Why so DLC-rious?

This week in Rock Band, it's Miller time! Steve Miller, that is, whose band brings us a nice 3-pack of songs including everyone's favorite - The Joker. Alongside these are a number of individual tracks by hard-rockin' groups, such as Godsmack and Rob Zombie. While heavy metal isn't exactly my kind of music, it's nice that we're still getting a fairly diverse selection, and I'm sure plenty of fans are pleased. As usual, the tracks are 160 MSP ($2) each, but the Steve Miller pack can be acquired for 440 MSP ($5.50).
Here are this week's offerings:

By Steve Miller Band
Space Cowboy
Take the Money and Run
The Joker

Godsmack - I Stand Alone
Belly - Feed the Tree
Ghost Hounds - Wind Me Up
Mute Math - Typical
Rob Zombie - War Zone
Note: Click on any song for expert drum videos.

Okay, so lets forget about the individual tracks and focus on the Steve Miller pack. I'm not even that much of a Steve Miller fan, really, but haven't bought any songs for a few weeks and wanted something that I knew. So how are they?

First off is The Joker, which is in tier 1 for drums (0-6, remember?) so is fairly easy. The beat is traditional, and even the fills aren't tricky. Since the song is so slow, the few occasions where the beat changes are easily mastered, so expert players shouldn't be surprised if you see those gold stars on your first try.

Next is Space Cowboy, which falls into drum tier 4. This song is a little different, and has a beat that goes back and forth between hands, sort of like the last section of Don't Fear the Reaper by Blue Öyster Cult. As with that track, it's not too hard, but keeping it up constantly is a little tough for someone who hasn't gotten his fair share of practice recently (me), and this is made even harder by it's ever-changing kick drum rhythm. Also look out for the tricky solo in the middle that switches things up a bit.

Finally we have Take the Money and Run, which is also in drum tier 4. This track has the most interesting rhythm of the three, starting off with a syncopated section not unlike Funk #49 by James Gang. The beat continues to switch back and forth between hands, but is a little easier after the intro. No tough fills or solos, so master the chorus and you'll pretty much be all set.

So would I recommend them? Well, yes and no. Space Cowboy is interesting, but might be a little tricky for beginners and a little easy for experts. Take the Money and Run is probably the most fun of the three, but there are still better tracks to spend your money on. If I were to recommend any of them, it would probably be The Joker. Not because it's a great song to play, mind you, but more because it's a classic that should be included in any game about rock and roll. Ultimately, this week's selection is great for fans of the band, and more take-it-or-leave-it for everyone else.

In other Rock Band news, Forbes joined Entertainment Weekly in the list of magazines that shouldn't pretend to know about video games. In an article about Activision's Bobby Kotick, writer Peter C. Beller called Rock Band "a shameless knockoff of Guitar Hero". Okay, I've gone through this before, but in case any other uninformed folks are reading, lets just have a brief history of the two franchises.

Guitar Hero was developed by Harmonix (makers of rhythm games such as Frequency and Amplitude) and published by Red Octane (makers of rhythm game accessories such as DDR dance mats). Red Octane owned the name and manufactured the guitars, but Harmonix made the actual game, which was similar to earlier titles of theirs. After making Guitar Hero 1 and 2 the companies split, with Red Octane being purchased by Activision, and Harmonix being acquired by EA. Since Activision now owned the Guitar Hero name, they employed Neversoft (makers of the Tony Hawk games) to work on GH3 and World Tour. Meanwhile, Harmonix teamed up with MTV Games and publisher EA to develop Rock Band.

To the average consumer, I can understand why Rock Band looks like a rip-off, but really it's the other way around, especially after World Tour added drums and microphone. This is hard enough for the casual gaming customer to understand without respected magazines telling blatant mis-truths about the whole deal. In response to the backlash, Peter Beller issued a statement in which he claims to have known about the company relationship the whole time, in which case his statement is even worse because he knew it to be wrong. Either way, he stands by what he said, going so far as to quote the dictionary definition of 'knockoff' to prove his point. Whatever, Peter, whatever.