E3, the video-game industry's big trade show, is next week, and you'll be hearing a lot about all the new software coming between now and Christmas. But there's a bit of a lull until Aug. 12, when Madden NFL 09 unofficially marks the beginning of the fall game season. July is a good time to catch up on some of the games you may have missed. Here are the best of the year so far.
» Read More 

Online mega retailer Amazon.com has listed a standalone wireless drum set and wireless guitar for Rock Band 2 on Xbox 360 for $90 and $70, respectively. Of course, the bundled Xbox 360 guitar with the original Rock Band was tethered to the console and the drums were wired on all platforms, so Joystiq is hopeful this means the instruments included in Rock Band 2's big bundle will all be wireless. A Harmonix representative informs Joystiq that no prices, shipping dates, colors, astrological signs, or further details concerning Rock Band 2 will be released until next week's E3.
» Read More 

Recently we had the rumour mill churn out a song list and speculation about free DLC for Rock back 2. The battle of the bands is heating up. If the current batch of rumours are true then Harmonix are not taking the news of Guitar Hero World Tour laying down and will be releasing their entire back catalogue of content as free DLC.

Is this more value than what could be a complicated song creation system for Guitar Hero?
» Read More 

From an IGN editor: "Immediately upon purchasing Rock Band 2 you'll have the ability to download a huge library of songs, as well as all of the songs off of the original disc as a free download."

The rumored tracklist:

1) tangled up in blue (bob dylan)
2) bad to the bone (george thorogood)
3) we've got the beat (go-gos)
4) bad reputation (joan jett)
5) pinball wizard (the who)
6) dammit (blink 182)
7) thats what you get (paramore)
8 ) the trees (rush)
9) ace of spades (motorhead)
10) chop suey (system of a down)
11) testify (rage against the machine)
12) spirit in the sky (norman greenbaum)
13) ramblin' man (allman brothers)
14) rebel girl (bikini kill)
15) eye of the tiger (survivor)
16) panic attack (dreamtheater)
17) everlong (foo fighters)
18) one step closer (linkin park)
19) lump (presidents of the USA)
20) come out and play (offspring)
21) drain you (nirvana)
22) carry on my wayward son (kansas)
23) peace sells (megadeath)
24) souls of black (testament)
25) livin on a prayer (bon jovi)
26) round and round (ratt)
27) new kid in school (the donnas)
28) alright now (free)
29) today (smashing pumpkins)
30) man in the box (alice in chains)
31) any way you want it (journey)
32) holiday in cambodia (dead kennedys)
33) give it away (red hot chili peppers)
34) white wedding (billy idol)
35) hello there (cheap trick)
36) cool for cats (squeeze)
37) psycho killer (talking heads)
38) ? (devo)
39) one way or another (blondie)
40) de-luxe (lush)
41) push it (static-x)
42) pump it up (elvis costello)
43) master exploder (tenacious d)
44) bandages (hot hot heat)
45) PDA (interpol)
46) my own worst enemy (lit)
47) float on (modest mouse)
48) aqualung (jethro tull)...
» Read More 

Wondering why there isn't any Led Zeppelin in the Rhythm Games you love? Here's what Michael McWhertor of Kotaku says,

"According to their management, the band isn't 'comfortable' giving up access to its master tapes, the very thing required to edit these things down to Rock Band and Guitar Hero ready formats.

'It ain't about the money,' says Peter Mensch of Q Prime Management who handles Led Zep's interests."

McWhertor goes on to list a few of the bands that have given up the access, including Van Halen, Steely Dan, Guns N' Roses, and the Eagles.
» Read More 

Qais Fulton of Destructoid says,

"...we've got next week's rock offerings a couple days early. On July 8th (the 10th for you PSTriple-ites) Harmonix is serving up a delicious rock stew featuring the Red Hot Chili Pepper tracks "Snow" and "Tell Me Baby", as well as Rush tracks "Closer to the Heart" and "Working Man". Each track is $1.99 (160 Microsoft points) and all tracks are masters.

That's right, Harmonix has managed to wrangle an master version of "Working Man". Not only a master, but a master with an alternate solo that has yet to be released publicly..."

Rock Band continues to bring on the awesome DLC, and it's all going to be playable on Rock Band 2!
» Read More 

A second partial Rock Band 2 setlist, supposedly culled from a playtest, popped up on the ScoreHero Forum recently, only to be removed and its author disciplined by a moderator. Lucky for you, a Joystiq tipster (thank you!) slipped a crumpled note into our back pocket with the same list:

* "Man in the Box" - Alice in Chains
* "We Got The Beat" - The Go Go
* "American Woman" - The Guess Who? (or Lenny Kravitz)
* "White Wedding" - Billy Idol
* "Aqua Lung" - Jethro Tull
* "Bad Reputation" - Joan Jett
* "One Step Closer" - Linkin Park
* "Peace Sells" - Megadeth
* "You Oughta Know" - Alanis Morissette
* "Testify" - Rage Against The Machine
* "Spoonman" - Soundgarden
» Read More 

58 has been done before. 60 is too small of a jump. 70 is getting closer, but still isn't awe inspiring. Now 80, 80 is a number that can be celebrated and a number that accurately describes the number of master tracks that will be included with Rock Band 2.
» Read More 

MTV Games has let the cat out of the bag. No song titles or new acts were mentioned during yesterday's confirmation that Rock Band 2 would be hitting store shelves for the Xbox 360 in September, but TV network G4's X-Play gaming show inadvertently showed a song list in its coverage.
» Read More 

DarkZero: The US gaming show X-play has shown Rock Band 2 being played for the first time on a recent episode of their show. Interestingly, the video showed a list of eleven songs from the games set list. Two of these songs were current DLC, and had a star beside them to signify so. The other nine however had a "2" icon beside them which seems to indicate they will be released as songs on the disc of Rock Band 2.
» Read More 

EA has told Eurogamer there has been a "misunderstanding" about the Rock Band 2 date in Europe.

Word had originally pointed to a simultaneous European release alongside the US this September.

"There was a misunderstanding and there is no confirmed date for Europe," a spokesperson from EA told Eurogamer.
» Read More