harmonix

Toys

Speak n’ Spell Mates With Rock Band Guitar

12:52AM Mark Wilson | It may be the ultimate circuit bending mod. One man, nay, god has combined a Speak ‘n Spell with a Rock Band guitar. More »
Games

Have Fake Guitar Games Finally Peaked?

11:48PM Mark Wilson | Good news for those of us with injuries from tripping over plastic guitars only to land on a plastic drumset. According to Electronic Entertainment Design and Research, the Guitar Hero franchise is “reaching its peak.” More »
Games

PS3 Guitar Hero Drums Aren’t Working in Rock Band

3:59AM Mark Wilson | Since Guitar Hero: World Tour features a full set of instruments that are nearly identical to Rock Band’s, Activision decided that it was time to take the high road and make their PS3 hardware completely compatible with their competition. Great, right? Well it is, except for one minor catch: PS3 Guitar Hero drums are not working in Rock Band. Oh, and the Rock Band mic isn’t working in Guitar Hero, either. More »
Games

Rock Band Aussie Pricing Confirmed, Actually Not Too Bad

7:12PM Nick Broughall | Following on from yesterday’s announcement that Rock Band will be hitting Australian shelves on November 7 comes confirmed pricing from EA. So what is the cost of rocking out down under? Well, the complete kit will set you back $250, which includes the game, guitar, drum kit and microphone. You can also get drum and game and mic and game kits. Hit the jump for the full pricing rundown. And tell us – is it too little too late from EA, or are you still keen on a 12 month old game? More »
Games

Rock Band Dated For Oz: November 9

6:20PM Nick Broughall | Like many of you, we’ve been hanging out for EA to get off their backsides and launch Rock Band in Australia. But when they announced they were releasing Rock band 2, and we still hadn’t seen an Australian release date, some of us here turned our attention to Guitar Hero IV, and their firm release date of November 17. Well, now EA is trying to get our attention back by announcing that the original Rock Band will finally hit Aussie shelves on November 7. Of course there’s no word on pricing, or whether or not Rock Band 2 will be launching straight afterwards either, but a date of any description is better than nothing for rock-hungry gamers. But, as ex Giz editor Seamus (who’s taking care of Kotaku at the moment) said to me when we discussed the announcement – it kind of makes you wonder, now that Rock Band 2 is available overseas – whether or not we’re just getting the old Rock Band 1 stock they couldn’t shift anymore. Probably not, but the timing is a bit suspect… More »
Games

Band Geek Hero Shirts Proclaim You King of the Keytar

2:30AM Gizmodo US Edition | Guitarists may get all the chicks, but some of us loudly and proudly played less popular instruments and heck, we ought to get a chance to be a hero too! While I plead with Harmonix to include the noble Euphonium in their next music game, you other band geeks can show solidarity with your instrument of choice by wearing it on your shirt. Torsopants has a crazy collection of Guitar Hero parodies for almost every musical player out there. Banjo Hero? Kazoo Hero? Didgeridoo Hero? All yours for US$19 plus shipping. [Torsopants via Boingboing] More »
Games

Rock Band 2 Announced, Sets Hardware and Software Precedents

10:15PM Mark Wilson | Any fans of Rock Band in the audience? I said, ARE THERE ANY FANS OF ROCK BAND IN THE AUDIENCE??? YEAAHHH!!!!!!! Rock Band 2 is on the way. Here are the full details, along with a picture of the new guitar. More »
Games

More Details on the Rock Band Stage Kit

12:10AM Mark Wilson | If the latest update over at Gamestop is correct, we have new details on Rock Band’s upcoming stage kit, an easy way to bring real lights and fog to your otherwise fake performances. (Hey, I’m not bashing it. 99.9% of the population has failed at their dreams of rock stardom, including those who actually play instruments.) More »
Games

Rock Band Bot Can Get 100% On Expert Song, But You Still Suck

8:30AM Gizmodo US Edition | Robotics maker Mark Single hooked up a Rock Band guitar to Christmas light show software and scored 100% on Green Grass and High Tides on Expert, one of the hardest songs in the game. He’s detailed how he did it so you n00bs can try your hand at it too. I’ve never really understood the point of modding a game to play itself, but in case you were one of the lame asses who needed to cheat to get sweet scores in Guitar Hero III and panicked at the thought of actually playing to pass songs in Rock Band, Pure Pwnage has got you covered. Though, at the end of the day, is it really worth it to get a perfect and still feel so empty? [Pure Pwnage via HacknMod] More »
Games

Rock Band Standalone Instruments Get Ship Dates, Price

10:00AM Jason Chen | The days of only being able to buy Rock Band instruments in a gigantic pack are about to come to an end as the creators just announced dates and pricing on their instruments. The drums will be US$79 on February 12 and the guitar will be US$59 on April 1. The PlayStation 3 version of the guitar will work on both PS3 and PS2, and will also get the US$59 price tag. There’s no announcement for the USB microphone, however, but you can rig up your own mic by using a standard USB mic or just the Xbox Live headset and a controller. AU: Man, I’d just love it if we had a release date in Australia… Of course, I’m sure our good friends at Kotaku AU will update us when that happens. [IGN] More »