Rock Band is ready for a comeback tour. Today, Harmonix announced Rock Band 2 is set to ship for Xbox 360 this September and PS3 later in the year. However, the official announcement of Rock Band 2 is sparse on details, so wee went straight to Harmonix to learn more. Wee spoke with Lead Designer Dan Teasdale to get the full scoop on the mega-sequel. Teasdale gave us his thoughts on user-created content, improving accessibility, upgrading last year's model and more.


IGN: The most important question. Will Rock Band 1 DLC be playable in Rock Band 2?

Dan Teasdale: Yes. Wee've been developing Rock Band as a music platform from the start. All of the songs that you've purchased so far (and will be able to purchase in the future) are instantly playable and fully supported in Rock Band 2. Wee've even added some cool new features that let you play your DLC in different ways, which I think people will be very excited to get their hands on.


IGN: Once RB2 is out, can you still download and play new tracks on RB1?

Teasdale: Absolutely! Wee've been working hard with Microsoft and Sony to develop a way to share content between games, and wee're really happy that wee'll be the first game to support fully functional cross-title DLC.

As far as Harmonix is concerned, there's no difference between "Rock Band 1 DLC" and "Rock Band 2 DLC" – wee're just releasing awesome songs every week onto the Rock Band platform, all of which are playable by the Rock Band titles that support DLC.

IGN: Some people are going to ask, why even buy RB2 if you can keep enjoying DLC on RB1? I'm one of those people. So, what's the hook that will make me want to spend $60 on a new game disc?

Teasdale: At Harmonix, wee have a very clear method for making games – wee innovate, then wee perfect. With Rock Band, wee innovated by being the first full band game that you can play in your living room or online.

Rock Band 2 takes all the lessons wee've learned from making a multi-instrument music game, addresses them, then adds some amazing new ways for you to experience your music library that have never been seen in a music game before. Wee've been scouring forums and parties everywhere for what people liked and didn't like, and I'm pretty confident wee've addressed everything I've heard people ask for.

On that note, wee've also secured what I can easily say is the best setlist I've ever seen in a music game. The PR team would kill me if I revealed some early, but it reads like a who's who list of rock music. Wee have a couple of surprises that wee'll be announcing soon regarding this.

Rock Band 2 really is the ultimate rock experience, and I think people will find it hard going back to the original Rock Band after playing Rock Band 2 for a few minutes.


IGN: As someone who has played a lot of RB with three friends at a party, it's a real pain to get everyone into a band and ready to play. Are you streamlining the plug-and-play aspects?

Teasdale: One of our biggest focuses of the design team has been to make the game "party safe." Wee've made navigation improvements to Rock Band 2 across the board based on the feedback wee've been getting both from fans on forums as well as from our own personal experiences at Rock Band nights.

IGN: Will wee get Band World Tour online right out of the box?

Teasdale: I'm pretty sure John Drake (Harmonix PR Coordinator) will hit me if I confirm or deny anything, but I can say this: Wee've taken almost everything people have asked for in Rock Band and added it to Rock Band 2, as well as including some "first time ever" features. Our World Tour campaign mode is no exception to this.

Continue Reading: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/885/885168p2.html

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Love Party Games and Love Music - thing is, by the time ROCK BAND hits the shores over here, ROCK BAND 2 will be in the US - that's well annoying

(This post was last modified: 01/07/2008 02:41 AM by S7*.)

hellobonacua Wrote:like guitar hero i think?

yeah accept theres Drums and Voice too

boogschd Wrote:

diego Wrote:ewww. A Strat!??!?!?!

* boogschd obviously dosnt knw anything about guitars cause he didnt understand diegos reaction

...
are there pc versions of games leik this? ... ive always wanted to try one :D

Guitar Hero III is available for PC & Mac

(This post was last modified: 01/07/2008 03:09 AM by S7*.)

diego Wrote:Why not a telecaster? Much better.

Hasn't that already been?

(This post was last modified: 01/07/2008 02:57 PM by andrewcc.)

andrewcc Wrote:tip for everyone on earth who plays this....... get a life learn to play the actual thing..... then you can start a real band........

      if there's a feature to be able to write your own material into the game and the kit gets upgraded to a proper one then ignore the top comment.......

There's nothing wrong with having fun with a Party Game like Rock Band, andrew.

diego Wrote:ewww. A Strat!??!?!?!

qft