WorthPlaying writes, "Grammy Award-nominated American metal rocker and former White Zombie frontman Rob Zombie adds to his Rock Band DLC catalog (currently "War Zone") with three new tracks for the Rock Band platform, including "Dragula" and "Superbeast," from his debut solo album, Hellbilly Deluxe, as well as "Burn," from his new album, Hellbilly Deluxe 2, to be released Nov. 17. Zombie also has a film currently playing in theaters – Halloween 2, which he wrote, directed and produced."
» Read More 

The plaintiff who sued developer Harmonix in November last year over cracking bass drum controller pedals in Rock Band has voluntarily dismissed his case, court records reveal.

In a court filing from September 23, obtained by Gamasutra, plaintiff Monte Morgan dropped a class action lawsuit against Rock Band developer Harmonix, its parent Viacom, Viacom-owned MTV Networks, the game's distributor Electronic Arts, and electronics retailer Best Buy.
» Read More 

Music artist who criticise Rock Band and other music games of distracting kids from playing real instruments are taking "a narrow perspective of things", says Harmonix's John Drake.

"I think they're missing the point. I think that they don't understand why it's a phenomenon," Drake told CVG. "From my perspective, anything that gets kids interested in music and gets kids playing music in their house that isn't an MP3 they stole off the internet, is a good thing.
» Read More 

The GameSoundCon conference is partnering with Rock Band developer Harmonix to add sessions to its novice-focused September L.A. event for those who want to create and publish music on the user-supported Rock Band Network.

Announced in July this year, Rock Band Network allows musicians to upload their own songs to the service, making their work accessible to Rock Band players as paid downloads.

But it's not just a matter of recording a piece and clicking "upload." Tracks must be mixed according to certain Harmonix specifications, outfitted with MIDI gameplay information, then peer reviewed before being put up for sale on the Network's store. As with Xbox Live Indie Games (formerly Xbox Live Community Games), authors will be paid royalties on a quarterly basis.
» Read More 

Viacom, parent company to MTV Games and Rock Band developer Harmonix, said sales of its music game suffered during the quarter "due to the soft retail environment", helping to drive a decline in revenues for the company.

For the fiscal quarter ended June 30, revenues in Viacom's Media Networks division, which houses MTV Games, dropped 8 percent to $1.97 billion. Viacom attributed the decline to "a 41 percent decline in ancillary revenues driven by lower sales of the music video game Rock Band."
» Read More 

411mania talks about this week's game releases. Highlights include Little King's Story, Katamari Damacy Tribute, Shatter, and Wii Sports Resort.
» Read More 

BeefJack writes: "Rock Band devs, and Pepsi, want you to become the next big star in rock music.

While you're deciding which song to unleash your wicked headbanging skills to, you can win a $20 Rock Band giftcard, right here."
» Read More 

Ben Kuchera of ArsTechnica writes:

"The great thing about Guitar Hero and Rock Band packages is that they come in OMG-XBOX-HUGE packages. Why is that a great thing? Because boxes that big cost retailers money to store, which means that, with new rhythm games coming by the end of the year, it costs more to keep them around than it does to sell them at a huge discount. That means it's time to blast out existing inventory at OMG-GAMEBOY-MICRO prices. Let's take a look at what you can grab.

You have the name of the game, the system, the old price, and the price that the bundle is on sale for. If you don't have the game, or if you just need to pick up a few instruments to have as extras, this is a great time to do so."
» Read More 

It sometimes seems as if a new music rhythm game is released every five minutes, but Harmonix honcho Josh Randall believes things may change in the future. Randall thinks that games like Rock Band may eventually abandon consoles altogether, instead taking the form of instruments with built-in music.
» Read More 

G4TV writes:

Harmonix developer HMXHenry posted a request on the official Rock Band boards for music fans to help contribute to a "forthcoming Rock Band" project involving Pearl Jam.

"We need your help!" reads the request. "Ten Club, MTV Games and Harmonix's Rock Band, and Rhapsody are teaming up to let you, Pearl Jam's biggest fans, help us choose the best versions of Pearl Jam live songs that will be presented for the first-ever fan voted set list for a forthcoming Rock Band project."

Here's what songs you get to choose from, courtesy of the band.
» Read More 

Buried in today's Elecrtonic Arts earnings call was this amazing revelation from COO John Pleasants: Revenue for music/rhythm games was down 36% during the first quarter of the year and 42% in March, per NPD. As a result, EA has cut the gross sales revenue it expects from its EA Partner division, which distributes "Rock Band" for Viacom.

That's a huge decline. And keep in mind that there weren't any major music game releases during the first quarter of last year, while 2009 saw "Guitar Hero: Metallica" (albeit at the very end of March). As we started to see in late 2008, sales of "Rock Band 2" and "Guitar Hero: World Tour" must be down massively from the original "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero III."

And while EA CEO John Riccitiello said he feels "really bullish" about "Rock Band: Beatles Edition," the fact that the company is expecting $400 million less in sales indicates just how big an impact continued sales of "Rock Band" through last year mattered, and how far "Rock Band 2" is lagging.
» Read More 

From The Site...Rhythm/Music games are cash cows that everyone wants to ride and now it PEPSI's turn to ride, Last month it was rumored that in thier upcoming promotion PEPSI will have daily giveaways of Rock Band downloadable tracks, allegedly up to a million tracks.
» Read More 

Although music games may see moderate decreases in sales this year, the genre is "here to stay," according to Cowen Group analyst Doug Creutz -- and he's betting on Activision and Guitar Hero as the category's ultimate leader.

Band games, in attracting new audiences, have created a permanent market position, says Creutz. And as the industry is challenged to post year-over-year growth in the current climate, he expects Activision's music games will be up "modestly," or .7 percent year over year.

"We believe music genre sales for the company will be driven by an expansion of the release slate in 2009, which should broaden sales to core consumers," says Creutz.
» Read More 

Harmonix and MTV Games announced today that the officially licensed Rock Band Kick Pedalwith Double Bass Adaptor from Performance Designed Products (PDP) is available now at retail stores. The Rock Band Kick Pedal with Double Bass Adaptor allows players to use two Rock Band kick pedals at the same time.
» Read More 

Harmonix and MTV Games today announced that metal band Bullet For My Valentine and alternative rockers The Shins will make their debut next week in the Rock Band® Music Store of downloadable content. In addition, heavy metal band Black Tide delivers another explosive track to Rock Band fans.
» Read More 

Nyko's new heavy-duty drum pedal for Rock Band and Guitar Hero is now available in stores for $19.99.

The Metal Pedal is compatible with Rock Band 1 and 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Guitar Hero: Metallica on all consoles. Simply plug the pedal directly into the drum set and you are good to go!
» Read More 

Kotaku writes: "MTV Games and Pepsi appear to be teaming up for a Rock Band-themed, Pepsi-soaked promotion this Summer, giving away up to 1 million free Rock Band tracks to lucky sugared soft drink swillers."
» Read More 

World class gaming and music entertainment giants Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. and MTV Games, a part of Viacom's MTV Networks, have joined forces to find the best Rock Band(R) gamers in America with the first-ever Total Rock, Total Rewards Rock Band Competition. The competition kicks off in March when Harrah's Entertainment properties become the first in the world to have official and permanent, fully-equipped Rock Band entertainment stages.

Throughout March and April, seventeen Total Rewards casinos will host local, weekly Rock Band Competitions, allowing fans of the popular game to win an Xbox 360 and Rock Band bundle as well as other Total Rewards items and Rock Band apparel and accessories. Four regional competitions will then offer customers the chance to win more than $50,000 in prizes.

The ultimate winning band will be given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to open for the legendary B-52's at the House of Blues in Atlantic City on May 9th and will win $10,000 in prize money, making this the richest Rock Band competition in history. In addition, visitors at participating Total Rewards casinos across the country will be able to pick up their choice of guitar, bass, drums or vocals and rock out throughout the year during special Rock Band Nights.
» Read More 

Power Chord Academy, the nation's leading summer camp for amateur musician training, is excited to announce the addition of two new Summer programs!

GameROCKERS is an exclusive 3-day cutting edge game-musician program for the new age of musicians who play Guitar Hero or Rock Band. iROCKER is a 1-day version of the GameROCKERS program.
» Read More 

Off the back of the earlier news that Guitar Hero World Tour has outsold Rock Band by a ratio of 2:1, Red Octane's UK senior brand manager, Ian McClellan has said that in the UK, this figure is more like 4:1.
» Read More