Rock Band 4 Landing This Year, Will Support Past DLC

[babinro]

Rock Band was my reason to buy a PS3 and is my favorite game of all time thanks to it's drumming experience.
It's also one of the only games I've ever bought DLC for.

If any game will get me to invest in the current generation of consoles it's Rock Band 4. I'll wait for it to launch and get a clear picture of what the game entails before jumping the gun on a console purchase but this has me VERY excited!

 

[Evil Smurf]

Bring it to WiiU, and give me some Iron Maiden to jam to, and I'll give you all my money.

 

[BX3]

Nice to see the positivity goin' on around here. Didn't think the Escapist community was that high on Rock Band.

But yeah, I'm super excited for this. I always lemented at the inevidability of the franchise dying, since new, awesome music that I'd like to pretend to play and, in some cases, actually discover, is always releasing. Reassuring to know that I'll be able to stave off that disappointment for at least a few more years. And since EA isn't publishing it AND all the DLC I've downloaded in the past will be available for free, I can't help but feel a little giddy about the announcement. The only problem?

Rock Band 4 will launch on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles this year

....Buuut on the bright side, my limit for buying a new console is 3. 3 Must-have games, and I'll buy your videogame box. So, now that I have this and Estival Versus (shut up), all I need is one more.

 

[Sight Unseen]

So, will the Beatles songs also carry over?

No. Sadly.

]
However, Activision just recently announced that they are resurrecting the Guitar Hero franchise, which has me worried. That's what caused Music games to die for a bit in the first place. I hope they at least learn their lesson and don't release 20 games a year.

God damn it. I really hope that this isn't true. There's not enough room in the market for two competing rhythm games, and Guitar Hero has been worse ever since Harmonix left to make Rock Band. If this is true I really, really hope they stick to one a year AT MOST.

But to be honest, I hope they just take a knife and slit Guitar Hero's throat and let it bleed out once and for all. They sold its soul to the devil a long time ago. It's time to lay the shrivelled husk to rest.

And since EA isn't publishing it

Just an FYI that EA was NEVER the publisher for Rock Band.

 

[BX3]

Oh, so did they just distribute it?

EDITformorecontent*
Not well versed in EA's involvement. All I know is that their name was plastered on the 1st and, I think, 2nd one.

 

[Ariseishirou]

Please just do something about the drums. They're my favorite instrument, but they're way too loud. I can't play them with anyone else home.

 

[Nazriel]

Dear Activision, please do not try to revive your yearly Guitar Hero games which (I view) burnt out the market and killed music games for these intervening years.

<3

So happy to hear Harmonix is bringing Rock Band back and updated. Hopefully carrying the DLC forward allows my songs on the 360 to come up on the PS4. Concerned the platform owners won't allow that but maybe Harmonix will have a console neutral/middle-ground location to register your old account and be granted the songs on the new console.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I never got Rock Band. I always thought if people put in as much effort into actually playing an instrument, then there would be no need to compromise through pantomime. It's like that Simpsons episode where Bart goes to great lengths to avoid working in the family garden... just so he can go to a carnival and play Garden Work Simulator.

Bring it to WiiU, and give me some Iron Maiden to jam to, and I'll give you all my money.

You're saying it like it's not Nintendo's own responsibility to land good 3rd party deals.

 

[BX3]

I never got Rock Band. I always thought if people put in as much effort into actually playing an instrument, then there would be no need to compromise through pantomime. It's like that Simpsons episode where Bart goes to great lengths to avoid working in the family garden... just so he can go to a carnival and play Garden Work Simulator.

*Shrugs*, some people probably don't have the interest to learn an instrument, but really enjoy the idea of rhythm games. Some people like myself are instrumentalists, but... en..joy the idea of rhythm games. Some people might really enjoy music to an almost unhealthy degree and like it when music is implemented well into different types of media, and therefor just really enjoy the idea of rhythm ga....

...
....I'm starting to realize that saying "Rhythm games are fun" might've been quicker....

-----------------------------------------

I just realized something, actually: So Harmonix are planning to lt players port their DLC over to the new itteration... but what does this mean for Rock Band 1 and 2's soundtrack? I think Rock Band 1 might be fine: if I remember correctly, RB1's music hopped over to RB3 because I think it technically counted as DLC, but RB2's music didn't. Or it was the other way around, I haven't played the game in ages. The point is music was missing.

Anyway, I wonder if they'll find a way to port those games over, too. Some of my favorite songs to play were actually on RB2's base soundtrack.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

I never got Rock Band. I always thought if people put in as much effort into actually playing an instrument, then there would be no need to compromise through pantomime. It's like that Simpsons episode where Bart goes to great lengths to avoid working in the family garden... just so he can go to a carnival and play Garden Work Simulator.

*Shrugs*, some people probably don't have the interest to learn an instrument, but really enjoy the idea of rhythm games. Some people like myself are instrumentalists, but... en..joy the idea of rhythm games. Some people might really enjoy music to an almost unhealthy degree and like it when music is implemented well into different types of media, and therefor just really enjoy the idea of rhythm ga....

...
....I'm starting to realize that saying "Rhythm games are fun" might've been quicker....

-----------------------------------------

I just realized something, actually: So Harmonix are planning to lt players port their DLC over to the new itteration... but what does this mean for Rock Band 1 and 2's soundtrack? I think Rock Band 1 might be fine: if I remember correctly, RB1's music hopped over to RB3 because I think it technically counted as DLC, but RB2's music didn't. Or it was the other way around, I haven't played the game in ages. The point is music was missing.

Anyway, I wonder if they'll find a way to port those games over, too. Some of my favorite songs to play were actually on RB2's base soundtrack.

The only songs that didn't port over were due to issues getting rights to those songs in time. The majority of both RB1 and RB2 songs got transferred over. The porting issues you were talking about only affected the RB2 songs.

From what I understand, the issue was that, while it was possible to add in the two songs that didn't transfer from RB1 to RB3 via patch (the other RB1 songs had the rights lapse prior to RB2), the RB2 system was different and prevented that, resulting in the two songs they were able to get rights back for ("Spoonman" and "Give it Away") from RB2 being added via Rock Band Blitz, or later as individual DLC.

In other words, my guess is that they are going to try to get the rights to as many songs from RB1-RB3 in order to allow for porting over, as that was the issue with some songs not getting ported over in previous things. Since they'll essentially be releasing them as DLC, it shouldn't matter which game it's from, but we'll see.

 

[Ghadente]

....Buuut on the bright side, my limit for buying a new console is 3. 3 Must-have games, and I'll buy your videogame box. So, now that I have this and Estival Versus (shut up), all I need is one more.

If I understand you clearly, I am in the same boat as you. I myself have yet to shell out the cash for a PS4 due to the multitude of unfinished PS3 games I am still playing, and the lack of "oh i just gotta play" games for the next-gen. At first glance I thought the latest Metal Gear, watchdogs, or even Destiny might nudge me, but after reading reviews and watching gameplay when they released... "No Deal".
However I am a avid Guitar Hero/Rock Band fan (more so RB since GH3 and > were disappointing) so RB4 would definitely have me itching for a console upgrade. Throw in Dragon Age Inquisition and Silent Hills... i'm pretty much ready to swipe my credit card.

 

[BX3]

If I understand you clearly, I am in the same boat as you. I myself have yet to shell out the cash for a PS4 due to the multitude of unfinished PS3 games I am still playing, and the lack of "oh i just gotta play" games for the next-gen. At first glance I thought the latest Metal Gear, watchdogs, or even Destiny might nudge me, but after reading reviews and watching gameplay when they released... "No Deal".

Yeah, you're on the mark. I've got two games I MUST have, but don't have a 3rd. I actually forgot about Silent Hills and am sorta interested in that, but not enough to consider it a must have, since I can't play spooky games by myself.