We’ve seen exclusive titles for classic bands like The Beatles, Aerosmith, and Metallica, and they all made sense. These are bands with huge and fanatic followings, bands that have all been a major part of rock and roll history.

And then there’s Green Day. Don’t get me wrong, I love Green Day. I grew up on Green Day. The first album I truly loved (and still listen to today) was 1,039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours. But is Green Day the kind of band that warrants an exclusive Rock Band title?

Jason at Bullz-Eye Main had a chance to play the game over the weekend and found that while the band’s history lends a solid background for the game, ultimately it will probably only be the hardcore fans that are begging for more from the rock trio’s list of tracks. Check out the full Green Day: Rock Band review at Bullz-Eye.com.

Harmonix made a major announcement today on Facebook of all places. The next iteration of the Rock Band series, Rock Band 3, will be launching this coming holiday season. Here’s the full post:

Harmonix is developing Rock Band 3 for worldwide release this holiday season! The game, which will be published by MTV Games and distributed by Electronic Arts, will innovate and revolutionize the music genre once again, just as Harmonix did with the original Rock Band, Rock Band 2 and The Beatles: Rock Band. Stay tuned for more details!

Innovate and revolutionize you say? Could that possibly mean that this Rock Band will finally be the one that actually teaches you how to rock?

Source: Facebook

It’s easy to think of Guitar Hero as a mint, a source of nearly endless money for everyone involved that’s just now starting to dry up. That’s not exactly the case.

Darren Richardson, the president and CEO of peripheral manufacturer Mad Catz, told Kotaku today that his company paid $300,000 so it could back out of the original contract due to an ongoing lawsuit with Konami.

“Guitar Hero was a game that we were actually involved with early on and pulled out because of a lawsuit with Konami,” Richardson said. “We were doing the Xbox SKU and that’s why there was only a Playstation 2 launch. That’s why. We were in there and we pulled out as a result of (the lawsuit) and (Red Octane and Harmonix) went forward and it turned out to be a success, a huge success.”

Somehow Richardson has a sense of humor about the whole thing. “Everyone else made hundreds of millions and we paid money to not be a part of it,” he said. “It was brilliant. I come up with these strokes of genius from time to time. That was my best.”

If only sarcasm could turn back time.

Source: Kotaku

The world’s love affair with plastic instruments was bound to end some time and it looks as though that time is now. According to the latest NPD data, rhythm games are struggling, showing weak sales despite new genre releases like DJ Hero and The Beatles: Rock Band.

As always, things are relative. The games may not be doing as well as they were, but Michael Pachter still thinks the niche will level out somewhere around $500 million in sales a year. That’s a pretty little penny, even for a company like Activision. Developers need to pick their ventures wisely, though. DJ Hero tanked. Hard. In a shrinking market that’s the last thing you want, especially after paying for the likes of Jay-Z and Eminem. Even The Beatles: Rock Band undersold expectations by 200,000 units.

Source: Reuters

Despite endorsements by some of today’s biggest names in hip-hop, DJ Hero has seen some pretty weak sales and even worse reviews. If price was the the thing holding you back, the Guitar Hero Store has a treat for you – its knocked $20 off the price of the rhythm game, bringing it down to $79 for this generation of consoles and $64 for the PS2.

To get the promo price, which is temporary, enter code “DJHPP1” on checkout. That’ll free up your Andrew Jackson for other holiday gifts this year. Might I recommend something from the Bullz-Eye gift guide? I think I might. I think I just might.

Source: Slick Deals