Review & Contest: The Beatles: Rock Band

It's been a while since the last major entry in the Rock Band series has been made, with only track packs to hold us over in the mean time. Most of those have been pretty well received, but those are not really any more than a collections of songs that can be downloaded one by one off the Rock Band music store. Rock Band: The Beatles is a distinct departure from the Track Pack idea, with an entire game based around a single band. The Guitar Hero franchise has done similar type games for Metallica and Aerosmith, but some may argue that The Beatles have a much broader appeal, and are more well known. Will Harmonix do them the justice they deserve, or fall just short of the mark? Read on for our review.

[Update: Congrats to our winner, Kaza2929! Hope you enjoy the game! Look for more contests coming soon! ]

Review & Contest: Rock Band Country Track Pack

It's been almost two months since our last Rock Band Track Pack Review, so its time for another! If you remember our AC/DC LIVE Track Pack Review from last year, or the Classic Rock Track Pack review from just a couple months ago, you'll probably have a pretty good idea of how this review is going to go. But there are a few differences, could those make this Track Pack any different? You'll have to read the rest of the review to find out, and of course, enter our contest to win the game!

[Update: Well, not one single person left a comment before the deadline, so we'll just hold onto the game and give it away at a later date.]

Review & Contest: Rock Band: Classic Rock Track Pack

Rock Band and Rock Band 2 both include a lot of songs from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, and with a constant stream of downloadable content (DLC), there are literally hundreds of songs to choose from. Usually these songs are available for $2 a piece (or 160 Microsoft point), so over time it can get expensive to have a large library. One way Harmonix is trying to help out is by releasing stand-alone track packs that can be purchased at retail outlets. They have released a new Classic Rock Track Pack, but does the value hold up? Read the rest of our short review to find out, and enter to win our copy of the Track Pack!

[Update: The contest is over, thanks to everyone who entered, and congrats to our winner, PSQUARED2!]

Review: Rock Band Bandmates

Coinciding with the release of Rock Band 2 was a revamped Rock Band website, which added a way to create and purchase Rock Band merchandise customized with your own game characters. Shirts, stickers, buttons, and posters are all available with pictures of your character or band on them, posed in almost any way imaginable. However, the most unique item available is a Bandmate, a 3D trophy-style figure that looks just like your in game character. Unfortunately, a Bandmate is a bit expensive at $69 (plus tax and shipping), putting it outside the impulse buy realm for many people. When it's not exactly clear what you are getting, that Buy button can be a little hard to click. Since we've purchased a Bandmate, we thought we'd provide some comparison pictures to show you how the digital preview compares to the actual item.

Review: AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band Track Pack

Do you love AC/DC? Do you have a guitar, set of drums, or microphone that works with Rock Band? Seriously, do you LOVE AC/DC? And can you not wait for about 6 months to play some AC/DC Songs? If you answered yes to all the above questions, then you should definitely pick up the AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack for Wii, Xbox 360, or PS3 (whichever you have the equipment for, obviously). Other than that, you probably shouldn't, and that's the only reason for the rest of this review.

Review: Rock Band 2 for Xbox 360

Harmonix has secured the existence of plastic instruments in dorm rooms and living rooms alike with the release of Rock Band 2, the sequel to the popular 4-player rhythm game. The new version has added a few features, but do they add anything to an already popular game? After you've read our early impressions, read on to hear our (mostly) final impressions of the game.

Early Impressions: Rock Band 2 for Xbox 360

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That's the motto Harmonix has taken with Rock Band 2, the new sequel to the wildly popular 4-person music rhythm game. There may not be a ton of new features, but the tweaks made to the game, and the small additions make it feel like the game they really wanted to make. They've also released new hardware that doesn't reinvent the genre, but makes it all the more enjoyable. Read on for our full mini-review.