Rock Band expands The Who collection for Wii owners; Plus new tracks from the Offspring, R.E.M. and Richard Thompson

Cambridge, Mass. – March 23, 2009 – Harmonix and MTV Games announced today 12 new tracks coming this week to the Rock Band® Music Store catalogue of downloadable content for Wii™ home videogame console from Nintendo, including eight more tracks from classic rock band The Who! The lineup also features music from alternative music pioneers R.E.M. and The Offspring, as well as a track from British guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson.

Wii Rock Band owners can expand their Who library with a diverse selection of tracks from the iconic classic rock band. The Who tracks include “Behind Blue Eyes” and “Going Mobile” from Who’s Next (1971), “Amazing Journey” featured on the 1969 album Tommy, “Leaving Here” from the 1965 album My Generation (Deluxe Edition), “Sea and Sand” from Quadrophenia (1973) and the title track “Who Are You” from the band’s 1978 album. The offering will also include “Eminence Front” featured on the 1982 album It’s Hard and “Real Good Looking Boy” from Then and Now (2004).

The Rock Band Music Store for Wii will also add more alternative hits to the library with music from The Offspring and R.E.M. The lineup includesThe Offspring’s “All I Want” featured on the band’s 1997 album Ixnay on the Hombre and “The Kids Aren’t Alright” from Americana (1998), plus R.E.M.’s breakthrough hit “Losing My Religion” from the 1991 album Out Of Time.

Music from rock guitarist Richard Thompson rounds out this week’s content update with “The Way That It Shows” from Thompson’s 1994 album Mirror Blue.

All tracks come from the back catalogue of Rock Band music already released to owners of Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. Wii fans can expect a rollout of previously released downloadable Rock Band content until the entire back catalogue of more than 600 songs is available.

Release Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2009

** Dates for Rock Band game tracks are tentative and subject to change **

Tracks: The Who “Amazing Journey”
The Who “Behind Blue Eyes”
The Who “Eminence Front”
The Who “Going Mobile”
The Who “Leaving Here”
The Who “Real Good Looking Boy”
The Who “Sea and Sand”
The Who “Who Are You”
The Offspring “All I Want”
The Offspring “The Kids Aren’t Alright”
R.E.M. “Losing My Religion”
Richard Thompson “The Way That It Shows”

(All tracks are original master recordings)

Price: $2.00 (200 Wii Points) per track

Location: In-game Rock Band 2 Music Store (Wii Points must be purchased
through the Wii™ Shop Channel)

** Dates for Rock Band game tracks are tentative and subject to change **

Rock Band 2 is available now for Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 and PlayStation®2 systems and the Wii system. The Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 system and Wii versions support downloadable content.

Downloadable content for Wii is purchased via the in-game Rock Band Music Store using Wii Points purchased through the Wii Shop Channel and can be downloaded to the hard drive of the Wii or to an SD card for additional storage. The tracks stream directly from the SD card for seamless play.
To view a complete list of the more than 600 tracks available in the Rock Band music back catalog please visit www.rockband.com/music. With the addition of these tracks there are now 85 tracks in the Wii Rock Band Music Store.

Rock Band continues to satisfy music fans’ and gamers’ voracious appetite for rock with more than 36 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.

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