The Rock Band franchise, rival to Activision's Guitar Hero, isn't the financial power Viacom would like it to be but it's getting there, slowly.

The Beatles: Rock Band had a "great launch" but hopes for more with "marketing dollars" on the way. Franchise could see profit this Q4.

Europe has already been enjoying the new Buzz! Quiz World when it released last week, but the US has got to wait until November 10 for Buzz!

This latest instalment has new customisation options but more importantly has 5000 new quizzes, with more from user-generated packs.

Lead singer for The Who, Roger Daltrey, has revealed that EA apparently has designs for the long-time group and Rock Band to team up, possibly in the form of a special edition.

The singer told The Republican, that they're "going to be doing a Who one next year." It's unclear if he means a full The Beatles Rock Band treatment. It could be something else entirely.

Publisher Codemasters has said they hope to update the game and give out new content at the same time for Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, which is by October end.

Their intention "is to align" the two to hopefully do the"whole thing in one." For the developer it's "not a lot of fuss" to work on new content, in fact it's "actually quite easy" to do; open-ended.

Developer Traveller's Tales, now experts of all things LEGO, teamed up with Rock Band's Harmonix and have been hard at work infusing plastic bricks and studs with music.

LEGO Rock Band, which features family-friendly tunes, will be releasing in the UK on November 27th for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and DS. Rock VIPS have been thoroughly Lego-ised.

The first downloadable content for Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is due in "a matter of weeks," and the developers are trying out all sorts for the future. Perfect for expansion.

Codemasters' Sion Lenton confirms there will be "weapons packs, map packs" coming for sure, as a release is now "just the beginning" thanks to DLC. They're "already prototyping" more.

Queen guitarist Brian May reveals they're open to a dedicated Rock Band edition, but sound as if they'd settle being "portrayed in Lego" as it's the "ultimate accolade" to have.

Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones quite agree. There's been "behind the scenes" chatter about a Rock Band game, and Queen are "into it" affirms May; believes it could happen.

Publisher Warner Bros has dished the full list of tracks available in the upcoming LEGO Rock Band, which will likely take us all by storm. It'll include DLC support of course.

Also featured are exportable tracks to other Rock Band titles, "for a nominal export fee" naturally. How much? Don't know. 45 tracks have been named for LEGO rockers to strum.

The reasoning behind no avalanche of new The Beatles: Rock Band DLC is quite simple, as Harmonix's John Drake explains. It costs money to convert them, they need incentive.

The developers don't wait for masters to arrive and "just author them" like with other Rock Band tracks, it costs "thousands of dollars" using the original tapes. Sales will mean DLC.

Currently the new title update is only available for Xbox 360 because the PS3 version is still going through tests with PlayStation Network. The patch addresses "common requests".

Most notably it adds the 'Rock Band Network Audition Mode', which lets users try out their uploaded songs from the PC. In "coming weeks" the Rock Band Network starts an open beta.

Project Natal's destiny is murky, officially speaking, only theories exist on the extent of its practical application. RedOctane believes Acti's Guitar Hero will be infusing it eventually.

Kai Huang, boss of RedOctane, says Natal is "very interesting" because of the numerous things "you can do with it". They're "evaluating it" and say the future holds integration.

Philippe Dauman, Viacom's CEO, has said during a recent Goldman Sachs conference call that The Beatles: Rock Band sales have blown past "internal expectations" they had.

It's "been terrific," and they shifted 25 percent of their inventory the first week. The music game delivers "in all respects" and Viacom expect it to continue performing. Bigger than Jesus?

Sir Paul McCartney has expressed his belief that fellow music legends John Lennon and George Harrison would have been completely on board with The Beatles: Rock Band.

The "bottom line" for them is their music "is getting played" says McCartney. Lennon would have "been excited" about Rock Band's concept, and how The Beatles "were represented."

Scene It? will be returning this holiday season, so you'd best bone up on that movie trivia of the past 40 years. Warner Bros will be distributing the latest game show game.

It's the first time Scene It? will also be coming to the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii, and not just on the Xbox 360. It's to be a sure "smash hit" with movie buffs say Warner, and pop-culture.

Viacom have already promised a minimum of $10 million to rights-holders, but if the hyped music game actually explodes as big wigs hope it does, then that's even more.

The royalty rates are "not even comparable" to anything before. A lot of people are getting paid for the likenesses and songs of The Beatles. A standard edition of the game revealed last week.

In an email from Gamestop to its customers, detailed information on the contents of the Beatles: Rock Band Collector's Edition were uncovered, revealing that the game will contain many instruments along with special content.

This week's PlayStation Network update contains a demo for Wheelman, two full downloadable games, lots of add-on content and much much more.

Today Harmonix finally announced that the upcoming Beatles: Rock Band game will be released worldwide on September 9, 2009.

The full bundle will cost $250 and will be released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii.

Harmonix, MTV Games and Electronic Arts today announced that Rock Band 2 will begin shippng in Europe for the PlayStation 3 on 23rd March.

Rock Band 2 software will retail for £49.99 on the PlayStation 3. Rock Band 2 is also currently available on the Xbox 360 for £49.99. Rock Band instrument peripherals are also now available at new price points.

Ubisoft today announced an official Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X demo will be available for download on the Xbox Live Marketplace tomorrow, while the PlayStation 3 demo will be available a day later on February 12th. The demo will also be available for the PC, but will be released much later on February 26th.

In this demo, players will dominate the skies for the first time and battle planes, tanks and amphibious assaults and have the opportunity to dogfight with other elite pilots in a stunning panoramic boss scene.