Calamitous Rock Band 2 bug found

By Robert Purchese Published 6 October, 2008

Wipes saved tour groups.

Fans have found a rather calamitous multiplayer bug in Rock Band 2 that wipes groups from the hard drive.

The issue only seems to be affecting Xbox 360, according to the Rock Band forums (spotted by Kotaku). It triggers on consoles with a Live enabled primary account and non-Live enabled secondary account. Probably quite common, that.

If that's the case, then a frustratingly long way into the campaign the tour band will disappear, a bit like Chesney Hawks. The only option is to restart, risking the glitch being triggered again somewhere down the line.

Despite fan grumbles, developer Harmonix has made no mention of the bug in over three weeks. Distributor EA is looking into the matter.

Rock Band 2 is only available in the US on Xbox 360 for the moment, and has yet to be given any kind of European date. But that's not stopped us getting a copy, and we'll bring you a review later this week.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (34) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • speedjack #1 4 years ago

    Ouch !

    Thanks to the US for doing Europes QA !!!

  • coojam #2 4 years ago

    All of a sudden the delay doesn't look so bad.

  • StratoDriver #3 4 years ago

    WOW bit of a shock that its only affecting the 360 version of the game at the moment what with that being the only version of the game thats out!!!
    Edited by StratoDriver at 06/10/08 @ 14:43

  • miiiguel #4 4 years ago

    "The issue only seems to be affecting Xbox 360"
    +
    "Rock Band 2 is only available in the US on Xbox 360"

    While those are not mutualy exclusive it would be dificult to affect other platforms, no?

    edit: ooops, Strato already said it...
    Edited by miiiguel at 06/10/08 @ 14:46

  • Ninja_Tino #5 4 years ago

    The release date is November according to the advert!

  • StratoDriver #6 4 years ago

    @Ninja_Tino

    What release date are you refering to?

  • penhalion #7 4 years ago

    Ok can someone expplain this line.

    The issue only seems to be affecting Xbox 360, according to the Rock Band forums

    followed closely by

    Rock Band 2 is only available in the US on Xbox 360 for the moment,

    So how the heck would it have affected any other console then. It seems to me that the reviewers and news guys of EG are so used to stiring things that they even try to do it with single platform products! (Yes I know it's going to turn up on PS3 soon too).

  • StratoDriver #8 4 years ago

    @penhalion

    Your the third to post this now!

    Do try to keepup old chap ;-)

  • penhalion #9 4 years ago

    @StratoDriver

    Sorry old bean. It's just so idiotic of EG that I didn't even stop to read the comments before venting.

  • StratoDriver #10 4 years ago

    @penhalion

    Fair point, you are forgiven this once!

  • skillian #11 4 years ago

    It seems to me that the reviewers and news guys of EG are so used to stiring things that they even try to do it with single platform products!

    They've clearly just re-written the post on Kotaku (which also points out it only affects the 360 version) without actually checking anything in it. Which is worse, really.

  • andywilkie35 #12 4 years ago

    "Thanks to the US for doing Europes QA !!! "

    My sentiments exactly!

  • Runcle #13 4 years ago

    @Starto

    he means the UK release for Rock Band 2, its on the UK advert thats floating round the internet, not sure if its been on normal telly mind. Although the november date hasnt ben confirmed yet.

  • Stu #14 4 years ago

    Poor yanks.

  • sneetch #15 4 years ago

    Put away the torches and pitchforks lads! :)

    Regarding the whole "how could it affect any other consoles because it's only on 360 for now" that'd be because it's a bug that "triggers on consoles with a Live enabled primary account and non-Live enabled secondary account." Given that combination is required it's pretty unlikely that the same bug could occur on the Wii or PS3 who can't have that combination. Granted those versions aren't out yet, so it's pretty moot whether or not the bug could possibly occur on those consoles but EG are just being thorough.

    Edit: had to finish a sentence.
    Edited by sneetch at 06/10/08 @ 15:23

  • Oh-Bollox #16 4 years ago

    Hilarious.

  • agparrot #17 4 years ago

    Do EA do any QA for the games they publish, or is it left to the developers?

    Mercenaries 2, another EA-published title, is literally riddled with bugs.

  • wewillselfdestruct #18 4 years ago

    EA don't publish Rock Band. MTV do.

  • SEVQA #19 4 years ago

    “EG are just being thorough.” Unlike EA’s QA departments of late!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Mercenaries 2

  • sneetch #20 4 years ago

    @SEVQA
    "“EG are just being thorough.” Unlike EA’s QA departments of late!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Mercenaries 2"

    Yeah and I seem to recall a big announcement from EA recently about how their days of making good looking but poor quality games to make a quick buck were over?

    The suicidal, glass-legged allied soldiers in Mercs 2 are hilarious; I've heard from two or three sources (including a guy I work with and Zero Punctuation) about how your allies can't survive a drop of about 5 feet and yet they cheerfully stream over the edge of small drops to their doom, normally off the very pad their helicopter lands on.

    I mean how the hell did that one get past QA? Who didn't notice that? Just how drunk or disinterested would you have to be?

  • Waffleaber #21 4 years ago

    I always love stories of game breaking bugs. No idea why they're extra funny but they are.

    Not when they happen to you of course, still got painful memories of Wrestlemania on the N64 which wiped your save whenever the mood took it. Stopped me buying a THQ game for years on principle that did.

  • mcmonkeyplc #22 4 years ago

    RockbandUSAlol

  • the_dudefather #23 4 years ago

    @sneetch

    well, it could be a case that the bug was found but the higher ups thought 'screw that, we need to ship this game in time for the pre Christmas rush' and decided to patch it later (or not as the case may be)

    doubt thats the case with the rockband bug

  • Sir_TimAlot #24 4 years ago

    HAHA, QA will have definatey found all issues that are left in buggy games like Mercs but some Producer or Dev Manager will come along and say NO thats not a bug and doesn't warrant a fix, usually for a couple of different reasons but usually due to potential financial loss, in the case of the Rock Band 2 defect it is likely to have been missed by all even Microsoft and thier TRC's or TCR's which are usually scrict when it comes to any interaction the games forces with Guide back end.
    Also the way Logging into profiles and and selecting bands differs profile wise between RB1 PS3 and 360 so there is a good chance if this is the same in RB2 the bug won't occur on PS3.
    ho hum

  • chrisjm #25 4 years ago

    achievement unlocked: sloppy code deleted save game: 10GS

  • sneetch #26 4 years ago

    @chrisjm
    "achievement unlocked: sloppy code deleted save game: 10GS"

    LOL!

    Of course, it would actually reset your gamerscore to 0. :)

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #27 4 years ago

    The Xbox ad, which says "Rock Band 2 released November", has indeed aired on British TV. Coz I've seen it.

  • Chufty #28 4 years ago

    November? Most people are still paying off their Rock Band 1 loan...

  • Discalceaterabbit #29 4 years ago

    Paying off the rockband 1 loan? I thought most people ignored the release entirely.

  • actionfitz #30 4 years ago

    "speedjack
    06-Oct-08 14:31:53

    Ouch !

    Thanks to the US for doing Europes QA !!! "
    -----


    and for their troubles they get the whole package for less than half of what we will pay (most likely)
    :/

  • actionfitz #31 4 years ago

    "chrisjm
    06-Oct-08 16:45:58
    achievement unlocked: sloppy code deleted save game: 10GS

    sneetch
    06-Oct-08 16:48:31
    @chrisjm
    "achievement unlocked: sloppy code deleted save game: 10GS"
    LOL!
    Of course, it would actually reset your gamerscore to 0. :)"

    -----


    hehe kind of like in CoD 4 getting your 1st prestige rank and going back to the start to re unlock all the weaps?
    :D

  • jellyhead #32 4 years ago

    / points at America
    Ha Ha

  • Ace_McCloud #33 4 years ago

    I've also seen the "Rock Band 2 in November Advert".

    Come on EG where's the journalism?

  • OmagnusPrime #34 4 years ago

    @speedjack: Your comment only really applies if they fix the issue before it hits Europe, which if they haven't yet acknowledged the problem might be a while. That said, sod's law says it'll be ages until RB2 arrives on these shores (about the time of RB3 release in the US), so who knows.

    That is definitely quite shit though, and not great that they haven't acknowledged there's a bug to be fixed yet.