Crisis averted.

Until now, the war between music game franchises has left frugal gamers with no option but to pick a side and hope for the best. Following Guitar Hero publisher Activision’s press conference, however, Chris Kohler over at Game|Life brings us good news:

At Activision’s E3 press conference Tuesday, Guitar Hero director Brian Bright told the crowd that if they already owned guitar controllers and drum controllers from “previous games” on the Xbox 360, they’d work with Guitar Hero World Tour.

As a person who owns Rock Band and all its peripherals on the 360, this makes it a lot easier to be on both sides of the music game fence. My Rock Band 2 purchase is all but sealed up, but knowing that I can get the full Guitar Hero World Tour experience without crowding my basement with even more peripherals makes it all the more enticing.

Specifics on now the RB drums will work with GH remain to be revealed, but it should be interesting, as the Guitar Hero World Tour drums require one more input than the Rock Band drums currently have. In addition, Bright did not adress PS3 or Wii compatibility. We’ll have to wait and see.

[Image and info via Wired]

Wouldn’t ya know it? As I was writing this, Nathan managed to post the entire tracklist, but… uh… enjoy the first part of the article anyway.

With the start of E3 today, Harmonix has revealed the entire setlist for Rock Band 2 as well as a few other awesome details to secure at least 60 of my hard-earned dollars. THere will be 75 regular tracks as well as 9 bonus tracks, all of which will be master recordings. In addition RB2 will feature two debuts: AC/DC will make its first appearance in a video game and in even bigger news, a track from Guns N’ Roses (possibly) long-awaited Chinese Democracy will be a part of the setlist.

Rock Band 2 will also sport a number of other cool amenities. in addition to all DLC being cross-compatible, owners of the first iteration of the series will be able to copy those songs onto their console’s hard drive for use in Rock Band 2, saving the hassle of switching discs. In addition, despite the 84 tracks, MTV wanted to include over 100, so they will be releasing at least 20 master tracks for free via download.

If you really want to know, personal highlights from the tracklist include Journey’s “Any Way You Want It”, Beck’s “E-Pro”, Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer”, and The Who’s “Pinball Wizard”.

Low points include Panic at the Disco’s “Anything they have ever written”.

Here it is, the video that everyone who’s anyone has been waiting for, the debut video for Guitar Hero World Tour (also previously known as Guitar Hero IV)! The video shows players rocking out on the guitar, bass, drums and microphone, something that Rock Band aficionados will be quite familiar with. However, with the game boasting the biggest track list ever as well as the ability to create and share your own songs with other players, Rock Band might be a thing of the past!

The gist of it: Coming out on June 22, it’s the special edition, $170, comes with the drums, mic, and a wireless guitar. Unfortunately, no DLC has been announced yet, which really blows, yo. Looks like Nintendo fans are finally going to be able to get a chance to play one of the best games of 2007 though. Hopefully the GHIII guitar will be compatible, eh? Hit the jump for the full press thingie.

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Another Thursday, another Playstation Store update … and another disappointment. Honestly, there’s nothing worth mentioning coming out this week, nothing. Yes, there are new Nine Inch Nails songs for Rock Band and new No Doubt (?) downloadable content for Guitar Hero III, but other than that it’s slim pickin’s.

Check the full list of downloadable content, trailers and videos after the jump.

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FINALLY, EA has announced that they will be selling Rock Band drums and Rock Band guitars separately. The drum kit will be arriving in stores two days before Valentine’s, February 12th, for the price of $79.99, while the guitars are coming in April for $59.99. This marks the first time wireless guitars will be of use on the Xbox 360 version of Rock Band. There is no word on whether or not the company will be selling microphones yet.

Money-milking EA sure has put a steep price on their controllers, especially since the game bundle with a guitar, mic, and drum kit included, costs $169.99. If you do the math, or if you simply glance at the prices for the equipment, you’ll notice that this is a total ripoff. If you don’t already own the game, you’re better off buying the bundle. If you do and you’re looking for another instrument, I suggest using Ebay. These prices are just too bad.

The downloadable songs for Rock Band have definitely been successful, with 2.5 million sold already. While the Rock Band DLC should continue to come at a steady pace, now there’s the possibility of songs being sold in other games too:

What’s more, there’s no reason for “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band” to be the only videogames that sell music. It’s only a matter of time before other games begin offering new downloadable soundtracks as well.

Titles like the “Madden” football series, the Tony Hawk skateboarding franchise and the venerable “Grand Theft Auto” games are well known for their extensive soundtracks. Offering gamers the ability to replace their soundtracks every few months after the initial release is not only technically possible with today’s new-generation consoles, but also on the horizon.

This is incredibly stupid for a number of reasons. First of all, the songs you buy in Guitar Hero III or Rock Band are specialized for those games - they are meant to be controlled by the player, and so additions like specific buttons mapped for each instrument throughout the song make them unique. However, if you bought music for most other games, I imagine it would just be like buying it from anywhere else (like iTunes) with nothing special except for it being exclusive to one game - chances are you would only be able to use it for the specific game you bought it in. That’s fine when it’s customized like in Guitar Hero III or Rock Band, but when it’s just the normal song it doesn’t seem worth it at all.

Secondly, most games allow custom soundtracks, so it makes much more sense to buy the song elsewhere and then just listen to it in the game. The article states that the ability to replace soundtracks is “not only technically possible with today’s new-generation consoles, but also on the horizon” - fortunately for us but it seems unbeknownst to them, it’s already here. Buying music for a specific game when you could instead buy it for use anywhere, including that game, is just plain dumb. However, Electronic Arts worldwide head of music Steve Schnur seems to think it’s actually a good idea, saying “that’s certainly something we’re interested in.” Unfortunately for him, I don’t think anyone else shares that interest (unless they stand to profit).

[Reuters, via Evil Avatar]

Joystiq seems to have caught a mistake that Microsoft made on Xbox.com. I guess the folks at Microsoft accidentally posted the rest of Rock Band’s DLC for the entire month. Big “oops” on that. Here’s the leaked info:

Week of Jan. 22: Oasis Pack (440 MS points/ $5.50)

* Don’t Look Back in Anger (160 MS points/ $2)
* Live Forever (160 MS points/ $2)
* Wonderwall (160 MS Points / $2)

Week of Jan. 29: Progressive Pack (440 MS points/ $5.50)

* Siva - Smashing Pumpkins (160 MS points/ $2)
* Working Man - Rush *Cover* (160 MS points/ $2)
* Ten Speed (Of God’s Blood and Burial) - Coheed and Cambria *Cover* (160 MS Points / $2)

I’m pretty excited to hear that Oasis is on their way to this awesome game. I would most definitely hash my money out to play Wonderwall. As for the other pack, you can count me out. I don’t think it’d be fun to play a crappy cover of an already crappy band (no, I’m not talking about Rush, so don’t go apeshit on the comments).

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]

As you now know, December 4th will forever go down in history as “Day of the DLC.” In addition to the Bioshock downloadable content released today, Rock Band will get three Black Sabbath songs available for download for 440 points total.

Content: Black Sabbath Pack 01
Price: 440 Points
Availability: United States
Dash Text: [ESRB: T (Teen) MILD LYRICS,MILD SUGGESTIVE THEMES] Build your Rock Band library by purchasing this game song track pack, which includes: “N.I.B.,” “Sweet Leaf,” and “War Pigs,” which are covers of songs made famous by Black Sabbath. PLEASE NOTE: this game song track includes three song game tracks at a discounted rate over individual purchases. Many Rock Band songs are available as both a multipack and as a single track. These songs are exactly the same (unless expressly noted as a special version or remix). Be aware that it is possible to download the same song twice so please carefully consider your purchases. For song credits, visit www.RockBand.com. There are no refunds for this item. For more information, see www.xbox.com/live/accounts.

Does War Pigs sound familiar? Guitar Hero II, anyone? I wish they had released a different non-duplicate Black Sabbath song besides the one that had been covered earlier, but all in all this pack might be a good one for anyone who hasn’t played the second Guitar Hero.

According to an e-mail from Electronic Arts posted by a user in the Rock Band forums, anyone who requested a replacement guitar for Rock Band and didn’t get it in a timely manner will be receiving a free game courtesy of EA. From what I’ve heard the replacement process for Rock Band peripherals is incredibly easy and hassle free, and the fact that people who were “subject to an unacceptably long delay” will now be receiving a game along with their new guitar controller seems like a really great thing for EA to do. Here is the e-mail that some have recieved:

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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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