Harmonix, the leading Publisher in the music game genre just announced with the release of the latest batch of DLC they now proudly host over 500 songs for gamers and music enthusiasts alike to enjoy.

Sense its launch on November 20th, 2007, there have been over 28 million paid downloads on the service. This includes individual songs, track pack, and full album downloads.

Perhaps simply owning music on a cd, or even in digital format is no longer enough. With 28 million downloads, there are obviously a lot of music enthusiasts who enjoy “playing” the songs they love. Perhaps record labels should look into this medium to further their sales. Can you imagine buying the latest album for the hottest band, and having a download code to play that particular bands tracks in Rock Band? Sounds good to me!

Check after the jump for the complete press release from Harmonix.

Cambridge, MA – December 5, 2008 - Harmonix, the world’s premier music video game development company, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), today announced the rock-pop pioneers of No Doubt will bring 13 tracks to the Rock Band® music catalog of downloadable content expanding the Rock Band library to include more than 500 songs!

No Doubt’s: ‘The Singles 1992-2003’ pack will include 13 master tracks from the band’s 2003 album The Singles 1992-2003, which featured a compilation of hits from No Doubt’s previous albums Tragic Kingdom, Return of Saturn, and Rock Steady. The album sold more than 2.2 million copies in the United States alone.  The No Doubt tracks included in the pack are listed below.  Pricing will be $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) per track or $19.99 (1600 Microsoft Points) for the pack. The tracks will be available for download starting December 9, 2008, for the Xbox®360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and December 11, 2008, for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.

“Just a Girl”
“It’s My Life”
“Hey Baby”
“Bathwater”
“Sunday Morning”
“Hella Good”
“Underneath It All”
“Excuse Me Mr.”
“Running”
“Spiderwebs”
“Simple Kind of Life”
“Don’t Speak”
“Ex-Girlfriend”

“Thanks to all at Harmonix and MTV Games, who, along with our artist, management, label and publishing partners, put an incredible amount of work into achieving this milestone,” stated Paul DeGooyer, Senior Vice President of Electronic Games and Music for MTV. “Now there can be ‘No Doubt’ that the Rock Band music platform offers the deepest and most diverse collection of songs available to gamers and music fans alike.”

Rock Band continues to satisfy music fans’ and gamers’ voracious appetite for rock with more than 28 million paid downloads since its launch on November 20, 2007.  The Rock Band Music Store allows players to preview and purchase downloadable individual music tracks and packs from the vast selection of offerings available to date without ever leaving the game as they build their own custom Rock Band library. See the attached document for a list of the more than 500 songs included in the Rock Band music catalog. To view a complete list of tracks go to www.rockband.com/music

Rock Band and Rock Band 2 allow online play and features that expand the boundaries of music gaming. Rock Band downloadable content is playable and integrated into setlists in all game modes.  In order to play downloadable content for head-to-head matches or multiplayer online, all players must own the same downloadable track.  Downloadable content for Xbox 360 is available for purchase via Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for Xbox 360 using Microsoft Points and is downloaded directly to the hard drive of Xbox 360. Downloadable content for the PLAYSTATION 3 system’s version of Rock Band is available for purchase on the PlayStation®Store through the free PlayStation®Network and is downloaded directly to PLAYSTATION 3 system’s built in hard drive.

Rock Band 2 for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 system is now available nationwide and supports all previously downloaded content.  The groundbreaking music platform that forever changed the face of music video games is committed to taking gaming to the next level with the evolution of the franchise.  Rock Band 2 will be available for additional platforms later this year.

Rock Band and Rock Band 2 are rated “T” for Teen (lyrics, suggestive themes) by the ESRB. For more information on Rock Band 2 and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.rockband.com  and www.harmonixmusic.com

It has come to my attention that there are multiple outlets on the web, in print, and other forms of media who are absolutely trying to smear the name of one blue hedgehog. I have to be the first to admit that some of his previous outings have been less than desirable. Previous Sonic titles for multiple consoles have left a bad taste in many a gamer’s mouth. Bad controls, poorly designed levels, and wonky story-telling mechanics have all pitted negative thoughts and feelings to the blue blur.

The newest outing from Sega known as Sonic Unleashed has only been out for a few days and has been talked about like it is as poor as 2006 release simply known as “Sonic the Hedgehog”, or as bad as Sonic and the Secret rings which was an exclusive for the Wii. I testify to you right now that this is not the case! Sonic Unleashed is far above the previous title from this generation. In fact, I say that it is the best 3D Sonic game sense Sonic Adventure 2: Battle for the Gamecube.

Sonic Unleashed takes the game back the root of Sonic, all the while presenting a new game play mechanic that is far from broken, bad, stupid, sucky, or a plethora of other negative adjectives that you could come up with. I have spent around five hours with the game and I have come to the conclusion that there is only one word to describe the Werehog sections of the game: difficult. It’s not a walk in the park, nor should it be.

I do not want people to not buy Sonic Unleashed because of the mixed review. I want them to buy Sonic Unleashed because it is a challenging, engaging, and fun Sonic title that deserves to do well. Just telling you probably isn’t good enough; let me tell you a few other reasons why.

The Xbox 360 version of the game is absolutely beautiful. The CGI cut scenes and the stages Sonic runs and tackles his way through look amazing. The colors are vivid, and the game world feels alive. The character models for the non-story NPC’s leave a bit to be desired, but you’re not looking at them anyway, right?

The music in the game steers away from the high energy Rock ‘n Roll with bad lyrics. In fact, the musical score although not memorable, definitely fits right along with the game play and the stages.

The controls are tight; Sonic the Hedgehog is fast, and Sonic the Werehog kicks some serious alien butt. Don’t let the mixed reviews sway you away from this game. You must try this game out for yourself and garner your own opinion. I believe you’ll be surprised, and ready to lay down the money for the title.

As we reported earlier, Atari is jumping into the racing genre with an ambitios new title simply known as Race Pro. The first trailer has emerged, and we here at the Write Trigger have to say it has quite a bit of potential. The only real concern is that it not become a Gran Turismo clone! Keep clicking the Write Trigger for your latest news from the Atari Live event in London.

Race Pro is slated for a release date in January 2009.

Atari continues making news from their Atari Live event in London, England. CEO David Gardener and President Phil Harrison were on hand to make off-handed comments to the press in order to drum up more support.

“Second hand game sales represent consumer choice and desire,” said David Gardner, CEO of Atari.

“Obviously, it has economically been extremely painful for the industry… the publishers don’t benefit.

“But as games change and they become more and more network centric, the disc in the box becomes only one part of the experience. As that experience grows then it becomes not such a problem,” commented Gardner.

The new chief cook and bottle washer, Phil Harrison, president of Atari also was available to make some comments that weren’t near as negative.

There’s no doubt that second hand games sales has a macro-economic impact on the industry and a lot of people get miserable about it,” offered Phil Harrison, president of Atari.

“But it’s no coincidence that the most valuable games, the one’s that have the most lifetime as a game experience, are the one’s that don’t get resold, that don’t get traded.

“The games that have the embedded community, the embedded commerce, the extended, expandable experiences, are the one’s that you would never want to trade, the one’s you want to keep hold of. And that’s perfectly in line with our future strategy so we’re not that concerned about it,” he added.

Keep pushing the Write Trigger to hear more from Atari and their “Live” event.

Atari is getting serious about its recent aquisition of Vivendi properties. They have released a new trailer for Ghostbusters: The Video Game from their Atari Live event. Keep pushing the Write Trigger for updates on this highly anticipated title.

It looks like Atari is going to make a valliant effort to get back into the swing of things. Hot off the heels of their announcement yesterday comes the announcement of a new racing simulator known at Race Pro. While the title isn’t all that hot, you can check out the press release from Atari after the jump.

RACE Pro recreates a breathtaking reality giving gamers the ultimate racing simulation experience so that nothing gets closer to the action and thrill of professional car racing. RACE Pro provides unrivalled realism and deep immersion into the racing world through ultra realistic car models and official FIA championships and tracks.

RACE Pro offers a wealth of cars ranging from 200 to over 1000 horse power, as well as a host of championships including WTCC (World Touring Car Championship), Formula 3000 and Formula BMW. Gamers and racing fans alike will experience the thrill of racing these powerful cars on 13 real life tracks covering all continents, of which Macau, Porto and Pau are city tracks exclusive to RACE Pro, and US tracks Laguna Seca and Road America are brand new to SimBin fans.

Features:

• Award-winning game developer SimBin: developed by renowned award-winning game developer SimBin, a leading creator of PC racing simulators, RACE Pro brings their expertise to Xbox 360 for the very first time;

• Unparalleled realistic physics: powered by Lizard, SimBin’s own physics engine, to recreate breathtaking reality for the ultimate racing simulation experience;

• Real life handling and sounds: unique degree of realism thanks to real life data and engine sounds recorded directly from actual race cars at the track;

• 350 ultra realistic car models: from 48 car manufacturers, including Aston Martin, Saleen, Audi and many more, with cars ranging from 200 to over 1000 horse power;

• Host of championships: including WTCC (World Touring Car Championship: one of the three official championships of the FIA), Formula 3000 and Formula BMW;

• Extensive multiplayer features: online play via Xbox Live online game service and System Link support for up to 12 players, as well as an exclusive ‘hot seat’ mode.

Some One of us have a secret obsession with searching through messy rooms to find things that revolve around a horribly written story that doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. TikGames has announced a new title for the Xbox Live Arcade known as Interpol. We here at Wright Trigger This blogger is excited for this title.

It will be released at a price point of 800 Microsoft Points ($10)

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We don’t have a clue what it is, but Treyarch has announced new Call of Duty: World at War downloadable content. It’s predecessor, Modern Warfare saw one map pack, and a few minor title updates that really did not add anything to the game. According to the MTV Multiplayer Blog this new DLC will be unique from anything else seen. With the Zombie mode already found in Call of Duty, anything is possible.

There is no confirmation on which platforms the content will appear on, but this blogger wonders if there is even a chance that the downloadable content will appear on the Wii version of the title.

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Atari is making brave attempts to get back into the swing of gaming. Perhaps former Sony executive Phil Harrison is putting new life into the sinking company. MVC is reporting that at a United Kingdom press event today Atari announced that the game would release in June 2009. Word is the game will see a simultaneous release on Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, DS, and PS2.

There is also rumor that Atari will be making announcements concerning other games such as Baldur’s Gate, Dungeons & Dragons, Neverwinter Nights, and Test Drive Unlimited. Keep clicking the Write Trigger for the latest in Atari’s resurgence back into the hearts of mainstream gamers.

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