If you thought that some of the difficulty levels in Rock Band were a tad outrageous on all peripherals involved, or if you thought they were banial at best, you will either be disgusted or pleased with the information that IGN discovered about the upcoming sequel to the music simulation hit.

All 84 tracks have been listed in order of the hardest to the easiest for bass, drums, guitar and vocals. Since each list is a bit more comprehensive that the space here will allow, I will only post the chart for guitar. However, would it surprise you to know that Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up in Blue” will be the hardest vocally? Seriously, it is hard enough to sing along to Dylan on the radio let alone for points in a game. Bass and Drum wise, hardest song will be Dream Theater’s “Panic Attack”, the Band as whole will find that Judas Priest’s “Painkiller” to be the most challenging.

Anyway, without further ado, here is the list for Guitar from easiest to hardest:

84    Survivor – “Eye of the Tiger”
83    Modest Mouse – “Float On”
82    Smashing Pumpkins – “Today”
81    Duran Duran – “Hungry Like the Wolf”
80    Squeeze – “Cool for Cats”
79    L7 – “Pretend We’re Dead”
78    Lit – “My Own Worst Enemy”
77    Linkin Park – “One Step Closer”
76    The Go-Gos – “We Got the Beat”
75    Paramore – “That’s What You Get”
74    Bikini Kill – “Rebel Girl”
73    Beastie Boys – “So Whatcha Want”
72    Nirvana – “Drain You”
71    The Donnas – “New Kid in School”
70    Cheap Trick – “Hello There”
69    Presidents of the USA – “Lump”
68    The Guess Who – “American Woman”
67    Social Distortion – “I Was Wrong”
66    Panic at the Disco – “Nine in the Afternoon”
65    Jane’s Addiction – “Mountain Song”
64    Alice in Chains – “Man in the Box”
63    Lucana Coil – “Our Truth”
62    Billy Idol – “White Wedding Pt. 1″
61    Beck – “E-Pro”
60    Talking Heads – “Psycho Killer”
59    Norman Greenbaum – “Spirit in the Sky”
58    The Muffs – “Kids in America”
57    Dinosaur Jr. – “Feel the Pain”
56    Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Give it Away”
55    Speck – “Conventional Lover”
54    The Main Drag – “A Jagged Gorgeous Winter”
53    Joan Jett – “Bad Reputation”
52    Elvis Costello – “Pump It Up”
51    Alanis Morissette – “You Oughta Know”
50    Fleetwood Mac – “Go Your Own Way”
49    The Libyans – “Welcome to the Neighborhood”
48    Interpol – “PDA”
47    Bad Company – “Shooting Star”
46    Bon Jovi – “Livin’ on a Prayer”
45    Lush – “De-luxe”
44    AFI – “Girls Not Grey”
43    Blondie – “One Way or Another”
42    Bob Dylan – “Tangled Up in Blue”
41    The Replacements – “Alex Chilton”
40    Pearl Jam – “Alive”
39    Jimmy Eat World – “The Middle”
38    Jethro Tull – “Aqualung”
37    The Sterns – “Supreme Girl”
36    Disturbed – “Down with the Sickness”
35    Rise Against – “Give it All”
34    Mighty Mighty Bosstones – “Where’d You Go”
33    The Offspring – “Come Out & Play (Keep ‘em Separated)”
32    Foo Fighters – “Everlong”
31    The Who – “Pinball Wizard”
30    That Handsome Devil – “Rob the Prez-O-Dent”
29    Rage Against the Machine – “Testify”
28    Devo – “Uncontrollable Urge”
27    Journey – “Any Way You Want It”
26    Ratt – “Round & Round”
25    Bang Camaro – “Night Lies”
24    ACDC – “Let There Be Rock”
23    The Grateful Dead – “Alabama Getaway”
22    Silverspun – “Lazy Eye”
21    Sonic Youth – “Teenage Riot”
20    Rush – “The Trees”
19    Kansas – “Carry On Wayward Son”
18    Steve Miller Band – “Rock’n Me”
17    Motorhead – “Ace of Spades”
16    Soundgarden – “Spoonman”
15    Avenged Sevenfold – “Almost Easy”
14    System of a Down – “Chop Suey”
13    Guns N’ Roses – “Shackler’s Revenge”
12    Tenacious D – “Master Exploder”
11    Allman Brothers – “Ramblin’ Man”
10    Breaking Wheel – “Shoulder to the Plow”
9    Anarchy Club – “Get Clean”
8    Mastodon – “Colony of Birchmen”
7    Megadeth – “Peace Sells”
6    Testament – “Souls of Black”
5    Steely Day – “Bodhisattva”
4    Metallica – “Battery”
3    Dream Theater – “Panic Attack”
2    Abnormality – “Visions”
1    Judas Priest – “Painkiller”

For the full list, check out IGN.

Despite music executives and the labels they work for commending the recent popularity of music games giving sluggish music sales a boost, Warner Music Group’s Chief Executive Edgar Bronfman recently spoke out against what he feels is “far too small” of an amount to license songs for the ever growing content included within the games.

In defense of the music game genre, and Guitar Hero in general, Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick fired back at Warner Music stating that the record companies are getting compensated very well, and that Warner Music is failing to see the bigger picture. Kotick also hinted that because of this slam from Edgar Bronfman, the record company may never get the opportunity to have their music featured in future Guitar Hero games again.

Kotick feels that the label’s “one-sided comments” fail to acknowledge the benefit of having songs from their catalog featured in the games. Bands that would not have reached certain audiences through the radio or other forms of media are now being showcased not only within an entirely new demographic, but within the industry as a whole.

According to MCV, during a recent interview with The Financial Times Kotick mused that Bronfman may think that the company should be compensated the same way they are when a song is downloaded via iTunes, but that with games, the technology is vastly complex and different.

Due to these growing tensions, Kotick went on to say that only record companies that appreciate the opportunity that the games provide will be courted in the future:

“We’re going to favor those publishers that recognize and appreciate how much we can add value to their artists.  We’re introducing a whole new group of artists to new audiences that is resulting in their iTunes downloads being exponentially higher than they would otherwise be, [as well as] new album sales and new merchandising opportunities.

We hope that our partners in the gaming space appreciate not only the value of their own contributions but also those of the recording artists, songwriters, record labels and music publishers on which their games are significantly based.”

Considering the fact that Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock has sold approximately 20 million units and has raked in over $1billion in sales, it would stand to reason that these sales would also have generated more revenue for the artists featured within the game as well as the downloadable content.  Many record companies have recently commended both Rock Band and the Guitar Hero franchise for boosting sales, and the proof, as they say, is in the pudding.

For example: during the week that Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was released in October 2007, digital sales of The Strokes’ track “Reptilia” sold 127 percent more than the week before the game was released. Add to this the following week which saw sales for the track leap another 96 percent. Likewise, Slipknot’s “Before I Forget” soared to 75 percent the week the game debuted and took a 140 percent turn the following week.

Large record labels have been reputed in the past to be greedy, soulless, fat-cats, what with the horror stories told over the years of bands getting shafted by the big bad wolves of the music industry. Therefore it is no wonder that this latest comment from Warner’s CEO is being perceived as nothing more than a greedy record executive wanting a bigger piece of the pie. If they want more royalties for the benefit of the artists they represent, the public and even the gaming companies, would most likely be more understanding and supportive of the measures they were taking to protect their clients. However, with the negative publicity that the labels have gotten over the past few years, post Napster, it makes you wonder if they truly want more residuals for the right purpose or just to line their own pockets.

What each record company receives as far as licensing fees for songs contained in these games is not known. Yet, if they end up wanting an exorbitant amount of money to include the bands they represent within the games, it will only hurt the consumer in the long run. You cannot expect a company like Activison-Blizzard to pay out the nose in royalties and not try and recoup that investment from gamers. The price of the initial game disc could go up, and we could be paying larger amounts of money for downloadable content. If such a scenario should happen, not only will the games suffer, but in turn the gamer as well.

It’s time for me to be reminded about how badly I was ripped off with an annual subscription — that’s right, it’s time for the third episode of Qore! This month’s is special in that it’ll guarantee you access to the Resistance 2 beta. Annual subscribers will get in on the “premiere” status beta, which is just a fancy way of saying you’ll get in earlier than those who opt to purchase this single episode of Qore.

In the world of downloadable content, there’s a new track ($3.99) and several skin packs ($2.49 each) for NASCAR 09, a team mode add-on for Snakeball ($1.99), and new tracks for both Rock Band and Guitar Hero III.

One other noteworthy release is the PlayStation Home theme which, as we informed you earlier, will automatically enter you for a slot in the Home beta. You’re not guaranteed a spot, but this is currently the only way to get into the beta as it expands in late August.

Hit the full break for the full list of content.

Read the full article

There’s a video review of the single-player storyline for Battlefield: Bad Company available on ChannelFlip. I know most gamers don’t buy Bad Company for the single player experience. For those days when your friends are all busy doing something productive with their lives, or you finally reach your breaking point and get fracked off with all the noobs online; there is a single-player option.

Form up you maggots!

Are you getting tired of the same old FPS cliches being trotted out time after time?

Well fear not: in Bad Company, the Battlefield experts have turned their hand to creating a single-player campaign which offers a refreshing and high quality take on the genre with great graphics, an interesting plot and non-cringeworthy script, and of course decent gun play to boot.

Oh yeah, and the best damn soundtrack ever.

Check it out!

We knew it was coming “soon,” but in Valve Time, that means it’s coming once Duke Nukem Forever goes gold. It looks like that’s not the case for DICE, as they’ll be releasing the much-anticipated classic Battlefield mode, Conquest, to Battlefield: Bad Company owners free of charge on August 7.

This should go a long way to helping extend the game’s legs. Gold Rush is fun, but it can get old fairly quickly and doesn’t allow for much player freedom. Of course, you could argue the same about Conquest, but it’s clearly stood the test of time, having been the lifeblood of the Battlefield series since 1942.

Four of the existing maps will be modified to support Conquest, with hopefully more to follow.

image via Bad Company gallery (taken by Turnbull)

DICE has said before that they were testing Conquest mode in Battlefield: Bad Company, which is the de facto game mode in every PC iteration of Battlefield. They’ve now announced on the Bad Company blog that Conquest is coming to both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for free “soon.” With Microsoft’s stringent certification process, it’s anyone’s guess as to when exactly “soon” is.

The content will include the traditional Battlefield multiplayer game mode, Conquest. Conquest focuses on the capture and control of flags; once a team captures a control point, its members can re-spawn in the area. When a team loses control of all their flags or control points, they cannot re-spawn.

Maintaining control over the flags on the battlefield is a key to victory and the ability to re-spawn troops close to the battlefront can make all the difference for that last offensive push. Four existing maps have been redesigned along with all new lighting and weather effects, to give players a great battlefield on which to play Conquest.  Upon entering one of these maps, the U.S. ARMY will face off against either the Russian or Middle Eastern Coalition forces and the battle for control of the territory will begin.

Free-loaders who are still hanging around the demo version of Bad Company will soon find it much more difficult to get into a game. The majority of the servers supporting online multiplayer in the demo will soon be shut down and converted to servers for the retail game. Surely by this point you’ll have decided whether or not you’re interested in buying the full game.

Sony fans hoping to catch WipEout HD for the PSN at E3 were doomed to disappointment. The company cited technical difficulties as the reason for its absence, but according to CVG, the futuristic racer failed the failed epilepsy tests. In fact, it failed so badly it will have to be re-engineered before release.

I’m listing this as a rumor because CVG doesn’t reference its sources, although I can easily see how the game might trigger seizures. The news is disappointing, but it’s better to find out about the inherent problem with WipEout HD before anyone gets hurt. Gaming Today will be watching for an official announcement from Sony.

via CVG

As if the hardware numbers didn’t clue you, Metal Gear Solid 4 dominated the software charts for last month here in the United States. The game sold 774,600 units, but if you combine that number with how many Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 bundles were sold (which include a copy of the game), the NPD estimates that about a million copies of MGS4 were sold last month. I guess people really wanted to know whether or not Snake and Otacon would have that dreamy ending they’ve been wanting since the end of the original Metal Gear Solid.

There are a few other easy-to-predict things in the top ten, such as Guitar Hero On Tour selling quite a few copies, as did Wii Fit and Wii Play. Battlefield: Bad Company (on 360) and Ninja Gaiden 2 both had strong sales, as did Mario Kart Wii.

But the major surprise — aside from GTA IV’s disappearance — is just how well Lego Indiana Jones sold. With the new movie being released, it was assured a good number of sales, but the Wii, PS2 and DS versions of the game combined for 822,600 copies sold, or in other words, straight cash money.

Kris Pigna over at 1UP made a good point regarding On Tour, suggesting that the game’s sales may have been much higher if the DS bundles were included in the figures. It’s worth keeping in mind, but I’m sure Activision is happy with selling 400k copies of a game that will likely have legs.

June 2008 Software Sales

1. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3) — 774,600 (Roughly 1 million including bundles)
2. Guitar Hero On Tour (DS) — 422,300
3. Ninja Gaiden II (Xbox 360) — 372,700
4. Wii Fit (Wii) — 372,700
5. Wii Play (Wii) – 359,100
6. Battlefield: Bad Company (Xbox 360) — 346,800
7. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) — 322,400
8. LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventure (Wii) — 294,500
9. LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventure (DS) — 267,800
10. LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventure (PS2) — 260,300

Well, here it is folks, the OFFICIAL TRACK LIST for Rock Band 2. All 84 tracks are master recordings. You can commence to drooling now.

Rock Band 2 On-Disc Track List:

1. AC/DC “Let There Be Rock” 1970s
2. AFI “Girl’s Gone Grey” 2000’s
3. Alanis Morissette “You Oughta Know” 1990’s
4. Alice in Chains “Man in the Box” 1990’s
5. Allman Brothers “Ramblin’ Man” 1970’s
6. Avenged Sevenfold “Almost Easy” 2000’s
7. Bad Company “Shooting Star” 1970’s
8. Beastie Boys “So Whatcha Want” 1990’s
9. Beck “E-Pro” 2000’s
10. Bikini Kill “Rebel Girl” 1990’s
11. Billy Idol “White Wedding Pt. I” 1980’s
12. Blondie “One Way or Another” 1970’s
13. Bob Dylan “Tangled Up in Blue” 1970’s
14. Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer” 1980’s
15. Cheap Trick “Hello There” 1970’s
16. Devo “Uncontrollable Urge” 1980’s
17. Dinosaur Jr. “Feel the Pain” 1990’s
18. Disturbed “Down with the Sickness” 2000’s
19. Dream Theater “Panic Attack” 2000’s
20. Duran Duran “Hungry Like the Wolf” 1980’s
21. Elvis Costello “Pump It Up” 1970’s
22. Fleetwood Mac “Go Your Own Way” 1970’s
23. Foo Fighters “Everlong” 1990’s
24. Guns N’ Roses “Shackler’s Revenge” 2000’s
25. Interpol “PDA” 2000’s
26. Jane’s Addiction “Mountain Song” 1980’s
27. Jethro Tull “Aqualung” 1970’s
28. Jimmy Eat World “The Middle” 2000’s
29. Joan Jett “Bad Reputation” 1980’s
30. Journey “Anyway You Want It” 1970’s
31. Judas Priest “Painkiller” 1990’s
32. Kansas “Carry On Wayward Son” 1970’s
33. L7 “Pretend We’re Dead” 1990’s
34. Lacuna Coil “Our Truth” 2000’s
35. Linkin Park “One Step Closer” 2000’s
36. Lit “My Own Worst Enemy” 1990’s
37. Lush “De-Luxe” 1990’s
38. Mastodon “Colony of Birchmen” 2000’s
39. Megadeth “Peace Sells” 1980’s
40. Metallica “Battery” 1980’s
41. Mighty Mighty Bosstones “Where’d You Go” 1990’s
42. Modest Mouse “Float On” 2000’s
43. Motorhead “Ace of Spades” 1980’s
44. Nirvana “Drain You” 1990’s
45. Norman Greenbaum “Spirit in the Sky” 1960’s
46. Panic at the Disco “Nine in the Afternoon” 2000’s
47. Paramore “That’s What You Get” 2000’s
48. Pearl Jam “Alive” 1990’s
49. Presidents of the USA “Lump” 1990’s
50. Rage Against the Machine “Testify” 1990’s
51. Ratt “Round & Round” 1980’s
52. Red Hot Chili Peppers “Give it Away” 1990’s
53. Rise Against “Give it All” 2000’s
54. Rush “The Trees” 1970’s
55. Silversun Pickups “Lazy Eye” 2000’s
56. Smashing Pumpkins “Today” 1990’s
57. Social Distortion “I Was Wrong” 1990’s
58. Sonic Youth “Teenage Riot” 1980’s
59. Soundgarden “Spoonman” 1990’s
60. Squeeze “Cool for Cats” 1970’s
61. Steely Dan “Bodhitsattva” 1970’s
62. Steve Miller Band “Rock’n Me” 1970’s
63. Survivor “Eye of the Tiger” 1980’s
64. System of a Down “Chop Suey” 2000’s
65. Talking Heads “Psycho Killer” 1970’s
66. Tenacious D “Master Exploder” 2000’s
67. Testament “Souls of Black” 1990’s
68. The Donnas “New Kid in School” 2000’s
69. The Go-Go’s “We Got the Beat” 1980’s
70. The Grateful Dead “Alabama Getaway” 1980’s
71. The Guess Who “American Woman” 1970’s
72. The Muffs “Kids in America” 1990’s
73. The Offspring “Come Out & Play (Keep ‘em Separated)” 1990’s
74. The Replacements “Alex Chilton” 1980’s
75. The Who “Pinball Wizard” 1960’s
76. Abnormality “Visions” 2000’s
77. Anarchy Club “Get Clean” 2000’s
78. Bang Camaro “Night Lies” 2000’s
79. Breaking Wheel “Shoulder to the Plow” 2000’s
80. The Libyans “Neighborhood” 2000’s
81. The Main Drag “A Jagged Gorgeous Winter” 2000’s
82. Speck “Conventional Lover” 2000’s
83. The Sterns “Supreme Girl” 2000’s
84. That Handsome Devil “Rob the Prez-O-Dent” 2000’s

More details on gameplay to be posted later.

Via: Press Release

A few weeks back (June 23rd to be exact) I had the pleasure of taking a quick trip out to sunny San Jose, California to visit the offices of MMO Developer Cryptic Studios. While there I got an update on the studio’s plans and their upcoming release Champions Online. Through fortuitous events I was lucky enough to get interview time with the company’s Chief Creative Officer Jack Emmert.

Champions Online is Cryptic’s latest MMO. Once again the topic de jeur is Super Heroes but this time the platform is a bit different since the game is being developed for both the PC and Xbox 360 platforms and is adopting and expanding the world setting and characters originally developed for the popular and long-published Champions Pen-and-paper RPG.

Mr. Emmert was kind enough to agree to allow the interview to be recorded and I’ve turned the entire 12 minutes into the first Special Edition of the File-N-Forget Podcast.

The podcast interview can be downloaded here and found on the File-N-Forget podcast page along with the other 30+ weekly episodes.

For those who prefer their interviews typed you can read a transcript of the conversation after the jump.

Keep an eye out in the coming weeks as the embargo lifts and I can share the details of my Champions Online Gamer’s Day experience more completely.

Read the full article