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Originally Posted by Damage, Inc.  Wow, that is pretty damn amazing. |
If implemented properly, this could be the greatest step in the rhythm game industry since its inception. And I seriously mean that.
The biggest wall between developers and players in the field has always been regarding the songlist. Beatmania US sucked, for instance, not because of the gameplay mechanics, but because of the terrible songlist. People base their opinions of Guitar Hero vs. Rock Band on which bands/songs get into which game. Forums for such games always wind up with some sort of "What song(s) would you like to see?"
And now... that wall has been taken down as much as legally possible. You own the master tracks, you can upload/chart the songs. Just like the services that get your bands' songs into iTunes, this will open up a world of promotion opportunities for more local groups that want to make a bigger splash.
I will be curious to see how this is implemented exactly... i.e. what costs are involved, track limits, etc., but regardless, this can (and likely will) wind up being a Big Thing. I know a couple of bands in the Chicago area who would love to have this opportunity.
But it's not just about local bands, either. How about Metallica? If I've heard correctly, Lars owns the master tracks (or at least the rights to them) for all their songs. They've already had a good amount of charting done for them with GH: Metallica, and they've certainly got the resources to afford some other people to chart the rest for them. Will these bands capitalize on the situation? I don't think many people would object to full Ride The Lightning album DLC, for instance. And really, any band with access to their own master tracks could also jump on this. How will this affect the standard weekly DLC output?
Really, this sounds like awesome news all around. I can't wait to see it actually go into action.
Rock Band Network 
