Rock Band (PS4/XB1)

[6souls]

Because some IPs never die

Rock Band, the video-game series where players jam along to recorded music, is developing a new title, the first since 2012, according to a person familiar with the plan.

Harmonix Music Systems Inc. is creating the new game for the latest generation of consoles, such as Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox One, said the person, who asked not to be named because the matter is private.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...atest-consoles

Actually in Oct 2014, Harmonix revealed that they were still getting 100k new unique players monthly.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasoneva...s-rock-band-4/

[Lyall]

RB3 is the only game I've played on my Xbox 360 in probably the past two or three years. Hype for another one.

[legionffxi]

Rockband is a horrible game, if you want to play something real Rocksmith 2014 much better than Rockband and it actually teaches you how to play guitar.

[Lyall]

Despite looking similar, the two aren't very similar.

[Melena]

apples to oranges. Rocksmith was always about learning the guitar. Rock Band/Guitar Hero was always about the party game with friends. Always loved drunken rock band.

[Makwa]

Dude we still have Rock Band parties.
Gotta get the drum set fixed though

[Anoat]

Rock Band was fun when I was in college and consistently had 3 or more people over at the apartment at any time of the day to play with. I probably legit spent 300 bucks on DLC songs over the course of a couple years. But now that I am an "adult" living on my own its just not the same.

[Moridam]

Rockband is a horrible game, if you want to play something real Rocksmith 2014 much better than Rockband and it actually teaches you how to play guitar.

no, rockband is a horrible guitar teaching tool (which is something it never aspired to be in the first place). it is a fantastic game though, especially in social settings. being able to do vaguely music-like things with non-musician people + booze was always major fun. and if you're already proficient with guitar or rhythm in general, you'll probably be pretty good at it, which is always a plus.

rocksmith might be good for learning guitar, but i already know how to play guitar. as a game, it didn't seem compelling enough to bother sinking any time into.

[Auspice]

Harmonix sent out a survey through their newsletter a few months back fishing for interest in a new game. I'm not surprised at all, especially given the slow drip of DLC that has started coming back after they had previously abandoned RB3.

[Qalbert]

[Qalbert]

http://forums.harmonixmusic.com/disc...-4-coming-2015

HARMONIX ANNOUNCES ROCK BAND 4 HEADED TO PLAYSTATION®4 AND XBOX ONE™

Cambridge, Mass. – March 5th, 2015 – Harmonix is excited to announce that it is teaming up with Mad Catz to bring Rock Band™ 4, the next generation of the award-winning social and interactive music gaming platform, to PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft®.

Players can guarantee that they can be ready to rock with new hardware on release day by signing up to be alerted when pre-orders go live at http://www.rockband.com/preorder.

Additionally, fans attending PAX East in Boston between March 6 and March 8 can pre-order an exclusive Penny Arcade-themed guitar in person at Harmonix’s booth, #4224.

Video: “Meet the Rock Band 4 Team”

Rock Band 4 Logo, artwork, and assets

Penny Arcade-exclusive guitar image

START A BAND. ROCK THE WORLD.

Rock Band 4 brings the critically-acclaimed franchise to a new generation of consoles, focusing on the features and gameplay that people love, and expanding the franchise in innovative ways that were informed by how fans play and what they want.

“With Rock Band 4, we’re doubling down on the energy and excitement of playing music live with your friends,” says Harmonix Chief Executive Officer Steve Janiak. “Focusing on the core experience that our fans have told us they love allows us to evolve established gameplay in meaningful ways that we can’t wait to share with everyone later this year.”

“We couldn’t be happier to be working with Harmonix and help bring the band back together for the launch of Rock Band 4,” added Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz. “Harmonix possesses unrivalled passion and vision for music gaming and we can’t wait to introduce the next generation music platform to passionate gamers.”

Harmonix will reveal to its fans more details about exciting new features of Rock Band 4 this coming May.

STILL THE MOST MUSIC. PERIOD.

In addition to a killer on-disc soundtrack, Rock Band 4 will support over 2000 tracks released since the 2007 launch of the original Rock Band, accounting for more than 500 of rock music’s most legendary artists.

“Since the beginning, we’ve called Rock Band a music platform. Players responded by downloading hundreds of their favorite tracks, and building a massive library of playable music,” says Rock Band 4 Product Manager Daniel Sussman. “It’s important for us to respect those purchases and enable our fans to bring that content over to the Rock Band platform on new generation consoles.”

Players who’ve purchased or downloaded playable tracks on last-generation consoles will be able to download and play those tracks on their new platforms at no additional charge*. Hundreds of tracks will be available at launch, with more back catalog music – and new tracks – to be added regularly after launch.

CELEBRATE WITH FREE DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT FOR ROCK BAND 3, AVAILABLE NOW

To celebrate the long-awaited announcement of Rock Band 4, Harmonix is offering a free downloadable track. “I Still Believe,” recorded by UK-based songwriter Frank Turner for his fourth EP, Rock & Roll, is available now for download today, free of charge, on PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360®. Playable today in Rock Band 3 and Rock Band Blitz, this is one of the hundreds of songs that will be compatible with Rock Band 4 when it ships later this year for PlayStation®4 and Xbox One!

Rock Band 4 will be available later this year. For more information, head over to http://www.harmonixmusic.com and follow @RockBand on Twitter for updates.

***

For more information on Rock Band and Harmonix Music Systems please visit http://www.harmonixmusic.com.

* The timing of release of “legacy” DLC on next-generation consoles is to be determined and may be subject to change. “Legacy” DLC will be downloadable and playable in Rock Band 4 only after the DLC is released on next-generation consoles.

[Selamis]

They (Harmonix) confirmed to me on Twitter when I asked them this morning after reading this, but as of right now they don't have any plans for support on Xbox 360 or PS3. Next gen only....which sucks major ass, because I have no interest in new systems and don't feel like having to buy a Xbone just for this game, when my 360 still works perfectly fine.

[Anoat]

They (Harmonix) confirmed to me on Twitter when I asked them this morning after reading this, but as of right now they don't have any plans for support on Xbox 360 or PS3. Next gen only....which sucks major ass, because I have no interest in new systems and don't feel like having to buy a Xbone just for this game, when my 360 still works perfectly fine.

I have a feeling it will be like that because the new instruments will have some new feature. Kind of like how Rock Band 2 players couldn't get any new DLC after Rock Band 3 came out because the songs were programmed specifically to be played with RB3's new features. Still, it's good to know that the years and years of DLC songs will continue to be supported.

[Qalbert]

“The game that we ship this year, is going to be the game for the generation. We’ll continue to release musical content, but we’ll also update the game in significant ways (patches and things like that), and though we don’t have specific details, you can invisiage a situation where features the audience want can be implemented. So maybe the Rock Band you’re playing now feels completely different in a few years, but you haven’t bought three discs. We really hope to continue a dialogue with our players post-launch, to find out what they want, and how they want the game to evolve. That’s really exciting for us.”

“One of the things we’re going to be careful on, is that we won’t be filling stores to the rafters with hardware. We’re being pretty conservative on that, so we’re planning to do pre-orders on the hardware so we can manufacture it based on pre-orders. There’ll be some pretty cool guitar finishes, so if you pre-order you’ll have a few different choices based on colour, or where you pre-order from.”

“Rock Band 4 will be a full retail game, it’s going to have its own soundtrack which we’ll be announcing in the coming months. You’ll be able to buy Rock Band 4 and have a complete experience even if you never update, but we’re going to be building on that experience – we hope in significant ways.”

 

[6souls]

“One of the things we’re going to be careful on, is that we won’t be filling stores to the rafters with hardware. We’re being pretty conservative on that, so we’re planning to do pre-orders on the hardware so we can manufacture it based on pre-orders. There’ll be some pretty cool guitar finishes, so if you pre-order you’ll have a few different choices based on colour, or where you pre-order from.”

For example, if you pre-order at PAX East, you can get a special Penny Arcade version.



And these are the base instruments;

[Selamis]

I wish they would stop using the Strat, it's just way too big and clunky compared to the Les Paul that Guitar Hero 3 had, and that I use to this day for RB, and have since RB1. Drums look cool though.

[Moridam]

Ugh I hadn't considered being forced into using the RB instruments. Always used GH controllers as well, which felt infinitely more responsive compared to the spongy RB strats.

[Odesseiron]

GH2 guitar was my favorite. Looked fisher price as hell, but damn if it wasn't fantastic.

[6souls]

Some PS3 & 360 instruments will work on the PS4 & XBone, but no exact word on GH guitars. Harmonix has said that RB3 Keyboards and Pro Guitars will not be supported;

Harmonix has confirmed the keyboard will not be returning in Rock Band 4.

"Rock Band 4 will focus on the core experience and the roots of the franchise — guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. There will be no Pro Guitar or key support in Rock Band 4. We will continue to support "Pro" mode for Drums," the company said in a statement.

http://www.polygon.com/features/2015...x-ps4-xbox-one

Oh and Mad Catz is developing all of the official instruments this time.

[Auspice]

I'm pissed the keyboard isn't coming back; I just hope I can use my full set of Beatles instruments. I don't have either PS4 or XB1 and I was planning on getting PS4 first for Uncharted, Type 0 and MGSV(I know I can play the last two on XB1 as well but it seems weird to get them for XB). With my 500+ song library on 360 and instruments, I have no choice but to buy an XB1 when this comes out!