Alex Rigopolous, Harmonix co-founder and CEO, announced today that there are no plans for a third Rock Band game in 2009:

We’ve actually made a choice to break out of the annual release cycle for Rock Band this year. [...] [This is] partly because the annual cycle places limits on the choices you can make as a developer. We’re trying to take a long term view.

He also added that part of the reason for the delay was to give themselves time to work on the Beatles music game that was announced last year. Speaking of which, Rigopolous also expressed interest in making a Led Zeppelin music game, if possible. When asked about the possible addition of the long-rumoured keyboad instrument, Rigopolous answered with a “maybe.”

Crispy Gamer

You’d think two $150 music games that each take up half a room with their redundant peripherals would be in direct competition with each other. Not according to Dan Teasdale, lead designer of Rock Band:

At least from a design perspective, we’re going after two completely different audiences. Rock Band is about an authentic band gameplay experience. We want people to have fun at parties, and we want to reach a wide audience. [...] Call of Duty and Halo are both great franchises you can enjoy. It’s the same with Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

I think it’s more like the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Both have a lot of great games, and gamers could potentially enjoy both consoles, but for a lot of people, it’s not realistically plausible to buy both.

Eurogamer

Rock Band for Wii was ridiculously gimped. Everyone knows that. It was a cash in. Harmonix has learned from its mistakes, though, and seems to be fixing things retroactively.

We already knew the Wii version of Rock Band 2 would feature DLC. What we did not know was that the list of available DLC would be retroactive. Rock Band 2 owners will have access to the full catalog of Rock Band 1 DLC at launch. Not only that, but the ability to use the Guitar Hero III controller with Rock Band 2 has also been confirmed. The gap between the two versions of Rock Band 2 just keeps getting smaller.

IGN

EA has announced plans to release an AC/DC Rock Band track pack disc, featuring 18 live renditions of AC/DC classics. While the songs on the disc, which works as a stand alone game, can be exported to Rock Band 1 and 2 on the PS3 and Xbox 360, the press release makes no mention of that feature in the Wii version. The Wii version hits November 16th for $39.88. (You know, PS360 owners got the entire Red Hot Chili Peppers album Blood Sugar Sex Magik as DLC last week for $20. I guess Moneytalks!)

Check after the break for the full list of songs.

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Word floating around right now is that Australian retailers don’t want to ship MTV Games’ Rock Band into the country and then devote the space to displaying the large bundles in their stores, especially since the game is aging quickly. Even worse is that there’s hesitation to bring over the game’s sequel, Rock Band 2, later this year.

What does that mean? It means you Aussies out there may have to settle for Guitar Hero III: Legend of Rock, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, or Guitar Hero: World Tour for your rocking fix. That’s just about all your options. Or maybe take up guitar lessons. *gasp*

Joystiq

While it seems like talks have begun to get the Beatles into either one of the reigning guitar games out there, you might have to wait a little bit longer before being able to use a violin or cello bow on that fake Strat/SG for “Dazed and Confused.”

Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page has turned down offers from both MTV and Activision for access to the band’s master recordings. He’s basically not comfortable granting that access to outsiders. According to Page’s manager:

It ain’t about the money.

No Zeppelin this time around. Maybe in the distant future.

Wall Street Journal
via Wired

Since Rock Band debuted for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 last fall, Harmonix has strictly limited the warranty coverage to 60 days and those who had a receipt. Now, they’ve acknowledge a smaller number of manufacturing issues with early units, and from June 30 to October 1 will replace instruments for those without receipts. Afterwards, you’ll need a receipt again, as Harmonix explains:

(1) we have a great deal of confidence in our peripherals, (2) we believe we have a great warranty program in place and (3) we found that a large number of the reported problems–especially those after the 60 day period–were due to mistreatment of the equipment.

Yeah, Harmonix? The online features in my copy of Rock Band for Wii don’t seem to work. I want them fixed. PLSKTHX.

Gamasutra
via GoNintendo