Way back in 2008 (when there was just over 140 tracks available for Rock Band), Harmonix announced that they were working with Japanese game developer Q Entertainment to bring Rock Band to Japan. The plan was to release a version of Rock Band that was heavily localized for the Japanese market, with a more intense effort than how Rock Band was released in Europe with an additional nine songs. Q Entertainment was responsible for the Lumines franchise, and since music rhythm games already had a relatively healthy following in Japan, Rock Band: Japan seemed like a sure thing. Only… it never happened.

Last week was the Tokyo Game Show, and since Harmonix will be releasing Dance Central in Japan this year, Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos was on hand to talk with some of the gaming press. When queried by Kotaku‘s Brian Ashcraft about the fate of the Japanese version of Rock Band, Alex commented:

“We were very much interested in bringing that experience in some form to the Japanese market. There were a couple of significant challenges.”

Some of those significant challenges included logistical issues of producing and shipping Rock Band hardware, as well as licensing Japanese music for the game. While these are both reasonable, Rigopulos also mentioned that people in Japan may not have been willing to commit what limited space they have to playing Rock Band.

“Even for people who have the space, Japanese families tend to not make a lot of noise in their homes. They generally have a quieter lifestyle at home ’cause they’re living in closer quarters, and also Japanese families don’t entertain in their homes as much.”

OK, but in Japan, don’t many people play their games outside of the house, in arcades?

“That’s something we considered. One of the challenges is that arcades are very, very noisy, and so if you’re trying to make something that’s really a musical experience and you’ve got 37 other arcade machines all turned up to full volume, it kind of impairs the musicality of the experience.”

Alex made it clear that while the fate of a Japanese version of Rock Band isn’t yet fully sealed, it appears clear that it won’t be happening anytime soon.

[Joystiq]

Before we start, I have to preface this “What If” feature by saying I’m a HUGE Nine Inch Nails fan. We already have three packs from the band, but dammit, that’s not enough (in MY opinion).

Trent Reznor, who is essentially Nine Inch Nails outside of their revolving set of touring musicians, has had some pretty big success in the last few years alone. The guy won an Oscar for his original score of The Social Network, is currently finishing up the score for the film adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and will soon be working on the score (AND staring in) the film adaptation of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. It’s hard to deny that he’s probably one of the most cerebral musicians alive, but then again, I’m pretty biased.

Anyway, prior to the release of the most recent pack way back in March this year, I had received a great question on Formspring about what my “dream pack” of Nine Inch Nails would be. Granted we received a few of the songs in the March pack, the list I came up with looks something like this:

1. Only
2. Discipline
3. Survivalism
4. Wish
5. Starf***ers Inc.
6. The Beginning of the End
7. Hurt
8. Sin
9. Head Like a Hole
10. Dead Souls
11. Deep
12. Sanctified

As you can see on the list, arguably their most well known song, “Closer,” is missing? HERP YOU DIDN’T INCLUDE THAT BECAUSE YOU HATE GUITAR HERO DERP! I BET YOU’RE TRYING TO BE TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL. Nope, the answer is actually much more logical than my own personal biases. I went through my iPod, and pulled my favorite songs, and then culled that list down based upon what songs would make good additions to fit the current Rock Band instrument formula. Unfortunately, “Closer” didn’t make the cut, because I didn’t think it would translate well into a rhythm game format (although I think Guitar Hero giving it a shot is pretty badass).

So I found one of the songs from my wishlist above that was made in to a custom, and included it below. It’s not a terribly difficult song, with the exception of the guitar distortion solo at the end, but after hearing this song open their Year Zero album (which also is moving forward in a television series format with the Fight Club screenplay writer), it’s hard to deny how powerful this song is.

Tells us what you think of this choice, as well as include links to customs you would like to see featured here in this segment in the future!

A while back, we had heard of a rumor about this week possibly seeing the announcement of tracks being released from the long-anticipated live Pearl Jam project, due to next week’s release of Pearl Jam’s 20th anniversary documentary film and soundtrack. While new music is often, but not always, released day and date of the release outside the game, Pearl Jam fans are keeping their fingers crossed for a big reveal for next week. Let’s find out if we got our hopes up or not…

• Nirvana – Heart-Shaped Box *
• Nirvana – Rape Me
• Nirvana – All Apologies
• Nirvana – You Know You’re Right

Pro-Upgrades for exiting songs:

• Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
• Nirvana – Breed
• Nirvana – Polly
• Nirvana – Territorial Pissings
• Nirvana – Lounge Act
• Nirvana – Stay Away
• Nirvana – On a Plain
• Nirvana – Something in the Way
• Nirvana – Lithium (Live)
• Nirvana – Come As You Are (Live)

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

[Official announcement]

Unless otherwise noted, all songs are $1.99.

• Circa Survive – The Difference Between Medicine and Poison is in the Dose
• Closure In Moscow – Sweet#hart
• Mastodon – Megalodon
• Memphis May Fire – Be Careful What You Wish For
• Ultra Saturday – Dawn of the Condoms *

* Denotes $.99 song.

ROCK BAND NETWORK 9/20 PS3 PLAYLIST

Unless otherwise noted, all songs are 160 MSP ($1.99).

• Alien Ant Farm – Courage
• Alien Ant Farm – Movies
• Arch Enemy – Nemesis
• The Blue News – Just a Game *
  
• Ghost Brigade – Into the Black Light
• Go Radio – Any Other Heart 
• Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives – Hey *
• Kamikaze – Dig Your Grave *
• Order of Voices – Reaching Down *
• Rishloo – Downhill *
• Underoath – In Division 
• Yesternight’s Decision – A Sickness You Like *

ROCK BAND NETWORK 9/15 XBOX 360 PLAYLIST

For this week’s Thursday Throwback pick, I decided to pull another song from my own bank of personal favorites from the game. As I mentioned in a previous Thursday Throwback piece, a healthy portion of my musical preferences were shaped by early 90s alternative music, and that fact that this song is one of my favorites only helps to reinforce that point. This week’s pick is Love Spreads by English alternative artist The Stone Roses.

The Stone Roses were formed in the mid-80s, and released their self-titled debut album in 1989. The album created five different UK-charting singles, and amazingly, the general consensus among critics is that their debut album was one of the best English music albums ever. Many point to it as a prototype of the precursor to the BritPop movement of the mid-90s that spawned Oasis, Blur, and others. But like many other bands attempting to follow up a huge debut album, their sophomore outing was riddled with problems. Due to several legal entanglements, including leaving their record company to join with Geffen, their second album, Second Coming, was released over five years later. The album had a much different vibe, with a much harsher sound than their previous work, reflective of the personal environment occurring throughout the band during recording. While Love Spreads was the highlight of this album, critics weren’t nearly as receptive as they were to their previous efforts. A band frequently at odds with the media, they lost several people they were close with over the five year period between the two releases. Less than six months after the release of the album, their drummer inexplicably left the band, followed by their main songwriter and guitarist roughly 12 months after that. In October of 1996, the band officially dissolved.

As for the song itself in Rock Band, it has a good amount to offer both the novices and the experts. Guitar is usually my weapon of choice, and the instrument for this song has a distinct and prominent blues-rock vibe. It has a personality of its own, and possibly because of the way the song was mixed, I get the feelings that it is almost trying to upstage the vocals. You won’t find much of a “rhythm guitar” vibe to the chart, as it will keep you on your toes with several HOPOs. Guitar aside, the bass has a very substantive chart, as well, and has more variety than guitar charts on most other songs. The drums chart probably isn’t going to floor anybody, but it is a damn good instrument for everyone, and it may confuse some who are not yet seasoned veterans on expert. The breathy vocals shouldn’t challenge too many, either, but are still a blast to sing.

Here’s a preview (sans vocals).