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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It looks like MTV Games is trying to clear out some old stock before the Wii and PlayStation 2 versions of Rock Band 2 are released. To that end, they're now selling the original game as a "Special Edition Bundle" for just $99.99. However, it doesn't appear that the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 versions are set to come down just yet.
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Viacom Inc., controlled by Sumner Redstone, will pay the creators of the ''Rock Band'' video-game bonuses exceeding $300 million as part of the 2006 acquisition of their company.

Harmonix founders Alex Rigopulos, 38, and Eran Egozy, 37, received $150 million last quarter for exceeding performance targets, New York-based Viacom said in a Nov. 3 regulatory filing. A final payment in 2009 will exceed $150 million, the company said.
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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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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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GamingShogun writes, "Harmonix, the leading developer of music-based games, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom's MTV Networks, (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), along with distribution partner Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced plans to ship Rock Band® Track Pack Volume 2 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and the Wii home video game console from Nintendo on November 17, 2008..."
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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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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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Virtual games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero could be inspiring people to pick up an instrument and rock out for real.

Of 3,500 people surveyed over a third said they had taken up a musical instrument as a result of playing the games...
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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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The stand alone version of Rock Band 2 has been available for a few weeks now on the Xbox 360, leaving PS3, PS2, and Wii fans of the franchise wondering when they will get their hands on the game for their respective systems. Well today is the day they will find that out. Good news for PS3 owners as their wait is almost over, but the other two systems have a ways to go still. Also announced are bundle pricing and some of the standalone instruments.
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G4tv.com is reporting a rumor that Motley Crue's 'Dr. Feelgood' Album is coming to Rock Band as DLC. Check the link for details on the date and track list.
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MTV2 and Time Warner Cable announced today that NYC-area rock band Lights Resolve won the Rock Battle NYC competition, and as a result they will be the opening act for the November 2nd stop of the Rock Band Live Tour.
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Gameplayer has unearthed an interesting development in the pricing of Rock Band and Guitar Hero this Christmas that could change the way music game fans approach their purchases.
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Aly & AJ are getting their own Guitar Hero and Rock Band girly guitars. The guitar peripherals will be available in mid-October 2008 for Wii & PS2 and will cost $69.99.
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ButtonMasher writes: EA have just sent out the official word that Rock Band will in fact be releasing this year. The date (as per the title) is set for October the 31st and it will be releasing on all four platforms, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2 and Nintendo Wii. Also released with the release date is the pricing for the various bundles and additional song packs on the platforms that do not have a download service for the game. The pricing for the full Instrument pack will be $219.99 with the Software selling separately for $99.99 (or $79.99 on the PS2/Wii)
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Almost a year after it's release in the US, Rock Band 1 is finally coming to Australia. "EA confirms Harmonix-developed band simulation game finally making its way down under on November 7"
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According to GameRush.nl a distributor of videogames has listed the yet unknown "Rock Band Song Pack 1" and "Rock Band Song Pack 2". Both these packs will be available on disc.

The first pack will be released on the 25th of september on Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 2 costing 29,99 euro. The 25th is also the day some parts of Europe will finally get their Wii, PS2 and PS3 versions of Rock Band.

The second pack will be released on PS2 and Wii as well, also with a 29,99 pricecard. This is not quite that amazing because both these consoles lack the capacity to save lots of data on a harddisk. BUT... (yes there's a but) there will be a PS3 and Xbox 360 Rock Band Song Pack 2 as well!!

The Rock Band Song Pack 2 is listed with a november 20th release. The PS3 and Xbox 360 version will cost 69,99 euro.
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Brandon Undead of the Destructoid community blog says,

"Today we (Walmart) received some material concerning promotional efforts for the forthcoming AC/DC studio album (sold exclusively at Wally World), 'Black Ice'. In it was a bunch of stuff about selling hats, and t-shirts, and AC/DC branded stadium seats, and- WAIT! What's this!?

An AC/DC Rock Band 2 Expansion Pack? 'AC/DC Live at Donington' ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? I wondered for a long time if they were referring to DLC, and then remembered we can't sell DLC in a Wal-Mart store. Unless someone has come up with something super-flashy that I don't know about, this must be a physical disc.

By virtue of my totally lady-moistening skills of espionage, I have provided super-secret-spy-cam proof of this memo, and so will probably be terminated in short order. I hope you guys appreciate this!"
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Guys who run gaming companies are the kind of people who don't like to let you die wondering. In a classic piece of schoolyard pouting, Activision boss Bob Kotick would like to let you know that Guitar Hero is doing well."We're outselling [Rock Band] 6:1," says Activision boss Bob Kotick.
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