This week marks a new era in Rock Band downloadable content -- the era of the six song pack. Up until now, we've only seen packs of three ... so this is a huge deal to someone.

But not for me -- this week's package of six songs is a selection of classic Grateful Dead master tracks that includes: "China Cat Sunflower," "Casey Jones," "Sugar Magnolia," "Truckin'," "Franklin's Tower," and "I Need a Miracle." The pack of six will cost $9.99 (or 800 MS Points), with each song costing the usual $1.99 (or 160 MS Points).

Let me be clear: I'm not a huge Grateful Dead fan, but I "get it," and if this is your thing I'm happy for you. I knew these were coming (there are still a handful of Grateful Dead master tracks waiting to be released), but for some reason I didn't think they would come like this. I was hoping maybe they'd be released alongside the entirety of Radiohead's OK Computer, or a handful of Pink singles. Or some hot tracks by The Wiggles.

The press release (which may make you gag when you read the "ROCK BAND GOES TRUCKIN'" part) can be found after the jump.

ROCK BAND™ GOES TRUCKIN’ WITH DOWNLOADABLE GRATEFUL DEAD TRACKS

First Six Out of 18 Classic Grateful Dead Master Recordings Set to Hit Rock Band

Harmonix and MTV Games today announced plans to take gamers on a long strange trip with the first selection of downloadable Grateful Dead tracks for the revolutionary music video game Rock Band™.  

On March 4th, gamers looking to channel their inner Dead Head can download six of the legendary band’s most popular tracks, including “China Cat Sunflower” (from ‘69’s Aoxomoxoa), “Casey Jones” (from 1970’s Workingman’s Dead), “Sugar Magnolia” and “Truckin’” (both from 1970’s American Beauty), “Franklin’s Tower” (from ‘75’s Blues For Allah) and “I Need A Miracle” (from ‘78’s Shakedown Street).  Over the next several months, the iconic group will make a total of 18 master recordings from its diverse catalog available as digitally distributed game levels for Rock Band.
 

Release date:           
March 4, 2008 (Xbox LIVE® Marketplace )
March 6, 2008 (PLAYSTATION®Store)

Tracks: 
Grateful Dead Pack
“China Cat Sunflower”
“Casey Jones”
“Sugar Magnolia”
“Truckin’”
“Franklin’s Tower”
“I Need A Miracle”
(All six tracks utilize the original master recordings)                                     

Price:                          
$9.99 (800 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) per pack or
$1.99 (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) per track

Locations:                 
PLAYSTATION Store and Xbox LIVE Marketplace