Category: Games

Beatles: Rock Band sales slow over holidays as music video game genre bombs
Sales of The Beatles: Rock Band game during the holidays turned out to be less than fab.
The costly music game sold 357,000 units in the U.S. in December, bringing its total since launching Sept. 9 of last year to 1.18 million, according to new data from the NPD Group.
Including foreign sales, The Beatles: Rock Band sold more than 1.7 million units worldwide.
In contrast, 2008’s Rock Band 2, which was significantly less expensive to produce, sold 1.7 million units in the U.S. alone in its first four months.
Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of Viacom’s MTV Games unit, said he was pleased with the holiday sales, though he noted that some European markets performed below the company’s expectations.
He said that while overall sales were down, profit margins on the Beatles game could be higher than for Rock Band 2 because fewer people bought instrument controllers, on which Viacom was losing money, and more bought the game by itself. Guthrie also noted that players purchased more than 1 million Beatles song downloads to play in the game.
Viacom, the owner of Paramount Pictures and MTV Networks, guaranteed at last $10 million to various Beatles rights holders, including Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison, EMI Music and Sony/ATV Music Publishing, in order to produce and promote the game.
The Beatles: Rock Band debuted with a solid 595,000 units sold in its first month. At the time, Guthrie said he expected a strong boost over the holidays as MTV invested in marketing in November and December aimed at Beatles fans who weren’t experienced gamers.
Viacom had hoped that the Beatles game would help bring its Rock Band franchise, which has consistently lost money over the last two years, into the black. Guthrie declined to comment on financial specifics before Viacom’s next earnings report, but said his division was “turning the corner” toward profitability.
The Beatles: Rock Band was far from the only music video game to experience disappointing sales last year. Activision’s Guitar Hero 5 sold only 996,000 units. By contrast, 2008’s Guitar Hero: World Tour sold 3.4 million.
Overall, sales of music video games plunged 46% to $1.06 billion last year, according to NPD. It was the largest decline of any genre, indicating that the once red-hot music gaming trend, which took off with the original Guitar Hero in 2005, is losing steam. Part of that drop, however, is because in 2008 more music games were sold with pricey instrument controllers than last year.

Green Day ‘Rock Band’ Video Game In The Works
Green Day is getting the full “Rock Band” treatment.
Videogame developer Harmonix announced at Sunday’s (Dec. 13) Spike Video Game Awards that it will release an edition of “Rock Band” dedicated exclusively to the punk rock trio in 2010. Green Day will subsequently become just the second band to have a standalone “Rock Band” game, after “The Beatles: Rock Band” was released this past September.
According to a trailer premiered at the awards show, “Green Day: Rock Band” will feature the avatars of frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer TrÈ Cool performing at key venues and shows from its nearly two-decade career, in addition to music and artwork from its extensive catalog.
“We’ve worked with the ‘Rock Band’ team in the past year to enable our fans to play tracks from ’21st Century Breakdown,’ and we’re excited to now be working on a game, spanning our entire career,” Armstrong said in a statement. “We want people to fire this up, choose their favorite Green Day tracks, and play along with us as ‘Rock Band’ avatars so they can feel what it’s like to perform on stage as Green Day.”
Green Day most recently earned three Grammy nominations for its new album “21st Century Breakdown,” which has sold 864,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The band will release three more tracks from the album — “Christian’s Inferno,” “Last of the American Girls,” and “Viva La Gloria!” — for download at the “Rock Band” music store on Dec. 15, adding to already-released songs “Know Your Enemy,” “21 Guns” and “East Jesus Nowhere.”
Meanwhile, the band can look forward to pulling in big sales numbers with its upcoming game. “The Beatles: Rock Band” has sold 800,000 units since September, according to data from the NPD Group.

U2 wants their own video game
Rock icons U2 are desperate to follow in the footsteps of The Beatles and Metallica and land their own video game.
Bassist Adam Clayton admits he and his bandmates are impressed with the recently-released The Beatles: Rock Band – which allows fans to play along to the Fab Four’s greatest hits – and they want a piece of the action themselves.
Clayton tells USA Today, “We definitely would like to be in there. I love the idea that that’s where people are getting music, and we’d love to be in that world. We’ll figure something out. What The Beatles have done, where the animation is much more representative of them, is what we’re interested in.”

Nirvana members dismayed by ‘Guitar Hero 5’
LOS ANGELES ñ Kurt Cobain’s appearance in the latest “Guitar Hero” video game is not hitting the right notes with the surviving members of Nirvana.
Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl said in a joint statement Thursday that they were “dismayed and very disappointed” that an avatar of the late Nirvana frontman could be used to play songs by other artists.
“While we were aware of Kurt’s image being used with two Nirvana songs, we didn’t know players have the ability to unlock the character,” they said. “This feature allows the character to be used with any kind of song the player wants.
We urge Activision to do the right thing in ‘re-locking’ Kurt’s character so that this won’t continue in the future.”
Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, had been lashing out on Twitter this week about her late husband’s inclusion in the game, calling it vile and claiming she would sue Activision, the game’s publisher. Love claimed she never approved Cobain’s digital likeness, and that she thought the grunge rocker would despise the rhythm game “let alone this avatar.”
Activision said in a statement Thursday that they secured the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a written agreement signed by Love to use the singer’s likeness as a fully playable character in “Guitar Hero 5,” which includes “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Lithium” among its 85 tracks that can be played with instrument-shaped controllers.
Other real-life rockers featured in the latest edition of the popular rhythm game franchise for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and Wii include Carlos Santana and Johnny Cash. Previous “Guitar Hero” editions have featured the likenesses of Jimi Hendrix, Billy Corgan, Ted Nugent, Sting, Ozzy Osbourne, Travis Barker and members of Aerosmith.

‘Grand Theft Auto IV’ journey will end with a bang
Rockstar Games’ grand epic Grand Theft Auto IV writes its final chapter Oct. 29. And the action is as over-the-top as the title: The Ballad of Gay Tony.
Available via download exclusively for owners of the Xbox 360 version of the game ($20, and like all GTA titles, for mature audiences), this second and last add-on episode focuses on Luis Lopez, Dominican-born second-in-command to nightclub magnate Gay Tony. The drug-addled Tony, losing a grip on his empire, puts Luis in dangerous circumstances in an attempt to retain his power.
“Luis has to do some of these favors and see if he can get them out of debt,” says Dan Houser, co-founder of Rockstar Games and lead writer of the episode. “The situation with Tony’s drug problems gets worse and worse, and Tony gets more and more out of control.”
The events happen at the same time as those in GTAIV, which has sold more than 14 million copies worldwide since its release in April 2008 (for Xbox and PS3). It focused on the “coming to America-type story” of former Eastern European soldier Niko Bellic in Liberty City.
The first downloadable episode, The Lost and the Damned, released in February, focused on Johnny Klebitz, a member of biker gang The Lost. It and Gay Tony remain Xbox 360 exclusives. Both also will be out Oct. 29 on a $40 GTA: Episodes From Liberty City disc that can be played without the original game.
“I know, as a consumer, I’m more comfortable buying songs, which are almost like playing a jukebox, than I am buying movies as purely digital items,” Houser says. “We all feel that way, so we can surely get more people to experience it if we put it on a disc.”
Packed with action set pieces ‡ la films such as Mission: Impossible and Bad Boys, Gay Tony has Luis at one point parachuting from a helicopter onto a glass-windowed skyscraper. Inside he blasts his way to his prey a few floors below and shoots his target, who then topples out of the bullet-ridden window. Luis dives out after him, wearing a parachute that glides him to safety.
In another scene, Luis drops on to the top of a moving subway train from a bridge and unhooks one of the cars for a maniacal high-rolling collector of one-of-a-kind artifacts. A Skyhook chopper airlifts the freed subway car away.
A man of action, Luis is torn between friends and family and his quest for power and riches. But as he climbs higher in Liberty City’s social circles, he discovers that the upper crust has some issues.
Gay Tony’s cast of out-of-control characters allowed Houser and the game designers to get in touch with their inner Michael Bay. “We definitely wanted it to feel more like the way action films are when they get ridiculous,” says Houser.
“Suddenly you’re lifting up train cars with helicopters and it looks amazing and ridiculous, and after what you’ve gone through in the past, you’re like, ‘wow, this is a really good payoff for completing this journey.’ ”

New ìBeatles: Rock Bandî Trailer Arrives, Alleged Track List Leaks
Another sneak peek at the upcoming The Beatles: Rock Band has been released, which again shows the amazing attention to detail that went into producing a game worthy of the Fab Fourís esteemed catalog. The newest trailer, via IGN, shows clips of ìTwist and Shoutî being performed in Liverpool, ìCanít Buy Me Loveî on the Ed Sullivan Show stage, a ìYellow Submarineî dreamscape and a ìRevolutionî filled with wartime imagery. Additionally, we also see how the actual gameplay will look on-screen, including the three-part harmony feature that will make its debut with TB:RB.
In addition to the new trailer, the full video for ìTicket to Rideî as performed by the in-game Beatles at the digital Shea Stadium has also been posted on the gameís official Website. As Rock Daily reported last week, The Beatles: Rock Band will also unearth previously unreleased audio and studio banter from the Beatles, as well as a ìstory modeî that gives the back-story of the bandís songs. The Beatles: Rock Band will be released September 9th, the same day the Fab Fourís entire remastered catalog is reissued.
Video game blog Worth Playing has an alleged complete The Beatles: Rock Band 45-song track list that comes from an upcoming issue of Game Informer. If itís accurate, as advertised, it spans the Beatlesí entire catalog, from ìI Want To Hold Your Handî to the ìWithin You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knowsî mash-up from 2006ís Love compilation. ìAll You Need Is Loveî will also be released as downloadable content, with proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders, while the entire Abbey Road will be available for download soon after 09/09/09. UPDATE: Harmonix and MTV Games have confirmed 44 out of the 45 songs on Rock Bandís Beatles playlist, meaning the list below is accurate. The last song, however, remains a mystery.
The Beatles: Rock Band track list:
Singles:
ìI Want To Hold Your Handî
ìI Feel Fineî
ìDay Tripperî
ìPaperback Writerî
ìRevolutionî
ìDonít Let Me Downî
Please Please Me:
ìI Saw Her Standing Thereî
ìBoysî
ìDo You Want To Know A Secretî
ìTwist and Shoutî
With the Beatles:
ìI Wanna Be Your Manî
A Hard Dayís Night:
ìA Hard Dayís Nightî
ìCanít Buy Me Loveî
Beatles For Sale:
ìEight Days a Weekî
Help!:
ìTicket To Rideî
Rubber Soul:
ìDrive My Carî
ìIím Looking Through Youî
ìIf I Needed Someoneî
Revolver:
ìTaxmanî
ìYellow Submarineî
ìAnd Your Bird Can Singî
Sgt. Pepperís Lonely Hearts Club Band:
ìSgt. Pepperís Lonely Hearts Club Band/With a Little Help From My Friendsî
ìLucy In The Sky With Diamondsî
ìGetting Betterî
ìGood Morning Good Morningî
Magical Mystery Tour:
ìI Am The Walrusî
ìHello Goodbyeî
The Beatles (White Album):
ìDear Prudenceî
ìBack In the U.S.S.R.î
ìWhile My Guitar Gently Weepsî
ìBirthdayî
ìHelter Skelterî
Yellow Submarine:
ìHey Bulldogî
Abbey Road:
ìCome Togetherî
ìSomethingî
ìOctopusís Gardenî
ìI Want You (Sheís So Heavy)î
ìHere Comes the Sunî
Let It Be:
ìDig a Ponyî
ìI Me Mineî
ìI Got a Feelingî
ìGet Backî
Love:
ìWithin You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knowsî

ìThe Beatles: Rock Bandî Boasts Unheard Lennon, McCartney Audio
ìHello, this is John speaking with his voice. Weíre all very happy to be able to talk to you like this Öî The voice is John Lennonís, cheerfully greeting fans from a 1963 Beatles Christmas disc recorded for members of their fan club, and itís just one of many gems hidden within the upcoming The Beatles: Rock Band game.
New details of the title were released today from MTV Games/Harmonix, which is releasing The Beatles: Rock Band on September 9th (or 9/9/09, a playful nod to the early Beatles tune ìOne After 909,î among other references). Beyond the 45 songs included in the game, fans will hear things never before released, from Paul McCartney tuning up in the moments before recording ìYellow Submarineî and ìTwist and Shoutî to studio chatter between the band and producer George Martin.
The Beatlesí first Christmas greeting is just one of the many unlockable rewards of rare video, photographs and audio inside, while ìstory modeî will provide the vivid back-story to the classic songs being made. There is behind the scenes performance footage, animation and clips of the band in the studio, at home and more that fans can discover between performances. All of it is accessible to players of any difficulty level.
As previously reported, players will be able to download additional Beatles content, including the entire Abbey Road album, and the single version of ìAll You Need is Love,î an Xbox exclusive with proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders.
Drum lessons will guide fans in recreating the distinctive ìBeatle Beatsî of Ringo Star, who never played the same fills twice ó playable on any Rock Band drum kit (or the new Ludwig set that includes a kick-drum head with the classic Beatles logo). As reported earlier, the game also includes vocal training in the bandís three-part harmonies. ìYou have to train to be a Beatle,î said John Drake, a Harmonix spokesman. ìIt turns out itís not that easy.î

Guitar Hero 5 Full Song Set List
Activision has pulled the wraps off the complete 85 song set list for this fall’s Guitar Hero 5 on Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, and Nintendo Wii gaming consoles.
New bands to any music video game are Arctic Monkeys with “Brainstorm” and Dire Straits with “Sultans of Swing.” Considering the plethora of add-on song packs that will commence after the game’s September 1 release, “Money For Nothing” cannot be too far behind.
Here’s the full list of Guitar Hero 5 songs, broken down by newly announced artists and songs and then previously announced ones.
New Tracks
3 Doors Down – “Kryptonite”
Arctic Monkeys – “Brianstorm”
Blink-182 – “The Rock Show”
Dire Straits – “Sultans Of Swing”
Jimmy Eat World – “Bleed American”
Johnny Cash – “Ring Of Fire”
Megadeth – “Sweating Bullets”
Mˆtley Cr¸e – “Looks That Kill”
Muse – “Plug In Baby”
Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Queen & David Bowie – “Under Pressure”
Stevie Wonder – “Superstition”
The Killers – “All The Pretty Faces”
The Raconteurs – “Steady As She Goes”
TV On The Radio – “Wolf Like Me”
Previously Announced Tracks
A Perfect Circle – “Judith”
AFI – “Medicate”
Attack! Attack! UK – “You And Me”
Band Of Horses – “Cigarettes, Wedding Bands”
Beastie Boys – “Gratitude”
Beck – “Gamma Ray”
Billy Idol – “Dancing With Myself”
Billy Squier – “Lonely Is The Night”
Blur – “Song 2”
Bob Dylan – “All Along The Watchtower”
Bon Jovi – “You Give Love A Bad Name”
Brand New – “Sowing Season (Yeah)”
The Bronx – “Six Days A Week”
Bush – “Comedown”
Children Of Bodom – “Done With Everything, Die For Nothing”
Coldplay – “In My Place”
Darker My Love – “Blue Day”
Darkest Hour – “Demon(s)”
David Bowie – “Fame”
Deep Purple – “Woman From Tokyo (’99 Remix)”
The Derek Trucks Band – “Younk Funk”
The Duke Spirit – “Send A Little Love Token”
Duran Duran – “Hungry Like The Wolf”
Eagles Of Death Metal – “Wannabe In L.A.”
Elliott Smith – “L.A.”
Elton John – “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)”
Face To Face – “Disconnected”
Garbage – “Only Happy When It Rains”
Gorillaz – “Feel Good Inc.”
Gov’t Mule – “Streamline Woman”
Grand Funk Railroad – “We’re An American Band”
Iggy Pop – “Lust For Life (Live)”
Iron Maiden – “2 Minutes To Midnight”
Jeff Beck – “Scatterbrain (Live)”
John Mellencamp – “Hurts So Good”
Kaiser Chiefs – “Never Miss A Beat”
King Crimson – “21st Century Schizoid Man”
Kings Of Leon – “Sex On Fire”
Kiss – “Shout It Out Loud”
Love and Rockets – “Mirror People”
My Morning Jacket – “One Big Holiday”
Nirvana – “Lithium (Live)”
No Doubt – “Ex-Girlfriend”
Peter Frampton – “Do You Feel Like We Do? (Live)”
The Police – “So Lonely”
Public Enemy Featuring Zakk Wylde – “Bring the Noise 20XX”
Queens Of The Stone Age – “Make It Wit Chu”
Rammstein ñ “Du Hast”
The Rolling Stones – “Sympathy For The Devil”
Rose Hill Drive – “Sneak Out”
Rush – “The Spirit Of Radio (Live)”
Santana – “No One To Depend On (Live)”
Scars On Broadway – “They Say”
Screaming Trees – “Nearly Lost You”
Smashing Pumpkins – “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”
Sonic Youth – “Incinerate”
Spacehog – “In The Meantime”
Sublime – “What I Got”
Sunny Day Real Estate – “Seven”
T. Rex – “20th Century Boy”
The Sword – “Maiden, Mother & Crone”
Thin Lizzy – “Jailbreak”
Thrice – “Deadbolt”
Tom Petty – “Runnin’ Down A Dream”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “American Girl”
Vampire Weekend – “A-Punk”
Weezer – “Why Bother?”
The White Stripes – “Blue Orchid”
Wild Cherry – “Play That Funky Music”
Wolfmother – “Back Round”

ìThe Beatles: Rock Bandî Announces 15 New Tracks
The debut of The Beatles: Rock Band is still well over a month away, but early glimpses of the video game suggest another wave of Fab Four hysteria canít be far off. On his current tour, Paul McCartney has already revealed some charming animated footage from the game. And at a recent preview session at MTV in Santa Monica, California, Rolling Stone got an up-close look at the most exciting version of Rock Band yet.
As has been previously reported, the game comes with 45 remastered tracks, and Abbey Road will become available for download at the same time as the titleís September 9th release for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii. Fifteen more tracks ó and their venues ó have been announced today, including ìCanít Buy Me Loveî at the Ed Sullivan Theater, ìPaperback Writerî at Budokan and ìIíve Got A Feelingî at the rooftop concert (full list below).
A hands-on test of the game suggests it could sometimes be a challenge to keep up with George Harrisonís guitar on ìDay Tripperî and ìHere Comes the Sun.î And your luck singing along (and actually hitting the right notes) with John Lennon and McCartney is measured within the game. As previously reported, The Beatles: Rock Band allows for three-part harmony (a vocal training session in the game will help with that) and rocking on the Beatlesí signature instruments: a Hˆfner bass, Rickenbacker and Gretsch guitars and Ludwig drums.
Fans will also find rare bits of Fab ephemera otherwise unavailable on the albums embedded in the game. According to a spokesman for MTV Games/Harmonix, McCartney personally did some unofficial fact-checking for the game, making small adjustments in the chronology. Before now, the Beatles have been totally unavailable to fans of Rock Band (or rival Guitar Hero), but the delay has led to a Beatles version of the game that pushes the technology further, finally offering a digitized magical mystery tour that is a vivid, multi-layered experience for a new era.
Confirmed songs for The Beatles: Rock Band:
ìTwist And Shoutî / Cavern Club
ìDo You Want To Know A Secretî / Cavern Club
ìCanít Buy Me Loveî / Ed Sullivan Theater
ìI Wanna Be Your Manî / Ed Sullivan Theater
ìEight Days A Weekî / Shea Stadium
ìPaperback Writerî / Budokan
ìAnd Your Bird Can Singî / Budokan
ìYellow Submarineî / Abbey Road Dreamscape
ìSgt. Pepperís Lonely Hearts Club Bandî / Abbey Road Dreamscape
ìWith a Little Help from My Friendsî / Abbey Road Dreamscape
ìWithin You Without Youî / Tomorrow Never Knows / Abbey Road Dreamscape
ìRevolutionî / Abbey Road Dreamscape
ìBirthdayî / Abbey Road Dreamscape
ìDig A Ponyî / Rooftop Concert
ìIíve Got A Feelingî / Rooftop Concert
ìI Saw Her Standing Thereî
ìI Want To Hold Your Handî
ìI Feel Fineî
ìTaxmanî
ìDay Tripperî
ìBack In The USSRî
ìI Am The Walrusî
ìOctopusís Gardenî
ìHere Comes The Sunî
ìGet Backî

ìGuitar Hero 5 î Adds Bob Dylan, Kings of Leon To Eclectic Set List
Activision has revealed two dozen songs from Guitar Hero 5ís massive 85-song on-disc set list, including tracks by Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Coldplay and John Mellencamp. The game will also feature a bunch of newer tracks, like Kings of Leonís ìSex on Fire,î Beckís ìGamma Rayî and Wolfmotherís ìBack Round,î a fresh tune from the Australian rockers thatís available now as a free download up on the GH5 Website.
Rock Daily took a test drive with GH5 at this yearís E3 convention, trying out new features like the RockFest option and the instrument-swapping Party Mode. Guitar Hero 5 will be released on September 1st, giving it an eight-day head start on Harmonix/MTV Gamesí The Beatles: Rock Band. As previously announced, GH5ís eclectic set list will also feature the Rolling Stoneís Sympathy for the Devil, Nirvanaís ìLithium,î the White Stripesí ìBlue Orchid,î TV on the Radio, Kiss and many more. For the latest batch of songs on the GH5 track list, including songs from the Beastie Boys, Tom Petty and Vampire Weekend, keep reading.
Band Of Horses – ìCigarettes, Wedding Bandsî
Beastie Boys – ìGratitudeî
Beck – ìGamma Rayî
Billy Squier – ìLonely Is The Nightî
Blur – ìSong 2″
Bob Dylan – ìAll Along The Watchtowerî
Children Of Bodom – ìDone With Everything, Die For Nothingî
Coldplay – ìIn My Placeî
Darkest Hour – ìDemon(s)î
David Bowie – ìFameî
Deep Purple – ìWoman From Tokyo (í99 Remix)î
Elliott Smith – ìL.A.î
Iggy Pop – ìLust For Life (Live)î
Jeff Beck – ìScatterbrain (Live)î
John Mellencamp – ìHurts So Goodî
Kings Of Leon – ìSex On Fireî
Queens Of The Stone Age – ìMake It Wit Chuî
Rose Hill Drive – ìSneak Outî
Santana – ìNo One To Depend On (Live)î
The Bronx – ìSix Days A Weekî
Thrice – ìDeadboltî
Tom Petty – ìRunniní Down A Dreamî
Vampire Weekend – ìA-Punkî
Wolfmother – ìBack Roundî