.
That said, music game fans would be absolutely crazy not to buy Rock Band 2. Even if you hate a few of the songs on disc, you are still getting an incredible deal. It’s less than a dollar a song, with an extra 20 free DLC coming in the next couple of months. That’s just too good to pass up.”
Rock Band 2 lets players vicariously jam out as some of the best guitarists, bassists, drummers and singers of all time. Featuring a track list with more than 100 on-disc and downloadable tracks from some of the most hallowed bands of the rock pantheon, Rock Band 2 by challenges rockers to master lead guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals.
Watch the Rock Band 2 developer walkthrough. Part 1 gives the details on this sequel to the party game classic.
Part 2 is the bridge for this rocking walkthrough.
Broke your other drums? Check out the new and improved set in Part 3.
Watch the Rock Band 2 Ready To Rock demonstration:
A Listen Research survey for Rock Band 2 has revealed new details and boxarts (see above) as well as a tentative November 2008 release date. To quote the survey:
“Rock Band 2 lets you and your friends play as a virtual 4-person band, in person or online, to rock out to some of the biggest rock anthems from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s. Rock Band 2 will be a full featured sequel, similar to full featured sequels you see released by other big video game franchises, such as Need for Speed, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy, Call of Duty, or Halo. In the music/rhythm genre, it is similar to the feature jumps made from Guitar Hero I to Guitar Hero II or Guitar Hero II to Guitar Hero III.” — Via Joystiq
Activision’s 2008 SEC fillings has revealed the developer plans to release Guitar Hero: Metallica by the first quarter of 2009, according Wedbush Morgan Securities’ analyst Edward Woo. No songs were mentioned.
It’s the second band-based edition of the Guitar Hero series. Considering Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero IV will be released on Xbox 360, PS3, PS2 and Wii, the same is expected when Guitar Hero: Metallica comes out next year.
MTV Games and Harmonix have teamed up with McDonald’s to drop the price on select Rock Band tracks in the United States and Canada. Each week until June 2nd, you can grab two tracks for 80 points ($1) each.
Here is the schedule of discounted tracks:
May 6 to 12:
Crushcrushcrush - Paramore
Rock ‘n Roll Band - Boston
May 13 to 19:
Shockwave - Black Tide
Sugar Magnolia - Grateful Dead
May 20 to 26:
We Care A Lot - Faith No More
All the Small Things - Blink 182
May 27 to June 2:
Gimme Three Steps - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Dirty Little Secret - All-American Rejects
What’s better than discounted songs? Free songs!
* Pre-order Disturbed’s latest album Indestructible via Best Buy before June 3rd, to receive two free Rock Band downloadable songs from Disturbed as a bonus. The two songs are: Inside the Fire and Perfect Insanity. These songs will be publicly available as downloads for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in June.
* South Park - The Complete 11th Season: Uncensored DVD release on August 12th will include a bonus item. While supplies last, every South Park DVD will include a 3-song download pack for Rock Band.
Rock Band developer Harmonix and MTV Games have announced Rock Band Track Pack Volume 1 for the Wii and PlayStation 2. The 20-Track Pack features an electrifying mix of classic hits and current favorites, including songs (master recordings) by Boston, Nine Inch Nails, Stone Temple Pilots, and All American Rejects. The Rock Band Track Pack Volume 1 is a stand-alone expansion disc that will be available on July 15th, 2008 at a price of $30. No doubt this is in response to the Rock Band downloadable content that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions have enjoyed so far.
While Rock Band is already available on PS2 (and PS3 & Xbox 360) it won’t be available for the Wii until June 22nd, 2008.
The complete list of included tracks is:
1. 30 Seconds to Mars - The Kill
2. All American Rejects - Move Along
3. Blink – 182 - All the Small Things
4. Boston - More Than a Feeling
5. David Bowie - Moonage Daydream
6. Faith No More - We Care A Lot
7. Grateful Dead - Truckin’
8. The Hives - Die, All Right!
9. KISS - Calling Dr. Love
10. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Gimme’ Three Steps
11. Nine Inch Nails - March of the Pigs
12. Oasis - Live Forever
13. Paramore - Crushcrushcrush
14. The Police - Synchronicity II
15. Queens of the Stone Age - Little Sister
16. Ramones - Teenage Lobotomy
17. Smashing Pumpkins - Siva
18. Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song
19. Weezer - Buddy Holly
20. Wolfmother - Joker & the Thief
If these songs aren’t your style you’ll have to wait on Rock Band Track Pack Volume 2 to arrive.
Viacom (parent company of MTV, which owns developer Harmonix) has announced that their music rhythm game Rock Band has “shipped more than three million bundled units” since its American launch in November 2007 on Xbox 360, PS3 and later PS2. But that’s not all, 10 million songs have been downloaded so far via Xbox Live Marketplace and the PS3 Store!
Philippe Dauman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Viacom, had this to say: “Our Rock Band video game is continuing its successful tour and is emerging as a valuable long-term franchise. We expect to further that success with the upcoming release of Rock Band on the Wii home video game system [on June 22] and our launch in Europe [on Xbox 360 on May 23],” quoted Gamedaily.
According to retailers Rock Band’s European release date is the 22nd/23rd of May, 2008. In a surprising move by MTV Games, they have made the music-rhythm game a timed Xbox 360-exclusive at launch, at least until fall 2008 when the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 (and Wii?) releases are planned.
The pricing is as follows:
Rock Band Software - 69,99 Euros
Rock Band Guitar Wireless - 79,99 Euros
Rock Band Drum - 89,99 Euros
Rock Band Bundle (without game) - 169,99 Euros / £129.99
Rock Band Bundle (complete) - 239,99 Euros / £180
Here’s the Europe-exclusive songs list:
English
“Beetlebum” by Blur
“Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” by Oasis
“Monsoon” by Tokio Hotel
“Hysteria” by Muse
German
“Hier Kommt Alex” by Die Toten Hosen
“Perfekte Welle” by Juli
“Countdown to Insanity” by H-Block X
French
“Manu Chao” by Les Wampas
“New Wave” by Playmo
All 70 existing downloadable songs will be made available to Europe on 27th May. — Via Neogaf & Eurogamer
Fans of the music rhythm game Rock Band have hacked into the game’s backend and found a list of unreleased soundtracks. These songs could be the secret songs next in line for the Rock Band downloadable content on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Here’s the full list of 45 uncovered songs:
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Alabama Getaway
Beetlebum
Behind Blue Eyes
Blinded By Fear
Breed
Brown Sugar
Casey Jones
China Cat Sunflower
Come as You Are
D.O.A.
Drain You
El Scorcho
Franklin’s Tower
Fuel
Hysteria
I Need A Miracle
Lithium
Lounge Act
March Of The Pigs
Message In A Bottle
On a Plain
Pinball Wizard
Polly
Received Your Letter
Rock ‘n’ Roll Star
Sex Type Thing
Shadow World
Shooting Star
Simple Man
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Something in the Way
Stay Away
Still Alive (from Portal?)
Sugar Magnolia
Supernaut
Territorial Pissings
The Collector
The Perfect Drug
Thrasher
Through the Monsoon
Truckin’
Why Do You Love Me?
Wrathchild
Zero
