It may have failed to bring in any profit and resulted in two lawsuits against the company, but at least Viacom can go into 2011 safe in the knowledge that Rock Band isn’t its problem anymore. It was announced today that the company has sold Harmonix, the studio responsible for the series of videogames, to [...]
Viacom just can’t catch a break legally. Not only are they embroiled in an ongoing legal battle over whether YouTube is infringing on their copyright, but now they’re being sued themselves by the former owners of Rock Band over hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of royalties – twice. Even as a lawsuit over money [...]
How do you take a highly successful multiplayer video game and turn it into a mobile game? The folks at Harmonix figured it out. Rock Band, which has sold over 4 million copies and made upwards of $600 million in revenue, has turned it into one of the top rated and downloaded games in the App Store. [...]
Most of us have had delusions of grandeur where we were in a world-famous rock band, jamming on stage with our closest friends. The truth is, most of us lack the talent to pick up the guitar or drums, or even open our mouths and exercise our vocal chords. The Rock Band video game series has [...]
Here’s where I’m coming from with these music rhythm games: I found myself in several bands throughout high school and college—band bands, not “Where’s my sheet music?! I lost my reed!” bands—playing guitar, bass, or drums depending on the situation. I also took piano lessons as a kid. Other than that, I have no formal [...]
It seems that a Harmonix employee unwittingly revealed the entire tracklist for Rock Band 3 during a demo at Gamescom yesterday. The whole thing was caught on video and posted online but has since been taken down. But not before rabid fans were able to parse through the footage for what could be the entire [...]
Power Gig, Def Jam Rapstar, DJ Hero 2.Feels like I’ve writing a bunch about music games lately. Part of that’s because I like music. But the other part is because the genre’s evolving, adding new musical styles and modes of interaction in a bid to engage players in different ways. And, to make more money, [...]
Ask Green Day what’s led them to releasing their own video game two decades after the band formed, and they might tell you that it’s the “thrill seeking” aspect of the band.
Welcome to the Loadout. Our philosophy is that the working week is a recurring boss battle that you’ll need the proper weapons to take down. The supplies at hand won’t always be pretty but you might just be able to hold out until the weekend. Green means add it to your arsenal, yellow leaves it [...]
We’re constrained to embargoes and NDAs, so I won’t say too much about our interview with Green Day. But I did ask them what they thought of the iPad.
Here at GDC, you kinda get thse sense that the rhythm game/band simulator genre’s headed for trouble. While last year’s Beatles Rock Band and DJ Hero were well-reviewed, they didn’t move the needle in terms of excitement or profit the way their predecessors did. These kinds of titles continue to be fun ways to play [...]
