When was the video game Rock Band first introduced?
10422767#25
"Rock Band" was first announced on April 1, 2007. Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos said in the announcement that "Rock Band" "takes the core premise of "Guitar Hero" and expands it tenfold. It lets you create a complete collaborative band." "Rock Band" was a featured game at the 2007 E3 convention and provided one of the exhibition's highlights; Harmonix employees and Microsoft executive Peter Moore played the game on-stage, performing The Hives' "Main Offender". Moore paused the game twice when he accidentally hit the guitar's Xbox Guide button.
Rock Band (video game)
10422767#0
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix, published by MTV Games and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the "Rock Band" series. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions were released in North America on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was released on December 18, 2007 and the Wii version on June 22, 2008. Harmonix previously developed the first two games in the "Guitar Hero" series, which popularized gameplay of rock music with guitar-shaped controllers. After development of the series was shifted to Neversoft, Harmonix conceived "Rock Band" as a new title that would offer multi-instrument gameplay.
Rock Band (video game)
10422767#47
After its release, "Rock Band" won dozens of awards covering game releases from 2007. The game won seven awards from IGN's "Best of 2007," receiving honors for "Best Music Game" for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, "Best Local Multiplayer Game" for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, "Best Downloadable Content" for the PlayStation 3, and "Best Console Peripheral," as well as overall awards for "Best Music Game," "Best Licensed Soundtrack," and "Best Local Multiplayer Game." GameSpot awarded "Rock Band" five awards in its "Best of 2007," recognizing the game for "Best Rhythm/Music Game," "Best New Gaming Hardware," "Best Downloadable Content," "Best Sound Design," and "Best Multiplayer Game." "Wired", "Official Xbox Magazine", and Ars Technica all named "Rock Band" the "Game of the Year," while "Next Generation Magazine" named it the second-best game of 2007. GamePro honored "Rock Band" with the "Innovation Award" for four-person cooperative play, as well as the selection of "Best Party Game" of 2007. GameSpy also recognized the game as the "Music Game of the Year" on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Additionally, "Rock Band" was awarded "Best Multiplayer Experience (console)" by 1UP.com. The game won two awards at the 2007 Spike Video Game Awards, receiving honors for "Best Rhythm Game" and "Best Soundtrack," while the game's developer, Harmonix, won "Studio of the Year." The game also won an award for "Best Multiplayer Game" in the "X-Play" Best of 2007 Awards. The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences awarded "Rock Band" with honors for three of the eight categories in which it was nominated; the game won awards for "Family Game of the Year", "Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack", and "Outstanding Innovation in Gaming". "Rock Band" was named "Best Party Game" of the year from "Game Informer Magazine". The game has also been called the best rhythm game of all time by GameTap.
Rock Band (video game)
23160352#8
Drummer Tré Cool later confirmed that the band was approached by Harmonix during the development of "The Beatles: Rock Band" for the band-specific game, while Armstrong stated they first experienced a "Rock Band" game, specifically "The Beatles: Rock Band", at a cast party for the "American Idiot" musical performance in Berkeley, California. The game was formally unveiled on December 12, 2009 at the Spike TV Video Game Awards 2009. Green Day announced the game via a video and showed the first trailer. A subsequent press release by MTV Games confirmed that the game would arrive on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii with the entire setlist being exportable to other "Rock Band" titles. A 2010 release date was also stated. In addition, previous Green Day downloadable songs released for "Rock Band" and "Rock Band 2" would be included in the game as well.
Green Day: Rock Band
26488540#1
All of the songs included in "Rock Band 3" were recorded either from master copies or live performances. Many were included to emphasize the keyboard instrument. Existing game content, including prior downloadable content and songs from the "Rock Band" Network, carries forward into "Rock Band 3", with the full "Rock Band" library consisting of over 2,000 songs by the time the game was released. When "Rock Band 3" was first detailed on June 11, 2010, Harmonix announced 22 of the game's songs. The next month, Harmonix used Facebook and Twitter to provide clues about additional songs for both "Rock Band 3" and "Dance Central", which they then confirmed to be six "Rock Band" tracks and three "Dance Central" tracks. During a video interview at the 2010 Gamescom convention, most of the setlist was inadvertently leaked because someone was scrolling through the setlist in the background. "Rock Band 3"'s setlist was well-received by video game critics. Eurogamer's Johnny Minkley noted the contrast between it and the heavier style of "".
List of songs in Rock Band 3
20759225#0
The Beatles: Rock Band is a 2009 music video game developed by Harmonix, published by MTV Games, and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the third major console release in the "Rock Band" music video game series, in which players can simulate the playing of rock music by using controllers shaped like musical instruments. "The Beatles: Rock Band" is the first band-centric game in the series, and it is centered on the popular English rock group the Beatles. The game features virtual portrayals of the four band members performing the songs throughout the band's history, including depictions of some of their famous live performances, as well as a number of "dreamscape" sequences for songs from the Abbey Road Studios recording sessions during the group's studio years. The game's soundtrack consists of 45 Beatles songs; additional songs and albums by the Beatles were made available for the game as downloadable content.
The Beatles: Rock Band
30857544#0
Rock Band Reloaded is a video game for iOS. It was first released in 2010 and is the successor to "Rock Band" on iOS. It comes with over 30 songs and a 20+ DLC list. It received mostly positive reviews. Gameplay is similar to other "Rock Band" series games, but controlled without instrument controllers, and instead with the iOS-device's multi-touch display, microphone and built-in accelerometer. The game features multiplayer support over Bluetooth and local wifi.
Rock Band Reloaded
26488540#0
Eighty-three songs are included in "Rock Band 3", a 2010 music video game developed by Harmonix, published by MTV Games and distributed by Electronic Arts. The game, the third main title in the "Rock Band" series, was released in October 2010 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Nintendo DS. "Rock Band 3" allows one to seven players to simulate the playing of rock music by providing the players with peripherals modeled after musical instruments. These include a guitar peripheral for lead guitar and bass gameplay, a drum kit peripheral, a keyboard peripheral, and up to three microphones. "Rock Band 3" is the first game in the series to include a "Pro" mode, which allows players to use more realistic peripherals to play the game's songs note-for-note as they would be played on an actual instrument.
List of songs in Rock Band 3
10422767#2
At launch, the game software was made available in a bundle that packaged it together with the instrument peripherals, as well as for purchase separately. Individual instrument peripherals were released at a later date. The game has received widespread critical acclaim, with sales of four million units and global revenues of $600 million. Players have made over 100 million downloadable song purchases since "Rock Band"s release. The game's success prompted the release of six sequels: "Rock Band 2", "", "Lego Rock Band", "", "Rock Band 3" and "Rock Band 4".
Rock Band (video game)
45583910#24
Development of "Rock Band 4" began in the last quarter of 2014. This followed from several factors. Harmonix's former CEO and current creative director Alex Rigopulos explained that the studio had awaited both a "critical mass" of adoption for the next-generation consoles, and a "clear and compelling creative vision" for the game before beginning work on a successor—prompting the franchise's hiatus. Rigopulos said that internally if they were going to bring back "Rock Band", they wanted to "really make the best game that we had ever made; that we had a vision for what Rock Band 4 was going to be, that made it worth making, really". A clear vision of the goals for the game came about more than a year prior to the game's release. Harmonix's Greg LoPiccolo added that they did not want to try to introduce "Rock Band 4" during the new consoles' first year where they would have to compete with major franchises. Funding for development was aided by $15 million in investments from Spark Capital and Foundry Group, not only to support "Rock Band 4" but the remake of Harmonix' "Amplitude" and future projects involving virtual reality.
Rock Band 4