Rock Band Wii Skips Out on Downloadable Content

The Wii version of Rock Band, with its sleek white drums and wireless guitar, will release this June. The Wii version will even feature five additional songs that were not included on the other consoles - “Roxanne” by The Police, “Don’t Look Back In Anger” by Oasis, “Roam” by The B-52s, “My Dirty Little Secret” by The All-American Rejects, and “Rockaway Beach” by The Ramones. While these songs are not included off the shelf for the Xbox 360 or PS3, they are available as downloadable content.

Sounds great, but this is where the Wii version drops the ball on one of the major benefits to the other consoles’ versions of Rock Band. Rock Band Wii will not offer downloadable content. A Harmonix representative confirmed to Shacknews that

“The Wii edition of Rock Band will not include online multiplayer or support for downloadable content.”

1Up is also confirming this

“It’s a major bummer that the Wii version of Rock Band will not have online play or downloadable content. We can live without online play, but the lack of downloadable tunes is a big blow to Wii owners, especially when Harmonix releases three new songs every week for the other versions.”

Yes, it’s true, not only will you not be able to download new songs to your Wii, your best friend 1423-2344-5355 and you will not be able to play online.

Rock Band has had a steady flow of downloadable content since it first launched for Xbox 360 and PS3. In fact, those two versions have combined for over 6,000,000 downloads. Averaging somewhere between $1.50 to $2.00 per song, Rock Band has made a killing off of these downloads.

Why will the Wii not offer downloads and online play? Laser Sharks has been unable to find an explanation for this. It appears this is simply a case of Nintendo’s Friend Code strategy.