The Who "lend" album to video game

The Who have agreed to release their 1971 Who's Next album as an expansion pack for the upcoming video game Rock Band. In Rock Band, four players team as one to perform some of rock's most famous tracks. Rock Band is a spin-off of the highly successfully video game franchise Guitar Hero. However in Rock Band, two players will "perform" the songs on guitar shaped controllers -- one for lead and the other on bass -- one player will be asked to use a specially designed drum kit, while another sings into a made-for-the-game microphone. The core Rock Band game which will feature songs from David Bowie, the Ramones, Metallica, and more than 30 additional bands is due out in the fall, with the Who's Who's Next expansion pack expected to be released around the same time.

Alex Rigopulos of Harmonix, the company behind Rock Band, expects to announce additional expansion packs featuring some of rock 'n roll's great albums in the coming months. Said Rigopulos, "This will give players the opportunity to play through the entire album set list of arguably some of the most influential rock albums of all time and brings them one step closer to what it feels like to be a true rock star."

In other Rock Band news, Harmonix has announced the appointment of Steven Van Zandt -- aka Little Steven -- to their board of directors. Little Steven will help the company select material for future versions of the game.
Submit the above story to:

Del.icio.us   Digg   reddit   StumbleUpon   Facebook