How to access Rock Band songs in RB2

By Robert Purchese Published 21 August, 2008

It's going to cost you.

Harmonix has said transferring songs from Rock Band 1 to Rock Band 2 will cost you. Money.

When the sequel is released in the US this September, Rock Band 1 will get an update to add an export feature to the menu, according to MTV Multiplayer.

Upon selecting that option you will be prompted to pop in a password, which will be supplied with copies of Rock Band 2. Then you will pay; Harmonix said this will cost USD 5 maximum.

Once everything is paid for, the Rock Band 1 songs will sit on you hard drive and work in Rock Band. So far the feature has only been explained for Xbox 360.

Rock Band 2 is yet to be given a European release date. Rock Band 1 is available on Xbox 360, and will launch on PS3, PS2 and Wii later this 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.

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

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Comments (44) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • stampax #1 4 years ago

    thats fine, by the time the game actually comes out 5 dollars wont be enough to buy a loaf of bread.

  • Zomoniac #2 4 years ago

    At that price I'm sure I'll do it anyway for the convenience. But seriously, what the fuck??

  • Xerx3s #3 4 years ago

    And this is how you get some idiot to pay for what he has already paid for.

  • siksik6 #4 4 years ago

    Dear Harmonix: stick it up your arse.

    I'm not going to pay for two games, dlc, and THEN pay to use it again!

    Tossers.
    Edited by 1 at 21/08/08 @ 09:27

  • stepneg #5 4 years ago

    I wonder how these people sleep at night, probably on pillows full of money...

  • andywilkie35 #6 4 years ago

    Absolutely terrible that they're making you pay for it. I mean 5 dollars (which I imagine will mean 5 pounds over here) isn't a lot of money at all, i shit more than 5 pounds, its just the principle of it, cunts.

    I'll definitely do it anyway coz there's some great songs on RB1. But does this mean that if you do it then ALL the songs transfer to RB2? Coz if I have to play that fucking Flirtin' With Disaster song again I won't be best pleased!

    Hopefully for my 5 pounds they'll start releasing some DLC that isn't obscure and/or shit

  • andywilkie35 #7 4 years ago

    actually reading some of the comments posted since i was typing mine, i'm not paying for it either!

  • Mr_Dodger #8 4 years ago

    It's likely so they make at least something back on all the people who are just going to rent RB1 and get all the songs for peanuts.

  • kestral #9 4 years ago

    5 dollar per collection or per song? haha
    But seriously. Did you expect to use your RB1 songs in RB2? Probably not. So that you can do this is a nice bonus if it's a single one off small payment.
    Edited by 1 at 21/08/08 @ 09:38

  • Jimbob89 #10 4 years ago

    They haven't even explained why it'll cost you to do it? wow.

  • MrMarbles #11 4 years ago

    Dear siksik6: is it really going to be the fault of the developer?

    Is it not more likely to be the publisher's decision?

    Dipstick.

    In any case, it's the same price as a pint and cheaper than a Big Mac meal. Jesus, what a deal-breaker.

  • Triggerhappytel #12 4 years ago

    "Rock Band 1 songs will sit on you hard drive and work in Rock Band."

    You mean they'll work in Rock Band 2.


    Anyway, this is utter bullshit. 5 dollars (or pounds, presumably) is a small enough amount that most people will pay it, but say if 600,000 people do this worldwide, that's still $3 million to MTV/Harmonix for doing fuck all. Cheeky bastards. Why should you have to pay again for something you've already bought?!

  • Eraysor #13 4 years ago

    You have got to be fucking joking.

  • wired009 #14 4 years ago

    I think a lot of people are expecting to be able to transfer RB1 songs over to RB2, for free. Do you even know how many songs are available for that game taking into account downloadable contet? This isn't Guitar Hero 1 & 2. RB die hards invest a lot of money into the game. If the dev/pub decide to charge for the transfer, at least throw in a bonus track.

  • kinky_mong #15 4 years ago

    Unless that £5 payment allows you to delete some of the songs (so long Green Grass and High Tides and Flirting With Disaster!) they can go fornicate themselves.

  • Ikari2001 #16 4 years ago

    i'm not sure if I'll buy it to be honest, that just is pure cheek. As others have said, cheap enough that most will pay it, but it still is a kick in the teeth :(

  • anephric #17 4 years ago

    $5 = payoff money for Konami.

  • toythatkills #18 4 years ago

    $5 will not equal £5, it'll be 400 points which at Tesco prices, is about £2.60 or something. OH MY GOD, THE EXPENSE.

    Just keep your Rock Band disk if you're worried about spending money. Don't worry about the fact that you could pay £2.60 and then trade Rock Band in at Game for £15. Just gloss over it so you can be irrationally angry.

  • Wickerman #19 4 years ago

    A minor amount, but still rather irksome to have to pay all the same... Looking for reasons beyond 'they are money grabbing bastards', perhaps they need to pay a re-licensing fee for the songs if they can be used in a different product and so need to cover this cost some how? Either that, or they are money grabbing bastards!

  • RexRunti #20 4 years ago

    OK cheapskates a couple of facts; first of all this has nothing to do with dlc so quit worrying (besides have you been able to use dlc for one game in any other before?). Secondly they have clearly decided that they want to monitor the process and try and prevent people renting/borrowing the game to double the size of RB2 or of course selling RB1 immediately afterwards. If you don't like it don't pay it RB2 won't suddenly erase your RB1 disc, you're just paying for the convenience.

    Finally if you bought RB1 or are planning to buy RB2 then £2.50 worth of MS points shouldn't break the bank, and if it will have one less pint on friday and it becomes affordable again.

  • curtlikesmeat #21 4 years ago

    They already pissed me off with the ridiculous UK RRP, they can fook right off if this turns out to be true. It's not the money it's the principle of paying for something twice.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #22 4 years ago

    I think it's fantastic that they even bother to implement this. 5 dollars really isn't a lot of money and it's better than swapping discs during a session just for one or two songs. I am happy to pay this small fee for such a service.

  • wewillselfdestruct #23 4 years ago

    If they expect people to pay for content they've already paid for once they really need to explain why it should cost them. And why they're still yet to even announce a date for the Euro PS3 release of RB1. And they should give a satisfactory answer for the US/Euro price differential. And they should explain where they were when JFK was shot. Bastards.

  • Emth #24 4 years ago

    It's ludicrous that rock band 2 will likely be out in the US before ps3 owners have even had rock band 1.

  • Sweetmate #25 4 years ago

    "perhaps they need to pay a re-licensing fee for the songs if they can be used in a different product and so need to cover this cost some how?"

    Thats exactly it. The original setlist of RB1 was licensed for that product, and that product only. I'm quite amazed they've managed to re-license so many of the tracks for RB2 and they've quite clearly absorbed alot of the cost as they know that anything more than 5 dollars would mean people wouldn't bother.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #26 4 years ago

    If they expect people to pay for content they've already paid for once they really need to explain why it should cost them.

    You don't have to pay for the content again. You can still use all the songs in Rock Band 1.

  • wewillselfdestruct #27 4 years ago

    @Der_tolle_Emil

    I'm slightly confused as to what the service they're actually offering is. My assumption would be that the necessary files are perfectly readable in RB2 in their existing format unless they've deliberately coded the newer game so that this can't be done without some sort of unlocking process. So what is the $5 for? The privilege?

    And if you're having to pay to import the DLC from RB1 to RB2, then you are paying for the same content again.

    *****

    Ignore me - I've just read the article again and I got the wrong end of the stick. It's great that they're going to let you export all of the original songs from RB1 to RB2 (and not just the DLC, which is what I thought they were referring to). Although I still think it would be nice to give that feature to people for free. After all, we're talking about people who have bought, at the very minimum, one set of instruments and both games from them.
    Edited by 4 at 21/08/08 @ 10:26

  • Les #28 4 years ago

    I really can't see the fun in games like this with their cheap plastic gimmicks, sold at ridiculous prices, with expensive DLC that you have to pay for again to use it in the new version that's but a minor upgrade. Hardcore gamers are idiots. I bet 90% of the people that bought this played it for about a week or two and never returned, save for the occaisional party.

  • cyacomini #29 4 years ago

    I hope there is more Molly Hatchet on the Rock Band 2 package*



    *sarcasm

  • Der_tolle_Emil #30 4 years ago

    And if you're having to pay to import the DLC from RB1 to RB2, then you are paying for the same content again.

    Even if it was just the DLC - why would it be paying for it again? Do you know any other game with a sequel that allows you to use the DLC of the first game in the second one? Or any other PC addon from earlier games you could use with the later games as well? This is pretty much a novelty and I don't see the difference between content on disc and content which you downloaded. The content was meant to be for Rock Band.

  • samaran #31 4 years ago

    you people are completely unhinged, i swear.

  • angstmann #32 4 years ago

    While we're talking about Rock Band stuff. Do we know yet if instruments from Rock Band 1 (US version) will work on Rock Band 2 (US version). I keep hearing news about how Rock Band 2 instruments will be cross-compatible, but can we use our old Rock Band 1 kit?

  • Der_tolle_Emil #33 4 years ago

    The RB1 instruments will definitely work with RB2.

    @Tiste: Which games by Criterion or Blizzard are you referring to again which allowed you to use data from a previous game? They seem to have slipped my mind.

  • MrMarbles #34 4 years ago

    I'm starting to think that these comment threads are some kind of elaborate Beadle prank.

    Are some of you people genuinely mental?

  • TuftyMcTavish #35 4 years ago

    My word, what an awful lot whining! It's not like it's mandatory. RexRunti summed things up well I thought. Buy some cheap points, use quidco. I'll end up with more use out of my RB1 disc content than I would otherwise.

  • Daryel #36 4 years ago

    LOL :) Never liked Rock Band and Harmonix changed a lot ... i'll stick with Guitar Hero ... at least they tell me directly! to bend over if i want something...

  • Robyrt #37 4 years ago

    Here's a rational explanation:

    Typical music game contracts (GH, Rock Band, DDR, etc) only license a song for ONE game. To include that song in a different game, they have to pay another licensing fee. Harmonix is passing that cost along to you, in the form of 400 MSP. I am happy to pay that, because I remember how awful it was to switch between 3 different DDR games for the six good songs on each one.

    Here's another way to look at it:
    Braid costs 400 points more than a typical XBLA title, but that 400 gets you one of the best games of the year. Rock Band 2 now costs 400 points more than you thought it did, but that 400 gets you the ability to keep playing last year's game too.

  • dudefella #38 4 years ago

    The charge is probably because they had to relicense the songs for use in RB2. It's a token fee anyway.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #39 4 years ago

    l2readplz

    Learn to distinguish between the cost of releasing a no-cd patch and renewing licenses with numerous music companies. The support Criterion gives their customers with Burnout Paradise is fantastic but there's still quite a difference between what they are doing and what Harmonix/MTV have to pay to actually make this possible.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #40 4 years ago

    Nobody said it would be cheap. But a lot of people here make it sound like it's no effort at all on MTV's side to get the tracks from RB1 into RB2. There's quite a lot to it, starting from the negotiations with Microsoft to actually allow this to the negotiations with record companies the renew the licenses.

    Also, nobody is forcing anyone to use this. The people here scream like something like this has been a standard since forever and now suddenly someone is charging for it when in fact it's pretty much the first time ever that you can do that. I don't get where that "this should be free" attitude comes from. I agree it should be free if everyone else is doing it for free but that's simply not the case and let's be honest, it is really cheap.

  • wewillselfdestruct #41 4 years ago

    I don't get where that "this should be free" attitude comes from.

    And I don't get where this "it's a relicensing fee" conclusion comes from. Has that been confirmed anywhere? As far as I can tell, it's just what people have suggested here.

  • Kyle #42 4 years ago

    I think what's pissing a lot of people off isn't the amount that they have to pay, it's just that when Harmonix touts Rock Band as a 'platform' rather than a franchise with yearly updates, it's a little sour when they release number 2 a year later and charge you to use the songs you already own with it. Especially after forking out £180 to play in the first place.
    If it is because of relicensing tracks then I suppose it's understandable. I can't imagine any other reason to charge, since the storage space being used is your own.

  • Stepharneo #43 4 years ago

    Was the game not already expensive enough...this is just a blatent tax on gamers, and only people lazy enough to not get up and change discs. basically harmonix are abusing the kids that are getting obese playing their games. [joking]

    No seriously though, i'm glad i managed to convince my friend to buy rockband, its not really a singleplayer game anyway so he paid £150 and me and my friends get to share it for free, its a good thing he loves it otherwise i might feel guilty, he'll probably go for this as his 360 is borked and the disc tray really doesn't work most of the time.

  • gblegend #44 4 years ago

    Talking about storage space, how much of the remaining 10Gb on my hard drive will the RB1 tracks take up?