Green Day Rock Band

Last night, Harmonix held a private party with their friends to show off Green Day: Rock Band.  This morning, they unloaded the press release announcing the release date/price of the game, some songs, and more.

June 8 will be the day the game comes out for Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii. It will be standard pricing, $59.99 and $49.99 respectively.

Now, I will post the important quotes from the press release below:

players progress through the story and history of Green Day, gaining access into the band’s media vault, where they can unlock more than 100 collectible images, and more than 40 minutes of rare and unreleased video from interviews, outtakes and performances.

I loved how they did photos and videos in Beatles: Rock Band, and looks like they are continuing the story trend with Green Day.  Sounds nice.

Featuring the three-part vocal harmony technology Harmonix introduced with the award-winning The Beatles: Rock Band, Green Day: Rock Band gives players access to an incredible setlist of 47 tracks that span the band’s career including “Brain Stew,” “Jaded,” “Hitchin’ a Ride,” “American Idiot,” “Wake Me Up When September Ends” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” All 47 tracks are fully exportable, providing players with the opportunity to play the songs in Rock BandTM, Rock Band 2TM and the recently announced Rock Band3! Green Day: Rock BandTM features an export fee of $9.99 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system. The export feature is not available for the Wii system. In addition, the six Green Day tracks already available in the Rock Band Music Store as downloadable content can be played in Green Day: Rock Band with added vocal harmonies, unique performance visuals, and exclusive archival material.

I was hoping for more than 47 tracks, but this is expected. We hear that there will likely be more than 47 songs as a few might be grouped together, as they were recorded together originally. The export fee is now standard and expected. We previously knew about vocal harmonies, which I loved in Beatles: Rock Band.  What really excites me here is the already released Green Day DLC will now have vocal harmonies in GD: Rock Band.  This holds out hope that Rock Band 3 might bring in vocal harmonies to the existing DLC catalog.  That would be incredible.

Green Day: Rock Band standalone game for Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 system
o US MSRP $59.99

Green Day: Rock Band standalone game for Wii system
o US MSRP $49.99

Green Day: Rock Band Plus for Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 system (US/Canada only)
o US MSRP $69.99
o Includes special packaging, free export and six Green Day DLC tracks ($22 total value)

I really was hoping (but not expecting) for a lower price point. But, you have to make money, and the fans of Rock Band and Green Day will pay that standard price point. Special edition, you say?! So, for $10 over retail you get the $9.99 export feature, and $12 worth of DLC.  Now, is that going to be future DLC or current Green Day DLC?  Because, I already have the current stuff, but would likely pick up my Green Day DLC if it were made available (which based on the Beatles model, is lilely). Once the DLC question is answered, I will decide whether the SE or standard edition is for me.

To sum it up, this announcement is expected from what we know, excluding the SE. Also adding vocal harmonies to already charted songs songs like a good sign for the future. I can’t wait to play this gam at PAX East.