The Rock Band 4 train keeps a-rollin', with barely a month going by without some form of Rock Band 4 news. A firm favourite in our (and your) houses thanks to its plastic instrument jamming, rhythmic button mashing fun, it's been almost five years since the last entry in the series - but Rock Band the fourth will be with us this year. In fact, so chuffed were we when news first broke of a sequel, we wrote a little ditty that bears no resemblance whatsoever to Dragonforce's Through The Fire And Flames:
So far away, we waited for the day
For the lives all so wasted and gone
We felt the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days
But through the fire and flames, Rock Band 4 carries on!
Ahem. So, with Rock Band 4 set to release on PS4 and Xbox One at some point later this year, the musically talented bods are hard at work putting together the rhythm game to end all rhythm games - but to get it just right, they need our help. As we all know, a music game is only as good as the songs it includes, and Rock Band is no different. While arguably having a better track list than the comparable Guitar Hero games out at the same time, some of the songs on the Rock Band set lists have left a lot to be desired - whether it was the tuneless flailing of Visions or the not-really-all-that-rock-y Amy Winehouse.
Fortunately though, the folks at Harmonix have opened up the floor to suggestions from fans, so you can help craft the setlist for the next Rock Band game. Simply head to the official requests page and enter the artist and title you fancy to add your favourites to the list. If it gets enough mentions, it might make the final cut. It's definitely worth doing too, because if it's only the hardest of hardcore Rock Band fans voting, we'll probably end up with 50 Iron Maiden tracks and a handful of Rush tunes and nothing else.
We still only have the one Rock Band 4 picture though...
There's also part two of the Rock Band 4 survey to fill in here, which focuses more on what plastic instruments you still own, and whether you'd be willing to buy any more for the next game. Given the last big Rock Band 4 announcement (mostly) covered the issues of carrying over all those downloadable songs you'd bought, but barely mentioned the instruments at all, it kind of makes sense that they'd be reassessing how much compatibility with old guitars/drums matters to people. There's even a few questions about how likely you'll be to buy the game on the Xbox One or Playstation 4, and if you don't fancy it, why not - whether you'd prefer a Wii U version, you're too poor, or whether you simply don't own either of the "next generation" consoles yet. Delving a bit deeper into the realms of fantasy, the survey also asks if you've played games like Halo, Call of Duty or Destiny lately - perhaps Harmonix are planning on moving into first person shooters or something if Rock Band 4 doesn't work out?
It's nice to see a developer taking such an interest in what it's fans actually want for once - and hopefully they listen to the feedback, not just from their hardcore fans, but from more casual players as well. Unfortunately, concrete details about Rock Band 4 are pretty thin on the ground at the moment, although Harmonix have promised a big blow-out in May - so make sure you keep checking back!
