aerosmith
Latest
First Guitar Hero: Aerosmith tracks include 'Draw the Line,' 'Sweet Emotion'
Though we were briefly distracted by mention of some other bands set to feature in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Activision has reminded us that the rhythmography will, in fact, include Aerosmith tunes. Gamespot reports that of the 40-plus songs in the game, 60 percent will be devoted to the increasingly decrepit crooners.Ah, but age is just a number and fans aren't likely to care when they start pressing plastic in rhythm to these confirmed numbers: "Make It" "Uncle Salty" "Draw the Line" "No Surprize" "Sweet Emotion" Expect further songs to be revealed at an excruciatingly slow pace as the game's June release walks this way.
New Guitar Hero: Aerosmith video (Looks Like a Cash-in)
Okay, so that title is (possibly) the last time we're going to be snide about Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. The band might not be our cup of tea, but heck, Guitar Hero is fun, and the not-Aerosmith tracks are actually showing real promise for non-Aerosmith fans.However, just in case you forgot who the real headline act is, Activision cooked up a video of the title in action, and it oozes Aerosmith. There's plenty of bragging about the band's (admittedly very impressive) achievements, before we cut to 3D models of Stephen Tyler and his fellow grandfathers bouncing about the stage to "Sweet Emotion." Actually, the rubber-lipped, leathery-skinned Tyler proves to be perfect fodder for a caricature -- visually at least, he and Joe Perry seem to be a good fit for a Guitar Hero game. Gameplay-wise -- and we barely need to mention this, but we shall -- it looks identical. And why not? It's a winning formula.%Gallery-19372%
Counting Rupees: Battle of the brands
Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming: When Guitar Hero 3 launched last year it was an immediate success, selling out at a fairly quick pace throughout the holiday season. Following just behind it was Rock Band, selling very well, but not nearly as quickly as Guitar Hero. So far, all versions of Guitar Hero III have sold about 9.1M copies, versus just roughly 1.5M for Rock Band. Of course, part of the discrepancy lies in the fact that Rock Band launched on two platforms while Guitar Hero 3 launched on four, but that is about to be remedied with Harmonix's recent announcement of Rock Band for Wii. While Rock Band was a more ambitious game and representative of an evolution of the music game, it did seem like Activision may have made the right choice in buying the Guitar Hero publisher (and thus the Guitar Hero brand), but not the developer. With so much brand awareness already built into Guitar Hero, was there any way that Harmonix could possibly top the original creation that it no longer owned the rights to?
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith gets more non-Aerosmith tracks
For all of you that were hoping a game called Guitar Hero: Aerosmith would contain as littleAerosmith as possible , know that today pushes the title further into your good graces. A slew of new bands were confirmed to be in the game and not a single one of them is called Aerosmith.New tracks confirmed for Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (via Game Informer) include Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes", The Kinks with "All Day and All Night," Joan Jett with "Hate Myself for Loving You" and Cheap Trick with "Dream Police." While not entirely clued in to the kids and their crazy music, our interest in this game is growing through each new non-Aerosmith song. What about you all?[Via Joystiq]
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith adds Mott the Hoople, The Kinks, Joan Jett
You may not be crazy about the music, but you have to admit the concept of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is kind of cool: A band's story, almost a documentary, retold as a game. Game Informer's got the scoop this month on the steps Neversoft is taking to complete the experience (recreating the high school where they played their first show, mo-capping the band) and we actually found ourselves being interested in the project since the first time we heard of it.Sweetening the pot is the inclusion of artists who've intersected with Aerosmith, which GI says includes Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes", The Kinks with "All Day and All Night," Joan Jett's "Hate Myself for Loving You" and Cheap Trick with "Dream Police." It's all very concerning but it's the inclusion of that awesome Mott the Hoople track that really has us worried. Are we going to have to [gulp] buy this game?
Wii Warm Up: One band hero
After Activision announced its decision to release Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, we starting wondering -- are Guitar Hero games that showcase one band a good idea? Yes, there may be some other bands sprinkled throughout the game, but there's still going to be a lot of music just from Aerosmith.Keep in mind, this question isn't about Aerosmith, it's about the bigger picture. Even if it was <insert favorite band name here,> would you be excited? Or, do you find the concept to be monotonous, no matter who the band is?
Good music possible in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
In addition to the rumored (but now unlikely, according to the RedOctane press release) drum and microphone compatibility, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith may have one other saving grace: bands that are better than Aerosmith. Buried in the original press release is a note that you'll be able to play not only Aerosmith songs, but also "songs from celebrated artists that the band has either performed with or has been inspired by in some way." USA Today mentions "opening acts" in a blurb about the game, and a Best Buy flyer says that you'll be able to "rock out with Aerosmith and all their favorite bands." Hopefully all of Aerosmith's favorite bands are not also Aerosmith. An Aerosmith fansite even goes so far as to say "think Run-DMC." We would like to think that, thank you. Aerosmith has, of course, performed with Run-DMC.There's also the unfortunate possibility that the "opening act bands" featured in the game could be worse than Aerosmith, but that seems statistically unlikely. And don't forget, even with other bands, it'll be hard to avoid Aerosmith in a game called Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.
Other bands are in Aerosmith's Guitar Hero game, maybe Run DMC
Logic would dictate that if you're buying a game called Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, the disc would be chock full of fail Aerosmith songs. But an ad from a Best Buy circular sent to us by an eagle-eyed reader and a recent USA Today story hint that Steven Tyler and Co. may not be the only ones populating the disc.As you can sort of see, the ad promises Aerosmith and "all their favorite bands." And this article from USA Today says that the game will feature "opening acts." Interestingly, though that online version makes no mention of it, a version of the story on Aerosmith's official fan club site hints that Run DMC might be one of those guests. Any of you Aerosmith fans have guesses as to who else might be on the roster?[Thanks, Ian]
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith may include drumming and 'singing' [update]
What's this? A possible redeeming factor for Guitar Hero: Aerosmith? No, not the Run DMC version of "Walk This Way," but even better almost as good. According to Best Buy's product description, the game allows you to "drum like Joey Kramer, wield an axe like Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, bring up the bottom like bassman Tom Hamilton and belt out vocals like the legendary Steven Tyler." And how does Steven Tyler sing? In shrill nonsense syllables! But also into a microphone! If this listing is accurate, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will support drum and microphone peripherals. Given that Activision and Harmonix are fighting about interoperability between their instruments, this points to new peripherals. That means that pretty soon the Wii, too, will be flooded with competing drum controllers![Update: the RedOctane press release for the game says that you'll play "alongside frontman Tyler and drummer Kramer." So maybe not ...][Via Joystiq]
Rumor: Guitar Hero: Aerosmith uses microphone and drum, like a rock band
For music fans, there's only one thing better than Guitar Hero. And that's Rock Band. Well, it looks like Activision isn't going to take this sitting idly by. If Best Buy's description of the upcoming Aerosmith-flavored game is correct, it looks like Guitar Hero will be matching Rock Band feature-for-feature. The text teases: "See if you can drum like Joey Kramer, play guitar like Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, play bass like Tom Hamilton and sing like Steven Tyler." Wouldn't that need a drum, microphone and bass peripheral? Looks like it to us.Considering how Activision refuses to make Guitar Hero and Rock Band peripherals compatible, it looks like the music game enthusiast will have no choice but to buy yet another set of expensive (and space-wasting) peripherals. We say "boo" to that. But for those that really, really love their Aerosmith, this should be an opportunity of a lifetime. If this rumor is true, of course.[Via Joystiq]
Rumor: Guitar Hero: Aerosmith to use drum and mic peripherals
While you might think a game titled Guitar Hero: Aerosmith would have you playing, you know, guitars, a Best Buy advertisement for the latest mistake chapter in the rhythm game franchise claims you'll be able to play as all of the "famous rock legends" in "America's greatest rock and roll band" -- including the drummer, Joey Kramer, and band's own lady-lookin'-dude, Steven Tyler, using a drum peripheral and microphone peripheral (complete with flamboyantly colored scarf, we assume).If true, we wonder if Activision would release their own controllers for the game, or count on backwards compatibility with the Rock Band peripherals (fat chance, considering the near feud between Harmonix and Activision over Rock Band's guitar compatibility issues). Not that it matters to us -- the only devices we'd use to interact with a rhythm game featuring songs by Aerosmith are a clay pigeon launcher and our trusty pump-action shotgun.[Thanks, Waffle Slayer.]
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith announced and a free GHIII DLC download
Activision just made it official today that the next Guitar Hero incarnation will in fact be called Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and will feature songs exclusively from ... well, the band Aerosmith.GHAero (that's the official X3F abbreviation from now on) is scheduled for a June release when gamers will be able to play alongside Steven Tyler and truly embrace their inner Aerosmith fanboy. The number of tracks, what sort of bundle, pricing information and word about whether or not the GH franchise has been whored out have yet to be confirmed, but one could expect all the specifics to be in line with previous Guitar Hero releases. Yah dig?Activision also revealed that in celebration of their "groundbreaking" GHAero (man are we love that abbreviation) announcement, they will be releasing Aerosmith's "Dream On" to the XBLM as a free GHIII download. The free DLC will be available from February 16th through the 18th, so be sure to gobble that up before it disappears.[Via ScoreHero, Thanks Elliott]
Aerosmith and Guitar Hero come together, leave us cryin'
Those of you who love Aerosmith might feel a sweet emotion at this news. Activision has announced that its next Guitar Hero game will be devoted entirely to the band, fittingly called Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.Now, we like Guitar Hero and Aerosmith as much as the next guy, but we can't help but feel a little jaded; this just seems like overkill. Activision is surely livin' on the edge, releasing so many iterations of Guitar Hero in such a short period of time. As for the game itself, that's just a lot of Aerosmith. We're sure that fans of the franchise don't want to miss a thing and will just push play, but we hope Activision knows that an Aerosmith guitar game isn't an original idea.So, what's our verdict? Activision can dream on. We're not crazy, crazy, crazy for this game.[Press release via NeoGAF]
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith announced, GHIII getting 'Dream On' for free
In an announcement that may just usurp the throne from Electronic Arts as the king of milking franchises, Activision has announced plans for a new Guitar Hero title, casting aside the franchise's reputation for offering a wide breadth of rocking tracks in favor of highlighting a single band -- Aerosmith. The news echoes comments made by guitarist Joe Perry last year regarding the series' next installment, at which time he said that the next Guitar Hero game would be dedicated to the band's music. The announcement comes following Activision's promise earlier this month to return to the well this year, with the newly announced Guitar Hero: Aerosmith currently expected to ship to retail in June with Neversoft handling the game for the Xbox 360 and PS3, and Vicarious Visions taking care of development on the Wii. Details remain nonexistent concerning what tracks we can expect to make the cut, with guitarist Joe Perry commenting only that the title is "based on the diversity of the Aerosmith catalog." With a game dedicated to one -- and only one -- band, we have to assume that whatever songs do find their way onto the disc, they'll be master tracks (they better be).And if June seems to far off for those of you hugging your Steven Tyler doll while staring at the Pump tour poster on the wall, Activision has announced plans to release the band's 1973 power ballad 'Dream On' as a download for the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of GHIII (Sorry Wii owners, but you knew what you were getting into). The song will be free from February 16-18, so get it while it's hot!
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith announced (with free GH III DLC promo)
Activision hopes you really, really like Aerosmith. Their upcoming Guitar Hero game has been announced, and it is all about Aerosmith. According to the press release, "Guitar Hero®: Aerosmith®, the first game built around the legendary music of America's Greatest Rock 'N Roll Band: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer. Slated for release this June, this latest installment from the franchise with the #1 best-selling video game in 2007, puts players in the shoes of Perry (guitar), Whitford (guitar) and Hamilton (bass), as they rock out alongside frontman Tyler and drummer Kramer. Gamers will experience Aerosmith's GRAMMY® winning career, from their first gig to becoming rock royalty, in a way that no other entertainment vehicle offers."Wow. That was the most PR-injected crow we've eaten in quite some time. We're not going to make judgments on the band (that's up to you), but to make an entire game around a single band? We doubt that's going to really appeal to most gamers, especially long-time fans of the series.Thankfully, Guitar Hero III owners will be able to get something out of this announcement. Free DLC content will be available for the game this weekend. And yes, it's predictably Aerosmith related. Aerosmith's "Dream On." will be available from the PLAYSTATION Store for free from February 16-18.
Rumor: Guitar Hero sequel to star U2
Now that we've had a taste of mixing the peanut butter of drumming and vocals with the chocolate of guitar and bass, it's hard for us not to wish exciting news about Guitar Hero would replace the words "guitar" and "hero" with "rock" and "band." The newest nugget from EGM's Quatermann is a perfect example. In the latest issue of the magazine, the rumor monger hints that a standalone sequel to Guitar Hero is in the works based around the music of Irish rockers U2.Now, don't get us wrong, we'll be excited to channel our inner The Edge, but who doesn't want to be Bono? Or, to a far lesser extent, Larry Mullen Jr.? ... Oh, before we forget, we should mention that our Rock Band/Guitar Hero news juxtaposition law doesn't apply to whatever assault of depression Aerosmith's crafting. Guitar Hero can keep that. -- Or jettison it into blackest space. Either way.
