Category Archives: Rhythm action

Harmonix has announced that a three-pack of Canadian prog-rockers RUSH will be made available on PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360 December 13. Track include: Fly by Night, Caravan, and The Spirit of Radio (Live). Also to be made available are the singles Rebel Love Song from Black Veil Brides and A Warrior’s Call from Volbeat. Each track will run you $1.99, with an additional $0.99 for Pro tracks. More information is available on the Rock Band Blog.

Waveform has all the hallmarks of the next big thing. Get on board right now as we chat with its creator.

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Ubisoft has appealed a decision the Californian court made when it denied the firm a temporary restraining order against OG International’s Get Up and Dance title. The firm’s initial claim was that dance game used Avatars and instructors with resemblances “nearly identical” to those in Just Dance. According to the US District Court Judge on the case, Charles R. Breyer, Ubisoft has not “clearly demonstrated likelihood they are substantially similar,” and the dance title is now allowed to go on sale in the US. The UK release was unaffected by the proceedings. Thanks, MCV.

Ubisoft has announced Just Dance 3 sold over 700,000 units on Wii and Xbox 360 combined in the US from November 20-26, which was Black Friday week. The Wii version of the game is up 48% yoy compared to Just Dance 2 in the US. Tony Key, Ubisoft’s sales and marketing SVP, said: “Last week was an excellent start to the holiday shopping season for Ubisoft’s dance games. The popularity of Ubisoft’s dance games continues to gain momentum as these games appeal to a wide variety of consumers because they are fun to play alone or with friends and family.”

Just Dance 3 was released on Wii and Xbox 360 in October. The PS3 version releases next week in the US and UK. Thanks, Gamasutra.

NPD has been doing a bit of math, and according to its figures for the 12 months ending October 31, the dance genre has grown 326% percent year-over-year. When compared to overall videogame sales, the later has only grown yoy by 3%. Last month, NPD noted that the dance category was up 135% when comparing October 2010 figures to the same period in 2011. Two titles which can help confirm the growth in the genre are Just Dance and Dance Central: the former is up 85% yoy in sales and the later passed the 2.5 million sales mark in August of this year. According to NPD, 8 out of every 10 players of dance games are female, the majority of which are teenagers or younger.

Thanks, Joystiq.

Mad Catz has launched three new Xbox 360 Rock Band 3 bundles promoting its officially licensed peripherals. Each comes with the game and a voucher for five Red Hot Chilli Pepper DLC tracks, along with a Fender Mustang Pro-Guitar for $150, Stratocaster guitar for $70, or Precision Bass for $80; this last one comes in three colours.

Thanks, Joystiq.

Independent developer Eden Industries has launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund its unusual new game, Waveform. For just $5 you can secure a copy of the game on launch day, on every platform it graces, which is pretty sweet. As with all Kickstarter projects, if the funding attempt falls through, you won’t be charged.

The game has players manipulating light as it passes through the universe, navigating a variety of shape-changing objects and collecting items. Gameplay looks to be something like a blend of rhythm action and puzzle, and is complemented by trippy visuals and gorgeous chiptunes. Check out a trailer through the break.

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In a video celebrating the fourth birthday of the Rock band franchise, Harmonix staffers admitted to qualms about going head-to-head with a franchise they’d created.

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Microsoft’s announced that today’s Dance Central 2 DLC will be on all things Gaga: Marry The Night and Edge of Glory will both be available for 240 MS Points on Xbox Live Marketplace later this afternoon. These will be the third and fourth Gaga tracks added to the Harmonix dancer, which comes with Born This Way and Bad Romance on the disc.

MS has also said that Rhianna DLC will be inbound next month. Thanks, Joystiq.

Ubisoft’s announced this morning it’ll release Just Dance 3 on PS3 with Move support in the UK on December 9. The date’s confirmation is part of a press release celebrating growing worldwide sales for the sequel, which has seen it out-performing its predecessor by 85 percent. The series on Wii has been the number one for the platform for the past 12 of 13 months, according to NPD, ten of which are accounted to Just Dance 2, leaving one each to JD3 and Summer Party.

JD3 has already released in the UK for Wii and 360 via Kinect.

Final Fantasy rhythm spin-off Theatrhythm is releasing on February 16 in Japan, according to the game’s official website. The 3DS title is priced at ¥6,090. No western release has yet been confirmed by Square Enix.

Thanks, Andriasang.

A number of favourite characters have been revealed for Square Enix’s upcoming RPG rhythm hybrid, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.

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Bloomberg’s carrying a profile of Harmonx on its website, confirming it’s working on titles outside of the Dance Central or Rock Band. The tidbit came from Florian Hunziker, the COO of the company in a piece for BB. This year has been the strongest yet for the Boston developer in terms of revenue, bringing in $100 million for the year following the release of Rock Band 3 and Dance Central last year, the latter selling 2.5 million since its release as a launch title for Kinect.

More here.

In honour of Kinect’s first birthday and the release of Dance Central 2, Harmonix and Microsoft are throwing a massive DLC sale. The entire catalogue of Dance Central DLC has been discounted, with savings ranging from 25% off to bundle packs at less than half the price of regular track purchases.

The sale runs till November 5, so get your skates on.

Thanks, Joystiq.

ConnectedLondon has a Dance Central 2 promo video shot at the weekend, showing the Harmonix game in action in public alongside model Kelly Brook. There was also a DJ set from Little Boots at the London event. Watch it below.

Despite the push, the game only landed 40th in this morning’s UK charts.

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We Sing publisher Nordic Games doesn’t see a Guitar Hero-like fall from grace for the karaoke genre.

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No. Just putting that out there. The Harmonix taster comes in at 1.31Gb, and is Gold exclusive right. Queue it up here. The full thing’s out on Friday for Xbox 360.

Harmonix has announced details of the Coldplay pack that’s coming to Rock Band this week. Going for $1.99/160 MS Points/200 Wii Points per song or $9.99/800 MS Points/1000 Wii Points, included in the pack is Yellow from Parachutes, The Scientist and Clocks from A Rush of Blood to the Head, Fix You from X&Y, the title track from its last album Viva La Vida and Every Teardrop is a Waterfall from new album Mylo Xylo. Yellow and Clocks are upgradeable to Pro Guitar/Bass for an extra 99 cents.

Thanks, D’Toid.

Ubisoft has confirmed on Facebook that Rocksmith will not release in Europe until 2012. The game is still down for a release next week, but will miss here until next year due to “music licensing and other external factors.” For those thinking about importing, you may be out of luck. According to GameSpot, the 360 version is region-locked, and the PS3 version won’t be compatible in PAL as won’t post-launch DLC despite it being region-free.

Harmonix has announced that Coldplay will make its bow on Rock Band as DLC in the coming months. Stevie Wonder will also make his debut with the game as DLC, with Breaking Benjamin and Dream Theater making returns. All of the DLC for the aforementioned bands currently remain dateless, with no songs unconfirmed neither.

More details here.