Rock Band 2 has been officially announced for a timed Xbox 360-exclusive release this September (in the U.S., but apparently not in Europe) with a PS3 release later this year. Other platforms have yet to be confirmed.
Harmonix lead designer Dan Teasdale told IGN that all Rock Band downloadable content will also work in Rock Band 2 and teased that new features are planned to allow you to play with your DLC “in different ways”.
What’s also interesting is that new downloadable content released after Rock Band 2 can be played on the “Rock Band platform”. You see, Harmonix treats Rock Band as it’s own iTunes-style service. So when they say “Rock Band platform”, that means that anything you download can be played using either Rock Band game. Very cool. Teasdale also said that the dreaded profile switching issue in the original Rock Band is being examined and corrected for a more streamlined rocking experience.
Instruments from the original game will also work on the sequel, which won’t contain any new instruments, but the instruments themselves will have cosmetic changes that make them different, which also means that your original Rock Band set of instruments will work with Rock Band 2. He also teased at the possibility of online play for World Tour and multiple users on vocal instruments.
Here’s a list of the top 10 bands Teasdale hinted he would like to see in Rock Band 2.
1. Agent Orange
2. The Beatles
3. Built to Spill
4. The Buzzcocks
5. Journey
6. Led Zeppelin
7. Modest Mouse
8. Pavement
9. The Replacements
10. Tool
Via Xbox360FanBoy