So you have some points to spend in the currently running Pepsi Rock Band summer promotion and you want to get some DLC, but among the songs available you have no idea where to start. Unfortunately, the long list of tracks on the official site is pretty limited. You can’t compare the “available” list to what you already own, can’t organize by packs or date of release, and (not surprising) you can’t compare their list to what ISN’T available.

Enter the excellent DLCQuickplay, a website that allows you to track which Rock Band songs you own and compare them to the collections of other users.  I created a new account named “pepsi” and have marked all of his/her purchased songs to reflect the available song list of the promotion. Armed with this account you can sort what is available buy instrument difficulty, by RBDLC.com rating, by band or pack - and if you have your own account, you can easily see what songs you don’t own that are available using the user “Compare” area.

Hopefully this account helps you make an informed decision on how to spend your points. Let me know what you think.

Note that this is entirely educated speculation on my part…

Billboard has confirmed reports that the seminal 90’s alt-rock band Pearl Jam, who currently has no record label, has struck a deal with Target to distribute its latest album, tentatively titled “Backspacer.”  The original fear was that the album would be Target exclusive but Billboard has also confirmed that the album will be sold by a number of partners including “a gaming company.”

More proof comes via Kelly Curtis, who has managed Pearl Jam since day one, in bold…

“I make decisions around the band’s business that are consistent with their overall philosophy,” said Curtis, “which is to sell music in a way that’s accessible and affordable to their fans, on every distribution platform that their fans access music, and in a way that takes care of the little guys.

—

“I wanted our plan to be multi-dimensional to address old and modern ways of fans accessing music. It will allow all of our fans to have the same access.”

What do you think? Am I totally off base here? Rock Band and HMX already have a very lucrative, public relationship with the band having already released their grunge classic Ten as full album DLC in late March of 09 as well as a handful of live tracks both old and new. I can’t see them going to Neversoft and Guitar Hero, so who else could they be talking about?

Full article here.

» Franz Ferdinand - “Do You Want To”
Guitar, Bass, Drums

» Franz Ferdinand - “Lucid Dreams”
Guitar, Bass, Drums

» Franz Ferdinand - “Take Me Out”
Guitar, Bass, Drums

» Alien Ant Farm - “Smooth Criminal”
Guitar, Bass, Drums

» Allman Bros - “Blue Sky”
Guitar, Bass, Drums

» Allman Bros - “Midnight Rider”
Guitar, Bass, Drums

» Distillers - “Drain the Blood”
Guitar, Bass, Drums

» Luscious Jackson - “Naked Eye”
Guitar, Bass, Drums

» Prong - “Idealistic Types”
Guitar, Bass, Drums

» Prong - “The Banishment”
Guitar, Bass, Drums

Jane’s Addiction “Nothing’s Shocking” album (1280 MSP/$15.99), or purchase individually (160 MSP/$1.99):

» “Up the Beach” - Guitar Bass Drums
» “Ocean Size” - Guitar Bass Drums
» “Had a Dad” - Guitar Bass Drums
» “Ted, Just Admit It…” - Guitar Bass Drums
» “Standing in the Shower… Thinking” - Guitar Bass Drums
» “Summertime Rolls” - Guitar Bass Drums
» “Idiots Rule” - Guitar Bass Drums
» “Jane Says” - Guitar Bass Drums
» “Thank You Boys” - Guitar Bass Drums
» “Pig’s in Zen” - Guitar Bass Drums

Charts added as they are posted.

No goofy handheld peripherals, no whacked out touch-screen strumming, just straight up rhythm based button pressing.  Could work, could be too generic for its own good.  We’ll see when the reviews roll in…

Presented by Masaya Matsuura, the legendary creator of Parappa the Rapper, HMX co-founders Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy accepted the coveted “Pioneer Award” at GDC this year. You can now watch the full awards show online below, including their acceptance speech in full which begins about half way through the show.

Arguably the most difficult solo section in the history of Rock Band DLC… Some have said it was impossible… Insane…

From NerdCore god MC Lars, plenty of good chuckles to be had here…

Ryan over at If It’s Movies has been communicating with the keepers of Sublime, hoping that one day the legendary Long Beach band would make its way into his favorite (and mine!) rhythm game, Rock Band 2.  Pre-release of the game everything was looking good for the band’s inclusion, with their management telling him to keep his eyes open for the games release in fall 2008.  As we all know Rock Band 2 saw release, without a Sublime track.  Instead, GH:WT nabbed “Santeria” from the bands eponymous third album.  Fearing the worst, Ryan asked for an update, and quickly got his answer…

Hey Man,

For whatever reason, Rock Band has not figured out just how much people love Sublime.  They had asked the band to be a part of the last version, then pulled out at the last minute.

On the other hand, Guitar Hero is using more songs of Sublime’s in future releases.  Can’t tell you which songs and when, but there will be more.

I’ll pass on the info to the people who do Rock Band and maybe they’ll wise up.

Peace!!
Sublime MGMT

Ugg.  C’mon HMX.  No more Nickelodeon songs!  Bring on the Sublime already!

Over a year after it’s release, every song from Rock Band 1 has been FC’ed by the players of Scorehero.   User ukog-monkey recently did the honors on the final song, Green Grass and High Tides by The Outlaws, which has long been known for it’s extremely difficult “wall of skittles” sections in the charts last solo, which is several minutes long.   His reaction in the video proof below is priceless, and I’m sure parallels the reaction of everyone who has even just simply passed the song, a badge of honor amongst Rock Band players…