Rock Band Debuts With A Bang
Harmonix and MTV Games’ much-anticipated Rock Band went on sale yesterday to great fanfare from the ‘nets. Though there’s no official word yet on exactly how many copies of Rock Band have sold so far, it looks like it might give Guitar Hero III a run for its money in terms of astronomical first-week sales, judging from frenzied reports of Rock Band shortages in stores. Rock Band (and original Guitar Hero) developer Harmonix, of course, was founded by two MIT students who wanted to make the experience of performing music more accessible to those without musical training. “This was a dream game for us,” reveals Harmonix founder Alex Rigopulos in a recent Team XBox interview. “I mean, we’re a company that’s populated by rock musicians, and this was a game we had been dreaming of for years.” With true-to-life instrument-shaped peripherals and the largest playlist of any music game (plus more songs available for download), Rock Band seems like a sure bet for gathering ’round to shred off tryptophan-induced calories with love ones this holiday season. In fact, just try not to burn a calorie merely by watching some of the promo videos on RB’s official site. (We like the Death Proof-inspired take on Deep Purple’s “Highway Star”.)