Rock Band™ Music Catalog Surpasses 2,000-Song Milestone With The Jimi Hendrix Experience's Classic Song, 'Are You Experienced?'

NEW YORK, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- It's official and ahead of schedule!  Harmonix, the world's premier music video game developer, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom's MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), announced today that next week's downloadable content release of tracks from The Jimi Hendrix Experience's seminal album, Are You Experienced, will push the Rock Band™ platform past the 2,000-song milestone, with the classic song "Are You Experienced?" coming in at No. 2,000.  More than 2,000 tracks will be available for play in Rock Band 3 when it is released Oct. 26 in North America and Oct. 29 in the rest of the world for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Wii™* and Nintendo DS™*.

"The success of our song downloads has afforded us the opportunity to approach Rock Band as an interactive music platform and reshape the way gamers think of expansion content," said Paul DeGooyer, senior vice president of electronic games, music and programming for MTV Networks.   "Our commitment to weekly releases, disc export, forward compatibility of downloads and the launch of the Rock Band Network were milestones in the development of Rock Band's vibrant digital business.  Now, with the release of our 2,000th song, we are reaffirming our commitment to present new music every week – and with the new features in Rock Band 3, there will be more ways than ever to experience it."

Featuring the music of more than 800 different bands, including Jimi Hendrix, The Who, AC/DC, Green Day, Queen, Slayer, Metallica, Journey, Bob Marley and many more, the Rock Band platform leads the way in providing the best selection of interactive musical content, songs and artists. To see the complete listing of bands and a host of fun stats, please click here.

A mixture of live and studio tracks from the debut album from The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Are You Experienced, will be available as a special Rock Band edition album download Tuesday, Oct. 12 through the Rock Band Music Store of downloadable content for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system and Wii.

When Rock Band 3 launches, fans will have access to a music library of more than 2,000 songs*, including on-disc content, exported on-disc tracks from Rock Band, Rock Band™ 2, LEGO® Rock Band™, Green Day: Rock Band™,  AC/DC Live: Rock Band™ Track Pack and a variety of other track packs that employ the disc export technology Harmonix pioneered.

All previously purchased downloadable content will automatically move forward into the Rock Band 3 Music Library when players insert the disc into their console. Additionally, Harmonix will also continue to offer downloadable content after the launch of Rock Band 3 in two ways – from the dedicated Harmonix in-house audio and art teams through the weekly updated Rock Band Music Store, and from the Rock Band Network, a suite of tools that allows bands and labels of all shapes and sizes to author their songs into downloadable, playable Rock Band tracks available for sale.

To allow users to get the most from this massive library, Rock Band 3 features improved song sorting, a recommendation engine and the ability for fans to create, save and share setlists. For information on how to pre-order Rock Band 3 today, please click here (http://www.rockband.com/games/rockband3).

To date, Rock Band fans have downloaded more than 75 million songs from the Rock Band Music Store, and the Rock Band Network Music Store. With more than 2,000 tracks available in the Rock Band platform, Harmonix and MTV Games stands next to none as the leading provider of downloadable content for rhythm video games.

Developed by Harmonix, the world's premier music videogame company, published by MTV Games, and distributed by distribution partner Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq: ERTS), Rock Band 3 will be compatible with all Rock Band and The Beatles: Rock Band peripherals, as well as most third-party instrument and microphone controllers. Mad Catz is the official peripheral manufacturer and distributor for Rock Band game controllers.

For a complete list of all 2,000 songs, please visit www.rockband.com/music or see the attached documents, which outline all songs to date, plus some fun Rock Band platform song stats.

For Rock Band 3 art and video assets, please visit http://www.rockband.com/press. 

Follow Rock Band on Twitter (http://twitter.com/rockband) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/rockband).

*Available on-disc, via download and disc export. Internet connection and export key purchase required. Wii has over 1,500 song tracks available for purchase on the Rock Band platform on-disc, via song import, and download. Not applicable to Nintendo DS.

About MTV Networks

MTV Networks, a division of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world's leading creators of entertainment content, with brands that engage and connect diverse audiences across television, online, mobile, games, virtual worlds and consumer products.  The company's portfolio spans more than 150 television channels and 350 digital media properties worldwide, and includes MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Harmonix, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Noggin, The N, AddictingGames, Neopets, COMEDY CENTRAL, Spike TV, TV Land, Atom, Gametrailers and Xfire. 

About MTV Games

MTV Games is dedicated to creating, marketing and publishing high-quality, innovative interactive products that are relevant to the MTV audience and complement the core values of the MTV Networks brands.

About Harmonix Music Systems, Inc

Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., based in Cambridge, MA, and established in 1995, is the leading developer of groundbreaking music-oriented videogames. Harmonix was founded by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy, who formed the company to invent new ways for non-musicians to experience the unique joy that comes from making music and have pioneered music and rhythm gaming in the US. For more information please visit www.harmonixmusic.com.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA™, EA SPORTS™, EA Mobile™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2010, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.7 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million units. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

© 2010 Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Harmonix, Rock Band, Rock Band 2, Rock Band 3, Rock Band Network and all related titles and logos are trademarks of Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., a MTV Networks company. Rock Band, Rock Band 2, Rock Band 3 and Rock Band Network developed by Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. MTV: Music Television, MTV Games and all related titles and logos are trademarks of MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc. EA, EA SPORTS, EA Mobile and POGO are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. Microsoft, Xbox. Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. "PlayStation" is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Wii and Nintendo DS are trademarks are trademarks of Nintendo. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE MTV Games