Closing Comments
Rock Band is a great game. The presentation elements are top-notch and take music games to a new level; consider the bar raised. Though there are three separate solo careers, Rock Band is best experienced with a group of friends. The only major concerns are with the hardware. The guitar is inferior to other versions on the market and it seems likely that before Rock Band II arrives, many will have broken their drum kits (how long can you beat that thing before it dies?). Still, this is an excellent game overall. Anyone who invests the extra money to purchase some of the stellar downloadable content is certain to be playing Rock Band well into next year. Heck, you can tell by the mammoth size of this review just how much there is to say about Rock Band. Without question, Rock Band is one of the must-have games of the year.

10 Presentation

8.0 Graphics

9.0 Sound

9.0 Gameplay

9.5 Lasting Appeal

9.4 Overall
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Nov 15, 2007 Harmonix and EA have detailed their ambitious plans for Rock Band downloadable content, which will kick into action from the week of its North American release (that's the one in seven days). Taking pointers from the complaints surrounding Guitar Hero's pricey three-song packs, EA has opted to allow gamers to purchase individual tracks for Rock Band, as well as proving the three-packs for 440 Microsoft points (£3.74 or $5.50) on Live. Individual songs will cost anything ... » Read More

Nov 15, 2007 For two years now, Guitar Hero has ruled the music genre with a fret-blazing iron fist. That reign is now contested by Rock Band, which happens to come from the same guys who made Guitar Hero what it is today. Now that their creation is in the hands of another studio, who's to know which team brings the rock? For the answer, we turn to our custom-built comparison videos that split the screen right down the middle - Guitar Hero III on the left, Rock Band on the right. The two games ... » Read More

Bundle options and release schedule explained for the upcoming download-driven rhythm game from MTV and Harmonix. Since Rock Band was first announced by Harmonix and MTV Games in March, the developers have made no secret of their ambitious plans for downloadable content. As the game's release has drawn closer, information about those plans has trickled out. At the E3 Media and Business Summit, Harmonix said it would be offering full downloadable albums from artists like The Who, with more tracks from Metallica, The Grateful Dead, and The Ramones among those that gamers could add on to the retail game.

Rock Band will still feature pre-selected three-song packs for download, but they will instead cost $5.49 (440 Microsoft points on Xbox 360). Songs will also be available individually for $1.99. Harmonix has said future songs will be sold individually for as little as $.99 (80 Microsoft points), and as much as $2.99 (240 points). However, "the vast majority" will come in at the standard $1.99 price point. The developer did not say how much full-album downloads would be, or when the first albums would be released

Week of November 20, 2007: (*--asterisk denotes a cover version)
Metallica Pack
"Ride the Lightning"--Metallica
"Blackened"--Metallica
"And Justice for All"--Metallica

The Police Pack
"Can't Stand Losing You"--The Police
"Synchronicity II"--The Police
"Roxanne"--The Police

Queens of the Stone Age Pack
"3's and 7's"--Queens of the Stone Age
"Little Sister"--Queens of the Stone Age
"Sick Sick Sick"--Queens of the Stone Age

Individual Tracks
"Fortunate Son" as made famous by Creedence Clearwater Revival *
"Juke Box Hero" as made famous by Foreigner *
"Bang a Gong (Get It On)" as made famous ...
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Another street date has apparently been broken. This time, it's Rock Band, ahead of its scheduled release date of November 20. A member at the official Rock Band forums claims to have purchased Rock Band Special Edition at a Wal-Mart in New York. Harmonix has now edited the post and locked the thread.
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Nov 14, 2007 Is Rock Band too good to be true? Not only does it threaten to take Guitar Hero to its logical multiplayer evolutionary state, but now Alex Rigopolus - Harmonix CEO and lead drummer – tells Official Xbox Magazine (on its spiffy new website) that youll be able to take your band out of the game and into the real world with shirts, stickers, and - wait for it - figurines. Rock Band gives every player the chance to customize their character, down to tattoos and face paint, save ... » Read More

Here is the list of all the Best Buy stores that will be open at midnight for Rock Band, so you can get it in the first few minutes of November 20th instead of having to wait until it's actually light outside
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Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld is the highlight of Rock Band's 13 unlockable bonus tracks.
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MTV Games, which owns Rock Band developer Harmonix, has confirmed to Shacknews that Canadian stores will not receive any version of the musical supergroup simulator until December 17.

Publisher EA previously announced that the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions would arrive in North America on November 20, with the PlayStation 2 version following on December 17. The November 20 launch of Rock Band in the United States is not affected by this news.
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According to IGN's GamerMetrics, the current top ten most-anticipated titles are as follows (ranked by percentages of mindshare among IGN's audience):

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) 5.00%
2. WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2008 (PS3) 3.11%
3. Assassin's Creed (XB360) 2.63%
4. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) 2.54%
5. Mass Effect (XB360) 2.33%
6. WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2008 (XB360) 1.99%
7 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3) 1.91%
8. Assassin's Creed (PS3) 1.86%
9. Rock Band (XB360) 1.70%
10. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) 1.29%
11. Crysis (PC) 1.24%
12. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Wii) 1.13%

In addition, GamerMetrics analyzed IGN's traffics of Assassin's Creed for different SKUs (see the image below) and forecast that the game will sell 1 million units for Xbox 360 and 350,000 units for PS3 by the end of the year.
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Rock Band has gone gold. That means the game is set for mass production and on target for a November 20th release for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, with a PS2 release set for December 18, 2007.

"Rock Band is a true symbol of Harmonix's vision, dedication and passion for music and after two years of development, we are thrilled that Rock Band is finally ready to get in the hands of rock fans everywhere," said Alex Rigopolous, CEO of Harmonix. "We have a small army filling our warehouses with final product, ready for our November 20th ship date so players can fulfill their rock and roll aspirations. Now, our focus is putting together an amazing selection of downloadable music content for players so players can continue to further customize their Rock Band experience post launch."
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Harmonix has issued an official warning on the Rock Band bundles that are being sold before the street date. Those units are not full-real retail versions of the game. They are incomplete demos that are getting accidentally sold.

Read the full announcement and explanation in the official Harmonix community forums.
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Rock Band distributor Electronic Arts says Rock Band supply will "definitely" fall short this holiday, with big sales expected to barrel through the rest of the fiscal year - and next. "If I were you on the 19th of November, I would get in line outside of your favorite retailer, because we've got one hot product," said EA CEO John Riccitillo.
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According to NPD's projection, video game sales in the U.S. will reach a record-breaking $18 billion in 2007, surpassing the $10 billion box office sales projected by The Hollywood Reporter. Halo 3 grossed over $170 million on its release day, far bigger than any Hollywood film ever has, making it the highest-grossing premiere in entertainment history.

Game Informer editor-in-chief Andy McNamara gives a partial list of blockbuster games for this fall with brief descriptions.
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Red Octane's president explains that Rock Band "requires more instruments, more people¿ might be too complex for the mass market."
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Oct 31, 2007 The first details have been spilled on Rock Band and Guitar Hero creator Harmonix' next project, which will apparently leave the dedicated peripherals of its previous titles behind. The info comes from a Game Developers Conference 08 session listing for senior designer Chris Foster, in which he'll discuss the challenges of leaving the beat-matching formula of Guitar Hero behind. The new game, says the listing, will adopt a system where beats are not authored by tech-savvy ... » Read More

Oct 31, 2007 Harmonix and Red Octane once worked together to bring Guitar Hero to the world. But now Red Octane president Kai Huang believes that, while there's room for both its own Guitar Hero brand and Harmonix's new Rock Band, Rock Band's "complex" nature means it won't offer what the "mass market" wants. "With Guitar Hero, we want to make it as broadly appealing as possible, as market, as casual a game as possible," Huang explains. "With Rock Band [it's] slightly different." "[Rock ... » Read More

When Rock Band ships next month, you'll quickly realize there aren't enough USB slots on Xbox 360 to accommodate the load of peripherals that need to be jacked in for the whole experience. Given that the older versions of the PlayStation 3 feature four accommodating USB ports, this extra step won't be necessary there.

1UP reports:

"We were recently shipped the finalized Rock Band peripherals, including the USB hub. We haven't had enough time with the hub to determine how well it holds up -- up until now, we've been using a separate hub that was delivered with an earlier version of the game, but isn't part of the bundle on Xbox 360 -- but we can't say we're happy about having yet another device that needs to plug into the wall, especially considering the hub's limited length.

The hub's made by a company called ViPowER, and while it's a little disheartening there don't seem to be many reviews of the other USB hubs they make, here's hoping we don't have to search out our own replacement hubs a few weeks after launch."
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Ahead of Activision's financial results next week, Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey has commended short-term revenue prospects, but commented that "emerging competition for some of [Activision's] core franchises, including Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk", may prove damaging for the company's long-term growth.

Hickey stated for the short-term company prospects, "We expect key fiscal Q208 and 2H08 game sales will come from Spiderman 3, Shrek 3, Transformers, Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk, Call of Duty 4 and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. The Company's fiscal '08 game pipeline is exceedingly strong, and will likely generate record fiscal '08 operating performance."
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Oct 29, 2007 This is what you'll be rocking out to when Rock Band storms your bedroom early next year. 1960s Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter" 1970s Aerosmith "Train Kept a Rollin'"* The Who "Won't Get Fooled Again" Boston "Foreplay/Long Time" Mountain "Mississippi Queen"* The Police "Next to You" David Bowie "Suffragette City" Black Sabbath "Paranoid"* Blue Oyster Cult "Don't Fear the Reaper" The Ramones "Blitzkrieg Bop" Deep Purple "Highway Star" KISS "Detroit Rock City" Molly Hatchet ... » Read More