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Harmonix amps up the Rock Band franchise with the Rock Band Network, what may one day be remembered as a novel and revolutionary medium for “undiscovered” acts to reach a much larger audience.  Currently in open beta, the Network requires each user to link his or her rockband.com account to creators.rockband.com before the fun begins.  After that you should be free to upload music or review others’ contributions.

The Rock Band Network will also feature tunes you might have heard before, from Billy Idol to Creed and Evanescence.  If that’s a bit too mainstream, more obscure labels the likes of Sub Pop intend to bring contributions from The Shins, Flight of the Conchords, and more.  Add established names like these to untapped homegrown talent and you’ve got quite a playlist for Rock Band and Rock Band 2.

But the road to stardom isn’t easy.

Harmonix reports that you’ll be spending about 40 hours just to shove one of your own tracks into the limelight.  That’s right, fine-tuning your song for the Rock Band Network should cost a whole week’s worth of 9-5 shifts.  Hard work indeed.  This number is an estimate, naturally, as it might take even longer running the gauntlet of PC programs that create, encode, and chart your imminent hit single.

This might scare off a few of the daydreamers out there, but there will be a lot of customization out there for the truly dedicated.  Avatar animations, pyrotechnics, and even the crowd’s cheers can all be tweaked according to the user’s whim.  You control the song as well as the venue.

If you’ve got the next chart topper just waiting to be discovered, this is your lucky break.  Warm up your rah-rah-ah-ah-ahs and your roma-roma-mas, clear your work week, and jump on the Rock Bandwagon.  What’s forty hours of sweat when you can win your fifteen minutes of fame?

The final song, “The End” was just added to the list.  This now completes the full setlist gamers can expect to find on The Beatles Rock Band:

“The End”
“Boys”
“A Hard Day’s Night”
“I’m Looking Through You”
“Ticket to Ride”
“Drive My Car”
“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”
“Getting Better”
“Good Morning”
“Hello, Goodbye”
“Hey Bulldog”
“Dear Prudence”
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
“Helter Skelter”
“Something”
“Come Together”
“Don’t Let Me Down”
“I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”
“I Me Mine”
“If I Needed Someone”
“Twist and Shout”
“Do You Want to Know a Secret”
“Can’t Buy Me Love”
“I Wanna Be Your Man”
“Eight Days a Week”
“Paperback Writer”
“And Your Bird Can Sing”
“Yellow Submarine”
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
“With a Little Help From My Friends”
“Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows”
“Revolution”
“Birthday”
“Dig a Pony”
“I’ve Got a Feeling”
“I Saw Her Standing There”
“Octopus’s Garden”
“Tax Man”
“I Feel Fine”
“Day Tripper”
“I Am The Walrus”
“Back In The USSR”
“Get Back”
“Here Comes The Sun”
“I Wanna Hold Your Hand”

360 Rant Rave will be playing The Beatles Rock Band at PAX this weekend. Watch for our coverage and impressions of the game.

Game on!

While no such title has yet been announced, Gamestop may have just given us an unintended glimpse of what’s to come.  If the info from this screenshot can be believed to be accurate, it looks like we’ll be getting GH: Van Halen around August 4th. 

So get ready to run with the devil, get hot for your teacher or head on down to Panama this August!

Game on!

Harmonix, the world’s premiermusic video game development company, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks, along with distribution partner Electronic Arts Inc. today announced its highly anticipated music videogame Rock Band 2™ is shipping to retail.

The award-winning Rock Band 2 standalone software will make its debut on the Xbox360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft on Sunday, September14, 2008 with an exclusive launch window in North America. Rock Band 2 standalonewireless drums and guitars will also arrive at retail later in the week. Inaddition, look for the epic Rock Band 2 TV commercial featuring AC/DC’s rock anthem “Let There Be Rock” that premiered during the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards at www.rockband2.com.

“Rock Band 2 andHarmonix are raising the bar in the music game category again with anincredible music setlist, innovative online features, and new authenticinstruments. With over 300 songs available on disc and via weeklydownloads, no other music game can compete with the Rock Band 2 music catalog,”stated Bob Picunko, Vice President of Electronic Games and InteractiveProducts, MTV. “Mark yourcalendar, call your band mates, and get set for the best Rock Band party ever onSunday, September 14th.”

Rock Band 2 is set to revolutionize musicgaming with the ability to export most of the songs from the original Rock Band disc[1],Online World Tour, daily Battle-Of-The Band Tournaments, Auto-Calibration to eliminate TV lag, wireless drums, quieter, velocity sensitive drum heads, supportfor up to three cymbals (sold separately), advanced voice detection technology, No Fail Mode, and a real Drum Trainer. RockBand 2’s massive list of innovations also includes the ability toexport your in-game band avatar to the internet and order custom RockBand merchandise including apparel and figures.

Shipping and pricing information:

Week of September 14, 2008

-Rock Band 2 Standalone Software (Xbox 360) $59.99 MSRP

-Rock Band 2 Standalone Wireless Drums (Xbox 360) $89.99 MSRP

-Rock Band 2 Standalone Wireless Guitar (Xbox 360) $69.99 MSRP

With a focus onauthenticity, quality and blurring the line between playing a game and performingmusic, Rock Band partners Mad Catz and Ion have introduced officially licensed high–endinstruments which are already shipping to retail this week:

Mad Catz:
-Rock Band Fender PrecisionBass Guitar Controller: The Fender
PrecisionBass equipped with a split strum bar and innovative features
designed toenhance the Rock Bandexperience. This new guitar peripheral
isdesigned for bass players but can be used to play both lead and bass
guitarportions of Rock Band and Rock Band 2. MSRP: $69.99

ION:
-Rock Band ION DrumRocker: A real electronic drumkit with three cymbals
that functions as a Rock Band game controller brings theRockBand fantasy to
life. A drum conversionkit is also available to transform the kit from a
game controller to a realinstrument (sold separately). MSRP: $299

Rock Band 2 features the largest music catalogueof any music-based videogame to date including over 100 songs[2]on the Rock Band 2 soundtrack with an unrivaled blend of classic andnew artists including AC/DC, Guns ‘N Roses, Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam, Motorhead andmore! With the addition of complete and immediate backwards compatibility forsongs purchased from Rock
Band’s ever-expanding onlinemusic store and the ability to export most songs from the original RockBand disc, the Rock Band music library will featuremore than 500 songs[3]by year’s end.

The Rock Band onlinemusic store recently surpassed 21 million paid downloads since the game’slaunch in late November 2007. With more than 300tracks available to date via disc and download purchase (complete list oftracks at [http://www.rockband.com/dlc] http://www.rockband.com/dlc), the massive Rock Band Music Store allowsplayers to preview and purchase downloadable individual music tracks, packs andalbums from the vast selection of offerings available as they build their owncustom Rock Band library.

Rock Band 2 is rated “T” for Teenwith descriptors of lyrics and suggestive themes by the ESRB.

Game on!

Today I had a few minutes to chat with Shawn Batiste, one of the developers for Harmonix’s upcoming Rock Band 2. 

To hear the interview with Shawn, click HERE. 

Game on!