14 DAY TRIAL // Harmonix is trying to addict its customers to its Rock Band title. Arguably, the most complex band simulator on the market lets you play all the roles in a music band and try out a variety of songs either on voice, base, drums or lead guitar. But that's not addictive enough for developer Harmonix and publisher MTV. They think you should never leave the game, unless you need to sleep, eat, clean yourself or go to work. Any other distraction would limit the game experience.
Joking aside, Harmonix says that it will deploy the latest patch for Rock Band this weekend and that the most important addition to the game is an in-game music store. It means that you don't need to log out of the game to get new songs, but rather you can preview and purchase new tracks directly from the game.
Until now, more than 70 songs have been made available for download and use in the game, and 2008 will see the release of more than 80 new songs. The pricing can vary greatly, with some songs receiving promotions where they only cost 0.99 $, while some songs cost as much as 2.99 $. The downloads can be either full albums of individual tracks. More than 6 million songs have been downloaded since the game was launched last year.
The in-game store will allow players to filter the available songs by album, artist or price, while also offering all the details needed, from the price of the downloadable item to the artist, album cover and other production values.
Paul DeGooyer, who is MTV's gaming senior vice-president, said: "Thank you to the music lovers who have helped Rock Band reach an incredible milestone of over 6 million purchased downloads at such an early stage. The success of Rock Band downloadable content to date firmly reinforces our vision and its potential as a platform for music discovery."
If the update goes without any significant glitches, then the Rock Band experience might become significantly richer.