Guns N'Roses lend comeback track to Rock Band 2 game

by Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 15-Jul-08, 14:55

LONDON - Guns N'Roses have agreed that the first track from their long-delayed new album will be released through computer game 'Rock Band 2' in September.

The game, which includes guitar and drum accessories for gamers to play as a group, is developed by Harmonix and published by MTV Games. It will be available on the Xbox 360, with releases on the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 to follow.

The original 'Rock Band' has sold 2.5m copies and has brought in extra revenue from downloads, of which more than 15m have sold at $1.99 each.

Guns N'Roses' involvement brings the game a blaze of publicity, as the band, now without guitarist Slash, has not released an album since 1993.

Singer Axl Rose has been working on the new album, titled 'Chinese Democracy', for years, but has failed to deliver on past deadlines for releasing the material several times.

However, MTV has confirmed that a Guns N'Roses song 'Shackler's Revenge' will first be heard through the game.

'Rock Band 2' will feature 99 other songs, including 'Let There Be Rock' by AC/DC, 'Tangled Up In Blue' by Bob Dylan and 'Pinball Wizard' by The Who. Further tracks will also be available to download to play along with.

The 'Rock Band' franchise is competing with the 'Guitar Hero' game series, owned by Activision. Both have held talks with Apple Corps about basing a game on the music of The Beatles.