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Jorge-Vieira
20-02-15, 15:39
Harmonix reportedly working on a new Rock Band for Xbox One and PS4


Rock Band was a staple of parties and catch ups with friends, but with the PS4 and Xbox One now here, it's all but dried up. That is, until a new report from Bloomberg teased that Harmonix is working on a new Rock Band title for the PS4 and Xbox One consoles.


image: (http://www.tweaktown.com/image.php?image=imagescdn.tweaktown.com/news/4/3/43652_03_harmonix-reportedly-working-new-rock-band-xbox-one-ps4_full.jpg)http://imagescdn.tweaktown.com/news/4/3/43652_03_harmonix-reportedly-working-new-rock-band-xbox-one-ps4.jpg
http://imagescdn.tweaktown.com/news/4/3/43652_03_harmonix-reportedly-working-new-rock-band-xbox-one-ps4.jpg

Harmonix was asked to comment on the news, with the developer telling Eurogamer: "We're excited by how enthusiastic our fans have been in regards to our most recent DLC releases, and we think it's awesome that people are speculating about the future of the franchise!" The developer continued: "While we don't have anything to announce, hundreds of thousands of unique users are still actively playing Rock Band games each month. This passion our fans have shown for Rock Band over the years suggests that rock truly hasn't died, and we've always been clear that we'd love to return to the franchise when the time is right".

Considering the last Rock Band game was released in 2012 as Rock Band Blitz, it's about damn time we see another Rock Band game, especially with the new consoles now here!




Noticia:
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/43652/harmonix-reportedly-working-new-rock-band-xbox-one-ps4/index.html

Winjer
05-03-15, 17:03
Rock Band 4 Landing This Year, Will Support Past DLC (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/140018-Harmonixs-Rock-Band-4-Launching-In-2015-Will-Support-Past-DLC)

Rock Band 4 won't just arrive on modern systems this year - it will also support over 2000 legacy DLC tracks from the last console generation.Wow, it really been almost five years since the last core Rock Bandgame (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/138127-Harmonix-Says-Gamers-Want-Rock-Band-4)? Strange, considering the entire franchise received near-universal praise and is one of the few party games even non-gamers rock out to. Thankfully, we don't have much longer to wait until theRock Band bus drives into this console generation: Harmonix has announced that Rock Band 4 will launch on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles this year - and supports DLC you purchased on previous systems.
"With Rock Band 4, we're doubling down on the energy and excitement of playing music live with your friends," Harmonix CEO Steve Janiak said in a press release. "Focusing on the core experience that our fans have told us they love allows us to evolve established gameplay in meaningful ways that we can't wait to share with everyone later this year."
Most information about what to expect from Rock Band 4 will be revealed in May, but the biggest detail involves DLC. Outside of the core soundtrack, Rock Band 4 will support over 2000 DLC tracks offered since the franchise started in 2007. Considering Rock Band 3 featured a steady stream of DLC content for three years (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122857-American-Pie-Marks-The-End-For-Rock-Band-DLC), that could make for an impressive music library. And if you already purchased Rock Band DLC for a last-gen console, you can download it for Rock Band 4 at no charge.
"Since the beginning, we've called Rock Band a music platform. Players responded by downloading hundreds of their favorite tracks, and building a massive library of playable music," Rock Band 4 Product Manager Daniel Sussman explained. "It's important for us to respect those purchases and enable our fans to bring that content over to the Rock Band platform on new generation consoles."
In fairness, the legacy DLC won't necessarily be available when Rock Band 4 launches, but the fact that it's coming is great news for long-time fans. In the meantime, players can start gearing up for music that will be included in the core game later this year. The exact release date will likely be revealed in May.

Jorge-Vieira
22-04-15, 16:05
Mad Catz Will Co-Publish Rock Band 4 for PS4 and Xbox One


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</tbody>
<section> http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/rock-band-4-800x490.jpg
Mad Catz has entered the software business before, but never on as large a scale as this time. They have partnered with Harmonix and this time it’s not just for branded peripherals but the entire game. This cooperation will help to ensure that there is plenty of available stock when the game is released as well as great bundles with Mad Catz controllers packed together with the new game.

“Since the announcement of Rock Band 4, we’ve been thrilled by the overwhelmingly positive response of passionate fans and gamers worldwide. The time is right to reintroduce the franchise to the new generation of consoles and our co-publishing agreement is a natural extension of the excellent relationship both companies share in realizing that vision,” said Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz. “We’re excited to extend our agreement with Harmonix, and are confident that Mad Catz’ global sales force, distribution channels and retail marketing expertise will deliver the retail success we believe Rock Band 4 will achieve in 2015 and beyond.”
The new game is scheduled for a 2015 release date on both systems and Mad Catz will handle retail sales, promotions and distributions of both the game and hardware while Harmonix will handle all digital sales and content. Mad Catz is also developing a new generation of Rock Band 4 wireless music game controllers that will give players the chance to rock as the biggest guitarists, bassists, drummers and singers of all time.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Pc0RECohAZ0




The new rock game will feature an unrivalled and diverse collection of music across the spectrum of rock and provide gamers with access to over 2,000 compatible tracks via DLC. Previously owned music from the franchise will be reintegrated which is great news for those who have spent a lot on the previous three Rock Star games.
</section>

Noticia:
http://www.eteknix.com/mad-catz-will-co-publish-rock-band-4-ps4-xbox-one/

Jorge-Vieira
05-06-15, 18:46
Rock Band 4 not coming to PC due to music piracy concerns


http://www.techspot.com/images2/news/bigimage/2015-06-04-image-23.jpg

If you were wondering why Harmonix' upcoming rhythm game Rock Band 4 (http://www.techspot.com/news/59964-band-back-rock-band-4-heading-playstation-4.html) is not coming to PC, it's all down to piracy. Not piracy of the game itself, however, but piracy of the songs within the game.
According to Harmonix' product manager (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-06-04-theres-no-pc-version-of-rock-band-4-harmonix-explains-why), Daniel Sussman, there are a range of security issues with the open nature of PCs that don't sit well with music rights holders. The rights holders essentially want the songs in Rock Band 4 unaccessible to music pirates, and the closed nature of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 platforms provide this security.
Sussman does admit that the PC's security issues aren't an "unsolvable problem" - Harmonix could build a DRM platform to protect the songs on PC, and the company says this is "not off the table for the future" - but for now they are focused on bringing the game to consoles.
Music piracy isn't the only reason why Rock Band 4 won't be coming to PC. Sussman also stated that as previous Rock Band games never made it to PC, the library of songs that were available on consoles and that gamers may have purchased wouldn't be there. It's also unclear to Harmonix whether there is a market or audience for Rock Band on PC.
If there is enough demand for Rock Band on PCs, Harmonix may look to bringing the game to the platform in the future. For now, Rock Band 4 will launch solely on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 later this year.



Noticia:
http://www.techspot.com/news/60904-rock-band-4-not-coming-pc-due-music.html

Jorge-Vieira
17-06-15, 14:48
Rock Band 4 Pre-Orders Available and FreeStyle Guitar Unveiled

http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/RockBand4-KeyArt-1920x1080-800x450.jpg
Harmonix and Mad Catz have partnered up for the newest Rockband game and the fourth in the series, that is old news. What is new is the reveal of the Freestyle Guitar Solo gameplay, something everyone is understandably excited about.
http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/RockBand4-Screenshot-GuitarSolo01-800x450.jpg
When you think of rock music, you need guitar solos and it has been missing from the previous games. You just can’t have real rock without guitar solos. We will still have to wait a little until we bring out the axe as the game isn’t scheduled for a release until October 6th, but it is already available as pre-order for both Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/RockBand4-Screenshot-GuitarSolo02-800x450.jpg
Show off your vanity, impress your friends, and generally just have fun. That is what this game is all about. Now you don’t need to be a skilled guitarist anymore, tho it probably wouldn’t hurt if you are.

<iframe width="640" height="390" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Dtvh7B_U-Hw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>




We also got two videos along with the announcement, one being the Freestyle trailer above and one being a behind the scenes on how it all came to be. What the team wanted to achieve and the journey towards the product we’ve just seen demonstrated.

<iframe width="640" height="390" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yB03AFfnSHE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>




There are two different versions for each console. One is a bundle with all instruments for your entire band and that will set you back $249.99 while the other just comes with the guitar and only costs about half, $129.99.
http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/PS4-Instruments-800x800.jpg
Below you’ll find a bunch of screenshots of the game that were released along with all this information. I for one am looking forward to this game.
http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/RockBand4-Screenshot-HUD01-800x450.jpg
http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/RockBand4-Screenshot-HUD02-800x450.jpg
http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/RockBand4-Screenshot-HUD03-800x450.jpg
http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/RockBand4-Screenshot-noHUD01-800x450.jpg
http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/RockBand4-Screenshot-noHUD02-800x450.jpg
http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/RockBand4-Screenshot-noHUD03-800x450.jpg
http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/RockBand4-Screenshot-noHUD04-800x450.jpg
http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/RockBand4-Screenshot-noHUD05-800x450.jpg



Noticia:
http://www.eteknix.com/rock-band-4-pre-orders-available-freestyle-guitar-unveiled/

Jorge-Vieira
06-07-15, 16:51
Continued survival of Mad Catz depends on Rock Band 4 success

Gaming peripherals specialist Mad Catz appears to be having a tricky time staying afloat. The company, established in 1989, could face closure (http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2015/07/02/mad-catz-reports-debt-warning-and-additional-credit-to-ship-rock-band.aspx) if its next great hope Rockband 4, and all the associated games controllers that it will help sell, isn't a smash hit.
http://hexus.net/media/uploaded/2015/7/782f5c7d-c1df-4924-acd6-a2ed79319d94.jpg
Independent auditor KPMG assessed Mad Catz' prospects as a 'going concern' at the end of last month. It found that the games peripheral maker would have to "increase net sales and gross profit considerably," to make it through the financial year. At that time creditor Wells Fargo could have called in its debts or decided to extend its terms via a waiver.
It turns out that Mad Catz has since secured its funding to at least survive through the launch of Rock Band 4. Though Wells Fargo had several times previously provided a waiver for the debt covenants broken, its seems like the uncertainty of whether it would call them in eventually had influenced the KPMG assessment. Such waivers cannot be assumed by an auditor. Wells Fargo probably issued a waiver as Mad Catz appeared to be turning around. Since 2011 it hadn't made a profit but losses have been getting smaller and it even managed a positive net income of $4.7 million for the financial year ending March 2015.
http://hexus.net/media/uploaded/2015/7/d85fb345-7541-44f7-b912-6e7369234697.jpg
Now Mad Catz has secured $30 million in new funding. It has got $20 million (expandable to $35 million) to use to make Rock Band 4 a success by the end of this year, and $10 million for wholly-owned subsidiary Mad Catz Europe over the next three years.

<iframe width="700" height="394" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cgBoo6FjmtY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


The success of Rock Band 4 will be make-or-break for Mad Catz. However the firm is very confident that it will be a hit in this often unpredictable business environment. "We are anticipating significant growth in sales and gross profit from Rock Band 4 this year," said Mad Catz chief financial officer Karen McGinnis to Game Informer (http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2015/07/02/mad-catz-reports-debt-warning-and-additional-credit-to-ship-rock-band.aspx). Rock Band 4 is released on 6th October.



Noticia:
http://hexus.net/gaming/news/hardware/84473-continued-survival-mad-catz-depends-rock-band-4-success/

Jorge-Vieira
19-08-15, 08:58
Van Halen “Jump” Into Rock Band 4

http://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/43a8d500-47f6-4c60-bf71-83918d05e651-800x450.jpg
Rock Band 4’s music library includes a wealth of iconic artists including Aerosmith, Avenged Sevenfold, The Black Keys, Elvis Presley, Fall Out Boy, Foo Fighters, Jack White, Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars, St. Vincent, Queens of the Stone Age, The Who, and for the first time, Van Halen! On launch, fans will be able to rock out to Van Halen’s legendary hit track, “Panama” with more songs to come in the future. According to the Harmonix’s CEO, Steve Janiak,

“For years we’ve wanted to bring Van Halen’s music to Rock Band,”
“Not only are the songs incredible in their own right, but they’re amazingly fun to play and perform, whether you’re on guitar, bass, drums, or vocals.”
In terms of gameplay, Rock Band 4 maintains the quintessential full-band experience whilst adding Freestyle Guitar solos. Also, there will be in excess of 1500 downloadable tracks on the Rock Band Music Store. With such an extensive library, there should something to suit your style. I’m pleased to see the resurgence of music-based games but I prefer Rocksmith because the software is built around learning a proper instrument. Nevertheless, Guitar Hero and Rock Band are exceptionally fun at parties.


Rock Band 4 Rock Band 4’s music library includes a wealth of iconic artists including Aerosmith, Avenged Sevenfold, The Black Keys, Elvis Presley, Fall Out Boy, Foo Fighters, Jack White, Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars, St. Vincent, Queens of the Stone Age, The Who, and for the first time, Van Halen! On launch, fans will be able to rock out to Van Halen’s legendary hit track, “Panama” with more songs to come in the future. According to the Harmonix’s CEO, Steve Janiak, “For years we’ve wanted to bring Van Halen’s music to Rock Band,” “Not only are the songs incredible in their own right, but they’re amazingly fun to play and perform, whether you’re on guitar, bass, drums, or vocals.” In terms of gameplay, Rock Band 4 maintains the quintessential full-band experience whilst adding Freestyle Guitar solos. Also, there will be in excess of 1500 downloadable tracks on the Rock Band Music Store. With such an extensive library, there should something to suit your style. I’m pleased to see the resurgence of music-based games but I prefer Rocksmith because the software is built around learning a proper instrument. Nevertheless, Guitar Hero and Rock Band are exceptionally fun at parties. Rock Band 4 is scheduled for release on October 6th and will be available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Please note, launch hardware might be limited so pre-orders are highly recommended.




Rock Band 4 is scheduled for release on October 6th and will be available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Please note, launch hardware might be limited so pre-orders are highly recommended.



Noticia:
http://www.eteknix.com/van-halen-jump-rock-band-4/

Jorge-Vieira
25-08-15, 07:45
Here is the list of instruments compatible with Rock Band 4 (http://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/here-is-the-list-of-instruments-compatible-with-rock-band-4/)


Rock Band 4 and Guitar Hero Live are on the way this year. While the new Guitar Hero won’t be supporting older peripherals, Rock Band 4 will be picking up the slack, supporting instruments from the last generation Rock Band games as well as the older Guitar Hero titles.
We now have a full list of confirmed compatible instruments, though Xbox One owners will need to spend a little extra in order to use them. Bundled with the physical copy of Rock Band 4 on the Xbox One will be a wireless adapter, which will allow you to use the old Xbox 360 guitars and drums.
http://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/14404295397-e1440445947982.jpg (http://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/14404295397-e1440445947982.jpg)
You can see the full compatibility chart below:
http://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Rockband-chart.jpg (http://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Rockband-chart.jpg)
Rock Band 4 will launch with 60 new tracks, though players will be able to access their old DLC songs- another feature that Guitar Hero is currently lacking. On the PlayStation 4 the game will cost £49.99, while on the Xbox One it will set players back by £69.99, once again, due to the additional wireless adapter.
The game launches on the 6th of October. If you don’t have any of your old peripherals lying around, then you can pick up a new set of instruments along with the game (http://www.game.co.uk/en/games/rock-band-4/?&cm_mmc=Google%20-%20Titles-_-Rock%20Band%204-_-Rock%20Band%204%20-%20Generic-_-rock%20band%204%20game+-+p), though it will cost £219.99. If you just want the game and a single wireless guitar, then the price drops to £109.99.



Noticia:
http://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/here-is-the-list-of-instruments-compatible-with-rock-band-4/

Jorge-Vieira
20-10-15, 15:09
Rock Band 4's DLC totals up to a whopping $3,926


Although Harmonix's latest entry in the acclaimed Rock Band franchise has been met with much fanfare and applause, the game still pushes an incredibly massive library of individually-priced downloadable songs onto players.

http://imagescdn.tweaktown.com/news/4/8/48060_3_rock-band-4s-dlc-totals-up-whopping-3-926.jpg

Nowadays video games have been plagued with a huge assortment of tricks and tactics aimed at separating you from the cash in your wallet: microtransactions, season passes and DLC being the main breadwinners. One of the biggest moneymakers has been music games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero--and Rock Band 4 continues this trend in earnest. Rock Band 4 has a total of 1973 DLC songs that are individually marketed at $1.99 a piece, and to buy all of them you'd rack up a tab of almost $4,000--or $3926 to be exact. That's a lot of money for any video game, let alone an interactive music simulator like Rock Band. http://imagescdn.tweaktown.com/news/4/8/48060_2_rock-band-4s-dlc-totals-up-whopping-3-926.png
That being said, Harmonix has added in a sort of backward compatibility with Rock Band 4 to allow songs previously purchased on Rock Band 3 to be playable. Plus the music licensing fees for all of those tracks and artists are likely quite exorbitant...but at that kind of price tag you could rack up a huge digital collection of tunes on iTunes for half the price. All in all, everyone expects games like Rock Band to sell single songs as DLC, but having to shell out $2 a pop ensures that mixing and matching your favorite playlist will add a hefty sum to the $59.99 game...which gets even more expensive if you don't have the required instrument peripherals to play it. Rock Band 4 isn't the only game with a huge array of expensive DLC; Train Simulator 2 has 230 packs of downloadable content, which totals up to $3096. With figures like these, it's no wonder that these games are such huge hits, and it'd be interesting to see a full chart of DLC sales as to gauge total earnings.





Noticia:
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/48060/rock-band-4s-dlc-totals-up-whopping-3-926/index.html

Jorge-Vieira
09-02-16, 18:26
Rock Band 4 Publisher Mad Catz Loses CEO And Chairman Ahead Of Q3 Earnings Report



image: http://hothardware.com/ContentImages/NewsItem/36488/content/RockBand4_Freestyle_Guitar.jpg
http://hothardware.com/ContentImages/NewsItem/36488/content/RockBand4_Freestyle_Guitar.jpg

When it comes to executives in the tech industry, it’s not uncommon to see leave their post for personal reasons or perhaps to take a job at a competitor (or even in a completely unrelated field). One high-level executive leaving doesn’t typically set off any alarm bells. Two executives at the same time; maybe now you have something to talk about. But three top executives, including the CEO, bailing on a company is definitely cause for concern. Such is the case with Mad Catz (http://hothardware.com/tags/mad-catz), a company known for its gaming controllers for the PC and consoles, and as a co-publisher of Rock Band 4 (http://hothardware.com/tags/rock-band-4). In the past 24 hours, Mad Catz has lost its President and CEO (Darren Richardson), Chairman (Thomas Brown) and General Council (Whitney Peterson). To make matters even more dicey, the three executives resigned just ahead of today’s quarterly earnings report. Youch!
Karen McGinnis, who previously served as Mad Catz’s Chief Financial Officer will settle into her new position as President and CEO. John Nyholt, a member of the company’s board of directors, will slip into the role of chairman. And finally, former Associate General Council Tyson Marshall has elevated to the position of General Counsel and Corporate Secretary.


image: http://hothardware.com/ContentImages/NewsItem/36488/content/mad_catz_strike_7.jpg
http://hothardware.com/ContentImages/NewsItem/36488/content/mad_catz_strike_7.jpg

McGinnis made the best of the situation and had nothing but kinds words for the departed trio, stating, “We recognize the tremendous value that Thomas, Darren and Whitney have brought to Mad Catz during their tenure and thank them for their many contributions throughout the years.”
And perhaps signaling some difficult [financial] waters that Mad Catz has been navigating recently, McGinnis hopes that rearranging the deck chairs will lead to a more prosperous company. “Looking ahead, we are confident that we have a talented leadership team in place that will enable us to steer the Company on a steady course in its operations and financial performance as we look to grow our business and reward our shareholders.”
Mad Catz will report its Q3 result this afternoon, and all eyes will be on the sales performance of Rock Band 4, which the company co-published with Harmonix (http://hothardware.com/tags/harmonix). Rock Band 4 was released on October 6th, 2015 and received generally favorable reviews.




Noticia:
http://hothardware.com/news/rock-band-4-publisher-mad-catz-loses-ceo-and-chairman-ahead-of-q3-earnings-report#huGhovr7K8FVjfiy.99

Jorge-Vieira
02-03-16, 15:55
Rock Band 4 PC Post-Launch Updates To Be Handled By Harmonix, Songs From Previous Entries Won’t Be Available

Yesterday, fans of the Rock Band series have been surprised by the launch of a crowdfunding campaign for a PC port of the latest entry of the series, Rock Band 4. Harmonix stated in the past that many issues were getting in the way of a PC version of the game, but now it seems like the team wants to overcome them with fans’ support.
http://cdn.wccftech.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Rock-Band-4-635x357.jpg
Shortly after the reveal of the Rock Band 4 PC crowdfunding campaign, Harmonix’s HMXJosh has revealed on reddit additional details on what to expect out of the PC version of Rock Band 4, if the crowdfunding campaign is successful.
With so many consoles to PC ports being low quality ones, many are fearing that it might end up being the same for Rock Band 4. HMXJOsh revealed (https://www.reddit.com/r/Rockband/comments/48heg7/rock_band_4_on_pc_gasp_crowdfunding_campaign_is/d0johac?context=3)that Harmonix will be handling all post-launch updates, and they have no intention of diving into a crappy port. He also confirmed that the PC version will come with plenty of graphics options not available on consoles, which will allow players to take advantage of powerful machines to make the game look as nice as possible.

You shouldn’t be worried about the quality. To answer the latter part of this question, once the Sumo-developed port launches, we’ll be bringing ongoing updates in-house. We don’t want to dive into a crappy port once the code is passed back to us, so it’s very important to us that the PC version stands alongside the PS4/XB1 versions in quality. Also, the ongoing updates post-launch will release alongside console, no waiting required!
This also covers the second part of your #5, but exact graphical settings are going to come out of the development process. That said, part of the work we’ll be tasking Sumo with is making this version customizable in ways that consoles aren’t. i.e. If you’ve got a beefy PC, we want the game to look its best.
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While making DLC songs purchased on other formats available on PC is impossible due to obvious reasons, one fan has asked about the possibility of purchasing songs from previous entries of the series. Unfortunately, it seems like this won’t be happening (https://www.reddit.com/r/Rockband/comments/48heg7/rock_band_4_on_pc_gasp_crowdfunding_campaign_is/d0jzohk?context=3) due to licensing reasons. Bringing select songs as one-offs might be possible, though.

“Licensing isn’t screwy on those, it’s unfortunately pretty cut and dry: Our rights to sell those songs in any capacity has expired, so we can’t bring them back without relicensing them. They won’t be coming back for PC (Unless we get individual songs as one-offs).”
HMXJosh also further elaborated (https://www.reddit.com/r/Rockband/comments/48heg7/rock_band_4_on_pc_gasp_crowdfunding_campaign_is/d0k5pup?context=3) on the choice to release the game on Steam and not through the Xbox Store, which might have allowed the team to push cross-buy with the Xbox One version. The decision has been made due to Steam Workshop, which allows the return of the Rock Band Network, and to not split the userbase.

Steam has the Steam Workshop, which allows for the return of the RBN, which we feel is a better tradeoff that also doesn’t split our userbase.
Rock Band 4 is now available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. You can support the release of a PC port by going here (https://www.fig.co/campaigns/rock-band-4-pc).







Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/rock-band-4-pc-postlaunch-updates-handled-harmonix-songs-previous-entries/#ixzz41lHBa2Hr

Jorge-Vieira
08-03-16, 17:03
Mad Catz dropped as maker of Rock Band 4 peripherals (http://www.kitguru.net/peripherals/matthew-wilson/mad-catz-dropped-as-maker-of-rock-band-4-peripherals/)


Last month, we learned that peripheral maker, Mad Catz, was facing tough financial times following on from lower than expected sales of Rock Band 4. Mad Catz created the controllers and co-published the game but now, Harmonix, the studio behind Rock Band 4 is apparently parting ways with Mad Catz and will be handing over peripheral making duties to a new company.
According to an announcement made by Harmonix (http://www.rockband4.com/pdp-partnership/), future Rock Band 4 controllers will be made by a company called Performance Designed Products (PDP): “As we look to fully achieve our goal of creating this console generation’s category-defining music gaming platform, we need to partner with a truly world-class manufacturer that can operate at the scale that Rock Band requires”.
http://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/600x300xmad-catz-at-600x300.jpg.pagespeed.ic.yYmeJVEJYr.jpg (http://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/mad-catz-at-600x300.jpg)
“PDP has a well-deserved reputation for innovation, customer satisfaction, and quality. They have the logistical and technical expertise to support Harmonix’s ambitious plans for the future of Rock Band, with new hardware alongside a major Rock Band 4 feature update coming this fall.”
Back when Rock Band 4 was first announced, Mad Catz’ involvement was heavily advertised but since then, the company has had a rough financial year. It almost sounds like Mad Catz couldn’t manufacture Rock Band 4’s music controllers at the rate Harmonix wanted, judging by the statement the studio made above. However, Mad Catz has not issued a comment on why it is parting ways with Harmonix yet so we can’t be too sure.



Noticia:
http://www.kitguru.net/peripherals/matthew-wilson/mad-catz-dropped-as-maker-of-rock-band-4-peripherals/

Jorge-Vieira
06-04-16, 20:48
Rock Band 4 For PC Hits Sour Note On Crowdfunding Tour, Fails To Reach $1.5M Funding Goal


For the time being, gamers who've pledged their allegiance to the PC (or simply prefer it) will have to rock out to Rock Band 4 (http://hothardware.com/tags/rock-band-4) with their game consoles out. Harmonix (http://hothardware.com/tags/harmonix) wasn't able to raise its goal of $1.5 million—or even come close, really—through crowdfunding site Fig to make possible a port of Rock Band 4 to PC, so for now, the project is scrapped.

The crowdfunding campaign ran for 35 days and gathered $792,817 from 1,674 backers, or barely more than half of what Harmonix was seeking. Had it been successful, Harmonix would have kicked in $500,000 of its own money, as it reckoned the PC port would cost in the neighborhood of $2 million to complete.


image: http://hothardware.com/ContentImages/NewsItem/37028/content/Rock_Band_4_PC.jpg
http://hothardware.com/ContentImages/NewsItem/37028/content/Rock_Band_4_PC.jpg


Despite not reaching its goal and ultimately being "disappointed" in the outcome, Harmonix issued a heartfelt thanks to its supporters. The indie studio also took the opportunity to address some commonly asked questions and concerns backers and potential backers had about the project, including the $1.5 million goal for a port.

"Virtually the entire budget (and remember, that included $500,000 from Harmonix on top of the 1.5 million raised by the campaign) went directly towards game development and testing. We have substantial experience scoping and developing games; we know fairly accurately how much work we need to do (in fact, we wrote up a more detailed list of the work required)," Harmonix stated on Fig.

"Since we’re using our own engine, it’s not a simple matter of flipping a compiler switch and building the game for the PC. There is no benefit to us attempting to artificially reduce what we think it will cost to build this game. We don’t want to release a PC game that feels like a half-baked console port, and we have to be very realistic about the time and effort it will take, or we will no longer be a successful game development studio," Harmonix added.

Harmonix didn't rule out the possibility that Rock Band 4 could still end up on PC, whether it's by trying again with another crowdfunding campaign or some other way, but was also realistic in that the market for a port just might not be big enough at the moment.



Noticia:
http://hothardware.com/news/rock-band-4-for-pc-fails-to-reach-15m-crowdfunding-goal#iGDYlhGmU2F3saPw.99

Jorge-Vieira
07-04-16, 13:48
Harmonix Claims Rock Band 4’s PC Audience is Too Small

http://i1.wp.com/www.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Screenshot_2.png?resize=800%2C450
Earlier today, we reported (http://www.eteknix.com/rock-band-4-pc-crowdfunding-campaign-has-failed/) on the news that Rock Band’s 4 Fig campaign had ended and only managed to amass 52 percent of the whopping $1.5 million target. Since then, Harmonix has released a final update (https://www.fig.co/campaigns/rock-band-4-pc?update=130#updates) explaining why they believe the crowdfunding campaign wasn’t a successful venture and said:

“How do we feel about the end of the campaign? Disappointed, obviously. There’s no shortage of people at Harmonix who love Rock Band, and some of us got extra excited at the prospect of bringing back RBN, and even more about getting the chance to expose RB to a brand new audience.”
“But at the same time we learned exactly what we needed to learn: there doesn’t seem to be enough of an audience to make Rock Band for PC a viable project for us right now. We’re committed to supporting and improving RB4 on consoles. To be clear, we raised nearly $800,000 via backers and investors; it’s an impressive showing of support from our community and for our brand. But as an independent developer we have to be careful about how much money and development time we risk on a project we’re not sure has a big enough audience, and crowdfunding allowed us to (among other things)* judge the market fit for Rock Band PC.”
According to Harmonix, the main reason for failing to reach the funding target was due to a lack of enthusiasm in the PC market. At first glance, this seems a little bit rash and trying to blame consumers for not investing. There’s a huge array of reasons why PC players were sceptical of backing the project. Firstly, the $1.5 million target is quite substantial and might have deterred people from backing smaller amounts. Even though Harmonix is now an independent company and no longer associated with Viacom/MTV, it’s difficult to shake off the past business arrangements. By this, I mean consumers don’t perceive Harmonix as a cash strapped company struggling to pay for development costs. On another note, why did the company decide to use Fig instead of Kickstarter?
To be fair, Harmonix has directly addressed the key questions about their funding campaign in the latest update and it’s well worth reading before making your own opinion.
Thank you to RobotBrush for providing us with this information:



https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/714589056726859781/SZVb_2cr_normal.jpg John ‎@jwilliamsona47 (https://twitter.com/jwilliamsona47)
@RobotBrush (https://twitter.com/RobotBrush) @Se7en_Sword (https://twitter.com/Se7en_Sword) got the original source?

Follow (https://twitter.com/RobotBrush)
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/414873607169265664/sheSjajq_normal.png lashman ‎@RobotBrush (https://twitter.com/RobotBrush)

@jwilliamsona47 (https://twitter.com/jwilliamsona47) @Se7en_Sword (https://twitter.com/Se7en_Sword) https://www.fig.co/campaigns/rock-band-4-pc?update=130#updates … (https://t.co/VKsykOkOqy)
<time class="dt-updated" datetime="2016-04-06T16:17:32+0000" pubdate="" title="Time posted: 06 Apr 2016, 16:17:32 (UTC)">5:17 PM - 6 Apr 2016</time> (https://twitter.com/RobotBrush/status/717748082104995841)



Do you think Harmonix has a valid point, or are they blaming consumers for being wary of their crowdfunding project?



Noticia:
http://www.eteknix.com/harmonix-claims-rock-band-4s-pc-audience-is-too-small/