Green Day: Rock Band announced

By Robert Purchese Published 14 December, 2009

More popular than The Beatles?

Punk poppers Green Day are set to follow in the footsteps of The Beatles with a new Rock Band spin-off.

The game was announced during the Spike Video Game Awards at the weekend. The three members of Green Day made the reveal in a video and a subsequent press released confirmed the game for PS3, Wii and Xbox 360. Unlike The Beatles: Rock Band, Green Day: Rock Band's tracklist will be fully exportable to Rock Band and Rock Band 2.

Green Day formed at the end of the eighties and caught the public's eye with album Dookie, released in 1994. "Basket Case" was the best known of the songs. The band plateaued at the turn of the century but rocketed back with American Idiot in 2004.

The new game will whisk players through a sight-seeing tour of the band's career, taking in venues and attractions and musical influences along the way.

Green Day: Rock Band is due out next year.

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 (46) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • Zomoniac #1 2 years ago

    On the one hand, fucking awesome, love Green Day and will definitely get this. On the other hand, I've seen the trailer and the character models and animations are absolutely shocking, far worse than any other RB game to date, they're GH3 levels of bad. Hopefully they're extremely rough placeholders.

  • Beano #2 2 years ago

    Odd choice for a band-specific music game... especially after the exellent The Beatles RB.
    Green Day never appealed to me - very generic music. No sale here.

  • RobotRocker #3 2 years ago

    Zomoniac: Its not due till Autumn so plenty of time for them to work on the models. I will wake you up when September ends if you like.

    Not really fussed (Keep it on the Dookie end of the career and have Redundant, Hitchin' A Ride, The Grouch please) as long as they keep Time Of Your Life off the goddamn disc.

    Oh, and its an "Enhanced Track Pack" according to a few rumours going around which means 20-30 songs, export and lower price.
    Edited by RobotRocker at 14/12/09 @ 08:59

  • kangarootoo #4 2 years ago

    Good choice. Green Day have shed loads of songs that are perfect for Rock Band. Good stompy guitar some lines, surprisingly athletic drum lines, and vocals in the mid range that everyone can bang out.

    And I was very surprised at the sales of RB:Beatles. I really expected it to fly off the shelves. I stand very much corrected. I wonder if the standalone nature (no song export, isolated store, etc) of it put people off (well, existing players at least).

  • Stepharneo #5 2 years ago

    I think the only rock band: band game I would consider is if they did like Rock Band: Muse...There just aren't enough Muse songs for Rock Band or Guitar Hero....

    Or RockBand: Foo Fighters...there are loads of tracks by the Foo's for RB and GH, but hell that game would be fun, especially if you started off as Nirvana and then got to do some of the bands side projects...actually that'd be more like Rock Band: Dave Grohl...I'd buy that game.

  • LiveForever #6 2 years ago

    Guns and Roses: Rock Band for the win!!!

  • paulf #7 2 years ago

    @spanks - 'peripheral driven rhythm action fad' - so rock band's $1 billion + sales is a fad ? and really the games are good fun to play, they is a question in where they can progress or innovate, but to call it a fad is just a bit silly

  • Ikari2001 #8 2 years ago

    Rock Band: Britney Spears , and you can even get a vegas marriage, devorce and mental breakdown.comes with a pair of clippers to shave your head with :p

  • siro #9 2 years ago

    Not the biggest fan of Green Day, but their Music sure is a near perfect fit for plastic guitar games.

  • wizlon #10 2 years ago

    If this is released at a cheaper price point, like maybe £30, then I'll bite.

  • Antaios #11 2 years ago

    Have we not had enough RB/GH (and so on) already? Dang.

  • jambo74 #12 2 years ago

    Did not get BRB but will get GDRB

    BUT - GnRRB would kill them all.

  • MKorkia #13 2 years ago

    Rather odd choice... When it hits 18 EUR price I'll probably invest.

    Harmonix did good work with RB: Beatles, maybe they could advance music games with dual (multiple) guitar tracks in future.

    I dream of Rock Band: Wishbone Ash... :)

  • Toothball #14 2 years ago

    I grew up on Green Day, but haven't listened to them so much of late. I only got American Idiot when my 17 year old brother decided he'd outgrown it and gave it to me when he returned all the Green Day albums I'd given him years back. I've given them a listen again more recently and they're still plenty fun so I'm sure to get this. Although to be honest I'll probably buy anything with a Rock Band label on the box.

  • Jonathan_Fakenham #15 2 years ago

    Way to step down from The Beatles.

    I'm okay with it though. As long as this doesn't rule out stuff like The Who: Rock Band, I don't mind.

    The tracks here will be exportable though, so it's not another stand-alone like The Beatles was. Going forwards The Beatles: Rock Band will be an exception to the rule I guess. They can't have 10 different products with their own song downloads can they? That would just be way too messy.

  • Murton #16 2 years ago

    Green Day used to be awesome, Dookie, Insomniac, Nimrod, but stuff like Minority and the god awful American Idiot album just served to prove that the Americans can't do punk.

    I figured that after the success of Beatles that the Rock Band franchise would continue to do band-specific releases but I was expecting them to move through iconic bands that changed music forever, much like the Beatles did. There were rumours of a Rock Band: The Who reported on this site a couple months ago, that would have been a great follow-uup but Green Day? I'm not so sure.

  • MrChuckles #17 2 years ago

    I want Rock Band: Mosh Pit!

    Then again, i'm weird.... Fill it with SOAD, Deftones, Korn, Slipknot, Spineshank, RATM.

    And then Rock Band: Vietnam...

    With all the 60's songs played in Vietnam War films in one pack...

  • kangarootoo #18 2 years ago

    @MrChuckles

    Had not heard of Spineshank. Its in my ears now courtesy of Spotify.

    Well it was until 2 seconds ago. Now I have an advert for BT Vision :(

  • Eraysor #19 2 years ago

    If Guitar Hero had Metallica, surely the best thing to do would be Megadeth: Rock Band?

  • Jonathan_Fakenham #20 2 years ago

    @MrChuckles

    Rock Band: Vietnam, sold!
    Could be it's not enough of a "positive, family friendly brandname" for them though. :/

  • Machetazo #21 2 years ago

    It should be fun to play. :)
    Depending on how it turns out, I'd definitely consider getting GD: RB.

  • MrChuckles #22 2 years ago

    Hmm, maybe my job as a Games Designer isn't totally wasted i have a fan for each franchise already! :)

    @kangarootoo, here is a world of fun for you:

    [link url=http://open.spotify.com/user/gothnak/playlist/3MmJxRUIGcqd5MhMOP9nY8
    ]http://open.spotify.com/user/gothnak/pla...[/link]

    The styles of metal change as the list goes on, but should introduce you to a ton of new bands hopefully...

    Anyone got a Vietnam playlist? :)


  • Jonathan_Fakenham #23 2 years ago

    Wonder what the dreamscapes in Rock Band: Vietnam would look like.
    Napalm raids and guitar solos?

  • kangarootoo #24 2 years ago

    @MrChuckles

    Cheers. I'm familiar with about half the bands in that list, but there are a few I've not come across so I shall get listening :)

    One of my first ever gigs (about 16 years ago) included a RATM song, and I saw Head Charge in Exeter a few years ago. And SOAD are quite simply one of the finest bands around :)

  • cnlfailure #25 2 years ago

    Green Day = The Levellers - violin

    /pass
    Edited by cnlfailure at 14/12/09 @ 11:54

  • Zomoniac #26 2 years ago

    the god awful American Idiot album just served to prove that the Americans can't do punk.

    God awful? Your ears are broken. And Green Day aren't punk, they're pop-rock. Perhaps if you don't try to squeeze them into a pigeon hole that they very clearly don't belong in then you'll enjoy them more.

  • MrChuckles #27 2 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    I still haven't seen Headcharge yet, got into them a bit late... Seen SOAD 5 times before they broke up though, truly awesome.

    Stupidest moment was queuing to pick up my tickets for Deftones at Brixton Academy and this guy asked if he could get through to the backstage... After a quick chat, he went through and then my mate informed me it was the drummer from SOAD, who's t-shirt i was wearing, with his picture on it... Oh dear...

    Last gig was Sonisphere with NiN and Metallica, both very impressive.

  • MrChuckles #28 2 years ago

    @Jonathan_Fakenham - Yeah, one arena would be each member in a chopper flying through a canyon over a jungle, one at a music show for the troops, one in the US at an anti war rally... The last one would be at the airport as the US are pulling out ;).

  • Saturn_Ascends #29 2 years ago

    What happened to Pearl Jam: Rock Band?

  • cianchristopher #30 2 years ago

    Ridiculous! Following up The Beatles with this?

    And you know what? This'll end up selling more than The Beatles: Rock Band!

    There's only one Rock Band game to end all comers - but it seems like we'll never get it!!!

    Led Zeppelin were the greatest rock band ever to walk the earth - with the music most suited to this type of game! They had the best drummer of all time in John Bonham, one of the all-time genuine Guitar Gods in Jimmy Page, one of rock's most iconoclastic frontmen and vocalists in Robert Plant, and the legendary John Paul Jones anchoring it all on bass!

    They would be perfect for this format - and if there's ever a Led Zeppelin: Rock Band title, well that's it for the series for me! I'll never need another music game again!

  • finty13 #31 2 years ago

    Anybody fancy a bit of 'Cream : Rock Band'?

    Eric's scorching blues solos would be perfect for rock band.

  • finty13 #32 2 years ago

    @cianchristopher

    I wouldn't hold out for a led zep rock band. Jimmy will never allow it and I'm inclined to agree with him.

    Besides, little kids heads will probably explode when they are exposed to 'Black Dog' for the first time.

  • Beano #33 2 years ago

    "And you know what? This'll end up selling more than The Beatles: Rock Band!"

    That doesn't make it more interesting or "better" as a game ;)

  • BigJonno #34 2 years ago

    The ability to export the songs makes me inclined to pick this up, while I have very little interest in the Beatles game. I'd love to have a whole bunch of Beatles songs to play, but being restricted to one band's songs is kinda missing the point for me.

  • kangarootoo #35 2 years ago

    @MrChuckles

    "Seen SOAD 5 times before they broke up though"

    Not dead, just sleeping ;)

  • Boomerang #36 2 years ago

    Poor choice in my opinion. As mentioned, why not Gun's and Roses? Or Hendrix? Or Led Zep? Or The Rolling Stones?

    Hell, i'd take Spinal Tap over Green Day!

  • shamblemonkee #37 2 years ago

    hooray, loads of songs with 3 chords!....

    I can't really imagine most green days songs translating well. Metallica translates well and so would a lot of similar stuff.

  • Jonathan_Fakenham #38 2 years ago

    Well this is kind of the same deal as the AC/DC disc then isn't it? Just in fancier wrapping, like?

  • Zomoniac #39 2 years ago

    why not Gun's and Roses?

    Because Harmonix don't wish to be directly responsible for a million deaths as brains across the globe shut down to get away from the excruciating noise?

  • Murton #40 2 years ago

    Zomoniac: Hmmm, Green Day label themselves as punk, their record label claims they're punk and the article you just read describes them as punk. Listen to their early work and it's pretty derivative of classic British punk. American Idiot to me is an admission that they can't do it any more, that and a cash in on the emo surge, Jesus of Suburbia anyone?

    Also, if you think Megadeth are "excruciating noise" as you put it then I can only assume that your ears too must be broken.


    What the whole "play along with a plastic guitar" genre needs is more Metal, Guitar Hero Metallica opened the door now we need Megadeth, Guns and Roses, Iron Maiden, Korn, Slipknot and more. Not with their own games necessarily but I'd definitely pay good money for Metal Hero or a Rock Band: Heavy Metal Edition and judging by this thread I'm not alone in that.

  • darleysam #41 2 years ago

    And.. I'm sold. Just keep it heavy on the early stuff and less so on American Idiot and the most recent album, and we're good.

    Insomniac needs to be there completely.

  • Jonathan_Fakenham #42 2 years ago

    To do a total switcheroo on what Murton just said, I'd really like to see more cheery stuff like the stuff in Lego Rock Band. I've had a load of giddy fun with that game. It's a pretty uneven tracklist, sure, but what makes it sweet is it doesn't have that "make a tough rocker face" thing that every other music game has.

  • FogHeart #43 2 years ago

    What we really need is a way for ANY band to be able to create content for a music game and you can buy it from them just like you can buy their MP3s. I'd rather the whole 'this band should have a GH game' thing was moot, and you can enjoy whatever band you like, as long as they produce the content.

    Software guys obviously gets a cut of each track sold...

  • Jonathan_Fakenham #44 2 years ago

    Heard of Rock Band Network much? That shit is coming.

  • Law07 #45 2 years ago

    NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED MOAR METAL

  • NBAoz #46 2 years ago

    "Foo Fighters: Rock Band" and "Red Hot Chili Peppers: Rock Band" next please.