Hopeless romantics unite! All you sappy rockers out there: we have to do something and we have to do it now. Most of us don’t play real instruments and we don’t have the time or patience to learn. That’s why we love the music game genre. So when Hallmark’s favorite day of the year comes up what are all of us Plastic Rockers supposed to do?
You may not be aware of this, and if you aren’t, you might want to make arrangements in a hurry, but Saturday is the day all of us guys have to buy in to the corporate version of what it means to say, “I Love You.” Now for those of you who might be a little more romantic than others, you might like to serenade your mate with a little love song. In fact you could plug in your plastic guitar and play along with your favorite tune right there in the comfort of your living room. Set up some candles, put on your least skid-marked pair of briefs and put out some “essential oils” for what will surely be a night of lovingly intimate, possibly illegal activity.
You could do all that, but one thing would be missing … the love song.
Take a visit to the Rock Band forums, 2old2play forums or just about anywhere Rock Band/Guitar Hero DLC is discussed. You’ll find hundreds of disgruntled players wondering why their favorite artists or genres aren’t represented. There are a hundred factors that go into what does and does not get released. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s still disappointing to wait and wait for your favorite only to be let down week after week.
I once got into a debate with one of the moderators in the RockBand.com forums as to whether or not our requests for bands were given any consideration. They assured me our opinions matter, but then they kind of have to say that, don’t they?
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to advocate Air Supply or The Carpenters DLC. I’m thinking of those great power ballads that we all know and (at least a few of us) love. Remember in the late '90s when record companies were making those great compilation albums called Monster Ballads or other similar discs? Those sold like crazy. So where are those songs in the game now? There are hundreds to choose from. What about Styx, Night Ranger, REO Speedwagon and Firehouse? (ed: Firehouse?! wtf.) Surely there's a place for these guys, too. If you dig enough you might find a song or two in the Motley Crue DLC or The Foo Fighters DLC. But that is only a couple of songs out of 500+, and I would say it’s a gross under representation.
I know that there’s a certain segment of the audience who are puking a little in their mouths right now. Anything less than a balls-to-the-wall, make-my-fingers-bleed-and-my-eardrums-burst shredder from Slayer or At The Gates is not music. That’s ok. The developers can’t please everyone all the time. Metallica and Avenged Sevenfold stuff is great for a while, but why can’t we break up the nonstop assault of sound with something a little slower? Most bands, most main stream bands, create albums that way and play their shows that way. If Rock Band and World Tour really want to recreate the concert experience, a DLC pack of good old fashioned power ballads would go a long way to rounding out what is already a diverse selection of music.
Every other genre is represented in the music game genre except this one. They have even included DLC for the Disney crowd with songs from The Naked Brothers Band and Miranda Cosgrove to name a few. I know they’re trying to sell DLC, but if this crap can make it into the game, what’s it going to hurt to throw in a few oldie, but goodie rock ballads into the mix for the older gamer crowd? The answer is it won’t and they (the developers) would sell a ton of extra content. But I wouldn’t hold your breath.
So if you are one of us, someone who loves a sappy love song every once in a while, take a visit over to the Rock Band, or Guitar Hero forums and make your voice heard. Maybe, just maybe, next year we can live the dream and have that special (albeit geeky) moment waiting for our loved one when they get home on Valentine’s Day.
Track News
We all know that the Pearl Jam's 10 will be coming to Rock Band this spring. Harmonix has yet to confirm but if you read between the lines of the announcement, it seems pretty obvious that March 24th is going to be the release date as that is the date of the reissue of the album.We’ve now learned that along with the reissue, fans will be able to DL three free tracks -- "Brother," "Alive" and "State of Love & Trust" -- will be included in the CD jacket as a redemption code. We’ll have to wait and see what final pricing will be, but if you planned on buying the re-issue of the album anyway, you might save a couple of points on the Rock Band tracks.
There are also rumors of Guns ‘n’ Roses new album Chinese Democracy coming to Rock Band February 28th. Now, I’m not sure how much stock to put in this since the article states 2/28 for a release, and to the best of my knowledge, we’ve never gotten DLC on a Saturday. If you just loved "Shackler’s Revenge," you might have something to look forward to.
This Week’s DLC
Guitar Hero: World Tour“New Slang” The Shins
“Drive” Incubus
“Wonderwall” Ryan Adams
Rock Band
Fratellis 3 Pack
Creeping Up The Backstairs
Flathead
Henrietta
Other News
- Snoop Dogg coming to Rock Band- Guitar Hero Stand Alone Drum Kit Available 2/15
- Interesting story on potential health benefits of drumming in video games
- This is just funny
