AC/DC subject of first group-centric Rock Band

MTV inks deal with Australian rockers to release first band-based stand-alone product exclusively via Wal-Mart in November; pack's 18 tracks can be added to Rock Band, Rock Band 2; no DLC version planned.

AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack

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Three months ago, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith launched to middling reviews and solid sales--just over 1 million units as of the end of August, according to the NPD Group. Until today, it seemed that the tribute to the Boston rockers would be the only band-centric instrument-based rhythm game until Guitar Hero: Metallica ships in 2009.

However, today Electronic Arts, MTV Games, and Harmonix upended that theory by revealing a new Rock Band game focused on legendary Australian group AC/DC. The AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band Track Pack will be available as a stand-alone product for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on November 2 in North America for $39.88 and the PlayStation 2 for $29.88. A Wii edition will arrive on November 16 for $39.88 in the US and Canada, with all four versions hitting the UK, Europe, and Australasia in December.

While the game will be available at "most major retailers" internationally, domestically it will only have one source. The The New York Times reports that in the US, the AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band Track Pack will only be sold at Wal-Mart, its Sam's Club subsidiary, and its online store. The megaretailer has struck a deal with AC/DC's label, Sony-owned Columbia Records, to promote Black Ice through dedicated stands in its stores peddling AC/DC albums, DVDs, T-shirts, and other merchandise--including games.

"If you want to be a physical band, you better make an alliance with a strong physical retailer," Columbia Records chairman Steve Barnett told the Times. "It's a great way to sell the new album, the catalog, the game, merchandise and DVDs." A Rockstar rep confirmed to GameSpot that Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, and Walmart.com will be the only places the track pack will be available, and no downloadable version is planned.

Gamers who want to incorporate the songs from the new game into their regular Rock Band and Rock Band 2 repertoires are in luck. "All tracks from the AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band Track Pack will also be available for play in Rock Band and Rock Band 2 by entering a special export authentication code for the Xbox 360...and PlayStation 3," said MTV Games in a statement. No mention was made of the versions for Wii and PS2.

One thing the AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band Track won't have is a virtual version of guitarist Angus Young jumping around in his trademark schoolboy uniform. "AC/DC's likeness are not used as characters or avatars in the game," a MTV Games rep told GameSpot. "AC/DC LIVE Rock Band Track Pack is like Rock Band and Rock Band 2 in that it is completely focused on the music while giving people the opportunity to live out their rock star fantasies as themselves rather than playing as digitized versions of the artists."

A compete list of AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band Track Pack's 18 songs--all of which are live versions taken from various performances--is listed below. The total running time of the combined songs is just over 99 minutes.

"Thunderstruck"
"Shoot to Thrill"
"Back in Black"
"Hell Ain't a Band Place to Be"
"Heatseeker"
"Fire Your Guns"
"Jailbreak"
"The Jack"
"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"
"Moneytalks"
"Hell's Bells"
"High Voltage"
"Whole Lotta Rosie"
"You Shook Me All Night Long"
"T.N.T."
"Let There Be Rock"
"Highway to Hell"
"For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)"

288 Comments

  • B1G_DADDY

    Posted Dec 4, 2008 12:15 pm PT

    Could anyone message me and tell me if this game is compatible with RB1, and if so can you rip the songs to RB1?

  • B1G_DADDY

    Posted Dec 4, 2008 12:14 pm PT

    And no its not overpriced, rip the songs to your HD, and then sell the game to gamestop or whatever other video game retailer, you would get like $15 - $20

  • B1G_DADDY

    Posted Dec 4, 2008 12:12 pm PT

    i hate how you cant find acdc anywhere!! you cant find them on any dlc for rock band or GH (until now). you cant find them on itunes either, i always wondered why? do they have something against it?

  • 623482

    Posted Nov 13, 2008 9:32 am PT

    In reply to Land o Funk

    AC/DC made their name through there exhilarating Live performances, so using studio albums would be stupid. Though I do agree they should of chucked some Bon Scott in there as well. Maybe have a couple of tracks from his live performance in Paris or maybe some of his most earliest performances, as tribute to the rocker.

  • Aaron1224

    Posted Nov 2, 2008 7:27 pm PT

    I love AC/DC its gonna be awesome

  • cowsgomoo62

    Posted Nov 1, 2008 7:33 am PT

    @willpeters

    Rock Band sells songs for 2 dollars each. So the songs alone on the disc should be 36 dollars, plus you get a disc keep forever. It's not that overpriced when you look at it that way.

  • Goldieboy87

    Posted Oct 30, 2008 8:45 pm PT

    AC/DC FTW!!!! Was gonna get GH:WT till I saw this! Shame there's no song from the new album :S T.N.T is better live

  • Land-0-Funk

    Posted Oct 29, 2008 5:11 pm PT

    Wish they were the actual songs (I have all the Bon Scott albums), but I understand since AC/DC Live is a popular album

  • willpeters

    Posted Oct 27, 2008 10:40 pm PT

    This is ridiculously overpriced; $40 for 18 songs! They don't even put the ACDC characters into the game. Shame on you Harmonix and Columbia Records.

  • ahahaG

    Posted Oct 27, 2008 9:51 pm PT

    T.N.T this game will be DY-NO-MITE!

  • zutolor

    Posted Oct 27, 2008 6:28 am PT

    wait... Let There Be Rock??? that song is in Rockband 2 so why did they add it like it's live but it's going to be pretty much the same but it is a good song

  • zutolor

    Posted Oct 27, 2008 6:22 am PT

    HIGHWAY TO HELL THAT'S AC/DC BEST SONG SO GETTING IT

  • PhoenixVenom

    Posted Oct 26, 2008 11:17 pm PT

    its about time, AC/DC Rules All

  • Clank17

    Posted Oct 26, 2008 9:52 am PT

    i am definetley getting this game

  • doctorwang12

    Posted Oct 24, 2008 3:02 pm PT

    HELL YES...i am deffinately getting this..this is one of the very FEW reasons y i want 2 get rock band 2 now...(even tho world tour is gonna kick more ass)!!

  • mzb82

    Posted Oct 23, 2008 3:57 am PT

    I wonder how much MTV kissed AC/DC a@@ to get them on Rockband seeing how there material isn't even on itunes

  • real-guitarhero

    Posted Oct 22, 2008 3:59 pm PT

    acdc for life

  • Kyler

    Posted Oct 21, 2008 3:29 pm PT

    Do any of you people that are bashing this pack have a quality stereo? Have any of you heard the AC/DC Live at Donington? Heard it on a good stereo? The dvd/bluray were mixed very well in 5.1 and have exceptional sound, much of the classic's done on here are louder and cleaner and rock harder than when they were done with bone scott in the 70's. So as a matter of fact they sound better than the original recordings. This pack will be very popular for Rock Band and will cure the AC/DC craving for these type of games.

  • ReactorBird

    Posted Oct 18, 2008 3:02 pm PT

    I'm sure if I wait then Guitar Hero World Tour will release some sort of DLC for AC/DC. It's just a sit and wait kinda thing

  • Ace237

    Posted Oct 14, 2008 12:08 pm PT

    It's about quality, not quantity. Aerosmith vs AC/DC= no contest.

  • PS3Champ

    Posted Oct 10, 2008 11:05 pm PT

    I can't see why AC-DC hasn't been in any other music games until this one. I always wondered that, but now I see a whole pack coming out for Rock Band. My question now is, why not put any songs into GHWT?

  • pacuuuuu3

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 8:48 pm PT

    Umm TNT is not good for a rythm game...

  • XxDaRkNiNjAxX

    Posted Oct 8, 2008 7:59 pm PT

    I agree with Videogamevet!!! this is LIVE so therefore not as good as recorded and the other guy made a good point! GH Aerosmith was 10 dollars more for like triple the songs!!! Ill wait for it to drop in price

  • AutoFreak

    Posted Oct 5, 2008 9:23 pm PT

    Hmm. I dunno see why can't you just download it all fo free online...

  • Arlondiluthel

    Posted Oct 5, 2008 7:46 pm PT

    I am SO getting this... I've been hoping for AC/DC DLC since day one of Rock Band's release, hell, I was hoping for some AC/DC in GH3.

  • shani_boy101

    Posted Oct 5, 2008 7:29 pm PT

    This is a disgrace. **** YOU HARMONIX AND EA!!!! You take OUR Australian Bands and you haven't felt bothered to give us the first game until its a FULL YEAR AFTER ITS BEEN RELEASED!!!(We're getting it in a month) PLUS YOUR GIVING US THE CR*PPY original peripherals! EA and Harmonix you have lost ALL respect down here in Australia. You let us suffer for a year and then we get cheated when you steal one our best exports. I wanna see ROCK BAND 2 here by December or i will never 'buy' anything branded by EA again (Doesn't mean i won't play them, of course)

  • wademiner

    Posted Oct 5, 2008 7:23 pm PT

    Personally, I'd pay 40 clams to download For Those About to Rock.

    Can't wait to get this.

  • ToughHorn

    Posted Oct 5, 2008 2:32 pm PT

    heeeell yaaaaaa finaly an AC/DC track pack tough it isnt very cheap

  • videogamevet

    Posted Oct 4, 2008 11:21 pm PT

    Live songs are terrible, and the cost is ridiculous, no way I'd buy this, just as I didn't buy the Aerosmith GH, it's to expensive for too few songs, and I really don't think that the entire game should focus so much on one band, I need variety.

  • bluesbrother3

    Posted Oct 4, 2008 10:51 pm PT

    WTF? I ponyed up $50 for GH: Aerosmith for 41 songs, but $40 for 18 songs? Ridiculous!

  • joshua6775

    Posted Oct 4, 2008 12:28 pm PT

    This setlist is identical to the " Live at Donnington" DVD. Even the Picture of Angus in the announcement is Donnington. Good show and all, but I'd rather have studio versions with a mix of Bon Scott era trax in there also. Then it'd be a $40 slam dunk, now it's about a $20 jumpshot.

  • ohjtbehaaave

    Posted Oct 4, 2008 10:27 am PT

    I payed $300.00 bucks for an ION Drum kit (which rocks hard) so I'm not going to cheap out when an AC/DC pack comes out. But I will say this.... Live/concert versions should be cheaper. Im bummed these aren't the studio versions... which would sound crisp and have more impact. The live scratchy vocals of Bryan Johnson just won't be as cool sounding as studio versions... or as good as B.Scott on the old AC/DC stuff. This is really taking the EASY way out the way they are doing this package.

  • danciu

    Posted Oct 4, 2008 7:13 am PT

    I think I'll gat this,although it's not very fair...

  • Malice_OhGr_242

    Posted Oct 4, 2008 4:40 am PT

    i want this but, i don't want live tracks. 40$ is way to much for just 18 tracks. I won't shop at walmart. so to hell with this.

  • raiding_kvatch

    Posted Oct 4, 2008 2:44 am PT

    why isn't this just a downloadable track pack. Yet another way for EA and its associates to bleed my wallet dry.

  • DBrentster

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 9:21 pm PT

    Why don't I bend down once more for Harmonix to abuse me and take more money because they included garbage songs with RB2. Thanks ahls

  • aRE-you-AFraid

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 6:30 pm PT

    those are sweet songs, but I wouldn't pay $40 for them.

  • arcelice

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 1:46 pm PT

    i kinda wish they weren't live versions...

  • Gam3rKidd

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 12:47 pm PT

    I LOVE AC/DC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I THINK THIS IS A GREAT IDEA!!!!!

  • Dire_Weasel

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 7:44 am PT

    Boo to the live versions.

    I may rent it and pay whatever the export fee will be ($5 or less, I hope) but I'm not giving Wal-mart any money.

  • Pexalottle

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 5:08 am PT

    I guess I have to get rock band 1 now as well as rock band 2

  • joshua6775

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 9:52 pm PT

    I assume it's Live versions all from the same show, which means all Brian johnson vocals??? No Bon, no buy. I'll wait until the price comes down, even if I really do want SOME of the songs

  • Sora529

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 7:59 pm PT

    I'd totally buy it if it were $20, but $40 is too much if you ask me.

  • senorbusyman

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 7:47 pm PT

    I suggest dropping it down 2 $29.99 4 360, & ps3, as 4 Wii, & ps2 $19.99.

  • Crazy_Kid314

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 7:13 pm PT

    FINALY
    I think 40 bucks is a little much, but Thunderstruck + Drunk = Very Fun lol

  • nklslinde21

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 6:26 pm PT

    the ps2 is the platform that doesnt get screwed out of money, ima get the the acdc game for 29.88! yay

  • AZisBack

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 5:33 pm PT

    I would buy this if it were $20 bucks. Thanks but no thanks.

  • masterhalo43

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 1:44 pm PT

    i don't get it. do you have to get it in a real life store or can it be bought in like the ps3 store.

  • bulletwaster

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 12:34 pm PT

    Awesome I'll get Rock Band 2 for sure

  • rugbydude69

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 6:27 am PT

    The LIVE versions of these songs are better suited for rock band anyway. They are quicker tempo and will give the feeling of playing in front of a real crowd, giving more of a rock star fantasy, isn't that what these games are all about? While I agree that 40$ might be a little much for some, I'm on the PS2 version and the first track pack was 30$ with only a few decent songs so to have 18 songs by the best band in the world is gonna be insane! and well worth the money!

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