Wii Rock Band 2 hammers on DLC
It may have retained the same acclaimed gameplay as its Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 counterparts, but the "Special Edition" of Rock Band for the Wii was regarded as a minor disappointment for two reasons. First, the rhythm game arrived seven months behind its current-gen competitors. Second, the...
It may have retained the same acclaimed gameplay as its Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 counterparts, but the "Special Edition" of Rock Band for the Wii was regarded as a minor disappointment for two reasons. First, the rhythm game arrived seven months behind its current-gen competitors. Second, the game had a lack of online functionality--namely downloadable content--which was one of the defining features of the Xbox 360 and PS3 editions.
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MTV Games and Harmonix have addressed the first isssue in part with Rock Band 2. Falling under Microsoft's "first on Xbox" catchphrase, the 360 game was released in September, and retailers are expecting the PS3 version in mid-October, with the Wii and PlayStation 2 editions following in mid-November.
Now, the online functionality issue has been resolved entirely. Speaking to USA Today, MTV Games has confirmed that the Wii version of Rock Band 2 will support the same online functionality as the Xbox 360 and PS3 editions of the game, including downloadable songs and online multiplayer modes. USA Today notes that the PS2 version of Rock Band 2 has not been similarly upgraded.
When Harmonix first broke the news that the original Rock Band would not support song downloads, it blamed the missing feature on the Wii's lack of substantial onboard storage. "Come on Nintendo, we need a hard drive," lamented Harmonix design director Rob Kay at that time. "That's what we want. The whole problem is there's nowhere to store it."
Though heavily speculated, Nintendo has yet to unveil a hard drive for its popular console, and USA Today's report did not reveal how Harmonix has circumvented the storage issue. For Activision and Vicarious Visions part, Guitar Hero World Tour on the Wii will support its online content by way of the console's limited internal memory unit as well as through SD cards, according to an interview with Shacknews earlier this month.
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