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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.