Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that can help answer the question.
Query: When was the video game Rock Band first introduced?
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix, published by MTV Games and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions were released in North America on November 20, 2007,[2] while the PlayStation 2 version was released on December 18, 2007[6] and the Wii version on June 22, 2008. Harmonix previously developed the first two games in the Guitar Hero series, which popularized gameplay of rock music with guitar-shaped controllers. After development of the series was shifted to Neversoft, Harmonix conceived Rock Band as a new title that would offer multi-instrument gameplay.
In selecting the soundtrack for Rock Band, the developers recognized that they needed to select songs that were recognizable, particularly on vocals; in contrast, when they were selecting songs for Guitar Hero, they were able to pick songs that played better even if they were less recognizable.[39] They also consider songs that would help players come together socially, such as in The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again", where they retained the long synthesizer solo such that the band members would all start playing again after it for a big finish.[39] The team were able to introduce songs from smaller artists that they felt were good additions, such as "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and "Electric Version" by the New Pornographers to help also introduce players to those classes of music.[39] For about half the songs, they hired a studio to sing along to the lyrics as a crowd would at a stadium, such that during the game, when players are performing well, the additional crowd sing-alongs would add to the performance experience.[39]
At launch, the game software was made available in a bundle that packaged it together with the instrument peripherals, as well as for purchase separately. Individual instrument peripherals were released at a later date. The game has received widespread critical acclaim,[8] with sales of four million units and global revenues of $600 million.[9] Players have made over 100 million downloadable song purchases since Rock Band's release.[10] The game's success prompted the release of six sequels: Rock Band 2, The Beatles: Rock Band, Lego Rock Band, Green Day: Rock Band, Rock Band 3 and Rock Band 4.
The song "Llama" is included in the music video game "Rock Band 3", where it is the second song in the main-game series (not including DLC) to have full Impossible rating for all band members ("Painkiller" from "Rock Band 2" is the first). However, it is the first to have a full Impossible rating with keys included. "Stash" and "Tweezer" were also released as downloadable content for Rock Band 3 in 2011.
Rock Band Reloaded is a video game for iOS. It was first released in 2010 and is the successor to "Rock Band" on iOS. It comes with over 30 songs and a 20+ DLC list. It received mostly positive reviews. Gameplay is similar to other "Rock Band" series games, but controlled without instrument controllers, and instead with the iOS-device's multi-touch display, microphone and built-in accelerometer. The game features multiplayer support over Bluetooth and local wifi.
The song was also featured in the video games "Forza Horizon" and "Rocksmith 2014". It was also featured in the video game "Guitar Hero Live". It was released as a downloadable song for the rhythm game "Rock Band 3" on January 13, 2015; one of the first three downloadable songs released for "Rock Band 3" in almost two years.
Like "Guitar Hero", "Rock Band" has influenced the music culture. Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy, the founders of Harmonix, were together named in "Time Magazine"'s list of the 100 most influential people of 2008 for their creation of "Rock Band". In the article, guitarist Steven Van Zandt claims, "in the history of rock 'n' roll, "Rock Band" may just turn out to be up there with the rise of FM radio, CDs or MTV." Both were awarded the 2009 Game Developers Choice Pioneer Award for their influence on music video games culminating with "Rock Band", and the 2010 USA Network's "Character Approved" Award for New Media in 2010 for the impact that their vision and leadership for "Rock Band" has had on the social nature of the game. A reality television show, "Rock Band 2: The Stars", was created by VH1, featuring several players performing and being eliminated by judges Alice Cooper and Sebastian Bach. The Pennsylvania-based band, The Jellybricks, released a viral video of their song "Ruin Us" which is overplayed on footage from "Rock Band 2" using avatars resembling the band members.
The Beatles: Rock Band is a 2009 music video game developed by Harmonix, published by MTV Games, and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the third major console release in the "Rock Band" music video game series, in which players can simulate the playing of rock music by using controllers shaped like musical instruments. "The Beatles: Rock Band" is the first band-centric game in the series, and it is centered on the popular English rock group the Beatles. The game features virtual portrayals of the four band members performing the songs throughout the band's history, including depictions of some of their famous live performances, as well as a number of "dreamscape" sequences for songs from the Abbey Road Studios recording sessions during the group's studio years. The game's soundtrack consists of 45 Beatles songs; additional songs and albums by the Beatles were made available for the game as downloadable content.
Official Xbox Magazine published the first review of Rock Band, scoring the Xbox 360 version a 9.5/10 and calling it "gaming's most intensely rewarding co-op experience." OXM also commented that the game's "payoff isn't visceral or technical; it's emotional."[72] IGN awarded the game a 9.4/10 score and an Editor's Choice Award for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions. IGN largely praised the game, calling it "one of the must-have games of the year" and suggesting it "may just be among the best party games ever released."[71] 1UP.com gave the next-generation versions of the game an A,[66] stating that "Rock Band unquestionably, unequivocally rocks." GameSpot rated the next-generation versions of the game a 9.0/10, calling Rock Band "one of the best party games of all time." They also gave the game their Editor's Choice award.[70] The Xbox 360 version of Rock Band has an average critic score of 92%, according to Metacritic, tying it for the 24th-highest-scored Xbox 360 game.[102] Similarly, the PlayStation 3 version of Rock Band has an average critic score of 92% on Metacritic, making it the 25th-highest-scored PlayStation 3 game.[103]
In December 2017, after Nothing More earned three Grammy Award nominations, one for the album "The Stories We Tell Ourselves" (Best Rock Album), and two for its first single, "Go to War" (Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song), the president of the band's record label, Eleven Seven Music, announced plans to release the track "Just Say When" as a single. This was due to the belief that the softer sound of "Just Say When" was most likely out of the album to appeal outside of the band's core hard rock fanbase and into the alternative rock, indie rock, and pop music radio stations and markets, in an effort to maximize the band's exposure from the Grammy Nominations. While the band would ultimately released the hard rock "Do You Really Want It?" as the album's second single, the band later released "Just Say When" as the third single. The song, alongside an accompanying music video, was released on April 27, 2018. The video was directed by Daniel Cummings and recorded at El Paso International Airport. The video involves a man chasing after a woman, catching up to her, slow dancing with her, only to have one fall to their knees while the other ends up running away. A lyric video had also previously been released in August 2017, as a promotional effort prior to the album's release.
Green Day: Rock Band is a 2010 music video game developed by Harmonix, published by MTV Games and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the fifth major console release in the "Rock Band" music video game series and it allows players to simulate the playing of rock music by using controllers shaped like musical instruments. The game's setlist consists of songs by the American punk rock band Green Day. "Green Day: Rock Band" features virtual depictions of the three band members performing the songs in new venues designed for the game.
Crooked X is the first and only album by heavy metal band Crooked X, released in January 2009 by Capitol Metal. The band's musicians were all 14 years of age when the album was released, but tracks were written when members were as young as 11 (for example, "Nightmare"). "Nightmare" is featured in the music video game "Rock Band", while "Gone" and "Rock 'N' Roll Dream" are featured as downloadable content for the "Rock Band" series.
The single "Lay Down" was included in the video game "", which elevated the band's profile drastically. Enthusiastic about the success of that game, Heppner has stated he believes "Guitar Hero" and such games to be perfectly valid ways of finding new music, noting that his first exposure to Black Sabbath was through the Super NES video game "Rock n' Roll Racing", and Vince Nudo has given the genre credit for its potential to expose younger generations to classic rock. Another single from the album, "Talk to Her", peaked at #33 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 2006. Priestess were voted Montreal's heaviest band by readers of the "Montreal Mirror" in 2006.
The album's first single, "My Curse", was released in 2006, and managed to peak at number 21 on the "Billboard" Rock Songs Chart. The radio edit strips down most of the track's unclean vocals, replacing them with Howard Jones' re-recorded clean vocals. A music video directed by Lex Halaby (who previously directed the live video for "A Bid Farewell") premiered on MTV 2's "Headbanger's Ball" on November 3, 2006. "My Curse" was included as a playable track in the video game "", and as downloadable content for the video games "Rock Band" and "Rock Band 2". It was also featured on the soundtrack of the video games Burnout Dominator and Burnout Paradise. The album's second single, "The Arms of Sorrow", was released in 2007, and peaked at number 30 on the Rock Songs Chart. A music video directed by Aggressive premiered on "Headbanger's Ball" on May 1, 2007.
All of the songs included in "Rock Band 3" were recorded either from master copies or live performances. Many were included to emphasize the keyboard instrument. Existing game content, including prior downloadable content and songs from the "Rock Band" Network, carries forward into "Rock Band 3", with the full "Rock Band" library consisting of over 2,000 songs by the time the game was released. When "Rock Band 3" was first detailed on June 11, 2010, Harmonix announced 22 of the game's songs. The next month, Harmonix used Facebook and Twitter to provide clues about additional songs for both "Rock Band 3" and "Dance Central", which they then confirmed to be six "Rock Band" tracks and three "Dance Central" tracks. During a video interview at the 2010 Gamescom convention, most of the setlist was inadvertently leaked because someone was scrolling through the setlist in the background. "Rock Band 3"'s setlist was well-received by video game critics. Eurogamer's Johnny Minkley noted the contrast between it and the heavier style of "".
In the fields of technology and video games, Aerosmith has achieved several feats. In 1994, Aerosmith released the song "Head First" on the CompuServe online service, which is considered to be the first full-length commercial product available online. In 2008, Aerosmith became the first artist to have an entire "Guitar Hero" video game based around them with "". "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith" is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game across both the "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" platforms.
"Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" appeared in the first "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" video game, as well as the first "ATV Offroad Fury" video game, and in "The Bigs" video game. The song is included in "Rock Band 3".
In March 2008, Paramore made its first rhythm game appearance with "Crushcrushcrush" as a downloadable track in the "Rock Band" games and later being a playable song in "". Later that year, "Rock Band 2" was released with the song "That's What You Get" included as a playable track. The video game "Guitar Hero World Tour" featured the song "Misery Business" along with Hayley Williams participating in motion capture sessions for the game. She is featured as an unlockable character in the game as well. "Misery Business" was also featured as a playable track on "Rock Band 3", while "Pressure", "The Only Exception", "Brick by Boring Brick", and "Ignorance" are available as DLC for the game. In 2015 the song "Still Into You" was featured as an on-disc song for "Rock Band 4".
By October 9, 2008, the game sold four million units and generated global revenues of $600 million.[9] The sales of Rock Band helped Viacom to become the fifth-largest video game publisher in the United States, although analysts estimated that Viacom was only breaking even on sales of the game.[104] In a March 2011 list, the NPD Group listed Rock Band as the fifth-highest-grossing video game in the United States since 1995, earning $670.7 million in revenue.[105]
Although video game music started much earlier in genres like chiptune and bitpop, the first known rock band to cover a video game song was the all-female indie rock group Autoclave with their cover of the theme song from the popular video game "Paperboy" on their self-titled debut 1991 album. The second rock group known to cover a video game song was the band Mr. Bungle, with their live cover of the "Super Mario Bros." theme song, which was a regular staple throughout their 1990s’ live concert setlist. Mr. Bungle also sampled sounds from video games on their debut album from 1991. The term Nintendocore was later initiated by the metalcore group Horse the Band, whose frontman originally coined the term "Nintendocore" as a joke. At present, the group has released five studio albums in the Nintendocore style, starting with 2000's "Secret Rhythm of the Universe".
Another Nintendocore pioneer is The Advantage, whom "The New York Times" praises as one of the groups who brought video game music into the mainstream modern music spotlight. The Advantage is an instrumental rock band formed by two students attending Nevada Union High School. The group "plays nothing but music from the original Nintendo console games." By creating rock cover versions of video game sound tracks, they have "brought legitimacy to a style of music dubbed Nintendocore."
On October 7, 2008, the song was released as downloadable content for the music video game series "Rock Band". It also featured in "Rock Band Track Pack: Classic Rock". The video game "Rock 'n Roll Racing" also uses it.
Lego Rock Band is a music video game, part of the "Rock Band" series, that incorporates elements from Lego video games. It was developed by TT Fusion in cooperation with Harmonix, and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment in partnership with MTV Games. The game was released on 3 November 2009 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii home consoles in the United States. A Nintendo DS version was also developed in conjunction with Backbone Entertainment.
"Rock Band" is a 2007 music video game developed by Harmonix and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. The game is available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and Wii game consoles. "Rock Band" is based on Harmonix' previous success with the "Guitar Hero" series of video games in which players used a guitar-shaped controller to simulate playing rock music. "Rock Band" expands on the concept by adding a drum and microphone peripheral, allowing up to four players to participate in the game, playing lead and bass guitar, drums, and vocals. The gameplay in "Rock Band" is comparable to that in "Guitar Hero" along with elements from Harmonix' "Karaoke Revolution".
Paw was formed in 1990 in Lawrence alongside Kill Creek and Stick. Their work from this era can best be characterized as aggressive rock with melodic undertones, or 'Southern rock' as Hennessy explained in an MTV interview. They were frequently cited by industry insiders as potentially "the next Nirvana" and a bidding war erupted to sign them. The band signed a three-album deal with A&M Records during the height of the grunge wave, and released their first album, "Dragline", in 1993. Their most well-known songs are from this period which received moderate rotation on the radio and on "Headbanger's Ball", MTV's hard rock/heavy metal showcase. Music videos were made for the hits "Jessie", "Couldn't Know" and "Sleeping Bag". Paw toured the UK in 1993 supporting Tool with Headswim (months after Tool's UK support slot with Rage Against The Machine), introducing the band to an audience outside of America. The band recorded two sessions for BBC Radio 1's rock show in 1993 (during which they played the Reading Festival). Their songs "Jessie", "Pansy" and "The Bridge" (plus an alternate version of the video of the first) were used in the 3DO, PC, Sega Saturn and PlayStation versions of the video game "Road Rash".
Drummer Tré Cool later confirmed that the band was approached by Harmonix during the development of "The Beatles: Rock Band" for the band-specific game, while Armstrong stated they first experienced a "Rock Band" game, specifically "The Beatles: Rock Band", at a cast party for the "American Idiot" musical performance in Berkeley, California. The game was formally unveiled on December 12, 2009 at the Spike TV Video Game Awards 2009. Green Day announced the game via a video and showed the first trailer. A subsequent press release by MTV Games confirmed that the game would arrive on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii with the entire setlist being exportable to other "Rock Band" titles. A 2010 release date was also stated. In addition, previous Green Day downloadable songs released for "Rock Band" and "Rock Band 2" would be included in the game as well.