EA announces Rock Band 2 Euro plans News
Xbox 360
PlayStation 2
PlayStation 3
Wii
News
by
Tom Bramwell
EA has announced that Rock Band 2 will "begin shipping" in Europe on 14th November exclusively for Xbox 360 for a limited time.
The software will be released in the UK on 21st November, and the standalone bundle of new instruments will be at retail "beginning in December".
Rock Band 2 solus discs will go for GBP 49.99 / EUR 69.99 but there's no immediate word on instrument prices. The Rock Band 1 "Band in a Box" pack currently goes for GBP 99.99 on 360 and GBP 79.99 on PS3 and Wii.
To say the news comes out of the blue is to put it mildly. Yesterday EA distanced itself from the suggestion the game would be out "this side of Christmas".
But it's bad news for Activision, publisher of Guitar Hero World Tour, reviewed this week, which has yet to officially announce its release plans.
World Tour, which features its own range of instruments, is expected to hit in mid-November as well - and now that the excellent Rock Band 2, reviewed on import recently, is ready for release, it's going to be hard work for Activision to fight off the appeal of EA's decent instruments, excellent software and massive DLC archive.
As we wrote in conclusion when we took on Guitar Hero World Tour, "Were Rock Band 2 on the market today, the decision would be more difficult, as the gap between instrument quality would be reduced and the software battle would go in Rock Band 2's favour."
As well as all that DLC, the on-disc soundtrack for Rock Band 2 is over 100 deep, there's a Drum Trainer and No Fail mode for people who want to play without punishment, and it's possible to import dozens of the original Rock Band's songs for a small fee.
However, the silver lining for Activision is that Guitar Hero World Tour should be available with its instruments in mid-November and Rock Band 2's won't be around until a month later, and also that Microsoft has paid for another exclusivity period, giving it a free run on the PS3, PS2 and Wii.
For anyone who can't be arsed to wait a month on 360, or longer on the other formats, a GHWT bundle and Rock Band 2 solus disc later would be a powerful combo. No doubt it's a subject we'll dig into further as the release plans are brought into sharper focus.
Are you excited about Rock Band 2 on PlayStation 2?
View Eurogamer readers most anticipated games
Related Games
Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2
Latest News
-
U2 keen to appear in own Rock Band game [88]
-
Rock Band coming to iPhone [13]
-
Music games are "crap", says Bunnyman [71]
-
Harmonix releases Rock Band 2 update [21]
-
Conchords Rock Band DLC confirmed [36]
Latest Screenshots
15 July, 2008 [0]
Want to comment on this article? Log in, or register!
|
Charlie3487
29/10/08 @ 13:10
0
I'll stick with my Guitar Hero II and III controllers, USB Mic and forget the drums...so I'll get the Solus discs both and save...
So not bad news for me then, eh? |
|
Eighthours
29/10/08 @ 13:15
0
Yeah, if you don't have a drum kit at all yet, then the GHWT band bundle and Rock Band 2 solus edition would seem to be the best way to go.
|
|
0
I'm with Eighthours on this one.
GHWT Band Pack and then Rock Band 2 solus some time after. Being a PS3 owner and hearing about the exclusivity deal seals it for me, which is a shame, because I might have just gone for RB2 on its own if I could get it this side of Xmas. Oh well.... roll on November! |
|
Charlie3487
29/10/08 @ 13:27
0
No, I meant forget the drums altogether! Two guitars and the mic only for me...took me ages to realise that Rock Band worked with the old GH guitars...
Worked for Ralph McTell and Roger Whittaker.... |
|
0
I wonder how much longer these new 'FIFA'-like yearly iterations will be successful in ripping people off...
Even if you completely discount the apparently-excellent new tweaks and general tidying up of the game, it's effectively an 80-track song pack for 40 quid. How on earth do you describe that as "ripping people off"? From where I'm standing, it looks like the best gaming bargain since The Orange Box. Buffoon. |
|
Harrihotpants
29/10/08 @ 13:58
0
Surely anyone with a PS3 will boycott RB from now on and stick with GHWT after consistently poor treatment....
|
|
kangarootoo
29/10/08 @ 14:03
0
@Harrihotpants
Wasn't it Activision that were preventing Harmonix from making RB compatible with GH controllers? |
|
kangarootoo
29/10/08 @ 14:04
0
"I wonder how much longer these new 'FIFA'-like yearly iterations will be successful in ripping people off... "
Anyone who gets "ripped off" in that context or either an addict or an idiot (or a buffoon - great word, much underused). |
|
0
@Nuggie
Yes. The no thanks was to the combined prospect of "Rock Band 2", "solus disc" and the RRP. I don't want the second one when they pissed about with the first, I don't want the disc on its own as that makes it more like an expansion pack (which are usually cheaper), and that RRP i quite close to the word "rape". If people can go on about Brand and Ross' stupid prank, I can whine about this! I know I'm being unreasonable. That's how I am. Activision must be celebrating the fact this deal MS have done means they'll have an more open market for a while. |
|
andywilkie35
29/10/08 @ 14:13
0
I own Rock Band and was going to get the Solus GHWT after hearing it works with RB instruments, but now I think I'll leave that and get the RB2 disc, wahey!
|
|
Freelancepolice
29/10/08 @ 14:16
0
As soon as this is up on gameplay.com, consider it pre ordered - great news
|
|
nickthegun
29/10/08 @ 14:32
0
"I wonder how much longer these new 'FIFA'-like yearly iterations will be successful in ripping people off..."
40 quid for a hundred tunes isnt bad, y'know. |
|
optimusprym8
29/10/08 @ 14:36
0
RB2 solus for me, don't like Neversoft's note charts in GHIII
"Small fee" to copy RB1 tracks to HDD means I can trade in RB solus right? |
|
0
FU MS for constantly bribing the publishers/developers!!! Instead of creating good games through internal studios, all MS can do is to wave their filthy Windows dollars in hope for the 3'rd part companies to take the bait. The sad thing is that it works. Soulless motherfu**ers!
Yes it works, and it's also exactly how Sony operated with the PS1 and PS2. |
|
kinky_mong
29/10/08 @ 14:57
0
As far as I'm aware the ones that can't be copied over are Enter Sandman, Run The Hills, Paranoid, and that Tokio Hotel one. So in other words they've dropped three of the worst songs.
This will be a definite purchase for me as long as the rumours of the drum kit chewing through batteries aren't true. |
|
Freelancepolice
29/10/08 @ 15:12
0
worst songs?!
Are you mental? Anyway, it's probably due to licensing issues and having to redo the license for those particular artists |
|
0
To be honest, I can't see myself ever putting the RB1 disc in my PS3 again - as fun as they were to play, I really haven't found myself missing Enter Sandman, Paranoid and Run to the Hills at all, what with a whole wealth of new songs to get through.
The new interface is so polished, everything is so user-friendly and smooth and, frankly, it's slightly disappointing when RB1 songs crop up in a random setlist as you just want to play the new stuff. In my opinion the Metallica and Maiden DLC were songs that were more fun to play than Enter Sandman and Run to the Hills anyway - perhaps another reason why I don't miss them. |
|
Der_tolle_Emil
29/10/08 @ 15:43
0
Why do they release the instruments later? Well at least the game will be here before Christmas.
|
|
kangarootoo
29/10/08 @ 15:47
0
@stampax
Exclusivity on a big title costs shedloads. $10m would not be unreasonable for complete platform exclusivity, so I don't know what a timed exclusive such as this might cost. Less obviously, but still probably 7 digits* * massive guess |
|
0
"as it'll clearly cost them a fortune in lost sales and then lost dlc money as ps3 owners will buy the only one available - rock band."
DLC is forwards compatible (so no real DLC loss), PS3 owners seem to pirate the shit out of Rock Band tracks anyway. In the US they released the 360 version because it was finished first and I imagine if they had to patch (because of the amazing stuff you can do on their clunky website now) they only wanted to worry about one console being patched. Over here I think they want to run down RB1 units on PS3/Wii before releasing the new version. I'm just rilly rilly glad we have a release date now :) |
|
mutdlegend
29/10/08 @ 16:16
0
great news and guitar hero as been dated ts coming out on the 14th a got an email today saying that gh is currantly been held and will be sent out for its release date of the 4 november but deffinantly getting rb2 now WOOOOOOOOOOOOO
|
|
0
@ MrMarbles
You could import it for Ps3, but from what I've heard, UK PSN Store does not work with imported games, so you can't get more songs unless you a. Own a US bank account b. Use something like Entropay (think thats what its called) Either way its a hassle. Please can someone confirm my suspicions? |
|
0
"You can pirate dlc content on the ps3? Time to start googling....."
It's mostly people doing BRAIN-DAMAGED IDIOCY like "sharing" thier PSN account info, Sony haven't a clue about DRM so just lock all content to the downloaded console and let you download x times, people "share" their x downloads with each other. It's queasy, queasy stuff. |
|
Jonny5Alive7
29/10/08 @ 18:13
0
You have repeated quite a few times that you didn't know when Rock Band 2 was going to come out. The advert on television has been saying November for ages.
|
|
0
@ Joco84:
>You could import it for Ps3, but from what I've heard, UK PSN Store does not work with imported games, so you can't get more songs unless you Correct. Imported Rock Band last December. Couldn't buy songs from US store. Songs bought from Euro store aren't recognized. Bought EU Rock band which recognizes Euro store songs. Had to restart career and band since these aren't copied from the US saved games. The games do conflict with their on-line band presence. I still have to rename my first band (AD/BC) in the US version so I can use this name for my new (Euro). |
Want to comment on this article? Log in, or register!
