Mad Catz nabs Rock Band 3 publishing rights, plans bundle for the holidays

The musical rhythm genre lived a rock star’s life. It rocketed to success, got drunk with power, had a few popular albums, and then sold out. An overabundance of releases and a lack of innovation killed the genre, forcing Rock Band to dance for money at the local dive bar. But now, with the help of peripheral-maker Mad Catz, the band is getting another shot at the big time.

Mad Catz has announced that it signed a deal with Harmonix for publishing rights of Rock Band 3, letting them re-bundle the critically acclaimed title for the 2011 holiday season and beyond. Seeing as Rock Band 3 was considered by many to be the best in the series (we called it the “The Sergeant Pepper of music games” and gave it a 10 out of 10), this is fantastic news.

Pricing information hasn’t been released just yet, but Mad Catz has confirmed that they’ll be bundling the game with their wireless keyboard controller, Wireless Fender Stratocaster guitar controller, and Wireless Fender Mustang Pro guitar. The Pro guitar alone originally retailed for $150 and let gamers play the actual notes and learn the instrument through the game. Odds are this new bundle will slice that price down to make it easier to justify the purchase, since it was one of the larger selling points of Rock Band 3 to begin with. Plus, we could totally stand to learn how to play the real guitar. It would make us significantly more interesting.

We loved Rock Band 3, and were sad to see it falter when it hit retail shelves last year. Hopefully this bundle is just the thing it needs to get back up and running, since we’re totally ready to spend some more money on new plastic instruments and Rock Band DLC. It’s time to get the band back together, everyone—let’s kick this world tour into full gear.

Aug 10, 2011