The Cut Scene - Video Game Blog by Variety

The happiest person I've seen at E3

...was definitely Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos standing in the back of the balcony of the Orpheum theater with a big grin all throughout the "Rock Band" concert featuring The Who. (who are, I finally appreciated tonight, just as amazing as my mother and uncle always told me)

Rock Band 2 setlist

MTV unveiled the entire set list for "Rock Band 2" today. You've got the first videogame appearance of AC/DC and Bob Dylan, as well as a debut track from Guns N Roses' new album "Chinese Democracy."

And they revealed that in addition to working with all previous downloaded content, "Rock Band 2" will be able to import "most" of the songs from the original "Rock Band" disc. (Why not all? Hopefully we'll find out)

Check it out:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

	Artist	Song       Title	Decade
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
	Bonus       Artist	Bonus Song       Title	Decade
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

Harmonix goes from plaintiff to defendant

A few months ago Harmonix sued its former publisher Activision for allegedly not paying it proper royalties for "Guitar Hero III." That suit was dropped presumably to be settled out of court, but now Harmonix is on the receiving end of a music game related suit from one of its past publishers. Ahhh, the circle of life.

Konami, which  published Harmonix's "Karaoke Revolution" games, is suing the MTV-owned developer for allegedly violating its patents related to "simulated musical instruments, a music-game system and a 'musical-rhythm matching game,'" according to Bloomberg. Konami is demanding its fair share of the Benjamins, plus an order preventing Harmonix from using its patents. There's no indication of what such an order would do to "Rock Band' exactly, though I can't imagine it would be an easy fix.

Here's Harmonix's official response, according to Wired:

Konami's actions are extremely surprising. Unfortunately, successful products such as Rock Band can often become targets for baseless litigation. We have substantial defenses to this claim and intend to vigorously defend it.

Guitar Hero: On Tour helps you look totally lame anywhere you go

Comedy.com's Glitch in the System demonstrates how Guitar Hero: On Tour can help you make an ass out of yourself wherever you go:

Force Unleashed and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith schwag giveaway

Today's schwag giveaway... an Aerosmith faceplate for your Guitar Hero controller and "The Art and Making of Star Wars: Force Unleashed" coffee table book, complete with a foreword by Hayden Christensen, who had nothing to do with the game at all but starred in two movies set in the same universe, so you're probably all dying to know what he thinks (hint: his feelings about the game and the book are pretty positive). That aside, there is some pretty amazing art and a few "character cards" as well.

As always, the rules are simple. Each product goes to the first person who leaves a comment:

-Requesting the item

-Leaving your e-mail address so I can contact you

-Expressing genuine interest ("sure, I'll take it" does not compel me to send it to you)

You're not eligible if:

-You won a previous schwag giveaway

-You ask for both items

Rock Band 2's features

I wasn't able to go to the demo EA and MTV did for "Rock Band 2" a couple of weeks ago, as I was on vacation (poor me). So you'll have to wait until next week to get my opinion of how it all works in practice.

But for those who are curious, I can share all the key features of the game that are different and, hopefully, better than the original "Rock Band." There doesn't seem to be anything revolutionary here. Basically, it's "Rock Band 1" with most of players' complaints fixed.

-80-plus tracks on the disc, including Foo Fighters' "Everlong," Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Give It Away," Journey's "Any Way You Want It," and The Who's "Pinball Wizard"

-all previously downloaded songs are compatible

-all instruments are wireless

-mini-campaigns organized by instrument, artist, album, or genre

-each character can play any instrument (inability to do so was a MAJOR pain in the original "Rock Band")

-Band World Tour can now be done online

-Can switch up instruments and even lose the "band leader" during the tour

-Battle of the Bands, either versus friends' bands or in online contests organized by Harmonix

Microsoft to debut a new music game at E3

I don't really have any details at all, but I'm told by somebody involved in promoting it that Microsoft will be debuting "a brand new music/singing game." Given that "Rock Band 2" is an Xbox 360 exclusive (for a little while), I've got to imagine this is a much more casual title and not something that competes with "Guitar Hero" or "Rock Band' too directly.

Since I have so little info, this definitely falls into the "rumors" category, but it comes from a source who seems to know, so it's safe to say something is up with Microsoft and music next week.

Update: Kotaku links to my post and says the music/singing game in question is probably "Lips," from "Elite Beat Agents" developers iNiS. Given what a big fan I am of "Elite Beat" -- I've been playing it a lot recently after burning out on the lame and pointless "Guitar Hero: On Tour" -- that's pretty exciting. And a fun example of collaborative blog reporting. Go team geek journalists!

Guitar Hero Aerosmith rocks a bit, On Tour feels utterly pointless

Activision is in full "Guitar Hero" mode now, continuing to "exploit" the franchise (as Bobby Kotick puts it) with two new spin-offs. Neither is a great success, though our writer Leigh Alexander found that the "Aerosmith" edition is at least "accessible to newbies and a good intro to the band." I had plenty of nice things to say about "On Tour" as well, but I couldn't honestly give it a good review. It's an impressive adaptation of the franchise to the DS, but never gives a good reason as to why you'd want to play "Guitar Hero" on the DS when it's inescapably a non-rocking experience.

Leigh admired the way "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith" takes players through many of the greatest venues the band played and uses video interviews to "personalize the experience and get the uninitiated better acquainted." But she was disappointed by the song list (where's "Crazy," "Dude Looks Like a Lady" and "Janie's Got a Gun?"). And she's a little annoyed at the inclusion of non-Aerosmith songs and the fact that they're out of chronological order, so that the player doesn't really go through the arc of the band's career. "It feels a bit like the developers were aiming to avoid making a title solely for Aerosmith fans," she observes, "but since players who dislike Aerosmith will surely skip this title regardless, why not go all-out?" Without a lot of challenge, and with only 41 songs for the $60, Leigh says this probably won't appeal to those who have blistered their fingers on "Guitar Hero III." It's more for Aerosmith fans or  casual players who want toget  into the band. You can read her entire review here.

While "Aerosmith" is essentially "Guitar Hero III" with some new art and music, "On Tour" is a new experience. And I think you'd be crazy not to be impressed at how developer Vicarious Visions managed to maintain the fundamental "Guitar Hero" gameplay on the DS with the fret button attachment and the pick used on the touch screen.

But besides $$$$, why? Especially when played in public (as it often is), the DS is just not a device that encourages rocking out. And that's what "Guitar Hero," even more than those falling colored notes, is all about. Fundamentally, "Guitar Hero: On Tour" is just not a "Guitar Hero" experience. It's a spin-off without a good reason to exist.

Not to mention the fact that, inevitably for the DS, the audio quality is significantly lower, the graphics are choppy, the track list is short (just 25 for $50), and finger cramps are frequent. The only thing that works better on the DS is the "guitar duels," since it's easier to launch attacks with the touch screen and there are a few cool challenges designed for the DS, like having to sign an autograph while playing or re-connect a broken string. Of course it's probably notable that the only thing that works better in "On Tour" is the most annoying feature from "Guitar Hero III" and the one that had nothing to do with  music. My whole review is right here.

PS To the person who immediately put a comment on my "On Tour" review calling it "again another shoddy article from Variety," yes, I did accidentally write Axl Rose when I meant Slash and that was online a few hours until an editor caught it. I, ummm, appreciate your high standards.

Rock Band 2 launching in September as Xbox 360 exclusive

It's no surprise at all, of course, the "Rock Band 2" is coming this fall. There were lots of signs, from executive hinting at it to bands saying they'd be in it. Not to mention common sense that after all the money it spent buying Harmonix last year and the success of the first "Rock Band," even though it launched so late last year, this game is going to turn into a franchise.

But the fact that Microsoft landed it as a timed exclusive in North America is a surprise, and a big deal. No doubt Robbie Bach and Don Mattrick et al paid a pretty penny, either directly or in marketing support, for that deal. But combined with "Gears of War 2" and the pending price cut, that gives them a pretty compelling argument at E3 that they're going to have a boffo holiday season. Of course that's what they said last year with a price cut, "Halo 3," etc., and it worked during the holidays but faded come the new year.

No word yet on when "Rock Band 2" will come to PS3 and Wii (and maybe PS2?) except "later this year."Which I'm sure Nintendo and (especially) Sony is going to argue is all that really matters, since people will still be able to get "Rock Band 2" in time for holiday shopping. Not to mention "Guitar Hero: World Tour," which is going to be available for every system around the same time as "Rock Band 2" and pose a pretty formidable threat.

MTV and EA are saving a lot of the details about "Rock Band 2" for E3, which comes in just two weeks, but they are promising:

-New online modes. At a minimum, I'd guarantee that will mean the band tour will be available online. MTV execs I have spoken to admitted they know the fans wanted that. I'd also count on more competitive modes, including stuff like band battles

-New and improved drum and guitar peripherals. Though the old ones will still work. How closely will the drums resemble the new set for "Guitar Hero: World Tour?"

-Complete compatibility with songs downloaded for the original "Rock Band." Which makes sense since Harmonix has always spoken about "Rock Band" as a "platform," rather than just a game. Which means the online store will stay consistent even as the game and peripherals are updated

Of course, the big question hovering over it all: Now the "Guitar Hero" is essentially directly competing with "Rock Band" this fall with the "World Tour" version that has drums and singing... Which will be better? Since they're fundamentally the same game, it'll come down to a battle of features, quality, and, of course, marketing.

Activision and MTV competing for a Beatles game

The Financial Times reports that Apple Corp., which represents the Beatles catalog, has been holding talks with both Activision and MTV about making a Beatles-themed "Guitar Hero" or "Rock Band" game.

It's a bit surprising given that Apple Corp. still hasn't reached a deal with Apple Inc. (or anyone else) to sell Beatles tracks online. But it would also be a big step forward for either of the major music games and for videogaming in general into the mainstream.

Given how fiercely Activision and MTV already compete to lock up bands exclusively for each of their games, you can bet that the bidding will be fierce if Apple Corp. is really ready to make a deal. The FT says a deal could be worth "several million dollars," but I would say that's probably that's a conservative estimate given what the royalties on a game where players can live out their Beatles dream would probably be.

Why one-upping "Rock Band" is probably enough for "Guitar Hero: World Tour"

When Activision officially announced "Guitar Hero: World Tour" last week, I'll admit I had nothing to say. As regular Cut Scene readers know, I previously confirmed that the game would have a full suite of instruments just like "Rock Band." Weighing in on the exact details of the controllers of the release date and what not didn't seem too relevant.

But after reading the "world exclusive" (not "galaxy exclusive?") Game Informer story and the blog coverage and press releases and everything, I'm struck by what a great position Neversoft is in. They've basically gotten to analyze what was lacking in "Guitar Hero 3" and "Rock Band," fix all those problems, and copy everything else. With the notable exception of the song creator, it seems that's what "Guitar Hero World Tour" basically is.

(Tangent: Is "Guitar Hero" officially off of using numbers now? Or will this be like "GTA: San Andreas" and "Vice City" and we'll see a "Guitar Hero IV" in a few years?)

I mean, think about it. We've got the same basic setup as "Rock Band," but with a cooler drum kit and guitars. We've got the exact same interface as "Rock Band," because hell, that worked well. We've got band vs. band, which is something many of us felt was lacking in "Rock Band." In Game Informer, the Neversoft interviewee (I don't have the article in front of me right now) promises you won't have to play the same song over and over to beat band world tour, which was obviously a fault of "Rock Band's." You've got Activision promising to finally really have a big selection of downloadable songs, a category where it trailed behind MTV. You've got much more detailed and realistic visuals (such as the one at left) like those in "Rock Band," which were far superior to the cartoonish caricatures in "Guitar Hero III."

They even appear, based on the GameStop listings, to be selling separate instrument kits, something else "Rock Band" was lacking at launch. Of course this won't do much for those of us with "Rock Band," since I highly doubt those controllers will interoperate, but at least those who own an older "Guitar Hero" guitar and aren't ready to dish out the dough to upgrade will have an option.

Obviously Neversoft has to execute on all these fronts. But if it does, it'll basically be the best of "Guitar Hero" combined with the best of "Rock Band," plus fixes for the problems both games had. Plus one true innovation in the form of the song creator.

That's not exactly a big step forward. But on the other hand, if there isn't a new version of "Rock Band" that raises the stakes, I don't see how why anyone interested in a music game wouldn't buy "World Tour." Even if a lot of it is ripped off of "Rock Band," it'll be superior (probably) and that's what matters, right? I guess the question is when and whether MTV is going to step up with "Rock Band 2." It's getting pretty late to come up with something for the holiday season. If it doesn't (which would be understandable given how rushed the first "Rock Band" was), then Christmas 2008 is really going to belong to Activision.

Battle of the Bands: bad controls and stereotyped characters on the wrong system

THQ's new music/rhythm entrant "Battle of the Bands" is out and Variety critic Leigh Alexander doesn't have too many nice things to say about it. She likes the core idea: "A competition between two genres of the same song... players can be privy to a disco 'Blitzkrieg Bop' or even a surprisingly lovely Spanish-language mariachi version of Def Leppard's 'Photograph,'  only to hear the genre flip again when the other team, controlled by a friend or the computer, has its moment in the sun."

But the controls aren't up to par, the graphics are "terrible, even for the underpowered Wii," and the characters designs "aim for edgy but land squarely on obnoxious."

Leigh makes two particularly important points I wanted to highlight. One is that if you define your characters entirely by the musical genre they play, well, you're not going to get the most racially sensitive characters. So we end up with "some questionable portrayals of redneck country singers and bling-bling black rappers." Maybe "Resident Evil 5" isn't the only game that could use a little more racial sensitivity in a diverse world.

Also: It's understandable that developers want to make more games for the Wii given how well it's playing and given the relative lack of quality games for the console. But as Leigh says, "only certain types of games make solid Wii titles." And a game that requires precise timing and movement detection isn't one of them, since we all know the Wii's motion sensor more gets the gist of what you're doing then exactly what you're doing. "This one," Leigh concludes, "probably would have worked better as a timed tapper on the DS, along the lines of "Elite Beat Agents."

Read the whole review right here.

Yes, "Guitar Hero IV" will have multiple instruments

I suppose confirming something that Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said in an interview is kind of a moot point, but for what it's worth, I can indeed confirm that "Guitar Hero IV" will have multiple instruments in a bid to compete directly with "Rock Band."

A source at developer Neversoft told me something along those lines recently and I've been busy trying to confirm it. Turns out I don't have to, since Portfolio beat me to the punch. Just goes to show that sometimes the easiest way to find out what's going at Activision is to get the ever-chatty Kotick talking for a while. It seems to get him to let his guard down and then all sorts of good stuff comes out.

Of course the question now is, how will "Guitar Hero IV" improve on "Rock Band's" vocals and drums? Will there be more instruments beyond that? And will MTV be announcing "Rock Band 2" for the holidays sometime soon? It's starting to get a little late in the year to at least confirm the game is coming. I would hope and expect that's going to happen soon, at least if they want to compete with "Guitar Hero" by having a new edition every fall. (Although really competing with "Guitar Hero" would mean like four new editions per year.)

Rock Band gets full album downloads starting with Judas Priest

Given how incredibly ambitious it was and what a tight schedule it was on, “Rock Band” came pretty close to fulfilling its promise out of the gate last year.

One item that was promised that hasn’t come yet, however, is full albums. Until now.

On Tuesday, Judas Priest’s “Screaming for Vengeance” will be the entire album available for download on Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Network. It will cost $14.99, which is about a 16% discount from buying all 9 tracks for $1.99 each (actually it’s 10 tracks, but two are sold together I guess because they’re really short. I’m no Judas Priest fan.)

Harmonix head Alex Rigopulos told me they’ve been trying to get a full album available for download, but getting the complete recording of every single song on an album has turned out to be exceedingly tough. They got really close with

Boston

Other full albums set to come out soon include The Pixies’ “DoLittle” and The Cars self-titled debut. Future albums will vary in price, depending on how many songs they are. But Rigopulus promised that they’re basically passing on whatever discount there is in the wholesale price to players.

What about The Who’s “Who’s Next?” That was the one album Harmonix and MTV promised they’d have early on. Well, it doesn’t appear to be on the immediate horizon. But Rigopulos promised “We’ll be announcing something big involving The Who shortly.” Hmmmm

Also of note: “Rock Band” has now sold 8 million track downloads. That’s up from 6 million as of one month ago, which was four months from the game’s debut. So they’ve accelerated from about 1.5 million per month to 2 million in a month. Sure, they’ve sold some more copies, but Rigopulos also confirmed that they’ve been doing better since they launched the music store in game, which is about 10,000 times more convenient than finding the tracks in Xbox Live Marketplace (and, I assume, however it’s done on the PS3).

’s self-titled debut album. One song comes in the game and another six are already available to download as a track pack. But there’s one song recorded in a different studio that they just couldn’t get. “That would have been our first full album release probably,” he noted.

Portal's "Still Alive" free to download for "Rock Band"

Sure, games like "Rock Band" may be expanding the market and bringing in lots of "non-traditional" gamers. But every once in a while us "real" gamers need to know the publishers still love us. So bless the hearts of Harmonix, MTV, and Valve for bringing "Still Alive," the hilarious and brilliant song from the end of the hilarious and brilliant "Portal," to "Rock Band" tomorrow, where it will be free to download for PS3 and 360. And no, it's not an april fool's prank.

Honestly, I'm very happy about this. It's hard to overstate my satisfaction.

I've been spending a lot of time perfecting my drum skills (well, trying to make it through the hard solo tour) on "Rock Band" recently, but I think I want to call vocals for this one.

(Thanks, Kotaku)

Rock Band download store... finally

How in the world did MTV/Harmonix manage to sell 6 million "Rock Band" track downloads so far? I ask not because the game isn't awesome (it is) or because there aren't some great songs to download (there are), but because the the downloads are so damned hard to find.

Until today, there was no way to access the downloadable tracks from the game. On Xbox 360, you had to go to the console menu, click on "game store," click "more" or "other" (something like that), click the "music" category, then click on  "rock band," then scroll through the available song titles . OK, that's not exactly the process, but it was definitely at least four clicks and a major, confusing pain in the ass.

Then when you find the songs, the information scrolls very slowly on the right before you finally find the name of the artist and whether it was a cover. Basically, it's a nightmare. The fact that people went through that six million times is amazing to me, and definitely a testament to how great "Rock Band" is.

That number's going to get a whole lot bigger now that MTV/Harmonix has finally released an update with a really well designed music store accessible from the game's main menu. Wired's Game/Life blog (from whom I stole the above screenshot) has a great rundown. Suffice it to say it's easy to navigate, has album art, difficult ratings, previews... it basically looks kind of like what we've come to expect from music download services like iTunes and Rhapsody.

It's a shame it took Harmonix this long to launch the store (albeit understandable given the crazy tight schedule for "Rock Band's" release) but at least they knew what they needed to do and got it right.

(This is also, it's worth noting, way better in design and depth of content than what "Guitar Hero III" offers.)

Harmonix sues Activision, then quickly withdraws

As I'm reporting in tomorrow's Daily Variety (and you can read now online), original "Guitar Hero" developer Harmonix has sued the game's current publisher Activision for more than $14.5 million in allegedly unpaid royalties. But between the time I started reporting the story this morning and when I finished up this evening, Viacom (Harmonix's corporate owner) withdrew the suit.

Essentially, the now defunct lawsuit claims that under Harmonix's agreement with RedOctane (the first publisher of "Guitar Hero," which was subsequently bought by Activision), it is owed the higher of two royalty rates if any sequel that it doesn't develop "incorporates, uses, or is derived from Harmonix property." In addition, when that happens, it is also supposed to be paid a royalty on any related revenue from song downloads, in-game advertising, consumer products, etc.

However, if there's a "Guitar Hero" sequel that doesn't use any of Harmonix's work, the suit says, the developer is owed a lower royalty rate, half of the higher, and doesn't get any cut of song downloads and other ancillary products. Harmonix claims that Activision is trying to pay it the lower royalty rate -- which would mean Neversoft essentially built "Guitar Hero III" from scratch -- but it is owed the higher rate. That translates into $14.5 million and counting from "Guitar Hero III," an unknown amount of money from song downloads and other products, and future losses that "will mount at the rate of tens of millions of dollars per year."

Activision isn't admitting that it did anything wrong and in fact its general counsel told me "Activision believes that it has made sufficient payments to Harmonix and the claims otherwise do not have merit." But it was apparently spooked enough that it has agreed to further discuss the issue with Harmonix, which prompted Viacom to withdraw the suit less than two days after filing it.

There are lots more details, but rather than summarize them all, I'll just encourage you to read my story on Variety.com.

Viacom and EA disagree about how many units Rock Band sold

Viacom's additional $208.7 million payment to Harmonix, on top of the initial $175 million, is quite extraordinary. That's a pretty sweet deal for Alex Rigopulos et al (not that they don't deserve it. And it's definitely a sign that MTV expects big things out of the developer beyond a long life for "Rock Band." But others have covered this issue pretty well, especially Newsweek's Level Up, so I'll direct you to them for a more thorough analysis.

However as I was researching Viacom's 10-K (its annual report to the SEC) to check the numbers myself, I noticed this interesting statement: "Harmonix’s latest game is Rock Band, which as of December 31, 2007 had sold over 1.1 million bundles since its launch on November 20, 2007." That struck me as curious, since I remembered something different when I covered Electronic Arts earnings in late January. So I checked EA's latest earnings report and sure enough: "The critically-acclaimed Rock Band had a strong North American launch on the Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION3 and PlayStation 2 -- selling 1.5 million copies."

I suspect there's a simple explanation behind this, since neither of these companies would be crazy enough to dissemble in a public statement and open themselves up to liability from angry shareholders (especially EA, since I don't think Viacom would be purposefully understating "Rock Band" sales.)

Still, 400,000 is a big difference. Which leaves us all wondering... just how many units did "Rock Band" really sell last year?

Disney's "Ultimate Band"... everything you wanted to know

By now you've probably heard about Disney's new entry into the music/rhythm category, "Ultimate Band," which comes out in the fall. If not, check out my story from yesterday's Daily Variety.

You probably know the basics: It's a music game for Wii and DS that uses their motion sensing / touch screen to play the instruments, so it doesn't come with any extra peripherals. It's being developed by Disney Interactive's Fall Line Studio in Utah, which DIS established in 2006 to make Wii and DS games. Though the development house has contributed to some other projects, this is the first game that's being made entirely at Fall Line.

But I learned a lot more that I wasn't able to fit in the story. So here, direct from my interview with Senior Game Designer Derek Dutelly, are all the details on "Ultimate Band"

-The DS version will use the same technology as the "Hannah Montana" music game for Nintendo's handheld system that Disney Interactive put out last year. It's basically the same game with all new visuals. That means in addition to playing instruments by tapping them on screen, players can also create original compositions and share them with friends via the DS wireless connection. They can also play in a virtual band together via bluetooth.

-By using the Wii peripherals, Disney wants to make "Ultimate Band' much easier to pick-up-and-play than "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band." "We're 'Burnout' and they're 'Grand Turismo,'" Dutilly said to illustrate the difference.

-The drum-playing mechanic doesn't use any pointing. Instead, "Ultimate Band" utilizes the Wii-mote accelerometer to tell how and when players are tapping an invisible drum kit. How can you get more than two notes out of the Wii-mote and nunchuk? By swinging either controller to the side, instead of just up and down.

-For guitar, players strum by moving the Wii-mote up and down. Different notes are played with combinations of the "c" and "z" buttoms on the nunchuk, which players hold up like the neck of a guitar.

-"The bass is not just a dumbed down version of the guitar," Dutilly promises, taking on a common complaint about "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band." In addition to the basic notes and strumming from the guitar mechanic, bass players can move the nunchuk up and down to simulate sliding along the neck of the bass. That gives them a range of extra notes.

-There's no singer, because Disney didn't want to include (and charge for) a microphone with the game. Instead there's is what Disney calls the "front man." That's the person whose job it is to move around and get the crowd riled up. No, I'm not quite sure what that means either, but it sounds like it'll either be innovative and cool or the really lame position for the person who knows literally nothing about videogames.

-That concept of riling up the crowd is important throughout "Ultimate Band." Beyond the "front man," other  players have the ability to get  the crowd roaring. That's what the "a" button letting the guitarist "grandstand" in the above screenshot is, I assume. And the drummer has the ability to swing the sticks in his or her hands between notes to excite the audience (the audience is easily excitable, it seems).

-Songs already announced include "Steady as She Goes" by the Raconteurs, the Who's "My Generation" and "Fell in Love With a Girl" by the White Stripes. They're all covers, which Disney says is because the game is designed to not have any long stretches without one instrument playing (which can get annoying in "Rock Band"). I'm sure the lower cost of covers may have influenced a budget-conscious company like Disney a bit too.

-Visual design and song selection will all be pretty tame. Disney is targeting an E-10 + rating.

I didn't quite have the chutzpah to ask Dutilly what seemed like the most obvious question to me: Couldn't you guys have come up with a better name than "Ultimate Band?" Was "Super Rock Band" already taken by someone?

Activision: More of the same, Disney: Something different

Some interesting details on two big publishers and two very different plans to grow their businesses came this week.

Continuing its strategy of carefully expanding its slate beyond properties from its parent company, Disney Interactive finally announced "Pure," the first title from Black Rock Studios (nee Climax Racing), the British developer it acquired in 2006. It's apparently avoiding competition with the Project Gotham Racing and Burnout's of the world by focusing almost exclusively on "extreme" aerial tricks and stunts.

That's not exactly the core of Disney Interactive Studios' business, of course, nor is releasing only on PC, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360. But the publisher has a very healthy base of games that come straight out of its brand, like "High School Musical" for Wii and DS, so it's trying to expand into other areas. The first such effort, "Turok," just came out to a decidedly mixed critical response (though I thought it was a solid if not spectacular effort). And we can probably expect something just as different when we finally find out what what Warren Spector is doing for Disney.

Activision, meanwhile, is doing the opposite: taking its hit franchises and exploiting the hell out of 'em. The newest example is "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith," one of two spin-offs the publisher is releasing for its uber-successful music game series this spring before a proper sequel in the fall. Of course, now that this strategy of doing games dedicated to a single band is out, the possibilities are endless. Any music fan could easily come up with a hundred new "Guitar Hero" sequels. And I wouldn't be surprised if we see them all on the shelves within five years.

Of course the great part for Activision is all it has to do is program a few dozen new songs, re-skin the game (and not even that well, based on the photo above) to give it an aesthetic for whatever band the sequel is dedicated to, and then sell it for $50 or $60. That's the kind of profit margin most game execs would execute their first-, second-, and third-born to enjoy.

Rock Band has a great month, and maybe PS3 too

I wouldn't be surprised if Playstation 3 is in the headline for most stories about the January vidgame  sales data from NPD, but to me the biggest surprise was "Rock Band."

While most of the top 10 games chart was the same as we saw in December, "Rock Band" rocketed from nowhere (at least not in the top 10) to take the no. 4 slot with its Xbox 360 version. Aided by a high price compares to typical games, and even "Guitar Hero III" with its controller, "Rock Band" across all three of its platforms was the no. 1 revenue generating game for the month at $30 million.

"Rock Band" even sold better on the Xbox 360 than "Guitar Hero III," by a razor thin margin of 184,000 compared to 183,000. Of course, "Guitar Hero III" for Wii did even better, though, selling 240,000.

On the hardware side, the shocker is that PS3 outsold 360 for the first time and almost beat Nintendo's Wii (exact sales figures below). As I noted in my story for tomorrow's Daily Variety, there were likely several contributing factors, including:

-More PS3's in stock after the holidays than the competing systems, both of which outsold it all of last year.

-Warner Bros' decision to switch to Blu-ray, essentially ending the format war and putting PS3 in an excellent position as an inexpensive, multi-use Blu-ray player.

-Good old fashioned momentum for the PS3 thanks to the price cut and a growing library of solid games like "Uncharted" and "Ratchet and Clank: Future."

Of course, it's still worth noting that only one PS3 game was in the top 10 and for total system spend on games, hardware and accessories, Xbox 360 remains in the lead (360: $297 million; Wii: $244 million; PS3: $219 million). Clearly, 360 still has the hearts of the hard core gamers with the most cash to burn.

Here's the data so you can make sense of it yourself:

January 2008 hardware sales

Wii: 274,000

Playstation 3: 269,000

DS: 251,000

PSP: 230,000

Xbox 360: 230,000

January 2008 game sales

Call of Duty 4, Xbox 360: 331,000

Wii Play, Wii: 298,000

Guitar Hero III, Wii: 240,000

Rock Band, Xbox 360: 184,000

Guitar Hero III, Xbox 360: 183,000

Super Mario Galaxy, Wii: 172,000

Burnout Paradise, Xbox 360, 144,000

Call of Duty 4, PS3: 140,000

Mario Party, DS: 139,000

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, DS: 133,000

Music downloads: More total for Guitar Hero 3, but more per capita for Rock Band

One other nuggets from today's Activision earnings worth noting...

On the earnings call, Publishing President Mike Griffith said Activision has sold over five million song downloads for "Guitar Hero 3" on Xbox Live since the game launched. Recall that "Rock Band" has sold 2.5 million.

Of course, given that EA/MTV have sold 1.5 million copies of "Rock Band" in the U.S., compared to 6.5 million for "Guitar Hero 3," it appears that on a per capita basis, it's advantage: "Rock Band."

(One caveat: the vast majority of "Rock Band" units were for PS3 and 360, while many copies of "Guitar Hero III" were PS2 and Wii, which don't offer downloadable content. And Activision didn't include PS3 stats, for whatever reason. It's not clear how close the margin is just in terms of 360 owners.)