American Pie Marks The End For Rock Band DLC

Earnest Cavalli

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Jun 19, 2008
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American Pie Marks The End For Rock Band DLC



With the upcoming release of Don McLean's seminal hit American Pie, Rock Band players will find themselves with no additional DLC appearing for the smash-hit rhythm title.

Since Rock Band first debuted in November of 2007, the series has been accompanied by a steady stream of downloadable content additions. More specifically, this means that each week players were greeted with a minor handful of new songs designed by developer Harmonix for use in its rhythm game titles. Most impressively, all of these DLC tunes were cross-compatible with any entry in the series, meaning that all the songs you downloaded years ago for the first Rock Band will still function with 2010's Rock Band 3. This wasn't just a massive show of generosity on the part of Harmonix and Rock Band publisher EA; Both companies benefitted massively from this scheme as these years of bonus songs provided a steady revenue stream long after each individual Rock Band game had become old news in the eyes of gamers.

Sadly, all good things come to an end, and now, almost six years after the first DLC music was issued for Rock Band, Harmonix has announced that we're at the end of the company's support for the series. On April 2, Don McLean's American Pie will hit the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network and signal the final entry in the franchise's long, long history of post-release additions.

While this is undeniably sad news for Rock Band fans, we all knew that Harmonix couldn't support the franchise indefinitely and its efforts to date are far more impressive than any other company's efforts to prop up a game after it hits shelves. Though this announcement forces us to face the reality of diminishing returns, it comes after the total Rock Band music catalogue has swelled well beyond 4,000 tracks.

If there's one silver lining to this sad news, it's that those of you who own an Xbox 360 will no longer have to scroll through dozens of new Rock Band tracks every time you attempt to scan the latest releases on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Whether you blame Harmonix or Microsoft, the online service has long been clogged with Rock Band tunes that, while attractive for Rock Band players, mostly just annoy everyone else with their unending ubiquity. I'm a huge fan of the franchise (and have the dozens of faux intstruments to prove it), but I'll be glad to see a more organized, clean Xbox Live Marketplace the next time I'm wondering about the latest Xbox Live Arcade titles.

Source: Rock Band [http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=233673]

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ShadowKatt

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Mar 19, 2009
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Its sad that there wont be anymore new music, but a classier way to go out I cannot think of.

Rock on.
 

ShermTank7272

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Feb 5, 2013
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See I actually respect this business model and hate to see it come to a close.

Whereas companies like EA Sports would just release roster updates every year as a full-fledged game, Harmonix added brand new content continuously, rather than repackage it all as a new game, and on top of that, the songs carried over from 1 to 2 to 3! Why can't other game companies be smarter like this?
 

Andy Shandy

Fucked if I know
Jun 7, 2010
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Well, it's a fantastic choice for the last song, I'll give them that. Can't think of many better choices.

Tempted to break the plastic instruments out again when this hits.
 

ToastiestZombie

Don't worry. Be happy!
Mar 21, 2011
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So how much money would you have to have to buy ALL the Rock Band tracks? Including things like Beatles: Rock Band and its DLC?
Anyway, major props to Harmonix for doing American Pie for the last song. I could not have thought of a better last song.
 

Earnest Cavalli

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Jun 19, 2008
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ToastiestZombie said:
So how much money would you have to have to buy ALL the Rock Band tracks? Including things like Beatles: Rock Band and its DLC?
They average out to something like $2 per song, so ... $8,000 or so? With the individual disc releases and excess peripherals on top of that.
 

Right Hook

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May 29, 2011
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Actually there will still be songs coming out on the Xbox 360 through Rock Band Network. The PS3 is done though since there is no way for independent people to develop songs for it.
 

DrunkOnEstus

In the name of Harman...
May 11, 2012
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The song is so damned fitting that I wonder if they've had it at the ready for this day. I think I'll pull out the drum kit tonight in memorial of quite a few memories and wild ass parties.