It was revealed today that rock band Metallica are in talks with Harmonix and MTV concerning the possibility of debuting their latest single from their new album via the upcoming game.

No hint as to which track from the album or when it will appear online was given but this new way of debuting a single is most interesting and bodes well for Rock Band's downloadable content.
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According to a forum poster on the rock band forums. EA has sent an email saying that if you ordered a Rock Band replacement guitar and it hasn't come yet you will be getting a free EA game. Here is the email.

"Greetings Rocker,

Congratulations on your purchase of Rock Band!

After reviewing our records, we see that your recent request for a replacement guitar has been subject to an unacceptably long delay due to a late shipment from our manufacturer.

By the time you receive this, your replacement guitar should be on its way to you. However, the Rock Band team is committed to providing a world-class customer experience and we do not believe we have met this commitment in connection with your request. As a token of our appreciation for your patience and understanding, we will be offering you a FREE EA game. Details will follow shortly.

We are sorry if your first experience with Rock Band has not met your expectations. We hope our gift will show you how committed we are to your satisfaction.

Thank you,

The Rock Band Team"
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Nov 30, 2007 Burn your Les Paul and throw away your Stratocaster, because drumming is the new guitar playing. If playing Rock Band has taught us anything, it's that the most satisfying instrument to play in a (virtual) band has to be the drums. So, with this in mind, weve racked our brains and scoured the internet to find five tracks that should keep the drummer happy, for a while at least. Were hoping for a downloadable content pack put together with drummers in mind and once Harmonix hears ... » Read More

USInfo reports on the growing popularity of games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, particularly among musicians.
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MTV's music video game "Rock Band" sold hundreds of thousands of copies over Thanksgiving weekend according to EA.
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"If users are experiencing a problem with their guitars or any of the Rock Band instruments, they can visit the customer support website ( http://support.ea.com/rockband) and we will send a replacement immediately. Harmonix is dedicated to creating 100% customer satisfaction and to the users who have encountered any hardware issues, we are sorry for the hassle."

-Rock Band Support [EA]
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Viacom Inc's MTV Networks said on Wednesday that copies of "Rock Band," its new music-based video game, have been "flying off the shelves" in the first week of sales.

"It's fantastic," Mika Salmi, head of digital at MTV, said to Reuters Media Summit in New York. "Downloads are going great, rockband.com is going great with people logging on and downloading stuff from there. It's got a lot of legs, we're in it for the long term."
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GameRevolver.com gives the official DLC list for Rock Band.

"Here is the official Downloadable for Rock Band, starting from current releases, through December 18th..."
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Reports of faulty guitars have lighted up the gaming world. Chalk it up to the squeaky wheels (or in this case, squeaky strum bars) being the ones to post fervently online, but know of three "Rock Band" guitars personally that are not functioning properly. From talking to friends who own the game and a source we spoke to on the phone today for a story about "Rock Band," problems are emerging: either the strum bar doesn't register the notes you're playing, registers them too often, or the "Overdrive" tilt mechanism doesn't work at all.
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Nov 27, 2007 Our Rock Band guitar is broken. Cue much wailing and gnashing of teeth. But it seems we're not the only band suffering this anguish, as the high number of gamers reporting the exact same problem painfully illustrates. But why is the guitar breaking in the first place? Here's the problem - after a weekend of seriously dedicated play, our guitar has stopped 'registering' the down strums on the strum-bar, making it effectively useless. Surprisingly, the drum kit is fine, despite ... » Read More

MTV Games has taken its first major step into the console game arena with the launch of "Rock Band," with company executives touting the title as the integration of music and gaming on a whole new level.

"Our belief is that 'Rock Band' is not just a game," said Jeff Yapp, executive vice president of program enterprises at MTV Networks Music Group. "It's a new platform for which to engage with music, and that's what we're most excited about."

"We're pretty optimistic about what this game is going to do," Jeff Yapp said. "But our next big announcement, which is coming up fairly quickly, is a move to a whole other realm."
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Via Ripten:

"Gift givers looking for Guitar Hero, Rock Band, or Dance Dance Revolution merchandise this holiday season beware, knock-offs are out there, and while you may not know the difference, the individual receiving the gift likely will."
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The Washington Post - Sunday, November 25, 2007; Page F01 (i.e., front page):

The Washington Post's Mike Musgrove encountered a frustrating technical error when his Xbox 360 scratched the "Rock Bank" game and left it unplayable after only about a day's worth of use - and he blames Microsoft. Musgrove reports a number of technical problems with the Xbox 360 and the class-action lawsuits against Microsoft resulted from those problems. His report focuses on scratched-disc stories, as reported by other Xbox owners, lawyers, Ars Technica, and GameFly.
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Videos have started making their way across the interwebs on how to hack your Rock Band drums to work with your PC. The reason this gets us so excited is the potential for a freeware version of "Drumer Hero". Something that would let us jam to our favorite tracks on the PC without having to pay $3 for each new song. The steps on how to hack your 360 controller are slightly harder than it's PS3 counterpart. Read on for the steps¿
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Engadget writes:

"While we're still quite early in the game (literally), reports have started trickling in that there may be some substantial issues with some of the hardware included in Harmonix's latest and greatest, Rock Band. According to forum posts from disgruntled users, folks who've just gotten the game are having a litany of problems, from drums with no sensitivity, an always-on whammy, and sticky buttons -- but most of the stress seems to be related to the downstrum. Current descriptions paint the problem as an overly- or ineffectual strum, resulting in a pretty annoying game experience. Of course, it's early on right now, and it's too soon to know if this is a widespread problem or if it's relegated to a small production batch. We pose this question to our readers: are you having Rock Band issues?"
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Harmonix, the worldwide leading developer of music-based games, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom's MTV Networks, along with distribution partner Electronic Arts, today announced that the Rock Band Special Edition Bundle is now available at retail stores across America for the for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.
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Though a lucky few managed to obtain Rock Band (PS2, PS3, X360) before its official Tuesday release due to negligent store employees, some of these pre-release buyers have experienced problems with the new guitar's strum bar. These problems may very well be fixed with a day-one patch for all versions of the game, according to multiple posts by a senior Harmonix employee on the SomethingAwful forums.
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The following Rock Band content is now available on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace:
Metallica - "...And Justice for All," "Blackened," and "Ride the Lightning"
Queens of the stoneage - "3's & 7's," "Little Sister," and "Sick, Sick, Sick"
The Police - "Can't Stand Losing You," "Roxanne," and "Synchronicity II"
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Nov 19, 2007 Rock Band has taken game peripheral innovation to a whole new level with its revolutionary controllers. But why stop at musical instruments? For the full rock and roll experience, we suggest that someone out there immediately begin production of the following Rock Band USB ... » Read More

Rock Band, Mass Effect, Unreal Tournament III, The Nintendo Wii Zapper lead the pack of new releases for the week of November 19, 2007!
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