Rock Band
The Rock Band franchise introduced the first rhythm game to incorporate drums and vocals in addition to guitar and bass instruments, creating a virtual band. It was also the first franchise to include genre staples such as Band World Tour, and character customization.
Don't Expect Rock Band 4 Anytime Soon
The soft commercial response to Rock Band 3 and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock prompted MTV Games to sell Harmonix and get out of games and Activision to send Guitar Hero into at least temporary retirement. Harmonix has no plans to ditch music video games, however, and in an far-reaching interview with Game Informer today, VP of strategy and business development Chris Rigopulos talked about the future.
Harmonix has already promised an announcement next month at E3 (another Dance Central, easily the most well received Kinect launch title, seems likely), but Rigopulos threw cold water on speculation we'd be seeing Rock Band 4.
"We’re not planning a Rock Band 4 disc release in 2011," he said. "Rock Band 3 is a big game with lots of available music content and lots of new goals and challenges. We want to give our fans the time to explore that fully. But rest assured that Harmonix is still developing new ideas and concepts to advance the Rock Band franchise, and we look forward to sharing those when the time is right."
There's wiggle room there, of course, by specifically saying "disc release." Harmonix could implement new features into Rock Band 3 through a significant patch, but by all accounts, folks are happy keyboard tappin' on Rock Band 3. Having recently reduced the price to $19.99, there's now a very small barrier to entry.
The soft commercial response to Rock Band 3 and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock prompted MTV Games to sell Harmonix and get out of games and Activision to send Guitar Hero into at least temporary retirement. Harmonix has no plans to ditch music video games, however, and in an far-reaching interview with Game Informer today, VP of strategy and business development Chris Rigopulos talked about the future.
Harmonix has already promised an announcement next month at E3 (another Dance Central, easily the most well received Kinect launch title, seems likely), but Rigopulos threw cold water on speculation we'd be seeing Rock Band 4.
"We’re not planning a Rock Band 4 disc release in 2011," he said. "Rock Band 3 is a big game with lots of available music content and lots of new goals and challenges. We want to give our fans the time to explore that fully. But rest assured that Harmonix is still developing new ideas and concepts to advance the Rock Band franchise, and we look forward to sharing those when the time is right."
There's wiggle room there, of course, by specifically saying "disc release." Harmonix could implement new features into Rock Band 3 through a significant patch, but by all accounts, folks are happy keyboard tappin' on Rock Band 3. Having recently reduced the price to $19.99, there's now a very small barrier to entry.
" Not much they can do to it now anyway "Pretty much.
Wow, that's a great deal... and kinda sad. It's a shame how activision over-saturated the rhythm genre." @Ellis7x said:
" Not much they can do to it now anyway "Pretty much.
Well Rock Band 3 is $10 at Toysrus. I am interested.
"
Not sure why anyone would want a Rock Band 4 right now anyway. The game itself is solid in every way and the DLC coming out every week is completely killer. Short of Pink Floyd: Rock Band or something like that, they're definitely set for a while. At least I am.
I'm satisfied with where Rock Band 3 is. No need to get a new game anytime soon. Just keep the tracks coming.
... Beatles DLC..? A man can dream.
Seriously, though, I wasn't expecting a Rock Band 4 this year. Rock Band 2 was 2008 and Rock Band 3 was 2010. Just keep the DLC coming.
lol" GH Skips 2011: RIP GH RB Skips 2011: Harmonix are a smashing sucess!
More biasm please.
"
Try reading an article for once. Troll harder."The soft commercial response to Rock Band 3 and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock prompted MTV Games to sell Harmonix and get out of games and Activision to send Guitar Hero into at least temporary retirement."
Iiiinteresting.Harmonix could implement new features into Rock Band 3 through a significant patch
" @Methodis said:I'm sorry did I insult your favorite game developer" GH Skips 2011: RIP GHYou really are insane. "RB Skips 2011: Harmonix are a smashing sucess!More biasm please."
Considering the continued success of their DLC, they don't need to make another game yet.
" Remember when RB was first sold as a platform, where new games wouldn't be a regular occurrence and everything would be DLC driven. "wouldn't be the first time in a series of lies Harmonix has made to its fans.
" @Shivoa said:I don't think they ever meant to make a Rock Band 2. That was directly due to Activision making full band game and they needed something on shelves that could compete." Remember when RB was first sold as a platform, where new games wouldn't be a regular occurrence and everything would be DLC driven. "wouldn't be the first time in a series of lies Harmonix has made to its fans. "
" @Shivoa said:I can live with a few "lies", since they gave me the keyboard support and Pro mode." Remember when RB was first sold as a platform, where new games wouldn't be a regular occurrence and everything would be DLC driven. "wouldn't be the first time in a series of lies Harmonix has made to its fans. "
Smart move. It'll keep rock Band profitable. Maybe if Guitar Hero had stuck to more DLC and less full- on games, they would still be in business.
"All I want from Rock Band right now is some cymbals. They're only sold in full pro-drum kit form in Europe and I already have drums from The Beatles: Rock Band. Other than that, just keep bringing the DLC and I'll keep buying it. "
Really? That's odd. Here in North America there are separate cymbal add-on packages available in addition to a full-on drumkit. There is nothing of the sort over there as well? Maybe you can find a place online where you can import it.
There doesn't need to be a Rock Band 4, really. They already have all the instruments that matter, what else would they add? Theremin? That would be impossible to convert to video game form. Trumpet? Lame. Bassoon? Now you're just being silly.
" @shenstra: You know you can just get the 3 cymbal pack for like $40. I picked them up at gamestop and attached them to my rock band 2 drums. It's pretty awesome.Yup, no stand-alone cymbals. They're only available packed in with a drumkit for roughly $225 (including tax). MadCatz doesn't think it's worth the trouble because we never got Rock Band 2. Never mind all the people who bought The Beatles: Rock Band, who only need the cymbals. Some official MC importers sold separate cymbals through their websites, but for some insane reason they only sell within country borders, so even then only Brits and Germans could get them. I can actually import them from the US, but shipping costs make that rather expensive as well.edit: wait they don't have standalone cymbals in europe?"
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