rock-band posts

Filed under: Gaming, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Rock Band on iPhone is a hit

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Oct 21st, 2009

Disgruntled TUAW commenters, I'll save you some time: "OMG Mike of course a game powered by EA and one of the most popular franchises of all time is a hit. Try reporting some real news!" But not so fast -- Rock Band, which hit the App Store top 10 and conquered the Top Grossing list just days after its release this week, is actually a more unlikely hit than you think. For one thing, it sold at a price of $9.99 only -- no free versions, no trials, no pricing sales or schemes that have become the rule rather than the exception on the App Store lately. And for another thing, it had a comparable competitor in Tap Tap Revenge 3, selling for just 99 cents. TTR3 is a hit as well -- it's topping the list of paid apps that Rock Band is on -- but many people figured consumers would pass on the $10 app for the 99 cent one, and many people were wrong.

In short, even though, yes, Rock Band has EA's power behind it and it's based on an already popular game, it actually has bucked what we've seen so far: prices racing to the bottom, and tough chances of making a hit game, much less a profitable one, at the $9.99 price point. We don't yet know whether the game is profitable (or how either Rock Band's or TTR3's microtransaction models will do in the future), as it's just too soon.

But Rock Band is already seen as a game that stands as a shining example of what many were thinking wasn't true: big publishers with big name titles can put out big games at (relatively -- $10 is still cheap when you're talking about Rock Band at large) high price points and see them sell.

Tags: app-store, apps, content, ea, free-versions, hit, iphone, microtransactions, pricing, rb, rock-band, tap-tap-revenge-3, top-grossing, trial-versions, ttr

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, Music

Rock Band out for $9.99 on the iPhone... but fails to thrill

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Oct 19th, 2009

The good news is that EA has released Rock Band for the iPhone and iPod touch, and you can pick it up from the App Store right now. The bad news is that it seems like a pretty tough sell -- despite the relatively high price tag (Tap Tap Revenge 3, a similar music game, is currently 99 cents and headed for free), there's not much new here.

Sure, there is four-device Bluetooth multiplayer, and that's something that Tapulous' game has never had. But other than that, it seems like this is basically EA's cash in on the tapping concept -- the draw of Rock Band has been getting together with your friends and jamming out the hits on those fake instruments, and touching a button-less screen by yourself doesn't have the same effect. Singing is included, but you're still just tapping out notes for that -- it seems like they missed a lot of potential fun there. And even some of the fun things from the console version like the drum fills for overdrive and the character avatars are missing here.

If you don't like the 20 songs included with the game, you can download others at 50 cents (in two-song packs for a buck each), but most people probably shouldn't even bother at that price -- just stick with Tapulous' game unless you really love Rock Band and its aesthetics (even then, I haven't seen my much-beloved Harmonix mentioned anywhere with this port, ~~so I doubt they're even involved~~. Update: They are listed on the game's splash screen, however, according to our readers).

Even if you want to try this one, wait for the inevitable price drop -- if the game really lived up to its name as the premiere music experience you'll find on the consoles, it might be worth it, but all indications are, unfortunately, that it doesn't.

Gallery: Rock Band iPhone / iPod Touch

Tags: app-store, downloadable-music, ea, ea-mobile, harmonix, iphone, ipod-touch, music-game, release, rock-band, tapping

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Odds and ends, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, Music

Rock Band coming to the iPhone

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Oct 9th, 2009

It's true -- as leaked earlier this week and confirmed yesterday, EA is bringing Harmonix's Rock Band to the iPhone, and it's about what you'd expect: notes come down the screen set to popular music, you tap in certain places in time to the beat, and get a score based on how well you do. Truthfully, I'm a huge Rock Band (and Harmonix) fan in general, but this doesn't excite me much -- the big draw of Rock Band is actually playing with those instruments, and while yes they're plastic and tiny, when you get four people in the same room together playing them, it actually feels like you're jamming in a band.

Fortunately, the iPhone version will have both online and bluetooth multiplayer, so you will be able to jam with people, but the gameplay is simply reminiscent of Tap Tap Revenge, which you probably already know about and/or have. It looks like they've gotten most of their songs from the actual Rock Band game; twenty songs with the purchase (no price yet), and then there will be 99 cent packs of two songs each coming out soon. The app's been submitted and it should be out in the store next week.

Tags: content, ea, gaming, harmonix, in-app-purchases, instruments, iphone, multiplayer, music, notes, packs, rock-band, tap-tap-revenge

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iTunes, Bad Apple, Apple, Apple History

McCartney on iTunes: "We want it to happen"

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Feb 10th, 2009

The cutest Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney, did an interview with Entertainment Weekly recently for his new album, and the long-running subject of the Beatles on iTunes came up right at the last question. At this point, this is probably our favorite Apple failure -- they've reinvented the way we listen to music, they've made smartphones mainstream, they've constantly re-created and revolutionized the personal computer, and yet they've never been able to get the best band in history on their iTunes service.

Not for lack of trying, says Sir Paul. He says that he's down with it, and that both sides are still trying to come to an agreement, but that "we" (presuming that means the band themselves) definitely "want it to happen." But he also says that "the record company" (presumably Apple Records, who have had their troubles with Apple Computers in the past)
"was taken over by new people quite recently, so there is a gridlock of sorts." So we continue to wait for The Beatles to show up on iTunes.

Meanwhile, they are apparently going ahead with the Rock Band version featuring The Beatles -- McCartney says that Harmonix is still planning to put the music in the console videogame/band simulator, and that they're going to feature The Beatles in different eras: "early days, Liverpool, then psychedelic, and on from there. It's very cool." Sounds like it -- even if we can't play the White Album from AppleTV, at least we'll be able to do it from the Xbox.

Tags: apple-computers, apple-corps, interview, itunes, liverpool, paul-mccartney, rock-band, sir-paul, the-beatles, videogame, white-album

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, iTS, Odds and ends, iTunes

iTunes compiles Rock Band tracks

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Feb 15th, 2008

I've been rocking on Rock Band almost since it came out (almost done with expert on guitar and hard on drums -- stupid bass pedal is driving me nuts -- and the band my friends and I formed, Fel and the Boatmen, just got ourselves a jet). And now, iTunes has made it easy to rock even away from the game: they've collected all the Rock Band tracks all in one place. That's the good news -- the bad news is that all together, the tracks will cost you a whopping $73.26. That's still 99 cents a song, so exactly no price cuts for a bundle purchase.

The tracks don't exactly match up to the game, either; first of all, even where the game has cover tracks, iTunes has the original artists (and sometimes, live versions of the tracks, which aren't necessarily the same as the game). And there are no bonus tracks -- Freezepop is in iTunes (as is Mother Hips, my other favorite bonus song) but not on the Rock Band list at all. Still, if you absolutely have to own one of the Rock Band songs, I guess it's nice that iTunes put them all in one place for you.

[Via X3F]

Tags: freezepop, itunes, mike-is-a-nerd, mother-hips, price-gouge, rock-band, rock-out, xbox-360

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rock-band posts

Rock Band on iPhone is a hit