(rockband.com) This week in Battle of the Bands

Well, it's my last blog before Rock Band 2 comes out. It's been a fun ride filled with information, arm wrestling and sandwiches, but I'm glad you all stuck it out.

I realised that during this whole time, I didn't talk about the biggest feature in the game - Battle of the Bands! While we have a bunch of surprises that people will experience when they play a battle for the first time, here's a quick primer:

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I’m really excited about Battle of the Bands because it feels like a real battle of the bands competition – it’s not just four people playing against four other people.

We’re going to be uploading new daily and weekly battles every day, each of which have unique setlists and gameplay conditions. One day you might be playing an Expert Guitar Battle that disables overdrive, the next day it might be a family-friendly band battle that you can’t fail out on.

You have to battle through your friends list first, then once you're the king of your friends list you can battle against everyone in the world for the crown of "best band in the world". When you play the song, you'll be matched up with your nearest competition, and a Tug of War-style meter will show up in the middle to let you know how you're doing in real time.

This is essentially asynchronous multiplayer, kind of like what Spore does with its community aspects, and we think it provides a much more accessible and rewarding band multiplayer experience.


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So, what am I going to be posting about now that the game will be out? This week in Battle of the Bands, that's what! Every week, we'll be posting a "best of the week" guide for the battles that are coming out, so that you can prepare yourself for competition.

This week's pick for battles, Launch Week Edition!
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Between now and the end of the launch week, we have 19 battles opening! My picks are below.

* Did you somehow luck into getting a copy of the game before it launches on the 14th, and want to celebrate? In that case, you should jump into the "Late Night Rock Band Bash" on Friday - a Star battle with Pump it Up, The Middle, and Lump, all with no fail enabled.

* On Sunday from 12am to 9am, the "Break of Dawn Battle" goes live. Compete in the first official Rock Band 2 battle to prove that you're hardcore! The cool thing about this is that every band has a battle history, so by playing this battle you're essentially getting a badge of honor in your "Battle History" list to show that you were there not just on Day 1, but at the midnight launch.

* If you need your beauty sleep, you'll also have the "Launch Day Battle" and the "Rock Band 2 Week Battle" that you can compete in during the day or week, respectively.

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We want to make sure that the Rock Band 2 Live Team is making the battles you want to play, so definitely leave your ideas for cool battles in the comments of these posts. Some cool future battles for inspiration:

- A "Stalker" battle with "One Way Or Another" by Blondie
- A "History of Metal" battle, with one metal song from each decade
- A "Six Degrees of Separation" battle, where we connect one band to another through songs available in Rock Band.

Sparked your interest? Post your battle ideas below!