Rock Band developer has Harmonix has followed up on its previous announcement regarding the ability to import songs from the first Rock Band disc and play them in the sequel, due September 14 on Xbox 360 and later this season for PlayStation 3.

Only three of the tracks from the first Rock Band will not be playable in the sequel, the studio revealed on its official forum. As was previously estimated, the ability to export songs from the RB1 disc onto the hard drive and play them in RB2 will cost 400 Microsoft Points ($5) due to licensing fees.

That fee only applies to songs from the original Rock Band, with all previously released Rock Band downloadable content already compatible at no extra charge.

The ability to purchase the license and export songs from Rock Band is now available within the Xbox 360 version of the original, following an automatic that was released today. The following Rock Band disc tracks are not available for export:

• "Paranoid" as made famous by Black Sabbath (Cover)
• "Run to the Hills" as made famous by Iron Maiden (Cover)
• "Enter Sandman" by Metallica

As a result, the following 55 are all exportable under that $5 transaction:

Main Set List (covers denoted by asterisk)

• Rolling Stones, "Gimme Shelter"
• Mountain, "Mississippi Queen" *
• Deep Purple, "Highway Star"
• The Who, "Won't Get Fooled Again"... Read more

Rock Band developer Harmonix and Entertainment Weekly have revealed the next six full-length albums that will arrive as downloadable content for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the multi-instrument music game:

• Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
• Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
• Megadeth - Peace Sells... But Who's Buying
• Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood
• No Doubt - The Best of... Rock Band Edition

No dates or pricing details were provided.

Though Harmonix has released new downloadable songs for the game each week since its launch last November, the studio traditionally debuts full-length albums in the last week of a month. That streak was broken this week, as the release of Rush's Moving Pictures was delayed by technical issues.

As previously reported, Rock Band 2--due on Xbox 360 September 14, with PS2, PS3 and Wii releases in October--will be fully compatible with all Rock Band downloadable content released thus far, and content released after the sequel arrives will continue to work with the original.

Owners of the Xbox 360 edition of Rock Band 2 will have to pay a small fee in order to import "most" of songs from the original, developer Harmonix has disclosed.

That fee will be no greater than $5, studio representative John Drake assured MTV.

Drake explained that the fee stems from licensing costs. The developer previously told Shacknews that similar licensing issues were the reason that it had yet to specify which songs from the first Rock Band disc will be playable in the sequel.

The fee does not apply to all of the downloadable Rock Band tracks that have arrived across the last year, which will be playable in Rock Band 2 at no extra... Read more

Microsoft has announced that the Xbox 360 editions of Harmonix's Rock Band 2, Neversoft's Guitar Hero World Tour and Zoe Mode's Rock Revolution will feature instrument interoperability, as revealed on Microsoft's Gamerscore Blog.

Citing a similar announcement made yesterday in which Sony revealed that the PS3 editions of the upcoming rhythm titles would see instrument cross-compatibility, Microsoft representative Chris Paladino stated, "For the record, we also do that."

"Consider this an official announcement," Paladino added. "All the instruments from Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour, and Rock Revolution will be cross-compatible. In other words, welcome to the party."

While neither Microsoft nor Sony specified whether the three titles' guitars, microphones and drums would also see cross-platform compatibility between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the announcements bring the long struggle between rhythm game developers over peripheral compatibility to an end.

Sony has brokered an arrangement between the developers of Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Revolution to ensure instrument interoperability on the PlayStation 3, Sony Computer Entertainment PR director Michael Shorrock revealed.

"We have been working closely with Neversoft and Activision, Harmonix and Konami to ensure that PlayStation 3 guitars and drum sets will all feature a basic level of gameplay compatibility," Shorrock wrote on the PlayStation.Blog.

The director explained that both the drum kit and guitar from Neversoft's Guitar Hero World Tour will function with Harmonix's Rock Band 2, and vice versa. Drums and guitars from both titles will be compatible with Zoe Mode's Rock Revolution, while Rock Revolution's drum kit will work with both Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour.

The director further noted that microphones from SCE London Studio's SingStar will also be compatible with Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour.

"We're still working hard to ensure compatibility between the Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles currently on the market," Sherrock added. "We hope to have an announcement on that shortly."

While the Rock Band 2 game and individual instruments are set for an exclusive Xbox 360 release on September 14, it now appears that Harmonix's Special Edition bundle will not make it to stores until October 19, a full month later.

The official Rock Band store and retailer GameStop both list the bundle as shipping on October 19--the same day the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and Wii versions are set to arrive.

The Special Edition bundle--which includes the microphone, drums, guitar and game disc--costs only $199.99, while the separate instruments and game add up to an MSRP of $249.96.

Many fans who were planning on enjoying the early release while saving money with the bundle are upset about the apparent delay.

"I think it was a mistake to do it this way," said Rock Band community... Read more

Considering our exhaustive coverage of Rock Band 2--most of which I have personally written or had some hand it--I knew about nearly all of the the tweaks that Harmonix community manager Sean Baptiste was running me through.

But knowing about it is one thing, whereas seeing it in action is something entirely different. Once I'd actually experienced the ease of custom setlists--something I've been waiting for since the very first Guitar Hero--well, in the words of Baptiste, "I peed a little."

Quite frankly, the redesigned song selection menu--which pretty much mimics Rock Band's in-game music store--is a godsend. Searching through the massive tracklist and finding that one specific tune is super easy now that you can jump directly to a letter instead of scrolling through everything.

Considering that the the combination of on-disc tracks and weekly downloadable content will result in over 500 Rock Band tracks by the year's end, that's... Read more

Update: Story updated with full Rock Band 2 setlist - click here.

Harmonix also revealed that the title will not require frequent disc swapping to get the original Rock Band tracks in the Rock Band 2.

Original Story: Adding to a steady stream of Rock Band 2 news, more details about the game were announced today by Harmonix and MTV Games. Available for Xbox 360 this September with PS2, PS3 and Wii releases following later in the year, Rock Band 2 is set to ship with over a hundred songs.

A total of 84 tracks will be on disc, and another 20 will follow as a free DLC pack following release. Combined with DLC from the first game, the Rock Band platform will feature 500 available songs by the end of this year.

In addition to previously announced bands, Rock Band 2 will also feature songs by Pearl Jam, Metallica, Allman Brothers, Motorhead, Devo, Jane's Addiction, Megadeth, Paramore, and Modest Mouse.

The game will also feature "Let There Be Rock" by AC/DC, a music rhythm game first, and "Shackler's Revenge" from Guns N' Roses' long, long, long anticipated new album Chinese Democracy. Also look for Bob Dylan's "Tangled Up In Blue."

Harmonix also noted that in addition to Rock Band 1 DLC compatibility, Rock Band 2 will include a Disc Export Feature. It will give owners of the original game "the ability to export most of the Rock Band disc tracks and upgrade them into Rock Band 2 gameplay" ... Read more

Following up on the initial list of Rock Band 2 tracks revealed earlier this week, a few more songs and details have been revealed in the latest issue of Game Informer magazine.

• Bon Jovi - "Livin' on a Prayer"
• Steve Miller Band - "Rock 'n Me"
• Rage Against the Machine - "Testify"
• Billy Idol - "White Wedding Pt. 1"
• Joan Jett - "Bad Reputation"
• Avenged Sevenfold - "Almost Easy"
• Social Distortion - "I Was Wrong"

Several of those tracks previously appeared in a purportedly leaked list, one that appears to be gaining validity as more details emerge.

According to the magazine, other improvements to the game include a redesigned drum peripheral, with quieter, velocity-sensitive pads, a metal-reinforced drum pedal, and expansion slots for cymbals.

A limited edition Ion drum kit will also be released. The deluxe kit will feature four sturdy pads and three cymbals, and will apparently function as a real electronic drum kit outside of the game.

More details follow:

• A Jukebox mode will allow players to listen to their songs outside of gameplay.
• The game will feature a track selection screen reminiscent of... Read more

Developer Harmonix has formally a unveiled number of gameplay details and songs from Rock Band 2, the instrument-based music game sequel due on Xbox 360 this September, with PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and Wii versions hitting later in the year.

The list, viewable below, confirms the nine previously revealed tracks, and adds Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up" to the mix. The game is said to sport over 80 songs on the disc, all master track recordings performed by the original artists.

Two other contributions--Bad Religion's "Sorrow" and an unknown track from Scandinavian punk rockers Turbonegro--have been announced by their respective artists, though the validity of other rumored songs remains unclear.

1. Dream Theater - "Panic Attack"
2. System of a Down - "Chop Suey"
3. Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
4. The Muffs - "Kids in America"
5. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Give it Away"
6. Motorhead - "Ace of Spades"
7. Cheap Trick - "Hello There"
8. Elvis Costello - "Pump it Up"
9. Journey - "Anyway You Want It"
10. The Who - "Pinball Wizard"

Gameplay details bound to please those that played the original follow... Read more

More of the 80+ songs from Harmonix's upcoming music game sequel Rock Band 2 have apparently emerged from a now-removed ScoreHero forum poster.

The details are said to have been gleaned from a play test session, and were promptly removed from the forum for fears of NDA violations. However, bits of the information were archived by Destructoid and Kotaku.

• "One Step Closer" - Linkin Park
• "Peace Sells" - Megadeth
• "Testify" - Rage Against the Machine
• "American Woman" - The Guess Who or Lenny Kravitz
• "White Wedding" - Billy Idol
• "You Oughta Know" - Alanis Morisette
• "Aqualung" - Jethro Tull
• "Bad Reputation" - Thin Lizzy or Joan Jett
• "We Got the Beat" - The Go-Go's
• "Man in the Box" - Alice in Chains
• "Spoonman" - Soundgarden
• "Drain You" - Nirvana

While developer Harmonix has yet to formally announce any of the game's tracks, the above join the following list of songs believed to be in the title... Read more

More details on the sequel to Rock Band have been revealed via an AP interview with Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos.

Rigopulos noted that the game will feature over 80 master tracks, including more female-fronted bands. The playlist is slated to be released at E3.

The CEO also noted that, unlike Activision's Guitar Hero World Tour, Rock Band 2 will not feature any sort of music creation. Instead, the company's stab at creation will be featured in a future title.

"We really felt like we wanted to do it right," said Rigopulos. "We're taking a radically different approach to that problem. It's something we wanted to take more time to do it right. It's actually something we're not focused on in 'Rock Band 2.' We're really focused on other areas related to the music and bringing the community together."

Going along with the theme of polishing the first iteration, Rigopulos added that Rock Band 2's peripherals will be much improved over the first batch.

"For fans interested in hardware, the second-generation peripherals are an amazing step forward from the first-generation guitar and drums. The instruments make huge strides in both fit and finish as well as features and functions."

The first tracks for Rock Band 2 may have been inadvertently revealed during a recent episode of G4's X-Play.

The footage, as captured by members of ScoreHero, lists new songs along with downloadable content from the first Rock Band.

Given that the multi-instrument music game sequel is compatible with all of the existing DLC from the first Rock Band, the tracks could represent upcoming Rock Band DLC, not content included on the actual game disc. However, it should be noted that The Who's "Pinball Wizard" is not part of 12-track The Who DLC pack due July 15.

The tracks listed were as follows:

• New Songs:
  • "Ace of Spades" - Motorhead
  • "Anyway You Want It" - Journey
  • "Pinball Wizard" - The Who
  • "Chop Suey" - System of a Down
  • "Panic Attack" - Dream Theater or Finger Eleven... Read more

Ok maybe it's not really much of a surprise. In any case, IGN reports that Rock Band 2 is in fact in development, and will be released this September for Xbox 360. Other platforms will follow later in the year.

Improvements in Rock Band 2 include a tracklist comprised entirely of master recordings, easier party-play setup, better quality instruments, and an expanded World Tour campaign mode among other things.

DLC released for Rock Band 1 will be compatible with Rock Band 2, and DLC released after Rock Band 2 comes out will continue to work with the original game. Downloadable songs do work differently in Rock Band 2 however, with lead designer Dan Teasdale teasing that Harmonix has "added some cool new features that let you play your DLC in different ways".

So why would you want Rock Band 2? According to Teasdale, "Rock Band 2 takes all the lessons we'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. We've been scouring forums and parties everywhere for what people liked and didn't like, and I'm pretty confident we've addressed everything I've heard people ask for."

Update: When questioned, Rock Band distributor Electronic Arts provided Shacknews with a response that neither confirms nor denies claims of a Rock Band sequel and Turbonegro's involvement.

"We have not currently announced any future titles, nor have we announced any plans for Turbonegro to be featured in the world of Rock Band at this time," the company stated.

Original Story: A sequel to Harmonix's multi-instrument music title Rock Band in the works and will feature at least one track from Scandinavian punk rockers Turbonegro, according to an announcement from Age of Conan developer Funcom. Yes, you read that right.

While Funcom has no involvement whatsoever in the Rock Band series, it recently revealed that three Turbonegro songs appear in the first official Age of Conan soundtrack release. Listing the band's work in the press release, Funcom noted several television appearances "as well as the game Rock Band II."

Rock Band II has not yet been announced by series developer Harmonix, studio owner MTV Games or distributor Electronic Arts. Though Funcom's credibility in this field may be questionable, an eventual Rock Band sequel is undoubtedly on the way.

Bad Religion is also believed to be involved with the project, as guitarist and songwriter Brett Gurewitz wrote on his twitter that the band was "putting the... Read more