Although LEGO Rock Band has been rumored since January, with a major leak earlier this month, the game was nothing more than speculation. A press release today, however, confirms that LEGO Rock Band is very real.
The console versions will be co-developed by TT Games and Harmonix, while the Nintendo DS version will be developed by TT Games, Harmonix, and Backbone — all for release during the 2009 holiday season.
Naturally, players will be able to customize their little plastic rock stars, as well as support staff like roadies, managers, and the ubiquitous entourage. Interpret “entourage” how you will, but I plan on making a bunch of minifig groupies that look like they staggered off of the Rock of Love bus.
The press release states that the game will feature “brilliant chart-topping songs and classic favorites suitable for younger audiences,” and goes on to list several:
- Blur: “Song 2”
- Carl Douglas: “Kung Fu Fighting”
- Europe: “The Final Countdown”
- Good Charlotte: “Boys and Girls”
- Pink: “So What”
What, no Iron Maiden or Black Sabbath? Claims to suitability for “families, tweens and teens” makes me think we won’t see the same sort of set lists I love from Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, but I hope having TT Games involved will ensure the same level of excellence we’ve experienced in the LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones video games.
As alluded to in the press release, the list of parties involved in this game is mind-blowingly complex:
- TT Games
- The LEGO Group
- Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- MTV Games
- Harmonix Music Systems
- Backbone Entertainment
- Foundation 9 Entertainment
Click the thumbnails below for larger versions of screen captures from the game:
-
- LEGO Rock Band Guitarist
-
- LEGO Rock Band Singer
-
- LEGO Rock Band Singer
-
- LEGO Rock Band Drummer
-
- LEGO Rock Band logo
You can read the full press release on Business Wire.
Via Joystiq, Kotaku, PC World, and just about every other tech/gadget site out there, with hat-tips to about five thousand of our readers. Hey, we can’t always be the ones to break major LEGO news. ;-)
Let me be the first to say that that’s just stupid.
The game will likely play exactly the same as the non-Lego versions, and if it’s got Lego visuals, I’m all for it! The kid-friendly playlist is nice as well.
That said, if you don’t like the genre (and I certainly agree it’s starting to get a bit redundant) there’s no real reason to like this either.
While I attempted to remain fairly neutral in my post, I’ll step out of blogger-mode for a moment and share my own thoughts here in the comments.
First, I’ve enjoyed the LEGO games from TT Games over the last few years. Second, music games for me are exclusively about the music. That’s why I never played any of the Guitar Hero games until enough tracks were master recordings and I liked the song list. Third, I’ve never been much of a multi-player gamer.
So, on balance, LEGO Rock Band doesn’t have a whole lot going for me — TT Games’ involvement notwithstanding.
We’ll see…
I can only hope the inclusion of Carl Douglas’ “Kung Fu Fighting” means a return of the Ninja line! ;)
I’d just like some minifig instruments!
Less risque singers and a bit nicer song list doesn’t hurt this either.
I just don’t get the why. There’s nothing LEGO about this except the “figs” in the bands…
Some people will make some cash off this release and that’s obviously why they’re doing it. While I’m not a Rock Band or Guitar hero fan, the idea could have been okay except for the watering down of the music to suit the softies. I know, of course, that the Lego theme pretty much requires that it be “kid friendly” and therefore lame but aside from the crappy music I think the general idea is fun. The title “Rock” band is misleading because none of those songs rock. ;) Even the phrase “rock and roll” originated as slang for getting your sex on. Real rock music has always pushed against social conservatism. All this modern mainstream crap is nothing but generic soft content with distortion pedals.
Only thing I think that would make this game better is brick built instruments.
Well, I for one am excited about this. I like Guitar Hero and have three versions of it.
The “kid friendly” track list is totally fine with me, since I don’t like all the heavy metal songs on Guitar Hero (I know, that was the point to start, but still).
Plus, every version of the TT games I’ve liked. Yes, they are similar to each other, but that is part of what makes them fun, plus they were made for a younger audience. ;)
As a huge fan of LEGO games, and I love LEGO Star Wars, this has crossed that line.
It’s like what Nintendo did with Mario on the Gamecube, whore him out to whomever wants him. All LEGO is doing is taking the good name they have recently and dragging it through the mud.
They’ve, at last, brought out The Final Countdown, I see.
The song really doesn’t work for a game like this, but… well.
Also, if this doesn’t feature at least completely customizable instruments, it’s going to fail in my book.
Hmmm… I find that most games, these days, have a far too transitory lifespan, especially games of this genre, so I will probably steer clear of this one. I agree with a previous poster, that Lego doesn’t lend itself, really, in any way to the Rock Band/Guitar Hero format.
I also think the games industry has become far too corporate and a lot of the raw edginess that used to be prevalent within game development has become diluted down to try to irradicate the attached “nerdiness” that used to come with gaming, make games more widely accessible and meet “demographics”.
@ the enigma that is badger, Kung Fu is a Chinese martial art and Ninjas are of Japan. I hope the game’s designers don’t stumble into this same pitfall.
Everyone seems surprisingly negative about this. Perhaps this doesn’t have appeal to the adult fans, ut remember that we are not the true target market. There are probably plenty of kiddies who want to play rock band but their parents won’t let them because the songs are too adult. Fab-ee-poo, lego has created a kidz-bop version of rock band. Many parents will be delighted.
And we as adults are probably garaunteed some cool new figs and possibly musical insturments for them.
Win-win, IMO.
I’m totally stoked about it. As a father of a 6 and 3 year old, I’ve held off on getting rock band, but I’m getting this version for sure. The kids will dig it. Awesome.
Out of the 6-12 year old market, how many of them will actually be able to play the songs on the guitar or drums? And if they do make it easy enough for 6 year old’s to play, how will TLG get older Guitar Hero fans to buy a watered-down, Lego [may not appeal to some], easy to play version of an instant classic?
” Kung Fu is a Chinese martial art and Ninjas are of Japan. I hope the game’s designers don’t stumble into this same pitfall.”
I’m well-aware all of the Japanese striking arts (but not the grappling schools) are derivative of the Chinese wushu tradition. More broadly speaking, the foundations of Japanese culture and written language consist of just coping the Chinese Tang dynasty wholesale.
I was making a joke about the choice of that particular song (A gag song from the 70s about the martial arts craze at the time that borders on being culturally offensive? Ok. . .) as well as the tendency for some to focus on what LEGO videogame elements might find their way into sets. “When will Man-Bat and Batgirl be in a set?!” and the like.
Hey,
Well, I’m not into the Guitar Hero games so I’m not the audience for this. So it’s a “meh” for me but maybe fun for kids. That said, Felix writes: “we as adults are probably garaunteed some cool new figs and possibly musical insturments for them”
Now if they were to make actual ABS figs and instruments to go with the game I’d be all for this, especially if these were small impulse-type sets. Sadly, I assume that Felix means we’ll get virtual figs as part of the game. It’s not like they’re re-releasing the ninja line just because there are ninjas in that upcoming battles game, nor have we (I assume) gotten real figs of all of the characters in the SW and IJ games.
Ultimately, for me, all of these games are distractions from what I love, the actual bricks and figs. If they bring more people into the hobby who would not have been there otherwise, great. If they prompt LEGO to release new sets as part of a synergistic cross-promotion, even greater.
Bruce
The thing, for me, about Rock Band and Guitar Hero is that the equipment is so expensive. I mean, that’s coming from a country bumpkin who has a hard time finding a job worth $10, but still. I suppose it helps to have friends who always get the latest of everything, but them being 12 hours away doesn’t.
The game in general sounds pretty interesting though, I just don’t know how they came up with the Rock Band idea. A LEGO Gran-Turismo would be at least five times better, IMO. The thing that would save this game, I think, is an extraordinary amount of customization. I’m a sucker for that kind of stuff.
I am a faithful Rock Band/Guitar Hero player as well as LEGO fan but this video game won’t be making it into my house. My friend who has a 7 year old LEGO fan/video game fan for a son would most likely purchase this game for the holidays.
I would love to be able to buy a smallish (Impulse up to a $20 set) that included four minifigs with the double sided faces, several instruments that must be built (let’s be realistic, I don’t see LEGO tooling new molds and making new parts like guitars just for 1 small line) and a small garage diorama for the minifig band to play in.
Of course, when the Batman game was released I was hoping to get a Man-Bat and Commissioner Gordon fig and they never materialized. Come to think of it, that game was released well after the last Batman LEGO set 1st hit the shelves. Weird timing!
I am an adult and I would rather spend $65 on LEGO bricks, not a video game that I have several versions of already.
It’s just LEGO merchandise for the modern era. Like most LEGO merchandise I won’t be buying it but really it’s no different to a hat or t-shirt.
This smacks of Lego hopping on the bandwagon (pun intended). I know my son loves to play Batman, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones, but he won’t be interested in this. I’d much rather see a Pirate Lego game, or something based on sets rather than this.
Kids will love it.
I don’t care for computer games at all, but when I saw this I realized it would not be bad if Lego released a real Lego set as a promo for the game. Three or four rock stars on a stage – say, a small set with 100 pieces and four minifigs, and maybe with a discount coupon for the game. The game can come with a discount coupon for the set, too.
I don’t think that Rock Band or Rock Band II have as many (good) songs as they should. I think LEGO Rock Band is just going to be some crazy, watered-down, karoke version of Kidz Bop.
…I still can’t wait to see it. I just wanna rock out with my block out!
“I don’t care for computer games at all, but when I saw this I realized it would not be bad if Lego released a real Lego set as a promo for the game. Three or four rock stars on a stage – say, a small set with 100 pieces and four minifigs, and maybe with a discount coupon for the game. The game can come with a discount coupon for the set, too.”
My name is Melfice, and I approve of this message and/or product!
^I second that motion!
Sometimes, I think you guys leave news announcements at the top of the page a little too long.
^ Sometimes, we have lives outside of this blog. ;)
^ Wait…you can DO that?
i wonder if there will be any peripherals specific to this game, like a guitar controller that looks brick-built and is lego-compatible. ha! just imagine what someone would look like playing on it: it’d be like taking the geekiness of the existing guitar controllers and then multiplied by 10!
I think this is a cool idea. Now the little kiddies can enjoy what they might have only watched their older siblings play. Or us AFOL’s can enjoy the game with a Lego twist!
And if it does not sell well, then I guess it is more TT’s fault and Lego is not really losing anything, right?
Why does LEGO want Rock Band representing their image? Should TLG allow brand licensed video games to be made that do not directly tie into a current physical product? Do games such as this improve the education and growth of children?
This is not getting back to your core product lines. Profits are high now because parents realize that LEGO bricks are a high quality toy which will last for a long time and has unlimited play value. Short lived video game cash cow projects do little to enhance the classic LEGO Company brand. Do not forget the pitfalls of 2003.
Ben