It was the third most wanted game for the rest of 2008 by the Co-Optimus staff, and the release for the 360 is just around the corner. So what do you need to know about Rock Band 2?
First of all, the exact method for exporting songs from Rock Band 1 to Rock Band 2 has been revealed. An update for Rock Band 1 (currently available) adds the "export" option to the original game. Rockers next input a password included with their copy of Rock Band 2. After that, for the quite reasonable price of $5, all but a handful of the tracks will be copied to the hard drive and available in Rock Band 2. This is quite exciting news, indeed, very consumer friendly and earns another thumbs up for Harmonix. So what tracks are in that handful that won't be copied over?
"Enter Sandman" by Metallica
"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath (cover)
"Run to the Hills" by Iron Maiden (cover)
"Monsoon" by Tokio Hotel (a DLC song from the European disc).
We'll certainly miss them, but that's not too bad given the ninety meelion songs (a rough estimate) available in Rock Band.
Now, what about your instruments? Will your trusty RB guitar still work in Rock Band 2? How about if you want to get the Rock Band 2 Drum Kit, when it's released next week? Can you still use it in Rock Band 1, or even, say, Guitar Hero: World Tour? It appears the answer is yes! Rock Band 2 will be totally compatible with all RB1 insruments , of course. IN addition, a post over at the official PlayStation Blog assures PS3 musicians that all the instruments in Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour, and even Rock Revolution will "all feature a basic level of gameplay compatibility." A similar post regarding the Xbox 360 versions was made shortly thereafter.
A few specific features will only be available with certain peripherals, however. For example, GH:WT has more drum inputs than RB. If you play GH:WT with RB drums, it'll compress the extra track in automatically. If you want all the tracks seperate, though, you need the GH:WT drums.
A few things are still unknown right now: will Rock Band 1 instruments work in Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Revolution? Will the old GH2 guitars work on these games, too? I certainly hope so, but am unaware if any official information has been made available. We'll keep you posted, but in the meantime, dust off those intruments and get your voice tuned up for some online World Tour on the 360!