If you own a copy of Rock Band on any of the iOS devices and play it regularly, then you will be shocked to know that EA is going to disable that on May 31st. Yes, your purchased copy of the game will be unplayable.

I really do not understand this decision by EA, as they could have removed the game but allowed people who bought it to continue playing it.

If you boot up Rock Band on the iOS, you will be greeted with a nifty little notification which says that the game will be no longer playable on the device, and as a bonus message, it says “Thanks for rocking out with us!”.

If I owned the game, I certainly wouldn’t be taking it so lightly. EA not given a proper justification for disabling owned copies.

The people on the Rock Band forums are obviously disappointed by this news, and EA would probably never do this to the PS3 and Xbox 360 copies, as the backlash will be way bigger.

EA is still selling the game for $5 on the App Store which makes it all the more baffling.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Despite belief that the rhythm action game was dead, Ubisoft will be releasing ‘Rocksmith’ a game following in the footsteps of guitar hero; only with real guitars. For those of you who do not own or play the guitar, fear not! Ubisoft are planning on releasing a bundle which will include a real bonafide guitar. “We will create a new generation of guitar players” says Ubisoft. The game will feature music from The Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Nirvana.

Thanks to Kotaku for the info.

On November 16th the following songs will be available for download for the Rockband games:

·         Bee Gees – “Jive Talkin’”
·         Bee Gees – “Night Fever”
·         Bee Gees – “Stayin’ Alive” X
·         Bee Gees – “Nights on Broadway”
·         Bee Gees – “Tragedy”
·         Bee Gees – “You Should Be Dancing”
·         B.B. King – “The Thrill Is Gone” X
·         Procol Harum – “A Whiter Shade of Pale”

Here is the official press release:

**ROCK BAND MEDIA ALERT**

NO JIVE TALKIN’ HERE: BEE GEES SIX PACK IS COMING TO ROCK BAND

THE LEGENDARY B.B. KING AND PROCOL HARUM MAKE ROCK BAND DEBUT

Cambridge, Mass. – Nov. 12, 2010 – Harmonix and MTV Games today announced that six of the Bee Gees’ greatest hits, including one track with Pro Guitar and Pro Bass, as well as singles from B.B. King and Procol Harum, will be available Nov. 16 in the Rock Band 3 Music Store of downloadable content for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Wii™.

Rock Band provides the deepest and best selection of artists, songs and albums through the Rock Band music platform, which features more than 800 artists and more than 2,000* tracks via disc and download purchase (complete list of tracks at www.rockband.com/songs). Rock Band’s gigantic music library dwarfs that of any other rhythm video game on the market. To date, more than 75 million songs have been sold through the Rock Band Music Store since its launch Nov. 20, 2007.

Rock Band DLC Additions for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system and Wii

Ready to try out those three-part vocal harmonies in Rock Band 3? We’ve got a workout for you! Next week, six songs from the legendary trio of brothers, the Bee Gees. Throughout their 40-year musical career, the Bee Gees have sold more than 200 million albums worldwide, making them one of the best-selling musical groups of all time. Next week, we’ll have “Jive Talkin’,” “Night Fever,” “Nights on Broadway,” “Tragedy,” “You Should Be Dancing” and the quintessential 70s hit, “Stayin’ Alive,” which will feature a Pro Guitar and Pro Bass upgrade.

The legendary blues song, “The Thrill Is Gone,” from guitar virtuoso B.B. King will also be available as downloadable content next week, featuring a Pro Guitar and Pro Bass upgrade. Although this song has been recorded multiple times, B.B. King’s version won him a Grammy® Award and a Grammy Hall of Fame award and is included in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs.

We’ve got fans of the keyboard covered next week as well, with “A Whiter Shade of Pale” from the British group, Procol Harum. Originally released in 1967, the song made it to No. 1 on the UK charts and No. 5 in the United States.

As always, songs available for downloadable content for Rock Band 3 feature five-button guitar and bass parts, drums, Pro Drums and keys, Pro Keys and harmonies, where applicable. Some songs also feature Pro Guitar and Pro Bass upgrades available for an additional $0.99 upgrade download.

Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 system (Nov. 16):
·         Bee Gees – “Jive Talkin’”
·         Bee Gees – “Night Fever”
·         Bee Gees – “Stayin’ Alive” X
·         Bee Gees – “Nights on Broadway”
·         Bee Gees – “Tragedy”
·         Bee Gees – “You Should Be Dancing”
·         B.B. King – “The Thrill Is Gone” X
·         Procol Harum – “A Whiter Shade of Pale”
(All tracks are original master recordings)
(These tracks will be available in Europe on PlayStation 3 system Nov. 17)

These tracks will be available for purchase as individual tracks, as well as “The Bee Gees Pack 01” on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system and Wii. Tracks marked with “X” will include Pro Guitar and Pro Bass expansions for $0.99 per song.

Price: $1.99 USD, £.99 UK, €1.49 EU (160 Microsoft Points) per song

$2.00 USD (200 Wii Points™) per song

$0.99 USD (100 Wii Points/80 Microsoft Points), £0.59 UK, €0.75 EU per song for eligible Pro Guitar/Pro Bass upgrade

$9.99, £4.99 UK, €7.99 EU (800 Microsoft Points, 1,000 Wii Points) for The Bee Gees Pack 01

** Dates for Rock Band game tracks are tentative and subject to change. **

*Available on-disc, via download and disc export. Internet connection and export key purchase required. Wii has more than 1,500 song tracks available for purchase on the Rock Band platform on-disc, via song import, and download. Not applicable to Nintendo DS™.

Website Links:

For more information, please visit:

Rock Band Website

Bee Gees Website

Rock Band 3 is available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system, Wii and Nintendo DS. Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system and Wii versions support downloadable content.

Downloadable content for Wii is purchased via the in-game Rock Band Music Store using Wii Points™ purchased through the Wii™ Shop Channel and can be downloaded to the system memory or to an SD card for additional storage.  The tracks stream directly from the SD card for seamless play.

The Rock Band Music Store allows players to preview and purchase downloadable individual music tracks and packs from the vast selection of offerings available to date without ever leaving the game as they build their own custom Rock Band library.  The complete list of tracks can be found at www.rockband.com/songs.
Rock Band 3 is rated “T” for Teen (lyrics, suggestive themes) by the ESRB. Music downloads are not rated by the ESRB.
For more information on Rock Band 3 and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.rockband.com and www.harmonixmusic.com.
Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.
“PlayStation” is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
Wii and Nintendo DS are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2006 Nintendo.

The only “new” aspect to the game is the harmonized vocals, exclusive to the Green Day set list, similar to what we saw in Beatles Rock Band. If you are not familiar with this new feature, it works like this, 3 mics get hooked up at once, the singer chooses harmonies instead of solo, and from now on 3 different lines will show up. Any of the singers can sing any of the parts, and they all count as one player. As you can see, this adds greatly to the party elemental of Rock Band.

Custom created character models

The game takes place across 3 venues, that capture 3 distinct eras of Green Day. The first venue is a fictional warehouse, a venue created by the collective spirit of Green Day’s early punk days. The second venue is Milton Keynes, the UK Bowl made famous by the 2005 Green Day film, “Bullet in a Bible”. The third is the Fox Theater in Oakland, where the band performed a small show for their newest album.

Worth noting is the fact that the albums Dookie and American Idiot will be available in their entirety, while 21^st Century Breakdown is fully available if you download 6 of the tracks from the Rock Band Music Store. And speaking of the Music Store, all the tracks from Green Day Rock Band are backwards compatible with Rock Band and Rock Band 2.

Get your Green Day rock on

The game will also support all previous Rock Band Instruments, and most Guitar Hero and 3rd party peripherals.

So if you are a Green Day fan, and a Rock Band fan, this game is everything you ever wanted. If you don’t really care about Green Day, then you will most likely pass this one over. If you are the former, check out the demo on Xbox Live and Playstation Network, and look for the game in stores June 8^th.

TheBeatlesRockBand.com introduces people to the unique interactive experience presented by The Beatles™: Rock Band™. Set in the game’s own distinctive style, it provides in-depth background information on the people, places and instruments featured in the game. Cutting-edge web design techniques and high-resolution, behind-the-scenes videos round out the experience. The Beatles: Rock Band was developed by Harmonix, the leading developer of ground-breaking music-oriented videogames that also include Rock Band, Rock Band 2, The Beatles: Rock Band and, the soon-to-be-released Green Day: Rock Band and Rock Band 3.

Harmonix and Apple Corps will be honored June 14 at a star-studded ceremony hosted by B.J. Novak of NBC’s “The Office” in New York City. Fans will be able to watch the ceremony on June 15, including Harmonix’s five-word speech, at the official Webby Awards YouTube Channel. A full list of both Webby Awards and People’s Voice Awards winners can be found at:
“http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=14”

Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by The New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile websites. The Webby Awards is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 650-person judging academy whose members include Martha Stewart, R/GA’s Chief Bob Greenberg, David Bowie, Arianna Huffington and Twitter’s Biz Stone.

“The Webby Awards honors the very best of the Internet,” said David-Michel Davies, executive director of the Webby Awards. “Harmonix’s achievement is a testament to the skill, ingenuity and vision of its creators.”

“We are excited an honored to have TheBeatlesRockBand.com win the Webby Award for Best Games-Related Website,” said Jeff Chausse, Harmonix’s Web Director. “We wanted to capture the artistry and magic of the game on the web, and this award is further confirmation that Harmonix has created a truly unique celebration of The Beatles’ music, which has really captured the public’s imagination.”

The 14th Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from over 60 countries and all 50 states.

These tracks will be available on Xbox 360 and Wii on October 27 and PlayStation 3 on October 29.

• · Rob Zombie – “Burn”
• · Rob Zombie – “Dragula”
• · Rob Zombie – “Superbeast”
• · Wolfmother – “New Moon Rising”
• · Wolfmother – “Pilgrim”
• · Wolfmother – “Sundial”
• · Wolfmother – “White Unicorn”
• · Wolfmother – “Woman”
• · Liz Phair – “Rock Me”
• · Morningwood – “Best of Me”
• · Morningwood – “Sugarbaby”

Rockband Unplugged will have “Kool Thing” by Sonic Youth and “My Old School” by Steely Dan available on October 29th.