Good God, this development took a really, really long time to materialize. You know, Konami has been pretty active in the rhythm genre, and ruled Japan with its Bemani series. Dance Dance Revolution. Guitar Freaks. Drummania. Beatmania. Certainly, Bemani is popular in the Land of the Rising Sun, but stateside, only DDR really has taken off. Sure, there is in fact a stateside version of Beatmania, but it wouldn't say anything other than DDR has taken off here. Have you seen Drummania or Guitar Freaks in the states? Guitar Freaks may have seen a PS1 release, but I certainly have not it. It is almost as though Konami dropped the ball on that one.
Where Konami dropped the ball, Harmonix picked it and scored big time. Guitar Hero, Rock Band, they certainly have had their share of winners. See, Harmonix was, and still is, very successful in the rhythm business. Four or so years later, Konami has finally figured out that Harmonix's devices are a bit close to those of Guitar Freaks and Drummania. Hmm, you don't say? Great job noticing, Konami. You know, the likeness between the peripherals is uncanny. Why didn't Konami do this earlier? I guess they can get more damages now, if they win, and given how similar the peripherals are I certainly expect them to.
Konami Sues Harmonix Because Rock Band is Fun [Dtoid] [IMAGE]
 Let's not kid ourselves. I really like music / rhythm games. As such, I really like games like Guitar Hero. So, when the next Harmonix game was announced and it was Rock Band, it was pretty damn exciting. Then, there was the revelation that the game was only coming out for the 360 and PS3, which made baby Jesus cry. I myself, was one sad panda. The pain was lessened a bit when I saw the associated price tag, but the game still was amazing, and deep down, I still wanted it.
Fortunately, Harmonix announced that eventually Rock Band would be coming to the Wii, and that was about it. No price, no release date... nothing other than that the game was coming to the Wii. Well, that's nice, but I want more concrete information. The Wii owners want more information. Would it be expensive like its brethren, or would it be slightly more affordable? Would it be a quick cash in like Guitar Hero / PS2 Rock Band, or would the content be more like the 360 / PS3 versions? Most importantly, when would it be coming out?
Well, there is a release data and price for the Wii version. June 22, 2008. $170. Price, not too surprising, but hey! We now have a date. Additionally, it will be a "Special Edition", with 63 songs, including 5 bonus songs. Oh boy, I can barely contain myself. Yay. Seriously.
So, the burning question of will this game be a gimped version like the PS2 version, or will the game be like the 360 / PS3 version has yet to be answered. Certainly, my excitement will either fall or rise with that announcement, and I can't wait to hear more about this version of the game.
Rock Band Wii 'Special Edition' on June 22, $170 [Joystiq]
UPDATE: Kotaku asked for comment about DLC... No DLC... yet. No DLC ==No Buy.
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