Harmonix, MTV Games and EA today announced the universally-desired Rock Band has gone gold, and is currently being pumped out of factories at a whopping rate, ready for its release later this month.
The Rock Band Special Edition bundle for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 will hit stores in North America on November 20, with an SRP of $169.99. The crippled PlayStation 2 version will be ten bucks cheaper, and arrives on December 18.
Launch period shortages are becoming the norm in the gaming world, but we were still expecting Rock Band to be readily available in stores during the lucrative Christmas period - turns out, we were wrong.
EA president John Riccitiello delivered the bad news saying, “We won’t be able to put up enough inventory to meet the demand of this fiscal or calendar year” and added that those who don’t buy at launch “won’t be getting one for Christmas, unless you know someone at one of our retailers.”
Maybe it’s all hype, but with Guitar Hero III selling out, I wouldn’t count on it.
via Joystiq
The hotly-anticipated Rock Band’s track list has been let loose…sort of. 58 songs in all will be in the game from release, with 13 of those being unlocks - and only one unlockable track announced so far. Weekly downloadable tracks are also expected - The Who’s Who’s Next album was the first announced, followed by Grateful Dead tracks and Metallica’s One.
Look after the jump for the full track list.
Activision are really going all out making Guitar Hero III, with the game taking on a boot full of exclusive partners. Equipment manufactures that have signed on are Axe, Gibson, Guitar Centre, Audio-Technica, Crate, Ernie Ball, Krank, Line 6, Mackie and Zildjian.
Media publications are also there to boost your virtual ego, they include Alternative Press, Decibel, Guitar Player, Kerrang and Paste magazines. Dave Anderson, senior director of business development for Activision had this to say about their new partnerships:
“By forging exclusive relationships with key companies in the music and consumer packaged goods industries we are able to bring an even greater depth of realism to Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. From venues like Pontiac Garage, to customised guitars from Axe, the game delivers the ultimate rock and roll experience.”
Sin City is making its way to the game world and you needn’t fret about a faithful handling. The game is in production by Red Mile Entertainment and spearheaded by Flint Dille. The reason you can lay your fears to rest is that Dille is a close friend of Frank Miller, so much so that Miller titled a story after him (Dillos). He is also previously worked on Dead to Rights and The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay.
Dille had this to say about the production so far:
“Frank and I have been having a party coming up with nasty stuff for the game. In true Sin City fashion, some old characters will return, new characters will appear and - without giving anything away - probably die horribly. It’s great to be working with the Red Mile team on this project: They clearly share Frank’s and my commitment to bringing a new and true Sin City to interactive life.”
via DigitalBattle
Capcom have let the cat out of the bag with the announcement they are working on Street Fighter IV. The above video is not in-game footage, although with the consoles of today, it very nearly could be - we’ll have to wait and see. Unfortunately the teaser video is all we have to cling to, no system list, no quarterly release date…nothing.
via Kotaku and Next Generation
Neversoft’s latest installment of their Tony Hawk franchise is out. Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground has been promised to be the most customizable Tony Hawk game ever. The game will allow players to progress the story and their style based on the choices they make and where they choose to skate. Another touted feature is the games fully in-built video editor that allows players to make their own skate videos. Joel Jewett, Neversoft’s president, had this to say about the game:
“With Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground, we are giving gamers the chance to express their personal style like never before. They can do everything from skating the way they want, and producing their own classic videos, all the way to pulling-off the newest Nail the Trick maneuvers and tricking out their skate lounge to hang-out with friends.”
The game is set in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. and will allow players to skate form single player mode into multiplayer mode. In addition to the usual major band soundtrack the 360’s version of the game will include a 5 song, Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock demo on the disc.
Prices are USD$59.99 for Xbox 360 and PS3, $49.99 for the Wii, $39.99 for the PS2 and $29.99 for DS.
via Press Release
Interscope Records will release the Guitar Hero III Companion Piece, an oddly-named soundtrack CD featuring 11 tracks from Guitar Hero III, on October 23.
Given most people who are fans of the tracks in the game would already own them on CD, there’s an ingenious added incentive to buy - a unique download code which can be redeemed for an additional three in-game tracks:
“Carcinogen Crush” by AFI
“Tina” by Flyleaf
“Putting Holes In Happiness” by Marilyn Manson, as remixed by Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The catch? It only works for the Xbox 360 version of the game.
Hit the jump for the tracks on the CD.
Activision have announced 17 new tracks set to appear in Guitar Hero III, including 7 original recordings from the likes of Slipknot and Sonic Youth.
Read on for the full track list.
The upcoming Turok game is set to feature a star studded lineup of voice actors. Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood, Hitman), Powers Boothe (Deadwood, Sin City), Ron Perlman (Hellboy and a million other projects), William Fichtner (Prison Break, Invasion) and Donnie Wahlberg (New Kids on the Block) are among the actors working on the game, due out on February 5 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
The plot for the game revolves around the player taking control of Joseph Turok (voiced by Gregory Norman Cruz), who has set down on a strange planet with his team known as Whiskey Company, comprising of Cowboy (Timothy Olyphant), Slade (Ron Perlman), Shepard (Donnie Wahlberg) and Logan (William Fichtner). Turok’s mission is to take down his fromer mentor, Roland Kane (Powers Boothe) and his army, the Mendel-Gruman Corporation. Of course, there will be lots of dinosaurs.
“The actors who lent their voices to Turok are a testament to both the magnitude of the project and the interest of top-notch talent,” said Josh Holmes, vice president and general manager of Propaganda Games. “The characters in the story are paramount to the experience and we have assembled an outstanding cast to assure high quality performances across the board.”
via Gaming Today
