MTV’s 360 title RockBand signs Metallica, The Who
By Triston McIntyre 2
With the ever-popular Guitar Hero II dominating Playstations and Xbox’s worldwide, how does Microsoft’s pet Harmonix take control of the near-monopolized market on music gaming? Its simple: sign two of the biggest rock bands in history, Metallica and The Who.
Today Harmonix announced what could be the key factor to Rock Band’s succes, and that was a signing of Metallica to the 2007 fourth quarter title. However, unlike Guitar Hero, Harmonix aims to deliver much more than just a single hit track for users to play.
Senior Vice President of MTV’s Audio, Home and Games division, Paul DeGooyer, said, “Our goal was to bring a deep musical experience to Rock Band by providing not just one song by a player’s favorite artist, but a carefull-chosen career-spanning array,” meaning users will not be limited to a single Metallica song; they will be able to play through a progressive career path as the band, switching between the band’s hits in a chronological progression.
Continuing, DeGooyer said, “Rock Band will allow gamers to jam with the guys through their long, succesful career, from young, raw talent to mega stars, playing the hard-rocking sounds that the band is known for.”
Though one band (albeit one of the largest of all time) might not be enough to really secure a stranglehold on the music gaming market, Harmonix and MTV didn’t stop there. Rock Band will be the first game to allow users to purchase and play through bands’ entire albums, which will be available via Xbox live weekly after release.
The first major band being touted by the game is The Who, with their album Who’s Next, which will be playable from start to finish with Rock Band.
“Rock Band empowers users to interact with the music they love in a completely new way. This type of consumer engagement is vital in today’s marketplace,” said the Senior Vice President of Universal Music Enterprises, Mike Davis.
Not slowing down in the slightest, Harmonix announced the first 16 individual tracks available in RockBand:
1970’s
1.The Who - “Won’t Get Fooled Again”
2. Mountain - “Mississippi Queen”
3. David Bowie “Suffragette City”
4. Blue Oyster Cult “Don’t Fear the Reaper”
5. Black Sabbath “Paranoid”
6. The Ramones “Rockaway Beach”
1980’s
7. Rush “Tom Sawyer”
8. Bon Jovi “Wanted Dead or Alive”
1990’s
9. Nirvana “In Bloom”
10. Stone Temple Pilots “Vasoline”
11. Weezer “Say it Ain’t So”
12. Foo Fighters “Learn to Fly”
13. Metallica “Enter Sandman”
2000’s
14. The Hives “Main Offender”
15. The Strokes “Reptilia”
16. Queens of the Stone Age “Go with the Flow”
It seems certain that Harmonix is out for blood, and Guitar Hero is on the chopping block. One of the main complaints with Guitar Hero is the limited number of tracks from bands that are at best obscure, with very few exceptions.
Hold on to your pants, and get ready for Rock Band, which is setting up to be the flagship of music gaming for the next generation.
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