Filed under: Gaming

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Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

With all the incompatibility out there among Guitar Hero / Rock Band instruments, it’s a real treat to see something like this. The Director of Publisher Relations at SCEA has posted an update that promises compatibility between instruments and software for upcoming titles; for instance, Guitar Hero: World Tour’s guitars and drums will work with Rock Band 2 and Konami’s Rock Revolution software, and Rock Band 2’s guitar and drum set will work with Guitar Hero: World Tour and with Rock Revolution. Furthermore, the team is still “working hard to ensure compatibility between the Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles currently on the market,” though we are told that an announcement on that could surface “shortly.” Rock ‘n roll harmony, baby.

[Image courtesy of BeSportier]

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Filed under: Gaming

Buh. So, this is getting confusing. According to sources over at ShackNews, the Rock Band 2 Special Edition bundle that was originally set to launch on September 14 exclusively on Xbox 360 will hit stores on October 19. For you fanboys keeping score, that’s the same date that the game will hit for other consoles. It’s still not clear if the game and instruments will still show up on retail shelves on September 14, but if you were looking to get your groove on in September, you may want to chill.

[Via Crunchgear]

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Filed under: Gaming

Alright, this is getting a little silly. First it was Gibson claiming that Rock Band and Guitar Hero violated a patent covering “simulating a musical performance,” and now Konami is suing Harmonix, Viacom, and MTV Game because Rock Band allegedly violates a similar set of patents covering “simulated musical instruments” and “musical rhythm-based matching games.” Filed in good ol’ Marshall, the suit seeks the big green in damages and an order preventing the sale of Rock Band’s instruments. Interestingly, Gamasutra noticed last year that the fine print on Activision’s Guitar Hero homepage says the game is covered by the Konami patents in question, so it appears that Activision’s managed to reach a licensing agreement with Konami — which, if true, doesn’t necessarily bode well for Harmonix and company. No one’s commenting yet, but we hear Harmonix’s lawyers are furiously punching in the old up-up-down-down trying to get this to go away.

Read - Wired article on the lawsuit
Read - Gamasutra article
Read - Konami’s complaint (PDF)
Read - Konami patent covering simulated musical instruments (PDF)
Read - Konami patent covering musical arcade machines (PDF)
Read - Konami patent covering musical game machines (PDF)

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Filed under: Gaming

Although PlayStation 2 / 3 and Xbox 360 owners have been living the dream for months, Wii owners can finally circle a date on their calender to undoubtedly be sick: June 22nd. As we expected, the title will indeed be adding Nintendo’s darling to its tour ’round the consoles, but just like those pesky Ticketmaster fees, things aren’t going to be all peaches and cream during the checkout process. For starters, Wii purchasers will be forced to swallow the “no downloadable content” and “no online multiplayer support” pills, and after those are down, they’ll be forced to shell out $169.99 and know that their Wiimote won’t have anything to do with the instruments (unlike Guitar Hero III’s Wiimote-controlled axe). And no, your GHIII guitar most definitely won’t play nice with Rock Band. Yes, that is the sound of your expectations being crushed.

Update: The crew over at Joystiq got in touch with Harmonix, who hooked them up with this pic of the white Wii drumkit and a few addtiional deets: although a lot of features got axed, including character creation and Mii support, Wii rockers will score wireless guitars out of the box. Sure, but we’d rather have GHIII compatibility, you know?

[Via NintendoWiiFanboy]

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Filed under: Gaming

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gaming_news/Gibson_now_sues_Harmonix_for_Rock_Band’; We still think Gibson’s attempt to claim that Guitar Hero violates its patent on “simulating a musical performance with a musical instrument” is totally unfounded and ridiculous for a number of reasons (it involves a “3-D headset,” for one), but we can sort of see why the company is now suing Harmonix as well — they’re a Fender outfit, after all. The third in a series of petulant lawsuits filed by the notoriously litigious guitar maker over the patent claims Harmonix, Viacom, and Electronic Arts are all liable for Rock Band, but it’s not clear if Gibson is going after just the guitars or the drum kit as well, which is probably closer to actually counting as an instrument. Of course, the patent itself hasn’t changed since the last time we read it, and it’s obvious that Gibson’s going to have itself quite a challenge convincing the court that playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band involves musical instruments of any kind — after all, it’s just Simon, right?

Disclaimer: Nilay is a lawyer and a rock star, but he’s not your lawyer (or your monkey, man) and this is not legal advice or analysis.

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Finally got around to trading in that raincheck for your very own Wii? Good. Ready to pick up Rock Band? Believe it or not, we think we know that the aforementioned title is indeed headed to Nintendo’s darling — that’s according to EA’s CEO John Riccitiello, who was reportedly heard mentioning its “coming launch” on a recent conference call. Apparently, IGN even went the extra mile and pinged EA for additional confirmation (and got it), and while no details surrounding a release date, price or wicked new setlist were uncovered, at least you’ve got a few ticks to start scrounging up spare change.

[Via Joystiq]

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In a bit of shocking news today, two members of the Rock Band instruments set (drums, guitar) have declared that come February 12th, they’re going solo. Citing “creative differences,” and the original bundled guitar’s inability to “clean up its act,” the two solo pieces will be on their own and available for $79.99 and $59.99, respectively. This should come as good tidings for players who’ve had trouble getting a bass into the mix (PlayStation 3 gamers), or those who’ve wanted to rock the drum vs. drum match-ups. No word on whether the microphone will join the fray and walk out on the trio, though rumor has it a number of labels are ready with offers.

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Following up on yesterday’s news of Rock Band hardware concerns, developer Harmonix has issued a software patch meant to mend issues that players have been having with downstrumming. Unfortunately, the software fix doesn’t seem to be taking for everyone — some users are reporting fully functional axes, while others are still plagued by the strum problem. Worse yet, other gamers are reporting that the patch has caused their strums to double up — thus making the game considerably more crappy. On the silver-lining flip side, EA is actively honoring warranties for the Rock Band gear, though they say guitar replacement will take nearly two weeks — which will put you dangerously close to not being able to jam through X-mas.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Gaming

While we’re still quite early in the game (literally), reports have started trickling in that there may be some substantial issues with some of the hardware included in Harmonix’s latest and greatest, Rock Band. According to forum posts from disgruntled users, folks who’ve just gotten the game are having a litany of problems, from drums with no sensitivity, an always-on whammy, and sticky buttons — but most of the stress seems to be related to the downstrum. Current descriptions paint the problem as an overly- or ineffectual strum, resulting in a pretty annoying game experience. Of course, it’s early on right now, and it’s too soon to know if this is a widespread problem or if it’s relegated to a small production batch. We pose this question to our readers: are you having Rock Band issues?

[Thanks, J]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Gaming

Although Rock Band was available for pre-order from a number of e-tailers earlier this summer, we’re now hearing the “official word” from the suits at MTV regarding pricing. According to the MTV Multiplayer blog, both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions “will launch on November 23rd at a cost of $169.99.” Bundled in will be the game, a single guitar, a mic and a drum kit. Additionally, the PlayStation 2 version — which seemed to be on track for a 2008 release — will reportedly make it onto store shelves just before the last ditch holiday rush, as it is now scheduled to land on December 10th for $159.99. As expected, the PS2 / PS3 packages will include wireless guitars, and while an optional cordless axe will certainly be available for the Xbox 360, its bundle will (sadly) include one with a tether. Oh, and Amazon has already updated its pages to reflect the finalized figures.

[Via IGN]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!