Rock Band. The iPhone. What more do you need in life? The music-focused game, already considered a classic, is finally available on the iPhone for a not too noisy $9.99 download cost.
Here is how you can start jamming out with your mobile device. Select up to three other players to rock out with you. Each player chooses between guitar, drums, vocals and bass. There is a single-player game option as well, which many users find helpful for practice play.
Twenty tracks are featured on theiPhone version of Rock Band, giving you a reasonable array of songs to choose from. The songs are well sampled in comparison to the full track list for Rock Band 1 and 2, suggesting that a diverse user base is being targeted with this app.
There is one small catch. As much as I love the Rock Band app, there are limitations associated with being designed for a mobile device. That removes plastic instruments, violent air-strumming and insane drumming from the equation. You are instead relegated to your ability to tap your iPhone screen to hit all your notes. It is not the same as the original Rock Band, but there is value in this mobile game for practicing songs and learning tempos.
Thus, the Rock Band iPhone application appeals to existing users as well as those that may need some prodding when it comes to adopting a new console game.
This strategy could be useful for several console games, as the iPhone becomes a method of distribution for this purpose. The app’s developer, Electronic Arts, is ahead of the curve on this one having created several mobile versions of its popular PC and console games.
