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Rock Band Early Release and Band Web Site Details

Rock Band developer Harmonix has announced details of the social networking abilities on the official ROCKBAND.com web site. The site currently features basic game details and some videos but when the site fully launches it will feature a number of social networking features and hooks into the game’s online capabilities.

Along with the web site announcement Rock Band will now officially go on sale November 20, rather than November 23 as previously announced. Rock On!

Harmonix, the leading developer of music-based games, and MTV Games, a division of MTV Networks which is a division of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), along with distribution partner Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), revealed today details for the ROCKBAND.com social community website. The site will launch on November 20, alongside the North American release of Rock Band for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360 ™ video game entertainment system from Microsoft®. A PlayStation 2 version of the game will also ship on December 18.

The ROCKBAND.com Web site will incllude in-depth Rock Band™ leaderboards, personal and band home pages, and a “Musicians Meeting Musicians” classified section to help form bands online. The site will also give fans the opportunity to create their own Rocker Profile pages and communicate wit h other Community members, blogging about their musical tastes and meeting others with similar interests.

“ROCKBAND.com blurs the lines between fantasy and reality,” said Melissa Macaulay, Producer of ROCKBAND.com, Harmonix. “The site allows you to hype your in-game band’s accomplishments, while providing a forum to meet other real-life people and potential band mates who share your musical tastes.”

ROCKBAND.com Features:

• Personal & Band Pages: ROCKBAND.com will automatically load your in-game characters and game stats from an online database so your personal profile page will always be up to date. Choose from four genres in the game to customize your profile pages with cool background skins that reflect your rock tastes.
• Band Classifieds: Find and create your own band through the ROCKBAND.com Band Classifieds page. Here you can advertise your own rocker skills or search through dozens of rocker profiles to choose band mates who share similar music tastes.
• Rock Band Leaderboards: Climb to the top of the charts as a solo artist or band! From band rankings to solo scores, the ROCKBAND.com leaderboards will earn you fame and fortune as you progress on your journey to Rock Band stardom.
• Rocker Blogs: Find out what’s happening behind the scenes with your favorite bands through their blogs. Use your blog to communicate with band mates about practice times, meet others with similar musical interests and keep your groupies in the loop with the website’s unique blogs.
• Rock Band Forums: Interact with other rockers and music lovers about anything and everything rock!
• Photo Creator: (Coming Soon!) Take the ultimate promo band or solo shot with the website’s Photo Creator. Pick a location, the right lighting, and a coordinated (or not!) pose for your band. Take it over the top cheesy or seriously intense. It’s all about your band’s total image.

“We see ROCKBAND.com as a true extension of the Rock Band world. It will be an awesome way to meet new people who have similar musical tastes,” said Josh Randall, Creative Director for Harmonix. “With ROCKBAND.com players will be able to come together and express themselves in a collaborative manner, which is what playing music is all about.

Grateful Dead To Join Rock Band

Harmonix, the leading developer of music-based games, MTV Games, a division of MTV Networks within Viacom, and Rhino Entertainment, a division of Warner Music Group, announced a deal that will bring the legendary band Grateful Dead to the highly anticipated music videogame Rock Band. The iconic group is making 18 master recordings from its diverse catalog available as digitally distributed game levels following Rock Band’s release this holiday season. Among the songs available will be the classic Dead tracks “Truckin’,” “Uncle John’s Band,” “Touch of Grey,” “Sugar Magnolia,” and “Casey Jones.”

Rock Band is slated for release on Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system this Holiday 2007 in North America.

Stranglehold’s PR Bandwagon, Will Any Body Care?

With more than A few Good games coming out around the same time *Cough* Halo 3 will anybody even have the cash remaining for this game?

Midway, today announced it’s multi-million dollar, global marketing campaign for the highly anticipated and award-winning , expected to release in North America for the Xbox 360 on September 5. The PC and PlayStation 3 versions will follow on September 18 and September 25, respectively. Stranglehold’s marketing campaign, Midway’s most robust campaign ever, is anchored by the pioneering integrated Fox Interactive Media campaign which includes the True to John Woo Short Film Contest, and the special, limited collector’s edition on the PlayStation 3 that features the game and a full-length version of John Woo’s critically acclaimed action film “Hard Boiled” together on the same high-capacity PlayStation 3 Blu-Ray disc. The expansive TV advertising campaign kicked off last week with a sneak peak at Stranglehold and the debut of the winning short film of the True to John Woo Short Film Contest, during the Saturdasian Invasion Film Marathon, on Spike TV.

“Our strategic and unparalleled marketing campaign for Stranglehold has produced immense awareness among consumers,” said Steve Allison, chief marketing officer, Midway. “We’ve reached outside the typical marketing campaign and tapped into new avenues to reach the mass consumer.”

The Stranglehold marketing campaign will cover all pertinent mediums worldwide and include:

• National television advertising campaign on multiple mainstream broadcast and cable networks such as Spike TV, ESPN, MTV, USA Networks, Comedy Central, and Cartoon Network.
• Outdoor advertising such as billboards, bus shelters, trolley cars and wallscapes in top markets including New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles
• Sponsorship of Spike TV’s Saturdasian Invasion Film Marathon on August 18 beginning at 2pm ET.
• Aggressive online campaign to top-tier enthusiast and mainstream consumer sites including MySpace, IGN, Team Xbox, IMDB, GameSpot, GamesRadar, and Rotten Tomatoes.
• Demo on Xbox LIVE! Marketplace, PlayStation Store and PC
• National pre-sell programs at select retailers, where gamers can pre-order Stranglehold and receive Stranglehold branded items such as a shot glass, Xbox faceplate skin, and a special edition John Woo comic book.
• Dedicated web presence at http://www.strangleholdgame.com, http://strangleholdcentral.ign.com/, and http://www.myspace.com/strangleholdgame
• Special, limited edition PlayStation 3 collector’s edition featuring the game and a full-length version of John Woo’s critically acclaimed action film “Hard Boiled” together on the same high-capacity PlayStation 3 Blu-Ray disc. While supplies last.
• Special, limited edition Xbox 360 collector’s edition featuring a behind-the-scenes documentary, extended in-game cinematics with commentary, a sound design featurette, and a look at the visual style of Stranglehold. While supplies last.
• Various video vignettes and trailers on enthusiast Web sites highlighting various game modes
• Press events where enthusiast and mainstream, print and online, media can play pre-release versions of Stranglehold
• Stranglehold’s True to John Woo Short Film Contest which received over 300 entries
• Various sweepstakes with different partners including; PLAY! Magazine, GamesRadar.com and IGN.com
• Cross promotion with Genius Products in conjunction with their Dragon Dynasty DVD collection, including the recent release of “Hard Boiled”
• Sponsorships of major U.S. Asian film festivals in Los Angeles and New York

Celebrity Judges For Guitar Hero II Competitions

The World Series of Video Games (WSVG), Presented by Intel, announced today that Mötley Crüe’s Vince Neil leads the pack of special guest judges that will evaluate “Guitar Hero II” competitors. Attendees can look forward to seeing the legendary heavy metal icon at the finals of the upcoming Dallas event July 5-8 at the Gaylord Texan Resort.

Video game industry experts at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville this weekend will be MTV Style VJ Coltrane Curtis, legendary video game composer Tommy Tallarico, and Becky “Aktrez” Young, Leading Lady of the Girl Gaming Network. In Dallas, video game journalist and host Geoff Keighley and PC GameSpy.com’s editor-in-chief Sal “Sluggo” Accardo will assist Vince Neil with the judging. Additional judges for later events will be announced at a later date.

“It was clear from the beginning that we would need to call in the experts to separate the rookies from the rock stars,” said Matthew Ringel, president and commissioner of the World Series of Video Games. “We are committed to creating a video game tournament that is as fun for spectators as it is for participants. Our new judging format will help deliver the same immediacy and fun to Guitar Hero II competition as some of the most highly-watched music shows on television.”

At each event, the judges will score competitors based on accuracy, difficulty and in an interesting twist, showmanship! All areas of performances will be evaluated; from the ability to work the crowd, put together a unique and thought-out set and the precision of strumming and ripping.

More than $60,000 in cash prizing will be up for grabs in “Guitar Hero II” competition and a total of $750,000 will be awarded in cash and travel at this year’s World Series of Video Games, Presented by Intel circuit. Highlights from the competitions will air nationally on CBS Sports as part of four hour-long WSVG specials. Each episode will include segments on the competitors, as well as extensive competition footage for the featured titles, which include Activision’s “Guitar Hero IIT,” Blizzard Entertainment®’s “World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade®”, and “EA SPORTST Fight Night Round 3.”