'Rock Band' Game Takes Core Premise Of 'Guitar Hero' And Expands It Tenfold

July 4, 2007

The first glimpse at the upcoming multi-instrument video game Rock Band has been posted at YouTube. Check out a rendition of GUNS N' ROSES' "Welcome to the Jungle" at this location. The game will feature additional tracks from the QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, BLACK SABBATH, NIRVANA, WEEZER and many more.

Expected in stores for the year-end holidays, the Electronic Arts game (no price set) for the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3 will be played with four instrument-based video game controllers: two guitars (lead and bass),a drum kit and a microphone, according to USA Today.

In the popular game Guitar Hero, players tap color-coded fret keys and strum a guitar-shaped controller in time with scrolling on-screen notes. Rock Band "takes the core premise of Guitar Hero and expands it tenfold," says Alex Rigopulos, co-founder of Harmonix, which developed the game and the Karaoke Revolution games. "It lets you create a complete collaborative band."

According to USA Today, MTV is supplying creative and financial support to Rock Band's development, as well as helping make deals with various music publishers.

That means Rock Band will have performances by the original artists. In most previous music games, almost every song is done by a cover band. For Rock Band, some labels plan to supply original recordings. "This game offers a meaningful way for labels to participate in a segment of entertainment they, for the most part, have not been able to," MTV's Jeff Yapp says.

For more information, go to this location.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).