AC/DC Live: Rock Band coming to a Wal-Mart near you [UPDATE]
While we’re a little lost on the details at this time, the New York Times is reporting that AC/DC is coming to Rock Band in physical form. That is, a brand new Rock Band disc featuring nothing but AC/DC is being released, and released exclusively to Wal-Mart.
Called AC/DC Live: Rock Band, it is meant, in part, to complement the push by Wal-Mart to market and sell AC/DC’s forthcoming album Black Ice, which Wal-Mart also has an exclusive deal to sell.
That said, it does not appear as though AC/DC Live: Rock Band will feature songs from Black Ice. Instead, according to the article, it will feature songs from the DVD “AC/DC Live at Donnington”. Frankly, this seems like a much better fit to us, as it plays more like a greatest hits album than new, untested material.
Here’s the track list from Live at Donnington:
1. Thunderstruck
2. Shoot To Thrill
3. Back In Black
4. Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be
5. Heatseeker
6. Fire Your Guns
7. Jailbreak
8. The Jack
9. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
10. Moneytalks
11. Hells Bells
12. High Voltage
13. Whole Lotta Rosie
14. You Shook Me All Night Long
15. T.N.T.
16. Let There Be Rock
17. Highway To Hell
18. For Those About To Rock (We Salute You).
That’s a pretty spectacular set of songs indeed.
It’s uncertain at this point whether Harmonix and MTV plan on releasing this giant set of AC/DC songs for download via Xbox LIVE. However, the New York Times article at one point calls the release a “Track Pack”, which is typically what downloadable content is referred to. We certainly hope they release this via download as this would be a much simpler option and would readily allow the content to be mixed seamlessly with all of the previously released Rock Band tracks.
At any rate, if you do decide to go with the full retail version, it will cost you a bargain price of $40(USD) rather than the typical $60 to $70 for the average game. AC/DC Live: Rock Band is due out in November.
Harmonix plans on releasing a press release today with more details.
[UPDATE]
This is from the press release from Harmonix:
“All tracks from the AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band Track Pack will also be available for play in Rock Band and Rock Band 2[1] by entering a special export authentication code for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system…” [emphasis added]
It would appear from the press release that there are no plans to release the AC/DC tracks digitally over Xbox LIVE. Instead, much like the export of Rock Band 1 songs from the disc to the hard drive with the purchase of an export authentication code, you’ll be required to do the same with AC/DC Live. There was no mention of whether you’d have to purchase another code on top of the disc purchase, so we’re hoping the authentication code comes with the disc itself and free of charge.
peachey @ September 30, 2008