Apparently Harmonix has had a patch that makes the Guitar Hero controllers compatible with Rock Band on PS3 ready for a while, but Activision won’t let them release it. Now Activision says they’re more than willing to let it be released, they just want to make even more money out of it. Here’s what Maryanne Lataif, a spokeswoman for Activision, told The Boston Globe:

Unfortunately for Rock Band users, Harmonix has been unwilling to discuss an agreement that will allow us to provide that option in a manner that maintains the high standards people have come to expect from Activision

By “unwilling to discuss” she must mean unwilling to pay up and by “high standards” she must mean money mongering, as she makes Activision’s motives perfectly clear with the following statement:

We believe we should be compensated for the use of our technology

I thought people actually purchasing Guitar Hero III in the first place was compensation enough, and once they owned it they should be able to use it however they please - but Activision wants more in addition to the $100 they already got for each game sold. While it seems clear that Activision is only preventing the patch’s release for money, and they even admitted it, they’re still in denial and another spokeswoman, Spencer Saltonstall, says they’re doing it for the consumer:

We are really and truly not looking at this from the financial standpoint, we are looking at this from the consumer standpoint

I’m not sure how delaying a compatibility patch until Harmonix bribes them to allow its release benefits the consumer (or anyone besides Activision themselves) at all, but I guess they just refuse to admit how bad they’re handling this.

[Via Evil Avatar]

Various Best Buys will be open at midnight for Rock Band’s anticipated release just over a week from now, to make sure people can get the game as early as possible. 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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Nobody told me but apparently November 8th is national “announce your rhythm game’s DLC day,” otherwise known as Boxing Day in Canada. Sure, I might not think the highest of Canadians, but please don’t be offended by what I’ve just said; I know Boxing Day is just fake Thanksgiving.

Anyway, the latest issue of Official Xbox Magazine, known simply as OXM to you abbrev. lovers, has revealed a slew of new downloadable songs for Harmonix and MTV Games’ upcoming rhythm game, Rock Band. In addition to the songs that were announced in the past, including tracks from The Grateful Dead, The Who and Nirvana, the following songs will also eventually join the DLC ranks:

- The Police - Roxanne, Synchronicity II, Can’t Stand Losing You
- Queens of the Stone Age - Sick Sick Sick (ew), 3s and 7s (double ew), Little Sister
- Metallica (songs TBA)
- David Bowie (songs TBA)
- Black Sabbath (songs TBA)
- “Punk Pack” featuring songs by The Clash, The Buzzcocks and The Ramones
- Credence Clearwater Revival (CCR) - Fortunate Son
- Foreigner - Jukebox Hero
- The Knack - My Sharona
- The Pretenders - Brass in a Pocket
- Radiohead - My Iron Lung
- The Runaways - Cherry Bomb
- T-Rex - Bang a Gong
- Weezer - Buddy Holly
- Wolfmother - Joker and the Theif

Well, then, that was exhausting! In retrospect, Rock Band has a much more solid list of downloadable content than its main competitor, Guitar Hero III. If the boys at MTV Games can afford to make the songs cheaper, say only $1/song, they’d win the DLC battle hands down.

Guitar Hero III is already out, but if you want to play more than one instrument in your virtual rocking then Rock Band will be the way to go. It’ll be here in less than a month, and it is now officially done as it went gold yesterday.

While the developers may have finished the game, they aren’t finished getting music for it since they’re now going to start working on downloadable content to add to the already great track list. Alex Rigopolous, CEO of Harmonix, explains how they will continue to make the game better (for an added fee) even after the game is finished:

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

Now they need to start getting the finished product out to stores so they can in turn get it out to the gamers, and already have “a small army” filling their warehouses in preparation.
Hit the jump like a washed-out, forgotten rocker trying to buy cocaine for the full press release.

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IGN has the full list of every song initially available in Rock Band, although there are some as yet unrevealed tracks that can be unlocked and there will be even more through downloadable content. However, while we may not know those tracks, here is the complete licensed track list revealed so far, organized by year:

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We know when we’ll be getting Rock Band, and thanks to the above video we now also know where we’ll be rocking out (at least virtually).

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Thanks to MTV’s Multiplayer blog (shit, I can’t believe I just linked MTV), we now know the price and release date of the Guitar Hero killer, Rock Band. The Xbox 360/PS3 package, that includes the game, a wired/wireless guitar, respectively, a microphone and a drum set will release on November 23rd of this year for a measley $170, $30 less than everyone was expecting. The Playstation 2 bundle, however, will drop on December 10th for $160, a Jackson cheaper than the 360 and PS3 versions.

Look out, Guitar Hero, Rock Band is almost here!

The opening cinematic for Rock Band is out, and it’s got plenty of high speed rocking/driving/falling to the tune of Deep Purple’s Highway Star. It’s a pretty cool video and Rock Band is looking like it’s going to be an awesome game, but can it hold up against Guitar Hero III? Which one do you plan on buying?

Look at it…it looks so fun…Gahhh. Guitar Hero 3 can wait. After seeing this drum battle, in addition to other things I’ve heard about the game, I’m investing all of my money into Harmonix’s and MTV Game’s Rock Band. Honestly, Guitar Hero 3 is going to have to have a ton of new features to make me excited about, because after seeing a couple of Rock Band videos, I’m pretty sold on what I want exactly.

Of course I could always buy both games…We’ll see how Rock Band does when it’s released on November 6th in North America. Read more for the second video.

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