Oct 07

Piano Projector Makes Learning How To Play As Easy As Rock Band

Posted in: Today's Chili

Learning how to play the piano is something we’re sure you’ve been meaning to do at some point in your life as there’s nothing more classy than being able to tickle the ole ivories at a dinner party. Finding both the time and money to learn how to play the piano is something we’re sure many of you haven’t been able to do, but now that there’s a projector system that takes the guesswork out of playing the piano, we’re sure you won’t have to worry about actually learning how to play ever.

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    • Piano Projector Makes Learning How To Play As Easy As Rock Band original content from Ubergizmo.

        



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    Oct 07

    This Piano Projector Makes Playing Keyboards as Easy as Rock Band

    Posted in: Today's Chili

    Learning to play a new instrument is an exciting endeavour until you get caught up in the hours of mind-numbing practice required to get proficient. But if learning the piano is up next on your bucket list, you’ll be desperate to get your hands on this clever projection system that makes learning the ivories easier—and dare we say: fun.

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    Jun 05

    Harmonix Assures Fans That Rock Band Will Return In The Future

    Posted in: Today's Chili

    I’m not sure about you guys, but I still enjoy games like Rock Band, Guitar Hero and all that jazz, and if you share those sentiments, you might be pleased to learn that Harmonix has not abandoned the franchise entirely. […]

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    Jun 03

    Harmonix game reveal tomorrow: Rock Band, Dance Central off limits

    Posted in: Today's Chili

    After discontinuing its Rock Band weekly DLC, Harmonix has revealed its plans for a new game, only this time it doesn’t revolve around the Rock Band or Dance Central franchises. That likely means it’ll be a completely new take on the type of games that the game developing company is usually known for.

    Rock-Band-Blitz-screenshot-580x326

    Harmonix took to Twitter to announce the news, saying that they’re “announcing a new game tomorrow,” and “it’s not Rock Band or Dance Central.” If it isn’t either one of those two, then it could be anyone’s guess as to what it is. Other than that one tweet, there are no details as to what to expect tomorrow.

    However, Harmonix has always been about the music and rhythm games, so it could be that type of game, but will take a different approach than what we’ve seen in Rock Band and Dance Central, perhaps something similar to Audiosurf or Beat Hazard. However, we did hear back in August about the company hiring developers for a next-gen combat title, so that could be it.

    don-mclean-american-pie-500x500

    Furthermore, Harmonix revealed last year that they were working on a few games, saying that not all of them would be music-related, but it certainly wouldn’t be Harmonix if we didn’t see a new music-inspired game from them at some point. However, it’ll be interesting to see what they pull out of their hats as far as a non-musical title.

    Harmonix discontinued its Rock Band weekly DLC back in April, with the last downloadable song being Don McLean’s “American Pie,” which is quite fitting for the situation, as the classic song is good for the tearful goodbyes. Harmonix didn’t talk about the future of Rock Band, but seeing as they discontinued DLC, that’s a sign that the entire series might be quietly getting the ax.

    VIA: Polygon


    Harmonix game reveal tomorrow: Rock Band, Dance Central off limits is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
    © 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

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    Mar 22

    Rock Band’s last downloadable song will be Don McLean’s “American Pie”

    Posted in: Today's Chili

    Developer Harmonix announced last month that continued DLC content for Rock Band would be ending in April, and that time is slowly approaching, sadly. The developer has announced the last song to come off the Rock Band DLC assembly line, which will be Don McLean’s 1971 classic “American Pie”. The song will be available for download on April 2.

    don-mclean-american-pie

    Of course, “American Pie” is one of the greatest songs out there that you can use to signify an ending to something, although my love for 90s rock says that Semisonic’s “Closing Time” is also up there on the list. Either way, Rock Band gamers will be able to sing off the weekly DLC of the game come early next month.

    This marks the end to an over 275 consecutive week run consisting of more than 4,000 songs that have been released on Rock Band for gamers to play along with. The song was announced at PAX East during a party hosted by Harmonix. The developer also said that the song they’ll be releasing will be the full 8-minute version.

    Harmonix says they have several new titles in development, and they want to start putting more focus on those in the future, which means that they have to give up some of their time and resources from other games, and Rock Band just so happened to get the ax this time around. No further plans for Rock Band have been discussed, but we’re guessing the series will be no more after the ending of the DLC.

    [via Polygon]


    Rock Band’s last downloadable song will be Don McLean’s “American Pie” is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
    © 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

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    Feb 18

    Rock Band weekly DLC ending in April

    Posted in: Today's Chili

    It’s a sad day for Rock Band junkies as developer Harmonix has announced that weekly DLC — consisting of a few new songs that get released every week — will end towards the beginning of April, with April 2 being the last week for Rock Band weekly DLC. The developer announced the news this morning and said that they’re wanting to focus on other projects for the future.

    Rock-Band-Blitz-screenshot-580x326

    Harmonix has managed to release weekly content for Rock Band for 275 consecutive weeks containing over 4,000 songs in total. However, the developer has been scaling back production of Rock Band DLC as they are beginning to make the transition to other projects. Harmonix says they have several new titles in development, and they want to start putting more focus on those in the future. However, no future Rock Band releases are planned.

    From now until April 2, Harmonix will release the rest of the Rock Band Blitz songs, as well as various “Pro Guitar” upgrades, as well as songs by artists that have not previously appeared in a Rock Band title. From here on out, Harmonix will not be licensing anymore songs, and will take the rest of the time to roll out the songs that they already have licenses for.

    Claiming the largest music library of any game available, Harmonix will be continuing its ongoing DLC sale of 50% off over 1,100 songs as a personal thank you to all the fans who helped make the DLC possible, and to help players continue to build their personal libraries from the back catalog.


    Rock Band weekly DLC ending in April is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
    © 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

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    Aug 20

    Harmonix hiring for next-gen, real-time combat game

    Posted in: Today's Chili

    Well here’s something we definitely weren’t expecting to see today: Harmonix, the genius studio behind Rock Band and Guitar Hero, is apparently developing a real-time combat game for next generation consoles. A job ad on Gamasutra reveals as much, with Harmonix looking for a “Combat Designer to create real-time, single-player combat experiences for a brand new IP on next generation hardware.” In other words, it would appear that Harmonix is ready to branch out from the rhythm genre.


    Even more interesting is what Harmonix had to say to Kotaku when questioned about the job ad. Though Harmonix’s John Drake didn’t get into specifics about this new game, he did confirm that Harmonix is currently working on it, and that this is just one of “multiple new IPs” the studio is working on. Drake ended his statement to Kotaku by saying that “Harmonix is making new kickass IPs, some portion of which may have some combat.”

    So, Harmonix is definitely working on a new single-player IP that involves combat in some capacity, and it seems that the studio is pretty excited about it. Unfortunately, don’t expect to hear much more about this new IP anytime soon; given the fact that it’s intended for next generation consoles, we definitely won’t be getting a reveal before the next Xbox and PlayStation have been announced. That is, of course, unless this is a Wii U exclusive, in which case a reveal may not be that far off.

    Speculation about reveal dates and platforms is all well and good, but to be honest, we’re just excited to see what Harmonix can do outside of the rhythm genre. The vast majority of Harmonix’s games have been related to the genre in one way or another, and while most of those games have been great, the rhythm genre can be pretty restricting. It’s clear the team at Harmonix is very talented, and as far as we’re concerned, it’s long past time that those talents be put toward something fresh and exciting.


    Harmonix hiring for next-gen, real-time combat game is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
    © 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


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    Jul 25

    Rock Band for iOS to be pulled from App Store on July 31

    Posted in: Today's Chili

    EA confirmed yesterday that it would be pulling its two Rock Band games from the iTunes App Store by July 31, 2012. Although gamers will still be able to play them locally, both Rock Band and Rock Band Reloaded will not be available to download after the 31st. There was actually a bit of hint about it back in May when gamers opened the game and were shown a message stating that the game would expire by the end of the month. EA said it was an error, but it may have suggested something about the games’ eventual removal from the App Store.

    Pulling the games from the App Store comes as a result of the end of a licensing agreement between EA and Harmonix. There are no known plans to renew it, so be prepared to lose the game if you decide to delete it from your iOS device.

    Once the end of the month has passed, users will only be able to restore their songs by iTunes via iCloud backup. “You will be able to restore your songs by iTunes provided you have an iCloud backup. An iCloud backup can be created before or after July 31 by selecting backup to iCloud in iTunes,” EA said in a statement on its website, along with backup instructions provided.

    [via EuroGamer.net]


    Rock Band for iOS to be pulled from App Store on July 31 is written by Elise Moreau & originally posted on SlashGear.
    © 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


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    Jul 25

    EA pulling Rock Band for iOS from iTunes App Store at the end of the month

    Posted in: Today's Chili

    Back in May, gamers loading up EA’s Rock Band for iOS were greeted with a statement saying that the game would “expire” by the end of the month. EA later claimed that the message was sent in error, but little did we know that it was only prediction of things to come. We’re not sure if the message was generated in anticipation of this or if this is merely coincidence, but EA has now officially announced that Rock Band for iOS will no longer be available for purchase on the 31st of July, along with downloads of purchased songs. However the game and all of the songs attached to the game will still be able to play locally.

    What this means is that if you delete Rock Band for iOS on your phone, don’t expect to be able to get it back by redownloading it, unless of course you back it up to iCloud. According to a statement released on their website, EA claims that this is due to the licensing agreement with Harmonix which is ending, and by the looks of it, there are no plans to renew it either. More information along with some FAQs can be found at EA’s website.

    By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Rock Band for iOS to “expire” on the 31st of May?, EA is not closing Rock Band for iOS,

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    Jul 18

    Rock Band Blitz hits XBLA and PSN in August

    Posted in: Today's Chili

    Harmonix has announced that its downloadable Rock Band spin-off Rock Band Blitz will release on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network next month. PS3 owners will get it first, with the game releasing for PSN on August 28. Those playing on Xbox 360 will have to wait a day longer, as the XBLA version doesn’t launch until the following day, August 29. Rock Band Blitz will cost $14.99 on PSN and 1200 MSP on Xbox Live Arcade.


    Despite having that familiar Rock Band look, Rock Band Blitz is something of a departure for the series. Instead of using those clunky instrument controllers required by Rock Band proper, Rock Band Blitz has players using a standard controller to hit the notes. Truth be told, Rock Band Blitz seems to have more in common with Frequency and Amplitude, two earlier Harmonix titles, than it does with Rock Band.

    If you’re like me and you’ve spent more money than you care to count on DLC tracks for the Rock Band series, never fear – Harmonix says that all of those DLC tracks will work in Rock Band Blitz. The game itself comes with 20 tracks, four of which were announced today: “So Far Away” by Avenged Sevenfold, “Jungle Boogie” by Kool & The Gang, “We Are Young” by Fun, and “Sing” by My Chemical Romance. Finally, all of the songs found in Rock Band Blitz are also playable in Rock Band 3, so that’s a nice little bonus in exchange for your $15.

    [via Eurogamer]


    Rock Band Blitz hits XBLA and PSN in August is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
    © 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


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