EA, MTV and Harmonix announce "Rock Band" for Xbox 360, PS3

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Electronic Arts Inc., an American publisher and distributor of computer and video games, on Monday said it has joined hands with Viacom Inc.'s MTV and Harmonix, developer of the blockbuster Guitar Hero franchise, and will deliver a new music game, "Rock Band," giving music fans and gamers a new platform to interact with music and themselves.

“Rock Band” is scheduled to release exclusively on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles in December 2007.

On their new platform, Rock Band, which is distributed by EA, Alex Rigopulos, co-founder and chief executive of Harmonix said the new game takes the core premise of Guitar Hero and expands it tenfold adding further that it enables gamers create a complete collaborative band.

"'Rock Band' is Harmonix's most ambitious project to date, and it will take music gameplay to an entirely new level," said Rigopulos. On their collaboration with MTV, he said, “MTV has given us the freedom and the resources to really swing for the fences and make the game we’ve always wanted to make.”

Rock Band will allow players collaborate online, making music along with their friends as a virtual band with the help of four musical based controllers such as lead guitars, bass guitar, a drum kit and microphone peripherals. Besides connecting gamers and music fans to others who are online at the same time, it will also provide an online support that will include the ability to form bands with people in other countries.

“You could have one guitarist in Germany and another one in Texas, a drummer in New York and a singer from somewhere else, and they can play together online,” said David DeMartini, vice president and general manager of Redwood City, California-based EA Partners. "The team at EA Partners is thrilled to help MTV and Harmonix launch this incredible game on the global stage and get it into the hands of gamers worldwide."

The Massachusetts-based Harmonix developed rhythm games "Frequency" and "Amplitude" as well as the "Karaoke Revolution" series. The "Guitar Hero" games have been Harmonix's biggest hit to date, appealing to a broad audience of music lovers.

According to a press release published on Harmonix’s web page, the leading music publishers, EMI Music Publishing and Warner/Chappell Music, are allowing unrivaled access to their catalogs of incredible songs for use in Rock Band.

The leading record labels such as EMI Music, Hollywood Records, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group's Universal Music Enterprises and Warner Music Group's Rhino Entertainment have agreed to supply master recordings by their artists for use in the game.

“This game offers a meaningful way for labels to participate in a segment of entertainment they, for the most part, have not been able to,” said Jeff Yapp of MTV, which is supporting the game's production and negotiating deals with record labels.

The new game could pose challenge for Activision Inc., which acquired the publisher of the popular Guitar Hero franchise, RedOctane last year. Santa Monica, CA-based Activision, which produces titles for console game systems such as Sony's PlayStation 2, Microsoft's Xbox, and Nintendo's GameCube, now publishes "Guitar Hero II".

Although Rock Band initially would compliment PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but Wii owners need not to worry as Harmonix’s Rigopulos says he will bring this new platform to any and all viable consoles.

"Absolutely, we will at some time bring Rock Band to every console of significance," Rigopulos said. "I think [Wii] is something that holds enormous potential for music games."