Rock Band patch rolls out this week, adds music store and fixes some problems
by Dustin Burg 
{ Mar 20th 2008 at 9:45AM }
The new Rock Band Music Store will allow players to browse downloadable content in various ways, preview songs, look over each instrument's difficulty and make a purchase all from within' the game. You'll also be treated to spiffy album art as well. But that isn't all this week's patch will bring as a few other general fixes will be implemented including the raising of each difficulty's fan cap, more song diversity in the Rock Band World Tour and (our favorite) faster loading of DLC. We posted a complete list of all the general fixes the patch will perform as well as a few preview pictures of the Rock Band Music Store after the break. We think it's more than obvious that Harmonix is listening to their fans' feedback, but we have to ask ... where's the World Tour online play?
- Rock Band General Fixes
- Fan cap revision -- Increase on number of fans possible before cap. Easy players can travel across Atlantic, Medium players have a wider range of venues and Hard players on the Xbox 360 can unlock "One Million Fans" achievement.
- Increased diversity in Band World Tour song selection.
- Improved phoneme recognition -- Improved detection and scoring for phoneme recognition. Examples are songs like Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld and Blitzkrieg Bop.
- Microphone latency on PS3 improved.
- Xbox 360 band logos now visible through Xbox LIVE -- A parental controls prevented band logos from being visible over Xbox LIVE.
- Faster loading of DLC -- Also song is cached for a one time wait.
Gallery: Rock Band Music Store
Read - Rock Band patch adds music store
Read - Rock Band patch fixes other issues
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Loban @ Mar 20th 2008 9:53AM
Sweet!!! I'm really excited for the in-game music store. It'll be nice to be able to listen to songs before buying them.
eric e @ Mar 20th 2008 10:12AM
I like the idea of the in-game music store and the increase in the number of fans available but why couldn't they make it so that you could play your world tour over live. This game would be 10x's better if I could play the world tour over live w/ my friends and everyone could get the achievements.
khan800 @ Mar 20th 2008 10:20AM
"we have to ask ... where's the World Tour online play?"
Rock Band 2?
Tony @ Mar 20th 2008 10:27AM
Thank god for the music store and previews. Awesome.
BKB @ Mar 20th 2008 10:37AM
this paves the way for the full albums they've been promising....
definitely adds to the game nicely
DaveC @ Mar 20th 2008 10:59AM
I'm gonna be that guy and say, still no Europe date.
Remix @ Mar 20th 2008 11:13AM
It's about time I can preview songs without havin 2 hit up youtube. Can't wait for this patch
Deck @ Mar 20th 2008 11:13AM
Music Store ftw! Great news this is, plus of course the faster loading DLC!
DaveC I am sorry :( That really is no fun at all :-/
ZEBRA NINER @ Mar 20th 2008 11:20AM
Yeah, online band world tour. Seems like it should be a priority. I bought Rock Band for my GF because she loves music games, but I don't own it. I think it's ok, but I'm not going to buy the game until they fix this (online play with friends is pretty much all I care about when it comes to any game).
Misinformed DNA @ Mar 20th 2008 11:32AM
Some of the best news I've heard all day and I've been up for 10 minutes. Seriously, this is really good news.
Online World Tour: Based on the interviews and their vagueness, I stopped hoping for it months ago. I'm expecting they'll wait for RB2 to introduce it.
Jer @ Mar 20th 2008 1:19PM
Great news! But I agree with everyone else: Gotta have World Tour over Live.
Oh, and what about a double bass kick pedal? My foot can't move fast enough for some of the songs.
Neuromancer @ Mar 20th 2008 1:34PM
I wonder if its going to be a video or audio preview? Either way I'm psyched, Harmonix is really doing a good job keeping me playing this game.
Kyle @ Mar 20th 2008 1:41PM
reckon Eu early adopters (importers) will be able to download songs from the ingame music store without an ameircan credit card?
Lewis @ Mar 20th 2008 2:34PM
The store's pretty useful but don't you think it should have came with the game...
Mark @ Mar 20th 2008 2:45PM
Lewis, Are you saying that they should have released the game in March? Or do you think somehow they were just sitting around and that they could have done this for November, but were just too lazy to do it? It's not like this is EA and you're paying for this feature by buying some new DLC. It's a free patch. So it "comes with the game".
ChromaTick @ Mar 20th 2008 2:45PM
I agree that the store will be quite useful. Maybe no more having to youtube the songs each week.
However, like everyone else...where the heck is Live World Tour?
jkdoug @ Mar 20th 2008 4:07PM
These changes are all awesome! Can't wait to get home from work now to check everything out.
Tegolin @ Mar 20th 2008 4:45PM
This looks good.
RomeoDude @ Mar 20th 2008 5:44PM
Sadly, no mention of bringing Band World Tour online...
xboxer @ Mar 21st 2008 9:53AM
Just downloaded the update and it looks nice. Music Store is great as it is awesome to be able to hear a preview and see the artist of each song.
Just reinforces the fact that the XBL interface is clunky and under-functional for the 360. I remember the first time I downloaded a RB song and could imagine why you had to wait 30 seconds for the artist to scroll into view. Who are the idiots behind the 360 dashboard and XBL?
If we're going to be pouring our wallets into this, at least make it smooth and easy to do so. All 360 purchases should be this slick and easy.