Ubisoft glams up Rock Star

By Tom Magrino, GameSpotPosted Mar 21, 2008 9:51 am PT

Publisher's Imagine line of tween-targeted titles expands into rhythm genre in June for DS.

While the rhythm genre is hardly new, only recently have publishers and developers outside of Japan given it much of a serious look. The change occurred, of course, when the now-Activision-owned Guitar Hero franchise hit its opening chords in 2005, and subsequently rocked out more than $1 billion in revenues. Since then, a variety of publishers have boarded the bandwagon, with EA riffing with former Guitar Hero developer Harmonix on Rock Band, THQ throwing down Battle of the Bands, and Disney forming Ultimate Band, among others.

French publisher Ubisoft has already waded into the rhythm genre once in recent memory with Jam Sessions, a surprisingly authentic guitar sim for Nintendo's DS. The simulation crowd thus sated, Ubisoft is returning to the rhythm genre in a more arcade fashion, announcing the next installment in its best-selling tween-targeted Imagine series will be Rock Star, due out for the DS this June.

Instruments set to be replicated in Imagine Rock Star are the drums, guitar, bass, and piano, and the game will let players form a band, go on tour, earn money, and "become music legends." According to Ubisoft, players will have a variety of customization options at their disposal, and will be able to participate in photo shoots once their rockers are sufficiently glammed up. The game will also accommodate wireless jam session for up to four rockers.

According to an Ubisoft rep, Imagine Rock Star won't feature any mainstream artists. For more on Rock Star and the rest of Ubi's Imagine line of games, check out the publisher's Web site.

30 Comments

  • VERS1ON

    Posted Mar 23, 2008 6:48 am PT

    PoisonMushroom

    "i can't wait for this "rock band" fad to die. all of these games are the exact same god damn game you have already played in the original guitar hero."

    Yes, because (trying to) drum to "March of the Pigs" by Nine Inch Nails is EXACTLY the same as tearing your way through "More Than a Feeling" on GH. The gameplay has been refined (hammer ons and pull offs; Arguably better note charts), more master tracks, Downloadable Content allows more songs to be added, without having to buy a new game all the time. Just wait a week, and you get three to six new songs to play. Plus, since I'm not into FPS, easily the most online fun I've ever had.

    At least for Rock Band, it's a thousand times better than the experience from Guitar Hero I, and at least 100 times better than the experience for Guitar Hero III. And I only ended up buying Rock Band on a whim, thinking it was going to be "a fad". WRONG!

    All that said, these DS games do sound pretty weak.

  • psycomantis_32

    Posted Mar 23, 2008 12:08 am PT

    That sounds really, incredibly, lame.... Are these guys even trying?

  • everccr

    Posted Mar 22, 2008 7:42 pm PT

    i wonder if it will simulate the drug use aspect of rock stars and the sex! think about the possibilities with you can literally "blow" into the mic!

  • PoisonMushroom

    Posted Mar 22, 2008 5:01 pm PT

    i can't wait for this "rock band" fad to die. all of these games are the exact same god damn game you have already played in the original guitar hero.

  • PoisonMushroom

    Posted Mar 22, 2008 5:00 pm PT

    i can't wait for this "rock band" fad to die. all of these games are the exact same god damn game you have already played in the original guitar hero.

  • HALCONAZUL

    Posted Mar 22, 2008 4:00 pm PT

    ........garbage
    i mean WTF? Ubisoft never does good games fo Nintendo
    why keeping purchasing this?

  • necronaux

    Posted Mar 22, 2008 8:38 am PT

    Figures Disney would get into the mix. It's only a matter of time before we see Rock Band : High School Musical.

    And... Oh, come on! A Rock Star "piano"??? With what, 5 keys? Or will it follow the model of a piano simulator like in Brain Age 2?

  • Slaughtahouse

    Posted Mar 22, 2008 8:17 am PT

    Trash!

  • guitarman89

    Posted Mar 21, 2008 11:35 pm PT

    Sounds like more garbage to me. I heard Jam Sessions was terrible, and there's no reason to think Rockstar will be much better.

  • pourya_ahmadian

    Posted Mar 21, 2008 11:21 pm PT

    go,go,go;i think they are in rally for games creation;you built it,ok,i build that;you chang that,i change it;new ideas,no;new fields,no;
    only money;

  • X-RS

    Posted Mar 21, 2008 9:17 pm PT

    GREAT -.-
    MORE CRAP!
    less good stuff. youll notice easy games are what sell to the mainstream audience. leaving hardcore gamers bored and tired.

  • destrozz

    Posted Mar 21, 2008 8:30 pm PT

    lol this is going to be interesting.

  • Oblivionwaiter

    Posted Mar 21, 2008 8:21 pm PT

    Ha!

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Mar 21, 2008 3:46 pm PT

    It's amazing what people will pay for...

  • Sandro909

    Posted Mar 21, 2008 3:39 pm PT

    Oh. I thought Ubisoft bought Rockstar.

  • strategyking92

    Posted Mar 21, 2008 2:25 pm PT

    thanks for letting ubi do this nintendo... no seal of quality!

  • Cwagmire21

    Posted Mar 21, 2008 1:35 pm PT

    Well when there's money to be had, there's more companies that wanna cash in - simple economics

  • speedjunkie4

    Posted Mar 21, 2008 1:35 pm PT

    Turtlefark, amen.

  • Turtlefark

    Posted Mar 21, 2008 1:07 pm PT

    Complete garbage.

  • Peaches1347

    Posted Mar 21, 2008 12:41 pm PT

    curse u guitar hero now u have spawned wanna be's!!!!!!!

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