Play Rock Band Wii for as little as $80 (hopefully)
Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 6:56pm by Blake
In response to today’s announcement that MTV Games will sell Rock Band expansion discs in lieu of downloadable Wii songs, Harmonix has confirmed to Game|Life that gamers need only buy the expansion pack if they just want to play the 20 included songs and have the means to acquire at least one supported instrument. Assuming Rock Band works with the excellent $50 Front Man controller (Circuit City has ‘em), Wii owners could sample the action for as little as $80 before upgrading to the full 4-piece instrument set and/or game. Penance perhaps for the lack of online multiplayer and DLC.
May 5th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Doubt that controller will work since the Rock Band guitar doesn’t use the Wii Remote. It connects wirelessly using a USB dongle. (Confirmed in the new Nintendo Power.)
May 5th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Also, being able to play those 20 songs just on guitar isn’t exactly what I’d call worth $80. There’s literally only two songs on there I want to play.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Apparently this expansion disc will also be available for the PS2 version of Rock Band, which I already have.
No matter the platform, I’d still rather be able to choose what songs I want but this is a step in the right direction at least to support us non-hard drive supporting Rock Band players.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
*Ahem* I bought he “official” Les Paul guitar for $50 @ Gamestop last Thursday. I don’t know if it was a mistake or what – but I was/am one happy camper. RB for the Wii will blow big time. I’m waiting for my PS3 before I pick it up.
May 6th, 2008 at 1:37 am
I stand corrected. I didn’t read the first part of the post. While I would like to be able to CHOOSE only the tracks I want to purchase, $1.50 per track (http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2008/05/05/ps2-wii-rock-band-to-get-new-song-packs-on-july-15) is not bad at all. I may just have to pick it up…
May 6th, 2008 at 11:00 am
You probably forgot Blake but indeed, Rockband won’t play nice (or at all) with Guitar Hero’s peripherals on the Wii. MAYBE the 3rd parties know something we don’t but it’s more likely we’ll have to wait for a Rockband 3rd party controller to game on the cheap.
May 6th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Liraco,
Didn’t someone make a converter box to allow them to play nice on the PS3 or 360? I hope they can do the same thing for the Wii.
May 6th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Jaime, I never said it was impossible but since one uses the Wiimote and the other a direct connection, it seems that they’re completely incompatible to begin with.
Still, one can hope.
May 7th, 2008 at 11:49 am
@ Liraco,
Good point. Here’s hope to the hacking community.