DS-x2.com - Rock Band Expansion Pack For Wii

NEWS FOR 2008-05-05

ROCK BAND EXPANSION PACK FOR WII

Although we're not getting downloadable content on Wii (yet), Harmonix and MTV Games have announced Rock Band Track Pack Volume 1... for PS2 and Wii.

Harmonix and MTV Games, along with distribution partner Electronic Arts, today announced plans to release Rock Band Track Pack Volume 1 for Wii and PlayStation 2. The 20-Track Pack features an electrifying mix of classic hits and current favorites, including songs by Boston, Nine Inch Nails, Stone Temple Pilots, and All American Rejects. The Rock Band Track Pack Volume 1 will be available on July 15th, 2008 for a suggested retail price of $29.99.

Tracks included in the expansion pack:

30 Seconds to Mars - The Kill
All American Rejects - Move Along
Blink 182 - All the Small Things
Boston - More Than a Feeling
David Bowie - Moonage Daydream
Faith No More - We Care A Lot
Grateful Dead - Truckin’
The Hives - Die, All Right!
KISS - Calling Dr. Love
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Gimme’ Three Steps
Nine Inch Nails - March of the Pigs
Oasis - Live Forever
Paramore - Crushcrushcrush
The Police - Synchronicity II
Queens of the Stone Age - Little Sister
Ramones - Teenage Lobotomy
Smashing Pumpkins - Siva
Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song
Weezer - Buddy Holly
Wolfmother - Joker & the Thief

Posted by Dennis

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Reader comments

LeSomeGuy said:

Placed on 06-05-2008 at 15:20.

I wonder if they are going to do the downloadable content the cheap way on Wii, either making them unlockable via downloadable code or stream them online for the Wii version.

ganepark32 said:

Placed on 06-05-2008 at 17:04.

the DLC is disc based. At $30 that's not a bad price and works out cheaper than XL and PSN.

Dennis DS-x2 said:

Placed on 06-05-2008 at 17:57.

Yet you don't get to choose the songs you want, which could make things more expensive in the end...

LeSomeGuy said:

Placed on 06-05-2008 at 20:10.

That is kind of stupid, but at least it's good to know some companies out there are searching for a way to get dynamic content onto Wii.

The problem with this method is that once those packages are purchased, the game will just add a section of code onto the save file indicating that you have purchased such. Therefore people can share their save files easily.

ganepark32 said:

Placed on 06-05-2008 at 21:28.

It's a far cry from how the DLC should work. The funny thing is that Samba De Amigo on Wii looks like it's gonna have DLC through the Pay and Play service which means that Sega have found a way to distribute the DLC.

Dennis DS-x2 said:

Placed on 06-05-2008 at 21:41.

I'm not quite sure you're right about that LeSomeGuy, if it's merely a patch of your savegame, you're right. However, I've got a hunch that the tracks themselves are actually new to the game, meaning there's some kind of swapping of discs in between.

ganepark32 said:

Placed on 07-05-2008 at 09:44.

Theres no swapping of discs involved. Basically, you can think of this DLC disc as a stand alone game, with it not needing the main game to boot up first. You don't even need to buy the main Rock Band game to play these. If you can get the instruments cheap, then you can get this and start playing straight away.

Dennis DS-x2 said:

Placed on 07-05-2008 at 11:35.

Is that an assumption, or did anyone confirm that at some point?

LeSomeGuy said:

Placed on 07-05-2008 at 16:24. Modified on 07-05-2008 at 16:26.

They might add some sort of 64-bit hash encryption scheme to mask the product code with your Wii MAC address or Wii's ID to make sure that this save file can only be used.

This is very common design scheme used by Wii Ware and Virtual Console to prevent people from sharing downloaded items. WAD Install software is designed to crack that encryption design (if you don't already know you don't need to know). So cracking the save file by overwritting one little section of its memory space is easy.

But since DLC is announced before the game is out, it can be safely assumed that it's downloading keys to unlock hidden contents from the discs.

ganepark32 said:

Placed on 07-05-2008 at 21:54.

@ Dennis - Over at Kotaku, they had the news story up on there and that's where I read that the DLC will be a stand alone disc where you won't need to swap out the original to play the DLC songs. Seems the best way of doing it in my eyes anyway.

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