This coming Sunday, November 20th, Reggie’s Rock Club on 2109 S. State St. in Chicago, Illinois will be sponsoring a Rock Band 3 tournament with entry fee and ticket proceeds benefiting Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital, in partnership with Child’s Play. There’s not much time left to register, but since this is a Rock Band 3 competition, you can utilize up to SEVEN performers! If you’re in or near the area, and that’s not enough to sway you, for the first time in over six years, gamecore rock masters the Minibosses will also be in attendance and judging the competition!

For more info, check out the Chicago Loot Drop’s site, or hit them up on Twitter or Facebook.

[via ChicagoLootDrop]

Let’s be honest. To those that didn’t pick up the Country Track Pack 2 in disc form, last week’s DLC was a good deal. Unfortunately, my assumption that most of the country music fans in Rock Band are few and far between, and probably picked up the disc when it came out, so they may not be too happy with last week’s DLC. For the rest of the people, it was probably nice to finally be able to get Johnny Cash. Oh well, on to next week!

• Stevie Wonder – Higher Ground
• Stevie Wonder – I Wish *
• Stevie Wonder – Living For the City
• Stevie Wonder – Sir Duke *
• Stevie Wonder – Superstition

* Denotes Pro-Guitar/Bass chart availability for $.99.

$8.49 USD (680 MSP) for “Stevie Wonder Pack 01.”

[Official announcement]

Unless otherwise noted, all songs are $1.99.

• Black Veil Brides – Heaven’s Calling
• The Blue News – Hitman Blues *
• Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives – Hey *
• Rishloo – Downhill *
• Thomas Walker – Flight of the Bumblebee (Rimsky-Korsakov – Piano Version) *

* Denotes $.99 track.

ROCK BAND NETWORK PS3 11/15 PLAYLIST

[Official announcement]

Unless otherwise noted, all songs are 160 MSP ($1.99). Songs not yet linked below will be updated once RockBand.com has been updated.

• Active Knowledge – The Fractal Reason
• All Shall Perish – Spineless (2x Bass Pedal)
• Atheist – Faux King Christ
• Atheist – Faux King Christ (2x Bass Pedal)
• Chaotrope – The Cascade Effect *
• Fallen Angel – Life or Death
• Fallen Angel – The Answer
• Halcyon Way – Inversion *
• Lockdown – Haunting the Dead *
• Mystakin – The Consequences *
• Ra Ra Riot – Boy
• Ra Ra Riot – Can You Tell
• Rainbowdragoneyes – Heavy Weather – The Storm ov The Undead (2x Bass Pedal) *
• Rainbowdragoneyes – Heavy Weather – The Storm ov The Undead *
• Richard Campbell – Frankenstein Teaser Trailer *
• Spinning Chain – Let It Ride
• Vangough – Estranger (2x Bass Pedal) *

* Denotes 80 MSP ($.99) track.

ROCK BAND NETWORK XBOX 360 11/10 PLAYLIST

[Official announcement]

Mad Catz recently announced their latest financial quarter results. Sales and profits were down, and the finger is being pointed at Rock Band 3. Has the rhythm gaming genre “softened” over the last few years? Without a doubt. But I’m going to highlight a number of facts that Mad Catz is presenting in their latest quarterly financial statement, and before I put together the pieces as to why their explanation doesn’t sit well with me, see if you can first figure out why this doesn’t make sense.

• Revenues for the latest quarter ended September 30, 2011 were reported at $25.8 million, a 31 percent decrease from the $37.4 million reported during the same period one year ago.
• Profits decreased 29 percent during the period, from $10.5 million to $7.4 million.
• Mad Catz claimed that “In the United States, the decrease in net sales is primarily attributable to sales of our Rock Band 3 products in the second fiscal quarter of 2011, which was released in September 2010.“
• They also claimed that “The decrease in games as a percentage of total gross sales primarily related to lower sales of bundled products of the Rock Band 3 game. The decrease in controllers was primarily related to products compatible with the Wii and PlayStation 3.“
• Finally, in their press release, they noted that “Although we improved sales of our increasingly important audio and PC products, these gains were more than offset by weakness in our video game products, as the revenue from Rock Band 3 product sales fell sharply.“

First, the bad news. This doesn’t bode well for the re-release of Rock Band 3 this year, but does help to explain why the re-release is only planned for the Xbox 360. They note that Wii and PS3 players aren’t buying instruments at the same rate as the Xbox 360. This is corroborated by unofficial and anecdotal figures we have seen on DLC sales between the three consoles, and doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise.

What puzzles me is that based on what I’ve seen and heard here, the forums, and on social media, demand for Rock Band 3 peripherals appeared to be higher than supply. Even now, it’s extremely difficult to get your hands on many different Rock Band 3 peripherals, so I’m somewhat confused as to why demand isn’t being satisfied when claims that “sales are down” are being listed as excuse. As an outsider, it seems like Mad Catz is being reluctant to commit to the franchise at the risk of generating excess supply which, to be fair, is a legitimate business reason, but may not paint them in the best light in terms of the fans.

But that’s not what bothers me. What I’m about to illuminate some will write off as “spin,” but there are some facts here that definitely need to be highlighted. Mad Catz’s financial statement for the quarter ended September 30, 2011 was compared against the same quarter last year, ended September 30, 2010. Mad Catz specifically lists that Rock Band 3 was released in September 2010, when it was actually released on October 26, 2010, a full month AFTER the comparative quarter ended. This presents a serious issue in the validity of their variance analysis.

Excuse me while I get technical for a moment, but generally accepted accounting principals state that revenue is recognized when the following four conditions are met: 1. Persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists. 2. Delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, 3. The seller’s price to the buyer is fixed or determinable and, 4. Collectibility is reasonably assured. While I don’t doubt that three of these are easily met, I’m questioning whether delivery has occurred in quantities large enough for Mad Catz to justify on their own financials that Rock Band 3 “was released in September 2010.” While Mad Catz was releasing some peripherals prior to Rock Band 3′s release date, I find it hard to believe that the majority of peripheral sales occurred prior to the release of Rock Band 3. In fact, it doesn’t make sense at all, as they specifically reference “lower sales of bundled products of the Rock Band 3 game,” which could NOT have happened prior to October 26, 2010 (with a few lucky exceptions).

What do you think? Is Mad Catz throwing Rock Band 3 under the bus unfairly? Or is there something bigger that I’m missing?

[Found via Gamasutra]

I feel sorry for the country genre in Rock Band. A lot of people dismiss it straight away, because they think all the tracks will feel like traditional country songs (a la Johnny Cash), rather most songs incorporate a mix of rock and country. In celebration of the massive country pack released this week, I thought I would feature another country song (I featured Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go) in the past).

This week’s Thursday Throwback song is Me and My Gang by Rascal Flatts. The band has released over 20 albums, with eleven of these charted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. They have also had ten No. 1 US Country Singles, and has an unusually high following of young people for country music (being featured on the Cars soundtrack with “Life Is A Highway” definitely didn’t hurt).

In honor of the other Rascal Flatts song on Rock Band, Summer Nights, being released this week, I thought I would feature their previous song, Me and My Gang. Originally included in Country Pack 03, this song highlights what makes Rascal Flatts one of the most recognize names in modern country music. The song starts off with a guitar riff obviously inspired from Livin’ on a Prayer, but alternates frequently between this and the rhythm guitar on the 4-tiered chart until the chorus, which then introduces three-note chords and fast paced changes. The 4-tier drums include lots of changes, especially highlights all three cymbal lanes throughout the song, and throws in a few solid drum rolls for good measure. The 1-tier bass includes a good amount of variety for a low-tiered chart, and the 5-tier vocals show off why Rascal Flatts is praised for their amazing harmonies. This song may be classified as country, but obviously includes many rock notations.

Here’s a playthrough:

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy reading the future posts in this series. Any tracks you would like to see featured? Give us a shout below, along with your thoughts on this pick.

I would appreciate it if you would have a look at my growing fansite, The Tribute Pages which features tributes of Video Games (including Rock Band 3), Tv Shows and Movies. Thank you!