This walkthough covers the main storyline of the game. It covers only those missions necessary to complete the story which is only a small part of the game. There is no need to run though the storyline, you can spend as much time as you like playing other aspects of the game (exploring, building renown, buying houses, having a family) and return to the storyline whenever you want.

Childhood

First select a male or female character. This decision may change some of your dialogue options, but doesn’t affect the overall story.

After speaking to Rose, follow her. You’ll notice a glowing yellow trail. Throughout the game this trail will (usually) show you where to go to complete your active quest. Follow this trail and you’ll come to a trader who will show you a magic music box for sale for 5 gold. You’ll also get a hint that it just may actually be magic. Your new goal is to gather 5 gold to buy the box.

You’ll see the glowing trail lead you to a man with a yellow “!” over his head. This symbol means that he has a quest available. Go there and he’ll give you a quest to find 5 warrants (pieces of paper) that have blown away. To accept the quest you have to hold down the A button. The glowing trail will then lead you to a photographer who will pay you one gold to pose for a picture. Use the D-pad to strike a pose. From here head down the alley and you’ll see someone hitting a dog. Fight him (this is the tutorial, so you can’t lose). Once you’ve defeated him, continue along the glowing trail. You’ll find one of the warrants along the trail in the alley. The trail leads up some stairs to another questgiver. On the left side the stairs you’ll find another warrant.

The quest giver gives you a quest called “The Beetle Hunt.” Enter the warehouse and a gangster will ask you to smash the merchandise rather than kill the beetles. You have your first moral choice of the game. You can either go upstairs and kill the beetles on the ceiling, or you can stay downstairs and smash the barrels. You’ll get your gold piece either way, but the beetles will slide your character closer to the “good” side while smashing the barrels will get you closer to “evil.” Don’t worry too much about this decision. Any good or evil points you acquire will be erased at the end of this level.

Back outside in the alley, you’ll come across a drunk who asks you to find his bottle of alcohol in a quest called “Tramp’s Treasure” Pete wants you to find his bottle of booze, while Betty wants you to give it to her. You’ll find Magpie and the bottle at the end of the alley (not the end with the stars that go down, the other side). Walk up to him, and don’t worry about waking him up because he’ll sleep through anything. You can then grab the bottle and give it to either the man or the woman. Giving it to the man is evil, the woman is good. You’ll get a gold piece either way. You’ll also get the final warrant (it’s in the bottle).

Across the alley from this arguing couple is the final warrant, next to the dog. On your way back to turn in the warrants you’ll run into Arthur, who’ll demand the warrants. You can either give them up for a gold piece (evil), or run past Arthur and take them back to the guard (good).

There’s one more quest. You’ll see a man named Monty nearby who’s yelling at a house. He’ll ask you to deliver a letter. Walk up to the door of the house he’s yelling at and knock. You can give the letter either to Belinda’s mother, or you can walk up stairs and give it to Belinda. You’ll get a gold piece either way.

You should now have 5 gold. Go buy the music box, then follow the glowing trail to where you started the game, overlooking the castle. Watch the scene, then head over to your shack and go to bed. You’ll find Rose’s diary here, but you don’t have to read it. When you wake up, head down the path and opt to go to the castle.

In the scene that follows, you’ll meet Jeeves, the butler. He will escort you into the castle. You’ll pass by a man named Garth. You’ll then meet Lucien. All three of these people will appear later in the game.

The Birth of a Hero

Collect your new equipment from the chest by your caravan. Note that you own this wagon, so you can rest here whenever you’re injured. If you get marred you can move your new wife or husband into the wagon. Now is a good time to try interacting with the villagers. You can select from emotes on the D-pad, or you can open the emote menu with RB button. Be aware that drawing your weapons will scare them. You can browse the wares of the vendors here. You’ll find a general goods seller, a tattoo dealer, and a man who sells augments. You don’t have any money yet, so you won’t be able to buy anything.

Go to the gate, where you’ll meet up with Teresa. She’ll ask you to go to the tomb in the middle of the lake. Instead of following the path, walk up to the ledge and jump down. You’ll find a chest with some money at the bottom. Swim over to the tomb, which is in the center of the lake. Outside of the tomb, to the right, you’ll find a silver key. Your dog may bark when you go near it, that’s his signal that he’s found something valuable.

Enter the tomb and proceed down the hall. You’ll come to some beetles. These are quite easy to kill with either your sword or crossbow. Walk over to where you killed them and pick up the experience orbs they’re dropped. Just past this group of beetles your dog will find another silver key. Move forward and you’ll come to a gate. Look behind you and to your left and you’ll see another gate. Behind this gate (which is unlocked) is a chest. Go back to the gate blocking your way and you’ll see a target you need to shoot. The gate will open and you can proceed forward. You’ll come to a cavern you must swim across. To your left and right are platforms, and each has a body you can search to find letters.

Ahead you’ll find a room with a circle in the center. To unlock the door, shoot the target, hit it with your sword, then shoot it again. Head down this hallway. On your right you’ll see a passageway and a book case. Search the bookcase to find a book. Leave the glowing trail and follow this passage. You’ll find a few beetles, and a chest with 100 gold, a chest with a health potion, three books,

Head forward into the Chamber of Fate. Stand in the circle and you’ll not only hear the background story (much of it is a reference to the first Fable game), but you’ll unlock new abilities. You’ll need to select at least one “Will” ability. Use this ability on the glowing object (the Cullis Gate) to leave the hall. Before you go, try to open one of the chests here. You’ll be directed to a website (www.fable2.com). Stand at the glowing gate to continue.

When you arrive at your destination in Bower Lake, you’ll have some beetles to fight. You can try out your Will power, or you can just use your sword. Follow the glowing trail to Bowerstone. Keep an eye on your dog, he may point out spot you can dig to get a rubber ball. The ball will give you a new emotion (fetch) to use with your dog. You can also visit the Gypsy camp if you choose.

The Bandit

You’ll come to a barricade in the road. You’ll learn that the road is closed, and you’ll receive a new quest. You must defeat the bandit Thag before you can go to Bowerstone. On the way to the camp, you’ll see a ruined house, to your right, down the ledge. There’s a chest there with a coat inside. From here, if you head toward the lake, you’ll find another chest with a pistol inside. Enter the camp, and you’ll be attacked by bandits. Fight all the bandits that come at you, then you’ll have to defeat Thag. You can just use your sword, but the fight will go faster if you use your magic power. For winning, you’ll get Thag’s Head (a trophy), and 100 renown.

Walk up to Thag’s house. Next to the door you’ll see the property information posted. Every house in the game has this information. You don’t have enough money to buy this house yet, and this house isn’t really desirable anyway. Go inside the house and open the chest. You’ll get 300 gold and the key to the cage outside. On the bed is a book.

When you go outside you’ll find a man who’s willing to pay you to keep the slaves in the cage. Give him the key to receive some gold (evil), or unlock the cage to set the people free (good). You can attack the man and take his 200 gold (evil), if you want, or you can wait for him to attack you to get his gold without getting any evil points. Behind the house is a small cave with a chest. Head back to the blockade, and when you go through it you’ll be transported to Bowerstone.

At Bowerstone you’ll encounter Roland the Bard, who will follow you around. You’ll encounter him at various towns throughout the game. You can pay him 10 gold and he will sing about your adventures. This a good way to increase your renown. When you enter, you’ll find yourself in a courtyard. Before you proceed into the town, take the first door on your right. You’ll find a chest here. Head up the stairs and you’ll find two more chests. The end of this walkway is blocked by a gate. Above this gate you’ll see a gargoyle. Once you have the Aimed Ranged Attack ability, you’ll be able to shoot gargoyles and claim a reward for doing so. For now, follow the glowing trail back to the courtyard.

At the courtyard you’ll find a general store on your right, if you want to sell some items or buy some dog treats. Head to the town square and you’ll learn that Theresa is running five minutes late. Use this time to head over to the blacksmith’s shop. Here you can take jobs and earn money. As you complete jobs you can do more advanced jobs to make more money. You can also buy improved weapons from the blacksmith. You may also want to stock up on food, which will heal you. You can buy many different types from the various vendors in the square and on the bridge. You’ll also want to take a look at the bookstore, located across the square from the blacksmith. Here you’ll be able to buy books that teach you new expressions or give your improve your dog’s abilities.

Once the timer expires you can still explore the town as much as you want. When you’re ready, head over to Theresa at the town square. She’ll give you your primary quest, one that will take you the entire game. You must find three heroes, then confront Lucien. The first step is to travel to Oakfield.

Each time you go to a new town in this game, you must first travel a dangerous road. Often you’ll have to fight your way through a cave or some other hazard. This journey starts with a road infested with bandits. On the road outside Oakfield you’ll encounter someone looting the bodies of people who have been attacked by bandits. You could kill him, but you’ll lose purity. You can however take the items laying around without losing any purity.

Ahead you’ll find some bandits. Use your crossbow or other ranged weapon to shoot them. In this area you’ll see a bridge that leads to a statue. There is a silver key here. There is also a chest on the ridge where the bandits were.

As you go up the hill, you’ll be attacked by another group of bandits. They are at close range so you’ll have to fight them with a melee weapon or spells. At the bottom of the hill you’ll find a group of three bandits in a camp. You can either use your crossbow or just run in and kill them. Near the camp you’ll find the first Demon Door. The door wants to see a trick from your dog. If you don’t yet have one, you can find one in the chest at the bandit camp you just passed.

Ahead you’ll see a bridge that is out. You’ll have to jump over the side and into the river. At the bottom you’ll find a man who has lost his child inside a cave. When you enter the cave, you’ll see a pool to your right, and there’s a bag of money hidden in the pool. Head forward and you’ll encounter three Hobbes. These are harder to kill than bandits, but you should still be able to defeat them easily.

You’ll then have to fight another group of them. Ahead is a locked door. Your dog will show you the way around the door.

You’ll then come to a cavern with a large group of Hobbes. You can kill some of them by pushing them off the ledge. Just before the exit you’ll find a treasure to your left, down the ledge. At the exit is a ladder that will take you to back to Rookridge. At the top of the ladder you’ll the three bandits that were taunting you before. You can either attack them or just not go near them. There is a silver key behind the building you emerged from. You can now follow the glowing path to the town of Oakfield. Once there follow the trail to the Abbot. He’ll ask you to build up your world reputation.

There are several ways to build up your reputation. You can go to the inn and pay Roland the Bard 10 gold to sing of your exploits. You can go to the sculptor and have a statue of yourself made. You can also do quests.

There are several quests you can do, but the most obvious choice is “A Bridge Too Far” Head back to the Oakfield Inn and speak to the man who is crying.

The Ritual

When you have enough reputation, go back to the abbot. He’ll direct you to the cave, and inform you that a monk will accompany you. At the entrance to the cave you’ll meet Sister Hannah, who goes by the name “Hammer.” She’ll be one of your companions for the rest of the game. Enter the cave. At the first spring, there is a silver key on the far side of the platform where you stand to collect the water. On your way out you’ll have to fight two groups of Hollow Men. At the second fountain you’ll have to protect Hannah from Hollow Men as she’s filling the water jug. You can stand on the pressure plate and shoot the Hollow Men. This has the advantage of filling the jug while you fight. You can also leave the pressure plate and fight them with a melee weapon or spells, but the jug won’t fill while you’re fighting this way. You can’t jump down off the platform with the pressure plate, you must run down the stairs.

Head back to the central hall and go through the third door. In the next room you’ll have to fight several waves of Hollow Men. You’ll then have to fight a Headless Hollow Man. He has some devastating melee and short range spell attacks. His weakness is that he’s blind and slow. Stay away from him and shoot him or use spells. If he gets close to you, run away. Keep shooting and he’ll go down. Go into the next room and you’ll complete this quest, and open up a new one.

Hero of Strength

• Reward: Golden Oak Leaf
• Renown Points: 1000

All you have to do is walk over to the temple and watch the scene. After this mission you’ll have an opportunity to explore around and get some new equipment. The next primary mission is “The Hero of Will.”

The Hero of Will

To start this quest, go to the Heroes Guild. The easiest way to get there is to use the quest menu. You’ll have to travel to Brightwood and find Garth. To get there, you’ll need to travel through Bower Lake. When as you get near the Brightwood Tower, you’ll see something fly though the air and you’ll have to fight some Spire Guards. When you finally get into the tower itself, you’ll see a scene, complete this quest and open “The Bargain”

The Bargain

Your first task is to contact Jeeves, at the Cow and Corset Pub in Bowerstone. When you speak to him, he’ll want 1000 gold. You can earn this any way you want, but a job is the fastest way to get it. When you pay him, you’ll get instructions to go to Bower Lake. Before you go, make sure you have a good ranged weapon, and a spade. When you get to the location, you’ll have to fight a troll. You can only hurt this monster with ranged weapons or targeted spells. You must shoot the glowing objects on the outside of its body. These are bunches of nerves, but they look more like bright-colored maggots. The Troll will throw rocks at you, which you can either dodge or shoot down. If you are moving it will sometimes throw two rocks, one where you are and a second where you are running to. Be sure to switch directions frequently as you run. It will also use a ground tunneling attack, which you can run away from. When you kill the troll, dig up where it was standing, then return to the Guild. The entrance is quite close and is a quick walk.

Your next mission is to go to the arena in Westcliff. To get to Westcliff, go to Bower Lake and take the road east into Brightwood. You’ll meet up with Hammer there, and the two of you will enter the Bandit Coast. You’ll have to fight your way through lots of bandits. No single group of banits are difficult, but you’ll want to bring food and potions along so you can heal between fights. You’ll then come to a barricade. Hammer will smash it, and you’ll find a large group of highwaymen on the other side. Don’t advance too far into their camp during the fight because there are more highwaymen deeper inside. There are several chests here, so make sure you look around before you leave. When you cross the bridge, you’ll enter Westcliff.

Westcliff is filled with Balvorines. You’ll have to fight a couple of small groups of them. Stay near them in combat, they have a nasty charge attack they use when they’re far away. Ahead you’ll meet up with a woman named Lilith. She will ask you to rescue her son, who’s been taken by the Balvorines. Just past the bridge you’ll find a silver key. Head down the hill and you’ll be attacked by another pair of Balvorinies. Just past this point is a Demon Door.

Move past the swamp, to the ruined castle. Go through the door in the ground and enter the Howling Halls. Move through the hall until you get to a large open room. Here you’ll have to fight a very large group of Balvorines. Hammer will create a bridge across the gap, and you should cross it. You’ll then come to a room with stairs going up. At the top is a small alcove with a silver key. Head up the next set of stairs and you’ll enter Westcliff.

The Crucible

In Westcliff you’ll find a couple of food vendors and a weapons vendor. Stock up on whatever supplies you need. You’ll want to bring lots of food and healing potions into the Crucible. When you’re ready, speak to “Mad Dog” at the front door. Enter the door to enter the Crucible. Here you’ll find a weapons trader. You can read the Crucible rules if you like, you don’t have to.

When you enter the next door you’ll start the Crucible. There are eight rounds of combat. Most rounds have three waves of enemies. Each new wave usually starts when you’ve killed the last enemy of the previous wave. Each round is on a timer, and you’ll record a “perfect round” if you defeat all the enemies before the timer expires. If you get 5 perfect rounds you’ll get a bonus, Mad Dog’s old weapon. This is a difficult feat, and few people will get five perfect rounds on their first run through the Crucible. The good new is that you can go through the Crucible as many times as you like. There are also bonuses if you use traps, or make entertaining kills. When you enter a room, the contest starts when you enter the glowing circle. Run around the room and take a look at the terrain before you start the fight. Before you leave each room, be sure to check for any bags of money. After the third and sixth rooms you’ll encounter a weapons trader. Be sure to stock up on potions here.

After this your primary quest will be “The Spire.” To start this quest, all you have to do is meet Hammer at the nearby dock. Don’t do that just yet, because this next quest will take a long time (10 years of game time). There are two things you’ll want to do before you go. The first is the side quest “Westcliff Development.” You can also make a lot of money by buying business or buildings and renting them out. Feel free to explore, do sidequests, and generally enjoy the game before you go to the docks.

The Spire

At the Westcliff docks you’ll find the Hammer who’s there to see you off. You’re not allowed to take any weapons with you, and your dog will have to stay behind. The ship will take you to a new location, “The Tattered Spire.” You’ll meet a fellow recruit named Bob. Move forward and you’ll hear Lucien’s speech. You’ll find yourself in the barracks with a new uniform. Part of this uniform is a control collar, which you can’t remove.

You’ll receive orders to meet the commandant. Follow the path to his office. On the way you’ll run into Bob, who’s guarding Garth. Both will speak to you, but you can’t free Garth just yet. (If Garth’s voice sounds familiar, it’s because the voice actor is Ron Glass, from the television show Firefly.) At the commandant’s office you’ll be asked to follow his orders. If you refuse, you’ll lose experience. With these simple commands, you won’t lose anything by obeying, so follow his orders.

Later, at week 38 you’ll be asked to guard some prisoners. They’re starving, and you have the option of feeding them. If you wait 3 minutes without feeding them, they’ll starve and you’ll slide toward “evil.”

At week 137 You are asked to kill Bob. Many years later you’ll be asked to report to the commandant again. He’ll ask you to check on a guard. Head over to the construction site (follow the glowing trail) and you’ll find his body. Take the items you find, and you’ll encounter Garth. You must escort him back up to the Commandant’s chamber. You’ll have to fight several groups of guards on the way up.

Defeat the Commandant and his two guards. The guards here are harder than normal guards.

At the dock you’ll have to fight a large group of guards, but Garth is a powerful ally who will take care of most of them for you. Fight your way to the boat.

You’ll then find yourself at Oakvale. You’ll be reunited with your dog. Ten years will have passed. You’ll see Threasa and you’ll get your old equipment back. You’ll get 5000 renown and the Broken Spire Collar (trophy).

Your primary quest will be called the “Cullis Gate” Meet Hammer in Rookridge and she’ll speak to you. She’ll say that she’ll call on you when she’s ready. It should only take a day or so for her to be ready. In the mean time, you’ll want to check on the “Westcliff Development” quest if you started that quest before you left. You may also want to look for your family, if you had one. You’ll notice that the game world has changed in your absence, so you may want to take some time to explore and see what has changed.

The Cullis Gate

Your new mission is to find Reaver. He’s a pirate in the area of Bloodstone. To get there, you’ll have to use the Cullis Gate in Brightwood Tower. You can use the quest menu to quickly travel to Brightwood. When you meet up with Garth and Hammer, follow them to the rear entrance of the tower. You’ll have to fight several groups of guards, but Hammer and Garth make these fights far easier. You can charge into the enemy and use melee weapons or you can hang back and use spells or ranged weapons. You’ll have to deal with a Spire Shard, but it’s not all that hard, especially if you use magic against it.

When you get to the top, you’ll come across a second, harder Spire Shard. It won’t attack you directly, instead it will spawn guards. You’ll have to kill these guards and protect Garth while he is opening the Cullis Gate. The guards will come from both the stairs and near the gate ahead. . Garth will tell you he’s ready and you can then use the gate. You can also hang out and fight more of the guards if you want more experience. When you’re ready, use the gate.

You’ll then see a cut scene, and when it’s over you’ll be alone in Bloodstone. You can start off by following the glowing trail, but if you want to use a Demon Door head across the bridge and up the hill.

The Thief

When you’re ready, follow the glowing path. At the drowned farm you’ll encounter a Banshee. She will attack you by summoning small goblin like creatures. You must destroy these creatures before you can attack the Banshee. Area effect spells work well for killing the creatures, and rapid attacks with your melee weapon are great for killing the Banshee. Move forward. You’ll have to fight several groups of Hollowmen. You’ll come to a bridge and get a message that you’re about halfway through the marshes. Just past this you’ll see an “Elder Hollowman.” He’s somewhat harder than normal Hollowmen, but not by much. In the area where you fight him, you’ll find a silver key to your left as you enter. Ahead you’ll have to fight another Banshee. Just past the Banshee is a Troll. As usual, dodge his attacks and shoot the bright nerves on his body.

You’ll have one more small fight against Hollowmen, then you’ll reach Bloodstone. You’ll find a Demon Door on the right hand side of the path just before you enter the town. Once at the town you can rest at the inn, buy supplies, take a job or start some side quests.

Bloodstone is a pirate town. The people here are impressed with aggressiveness and evil. If you’re playing an evil character and haven’t beet able to find a husband or wife because of it, you can find one here. If you were married before the Spire quest, you may find you spouse wandering around the town. There are also prostitutes in the town, if you’re looking for a shorter term relationship.

When you’re ready, you can head to Reaver’s house. At his house, Reaver will ask you to gain more reputation. You can do this by completing some side quests. You can also pay Roland the Bard to sing about you, or you can commission a statue. Doing the Treasure Island of Doom quest should get you enough renown.

Once you have enough renown, he’ll give you a new quest. It seems simple, all you have to do is deliver a seal. Pick up Reaver’s Dark Seal. Head over to Wraithmarsh. Once there head down the path and you’ll have to fight several groups of Hollowmen. Hop down into the stream. If you head to your right you’ll find a chest. Head down the stream and you’ll have to fight a group of Hollowmen and then a Banshee. Finally you’ll come to a group of Elder Hollowmen.

You’ll then arrive at the entrance to the Shadow Court. Head through the passageway. You’ll come to a hall with spikes that shoot out from the floor, you can time this and sprint past in one go. Next you’ll come to a gate. Here you’ll be attacked by a large group of enemies.

Ahead, you’ll find a crying woman named Elizabeth. You’ll also see the Shadow Judges. Whoever gives them the dark seal will age, and this is a permanent change. You can choose to give Elizabeth the seal and have her age or you can give it to them and you’ll age. If you spare Elizabeth and give them the seal yourself, you’ll gain 50 purity and age. This effect really only changs your hair and eye color, it doesn’t effect your combat skills or people’s reaction to you.

The next step in the quest is to return to Reaver. Before you go, you’ll want to clear up any quests you want to finish and take care of any outstanding business you may have. Like your trip to the Spire, you’ll have some decisions to make ahead that have permanent ramifications.

Before you see Reaver, make sure you have everything you might need like food and potions. Be sure you invest in a good ranged weapon, because you’ll come across some situations where it’s needed. When you get to Reaver’s house, you’ll speak to him, then have to escape down a tunnel. You’ll have to fight several groups of Lucien’s men. Reaver fights with a pistol, so you may want to hang back behind him and shoot or use spells. Many of these rooms end up as shooting gallery type fights.

When you get outside the tunnel you’ll find a beach. Here you’ll meet up with Hammer and Garth. You’ll also encounter a Great Shard, which you’ll have to destroy. This is the final battle of the storyline, so don’t hesitate to use any items like healing potions.

Like in previous shard battles, it will spawn soldiers you must defeat. You can then attack the shard. When it opens up, there is a glowing thing on top of the shard. Shoot that as fast as you can. The Shard will keep summoning enemies. It will also summon smaller shards that will float near the ground and use melee attacks and electrical beams. The strongest attack the Great Shard has is a blast attack. You can see this attack building as a red beam that gives off a red light. It then explodes and does a huge amount of damage and knockback to anyone standing next to the beam. Try to use magic to keep the Spire Guards from bothering you too much. Spend as much time as you can shooting the Shard. You can if you want continue fighting the Shard Guards forever, if you don’t attack the Shard itself. For defeating the shard you’ll get the Shard Shard (trophy) and 10,000 renown.

Next you’ll be transported to Bower Lake, where you’ll start a ritual to create a great weapon. The ritual will be interrupted. You’ll then find yourself as a young boy or girl on a farm. You can use your sword to attack the beetles in the garden, shoot bottles with your toy gun, or kick chickens back into their pen. After a while, your sister Rose will want to go to bed. Follow her back to the house. Next to her bed is Rose’s diary. If you compare Rose’s diary here to the one you found at the beginning the game, you’ll see this one is filled with happier experiences. Use the bed, and you’ll hear some music, the same music from the music box at the beginning of the game. Head outside and go toward the edge of the farm. Head down the path filled with fire. You’ll come to a box. You should recognize this as the magic box from the beginning of the game. Pick up the box. You’ll then see your character at various points at the game. You’ll then find yourself at the Black Spire. Head up the stairs and you’ll see Lucien. Hold (and keep holding) the music box. You’ll see one of the final cut scenes in the game.

You’ll then get to make one wish. You must choose between one of three wishes You can choose sacrifice and save all the people who died building the spire. You can choose love and bring back your family and your dog. You can choose wealth and get 1,000,000 gold (and 300 evil points). The choice is up to you. This decision is permanent, and your character have to live with the consequences of it for the remainder of the time you play the game (unless you start a new character).

This concludes the storyline portion of the game. You’ll see the game’s end credits. But you can keep playing with your character. There is a lot more to the game than just the story. There are still sidequests to complete, money to be made, item to be found (gargoyles, Demon Doors, and silver keys), and adventures to be had.

Rock Band 2 comes with over 80 songs (or sets / tracks) preloaded. Additional songs can be purchased and will be available in the Rock Band 2 downloads area within Xbox Live Marketplace. The list below represents songs that are on the disc. The second, smaller list represents songs that are on the disc but must be unlocked in some fashion.

Rock Band 2 Main Set (Song) List

“Ace of Spades” — Motörhead
“Alabama Getaway” — The Grateful Dead
“Alex Chilton” — The Replacements
“Alive” — Pearl Jam
“Almost Easy” — Avenged Sevenfold
“American Woman” — The Guess Who
“Any Way You Want It” — Journey
“Aqualung” — Jethro Tull
“Bad Reputation” — Joan Jett
“Battery” — Metallica
“Bodhisattva” — Steely Dan
“Carry On Wayward Son” — Kansas
“Chop Suey” — System of a Down
“Colony of Birchmen” — Mastodon
“Come Out & Play (Keep ‘Em Separated)” — The Offspring
“Cool For Cats” — Squeeze
“De-Luxe” — Lush
“Down With the Sickness” — Disturbed
“Drain You” — Nirvana
“E-Pro” — Beck
“Everlong” — Foo Fighters
“Eye of the Tiger” — Survivor
“Feel The Pain” — Dinosaur Jr.
“Float On” — Modest Mouse
“Girl’s Not Grey” — AFI
“Give It All” — Rise Against
“Give It Away” — Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Go Your Own Way” — Fleetwood Mac
“Hello There” — Cheap Trick
“Hungry Like The Wolf” — Duran Duran
“I Was Wrong” — Social Distortion
“Kids in America” — The Muffs
“Lazy Eye” — Silversun Pickups
“Let There Be Rock” — AC/DC
“Livin’ on a Prayer” — Bon Jovi
“Lump” — President’s of the USA
“Man in the Box” — Alice in Chains
“Master Exploder” — Tenacious D
“Mountain Song” — Jane’s Addiction
“My Own Worst Enemy” — Lit
“New Kid in School” — The Donnas
“Nine in the Afternoon” — Panic! At The Disco
“One Step Closer” — Linkin Park
“One Way or Another” — Blondie
“Our Truth” — Lacuna Coil
“Painkiller” — Judas Priest
“Panic Attack” — Dream Theater
“PDA” — Interpol
“Peace Sells” — Megadeth
“Pinball Wizard” — The Who
“Pretend We’re Dead” — L7
“Psycho Killer” — Talking Heads
“Pump It Up” — Elvis Costello
“Ramblin’ Man” — Allman Brothers
“Rebel Girl” — Bikini Kill
“Rock ‘N Me” — Steve Miller Band
“Round & Round” — Ratt
“Shackler’s Revenge” — Guns N’ Roses
“Shooting Star” — Bad Company
“So Whatcha Want” — Beastie Boys
“Souls of Black” — Testament
“Spirit in the Sky” — Norman Greenbaum
“Spoonman” — Soundgarden
“Tangled Up in Blue” — Bob Dylan
“Teen Age Riot” — Sonic Youth
“Testify” — Rage Against The Machine
“That’s What You Get” — Paramore
“The Middle” — Jimmy Eat World
“The Trees” — Rush
“Today” — Smashing Pumpkins
“Uncontrollable Urge” — Devo
“We Got The Beat” — The Go Go’s
“Where’d You Go” — Mighty Mighty Bosstones
“White Wedding Pt. I” — Billy Idol
“You Oughta Know” — Alanis Morisette

Rock Band 2 Bonus Songs (Sets)

“A Jagged Gorgeous Winter” — The Main Drag
“Conventional Lover” — Speck
“Get Clean” — Anarchy Club
“Neighborhood” — The Libyans
“Night Lies” — Bang Camaro
“Rob the Prez-O-Dent” — That Handsome Devil
“Shoulder to the Plow” — Breaking Wheel
“Supreme Girl” — The Sterns
“Visions” — Abnormality

Rock Band 2 Downloadable Songs
In addition to the songs listed above, you will also be able to download sonds via the Xbox Live Marketplace.

For those in the U.S., Microsoft is cutting prices only on the higher-end versions of Vista, and only for the upgrade version used to move from XP or another copy of Vista. The suggested price for Vista Ultimate drops to $219 from $299, while Home Premium falls to $129, from $159.

Other developed markets will also see price cuts, while in emerging markets, Microsoft is eliminating the distinction between full and upgrade versions of Home Basic and Home Premium as it attempts to convince more users there to use genuine software.

Analysts were surprised by Microsoft’s move.

“I can’t remember a big price cut like this,” said analyst Chris Swenson, who tracks retail software sales for NPD Group. “It’s very unheard of.”

Microsoft finalized Windows Vista in late 2006, but held back its retail launch of the product until January 2007. It has sold more than 100 million copies, largely on the back of a strong overall PC market, but retail sales have significantly trailed those of XP in its early days and Vista has received a number of critical reviews.

In an interview, newly minted Windows consumer marketing vice president Brad Brooks said that Microsoft had been testing lower prices over the past few months and was surprised to find that the amount of revenue lost was more than made up for by an increase in the number of PC buyers willing to shell out for an upgrade.

Brooks said that Microsoft had done a lot of research prior to Vista’s launch, but noted that both Home Premium and Ultimate were new products for the company. “We probably got the pricing mix wrong,” he said. “You don’t always get it right, but you make the adjustment.”

Gartner analyst Michael Silver said the move–which applies only to standalone versions sold at retail stores–is puzzling. “It’s sort of an odd move,” said Silver, who noted that the market for such upgrades is fairly limited. Those who bought XP in the fourth quarter of 2006 got a coupon for a free Vista upgrade, while most of those who have bought systems since then have gotten Vista. Machines purchased prior to 2006 probably aren’t all that attractive as candidates for a Vista upgrade.

“I guess at the end of the day anything that makes Vista a little bit more accessible is probably a good thing,” he said, but added that a cut in the price computer makers pay would have a far bigger impact, given new PC licenses account for 80 percent of Vista sales. “The whole notion of upgrading PCs has sort of fallen by the wayside.”

And, a retail price cut could actually hurt Microsoft when it comes to the market for new PCs and among businesses trying to decide when, or whether, to move to Vista.

“To the extent this ends up damaging Vista’s reputation instead of broadening its appeal, I think that’s a danger,” he said.

Brooks discounted that, saying that if that were the case, Microsoft would have seen sales drop rather than rise when it tested the lower price promotions in France and the United Kingdom in December and January. As for the limited market for upgraders, Brooks said the new pricing should also make it more attractive for existing Vista PC owners that want to move to a higher-end version.

Swenson noted that while a Windows retail price cut may be unprecedented, Microsoft has seen some gains by cutting the price of other products, most notably when it added the Student and Teacher version of Office. Not only did unit sales go up, he said, but total revenue increased as well as Microsoft was able to tap a new wave of demand.

“Even though they have this huge market share they still have to price their products to move,” Swenson said. Swenson had called for such a Vista price cut last year, with standalone Vista sales badly trailing those seen for XP in its first six months.

“While the main culprit behind the poor performance of the ’shrinkwrapped box’ Vista (sales) is most likely the more stringent hardware requirements of the new version of the operating system, the lower sales volumes could also be a signal that Microsoft is not pricing its product appropriately,” Swenson wrote in a report looking at Vista’s first six months on the market. “If PC prices have plummeted almost 25 percent since the launch of Windows XP, then it makes sense that Microsoft would take such price drops into consideration when pricing (boxed copies of Vista). Thus, Microsoft should strongly consider instituting an across the board price cut for all editions of the operating system, the low-end editions in particular.”

Brooks also pointed to the increase in sales Microsoft saw when it cut the price to computer makers for Windows XP Media Center Edition. Initially pitched as a high-end version above Windows XP Pro, Microsoft eventually lowered the price to not much higher than Windows XP Home and saw it become the dominant consumer version.

“It went from a run rate of about 1 million (copies) a year to a run rate of several tens of millions a year,” Brooks said. “So yeah, we got it right.”

It took a Microsoft technician in India 176 minutes to finally figure out how to get to the root of the problem and get the upgrade to go through. Nice guy by the way, I learned a lot about him during our call.

At any rate, if you are having a problem upgrading Windows Vista try disabling some services and removing any anti-virus programs and CD burning software, Roxio and Nero are perfect culprits. Simply uninstall them before trying the upgrade.

Next up, disable some Windows features, to do this you’ll need to head to the control panel, go to Programs and Features, and click Turn Windows features on or off. Then, disable the following:

• Under Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0, disable the XPS Viewer
• Disable Remote Differential Compression
• Disable Windows DFS Replication Service

The one thing I forgot to mention was that graphics cards and Ethernet cards are also a prime reason that upgrades fail, so head into the device manager and disable both of them.

Now try to perform the upgrade, using Upgrade as the option… with any amount of luck it will work, then you can re-install the drivers for your graphics card and re-enable your Ethernet card to activate your copy of Windows Vista Ultimate.

If the upgrade fails, there is still hope, you’ll just need to perform a custom upgrade. Now, the Windows Anytime Upgrade disc has all the files needed to perform a clean install of Windows Vista Ultimate, the problem is, since this is an upgrade, it needs to be associated with another Vista activation code (the one you are upgrading).

So, we perform the same steps, but instead of selecting upgrade we select Custom (Advanced) Install. This allows you to select a particular partition to install Windows onto. I suggest installing it right over the old Windows installation (all of your old files we be placed into a folder called Windows.old, so don’t worry about losing anything)… although I do recommend backing up important files to a removable drive before performing any type of upgrade.

There you have it, and hopefully you did it quicker than the 176 minutes it took me. Good luck, feel free to post comments or questions.

Due to an explosion of digital content, IDC says demand for storage capacity continues to grow at a rate of nearly 60% per year. In response to this growing need, Seagate and Maxtor continue to deliver solutions that help customers effectively store, manage and share their most precious files (music, photos, video, documents, etc.). The company most recently introduced the following high-capacity products:

- Seagate FreeAgent Pro with Mac compatibility - 1TB capacity
- Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus - 1TB capacity
- Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini - 250GB capacity

We’ll have updated reviews on some of these products shortly.

 You may be periodically contacted my Microsoft to participate in a test. When Microsoft contacts you, you are asked a series of question to see if you qualify for the upcoming study or test. Based on your answers you may or may not be selected for the particular test.

I have personally participated in a couple of these, and they are a lot of fun. Microsoft rewards your time and effort by giving you gratuity gifts. Their gratuity gifts can range from famous software titles like XP Pro, Vista, Office 2007, or a number of Xbox 360 games. You are allowed $600 dollars a year in gifts from these events before you need to report them to the IRS; although I have never went over the $600 mark so I am a little unsure of exactly how this process takes place.

Generally these test group sessions range from two hours to two days. The last Playtest that I participated in was testing a new version of Hexix HQ and the test lasted two hours. These test panels normally consist of about 15 to 20 selected people, you meet at a Microsoft test center (they are nation wide), sign in and are swept off to a room with the other testers. A Microsoft representative explains what you will be testing and explains any and all directions they have.  At this point it is your job to play the game and follow the rules laid out by the rep. At the end of the  game testing you either are asked a series of questions or you need to answer questions on paper about the game or.

At this point the testing session is over. The MS rep with the help of a couple of other guys from Microsoft read off a gratuity list and you pick the title that you want, perhaps two depending on the length of the test. The reps fetch your gifts and hand them to you. At this point you are done and they escort you out of the building. After the test has been completed you’re done, and rarely ever hear anything more about the title unless it is released at some point. Here is where you can sign up if you are interested.

http://www.microsoft.com/playtest/default.mspx

The unit I purchased differs a bit from what Logitech’s official description provides in the fact that it comes with a wireless optical mouse as well, it was also about 20 bucks cheaper than the listed $99 retail price. Here are my thoughts on the cordless notebook accessory.

The Logitech Alto Cordless (pictured above) basically allows you to place your notebook on the stand, which also has 3 additional USB connections for adding more devices to the unit. I’m using the stand right now to write this review, and I have to admit it makes life with a laptop much more comfortable. Logitech says the stand works with almost any laptop; I’ve personally hooked it up to a Sony VAIO and an HP with no problems.

The stand is powered by one included AC adaptor, and the cordless keyboard is powered by 2 AAA batteries. Installation is a breeze, as it simply works once you hook it up, no drivers are needed. The full size keyboard connects wirelessly to the stand, and the integration is pretty cool, given that there are lights on the stand to indicate if caps lock or number lock is on. There are also a bunch of convenience keys on the keyboard itself, such as volume controls, mute, and quick keys for accessing your email, the Internet browser, search functions, and more.

Here’s a side-view shot of the unit with a laptop on it.

As I said before, the unit I purchased came with one of Logitech’s wireless mice as well, but any wireless mouse can be used if you can’t find the combo pack that I’m talking about. As for the actual usability of the stand, it does make it feel as if you were using a desktop PC more than a laptop, since the screen is elevated and you have a full size keyboard with all you would expect, such as full size number pad, etc.

There is also a cable management slot on the rear of the unit, which will come in handy as you add other devices to your set-up, such as external hard drives, iPods, and other devices. When you aren’t using the device it folds up nice and flat so it doesn’t take up too much space.

Now, no device in my mind is without a down side, fortunately, the Logitech Alto Cordless doesn’t have a whole lot of drawbacks, or cons. One notable exception would be that some of the hot keys aren’t compatible with all notebooks, at least in my tests. They all seemed to work fine with the VAIO unit, but many of them didn’t work with the HP notebook, so expect your mileage to vary on that front.

Bottom line - for the money (especially if you snag it with the wireless mouse at less than $80 bucks like I did), it’s definitely worth picking up. If you’re looking for a way to make your notebook a bit easier to use this is definitely a good option, particularly for people that use their notebook more than they use their desktop. I suppose you could tote it around from location to location with you, and it certainly is portable enough to do so, but I’m thinking that isn’t quite as practical as having it in a set location.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

More info can be found on Logitech’s product page for the Alto Cordless.

Personally, there are only a few gadgets that I rely on using on a day to day basis. My iPod, my Blackberry, and of course, my laptop. Aside from that, everything else is really just extra clutter, especially if its one of those ‘I can do it all, but I can’t do any of it really well’ gadgets.

So, what gadgets are a must have for you? And do you agree that some of the gadgets hitting the market are just ridiculous pieces of electronics that are more or less useless for the average Joe?

Comments are welcomed.

The band is composed of a bassist, a drummer, three guitarists, and anywhere from ten to fifteen vocalists comprising a full choir of lead singers. The band’s music is somewhat similar in style to ’80s metal and glam rock. The basic song structure employed by the band does away with traditional verses in order to highlight catchy choruses and integrate as many guitar solos as possible.

The result has been described by the band as, “taking everything we loved about the genre, and throwing everything out that we hated.” The band cites Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly as influences in addition to hard rock bands like Iron Maiden and Dokken. “I would call us anthem rock,” said Alex Necochea. “We’re really not heavy metal. I think our focus is more on writing great singles, as best as we can make them. That’s just something Bryn and I grew up on. We’re big fans of melody and big driving hooks, that sort of thing.

Explicit content warning: As with all of XBS podcasts, they carry an explicit label for a reason, use parental discretion, not recommended for a younger audience.

OK now that you know who Bang Camaro is, let me tell you a little bit about www.xboxsolution.com , Jason Rybka started the site back in 2002. Jason was and still is to this day heavily into gaming. He got the idea to create the site because at the time their were plenty of sites that catered to the gaming community, but they were full of pop-ups and so-forth. 

At that time Jason had just got the original X-Box and decided to create a gaming community of his own. Here it is 6 years later and the XBS site is still growing. At XBS you will be able find well written content and easy to follow cheats for the X-Box, X-Box 360, and Podcasts. Well I don’t want to spoil all the fun for you, so after you listen to the Podcast take a look around.

The Members of XBS:

• Jason Rybka
• Rich Reed
• Jim Kennedy

The Members of Bang Camaro:

• Alex Necochea
• Bryn Bennet
• Rich Hoss
• Rodrigo Van Stoli

Here is the direct link for the XBS Bang Camaro interview Podcast.

Sure, we’ve all seen the videos on YouTube about how formidable the iTouch screen can be (check this video out), but you still need to make sure you add a bit of padding, and protect the shiny silver back from being scratched. Now, there is no science to choosing the right case, just pick something that suits your style.

For my iTouch I decided to go the flip route, choosing DLO’s flip leather case with belt clip, pictured below.

Officially its called the HipCase (leather folio with belt clip for iPod touch), see more info at DLO’s web site here. Personally, I really like the slim-line clip and the look and feel of the case.

No matter what style you decide on, shell out the few bucks to protect that MP3 player, you’ll thank yourself down the road.