14 DAY TRIAL // For now only the North Americans living in their land of honey and milk are fortunate enough to play Rock Band, drumming on plastic drums and riffing on fake guitars. The music loving nations of Europe (we have Mozart and Chopin, Americans!) have to do with playing Guitar Hero for the third time and collecting blocks in Audiosurf.
But all that is set to change in the second quarter of 2008 when, at long last, Electronic Arts will release the European version of Rock Band to the delight of gamers. Until then, some new details regarding the release are coming out. At a Play.com event during this weekend, Electronic Arts demonstrated the Euro version of the game and eagle-eyed fans spotted some new tracks. After a bit of information exchange and color coding, it seems that ten new tracks were witnessed and that each major European games market will get some special songs.
For the UK, EA has prepared "Beetlebum" by Blur, "Rock 'n' Roll Star" by Oasis, "Through the Monsoon" by Tokyo Hotel and "Hysteria" by Muse. And OK, lineup if you like newer rock, but a few classics wouldn't have hurt, either.
French rockers will get "Manu Chao" by Les Wamaps, "L'Aventurier" by Indochine, and "New Wave" by Playmo, while German future Rock Band players will wrap their instruments around songs like "Hier Kommt Alex" by Die Toten Hosen, "Perfekte Welle" by Juli and "Countdown to Insanity" by H-Block X. What, no Rammstein and no Noir Desir? Electronic Arts, you surely must be keeping those for yourself till release date.
Meanwhile there are rumors regarding Guitar Hero. Sources within Sony Music are saying that it may be possible for a game to license the tracks of the Beatles. Imagine replaying the best from the most important band in the world. At this point nothing is sure, but speculation is abundant.