I’m not one to get into hypothetical arguments, or assume things on a tangent, but this latest batch of DLC for Rock Band got me thinking. Take a look and see what I mean. There are a total of 9 new songs, each of which could possibly point to one conclusion: Does Harmonix actually feel threatened by the new waves of DLC Neversoft is releasing for Guitar Hero: World Tour?
The Killers-“Mr. Brightside”
The Killers-“Smile Like You Mean It”
The Killers-“Spaceman”
So, am I having a flashback, or did Harmonix actually go ahead and release a Killers’ track pack at the same time as Neversoft? Heck, I guess I can understand having the same song ON DISK between two games, but when the same song (Mr. Brightside) appears as DLC at the exact same time on both games? now that’s interesting. It sort of looks like they are trying to 1-up Neversoft, or as the song goes, “anything you can do, I can do better.” Not to be taken the wrong way of course; I honestly feel that Harmonix are the masters of DLC right now. Moving along……
Soundgarden-“Jesus Christ Pose”
Soundgarden-“Pretty Noose”
Ah, Soundgarden. They beat the rhythm with their bones. Anyway, this seems just to be an “Icing on the cake” thing. Sure, Soundgarden is sweet, but perhaps this week, it’s intended to be overkill on the Killers’ pack. But here’s where it gets good.
Yngwie Malmsteen-“Caprici Di Diablo”
Yngwie Malmsteen-“Damnation Game”
Yngwie Malmsteen-“Red Devil”
You don’t have to read Guitar World magazine to know Mr. Malmsteen here is what we’d like to call a “beast” guitar player. Most everybody agrees that in terms of raw difficulty, Guitar Hero always comes out on top of Rock Band. Could these 3 songs be a nod to the hardcore (Which I mean ScoreHero by saying) players who didn’t even break a sweat playing “Thrasher?” Is Harmonix trying to get some of it’s GH freaks to convert back from Neversoftology? I don’t know, but in any case im going to download it.
And finally, the Pièce de résistance
Lamb of God-“Laid to Rest”
All GH2 fans reading this just went *gasp*. While this is an awesome song, I still get the feeling that Harmonix thinks it’s losing it’s grip on the community. In my mind, this one is their BIG PUSH to get all those fans who haven’t downloaded anything to start now. Heck, it just might work. If they announce Free Bird next week, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Again, all these songs are download-worthy, and their reasons for being in the DLC menu isn’t too important, but if having a bit of friendly competition between developers means more awesome songs to play, I’m all for it. These tracks are available now, and are all master recordings.
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