PS2’s Rock Band announced for the Wii

Harmonix/EA/MTV (HEAMTV) announced yesterday that Rock Band will indeed be released for the Wii on June 22, 2008. After realizing the amount of money they’ve lost by not releasing a Wii version with all the other consoles, HEAMTV is proud to announce they are rushing a PS2 port of the popular music game to the Wii, but with white instruments! That’s right, according to a Q&A posted over on Joystiq, Rock Band Wii will basically be the PS2 version of the game–meaning no character creation, and quite possibly no DLC for new songs each week. Adding insult to injury, it turns out the sweet Guitar Hero 3 Les Pauls won’t be compatible with Rock Band Wii. But on the plus side, the game will be in stereo! The “special edition” will include the (wireless) guitar, the drums, the mic, and the USB hub for the PS3/360 price of $169.99. The game will include 63 songs, along with “five bonus songs for Wii gamers to enjoy.” Whether those 5 songs will be Wii-exclusive or songs PS3/360 players have already enjoyed thanks to the rock shop has yet to be announced.

This is a tough one to call. If I didn’t already own a 360 with Rock Band, I can’t decide if I’d be pissed or excited at this news. The game is fantastic, as anyone can tell you, but is the PS2 version fantastic? I haven’t really heard. Character creation is a really fun part of the game, and I would probably miss that more than the DLC songs. I don’t know…if there’s absolutely no way you can afford a 360/PS3 and Rock Band, then your next option is making friends with someone with a 360/PS3 and Rock Band. And if that’s not an option, then I think this announcement is absolutely fantastic news! I mean, look at the white drums! Those are pretty cool.