Crispy Gamer News

Just how much content have MTV Games and Harmonix dedicated to their hit Rock Band franchise? As of next week, the number of songs included on the discs and via download will officially top the 500 mark. So how does the company plan to celebrate? By adding even more content, of course.

Harmonix and MTV Games announced today that Rock Band is set to give fans a taste of country music for the first time with the addition of the “Going Country” 5-pack to the Rock Band Music Store catalog of downloadable content. The lineup of renowned country artists includes Grammy Award winner Brad Paisley with “Mud on the Tires”, Brooks & Dunn with “Hillbilly Deluxe”, and the Dixie Chicks with “Sin Wagon”. Country music lovers can also look forward to Dierks Bentley’s number one single “Free & Easy (Down the Road I Go)” and Miranda Lambert’s “Gunpowder & Lead.”

Each track will be available starting next Tuesday, December 16th for the Xbox 360 and Thursday, December 18th, for PlayStation 3. Each individual track will be available for $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) and $8.49 (680 Microsoft Points) for the 5-pack.

With the addition of these tracks there are now more than 500 tracks available to date via disc and download purchase. A complete list of tracks is available at www.rockband.com/music. Since the series’ launch on November 20th, 2007, virtual rock stars have shelled out the dough for more than 28 million paid downloads.

Harmonix and MTV Games announced nine new tracks coming to the Rock Band Music Store catalog including brand new material from The Killers’ soon to be released album Day and Age. On the day of the album’s release Rock Band fans will be able to purchase the band’s new track “Spaceman” through the Rock Band Music Store as well as The Killers’ previously released tracks “Mr. Brightside” and “Smile Like You Mean It.” All three songs will be available for download as individual tracks as well as in a 3-pack. Tracks will join “When You Were Young” already featured in the Rock Band Music Store catalog.

Alternative band Soundgarden also offers up more tracks for Rock Band fans including “Jesus Christ Pose” from the band’s 1991 album Badmotofinger and “Pretty Noose” from the band’s fifth album Down on the Upside. Soundgarden’s hit singles “Black Hole Sun,” and “Spoonman” are already featured in the Rock Band Music Store catalog.

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Disney Interactive Studios has teamed up with pop-punk band Plain White T’s for content, videos and promotional efforts for its upcoming music video game Ultimate Band. Developed by Fall Line Studio in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ultimate Band hopes to take on the music rhythm genre dominated by the likes of Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

Two-time Grammy nominee Plain White T’s will be featured in the Wii version of the game with exclusive videos including an acoustic performance of the single “Natural Disaster.” A re-recorded version of the Plain White T’s “Our Time Now” is also featured in the game allowing players to use male or female voices.

“Our Time Now” is also featured in Ultimate Band for Nintendo DS. Players increase their fans by strumming along to the chords on the lead, rhythm or bass guitars, as well as rocking out on the drums.

Ultimate Band will be available in time for the holidays.

While Guitar Hero: On Tour for the DS wasn’t as ground breaking as other believed (see our take on it in this review from Scott Jones), it was undeniably a retail success. Building on that success, Activision has released the follow-up, Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades, in Europe today. The game will hit North American retail outlets on Nov. 16.

The game uses the same technology of its predecessor and expands the experience with a new journey rocking out to classics of the 1970s through today’s greatest hits. The game promises a number of enhancements, including the ability to stream songs with the original Guitar Hero: On Tour, three different solo career paths (Lead Guitar, Bass Guitar, and Guitar Duel), 28 master tracks and more than 60 songs that can be streamed with owners of the original game. The game is being offered as stand-alone software or packaged with the Guitar Hero Guitar Grip peripheral and pick-stylus.

When fans of Guitar Hero said they wanted some “killer” tracks added to the series’ downloadable content, Activision decided to take them literally. The company announced today that multi-platinum alternative rockers The Killers will celebrate the release of the band’s third album, Day & Age, with a new selection of downloadable content, available simultaneously with the album’s release on November 25th, The new downloadable tracks will feature two singles off Day & Age: “Human” and “Losing Touch”. The track pack will also feature the song “Mr. Brightside” from the band’s debut album, Hot Fuss.

The Killers Track Pack will be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 440 Microsoft Points and on the PlayStation Store for $5.49. In addition, all three tracks will be made available as single downloadable songs for Xbox 360 for 160 Microsoft Points, the PlayStation 3 for $1.99, and for Wii via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for 200 Wii Points.

If you aren’t already drinking the Rock Band 2 kool-aid, or are looking for something for that special someone this holiday shopping season, then you might want to check out the freshly released and re-priced Rock Band bundles hitting retail this week. The Rock Band Special Edition Bundle contains all the essentials (if you don’t have them already) including the game, a microphone, Fender Stratocaster-modeled guitar controller and drum controller.

Rock Band Special Edition Bundle is available for PS2 and Wii starting at $99.99, while buying it for Xbox 360 and PS3 will cost you a bit more cash - $139.99.

For those of you that are “so over” the original, read our Rock Band 2 Review.