The sequel will have to do a better job including features in its Wii release if it is to avoid the criticisms of the first game.
Amidst fears of this holiday's Wii release of Rock Band 2 ending up a stripped-down port like the original, Wired's Chris Kohler has reported that a Harmonix representative reassured him during E3 on that very topic. Kohler says that the Wii version of Rock Band 2 will be a "much more competitive product." Although there was no official confirmation of any specific features, Kohler said "it was understood that this extended to things like downloadable content and online play."
The June release of the first Rock Band game for the Wii was met with a lot of criticism because, in addition to arriving several months later compared to other versions, it lacked features like character creation and online functionality. It had more in common with the inferior PlayStation 2 version rather than the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions. This fall's Guitar Hero: World Tour is already promising online play and downloadable content on the Wii, and the Wii version of Guitar Hero 3 was a huge hit, appearing in the top 10 sales charts in the USA long after other versions of the game had disappeared. If Rock Band 2 wants to compete in the Wii rhythm game market, it will have to include the features that Kohler talked about.
Rock Band 2 is scheduled for a fourth quarter 2008 release on Wii.