Music

MTV Games and Harmonix Empower Artists with the Rock Band Network

Submitted by Scott Tortorice on Mon, 07/20/2009 - 20:27

Harmonix Music Systems and MTV Games today announced the Rock Band Network, a ground-breaking initiative that gives musicians and record labels the ability to author their own original recordings into gameplay files and sell their music as playable Rock Band tracks through the newly-created Rock Band Network Music Store. The introduction of the Rock Band Network marks a fundamental shift in the exposure music games can give emerging and established artists through innovative technologies that will open new revenue streams and promotional avenues.

Three New Packs for Rock Band

Submitted by Scott Tortorice on Mon, 07/13/2009 - 21:01

Harmonix and MTV Games today announced that three packs from new power group The Dead Weather, metal legends Judas Priest and indie rockers Big Dipper will be added to the Rock Band Music Store of downloadable content next week for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system.

Additionally, back-catalog tracks from The Pixies, Foreigner, The Killers, Spinal Tap and more will be available in the Wii Rock Band Music Store, and tracks from Radiohead and Killswitch Engage will be available for Rock Band Unplugged.

New Rock Band DLC Additions for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 System

Guitar Hero III vs. Rock Band

Submitted by Scott Tortorice on Fri, 01/18/2008 - 00:00

Playing a real instrument is hard, impossibly so for most. That’s why the Rock Gods granted us Guitar Hero III and Rock Band. The question is, which game rocks hardest? If you have a ton of cash and want to save some reading time, getting them both buys you the best of both worlds. For those who can choose only one, there’s a pretty clear winner.

Both games were tested on the Xbox 360 for this review. The main difference between the two consoles is that Rock Band for the PS2 comes with a wireless guitar while the 360 version has a wired version (in fact, all the components in the Rock Band kit are wired).

The Gear

Guitar Hero II

Submitted by Scott Tortorice on Fri, 11/24/2006 - 00:00

There is nothing quite like Guitar Hero. It was created by Harmonix, a group of developers in Boston, as the logical progression of their rhythm games, FreQuency and Amplitude. In those titles, you pressed a Playstation controller’s buttons in time with a licensed song while all sorts of fancy stuff happened onscreen. Pretty cool, if you’re into that stuff.