By Shawn Daley

This week was an interesting one. We’ve entered the price cut wars (and it’s about time), we’ve finally got solid information and detailed descriptions on the Rock Band Network, and couple of cool 8 Bit covers.

Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” – 8 Bit Cover

The Price Drop Wars

Three years into it’s lifespan, Sony’s Playstation 3 finally gets the price drop it needs from $399.00(USD) down to $299.00. Of course, business is business, and Microsoft has lowered the cost of the Xbox 360, though only by $25.00. It seems sony has been working in the shadows for the last few months as well, re-branding the Playstation 3 with a new font and ad campaign as well. Unfortunately, Sony doesn’t expect to see profit from hardware sales, but rather hopes that increased hardware sales will lead to an increase in software sales, generating profit.

Get the full scoop over at Kotaku.

The Rock Band Network: Finally, Some Details

After almost a couple months of waiting, the team at Harmonix and Rock Band have finally detailed (almost) every last detail pertaining to the Rock Band Network, and how independent musicians can finally sell their music in the Rock Band Store. The process seems like it may take a while, and there are some fees to go along with it, but it seems reasonable for now considering the advantages of having your music in a multimillion dollar video game. Now it’s time to wait and watch for the first independent artist to make a name for themselves thanks to the RBN.



More information detailing the Rock Band Network here on Studio Manifesto.

“Video Games Are Saving The Music Business”

Variety posted a very interesting article earlier this week…

[Music games] have helped mute a devastating slump in sales for the music biz…An Aerosmith-branded version of “Guitar Hero” increased the band’s catalog sales by 40% following the game’s release. For individual songs, that can be much higher, with “Guitar Hero” having boosted sales for a track by an average up to 300%, according to Zach Horowitz, prexy [sic] and chief operating officer of Universal Music Group, the industry’s biggest record label. Weezer’s “My Name Is Jonas” surged 1,000% in the weeks following “Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.”

Check it out at Variety.

Muse – “Knights Of Cydonia” 8 Bit Cover

Technorati Tags: 8 Bit Covers, PS3, Video Game Music, Xbox

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