Rock Band 2 costs $190. Getting better at it goes for $795.

Power Chord Academy, a national rock-music camp for teens, has just announced that it will hold a three-day GameROCKERS session to help teens hone their skills at Rock Band and Guitar Hero World Tour as part of its Twin Cities program this summer. Participants will play in various band configurations, write and record songs in GHWT, and perform a concert for family and friends. If nearly $800, which includes food and lodging, is too much for wannabe rockers, there’s a one-day version, iROCKER, for $295. (A comparison chart shows the differences between the two programs.)

That seems like a lot of money for playing video games — especially since comparable camp sessions on real instruments cost the same amount. But, hey, it’s not my money. After playing a few sessions of Rock Band this past weekend, I think practice is all you need to get better — just like on real instruments. But kids who have saved up money from part-time jobs might think the camaraderie and serious-minded approach are worth it. And maybe they’ll get help on figuring out the insane drum part for Boston’s “Foreplay/Long Time.”

The GameROCKERS camp will be held July 26-28 at Macalester College in St. Paul. The iROCKER session is July 26. The camp is for ages 12-18. Click on the links above for more info.

Update: The Situationer’s post reminds me that the Hennepin County Library has regular gaming sessions for teens. They are held one day a week after school for kids who just want to hang out together and have some fun on the Wii, PS2 or Xbox. Check out your local library’s website to see what’s offered and when.

Which video games had the most worldwide appeal in 2008? According to a new report from Top Global Markets, Mario Kart Wii was the top-selling video game in the world in 2008, with sales of nearly 9 million copies. Not far behind was another Wii sensation, Wii Fit, which had global sales of more than 8 million last year.

Here’s a detailed look at the top five sellers worldwide in 2008, according to the report from the NPD Group (which issues U.S. monthly sales figures), GfK Chart-Track Limited and Enterbrain:

2008 Titles                               Total        US       Japan        UK
Mario Kart Wii                          8.94mil    5 mil       2mil         1.94mil
Wii Fit                                        8.31mil    4.55mil  2.15mil    1.61mil
Grand Theft Auto IV                7.29mil    5.18mil  256K       1.85mil
Super Smash Bros. Brawl   6.32mil    4.17mil   1.75mil   404K
Call Of Duty: World At War    5.89mil    4.46mil    0             1.43mil

Is it possible for the best video game of 2008, Fallout 3, to get even better? Why, yes it is — as long as you’re playing the Xbox 360 or PC version.

On Tuesday, Fallout 3’s first downloadable content — or DLC, as they call it in the biz — becomes available for those two systems. The new adventure, Operation: Anchorage, gives “nuclear winter” a whole new meaning as players head to post-apocalyptic Alaska to kick some irradiated booty. The new episode is actually a simulation within the story of the original game, according to developer Bethesda Softworks, but that surely won’t make it any less fun. A new wrinkle, besides new weapons, is the ability to command a stealth strike team in a wintry assault on a Chinese base — sounds like a combination of Lost Planet and Rainbow Six.

The DLC will be available Tuesday on Xbox Live and Games For Windows Live for 800 Microsoft Points. That’s $9.99 in real money. Before you can add it though, you’ll have to download a recent update for the game that fixes various bugs and other issues. Xbox 360 users are prompted automatically for the free update when they start up the game, although they might have to be signed in to Xbox Live. PC users can find the patch at Bethesda’s website.

I’m hoping to get a look at Operation: Anchorage as soon as possible. The only catch for me is that I’ve logged all of my time playing the PlayStation 3 version of Fallout 3. In fact, I actually finished the main quest on that version, although there are still dozens of side quests to do. But realizing that the DLC was coming and that there is no PS3 version — and no firm word on when one might be available — I started the game all over again last week on the 360. I’m only several hours into it. Ironically, I’ve started with places I’d never visited before and quests I’d never done previously, so it’s already like a whole new game. I just hope I’ve gotten far enough to try the DLC.  I’ll post my thoughts later in the week.

Are women more likely than men to cut back on video games in a tough economy? The industry-tracking firm IBISWorld thinks so. Its research shows that the recession will hurt female spending on games more than male spending in 2009 and beyond. Its reasons:

* Men are more likely to consider spending money on video games as a necessary expense, while women view it as a luxury.
* Female-oriented games, such as Fashion Designer and Movie Star, aren’t as popular as communal games such as Rock Band and Wii offerings, which appeal to both genders.

“These factors will all combine to slow growth in female gaming,” the firm said. “By 2013, IBISWorld expects female gamers to represent around 41 percent of all gamers – up only 3 percent from 2008.”

I never considered a gender gap in video-game spending. If everyone is cutting back on spending during a recession, it would seem to be proportional, no matter the product, right? In other words, women and men would equally buy fewer games in relation to what they bought before. On the other hand, female gamers tend to gravitate toward casual games, so there might be relatively fewer hard-core gamers among them — and thus less allegiance to keeping up with the newest titles in tough times. I also wonder to what extent women are playing games that someone else has bought — so female gaming, as an activity, doesn’t go down as much as female spending on them does. For example, I bring all the video games into my home, but my wife and two daughters play them as much as ever (probably more now that my wife has fallen in love with being the drummer in Rock Band ).

Something else to consider is that during a recession, gaming companies might cut back on their output, which will affect how gamers spend their money. For example, consumers could look to the used and discount market to pursue older titles that they might have missed if there is a dearth of new games. In fact, IBISWorld says the game industry might focus on its core group of loyal young male gamers during the recession and not on female gamers.

What do you think?

The most powerful video-game system, Sony’s PlayStation 3, gets even better today with a free firmware update that adds a slick photo gallery. The application is designed to make it easier for users to organize and view their photos on the PS3. It has cool features such as smile detection, which can group photos by the subjects’ expressions, and the ability to create full-featured slide shows with music (besides the PS3’s previous slide-show options, which remain). Sony has created an informative video to walk you through the gallery’s features.

The system software update v2.60  will also add DivX 3.11 video support and guest browsing for the PlayStation Store, meaning you don’t have to register to see what’s being offered there. These free add-ons are a major reason why users should set up their PS3’s Internet connection, which is a snap to do since the console has built-in wireless capabilites, and update often.

To do the update, just choose “System Update” from the PS3’s settings menu. Once the update has been installed, you must choose to then install the photo gallery application — a concession to those who might not want the gallery but do want the other features, yet another example of Sony being very Apple-like in its consumer-friendly approach to innovation.

I and the rest of the family got in a lot of Rock Band sessions this weekend. The game is phenomenal, but it’s a pain to keep set up permanently because it takes up so much space, especially the drums. But my oldest daughter had a party Friday night, so I hauled everything out for the first time in a while and the house was rockin’ in no time.

But the best part about being an Xbox 360 roadie this weekend was that I finally transferred the songs from the original Rock Band to Rock Band 2. I highly recommend doing this. It doesn’t just save you from having to swap between the two discs during extended jam sessions; it also means you can easily create set lists using songs from both games. It’s well worth the $5 fee that’s charged to relicense the Rock Band music for Rock Band 2. 

To do it, make sure your 360 or PS3 is connected online and signed in to Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network. When you put in the Rock Band disc, it should ask if you want to update. (You might have already done this in the past few months if you play a lot.) After updating, there should be a new option to export songs. Choose it, and confirm that you will pay the $5 licensing fee. The songs will transfer to your system’s hard drive, a process that will take a while. Then, when you insert the RB2 disc,  the original game’s songs will show up in the listings.

There are two caveats: (1) Three songs were not included in the relicensing deal for this feature. They are Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” and Iron Maiden’s “Run to the Hills.” But you still get the original game’s 55 other songs. (2) This feature is not available yet for the Wii. But Nintendo’s console did finally get its own Rock Band Music Store last week. It’s starting with 50 songs, including 20 free RB2 tracks. More tracks will be added to the Wii store each week until it’s caught up with the more than 500 downloadable songs available for the 360 and PS3.

Finally, in the last bit of Rock Band news, Harmonix and MTV games announced last week that the following games will be added to the music store this week (Tuesday for Xbox Live, Thursday for PlayStation Network):

Steve Miller Band “Space Cowboy,” “Take the Money and Run,” “The Joker”
Godsmack “I Stand Alone”�
Belly “Feed the Tree”�
Ghost Hounds “Wind Me Up”
Mute Math “Typical”�
Rob Zombie “War Zone”

Usual pricing: $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points for the 360) per track; $5.49 (440 Microsoft Points) for the Steve Miller Band 3-pack. I’ve really gotten into downloading new tunes, a great way to extend the life of this fun game and a pretty good deal when you consider the amount of entertainment each track provides.