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Lego... Rock Band?

April Fools' Day was nearly a week ago, so we've all had quite a few days to let our guards down and start accepting everything at face value again. I was lucky enough to not fall for some elaborately-crafted hoax this year, which is why it's hard for me to take a recent 1UP news story without the requisite grain of salt. But, given the calendar date, it seems that Lego Rock Band, a new installment in Harmonix's smash-hit music series, may actually be in the works.

The only evidence we have at this point is an older version of Harmonix's GDC presentation slides accidentally posted to the Internet, which seemingly confirm the game's existence. According to 1UP,

[T]his slide was among a batch that was sent for "speech approval" by Harmonix senior designer Dan Teasdale for his GDC presentation, "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap: Design Lessons Learned From Rock Band," but never shown. According to [Harmonix senior designer Dan] Teasdale's blog, they resurfaced when Think Services posted the earlier versions by mistake.

They seem to confirm the existence of Lego Rock Band, which was apparently set to be unveiled last Friday at GDC, but never materialized. If it's indeed real, it will evidently be arriving later this year between Rock Band: Unplugged and The Beatles Rock Band.

So, what exactly does Lego have to do with Rock Band? To be fair, the interlocking blocks are just as relevant to Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

BIT.TRIP BEAT is Hella Sweet

What makes Nintendo's complete neglect in promoting WiiWare so tragic is that legitimately awesome titles worthy of attention are sometimes released for the console's digital download service. Take BIT.TRIP BEAT, for example; it's a completely unique Rez-like take on the rhythm genre, yet you're probably finding out about for the first time by reading this blog post. Don't feel too bad; I just discovered the game today by reading a post about it on a message board. And that's a real shame, because BIT.TRIP BEAT is a Playstation Network-y little game that would definitely give WiiWare the same credibility that titles like Noby Noby Boy and Flower lend to the PS3. The game itself essentially plays like an advanced version of pong mixed with a horizontally-scrolling shooter; you control a paddle and hit incoming "balls" to the rhythm of some rockin' old school chiptunes.

Of course, a YouTube video is really the only thing that'll do the premise of BIT.TRIP BEAT any justice, so go ahead and take a gander at the game's trailer.

Video after the cut.

My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Rock Band 2

It's the end of another year, and that can only mean one thing: it's list season. Inevitably, you're going to see top ten lists by the thousands; and, as an official member of the enthusiast press, I'm afraid I can't violate my directive. But, to make things a little more interesting, I've decided to assemble my 10 favorite games of this year in non-hierarchical form because--let's face facts--it's hard to pick a favorite. And unlike other top 10 lists, this one will be doled out to you in piecemeal for only one more excruciating day! Please enjoy.

I used to refer to games like Guitar Hero as the video game equivalent of going on a car ride with your dad. And for the most part, this was true; when your most hated of music genres is overplayed classic rock, the proposition of picking up a plastic axe and thrashing away to the soundtrack of the worst radio stations on earth was not exactly an enticing one. So, being the curmudgeon that I was (and am), I ignored the modern music game based on my prejudices alone--and the fact that I never wanted to hear Lynard Skynard or Journey again for the rest of my life. Little did I know that the fine folks at Harmonix were hard at work on a music game that could appeal to people beyond the demographic of classic rock jockeys. But after doing some research of my own, and getting astoundingly drunk, I was finally able to realize the wonders of Rock Band 2. And now I can never go back.

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.