Rock Band and Dance Central developer Harmonix has successfully been sold, former owner Viacom announced today, to itself--going privately-owned once again as an affiliate of investment firm Columbus Nova. Truly, it is a Festivus miracle!

"We're excited to be returning to our roots as an independent and privately owned studio," Harmonix wrote on its blog. "As for what it means for you, the DLC schedule marches on for Rock Band, we will continue our support of previously released titles and we're hard at work on some unannounced projects that we think you're going to be pumped about." Read more »

A group of ex-shareholders in Rock Band developer Harmonix, including several studio founders, are suing its parent company Viacom, Gamasutra reports, over allegedly attempting to avoid paying out performance-based bonuses for the rhythm game series.

When Viacom bought Harmonix back in 2006 for $175 million, it was agreed that Harmonix shareholders would be paid bonuses if the developer exceeded performance targets in 2007 and 2008. The ex-shareholders claim that they were never paid the 2008 bonus, which would have been based on any profit over $42 million. As the Rock Band franchise's retail sales were over $1 billion in 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, the profits and payouts were probably substantial. The plaintiffs are still calculating a figure. Read more »

Last night, I saw Paul McCartney at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. It was an amazing show, through and through. Two things struck me, which shows the power that video games have in our society.

During two songs, video footage from The Beatles: Rock Band was shown behind Paul and his band. It really speaks to the quality of the work done by Harmonix to be used on tour by McCartney himself as well as Paul's endorsement of the project beyond its release. Read more »

It's a triple-header of Rock Band news today, so brace yourself for some rocking.

First up, Rolling Stone has revealed that Otis Redding will be coming to the music game franchise as downloadable content on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii next week.

Next, developer Harmonix has detailed when timed Xbox 360-exclusive The Beatles: Rock Band DLC track "All You Need Is Love" will be available on PlayStation 3 and Wii. Read more »

A new trailer showing off the third album-sized downloadable track pack for The Beatles: Rock Band has arrived. The upcoming downloadable track-pack brings players the 15 remaining songs from the album "Rubber Soul" to The Beatles: Rock Band that didn't come with the original game.

The track-list is as follows:

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Next week's lineup of downloadable tunes coming to Rock Band, LEGO Rock Band and The Beatles: Rock Band has been unveiled by series developer Harmonix, with everything slated to hit Xbox 360 and Wii on December 15 then PS3 on December 17.

First up, the assortment of regular Rock Band and LEGO Rock Band DLC, which carry the usual price of $2 / 160 Microsoft Points / 200 Wii Points per song and $5.49 / 440 MS Points for the three-song "Green Day Pack 02" bundle." Read more »

With The Beatles: Rock Band set to receive the eight Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band tracks not included with the rhythm game this week as downloadable content, Harmonix has put together a medley trailer celebrating the whole psychedelic shebang.

The album's eight remaining tracks arrive on Xbox 360 and Wii today for $2 (160 Microsoft Points) a pop then are due Thursday on PlayStation 3. 360 and PS3 players can buy them as a bumper bargain track pack for $13.49 (1080 Microsoft Points). Read more »

Harmonix has pinned down the release date of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band full album downloadable content for The Beatles: Rock Band to next week.

Arriving November 17 on Xbox 360 and Wii then November 19 on PlayStation 3 to buy as a track pack or individually, the eight 'new' Sgt. Pepper's tracks will combine with the five already on the disc to complete the fab four's famed psychedelic album from 1967. Read more »

Best Buy is offering a very accessible entry point to the world of plastic toy guitars with a one-day deal on a bundle of Rock Band 2 Special Edition and The Beatles: Rock Band on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 for $130, a $30 discount on their individual prices.

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The plan for a new band-specific Rock Band game may have been spoiled by The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey, who stated in a new interview that the legendary group is getting the Harmonix treatment next year.

"They're going to be doing a Who one next year," said Daltrey to Masslive, in giving his thoughts on this year's The Beatles: Rock Band. Read more »

The Beatles: Rock Band players can finally see, and play, Polythene Pam and the rest of the songs from the group's seminal album Abbey Road today. The full album, and associated singles, are now available on Xbox 360 and Wii.

The following trailer presents a medley of the new songs, which also come with new dreamscapes and in-studio videos:

Abbey Road will finally be available in complete form tomorrow for The Beatles: Rock Band owners, and now we've got the final details on pricing and song organization.

Three of the songs--"Maxwell's Silver Hammer," "Oh! Darling," and "Because"--will be available as individual tracks for $2, while the songs included in the full $17 album can be played as either a 16 minute medley or as collections of one-to-three songs. Read more »

It looks like next week will be a costly one for some Rock Band owners, as developer Harmonix is slated to unleash some rather anticipated downloadable add-ons.

Those with plain old Rock Band or Rock Band 2 will be tempted by the addition of ten Queen tunes, all of which are original master recordings. Each tune will go for $2 / 160 MS Points / 200 Wii Points, with the entire ten-pack going for $16 / 1280 MS Points. Read more »

Sales of The Beatles: Rock Band are exceeding company expectations, but early indicators show Guitar Hero 5 beating the game in overall retail competition.

"Sales have exceeded our internal projections and we've sold 25 per cent of our inventory in the first week," said Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman at New York's Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference, according to Gamasutra. Read more »

I've never been what you'd call a "Beatles Fan." My parents didn't play the White Album on summer trips. I never had a friend that pushed Sgt. Pepper's into my hands. I didn't own a bird named Ringo, and I never had a snake named Yoko. I've gone through life oblivious of the intricacies of the thing, nodding my head knowingly as people spoke reverently of the group. "Oh yes, The Beatles. That was a good one."

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