In a matter of months, the original Rock Band took the world by storm. Equal parts party game, skills challenge, and a music fans wet dream, it successfully bridged the gap between casual and hardcore audiences. For the first time in as long as I can remember, a new IP debuted that everybody could enjoy. That’s why it was so surprising to hear that the sequel would be on store shelves less than a year from it’s original release.

So was it just a quick cash grab, or did the team at Harmonix have the time they needed to make big enough changes to the Rock Band formula to justify a sequel? Read on to find out;

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Ugh. This one just feels yucky… almost Activision in nature. But lo and behold it’s site favorite Harmonix (and puppet master MTV games) taking what can only be called a shitty new direction with the Rock Band franchise.

For $39.99 (360, PS3, Wii) or 29.99 for PS2 you’ll get 18 live AC/DC tracks on disc that can either be played from disc (with no online play, natch) or exported once, and once only, to Rock Band 2. So no trading the disc around to friends I suppose it’s in line with the DLC prices, so this is only worth it dollar wise if you like every song here (Track list after the jump). Now, having AC/DC in Rock Band is a good thing, but….

Turns out the new AC/DC Rock Band expansion pack is going to be a Walmart exclusive, which is bad for two reasons. For one that anything worth buying is a Walmart exclusive just sucks. The store is a leech on society and will never get a dime out of me. Secondly is the apparent back step of Harmonix since AC/DC is now “exclusive” to Rock Band. This of course a change of opinion after publicly stating a few months back that band exclusive deals for these games “aren’t good for anyone.”

I’m not sure how I feel about this long term, maybe it’s truly no big deal. Taken as a one time thing it certainly is, I for one just don’t like the doors it opens. Agree/Disagree? Are you excited about this? Repulsed? Let us know!

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See those douche bags in the picture above? I can’t stand them.

Really, they’re everything that’s wrong with being from New Jersey.

That being said I listened to Slippery When Wet A LOT when I was still too young to know better. Every once in a while if I’m in a bar and something like “Raise Your Hands” gets played on the jukebox I will still sing along (of course I’m at least 3-4 beers deep into the night at this point). Then again I try not to frequent places that even have Bon Jovi on their jukebox but that’s a different topic.

Rock Band 2 came out last Sunday. It has this strange power over you where it makes you really enjoy songs that you might otherwise not care about. Last night I got “Livin’ On A Prayer” in my world tour while playing the drums. It was as much fun as I’ve ever had playing that game and because I have the song permanently indented in my brain I was able to do fills and what not that sounded kick ass and you couldn’t cut the grin off of my face.

That’s how good Rock Band 2 is.

So, What’cha Been Playing?

There’s something quite nice about tearing into a new box, especially once so large! God bless Amazon and their cheap shipping, cause this puppy was ginormous. Anyways, If you curious what the box has and doesn’t have, and what the drums look like assembled and in pieces then I have some photos you’re going to want to see.

A few things to note:
1. Yes, I know the area rug is ugly, but it hides the speaker cable so it can run under the couch to the surround sound…. so what can I do. I am on the ground floor of an apartment complex after all.
2. The new drums do sit slightly lower than the old set, it isn’t your imagination. It was a bit disconcerting at first while playing.
3. My old drums have home-made silencers on them, hence the black felt look.
4. If you look real hard you can see the corner of R.O.B. the Robot’s gyroscope in the background of one of the shots!

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This week we take off on a topic that’s been desperately needing our attention. Luckily we have readers like Xerxes3rd who are around to remind us of this fact! If you have any ideas for topics you’d like to hear us discuss/argue/gush about then feel free to drop us a line whenever you want.

This week we kick out the jams on:

• What We’ve Been Playing
• Rock Band 2 vs. Guitar Hero: World Tour

This Week’s BitCast Music:
Song: Let There Be Rock
Artist: AC/DC
Album: Let There Be Rock

Download Episode 54

Well we’ve finally gotten it set in stone, for the low price of $4.99 you’ll be able to export 55 songs from Rock Band to join your DLC and all 85 Rock Band 2 songs. It’s both unprecedented and a pretty good deal.

Luckily there’s only a few tracks you won’t be able to bring along (because of licensing issues I suppose) and they are…

• “Paranoid” as made famous by Black Sabbath
• “Run to the Hills” as made famous by Iron Maiden
• “Enter Sandman” by Metallica.

Not bad considering they had to go and re-license all those songs. If you need a quick reminder of what songs that means you will be able to take along, here’s the original list (minus the bonus tracks).

Currently this patch is for the 360 and I’m sure the PS3 fix is sure to follow.

I’m not going to go one and on about this one at the moment, I’m trying to nail down some other RB2 details. But here’s the full track list for Rock Band 2, 85 tracks strong.

It’s a HUGE list so I’m posting it all after the break… and more details to follow!

[Thanks Scott]

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