The sale of Rock Band developer Harmonix by Viacom has gone a bit dodgy thanks to Harmonix filing a lawsuit against their parent company. They allege that Viacom “diverted opportunities” from Harmonix for its own benefit so it wouldn’t have to pay out millions in performance-related bonuses. Reports suggest that Viacom manipulated costs to avoid a performance-related payout. All this is part of the fallout from Rock Band 3 performing poorly at retail and Viacom wants to cut off Harmonix before they drag the entire company down.

Harmonix revealed today that a few new Queen song packs will be hitting the marketplace on December 7th for Xbox 360, Wii and Playstation 3.  The packs are broken into the Enhanced RB3 Pack and the Extravaganza RB3 Pack. The songs feature all the current Rock Band Instruments including the Keys and you can unlock Pro Guitar and Bass for an additional $0.99 downloadable upgrade.

You can find the prices for the packs detailed after the break.

Queen Extravaganza Pack 01
• “Hammer to Fall” X

• “Keep Yourself Alive” X
• “Now I’m Here” X
• “Play the Game” X
• “Tenement Funster” X
• “We Are the Champions” (RB3 version)
• “We Will Rock You” (RB3 version)

Queen RB3 Enhanced Pack
• “I Want It All” (RB3 version) X

• “I Want To Break Free” (RB3 version) X
• “Killer Queen” (RB3 version) X
• “One Vision” (RB3 version) X
• “Somebody To Love” (RB3 version) X
• “Under Pressure” (RB3 version) X

Price: $1.99 USD, £.99 UK, €1.49 EU (160 Microsoft Points) per song
$2.00 USD (200 Wii Points^TM) per song
$0.99 USD (100 Wii Points/80 Microsoft Points), £0.59 UK, €0.79 EU per song for eligible Pro Guitar/Pro Bass upgrade
$9.99, £4.99 UK, €7.99 EU (800 Microsoft Points, 1,000 Wii Points) for Queen RB3 Enhanced Pack
$10.99, £5.99 UK, €8.99 EU (800 Microsoft Points, 1,100 Wii Points) for Queen Extravaganza Pack 01

Harmonix has released a title update for Rock Band 3 that patches some of the game’s remaining bugs. The update is already live for the PS3 version, with the 360 update going out soon. The patch deals with the Arena 12 freeze, stops save data problems affected by long band names and puts the kibosh on the pause scoring exploit.

“It’s our hope that this update will address some of the most immediate concerns of the community and improve your enjoyment of a game that many of you clearly cannot get enough of,” Harmonix said. “Thanks so much for your continued feedback. It’s your input that helps challenge us to continually raise the bar in music gaming.”

Rock Band 3 did terrible numbers at retail and developer Harmonix have been put on sale by owners Viacom because they aren’t profitable any more. People have got bored of plastic instruments and now developers have to pay the price.

After just four years after Viacom brought Harmonix for $175m, the company wants to sell the music game studio. Viacom is the parent company that owns MTV and Paramount amongst quite a few others. Harmonix made a loss of around $65 million for the past financial quarter and Viacom believes they will get a $299 million loss from discontinued operations. It’s not currently confirmed if the Rock Band franchise will be sold off separately or not, but Harmonix will continue to support that franchise as well as Dance Central.

Harmonix has decided that enough is enough, stating that they will only produce DLC for Rock Band 3. New tracks won’t be available on older games in the series for the first time in the franchise. Harmonix claims that there are new authoring standards, new instruments and new in-game venues and lighting to program for.

The community may still created songs for older Rock Band games with the Rock Band Network. Rock Band 3 owners can import old songs from Rock Band 1 and 2 for a fee. You can play those songs in traditional gameplay mode, but then if you want to enable keyboard and vocal harmony song parts you have to pay an added charge. Pro Guitar and Pro Bass also need another charge.

Harmonix and MTV Games have announced that John Lennon’s 1971 album Imagine will be available to download in Rock Band 3. It will be one of the first albums that you can grab on the Rock Band Music Store. All parties involved have been a bit coy on a date and price for the album, but Lennon will join The Doors and Billy Joel just after the game’s October 26th’s launch. This year marks John Lennon’s 70th birthday. Celebrations of his life have taken place across the world and we would personally like to sound our appreciation for the legendary musician.

Here are the tracks from the Imagine album that will be available to download in Rock Band 3:

* “Imagine” (already on disc)

* “Crippled Inside”

* “Jealous Guy”

* “It’s So Hard”

* “I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier Mama”

* “Gimme Some Truth”

* “Oh My Love”

* “How Do You Sleep?”

* “How?”

* “Oh Yoko!”

MTV Games has announced that anyone who buys Rock Band 3 and plays it online this week will be able to download three songs by The Doors for free. The dates for this promotion go from 26th October to 1st November.

The songs you will be able to download are: “Light My Fire”, “Riders on the Storm” and “Touch Me”, alongside the Pro Guitar and Pro Bass add-ons for each song. You can grab them from the Rock Band 3 in-game music store. More tracks by The Doors will be available on the game’s launch, but you’ll have to pay for those.

Mad Catz has priced the official Rock Band 3 instruments. All of them will be available when the game’s released on 29th October in the UK. Here’s the full list:

* Rock Band Wireless Keyboard with Rock Band 3 software included – £109.99 (Xbox 360/PS3) and £99.99 (Wii)

* Rock Band 3 Wireless Fender Mustang PRO-GUITAR Controller – £124.99

* Guitar, mic and keyboard stands – £24.99 each

* Rock Band Wireless Keyboard – £69.99

* Rock Band 3 Wireless PRO-DRUM and PRO-CYMBALS Kit – £119.99

* Other guitars including bass – £59.99 to £84.99

* Rock Band 3 MIDI PRO-ADAPTER – £34.99

* Rock Band 3 Microphone – £24.99

Harmonix has confirmed that more than 2000 tracks will be available for Rock Band by next week when Jimi Hendrix’s “Are You Experienced?” album is released on 12th October. Rock Band 3 will follow up on 29th October, when it’s released in European stores. Harmonix also announced that more than 75 million tracks have now been downloaded from the Rock Band store.

“The success of our song downloads has afforded us the opportunity to approach Rock Band as an interactive music platform and reshape the way gamers think of expansion content,” said MTV executive Paul DeGooyer. “Now, with the release of our 2000th song, we are reaffirming our commitment to present new music every week – and with the new features in Rock Band 3, there will be more ways than ever to experience it.”

Harmonix has confirmed that the PS3 Rock Band Keyboard bundle will not be released in the US. The bundle will also not be available in Canada and Mexico. The $130 bundle is still up for pre-order on the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii in the affected territories. Both the keyboard and the game are still being sold separately for the PlayStation 3, just not the bundle.

Harmonix commented on their message boards today saying that the reason for this is “due to the agreement terms for the region.” MTV Games and Mad Catz are working with retailers to see if any currently placed pre-orders can be honoured towards the products separately. Harmonix says retailers will have more news on that as it develops.

Via Harmonix Official Forums

Harmonix has confirmed that gamers will be able to export their Rock Band 2 tracks to Rock Band 3. The exporting system will work across all three console versions of the game (including the Wii). Harmonix is working on getting the re-licensing rights for every song at the moment, but it looks like they’re confident on getting it done. Furthermore, Harmonix believes the price of downloadable tracks will remain the same for Rock Band 3, but songs designed for Pro Mode will be more expensive. Rock Band 3 will be released on 29th October on the 360, PS3, Wii and DS.

Harmonix has lifted the lid on all the tracks you can expect to find in Rock Band 3. The game has 83 songs and has a few new features, like keyboard support and a “Pro” mode. Pro mode allows people to learn to play real instruments. Peripheral manufacturers are creating realistic guitars for this mode that can be played both with the game and normally, with an amp or whatever you crazy kids use nowadays. Rock Band 3 will be released on the PS3, Wii, 360 and DS on 29th October.

Here’s the full track list, helpfully organised into decades:

2000s:

* Amy Winehouse, “Rehab”

* At the Drive-In, “One Armed Scissor”

* Avenged Sevenfold, “The Beast & the Harlot”

* Dover, “King George”

* The Bronx, “False Alarm”

* The Flaming Lips, “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1”

* HIM (His Infernal Majesty), “Killing Loneliness”

* Hypernova, “Viva La Resistance”

* Ida Maria, “Oh My God”

* Juanes, “Me Enamora”

* Metric, “Combat Baby”

* Paramore, “Misery Business”*

* Phoenix, “Lasso”*

* Poni Hoax, “Antibodies”

* Pretty Girls Make Graves, “Something Bigger, Something Brighter”

* Queens of the Stone Age, “No One Knows”

* The Ravonettes, “Last Dance”

* Rilo Kiley, “Portions for Foxes”

* Riverboat Gamblers, “Don’t Bury Me…I’m Still Not Dead”

* Slipknot, “Before I Forget”

* The Sounds, “Living in America”

* Tegan & Sara, “The Con”

* Them Crooked Vultures, “Dead End Friends”

* Tokio Hotel, “Humanoid”

* The Vines, “Get Free”

* The White Stripes, “The Hardest Button to Button”

1990s:

* Faith No More, “Midlife Crisis”

* Filter, “Hey Man, Nice Shot”

* Jane’s Addiction, “Been Caught Stealing”*

* Maná, “Oye Mi Amor”

* Marilyn Manson, “The Beautiful People”

* The Muffs, “Outer Space”

* Phish, “Llama”

* Primus, “Jerry Was a Racecar Driver”

* Rammstein, “Du Hast”

* Smash Mouth, “Walkin’ On The Sun”*

* Spacehog, “In the Meantime”

* Stone Temple Pilots, “Plush”

* Swingin’ Utters, “This Bastard’s Life”

1980s:

* Anthrax, “Caught in a Mosh”

* Big Country, “In a Big Country”

* The Cure, “Just Like Heaven”

* Def Leppard, “Foolin’”

* Devo, “Whip It”

* Dio, “Rainbow in the Dark”

* Dire Straits, “Walk of Life”

* Echo & the Bunnymen, “The Killing Moon”

* Huey Lewis and the News, “The Power of Love”

* INXS, “Need You Tonight”

* J. Geils Band, “Centerfold”

* Joan Jett, “I Love Rock N’ Roll”

* Night Ranger, “Sister Christian”

* Ozzy Osbourne, “Crazy Train”*

* The Police, “Don’t Stand So Close to Me”

* Roxette, “The Look”

* The Smiths, “Stop Me if You Think You’ve Heard This One Before”

* Tears for Fears, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”

* Whitesnake, “Here I Go Again”

1970s:

* The B-52’s, “Rock Lobster”

* Blondie, “Heart of Glass”

* Bob Marley, “Get Up, Stand Up”

* Chicago, “25 or 6 to 4”

* Deep Purple, “Smoke on the Water”

* Doobie Brothers, “China Grove”

* Elton John, “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”

* Foreigner, “Cold As Ice”

* Golden Earring, “Radar Love”

* John Lennon, “Imagine”

* Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Free Bird”

* Queen, “Bohemian Rhapsody”

* Ramones, “I Wanna Be Sedated”

* Steve Miller Band, “Fly Like an Eagle”

* T. Rex, “20th Century Boy”

* Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “I Need to Know”

* War, “Low Rider”

* Warren Zevon, “Werewolves of London”

* Yes, “Roundabout”

This time, Massive J Productions and Homez Industries are granted access to a super top secret hands on viewing of the Nintendo 3DS, and thus feel rather special.

Furthermore, the crew take it upon themselves to rage, shortly after offering insightful converse on such topics as Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Donkey Kong Country Returns.

Don’t forget to enter Ramblings of a Madman in a comment below.

Details:

Duration: 37:56

File size: 52.3mb

Non Playable E05 Direct link to file, right click to download.

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Non Playable is co-hosted by Joe Sayer and Chris Holmes. Produced by Joe Sayer.

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Harmonix and MTV Games today announced next week’s Rock Band Music Store releases:

Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 system (July 27):

* Avenged Sevenfold – “Nightmare”

* Avenged Sevenfold – “Scream”

* Avenged Sevenfold – “Seize the Day”

* Juanes – “A Dios le Pido”

* Juanes – “FíjateBien”

* Juanes – “Gotas de Agua Dulce”

* Juanes – “La Camisa Negra”

* Juanes – “Mala Gente”

* Juanes – “Yerbatero”

Remember folks its $1.99 USD/£.99 UK/€1.49 EU (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360/200 Wii Points) per track.

These tracks will be available as “Avenged Sevenfold Pack 01” and “Juanes Pack 01” as well as individual tracks on 360, PS3 and Wii.

Harmonix and MTV Games has come together to announce that Rock Band 3 will be launching in North America on October 26th, 2010 for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. No word yet on a European launch date, we’ll update you when its announced. The publisher also revealed some pre-order goodies at select retailers around the country including Amazon.com.

GameStop Pre-order* Opportunity:
GameStop shoppers who reserve Rock Band 3 for PlayStation 3 system or Xbox 360 in advance receive three downloadable Rock Band songs at launch:

• Burning Down the House by Talking Heads
• My Own Summer by Deftones
• Blue Monday by New Order

Amazon Pre-order* Opportunity:
Amazon shoppers who reserve Rock Band 3 for PlayStation 3 system, Xbox 360 and Wii in advance will receive access to an exclusive in-game guitar. Additionally, for a limited time only, PlayStation 3 system and Xbox 360 owners who pre-order Rock Band 3 in advance on Amazon will receive $10 off a future videogame purchase.

Wal-Mart Pre-order* Opportunity:
Walmart.com shoppers who reserve Rock Band 3 for PlayStation 3 system, Xbox 360 and Wii in advance will receive a $10 eGift card for a limited time.

Dan Teasdale, who used to be a senior designer over at Harmonix’s Rock Band outfit, has quit the company to go and work for Twisted Pixel. “I came to the realisation recently that my career has been driven by a secret achievement grind, hidden relatively successfully by the fun of making games,” Teasdale said on his blog.

“I craved the hit of being hands on. It’s 100 per cent of your job as a staff designer, but as I became a senior and then a lead on AAA titles with 200+ people on them, the ability to chart the vision and the direction of a title starts to encroach how much time you can spend tweaking the details personally.” He just finished up on Rock Band 3, and is now working on something big over at Twisted Pixel.

Harmonix and MTV Games today announced next week’s Rock Band Music Store releases:

Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 (July 6):

- Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Bad Moon Rising”

- Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Born on the Bayou”

- Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Down on the Corner”

- Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Fortunate Son (Original Version)”

- Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Green River”

- Creedence Clearwater Revival – “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”

- Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Lookin’ Out My Back Door”

- Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Proud Mary”

- Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Run Through the Jungle”

- Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Travelin’ Band”

- Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Up Around the Bend”

- Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Who’ll Stop the Rain”

Remember folks its $1.99 USD/£.99 UK/€1.49 EU (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360/200 Wii Points) per track.

These tracks will be available for purchase as “Creedence Clearwater Revival Pack 01” as well as individual tracks on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii. The pack will set you back 1600 Allards on Xbox Live or $19.99/£9.99 on the PSN.

Harmonix and MTV Games today announced next week’s Rock Band Music Store releases:

Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 system (June 29):

- Nickelback – “Burn It to the Ground”

- Nickelback – “Figured You Out”

- Nickelback – “Never Again”

- Nickelback – “Photograph”

- Nickelback – “Rockstar”

- Nickelback – “This Afternoon”

Remember folks its $1.99 USD/£.99 UK/€1.49 EU (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360/200 Wii Points) per track.

These tracks will be available for purchase as “Nickelback Pack 01” as well as individual tracks on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii.

Harmonix and MTV Games today announced next week’s Rock Band Music Store releases:

Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 system (June 22):

- Miley Cyrus – “7 Things”

- Miley Cyrus – “Can’t Be Tamed”

- Miley Cyrus – “Fly On the Wall”

- Miley Cyrus – “See You Again”

- Miley Cyrus – “Start All Over”

Remember folks its $1.99 USD/£.99 UK/€1.49 EU (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360/200 Wii Points) per track.

Nintendo has released a long list detailing nearly every single 3DS game in development. Nintendo first party titles announced here include Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, Paper Mario, PilotWings Resort, Star Fox 64 3D and Steel Driver. Third party titles include Capcom’s Resident Evil Revelations and Super Street Fighter IV, SEGA’s Sonic and Super Monkey Ball, and Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Lost Legacy. There’s loads more on the full list. It’s available after the jump.

Here’s the list:

* Activision – DJ Hero 3D
* AQ Interactive – cubic ninja
* Atlus – Etrian Odyssey, Shin Megami Tensei, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor
* Capcom – Resident Evil Revelations, Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition (working title)
* Electronic Arts – FIFA Soccer, Madden NFL, The Sims 3
* Gameloft – Asphalt GT
* Harmonix – Music game
* Hudson Soft – Bomberman, Deca Sports, Kororinpa
* Konami – Baseball, Contra, Frogger, Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D “The Naked Sample”, Pro Evolution Soccer/Winning Eleven
* Level-5 – Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle (working title)
* Majesco – BloodRayne: The Shroud, A Boy and His Blob, Face Racers: Photo Finish, Lion’s Pride: Adventures on the Serengetti, Martha Stewart, WonderWorld Amusement Park
* Marvelous – Bokujyoumonogatari 3D (working title)
* Namco Bandai – Dragon Ball, Gundam, Pac-Man & Galaga, Ridge Racer, Super Robot (all working titles)
* Nintendo – Animal Crossing, Kid Icarus Uprising, Mario Kart, nintendogs+cats, Paper Mario, PilotWings Resort, Star Fox 64 3D, Steel Driver
* Rocket – Crash-City GP, VS-robo
* SEGA – Sonic, Super Monkey Ball (working titles)
* Square Enix – Codename: Chocobo Racing 3D, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts
* Take-Two – Carnival Games
* Tecmo Koei – Dead or Alive 3D, Dynasty Warriors, Ninja Gaiden, Samurai Warriors 3D (all working titles)
* Tomy – Lovely Lisa 3D, Naruto Shippuden Action
* THQ – de Blob 2, Kung Fu Panda Kaboom of Doom, Marvel Super Hero Squad Infinity Gauntlet, The Penguins of Madagascar, Puss N Boots, Saints Row: Drive-By
* Ubisoft – Assassin’s Creed: Lost Legacy, Battle of Giants: Dinosaur Strike, Driver Renegade, Hollywood 61 (working title), Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
* Warner Bros. – Batman, LEGO