It’s the return of THIS WEEK IN ROCK BAND! Wow, it has been five months since my last TWIRB update.  Gee, I have slacked since Simon started doing the weekly Rock Band DLC updates, plus our friend Tommy at RockBandAide has been kicking ass and taking names on all things Rock Band.  Though, I do miss the TWIRB pieces that I used to write, plus there is so much Rock Band news within the past week. So, here goes THIS WEEK IN ROCK BAND!

Rock Band 3 Announced

Let’s start this off with a giant BANG!  Just today, news started flying across the Twitterverse from @deliciousbees at Harmonix, that EA will continue to work with MTV/Viacom to publish Rock Band 3. Sure, that’s great news for the business people, but the big news from @johntdrake is that Rock Band 3 is expected “holiday 2010″.

Here’s the quote:

Harmonix is developing Rock Band 3 for worldwide release this holiday season! The game, which will be published by MTV Games and distributed by Electronic Arts, will innovate and revolutionize the music genre once again, just as Harmonix did with the original Rock Band, Rock Band 2 and The Beatles: Rock Band. Stay tuned for more details!

So, we get no songs or features, or nuthin’.  But, we get something unofficially official, and that’s exciting.

Rock Band Network Store Opens, 116 Songs Available

On March 4, rumblings started in the wee hours from a Billboard.biz web posting about RBN store going live.  As the day progressed, Xbox users noticed a title update to Rock Band 2.  Then a couple hours later, Rock Band Network appeared as a new in-game music store.  Just like that, more than 100 songs were available for purchase. The official announcement came same day.  In less than a week, more than 115 songs have been made available for purchase, from 99 cents to 3 dollars, all in Microsoft funny money of course.  It seems that a few more songs appear available every day.  So, take a look and download the free demos of songs. Many will be unknown, but you may find something new you love.  There are some mid-range names starting to pop up in RBN too; Steve Vai, Flight of the Conchords, Jonathan Coulton, to name a few.  PlasticAxe did a great job building a list of all the RBN songs.

Lady Gaga and Eric Cartman DLC Announced for Next Week

We are going to get some Band Hero equivalent songs for next week.  The bizarre (yet beloved) Lady Gaga will make a 4 song appearance on Rock Band, plus a spoof by South Park’s Eric Cartman.

“Lady Gaga Pack 01” will include “Bad Romance,” “Just Dance,” “Monster” and “Poker Face”

All platforms will get the pack (individual for Wii)
Announcement here.

DLC Week of 3/9 – White Stripes, Shaimus, Neil Pert and more!

This weeks DLC, out today, is a great mix covering a few genre’s. You”l be able to pick these up on all consoles this week.

The Futureheads – “Decent Days & Nights” +
The Futureheads – “Hounds of Love” +
The James Gang – “Walk Away” +
Neil Peart – “The Hockey Theme” + *
Shaimus – “All of This” + *
Shaimus – “Tie You Down” + *
The White Stripes – “Fell in Love with a Girl” +
The White Stripes – “Seven Nation Army”
The White Stripes – “You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told)” +

With that, what’s NWIRB?  NEXT WEEK IN ROCK BAND!

• Closer to PAX East. More details about Rock Band at the big show.
• Looking for more Green Day: Rock Band details.