...Gene Simmons has a lot to say about it.

"I never do anything half way. My AXE controller is the closest thing you can have to being onstage in KISS. I created and designed the Gene Simmons AXE bass guitar and I can't wait for the fans to experience it for themselves," said Gene Simmons. "The Gene Simmons AXE guitar is such a recognizable symbol - people have been asking for a gaming replica ever since Guitar Hero was first introduced."
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dailygamesnews.com - Gene Simmons and the Interactive Game Group have come together to offer gamers the chance to play their very own 'Axe Guitar' in Guitar Hero, or Rock Band.
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OXM UK: Harmonix has announced that it wasn't being entirely honest with its Rock Band 2 previews, and that there's a new accessory in the works for its new game.
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Tracks:

Children of Bodom - Are You Dead Yet
Finley - Tutto E' Possibile
Platero y Tu - Hay Poco Rock N Roll
Squeeze - Tempted
Tokio Hotel - Ready, Set, Go
The All-American Rejects - Real World

All above tracks are $.99 (80 Microsoft Points) for a one month limited time window.

Miranda Cosgrove - Headphones On
This track is totally free!

Naked Brothers Band - Body I Occupy
Naked Brothers Band - I Don't Want to Go to School
Both Naked Brothers Band tracks are permanently $.99 (80 Microsoft Points)

DLC is released on Xbox 360 on Tuesday 12/2 and PS3 Thursday 12/4. All tracks are masters.
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Quote:

"The Singles Collection to be released for Rock Band
Posted by IGA on Nov 20, 2008 | Comments (1) | Views: (728)

On December 9th, Rock Band will release No Doubt's The Singles
Collection. Fourteen tracks will be available for download on the Rock Band site ( http://www.rockband.com/music ) for $19.99 or single songs"
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Alex Rigopulos, CEO of Harmonix, the Cambridge, Massachusetts developer of Rock Band, has confirmed that Rock Band 2 Wii will get most of the downloadable songs available to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions.
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The next batch of downloadable tracks for Rock Band and Rock Band 2 may have been leaked a little early, courtesy of the in-game music store and some eagle-eyed ScoreHero forum members. We'd advise you to take it as rumor for now, as the face-melting promise of these tracks would only lead to disappointment if they're incorrect. We're talking about the oft-requested by Luke Plunkett "Jesus Christ Pose" by Soundgarden and a triple shot of Yngwie (Fucking) Malmsteen. Oh, and some Lamb of God if that's up your alley. For the rumored next DLC update, read on.

Coming the week of November 25th (maybe):

• "Jesus Christ Pose" by Soundgarden
• "Pretty Noose" by Soundgarden
• "Laid To Rest" by Lamb of God

Yngwie Malmsteen Pack
• "Red Devil"
• "Damnation Game"
• "Caprici Di Diablo"

The Killers Pack
• "Spaceman"
• "Mr. Brightside"
• "Smile Like You Mean It "
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The spirit of competition between Activision and Harmonix's respective rhythm franchises is still very much alive and well -- shortly after Activision announced that a trio of tunes from post-punk darlings The Killers would be making their way onto Guitar Hero: World Tour as DLC, MTV let it slip to Wired that they would be adding their own Killers triple-pack to the Rock Band Music Store on the very same day (Nov. 25). Man, what a bizarre coincidence!

Two of the three songs which are about to be thrust into Harmonix's already intimidating music library are relative oldies: "Mr. Brightside" and "Smile Like You Mean It" -- but a title from the Killers' new album, Day & Age, will also make an appearance: "Spaceman". The article on Wired mentioned nothing of pricing details -- though it's probably safe to assume they'll match the $2.00 (160) per song/ $5.50 (440) per pack price point we've all come to know and love over the past year.
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October was a pretty impressive month for the video game industry considering the overall economic environment in the U.S. Although neither Guitar Hero nor Rock Band made it into the NPD's top 10 selling games for the month, the two popular music franchises still helped boost sales overall. Guitar Hero World Tour placed 11th, 12th and 20th on the Xbox 360, Wii, and PS3, respectively, while Rock Band 2 for PS3 placed 16th.

What's more interesting, however, is a direct dollar sales comparison. According to data provided by Deutsche Bank Securities, Activision's Guitar Hero easily outsold MTV's Rock Band 2 (distributed by EA). Sales for Guitar Hero totaled $67 million for the month of October compared to just $27 million for Rock Band 2.
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Slashgamer Writes:"Entertainment Weekly compiled a list for the Top '25 Entertainers of the Year.' And this is when you know video games have made it in the world. According to the magazine publication, the seventh most entertaining thing that came out this year was…RockBand 2."

Read what EW writes about the game...
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Todd Hargosh of GiN writes:

"It's no surprise: I'm a Rock Band addict. Sure, I'm currently in the process of testing out Guitar Hero World Tour, and am enjoying it quite a bit (despite a bum orange crash cymbal that will require a tuning kit). But I've always been partial towards Harmonix's music masterpiece.

Of course, with the release of Rock Band 2 last September (on the 360 at least, the PS3 and Wii would have to wait a month longer) MTV wanted to promote the Rock Band franchise even further, and in doing so they announced the Rock Band Live tour. I had a chance to attend last Friday's live concert at the Patriot Center in downtown Washington D.C., and despite not knowing a lot about most of the bands in attendance, I was able to enjoy myself.

The main headliners in the show included Dashboard Confessional and Panic at the Disco, whom I remember from playing their song "Nine in the Afternoon" on Rock Band 2. In addition, both the CAB and the Plain White T's performed in the opening acts, and all proved to be quite entertaining for the crowd in attendance at the arena.

But of course the show was not just about the four bands that performed, it was also a chance for fellow Rock Band aficionados to get together and partake in the game they enjoy playing. Around the venue were several Xbox 360 stations set up to play all the songs from Rock Band 2, complete with the new line of instruments, including the new Fender Precision Bass guitar."
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"The release date for the PS2/PS3 version is November 15. Work is already underway for a Wii version for Guitar Hero, due December 1, a Wii version for Guitar Hero and Rock Band, due January 31, and an Xbox 360 version for Rock Band and Guitar Hero in April."
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This Sunday the Boston Globe will name Harmonix, developer of Rock Band, one of the top places to work in Massachusetts.

The rankings were based on a survey collected by an independent company of around 70,000 employees in the state. Harmonix managed to grab the #11 spot on the overall list, #5 on the list of "best small workplaces," and came in at #3 of the "most inclusive" company. If all the rankings were averaged together, Harmonix would earn a solid #2 in the overall "best small inclusive workplace" list.
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OXM UK reports that a "chance meeting" was the catalyst behind The Beatles licensing their tracks for use in Rock Band 2.

The story came from Harmonix PR John Drake, who told OXM that Van Toffler, the president of MTV Networks bumped into George Harrison's family while they were on vacation. It turned out they were big Rock Band fans and that was the driving force behind The Beatles' tracks being licensed for Harmonix to use.
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Ripten: "The (remaining, R.I.P.), Beatles have just licensed a number of their songs to Rock Band. If you're still out of the loop, this would just be the most popular DLC to date, but this is revolutionary (especially for Harmonix & EA) because The Beatles never license their songs to anyone. You can't even buy their music on iTunes, and Apple's been trying for years."
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The Beatles have licensed songs to MTV Networks' Rock Band videogame series, according to several people familiar with the matter, a coup for the Viacom Inc. unit in its battle with rival Activision Inc. for supremacy in the world of rock and roll video games.

The deal, which is set to be announced Thursday by Viacom's MTV and the band's own Apple Corps Ltd., makes the Beatles the next and biggest major band to license its songs to a music-oriented videogame, joining Aerosmith, Metallica, AC/DC and others.
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Destructoid has received official confirmation from an MTV Games PR rep that the Wii Special Edition bundle for Rock Band 2 will be available in 2008.

From the article:
"re: wii bundles at retail:
Wii bundles will Ship late December."

This is in contrast to a report from last week (http://www.n4g.com/gaming/News-220150.aspx), which stated that the bundle wouldn't be out until January 2009.
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Yesterday, Logitech revealed its new $250 wireless guitar controller for Guitar Hero for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. However, there were some questions about whether or not the peripheral would see a release for the Wii or Xbox 360, or if it would work with other non-Guitar Hero branded games. And now, those questions no longer remain unanswered.
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Hey Wii owners, if you had any Christmas parties planned around Rock Band 2, here's some harrowing news: the game/instrument bundle may not see release in 2008.
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If rumors on the game's official forums are to be believed, Rock Band may not be catering exclusively to fans of rock and roll for much longer. Rock Band 2 community members are abuzz over a CMT news report from Saturday afternoon that supposedly outed the developer's plans to release country music as downloadable content. Details are beyond scarce, but the alleged CMT report points to December as the expected release date.

While nobody is offering official confirmation at this point, a Harmonix developer with the handle HMXHenry chimed in on the thread to help calm things down. In addition to the standard, non-committal response commonly applied to rumors like this, Henry also directed the following statement toward country music detractors:

"Furthermore, this thread blows my mind. With so many genres represented in Rock Band already, why would the addition of country be such a huge shock? We'll have country in RB sooner or later. Ideally we'll have all the various subgenres that people are clamoring for (hardcore punk, goth, ska, etc) eventually. We haven't shut the door on anything."
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