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Rock Band metal non-transferrable to RB2

With Rock Band 2 less than two weeks away from its expected Xbox 360 debut, Harmonix today revealed more details about the game, including the transfer of songs from the original Rock Band and a smattering of free downloadable content for the sequel. First off, Harmonix shed some light on the...

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With Rock Band 2 less than two weeks away from its expected Xbox 360 debut, Harmonix today revealed more details about the game, including the transfer of songs from the original Rock Band and a smattering of free downloadable content for the sequel.

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First off, Harmonix shed some light on the process by which players will be able to play the on-disc songs from the original Rock Band in the follow-up. A new Rock Band title update arrives today that will add an "export disc" tab to the game's "Extras" menu, allowing users to convert 55 of the game's 58-song setlist for use in Rock Band 2. The title update will also be required to play any future downloadable content on the game.

In addition to the title update, Harmonix also specified the three songs that won't be covered by the transfer process. One genre that won't be making the transition smoothly is metal, as the excepted tracks are from some of the game's heaviest hitters. The songs that won't transfer to Rock Band 2 are the cover of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid," the cover of Iron Maiden's "Run to the Hills," and Metallica's original recording of "Enter Sandman." The European release of Rock Band also included a selection of international hits on the disc, one of which--Tokio Hotel's "Through the Monsoon"--won't be transferrable. The transfer process will require a fee of 400 Microsoft points ($5) to compensate license holders for the expanded use of the first game's songs.

Finally, Harmonix also included word of some free downloadable content for Rock Band 2. The game's already-revealed on-disc setlist of 84 songs will be supplemented after launch with an additional 20 free downloadable tracks. The developer did not specify which tracks would be included in the postlaunch freebies.

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