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11 Jun 2010 10:58

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Tech: “Rock Band” decides pretending to play music not enough for pros

  • Admit it, nerds, you were waiting for this moment. The “Rock Band” series has always been about fake instruments, but in the upcoming third edition, there’s going to be room for a lot more than just pretending. On top of the traditional style of gameplay, there will be a “pro” version that allows you to play instruments just like the real thing. The keytar, above, reacts like a real keyboard. The “Fender Mustang” has hundreds of buttons and nylon strings, so it acts like a real guitar. But the most killer one? The Squier Stratocaster, which actually doubles as a real guitar. The boys in the “Guitar Hero” labs have some catching up to do. source

09 Mar 2010 10:28

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Tech: Your guitar controller plays games; our guitar controller plays songs.

Seven45 Studios ups the ante for the “Rock Bands” and “Guitar Heroes” of the world with “Power Gig: Rise of the SixString,” which uses a real, live gee-tar. Sweet. source

10 Sep 2009 11:00

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Music: Beatles hater? Oversaturated with Beatles? You’re not alone.

One Beatles hater says their music is “either childlike and simple or rather leaden and pompous – one or the other all the time.” Kill him! source

04 Sep 2009 15:13

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Tech: Harmonix: Lots of failures before major “Rock Band” success

  • I was watching people interact with our product, and the realization came crashing down on me – we had spent 18 months on a music system that was fundamentally flawed.
  • Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopulos • On a karaoke system that Harmonix developed that turned out to be a big failure. It was one of many miscues for the company before hitting on a formula that would bring them lasting success – music games with peripherals. With the help of Red Octane, they created the early “Guitar Hero” games, then took it in a whole new direction with “Rock Band.” Regarding a fairly unpopular poll question we asked the other day, whether the company had sold out, Rigoulos says “we didn’t feel that way at all. We felt that our time had finally come to compete in the big leagues.” A great interview that deserves to be read in full. • source

02 Sep 2009 11:09

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23 May 2009 13:08

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Culture, Offbeat: Fake Steven Tyler won’t stop suing me!

  • The Aerosmith lead singer is mad about bloggers swiping his likeness. Tyler, who became a minor Internet meme thanks to Rock Band’s over-reliance on his vocal track in some songs, recently attempted to sue a handful of anonymous bloggers for pretending to be him and sharing private facts about him and his family. Basically, it equates to drama. source

07 Apr 2009 10:51

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Music: The Beatles, remastered; updated albums out in September

  • The date? Zero-9-zero-9-zero-9. Apple Records will mass-re-release the Beatles’ albums in a digitally-remastered format, along with two box sets – one in stereo and one in mono (for nerds and purists). The sets will come with DVD documentaries on the making of each album. Also on that day, the “Rock Band” Beatles game comes out, so it’s a good day to be into the Beatles. Regarding the elephant in the room, no word on digital release of the albums yet. source