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Ubisoft glams up Rock Star

Publisher's Imagine line of tween-targeted titles expands into rhythm genre in June for DS.
By Tom Magrino, GameSpot
Posted Mar 21, 2008 9:51 am PT

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.

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30 Comments

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VERS1ON

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.

Posted Mar 23, 2008 6:48 am PT
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psycomantis_32

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

Posted Mar 23, 2008 12:08 am PT
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everccr

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!

Posted Mar 22, 2008 7:42 pm PT
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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.

Posted Mar 22, 2008 5:01 pm PT
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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.

Posted Mar 22, 2008 5:00 pm PT
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HALCONAZUL

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

Posted Mar 22, 2008 4:00 pm PT
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necronaux

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?

Posted Mar 22, 2008 8:38 am PT
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/ (+3)
Slaughtahouse

Trash!

Posted Mar 22, 2008 8:17 am PT
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guitarman89

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

Posted Mar 21, 2008 11:35 pm PT
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pourya_ahmadian

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;

Posted Mar 21, 2008 11:21 pm PT
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X-RS

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

Posted Mar 21, 2008 9:17 pm PT
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destrozz

lol this is going to be interesting.

Posted Mar 21, 2008 8:30 pm PT
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Oblivionwaiter

Ha!

Posted Mar 21, 2008 8:21 pm PT
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RaiKageRyu

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

Posted Mar 21, 2008 3:46 pm PT
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/ (+1)
Sandro909

Oh. I thought Ubisoft bought Rockstar.

Posted Mar 21, 2008 3:39 pm PT
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/ (+4)
strategyking92

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

Posted Mar 21, 2008 2:25 pm PT
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/ (+0)
Cwagmire21

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

Posted Mar 21, 2008 1:35 pm PT
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speedjunkie4

Turtlefark, amen.

Posted Mar 21, 2008 1:35 pm PT
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Turtlefark

Complete garbage.

Posted Mar 21, 2008 1:07 pm PT
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/ (+5)
Peaches1347

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

Posted Mar 21, 2008 12:41 pm PT
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/ (+4)
Rontor

Garbage.

Posted Mar 21, 2008 12:37 pm PT
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/ (+4)
c_mcafee

Jordanbijl, I can play both the guitar and the drums and have for years. I do not play Rock Band to pretend to play an instrument, I play Rock Band because it is a lot of fun to play, especially with friends. You can shoot a real gun in real life, so why did you buy R6V2 this week?
Also, I have had the game since it came out and none of my instuments have broken; maybe you need to learn how to treat your stuff nicely.

Posted Mar 21, 2008 11:48 am PT
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/ (+8)
ColdfireTrilogy

Well its gonnna be weird ... maybe fun but still weird

Posted Mar 21, 2008 11:40 am PT
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/ (+2)
CAMPKILLJER

Oh yay, yippee, who cares.

Posted Mar 21, 2008 11:05 am PT
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/ (+1)
membernametaken

I just can't imagine feeling like a rockstar while playing a portable game.

Posted Mar 21, 2008 11:02 am PT
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jordanbijl Posted Mar 21, 2008 10:55 am PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)
IKKF

I believe that the Imagine series is made for 7-10 year old girls, and I am not a 7-10 year old girl, so I'm guessing that I won't like this.

Posted Mar 21, 2008 10:41 am PT
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re4leonkennedy

Battle of the bands looks interesting.

Posted Mar 21, 2008 10:39 am PT
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Bionic92

I think Rock band and GH are enough. The more guitar/band games that come out, the less fun it will probaly become.

Posted Mar 21, 2008 10:26 am PT
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/ (+4)
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