Eighty-three songs are included in ''
Rock Band 3
''Rock Band 3'' is a 2010 music video game developed by Harmonix. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, in late October 2010. Mad Catz took over both roles and re-released the title on N ...
'', a 2010
music video game
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs. Music video games may take a ...
developed by
Harmonix
Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., doing business as Harmonix, is an American video game developer company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in May 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy. Harmonix is perhaps best known as bei ...
, published by
MTV Games
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
and distributed by
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
. The game, the third main title in the ''
Rock Band
A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...
'' series, was released in October 2010 for the
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...
,
PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
,
Wii
The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
, and
Nintendo DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
. ''Rock Band 3'' allows one to seven players to simulate the playing of
rock music
Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...
by providing the players with peripherals modeled after musical instruments. These include a
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
peripheral for lead guitar and bass gameplay, a
drum kit
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player ( drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsti ...
peripheral, a
keyboard
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
peripheral, and up to three
microphone
A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...
s. ''Rock Band 3'' is the first game in the series to include a "Pro" mode, which allows players to use more realistic peripherals to play the game's songs note-for-note as they would be played on an actual instrument.
All of the songs included in ''Rock Band 3'' were recorded either from
master copies or live performances. Many were included to emphasize the keyboard instrument. Existing game content, including prior downloadable content and songs from the
''Rock Band'' Network, carries forward into ''Rock Band 3'', with the full ''Rock Band'' library consisting of over 2,000 songs by the time the game was released. When ''Rock Band 3'' was first detailed on June 11, 2010, Harmonix announced 22 of the game's songs. The next month, Harmonix used
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
and
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
to provide clues about additional songs for both ''Rock Band 3'' and ''
Dance Central
''Dance Central'' is a music rhythm game series developed by Harmonix, creators of the ''Guitar Hero'' and ''Rock Band'' franchises.
Series
Dance Central (2010)
''Dance Central'' was released exclusively for the Xbox 360 and was a launch title ...
'', which they then confirmed to be six ''Rock Band'' tracks and three ''Dance Central'' tracks. During a video interview at the 2010
Gamescom
Gamescom (stylized as gamescom) is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Since 2018, it has been organised by ''game – Verband der deutschen Games-Branche'' (English: Associa ...
convention, most of the setlist was inadvertently leaked because someone was scrolling through the setlist in the background. ''Rock Band 3s setlist was well-received by video game critics.
Eurogamer's Johnny Minkley noted the contrast between it and the heavier style of ''
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock''
's setlist.
Announcement
When ''Rock Band 3'' was first detailed on June 11, 2010, Harmonix announced 22 of the game's 83 songs. The next month, Harmonix used
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
and
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
to provide clues about additional songs for both ''Rock Band 3'' and ''
Dance Central
''Dance Central'' is a music rhythm game series developed by Harmonix, creators of the ''Guitar Hero'' and ''Rock Band'' franchises.
Series
Dance Central (2010)
''Dance Central'' was released exclusively for the Xbox 360 and was a launch title ...
'', which they then confirmed to be six ''Rock Band'' tracks and three ''Dance Central'' tracks. On August 17, just before the 2010
Gamescom
Gamescom (stylized as gamescom) is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Since 2018, it has been organised by ''game – Verband der deutschen Games-Branche'' (English: Associa ...
convention, Harmonix announced an additional ten songs by bands from around the world.
During a video interview at Gamescom, most of the setlist was inadvertently leaked because someone was scrolling through the setlist in the background. Harmonix released a video response to the leak the next day, officially denying the rumored setlist, while once again showing the setlist in the background and confirming additional songs. The full setlist was formally announced on August 25 on the ''Rock Band'' website.
Track listing
The full ''Rock Band 3'' setlist features 83 songs, including a mix of tracks which make use of the new keyboard peripheral and three-part
vocal harmonies
Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical chora ...
.
The
Nintendo DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
version of the game features a 25-song subset of the consoles' setlist.
All 83 songs from the ''Rock Band 3'' setlist can be exported into ''
Rock Band 4
''Rock Band 4'' is a 2015 music video game developed and published by Harmonix. ''Rock Band 4'' allows players to simulate the playing of music across many different decades and genres using instrument controllers that mimic playing lead and bas ...
'', as of early December 2015, as long as the player has previously played ''Rock Band 3'' on the same store account for Xbox Live or PlayStation Network.
Downloadable songs
Following the release of ''Rock Band 3'', Harmonix has kept up their commitment to releasing weekly
downloadable content
Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enablin ...
for the series, starting with a set of twelve songs from
the Doors
The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...
released the same week as the game.
Downloadable songs since the game's release include, when appropriate, support for keyboards and vocal harmonies within the base cost of the song. However, due to the cost and effort to create Pro Guitar and Pro Bass authoring, Harmonix releases these additional authored parts as a separate download for certain songs for per upgrade, in addition to the song's base price.
Downloaded content released by Harmonix after ''Rock Band 3''s release is not compatible with previous games in the series due to changes in the song format. Since the game's release, Harmonix has released downloadable songs from a variety of artists, including
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...
,
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
,
Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...
,
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...
, and
the Clash
The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...
.
Most songs already released as downloadable content for the series can be used in ''Rock Band 3'', with the exception of the tracks "
Hier Kommt Alex
"Hier kommt Alex" (''Here comes Alex'') is a song by German punk band Die Toten Hosen. It is the first single and the first track from the album '' Ein kleines bisschen Horrorschau''. The song in concept introduces Alex, who is the central chara ...
" by
Die Toten Hosen
Die Toten Hosen (literally "The Dead Trousers", figuratively "The Deadbeats") is a German punk rock band from Düsseldorf.
History
The current members of Die Toten Hosen are Campino (Andreas Frege), Kuddel (Andreas von Holst), Vom (Stephe ...
, and "
Rock 'n' Roll Star
"Rock 'n' Roll Star" is a song by English rock band Oasis. It is the opening track from their debut album, ''Definitely Maybe'' (1994). Like the majority of the band's songs from this era, it was written by lead guitarist Noel Gallagher, who ...
" by
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.”
The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
.
In addition, the songs from many previous ''Rock Band'' games can be exported for use in ''Rock Band 3''.
More than 2000 potential songs were available at the game's launch between these sources.
''Rock Band'' Network songs are also playable in ''Rock Band 3''. A new version of the Network, called ''Rock Band'' Network 2.0, allows songs to be authored with harmonies, Basic and Pro Keys, and Pro Drums, but does not support Pro Guitar and Pro Bass charting due to the complexity of authoring those parts and the number of users able to test them.
Reception
''Rock Band 3s setlist was well-received by video game critics.
Eurogamer's Johnny Minkley called it "strong and varied", and noted the contrast between it and the heavier style of ''
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock''
's setlist. Will Tuttle of
GameSpy
GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1996 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for the game, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the GameS ...
praised it as being "the most diverse track list in the franchise's history."
G4 TV's Stephen Johnson noted that the addition of the keyboard controller led to the setlist having a more pop-oriented style than the previous games in the series, and he said that Harmonix chose "substance ... over flashy, current bands." Reviewer Ben Kuchera, of
Ars Technica
''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sci ...
, also praised the setlist's variety, stating that it is "one of the best you'll see in rhythm games, spanning decades and genres and bringing a wide variety of songs to suit any taste." In his review of the game in ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'', Sam Machkovech summed up the setlist by saying that "with keyboards are in the mix, the songs are just plain better."
[ ]
References
External links
List of songs available for ''Rock Band 3''at rockband.com.
{{featured list
Rock Band 3
''Rock Band 3'' is a 2010 music video game developed by Harmonix. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, in late October 2010. Mad Catz took over both roles and re-released the title on N ...
Lists of songs in music video games