Rock Band Announced
EA, MTV and Harmonix took a moment from their insipid love fest to announce something incredibly cool and exciting. Rock Band! It is apparently going to be using guitar, bass, drum and microphone peripherals and will span all genres with master recordings of most of the songs. An official website has been launched which you can see here.
This seems to go hand in hand with EA's announcement of more music partnerships, and is the big secret project we have all been waiting for from the creators of Guitar Hero. Hopefully EA doesn't crap it up. More details as they come to us. Maybe we will see a playable version at E3?
Unfortunately for the Wii, it's only for PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360. Another nail in the coffin. Full release after the jump.
*HARMONIX, MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION AND EA ANNOUNCE /ROCK BAND -/ THE
ULTIMATE INTERACTIVE MUSIC VIDEOGAME EXPERIENCE*
Creators of Guitar Hero™ Franchise Partners with Major Record
Labels and Music Publishers for Unprecedented Access to Artist
Catalogs and Original Masters for New Game* *
*CAMBRIDGE, MA – April 2, 2007 *– */Harmonix/*, developer
of the blockbuster */Guitar Hero™ /*franchise, *MTV: Music
Television, *a division of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA,
VIA.B)*, *and* Electronic Arts *(NASDAQ: ERTS) today*/ /*announced
*/Rock Band/*, an all-new platform for music fans and gamers to
interact with music like never before. Rock Band will allow gamers to
perform music from the world’s biggest rock artists with their
friends as a virtual band using drum, bass/lead guitar and microphone
peripherals, in addition to offering deep online connectivity. Built
on unprecedented deals with the world’s biggest record labels
and music publishers, the music featured in Rock Band will span all
genres of rock and include many of the master recordings from the
biggest songs and artists of all time. */Rock Band/* is slated for
release on PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox
360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® in
holiday 2007.
The leading music publishers - EMI Music Publishing and
Warner/Chappell Music - are allowing unrivaled access to their
catalogs of incredible songs for use in Rock Band. The record labels
- EMI Music, Hollywood Records, Sony BMG Music Entertainment,
Universal Music Group's Universal Music Enterprises and Warner Music
Group's Rhino Entertainment - have agreed to supply master recordings
by their artists for use in the game.
“Harmonix was founded to create new ways for everyone to
experience the pleasure and satisfaction that comes from playing
music. Our work on /Guitar Hero/ was an instrumental step toward that
goal,” stated Alex Rigopulos, co-founder and CEO of Harmonix.
“But */Rock Band /*is Harmonix’s most ambitious project
to date, and it will take music gameplay to an entirely new level.
MTV has given us the freedom and the resources to really swing for
the fences and make the game we’ve always wanted to
make.”
“Our vision for */Rock Band/ *is to completely change the way
people interact with and enjoy the music they love,” said Jeff
Yapp, EVP, MTV Program Enterprises. “By joining forces with EA
and the music industry’s largest record labels and publishers,
we are striving to create a groundbreaking new platform that allows
people to connect with their favorite music and artists in ways they
never have before.”
“Rock Band is a revolutionary new way for gamers and music fans
to experience music,” said David DeMartini, vice president and
general manager of EA Partners. “The team at EA Partners is
thrilled to help MTV and Harmonix launch this incredible game on the
global stage and get it into the hands of gamers worldwide.”
As previously announced, Electronic Arts will serve as the exclusive
distribution and marketing partner for */Rock Band/*, managing
distribution for the game in US, Europe and Australia.
For more information on */Rock Band/* and Harmonix Music Systems
please visit www.rockbandgame.com
www.harmonixmusic.com
What say you?!