Rock Band 3 Details Emerge

As posted to ICGamers

Following wild speculation after a simple icon was added to the end of the Green Day: Rock Band demo last month, Harmonix today confirmed that keyboards are indeed joining the plastic peripheral gang in the upcoming Rock Band 3.

News didn’t end there, with the developers taking the chance to introduce a whole host of new gameplay mechanics on American TV show USA Today.

New to the series is Rock Band Pro mode, apparently designed to weigh in somewhere between rhythm game and actual musician, with the new keyboard peripheral demonstrating this perfectly. The controller will contain 25-keys, only five of which will be used during the traditional Rock Band experience. Up the difficulty to pro-mode, and similar to the upgraded guitar peripheral, you’ll be using the whole thing. Mozart eat your heart out.

And that’s not all Harmonix has in store for the latest Rock band iteration. Other new features include drop in & out play, an enhanced story, harmony vocals, new animations and the ability to change difficulty & instruments mid song.

“We saw a kind of staleness in terms of game-play innovation. Really, the main focus of Rock Band 3 development was finding new ways to experience the music and actually doubling down, if you will, on our investment in compelling game play,” Harmonix’s Daniel Sussman announced.

Most wannabe rock stars would be content with all that knowledge, but Harmonix were not. They were also kind enough to introduce the first official set-list.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen
“The Power of Love” by Huey Huey Lewis and the News
“Combat Baby” by Metric
“Dead End Friends” by Them Crooked Vultures
“Get Free” by The Vines
“Lasso” by Phoenix
“Me Enamora” by Juanes
“Oh My God” by Ida Maria
“Portions of Foxes” by Rilo Kiley
“The Hardest Button to Button” by The White Stripes
“Been Caught Stealing” by Jane’s Addiction
“In the Meantime” by Spacehog
“Plush” by Stone Temple Pilots
“Walkin’ on the Sun” by Smash Mouth
“Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne
“Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake
“I Love Rock and Roll” by Joan Jett
“Just Like Heaven” by The Cure
“Rainbow in the Dark” by Dio
“The Power of Love” by Huey Lewis and the News
“Sister Christian” by Night Ranger
“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen
“Break On Through” by The Doors
“Crosstown Traffic” by Jimi Hendrix

No doubt there are many more tracks to be announced. Rest assured, Xboxic will keep you up to date as details emerge.