Rock Band was one of the most popular games released in 2007. The opportunity to play as an entire band took music games to a whole new level. Even though it was outsold by Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (perhaps due in part to a higher price tag), critics lauded Rock Band for its addictive multiplayer gameplay and steady stream of downloadable content (via an iTunes-like music store).

Last Friday, rumors hit the Internet, based on an online survey, that the retail version of Rock Band 2 would ship with 120 songs and feature rock gods, AC/DC.

Now word comes that Rock Band 2 will be available in September!

Find out more after the jump.

Fake-instrument aficionados have been clamoring for the chance to shred to “Back in Black” since the original Guitar Hero was released in 2005. The band has been notoriously stingy about licensing its music, but, based on recent reports that Activision and MTV Games (publisher of Rock Band) have been in talks with representatives of the Beatles, it seems plausible that gamers could be on the “Highway to Hell” sometime in the near future.

On top of those juicy rumors, Dan Teasdale, the lead designer, recently sat down for an interview with IGN. Though he didn’t go into great specifics, he did reveal some exciting news about the upcoming sequel to one of 2007’s best games.

The developers that brought us the original Guitar Hero are looking to step up their game this September, when they release Rock Band 2: Opening Act.

As a longtime fan of the Guitar Hero franchise, I had hoped that Activision would expand the franchise through perpetual DLC as opposed to a continuous stream of sequels. However, the release of Aerosmith- and Metallica-centric games seems to have completely crushed my hopes.

While Activision was busy working on future iterations of the Guitar Hero franchise, the folks at Harmonix were steadily releasing DLC for the Rock Band platform (while also apparently developing a sequel). The integration of an iTunes-like approach to DLC was considerably more favorable than the three-song track packs available to Guitar Hero III owners.

Since rumors of an official Rock Band 2 announcement appeared on the Internet, many gamers have wondered if their DLC from the first iteration would be compatible with the sequel. Teasdale put those questions to rest when he revealed to IGN that any songs previously purchased for Rock Band will be playable in Rock Band 2.

“As far as Harmonix is concerned, there’s no difference between ‘Rock Band 1 DLC’ and ‘Rock Band 2 DLC’ - we’re just releasing awesome songs every week onto the Rock Band platform, all of which are playable by the Rock Band titles that support DLC,” Teasdale said.

More details on the next page.

Tweet This

CONTINUE TO PAGE: 1 2