Finally, Rock Band fans can expand their set of peripherals without buying an entire extra $170 bundle.

Harmonix announced this morning that individual Rock Band peripherals will be available starting next month. The $80 drum controller will ship on February 12. A wireless guitar will cost $60 and be available on April 1.

Two versions of each instrument will be shipped: One for Xbox 360, and another compatible with both PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3.

On that last point, the April 1 release date for the guitar peripheral must seem like a cruel joke to PlayStation 3 owners, because that's when they'll finally be able to play Rock Band with four players without actually buying a second copy of the game. That's got to be an excruciatingly long wait.

Over 2.5 million downloadable Rock Band songs have been sold in the eight weeks since the game's launch, MTV said this morning.

The most popular purchase was a pack of three Metallica songs that costs $5.50. Single songs that did especially well include Weezer's "Buddy Holly" and "My Sharona" as performed by The Knack. These sell for $2 each.

The NPD Group has reported November and December sales of Rock Band totaling just over one million copies across Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the two versions of the game that feature the downloadable songs.

Developer Harmonix has announced that January will bring songs from Oasis, including the band's hit "Wonderwall."

Hopefully, Harmonix and MTV see these numbers as a vindication of their strategy of selling songs as both single tracks and discounted packages. Currently, the majority of downloadable songs for competing product Guitar Hero III are available only as three-song bundles.

From Oasis to Smashing Pumpkins, Rock Band's downloadable content schedule rocks straight through the next two weeks of January.

Microsoft put the whole month's schedule up on Xbox.com today, but apparently they weren't supposed to, so they yanked it down. But before the edit, this is what was up there:

Week of January 22, 2008
Oasis Pack includes songs by Oasis including "Don't Look Back in Anger," "Live Forever," and "Wonderwall"

Week of January 29, 2008
Progressive Pack includes "Siva" by Smashing Pumpkins, "Working Man" as made famous by Rush, and "Ten Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial)" as made famous by Coheed and Cambria

But seriously, where's The Darkness and Spinal Tap? That's all I really want.

Could our Rock Band parties get even crazier this summer? GameStop has a listing for an unbelievable Rock Band accessory: an "Interactive Light And Smoke Stage Show" for Xbox 360.

The picture at right isn't up anymore, but Destructoid grabbed it before it went down.

The listing is still up though, with a price of $100, a release date of June 28, and the manufacturer is listed as peripheral maker PDP. And from the looks of things, it's a licensed product, as they're using the official logo and art.

So maybe Mad Catz isn't the only company with a Rock Band accessory license? Perhaps PDP will also release its own instrument controllers.

Live the dream with PDP's Rock Band Interactive Light Show [Destructoid]

Drumming in Rock Band got you licked? Can't get your feet and hands to do what you want them to? You're not alone. Even if you're an expert videogame guitar player, drumming is a whole new can of worms. In fact, it's practically identical to the actual instrument, which means that if you want to start from scratch and work your way up to Expert level, you've got a lot of practice ahead of you.

But we at Game|Life have brought reinforcements. We've been exchanging emails with Harmonix designers and expert drummers Rob Kay and Jeff Allen, who have agreed to share with us -- and you! -- some of their wisdom.

You don't actually have to sit down and play the songs over and over if you want to improve. There are some simple techniques that you can try that will help you in the game, and you don't even have to turn Rock Band on to try them. We'll show you tricks that help you develop better form, and some practice routines that you can try to develop limb independence.

Continue reading "Rock Band Feature: Harmonix's Top Tips For Drummers" »

Game accessory maker Mad Catz has announced that it has signed a multi-year licensing agreement with MTV to produce instrument controllers for Rock Band.

Mad Catz says that its controllers, including guitars, drums, and microphones, will start to ship in the first half of this year.

The company doesn't say how its instrument controllers will differ from Harmonix's first-party devices. But in general, aftermarket game controllers either add features or cut the price down. Mad Catz says that its guitars will come in both wired and wireless flavors. Harmonix has yet to ship the latter.

Continue reading "Mad Catz To Create Licensed Rock Band Peripherals" »