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Rock Band Reaches 1,000 Total Songs, 60M Downloads
by Chris Remo
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November 25, 2009
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The overall Rock Band music game platform now features over 1,000 songs from 390 artists available across disc-based and downloadable sources, say publisher MTV Games and developer Harmonix.
Those tracks, both free and paid, have been downloaded some 60 million times by Rock Band players, making for an impressive average per-track download count of 60,000. (That number is likely higher for download-only tracks, since songs included with base game discs need not be downloaded.)
The milestones comes just over two years after the franchise was launched with the original Rock Band for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game, and series, later came to Wii and PlayStation 2.
The Beatles: Rock Band, a standalone title which does not count standard integration with the larger Rock Band platform and song library, does not appear to be included in the 1,000-song count. The recent LEGO Rock Band, on the other hand, is included.
Nor does it yet factor in the user-driven Rock Band Network, which is in the process of being rolled out to the series' audience. MTV Games says the Network will "exponentially increase" the available song count.
"When we launched Rock Band two years ago, we made a promise to create a music gaming experience that delivered on a weekly basis more songs and artists than ever imagined," said Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopulos in a statement.
"We're extremely proud to pass this remarkable milestone of over 1,000 songs in Rock Band and will continue to innovate and bring more of the best music to Rock Band players all over the world."
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Only 13,885 to go until it reaches the song count on my local In The Groove arcade cabinet!
Harmonix should be commended for having the foresight to make RB a platform for DLC, allowing for intercompatibility of DLC between both Rock Band and Rock Band 2. It allows consumers to buy in confidence. They should also be commended for making RB compatible with the Guitar Hero: World Tour's instruments.
4 years ago console Gamers were hesitant on the concept of "DLC", for various reasons. The DLC that Rock Band offers is a textbook example of DLC done right.
Having said that, I can say that they are in desperate need for a new "game". I love playing the levels, but with no major changes since RB1 (even most of the unlockables were the same - very weak.) it can get old. I want to start a metal band from Detroit, and with 1000 songs, I shouldn't be forced to crank out radiohead's "creep", I should be able to have a genre specific band from almost any major city, tour more than the original couple dozen venues, and be presented challenges unique to the genre of music my band performs. All the DLC is great, but it would be better if there was a more refined structure to enjoy all that great DLC through.
Well, maybe not the last:) One other thing I would like (music label licencing permitting) would be a jukebox option: having acquired all of this music, it'd be nice to be able to actually listen to them - for instance, as the background to a party for when people aren't playing.
Here's to hoping...