Pro Mode allows you to actually play the tunes on real strings, which is really cool. The YouRock Guitar can already control five button music games like Guitar Hero and older Rock Band Versions. The needed firmware for Pro Mode support is 1.2, which can be downloaded now.

Players will also need the Mad Cats Rock Band 3 MIDI-Pro Adapter and a standard 5-pin MIDI cable. The new firmware retains all the other features of the YouRock Guitar like integrated sounds and more.

A company called LevelUp has offered just that with a new storage ottoman called the Rock Band storage ottoman. The ottoman comes in plain black called Back in Black for $89.99 (USD) and a special version called Skulls and Snakes sells for $179.99.

Both versions have two spots under the lid with Velcro for storing two guitar controllers. The drum kit stores in the bottom once taken apart, and the thing has pockets for drumsticks and for the mic. You can also put trays inside to hold games and normal controllers as well.

You can find the Snakes and Skulls version over at JC Penney or Kohls online, and the Back in Black version at Costco stores.

The thing looks just like a real Fender guitar, mostly because it is a real guitar. It has six real strings and frets that you can jam with while playing your favorite game. Of course, the guitar has the buttons you need for controlling the game console and game built-in with a D-Pad and other buttons. But once you get the hang of rocking out in the video game, you can plug the guitar into an amp and play as you would a normal guitar.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

We are a ways out on this thing with pre-orders set to start in January 2011. The guitar controller won’t ship until March 1, 2011. The price for the thing is $279.99 (USD).

The NEXiLUX wireless guitar controller breaks down into a couple of pieces and fits neatly inside a carrying bag that you can easily fit into your backpack. It’s compatible with the PS3 or PS2 out of the box, but you can also slide your Wii-mote inside of it and use it with your Wii too. The makers of the NEXiLUX guitar claim it also has more responsive fret buttons than the cheap controllers that ship with the games, and there’s also a set of five touch-sensitive fret buttons if you prefer touch vs. buttons.

There’s a full review of the NEXiLUX over on DCEmu, who also put together this brief video clip of the guitar:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The NEXiLUX guitar is supposed to retail for $49.99 (USD), but we’re not sure exactly where you can one at the moment – Amazon has them listed as “currently unavailable”.

[ via OhGizmo! via CoolThings]

Yep, and this keyboard won’t just have five color-coded buttons on it. It’ll be a full 25-key, two-octave range keyboard, and you’ll be playing the actual notes you’d be playing on a real keyboard if you can ever find the time to put down the controller. You’ll start with very simple note ranges, but as you increase difficulty level, you’ll be using the full keyboard, and learning the real notes. Check out the video below to see an early prototype of the keyboard in action, and hear more about the game’s other new features:

[via GoNintendo]

Considering that MTV Games is half the power behind the Beatles edition of Rock Band, one might think the special would air on MTV. But they’re sure to include at least one song clip in the half-hour special, and that would result in actual music being played on MTV. We can’t have that! So the special has been shuffled off to VH1, is also owned by MTV’s parent company, Viacom.

The special, which is set to include interviews and behind-the-scenes footage from production, will premiere November 27th on VH1 Classic at 7:30 PM ET/PT, and will likely air many times after that.

[via Crispy Gamer]

Watch MsFrizzyHair flutin’ out on Avenged Sevenfold’s Afterlife on Expert. Yeah weird choice right? But is there a song in Rock Band that would go well with a flute?

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

98%! Nice. Also, notice how she can’t seem to keep her eyes open when she talks? She must be a silent driver.

[via Neatorama]

Here’s Bowers on his creation: “The light sensor sends data to an Arduino, which is waiting for a spike in the data. The Arduino runs the sensor data through some averaging filters, and sets a threshold for on and off.”

The robot’s fingers are servos, and its fingertips are made of copper wire embedded in foam. Everything was stuffed “into a modified Pelican case, with a lot of hot glue (non glittery)” and voila! A rockin robot that looks like an iPhone lobotomizer. Enough talk, let’s see it rock!

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I can still hear the rhythmic squeaking.

[via Boing Boing]

The ten songs slated for inclusion are:

• “Another One Bites the Dust”
• “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”
• “One Vision”
• “Fat Bottomed Girls”
• “I Want It All”
• “I Want to Break Free”
• “Killer Queen”
• “Somebody to Love”
• “Tie Your Mother Down”
• “Under Pressure”

The Queen pack will be available October 20th. This is a great month for Rock Band DLC (but a bad one for your wallet), with Queen later and other much-needed holes being filled by The Raconteurs and Alanis Morissette October 8th.

[via Zergwatch]

How does $3500 sound for the price of a swanky 360? Sure, it’s a little high (and will probably go higher), but just look! If you feel like dropping thousands of bones on Ebay, you might be able to nab the above Xbox! If, however, you don’t have several hundred dollars to blow on a console, you can take your chances in the drawing for the other rare ‘box. All you have to do is download “All You Need is Love” for the Beatles Rock Band game and you’ll be entered!

Or you can wait until after the drawing’s over, and check to see if the drawing-console turns up on Ebay. It probably will.

All of the proceeds from the promotion are being donated to Doctors Without Borders, so at least it’s all for a good cause.

[via Joystiq]

The on-the-go version includes a variety of songs, and may even support DLC–no confirmation yet either way. Game modes will include Quickplay and Tour Mode, and even multiplayer, for those who are ready to rock in groups. Here’s the list of included tracks:

• 30 Seconds to Mars – “Attack”
• 30 Seconds to Mars – “The Kill”
• AFI – “Girl’s Not Grey”
• Angels & Airwaves – “It Hurts”
• Beastie Boys – “Sabotage”
• Blink-182 – “All the Small Things”
• Blondie – “Hanging on the Telephone”
• Finley – “Tutto E’Possibile”
• Foo Fighters – “Learn to Fly”
• Foo Fighters – “Everlong”
• George Thorogood and the Destroyers – “Bad to the Bone”
• Jethro Tull – “Hymn #A43″
• Joan Jett – “Bad Reputation”
• Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Simple Man”
• Motorhead – “Ace of Spades”
• Rise Against – “Give It All”
• Silversun Pickups – “Lazy Eye”
• Smashing Pumpkins – “Cherub Rock”
• Steve Miller Band – “Take the Money and Run”
• Squeeze – “Tempted”
• The All American Rejects – “Move Along”
• The Go Go’s – “We Got The Beat”
• The James Gang – “Funk No. 49″
• The Pixies – “Debaser”

Sadly, there will be no tiny plastic instruments. That would have been pretty awesome.

[via Game|Life]

The little scene that takes place during this gameplay clip is amusing, but it’s really the details that stick out to me, like the bricks on the note highway. I’m always enamored of the little things, and here it looks like the little things are going to be the cornerstone of the experience.

Well, that and the awesome LEGO dudes.

If you haven’t had enough of Rock Band and its ilk yet, the LEGO version is scheduled for this year, during the jam-packed holiday season.

[via Joystiq]

The Rock Box (gotta love the name) will store two guitars, a drum kit, and more, and then you can prop your aching feet on it. Of course, it will cost you about what you paid for your pile of plastic instruments and game, but hey! It is furniture, after all.

The Rock Box is available on Amazon, in brown or black, for just under $200.

[via PS3Maven]

This new speculation comes after an interview with LA station KROQ conducted with Billie Joe Armstrong, in which the frontman said, “Uh yeah, we’re doing a whole Green Day Rock Band… uh.” And when asked about the timeframe, he said. “I’m not sure… soon. Like I think not this week, but this year soon… by the end of this year.”

So, we have a pause and an “uh,” which seems a fair foundation to base rumor and speculation that this is more than a trackpack on. But a full game coming soon, from the sound of it? Was Armstrong being mysterious, or are mountains being made from molehills here? Either way, Green Day is coming to Rock Band… in some capacity.

[Kotaku via CrunchGear]

This is a development that I became aware of after conducting thorough research – namely, hearing about it from a friend and then Googling it.

However, a number of people are reporting that the game – or at least the one they downloaded illegally – wipes out the GAME folder on their PSP once they exit the game or turn off the system. A lot of minor issues are also being reported by the digital pirates, such as their system hanging or other songs refusing to load. Still, the game has been downloaded more than 13,000 times, and that’s just a metric from one torrent site.

PSP owners who want to do things the right way – I know you’re out there somewhere -  can pre-order the game here for $40 USD.

Logitech’s Guitar Controller is officially for Guitar Hero games on the PS 3 and Guitar Hero: World Tour on the PS 2, but there’s a good chance it’ll work on Rock Band for the PS 3 as well. It has a solid body and its neck is made of wood, while the shiny frets and tuning peg handles are real metal. It also has a Star Power button and a touch-sensitive neck slider for Guitar Hero: World Tour.

Logitech’s axe isn’t for everyone, that’s for sure. No, I’m not saying you need to have mad skills to be worthy of it. because what you need is $200 USD. At this point may I just say that you can get a real guitar – a no frills, basic electric guitar, but still – for less than that. But if you must have this controller, you can pre-order it now at Logitech’s website.

[via Obsessable]

At this point, I would typically make fun of the silliness (and potential awesomeness) of this title, but I’m distracted by the Jack White-ness of the above character. The combination of guitar and outfit is a little too evocative, and Mr. White has been known to wear a few ill-fitting hats here and there over the years. But the necklace throws it all off (though not quite as hilariously as the LEGO chest hair in another screenshot. So instead, it seems they’re just going with “minifig rock dudes who look like they might be actual rock dudes.” That’s a fair approach.

Oh yeah. Chest hair.

So Jack White-ness (and my own personal White Stripes obsession) aside, it looks as though the LEGO and Rock Band franchises will both be well represented here in a fun combination that should add a new dimension to music gaming.

A partial track list was revealed as well, and it’s likely we’ll see more announcements as we get closer to the game’s release date.

• Blur, “Song 2″
• Carl Douglas, “Kung Fu Fighting”
• Europe, “The Final Countdown”
• Good Charlotte, “Boys and Girls”
• Pink, “So What”

[EDGE Online via NeoGAF]

With the help of electrical tape, PVC pipe, and a little rubber tubing, Ben Heck set up a breath-controlled workaround for the drum set’s kick pedal. The better to keep your hands free for what’s important: playing the drums.

The entire process has been documented–even down to tips for dealing with cuts sustained in the process–so that you can try this one at home. And Rock Band fans have a reason to rejoice: it’s apparently easier to pull this off with the Rock Band kit.

[BenHeck.com via hackaday]

dreamGEAR’s new WarBeast controller for the Playstation 3 has the looks of a serious heavy metal guitar. Designed by rock guitar maker B.C. Rich, the WarBeast is a full-size guitar controller with some serious edge. As a matter of fact, it’s actually based on a real guitar that Rich created. I’d be surprised if somebody doesn’t poke out an eye or stab someone in the kidney with those pointy edges.

The WarBeast is completely wireless, and is backwards compatible with the PS2 if you happen to still be living in the dark ages. The guitar features an oversize glowing strumbar, detatchable faceplates, and even little inlaid skulls between the fret bars. Sweet!

So if you’re ready to unleash your inner Derek Smalls, you can get your hands on the WarBeast controller now for just $89.99 over on Amazon.

[via SlipperyBrick]

Firestix drum sticks contain internal LED illumination which light up when you first start to bang on your drums with them. As an added bonus, Firestix are made out of durable Lexan, so they’re not likely to snap in two like the cheap wood sticks that ship with the game.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

As you can see from the video clip, they look really cool when played in a dark room. Firestix are available in both red and blue versions, and you can find them over on Amazon for about $25 a pair.