It was a big deal a couple years ago when Activision locked up Jimi Hendrix for the Guitar Hero games. But that sucked and I guess the Hendrix family agreed, because The Experience’s second album, Axis: Bold as Love, has been available for download in Rock Band since last week.
Did you know this? Do you still stay up-to-date with DLC announcements and still play the game regularly? I know I don’t. Every once in a while I check out what’s available, but I don’t buy new content as frequently as I used to. And all the while I’m getting worse at the game.
This is sad. You see, when Rock Band 2 came out, what I liked about it was that it could sustain itself as a platform. At the time, I thought it was pretty much as good as a rhythm game could get, and I was happy to see Harmonix wanted to keep the game as a platform for new musical releases, instead of perpetually putting out new games, like Guitar Hero. That’s why I’ve been so resistant to games like Lego Rock Band and especially Green Day: Rock Band. I like having everything in its right place, which is to say in one game.
But after a couple years, it seems like Harmonix will have to put out a new game to get me playing like I used to. The Beatles: Rock Band was a lot of fun for a while, but I’m talking about a Rock Band 3. And they seem to understand that, as there have been hints of the game coming out this year. All we really know is that it probably supports vocal harmonies. It’s just kind of a shame even something as exciting as Rock Band Network isn’t enough.