Harmonix: Leaked Rock Band Footage is Old

We bet you'll probably want to have a look at it anyway.

It's only a three-minute video clip of four people in a room jamming to Guns 'N' Roses' anthemic 1987 hit Welcome to the Jungle, but that was enough to get tens of thousands of YouTube watchers clicking through to see what Rock Band, EA's Guitar Hero-beater, will look like when it arrives towards the end of the year.

The YouTube clip shows four members of the Rock Band creative team singing and playing along to the Guns 'N' Roses hit, using largely similar mechanics to those in the Harmonix-developed Guitar Hero series.

In a follow-up statement on the official Rock Band forum, Harmonix community manager Sean Baptiste said that the video making the rounds was from an early prototype of the game that was shown at a private event.

He added that the people in the video were playing with "old instruments and prototypes" not representative of the final instruments.

The music isn't final yet either. Harmonix hasn't yet confirmed that Welcome to the Jungle will make it into the game, though it is being "considered".

Rock Band is EA's attempt to steal some of the spotlight currently fixed on Guitar Hero. Activision's guitar-heavy series has been one of the most consistently popular games of the last two years, especially in the US, where it is a regular near the top of the monthly sales charts.

Baptiste said Harmonix is planning to release new information about Rock Band next week.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo