It’s time to get the band back together! Harmonix Music Systems has just announced that Rock Band 4 will be grooving its way onto both the Xbox One and Playstation 4, marking the series’ return after almost a 6 year hiatus. The company also revealed that they are teaming up with Mad Catz to bring all new instrument peripherals on which to play all your smooth jams. If you have been storing your old gear in the closet in hopes that the next release would allow you to use the same instruments, it seems like you are out of luck. Although it hasn’t been made 100% clear yet. The best news is that all previously purchased music will be transferable into the new game, assuming you are on the same platform where these purchases were made (i.e. Sony or Microsoft).
Jessica Chobot broke the news of Rock Band and Guitar Hero’s return on Nerdist News
No news on a release date as of yet, but if you are interested you can sign up to be notified when you can pre-order all the goods you’ll need for when the game is finally released some time this year. Other news is set to roll out through the months prior to release, probably announcing more concrete information on dates, genres of music, dates, and peripheral prices.
The video above shows us some interesting insight on why Harmonix believes it is time for Rock Band‘s return, citing that the time just seems right. After nearly 6 years of this genre missing from our home,  they may just be right. The developer also discussed how much control they now have over the game they actually want to make because they don’t have pressure coming from exterior forces. The original issue, and probably the reason why we haven’t seen one of these in a while, was because the market was completely saturated with these games and sales just plummeted.
For those hardcore fans attending PAXÂ East, you will be able to pre-order an exclusive Penny Arcade guitar at the Harmonix booth, which is a nice little incentive to go say hello to the developers.
Do you believe the time is right for the return of Rock Band? How about purchasing all the instrument peripherals all over again? Rock and roll your way onto the comments section below and let us know what you think.
I bought a drum kit to use with a midi. I kinda hope I can still use that. the drums that came with the game the bass pedal kept breaking and the snare pads would crack.
I think if they’re doing all-new instruments, I hope they vastly improve the technology and use better materials. The drum heads didn’t last as long as they should, the pedal was too light, and the battery life could definitely be improved.
Rock Band was a definite favorite for me. A great excuse to get some friends together. I have neither the skill nor the patience to learn actual guitar, so this works for me! The need for all new instruments does seem a bit of a money grab, though.
This product makes no sense to me since Rocksmith. Why learn to play fake plastic guitars when there is a game that teaches you how to play actual guitar?
Crazy.
Hey, will any Nerdist folks be at PAX East?
I am rather upset that they dropped the keyboard…seems weird to take a step back and give a lesser product.
Agreed. WiiU has really been getting terrible support from 3rd party devs. I hope after they see the success of Mario kart and super smash Brothers, some third-party companies will begin to come back to Nintendo.
Either way… I hated all that plastic “toy instrument” stuff. it would most likely be a game that I passed on.
holy shit, that girl, is so, so, so fucking annoying.
No WiiU.