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U2 Wants To Join Rock Band

With a wide range of bands from the Beatles to Metallica to even Van Halen having received their own band-specific versions of Rock Band or Guitar Hero, music game fanatics may be wondering who MTV Games and Activision could turn to next for a single-band release. Well, if they've got any say in it, U2 may be at the top of that list.

Speaking to USA Today (via Kotaku), U2 bassist Adam Clayton recounted how the band almost became involved with Rock Band a year ago but backed out of the deal, deciding that they "felt some of the compromises weren’t what we wanted." Following the release of Rock Band: The Beatles, though, Clayton says, "That could change.":

"I love the idea that that’s where people are getting music, and we’d love to be in that world. We’ll figure something out. What The Beatles have done, where the animation is much more representative of them, is what we’re interested in, rather than the one-size-fits-all animation. We didn’t want to be caricatured."

That last sentence is probably a reference to scandal over Kurt Cobain's slightly distressing cameo in the latest Guitar Hero, and it seems like a fair concern to have. Of course the article heavily suggests that U2 would be going with Rock Band creator Harmonix, who did a very respectful job of transporting the Beatles into video game form, so hopefully Edge, Bono, and company won't have to worry.

Now the big question: Anyone who'd be really psyched for an all-U2 music game?

Comments
  • The answer to the last sentence, probably not. Music games are getting old and either need to go away or be redefined again to make them feel more fresh. There are only so many plastic instruments that can fill our living rooms.  

  • I know I would!

  • As long as it doesn't have their new album in there, I'm all for it :-)

  • Meh, and this is coming from the target audience here. Probably be as easy as Beatles: Rock Band and that's not very fun.

  • I say, to freshen things up, create a game that creates the notes to play dynamically, that way we can just jam to our OWN music.  That would be the one rhythm game to rule them all...

  • I'm not a big U2 fan but I know that some people would be really excited for it.  It'd sell millions easy.

  • And I bet a Hanna Montana Rock Band would sell millions too. NOT a good thing.............

  • Iceap: "It'd sell millions easy."

    I don't think you understand how big that number is. Rock Band 2 didn't even sell a million, in fact it didn't even come close. The Beatles are giants and so they're game will sell well, despite having almost no difficulty at all. U2 is about along the lines of Van Halen as far as popularity.

    I wouldn't buy it, but I bet some would. Better idea: Just make a 20 song or so U2 track pack?

  • I would be insanely psyched for even a few U2 songs on RB2. But a game would make me ecstatic.

  • I love U2 music, and Rock Band is always a fun party play. However, if they want to keep making these music games, I agree with @Tanner Mieike, they need to do something new and different to make the gameplay interesting. There's a reason I don't buy the new sports titles every year.

  • The genre definitely needs to get something new to spice things up instead of just new songs and templates to be put over the game. Guitar Hero is the main antagonist here - how many have they made? Metallica, Aerosmith, a re-hash of their old songs to fit into World Tour's copy of Rock Band? This being said, I absolutely loved the approach taken with Beatles Rock Band. In my opinion it was, at the very least, presented in an entirely new fashion and a know I learned a lot of background to the Beatles I wasn't aware of. Anyway, F U2 :P Harmonix, the real artists behind the genre as I see it, needs to sit back and assess where they need to go next, and mimicking Beatles with someone else won't cut it.

  • Lol? Spice things up? Make things different? Rock Band 2 was almost EXACTLY the same as RB1!!! All it added was some new songs and a couple of features. It looks and plays exactly the same.

    Bit hypocritical to point at Guitar Hero when Rock Band is doing the same thing...

  • "Lol? Spice things up? Make things different? Rock Band 2 was almost EXACTLY the same as RB1!!! All it added was some new songs and a couple of features. It looks and plays exactly the same.

    Bit hypocritical to point at Guitar Hero when Rock Band is doing the same thing..."

    That's actually not the definition of hypocritical, nor the point of my post. Harmonix made Guitar Hero 1 and 2, and have since split from Activision to make Rock Band etc, while Activision has been simply cashing in on their original ideas and hard work.

  • In my opinion Guitar Hero 3 was the best of the series. And yes that is hypocritical if you are praising rock band for changing and putting down guitar hero for not changing, when that is true of both series.

  • Personally, I dislike music games in whole. As a guitarist, Rock Band and Guitar Hero are really a waste of time. I'd hate to see a respectable band such as U2 turn into just any other band and put their face on a slapped-together videogame for the sole reason of a massive profit.

    Led Zeppelin FTW!(They will NEVER fall into the dark pit of music games)

    Oh, to answer your question, NO, I would not be psyched for a U2 game.

  • totally lame, its pretty funny that all they care about is how they will look in the game. pansies

  • I have enough music to play in Rockband 2 I probably wont buy another music game until Rockband 4 or something

  • Here's what I got out of this: Internationally recognized bands WANT to be in the video game industry. Wow. Now that really shows how far they have come.

  • HOLY *** *** YES I I WOULD BUY TEN COPIES! Of course, I could just be overreacting, as I saw them last night.

  • Staff

    Most avatars already look like Edge, so why not.

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