Rock Band for Wii Information
- Harmonix Games, the studio that created the first two Guitar Hero games, initially developed Rock Band for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game consoles. MTV Games and Electronic Arts published the game, and it was released on those consoles in November of 2007. In March of 2008, Electronic Arts announced that Rock Band would appear on the Wii, albeit with some game content removed. Pi Studios developed the Wii version, which was released in June of 2008--seven months after the game's release on the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles.
- The core game mechanics for Rock Band involve players taking control of virtual band members and playing popular songs. Drummers and guitarists use electronic instrument peripherals to play colored notes that scroll down the screen. Players must hit the notes in time with the music to score points. If a player misses too many notes, the virtual crowd begins to boo the player and he may fail out of the game. Vocalists use the USB microphone to sing the song's lyrics as they scroll across the screen; they are judged on pitch and timing accuracy. Up to four players may play a song cooperatively as the vocalist, drummer, guitarist and bassist.
- The Rock Band Special Edition bundle comes with the game, a guitar peripheral, a drum set and a USB microphone. The guitar peripheral is modeled after a Fender Stratocaster and features five colored fret buttons, a strum bar, a whammy bar, an effects switch and Wii buttons for menu navigation. The drum set features four colored drum pads, drumsticks and a kick pedal, as well as Wii buttons for menu navigation. The microphone features no buttons, and vocalists control the game by using the Wii remote. The instruments plug into a 4-port USB hub that is plugged into one of the USB ports on the back of the Wii.
- The Rock Band soundtrack contains 63 songs, many of which are by highly popular bands and artists like Bon Jovi, Metallica, Nirvana, Rush, Nine Inch Nails and more. The Wii version includes five bonus songs that were not available on the PS3 or Xbox 360 game discs: "Dirty Little Secret" by The All-American Rejects, "Roam" by the B-52's, "Rockaway Beach" by the Ramones, "Don't Look Back In Anger" by Oasis, and "Roxanne" by The Police. Players may purchase "Track Pack" game discs to play new songs.
- The Wii version of Rock Band contains significantly fewer features than either the PS3 or Xbox 360 versions. The World Tour mode, where players customized their band members and played in venues around the world, is absent from the Wii version, replaced with a main game mode that progresses linearly through the soundtrack. The Wii version also lacks an online component. Players cannot download new songs or compete with each other online, like they can in the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. The Wii's inability to output HD resolution means that the Wii version is also graphically inferior to the PS3 or Xbox 360 version.