Rock Band Summer Showcase Update

By Brad Shoemaker, GameSpotPosted Sep 5, 2007 7:34 pm PT

All you Pixies fans can rest easy; they've made it into Harmonix's towering rhythm game, which we played at EA's summer event.

Rock Band is going to be awesome. We think that's been established by now. We're sold on the whole multiple-instruments thing, the full downloadable albums, the online play...and the list goes on. All that's really left at this point is for us to uncover the game's tracklist song by song as it's revealed by the Harmonix/MTV/EA PR machine and observe how it continues to shape up as its release draws nearer. Luckily, we got to do both of those things at EA's sprawling Redwood City, CA campus.

The two new songs on show here at the event are Hole's "Celebrity Skin" and the Pixies' "Wave of Mutilation," both of which further round out the game's increasingly eclectic lineup of songs. The former adds its crunchy, guitar-driven grrl rock, while the latter brings Frank Black's characteristically unique, pre-alterna-rock songwriting to the mix (and for the record, it's the album version, not the surf-rock B-side).

On the game and design side, the artists at Harmonix have really polished up the visuals in the past few weeks. The fret boards that bear the game's note patterns are much cleaner now, with more defined lines and a nice light-up effect that will travel up the board when you pull off top performance. Notably, the notes on the fret board have changed from the more traditional, Guitar Hero-like circular shape to a rectangular design that both blends better with the game's overall design aesthetic and also seems a little easier to interpret visually.

We're still as stoked as ever to get our hands on this rhythmic monstrosity, and we'll continue to bring you our impressions of it whenever we get the chance to see it. Stay tuned for more on Rock Band.

83 Comments

  • playstation_wii

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 1:42 pm PT

    This game is going to be awesome!

  • emerald101

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 10:06 am PT

    This looks so Awesome, its good to see that EA is actually trying to make a game in this genre.

  • king_olly

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 8:40 am PT

    Dammit ! I want this game right now!! The drum machine looks ultra cool. Does anyone know whether the ps3/xbox versions can splice online and whether the instruments will work on both systems?

  • basszilla

    Posted Sep 14, 2007 9:40 pm PT

    If you dont like Slayer you should just DIE!

  • Darclas

    Posted Sep 14, 2007 8:26 pm PT

    WOW iamscott3600, NEVER INSULT THE **** KEYTAR OK YOU ****

  • lamplan

    Posted Sep 14, 2007 5:19 pm PT

    Thanks for sharing, Clone and batt.

    Am I the only one who clicked on an article to read it cause I'm interested in it?

  • Battleer

    Posted Sep 14, 2007 10:00 am PT

    Clone, your not alone lol.

  • clone01

    Posted Sep 14, 2007 9:20 am PT

    am i the only one who could care less about this game?

  • LoneSierra

    Posted Sep 14, 2007 4:45 am PT

    Rage?? lol Is the best band ever?

    Dragonforce and all those European hardcore death metal bands suck. Let me give you some lyrics:

    WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH 'Insane drums'

  • RIP_Hendrix

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 7:38 pm PT

    i agree with ianscott3600 dragonforce sucks ass, but kiwiman69 is wrong, Slayer kicks ass!

  • kiwiman69

    Posted Sep 13, 2007 6:43 pm PT

    slayer sucks, dragonforce sucks, you guys suck, rage against the machine is the best band ever

  • xboxdudeman800

    Posted Sep 12, 2007 8:05 pm PT

    pixies rule

  • iamscott3600

    Posted Sep 11, 2007 10:48 am PT

    Gunnerpunk, the Dragonforce show I saw, the lead singer got nailed in the head with a shoe. True story. The entire audience was booing. They sucked compared to the other bands there, their songs only held up by the guitarist. And they had a keytar. That automatically disqualifies them from the realms of "awesome music" and "talented musicians". Just so you know.

  • GreenC4T

    Posted Sep 10, 2007 4:26 pm PT

    Can't wait!

  • Quadrifoglio

    Posted Sep 10, 2007 2:43 pm PT

    daien90, i think that you are completely right! I think that Rock Band is was too ambitious.

  • Gunnerpunk

    Posted Sep 10, 2007 12:55 pm PT

    slayersdeath200.. i've seen dragonforce live and i can personally attest to the fact that they are easily some of the most talented musicians in rock music, each and every one of them. they nail everything with album quality and put on a great show. and as a professional musician let me tell you their solos make MUCH more musical sense than the mindless shredding crap slayer does.

  • ergo2497

    Posted Sep 10, 2007 12:01 pm PT

    How can anyone say that adding the Pixies makes this tracklist worse? No taste at all.

  • sheehanm1989

    Posted Sep 10, 2007 3:13 am PT

    coll j they aint got enter sandman they metallica song one

  • sheehanm1989

    Posted Sep 10, 2007 3:10 am PT

    karbon you idiot u do get a wireless guitar in the package just not with the 360 version! JUST cant wait now though im deffo geting both rock band and gh3 both have gr8 track. ps. how can you say rock band track list is getting worse they just added radioheads song CREEP!!! whooooo just over a month to go to gh3.

  • Legendkillerh2

    Posted Sep 10, 2007 12:03 am PT

    i like how everyone is like o noes, 200$. last time i checked, games only cost 60$. besides, most people who get this will play the guitar parts. so just use your GH controller, which you can do btw...and problem solved. no one is forcing you to buy a mic, drumset, and extra guitars. geeze...

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