We want to apologise for the delay in getting RB2 onto the Wii and to reaffirm that we believe that Wii is an amazing and unique fit for Rock Band 2, and one that we care deeply about getting right.

Those are awful humble words, but still, where the hell is the Rock Band 2 for the Wii!

Harmonix via Kotaku

Short Version: As music games go, both Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour are impressive, fun, and either would make a great addition to any gamer’s lineup. But which one is best for you?

Overview and Methodology

We’ll take a look at Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour, both for the Xbox 360, and break things down within various categories. Both standalone games cost around $60, with full band kits going for just under $200. I have the full band kits for Guitar Hero World Tour as well as the first version of Rock Band – not Rock Band 2. Since the instruments have been updated somewhat for the Rock Band 2 kit, I’ll try not to make too many detailed direct comparisons aside from overall general differences.

Since music is a pretty subjective issue, keep in mind that your tastes might differ greatly from mine. I’m coming from the point of view of a 29-year old who’s formative years consisted of Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, AC/DC, Megadeth, Anthrax, Bon Jovi, and bands like that. In high school and college I listened to harder alternative and punk. So the viewpoint for some of the opinions in this guide is coming from someone who likes hard rock, metal, punk, and heavier/grungier alternative music.

As far as instruments go, I grew up playing drums, bass, and guitar — in that order of skill — and I played in 15-20 bands throughout high school and college. I sang, too. So now you know, and knowing is, indeed, at least half the battle. Now let’s get started…

Song Lists

Surprisingly, there’s a rather large amount of identical songs featured between the two games, yet I found the overall experiences to be quite different. Rock Band 2 has 75 famous songs plus nine bonus songs from relative no-namers, while GHWT has 86 famous songs. Here are some of the overlapping songs found in both games:

• American Woman – The Guess Who
• Everlong – Foo Fighters
• Eye of the Tiger – Survivor
• Feel the Pain – Dinosaur Jr.
• Float On – Modest Mouse
• Go Your Own Way – Fleetwood Mac
• Lazy Eye – Silversun Pickups
• Livin’ on a Prayer – Bon Jovi
• The Middle – Jimmy Eat World
• Mountain Song – Jane’s Addiction
• One Way or Another – Blondie
• Our Truth – Lacuna Coil
• Ramblin’ Man – The Allman Brothers Band
• Today – Smashing Pumpkins

I personally enjoy the music in Rock Band 2 better than the music in Guitar Hero World Tour. I found most of Rock Band 2’s songs to be songs I liked and if I came upon a song I hadn’t heard before or didn’t necessarily love, I found that most of them fell into some sort of hard rock category, so at least they appealed to me somewhat.

GHWT, on the other hand, had some true musical gems here and there but I found myself agitated at having to play through long songs like Hotel California (which I believe to be one of the worst songs in the history of American music – can’t stand it), The Joker, Sweet Home Alabama, Stranglehold by Ted Nugent, and stuff like that. It’s harder to keep the adrenaline pumping with GHWT than it is with Rock Band 2.

If you’re looking for variety, GHWT has a diverse song list. You’ll find a little bit of everything, which will appeal to plenty of people. Personally, I wanna rock (rock!), which I found to be much more consistent in Rock Band 2. Oh, and you can import songs from the first Rock Band into Rock Band 2. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Presentation

Both games feature an animated group of musicians performing at some sort of venue. GHWT’s presentation is a bit more cartoony and fun, while Rock Band 2’s seems more gritty and semi-realistic. Once you get into a song, though, you’ll be concentrating on the notes far more than you’ll be checking out the visuals and animations.

You start out at small parties and dive bars and then work your way up to arenas as you progress throughout the game. GHWT features plenty of surprise guests in the form of actual musicians – Billy Corgan, Jimi Hendrix, Zakk Wylde, Ted Nugent, to name a few – which is kind of cool, although it seems more superficial than anything. Rock Band 2 has some guests as well, but not nearly as many or as famous.

Venues and locations in GHWT are relatively more elaborate than in Rock Band 2: you’ll play at a frat houses, a state fair, a farm, a church, recording studios, Times Square, AT&T Park, Ozzfest, the House of Blues, and other famous locations, so there’s definitely an air of realism as far as GHWT’s visuals go.

However, I found the actual feeling of playing in a band to be more realistic in Rock Band 2, overall. When you get cranking along on a song, the crowd starts to cheer louder and sing along with the words, which I think represents the feeling of playing an actual show more realistically. Again, there’s more adrenaline with Rock Band 2. The emphasis in GHWT seems to be on the venues and guest stars, while the performance experience tends to be emphasized with Rock Band 2.

Guitar Experience

Hands-down, I find the Rock Band guitar (I have the guitar from the first version, remember – the second version is apparently similar, with the added feature of being wireless) to be much, much better than the GHWT guitar simply because the buttons aren’t separated on the Rock Band 2 guitar. I was having trouble on easier skill levels with GHWT guitar (below, left) until I tried using the Rock Band guitar (below, right) instead. After making the switch, I was able to beat songs on the harder skill levels that I’d been failing before when using the GHWT guitar on easier levels.

Anyone who’s played guitar before knows how much you rely on sliding your fingers along the frets. With GHWT, the buttons are far enough apart that sliding doesn’t work too well. The included guitar does have a trackpad-like section higher up on the neck that’s used for tapping, which is kind of cool, although I didn’t use it all that often. The Rock Band guitar has identical-but-smaller versions of the colored buttons higher up on its neck, which I found useful for soloing and complicated runs.

Drumming Experience

I much prefer playing drums in GHWT — above all, the way drumming is handled and scored, in general. I can’t speak to Rock Band 2’s actual drum kit, as I only have the first version, but my argument isn’t for or against the drum kits of either game, it’s more for how drumming is handled. Allow me to explain…

In Rock Band and Rock Band 2, you’re expected to hit each drum note in order to score – fair enough. Now let’s say you’re playing a song you know really well but you’re playing it on the Medium skill level and there’s a section of the song coming up that contains a certain fill-in or triplet or double-kick in the real-life version of the song but the Medium version in Rock Band/Rock Band 2 calls for a less elaborate fill or a single kick or something like that. If you play the more advanced, real-life rhythm, you’ll be docked points. Play the real, true version of a song but at a lower skill setting, and you won’t make it past the first thirty seconds of the song.

GHWT, on the other hand, lets you flail around to your heart’s content as long as you keep the overall general rhythm between the snare, kick, and hi-hat going. You won’t build any star power this way, but you won’t kill the song either. So it’s more fun for  drummers who know that real-life drumming is mostly about keeping songs popping along in four-four time, while just about any fill-ins, doubles, or triples are fair game.

There’s been a fair amount of discussion about the GHWT drums being faulty, but those issues were apparently linked to some manufacturing problems with early hardware. The drums I got didn’t have any trouble and current kits should be fine.

Singing

Ever done Karaoke? That’s about the extent of the singing experience in both games except your own voice is potted way down, volume-wise. The actual singing part is pretty similar between the two games. I found Rock Band 2 to be a little easier to follow but I found the star power feature in GHWT to be a bit cooler. All in all, though, don’t buy either game based solely on the singing feature unless you check out the each game’s song list first. Then buy whichever game has more of the songs you like.

Online Features, Extras

Online multiplayer is actually pretty similar on both games as well. You can hook up with your friends and play songs together and/or up to four of you can take on another four in a battle of the bands scenario. 

As far as downloadable content is concerned, the Rock Band franchise has a ton of songs right now. Guitar Hero’s list is slowly growing and will likely eventually catch up. If you want to download extra songs right now, though, Rock Band games have the most stuff available (as of December 2008).

Guitar Hero has GHTunes, though, which consists of user-generated songs created with the game’s music studio feature. You can create your own songs and upload them to share with other GHWT players. Rock Band 2 doesn’t have a music creation system but it does have a feature called Drum Trainer, which basically teaches you how to play drums. I’d give the edge on “extra” stuff to GHWT thanks to the music studio, but downloadable content currently goes to the Rock Band games. Both games’ online multiplayer features are pretty much a wash.

So Which One’s Better?

Probably Guitar Hero World Tour. No, wait, Rock Band 2! No, wait… this isn’t working!

If you’re looking for rock, rock, and more rock, you might enjoy Rock Band 2. If you’re looking for a more diverse selection of music, Guitar Hero World Tour is probably more up your alley. If you’ll be playing guitar most often, I prefer Rock Band 2 but if drumming’s your thing, I like how GHWT handles everything. Singing and online stuff can go either way, while there’s more to download with Rock Band 2 but more to create and upload with GHWT.

I happen to love playing the drums in GHWT but I like the music in Rock Band 2 better so, clearly, I’m no help at all. But this isn’t meant to choose one game over the other – they’re both great games. Hopefully there’s some information here that can help you choose which one would be right for you.

Rock Band 2 [Official Site]

Guitar Hero World Tour [Official Site]

Oh. I see.

Not to sound ungrateful but I kinda thought the whole “20 free downloadable tracks” for Rock Band 2 owners might have included at least a few somewhat well-known tracks. Well it turns out that those 20 tracks are actually preselected from what MTV and Harmonix are calling the “Emerging Artist Lineup.”

On the bright side, they could very well be the greatest songs in the history of music. You never know. You… never… know. The tracks will be available November 4th. You can read the complete press release here, which includes the song list.

Harmonix just confirmed on its message board that Wii Guitar Hero III controllers will work just fine on Rock Band 2, which is due to be released on November 18.

Note that the opposite—using Rock Band 2 guitars in Guitar Hero—isn’t confirmed.

via Wii Fanboy

IGN got a hands-on with the game and assures everyone that the Wii version of Rock Band 2 is NOT just a PS2 port but a full-fledged Wii version of the game.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that there will be a way to transfer Rock Band songs into Rock Band 2 on the Wii title. There’s also the 500 pound gorilla in the room that is the Wii’s limited storage.

Says IGN…

“Songs will be pulled from your internal memory on Wii, and additional songs can be purchased in the Rock Band store and saved to your SD card if more space is needed, but you’ll need to have any songs you want to play during that play session on your internal Wii memory. So on one hand you’ve got an extremely ambitious DLC offering from EA – a huge win for Wii fans – and on the other you’ve got Wii’s technical limitations (at least for the time being), which ensure that you’ll be cleaning your fridge out constantly if you want to keep updating your list of available DLC.”

Still. Not much you can do about that. The online features are key, though, so kudos to EA for getting that stuff implemented.

[IGN via NWFB]

If you’re like me, you opened Rock Band 2, rushed to the site to enter your registration code to get 20 free downloadable tracks, and were told to come back later. Well now is later.

Being able to download 20 free tracks is still “coming soon,” but at least you can get your e-mail addresses registered and commence the process of waiting patiently.

Rock Band 2 Registration [register.rockband.com]

The more I hear about the recently announced AD/DC Rock Band expansion, the less excited I am about it. After reading through the details unearthed by Variety today, my interest remains low.

The New Details:

• Harmonix has exclusivity on AC/DC content indefinitely, after they’ve gone on the record as being against exclusive artist deals
• No character creation
• “There are some custom graphics,” but you don’t play as AC/DC
• No online play with the standalone disc
• Songs can be exported, for free, for play with Rock Band and Rock Band 2. Exported songs can be played online.

It just doesn’t seem like there’s any reason to warrant a physical product. Nobody is going to go and buy a few hundred dollars of Rock Band instruments to play 18 AC/DC songs, so anybody who buys this will likely have one of the original games anyways. Not making this DLC is just an inconvenience. Maybe I’m crazy – Anybody out there getting antsy in the pants for this one?

[Via Kotaku]

First, you have to unlock all the songs or else you’ll be playing the same tracks over and over again. That’s no fun and people will boo you out of your own home. It is, after all, the same cheat from RB1. Go to Modify Game then Extras and finally Enter Code where you will input the following code:

Red, Yellow, Blue, Red, Red, Blue, Blue, Red, Yellow, Blue

You will inevitably hav some really shitty people playing with you and that’s okay. Not everyone can be a Rock Band god like yourself, nerd. Again, dig into Modify Game then Extras and flip on No-Fail. Simple as that.

We have yet to test this, but you can recite the Declaration of Independence or anything for that matter during rap-like sections of songs such as the Beastie Boy’s Sabotage.

So, there you go. Everything you’ll need to make one hell of a bitchin’ RB2 party this weekend. If we’ve left anything out then let us know in Comments.

Update: Oh yeah, we forgot the BEER!

Here she blows; the premium Xbox 360 Rock Band drum kit from ION. It’s priced at $299, available now, and features four gum-rubber drum pads (read: quiet) and two cymbals with mounting arms. That’s right, two. You’ll have to purchase that third cymbal separately for $50. You can also add a second bass pedal for some double-dutch kick action or whatever you kids are saying nowadays.

Once you get good enough at Rock Band to play drums in real life, you can add an Alesis DM5 module for around $350, which will allow you to play drums out loud with a real band like the rest of the world used to do before Rock Band came along.

PS2, PS3, and Wii versions should be along later this year, although no firm date’s been given. ION expects all versions of the kit to eventually be sold in stores but for now you’ll have to buy it from the company’s web site. It should be compatible with Guitar Hero: World Tour as well, assuming the standard instruments are compatible.

[via I4U]

This is kind of along the lines of the Onion’s World of World of Warcraft spoof, except that it appears to be real. According to a Craigslist post in the LA area, MTV is apparently looking for people to star in a reality show about Rock Band 2. So basically, a reality show about non-musicians with toy instruments pretending to be musicians.

And with that, reality TV has officially hit rock bottom. And by “has officially hit rock bottom” I mean “will likely continue to decline in quality and original ideas while somehow rising in popularity for another 20 years until eventually every show on every channel is made up of half-ass contests where someone gets voted off at the end of the show interspersed with scenes of two girls in their mid-twenties arguing like middle-schoolers through forced teardrops and runny mascara about how they used to be friends but aren’t anymore.”

The show will apparently be produced by Mark Burnett, the guy you should be mad at if you hate reality TV half as much as I do.

[via Variety]

CAMBRIDGE, MA – September 10, 2008 – Harmonix, the world’s premier music video game development company, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), along with distribution partner Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), 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 Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft on Sunday, September 14, 2008 with an exclusive launch window in North America. Rock Band 2 standalone wireless drums and guitars will also arrive at retail later in the week. In addition, 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 and Harmonix are raising the bar in the music game category again with an incredible music setlist, innovative online features, and new authentic instruments. With over 300 songs available on disc and via weekly downloads, no other music game can compete with the Rock Band 2 music catalog,” stated Bob Picunko, Vice President of Electronic Games and Interactive Products, MTV. “Mark your calendar, call your band mates, and get set for the best Rock Band party ever on Sunday, September 14th.”

Rock Band 2 is set to revolutionize music gaming 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, support for up to three cymbals (sold separately), advanced voice detection technology, No Fail Mode, and a real Drum Trainer. Rock Band 2’s massive list of innovations also includes the ability to export your in-game band avatar to the internet and order custom Rock Band 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 on authenticity, quality and blurring the line between playing a game and performing music, Rock Band partners Mad Catz and Ion have introduced officially licensed high–end instruments which are already shipping to retail this week:

Mad Catz:
Rock Band Fender Precision Bass Guitar Controller: The Fender Precision Bass equipped with a split strum bar and innovative features designed to enhance the Rock Band experience. This new guitar peripheral is designed for bass players but can be used to play both lead and bass guitar portions of Rock Band and Rock Band 2.
MSRP: $69.99
ION:
Rock Band ION Drum Rocker: A real electronic drum kit with up to three color assignable cymbals that functions as a Rock Band game controller brings the Rock Band fantasy to life. A drum conversion kit is also available to transform the kit from a game controller to a real instrument (sold separately).
MSRP: $299
Rock Band 2 features the largest music catalogue of any music-based videogame to date including over 100 songs[2] on the Rock Band 2 soundtrack with an unrivaled blend of classic and new artists including AC/DC, Guns ‘N Roses, Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam, Motorhead and more! With the addition of complete and immediate backwards compatibility for songs purchased from Rock Band’s ever-expanding online music store and the ability to export most songs from the original Rock Band disc, the Rock Band music library will feature more than 500 songs[3] by year’s end.

The Rock Band online music store recently surpassed 21 million paid downloads since the game’s launch in late November 2007. With more than 300 tracks available to date via disc and download purchase (complete list of tracks at http://www.rockband.com/dlc), the massive Rock Band Music Store allows players to preview and purchase downloadable individual music tracks, packs and albums from the vast selection of offerings available as they build their own custom Rock Band library.

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

For more information on Rock Band and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.rockband.com and www.harmonixmusic.com.

Looks like an update for Rock Band will be available for Xbox 360 owners today. The PS3 update “will follow and we’ll let you know when we have an idea when it will drop,” according to Harmonix.

The patch fixes some scoring wonkinesss and, perhaps more importantly, will allow you to export your Rock Band songs to Rock Band 2. It was unclear which songs would NOT be able to be exported, but now we have the list: Paranoid (Black Sabbath), Run to the Hills (Iron Maiden), and Enter Sandman (Metallica).

Full info from the Rock Band forum post…

Hey all,

So there is a 360 title update coming out for Rock Band today, PS3 will follow and we’ll let you know when we have an idea when it will drop. What’s in it? A couple of things.

First of all – it updates RB1 so you will still be able to purchase DLC from the Rock Band store. Downloading this patch is required if you’d still like to do that.

Second – Lowers the threshold on gold stars making it easier/possible to gold star songs. This won’t affect leaderboards as it only affects the threshold, not the score.

Third – Lately a few songs have had unhittable notes. This should be fixed now.

Lastly – It will allow you to export your songs from the RB1 disc to the hard drive for play in Rock Band 2. Official language follows for this feature-

Nominal fee of $4.99 (400 Microsoft points) required for export of Rock Band 1 soundtrack to compensate music licensors for expanded use.The following Rock Band disc tracks will not be available for export into Rock Band 2: * "Paranoid" as made famous by Black Sabbath, * “Run to the Hills” as made famous by Iron Maiden, and "Enter Sandman" by Metallica. In addition, the title update will also be released simultaneously in Europe. Tokio Hotel’s “Through the Monsoon” from the European disc release of Rock Band will not be available for export into the future European release of Rock Band 2. (* Indicates a cover song, all other songs are original master recordings.) Expanded usage rights for these particular tracks were unable to be secured from the music licensors for this feature.

First off, I’d like to tell you that the good people behind Rock Band 2 have promised 500 tracks by the end of the year, according to Entertainment Weekly. Those tracks might not all be gems, though, as it seems there’s really going to be a big push towards full album downloads this time around. You can currently download a handful of full albums for the original Rock Band, but here’s what’s coming for Rock Band 2.

• Foo Fighters – The Colour and the Shape
• Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magik
• Jane’s Addiction – Nothing’s Shocking
• Megadeth – Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying
• Stevie Ray Vaughn – Texas Flood
• No Doubt – Best Of Collection

The first four albums, hoo-ray. I’d definitely buy Foo Fighters and Megadeth, then the Chili Peppers and Jane’s Addiction if I had a little moolah left over. I’m not a huge Stevie Ray Vaughn fan, though, and No Doubt is about as appealing to me as watching an episode of The Hills.

IGN has an exhaustive list of the easiest-to-hardest Rock Band 2 songs, categorized by instrument. Here’s a quick look at the top and bottom of each category. Hit up the IGN piece for the full low-down.

Vocals

Easiest: L7 — “Pretend We’re Dead”
Hardest: Bob Dylan — “Tangled Up in Blue” [Hint: Drink yourself to a medium slur and stuff a big spoonful of peanut butter in your mouth to best mimic Dylan’s vocals]

Guitar

Easiest: Survivor — “Eye of the Tiger”
Hardest: Judas Priest — “Painkiller”

Bass

Easiest: Survivor — “Eye of the Tiger”
Hardest: Dream Theater — “Panic Attack”

Drums

Easiest: Survivor — “Eye of the Tiger”
Hardest: Dream Theater — “Panic Attack”

Full Band

Easiest: Survivor — “Eye of the Tiger” [Man, does this song suck or what?]
Hardest: Judas Priest — “Painkiller”

And now, the details about how you’ll be able to transfer the tracks from the first Rock Band game to Rock Band 2, which will be released for Xbox 360 on September 14th.

According to MTV Multiplayer, when Rock Band 2 is released on the 14th for Xbox 360, the original Rock Band will get a software update that’ll add an export feature. You’ll be able to export the songs to your console’s hard drive after paying a fee that “will not exceed $5.” The fee is because MTV Games has to pay licensing fees to the original content owners for moving the song from the first game to the second game. There will be a code that comes with Rock Band 2 that you’ll have to enter during the original Rock Band export process.

So then when you fire up Rock Band 2, the songs that you exported from the first game will be there. Will all the songs from the first game be there? That’s up in the air at the moment. It’s been speculated that a handful of the songs might not be transferable. Also, it appears that you’ll be able to perform this trick with rented copies of each of the games, too. So it looks like you’d be able to buy Rock Band 2, rent Rock Band, and transfer the songs over. You’d just have to pay the $5 fee.

It’s likely that the same exporting function would work on the PS3. The Wii, however, seems a little trickier since it doesn’t have the storage capacity of the Xbox 360 or PS3. It’ll likely be a no-go or maybe you could do some SD card trickery.

Drums and guitars for Activision’s title will work with Harmonix’s Rock Band 2 and Rock Revolution. On the flip side, RB2’s guitars and drums will work with GH:WT and RR. RR’s peripherals will also work with GH:WT and RB2. Also, GH:WT and RB2 will support SingStar’s mic.

We’re still working hard to ensure compatibility between the Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles currently on the market, and we hope to have an announcement on that shortly.

Of course each of these great games have their own specific cool features that may not be compatible with the other controllers, but this is our first big step in bringing a level of compatibility to music games that is sure to benefit PlayStation 3 consumers.

Moving on to the Xbox 360.

All the instruments from Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour, and Rock Revolution will be cross-compatible.

Rock Band groupies aren’t going to like this. It seems that Harmonix has pushed the Rock Band 2 XBOX 360 Bundle Edition’s early release back to October 19. For those not keeping track, that was the date the standalone game was shipping for all platforms.  Originally, a wanna-be-rock’r could pick up the program a month early on September 14, but that person would have to spend extra coin on the bundle rather than just the game. No word for the cause of the delay, but doesn’t it seem like Harmonix is going to sell less of the higher-priced bundle? Maybe the profit margin is smaller with all the faux instruments?

Who knows, but for a recap, the release date now looks like October 19.

Eagerly awaiting the arrival of Rock Band 2? Wait no more, fans. Well, mark your calendars, at least. Kotaku received images from a retailer who managed to snap photos of the supposed street dates for the upcoming game across all three major platforms. Looks like Xbox 360 owners get first dibs on the game followed by the PS3 and then Wii.

Here’s an update to today’s earlier post — just got this press release. It’s the full track list for Rock Band 2. Peace Sells by Megadeth? Where’d You Go by the Bosstones? Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi? Looks pretty sweet. I can’t wait.

HARMONIX AND MTV GAMES UNVEIL SETLIST FOR ROCK BAND – THE ULTIMATE MUSIC GAME

Game to Feature Unrivaled Blend of Classic, Developing and New Artists

Rock Band Platform to Encompass More Than 500 Songs by End of 2008

Los Angeles, Calif. – July 14, 2008 – Harmonix, the world’s premier music video game company, and MTV Games, a division of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), along with marketing and distribution partner Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today revealed at the 2008 E3 Media & Business Summit the song set list for Rock Band™ 2, the next evolution of the groundbreaking Rock Band music platform. The Rock Band 2 soundtrack will feature over 100 songs with over 80 songs on disc plus an additional 20 bonus tracks which will be made available for free download this fall. This builds upon the unparalleled depth and diversity of Rock Band’s original set list and its ever-expanding library of downloadable tracks. Comprised entirely of master recordings from some of rock’s most prolific and untouchable artists, including AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, Bob Dylan, Metallica, Pearl Jam and more, Rock Band 2 will deliver the most impressive and largest music catalogue of any music-based videogame ever.

• After 14 years since Guns N’ Roses last official music release, Axl Rose selects Rock Band 2 to debut official new track “Shackler’s Revenge” from the highly-anticipated album Chinese Democracy.

• Rock Band 2 is the first and only video game to feature the music of AC/DC. It includes their epic rock anthem, "Let There Be Rock.”

• For the first time ever, music from American music icon, Bob Dylan, is featured in a video game with “Tangled Up In Blue.”

• Rock Band 2 will feature backwards compatibility with all Rock Band downloadable music content released to date.

• Owners of the original Rock Band will have the ability to export most of the Rock Band disc tracks and upgrade them into Rock Band 2 gameplay-the first time ever in videogame history! [1]

• With ongoing weekly DLC releases including individual tracks, track packs and full albums, the Rock Band music library will feature more than 500 songs by year’s end!

“With Rock Band, Harmonix and MTV Games set out to create a powerful music platform for music fans, their friends and families to discover music in a way unlike ever before,” said Paul DeGooyer, SVP Electronic Games and Music, MTV. “We are honored that such legendary artists as AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, Bob Dylan and more have chosen Rock Band 2 as a new platform for fans to experience their music. As our catalog of disc and downloadable songs continues to grow, we are determined to continue to provide the Rock Band community an unmatched ability to customize their musical experience with the artists and songs they love.”

Rock Band 2 On-Disc Track List:
Artist Song Title Decade
1. AC/DC “Let There Be Rock” 1970s
2. AFI “Girl’s Gone Grey” 2000’s
3. Alanis Morissette “You Oughta Know” 1990’s
4. Alice in Chains “Man in the Box” 1990’s
5. Allman Brothers “Ramblin’ Man” 1970’s
6. Avenged Sevenfold “Almost Easy” 2000’s
7. Bad Company “Shooting Star” 1970’s
8. Beastie Boys “So Whatcha Want” 1990’s
9. Beck “E-Pro” 2000’s
10. Bikini Kill “Rebel Girl” 1990’s
11. Billy Idol “White Wedding Pt. I” 1980’s
12. Blondie “One Way or Another” 1970’s
13. Bob Dylan “Tangled Up in Blue” 1970’s
14. Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer” 1980’s
15. Cheap Trick “Hello There” 1970’s
16. Devo “Uncontrollable Urge” 1980’s
17. Dinosaur Jr. “Feel the Pain” 1990’s
18. Disturbed “Down with the Sickness” 2000’s
19. Dream Theater “Panic Attack” 2000’s
20. Duran Duran “Hungry Like the Wolf” 1980’s
21. Elvis Costello “Pump It Up” 1970’s
22. Fleetwood Mac “Go Your Own Way” 1970’s
23. Foo Fighters “Everlong” 1990’s
24. Guns N’ Roses “Shackler’s Revenge” 2000’s
25. Interpol “PDA” 2000’s
26. Jane’s Addiction “Mountain Song” 1980’s
27. Jethro Tull “Aqualung” 1970’s
28. Jimmy Eat World “The Middle” 2000’s
29. Joan Jett “Bad Reputation” 1980’s
30. Journey “Anyway You Want It” 1970’s
31. Judas Priest “Painkiller” 1990’s
32. Kansas “Carry On Wayward Son” 1970’s
33. L7 “Pretend We’re Dead” 1990’s
34. Lacuna Coil “Our Truth” 2000’s
35. Linkin Park “One Step Closer” 2000’s
36. Lit “My Own Worst Enemy” 1990’s
37. Lush “De-Luxe” 1990’s
38. Mastodon “Colony of Birchmen” 2000’s
39. Megadeth “Peace Sells” 1980’s
40. Metallica “Battery” 1980’s
41. Mighty Mighty Bosstones “Where’d You Go” 1990’s
42. Modest Mouse “Float On” 2000’s
43. Motorhead “Ace of Spades” 1980’s
44. Nirvana “Drain You” 1990’s
45. Norman Greenbaum “Spirit in the Sky” 1960’s
46. Panic at the Disco “Nine in the Afternoon” 2000’s
47. Paramore “That’s What You Get” 2000’s
48. Pearl Jam “Alive” 1990’s
49. Presidents of the USA “Lump” 1990’s
50. Rage Against the Machine “Testify” 1990’s
51. Ratt “Round & Round” 1980’s
52. Red Hot Chili Peppers “Give it Away” 1990’s
53. Rise Against “Give it All” 2000’s
54. Rush “The Trees” 1970’s
55. Silversun Pickups “Lazy Eye” 2000’s
56. Smashing Pumpkins “Today” 1990’s
57. Social Distortion “I Was Wrong” 1990’s
58. Sonic Youth “Teenage Riot” 1980’s
59. Soundgarden “Spoonman” 1990’s
60. Squeeze “Cool for Cats” 1970’s
61. Steely Dan “Bodhitsattva” 1970’s
62. Steve Miller Band “Rock’n Me” 1970’s
63. Survivor “Eye of the Tiger” 1980’s
64. System of a Down “Chop Suey” 2000’s
65. Talking Heads “Psycho Killer” 1970’s
66. Tenacious D “Master Exploder” 2000’s
67. Testament “Souls of Black” 1990’s
68. The Donnas “New Kid in School” 2000’s
69. The Go-Go’s “We Got the Beat” 1980’s
70. The Grateful Dead “Alabama Getaway” 1980’s
71. The Guess Who “American Woman” 1970’s
72. The Muffs “Kids in America” 1990’s
73. The Offspring “Come Out & Play (Keep ‘em Separated)” 1990’s
74. The Replacements “Alex Chilton” 1980’s
75. The Who “Pinball Wizard” 1960’s
Bonus Artist Bonus Song Title Decade
76. Abnormality “Visions” 2000’s
77. Anarchy Club “Get Clean” 2000’s
78. Bang Camaro “Night Lies” 2000’s
79. Breaking Wheel “Shoulder to the Plow” 2000’s
80. The Libyans “Neighborhood” 2000’s
81. The Main Drag “A Jagged Gorgeous Winter” 2000’s
82. Speck “Conventional Lover” 2000’s
83. The Sterns “Supreme Girl” 2000’s
84. That Handsome Devil “Rob the Prez-O-Dent” 2000’s

** The Rock Band 2 on-disc track list is comprised entirely of master recordings.

More news about music on the Rock Band platform will be announced during the coming months.

Rock Band 2 will make its debut on Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft this September and have an exclusive launch window in North America. Rock Band 2 will be available for the PLAYSTATION® 3 and PlayStation® 2 computer entertainment systems and Wii™ later this year.

The Rock Band online Music Store recently surpassed 16 million paid downloads since the game’s launch in late November 2007.With more than 200 tracks available to date on disc and via download purchase (complete list of tracks at http://www.rockband.com/dlc), the massive Rock Band Music Store allows players to preview and purchase downloadable individual music tracks, packs and albums from the vast selection of offerings available as they build their own custom Rock Band library.

Rock Band 2 is rated “T” for Teen (lyrics, suggestive themes) by the ESRB.