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Night Elf in Guitar Hero 5
This is one of the many reasons why I really enjoy this job: one day, you're talking turkey with a psychologist who's dealing with serious addiction issues, and the next, you're writing about Night Elves in Guitar Hero 5. Personally, I prefer Harmonix's new Beatles game, but there's no denying that the character customization system in our very own Activision-Blizzard's Guitar Hero 5 is extremely complex. So much so that Artair on Doomhammer was actually able to make a pretty respectable-looking Night Elf male with the system.Which really just makes it much more ridiculous that this thing could be playing onstage with none other than Kurt Cobain. But we'll let that one go -- if you've found a way to get any other Warcraft characters jamming in Guitar Hero (or any other game with an in-depth character creator), be sure to send us a tip and some pics.
Courtney Love intends to sue Activision over Guitar Hero 5's reanimated Cobain [update]
If you were disgusted by the inclusion of a playable Kurt Cobain in Guitar Hero 5, you weren't the only one: Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, has gone on record (well, on Twitter, anyway, in what looks a lot like Courtney Love's real Twitter account) to register her disapproval, saying, "For the record this Guitar Hero (expletive) is breach of contract on a Bullys part and there will be a proper addressing of this and retraction." Love plans to "sue the (expletive) out of Activision," speaking for herself, Cobain's estate, and "the various LLCs Cobain Enterprises."She claims to have never given approval for a Kurt Cobain avatar. "We have NOTHING to do with this," she said across two tweets (presented here as originally typed, with the exception of connecting the two messages). "it was presented to me and oi said 'show me a better avataR' TO DRAG MY HEELS., never did i intend on allowing GUITARHERO for me or for Kurt i am NOT yoko (expletive) Ono no ofense to her, but i am a different person entirely and this is insane."The Cobain avatar was upsetting enough when we thought Love had signed off on it. But now that we hear she hasn't, we're worried for our own sakes. We could all end up playable in a Guitar Hero game at any time.[Via Perez Hilton, thanks, Andrew M.!]Update: Activision responds to these tweets here, claiming that Love did indeed okay the use of the avatar.
Logitech tests the boundaries with overpriced wireless guitar and drums for Wii
You'd never know that we're still pulling out of a recession if you took one glance at the music peripheral market. The Beatles: Rock Band bundle costs more than some game consoles, and Mad Catz is charging $300 for a genuine Fender Stratocaster that controls Rock Band on the Xbox 360. Now, Logitech is joining the whole "rob gamers blind" movement with the introduction of the Wireless Guitar Controller and Wireless Drum Controller for Nintendo's Wii. Both products are licensed for use with Guitar Hero, with the axe boasting a maple neck, rosewood fingerboard and metal frets. Heck, there's even a "noise dampening strum bar and fret buttons," not to mention a touch-sensitive slider on the fretboard. The skins look all too familiar, with a trio of drum pads and a pair of cymbals to go along with the stainless steel kick pedal and its fancy adjustable spring. Naturally, you'll need to snap a Wiimote into each before mashing play, and more importantly, you'll need to empty $199.99 and / or $229.99 (respectively) from your bank account before snagging 'em this October.[Via Joystiq]
Buy one PS3 game at BestBuy.com, get a second for 50% off
Here's our big, greedy idea: Buy one of the 140 PlayStation 3 titles being offered in the current BestBuy.com deal for a lucky friend's future Christmas present, and get one for ourselves in the process for half the price! Dealzon spotted the sale we're selfishly taking advantage of over the weekend, which also offers free shipping until the end of Labor Day (that's tonight, folks!). Thankfully, the deal offers more than just clearance titles -- last week's Guitar Hero 5 and system-selling Metal Gear Solid 4 are among a the handful of good stuff on the list (if you buy GH5, you could technically get a free copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen as well, upping the value even more). According to the folks at Dealzon, the offer ends on Saturday, September 12, so you may want to get while the gettin's good.[Via Dealzon]
Guitar Hero 5: September DLC announced all at once
Activision has announced a few weeks' worth of Guitar Hero 5 DLC today. Following tomorrow's release of The Rolling Stones tracks, selections from Street Sweeper Social Club, AFI, Editors, The Faint, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs will be available in weekly updates. The full release list is available after the break. Activision announced the first month of DLC along with something called the "Guitar Hero Music Library," which, we believe, is a fancy marketing-style way of describing the collection of music you'll be able to build out of DLC, imported tracks, and on-disc content in Guitar Hero 5.
Report: Only 35 songs from Guitar Hero World Tour work with GH5 [update]
Update: It appears as though Activision itself has answered the question of what songs specifically are importable into Guitar Hero 5 from World Tour (35 songs) as well as Smash Hits (21 songs), via the Activision Customer Support Center. The full list of songs available from each game has been dropped after the break -- thanks to everyone for sending this in! We can't lie to you, friends -- when Activision claimed songs from last year's Guitar Hero World Tour would be playable in this year's Guitar Hero 5, we were skeptical. It seems that skepticism proved right, as USA Today reveals that a hair over one third of GHWT's tracks can be downloaded into the new game. Specifically, just 35 of World Tour's 86 tracks are playable in GH5, with an unspecified amount of Guitar Hero Smash Hits tracks available "later this Fall." The licensing fee for those 35 tracks is 280/$3.50 for Xbox 360 and PS3, though it remains unclear whether or not that fee would include Smash Hits' tracks when those are released. We've asked Activision for clarification of which tracks specifically are available in GH5 and when Smash Hits will be ready for download, but unfortunately were told that we'd get a release tomorrow with "tons of details." So this is where we crowdsource things -- Guitar Hero 5 owners in the Joystiq Biomass™, please let us know which 35 of Guitar Hero World Tour's 86 tracks are playable! Our inbox is always open!
Guitar Hero 5 ad features Hugh Hefner, plethora of Playboy Bunnies
Activision continues its Risky Business ad campaign (remember Guitar Hero World Tour's and Guitar Hero Metallica's?) with Guitar Hero 5, which shows Hef and some of his gals (okay, mostly his gals) rocking out with plastic guitars. It's an effective ad, for two reasons: It shows that, should we pick up Guitar Hero 5, we too could have a room full of hotties gyrating and looking all sexy-like Playboy Bunnies are skilled in the art of clairvoyance and don't even need to look at the TV to play
Kurt Cobain digitized in Guitar Hero 5
In addition to known quantities "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and a special, previously unreleased live recording of "Lithium," Guitar Hero 5 will also sport the digital doppelganger of deceased grunge pioneer Kurt Cobain, Activision announced today. When asked for comment, the ghost of Cobain said, "Well, finally! Were I still alive, this is exactly the sort of thing I'd be doing. The people managing my estate and the fine people of Activision know me and my legacy so, so well. You should see me and Johnny Cash up here, we're just like schoolkids, we're so happy and excited all the time. My one regret is that I'm no longer alive, so I can't star in one of those hilarious underwear dancing ads." Courtesy of Stereogum, we've got additional video of Cobain in the game (with gameplay notes!) after the break. [Thanks Evan!]
EEDAR: Guitar Hero 5 will outsell The Beatles: Rock Band by nearly 2-to-1
EEDAR analyst Jessie Divnich has been quoted in a newly-published Bloomberg article, stating that the research group sees The Beatles: Rock Band facing a tough fight against the latest Guitar Hero in a genre that has, as he believes, "peaked." We got in touch with Divnich to talk about his assertion in the same article that Guitar Hero 5 will likely outsell Harmonix's Beatles game this year by a ratio of nearly two-to-one.Divnich says he expects Activison to ring up sales in the order of 3 million GH5 units across all platforms, compared to a projected 1.7 million for The Beatles: Rock Band. "I believe that at the end of the day, it comes down to marketing muscle, and Activision has proven in numerous showdowns that they can out advertise and out promote their competitor," he tells Joystiq. "If Activision relaxes on the marketing spend, while MTV Games kicks it up a notch, there's certainly a chance that I could be wrong."There's another scenario in which this year's Rock Band could prove more of a contender. "The only concern I have with my Guitar Hero vs. Rock Band analysis is that Activision may focus less on marketing Guitar Hero 5 and divert funding to DJ Hero, a new brand in their Guitar Hero line-up," EEDAR's chief number man admits. "That would certainly change the game."No matter what, Divnich doesn't see a very-worst-case scenario playing out for MTV Games and Harmonix, assuring us that "[The Beatles: Rock Band] will outsell Rock Band 2 this holiday season."
Guitar Hero 5 DLC not compatible with World Tour
While original Rock Band owners were given the luxury to continue to buy new tracks for the music title even after the release of its sequel, Guitar Hero fans won't be given the same option when Guitar Hero 5 lands on store shelves. An Activision representative told Destructoid that DLC for the upcoming Guitar Hero 5 will not be compatible with Guitar Hero: World Tour.According to the Activision rep, Guitar Hero 5 DLC will be compatible with future titles in the franchise, but "advancements and innovations" made to the upcoming music title do not allow for tracks to be backwards compatible with World Tour. Don't light the torches and grab the pitchforks just yet though, the same reason has been given for The Beatles: Rock Band's inability to work with previous versions of the game.Thankfully, Activision has already confirmed tracks from Guitar Hero: World Tour will be compatible with Guitar Hero 5 via an in-game importing process -- which adds new features such as band moments, expert+ drumming and the new vocal star power to older tracks.[Via 1UP]
UK gets better bargain: Pre-order Guitar Hero 5, get World Tour free
Activision's making it awfully hard for folks across this big blue world of ours to not purchase their upcoming rhythm title, Guitar Hero 5 -- here in the States, folks who purchase the game are eligible to receive Guitar Hero: Van Halen for free. However, in the United Kingdom, the offer is incredibly sweeter -- those who pre-order Guitar Hero the Fifth through Amazon can also grab Guitar Hero: World Tour for the low, low price of nothing.OXM received instructions from Amazon.UK on how to utilize the offer -- simply add Guitar Hero 5 (on any platform) to your basket, then add the special promotional version of World Tour for the appropriate console. Go to checkout, and the price of the latter will magically change to zilch. If only this kind economic wizardry applied to every purchase in our life.
Guitar Hero 5 content walks this way to Avatar Marketplace [Update]
Update: The price of almost all the Guitar Hero 5 content has doubled.If (for whatever reason) you think your Xbox Avatar is starting to reek from a lack of fresh clothing and you're a fan of rocking out, Guitar Hero 5 content is now available on the Xbox Live Avatar Marketplace. From torn shirts to plastic controllers, the Guitar Hero 5 Game Styles section has a varied selection of new Avatar items. Also, with most of the content modestly priced at 80 ($1 USD) a pop, the Guitar Hero 5 styles are a long way from attacking gamer wallets (we're looking at you, $5 Lightsaber). Ignore the previous statement, this content is now as overpriced as the rest of the Avatar Marketplace. A full list of the new content and (new) prices can be found after the break.
Guitar Hero 5 getting rolled over by Stones
Are you ready to do your best Jagger? Activision certainly hopes so -- a recent press release has revealed the first DLC pack for Guitar Hero 5: A quintet of Rolling Stones tracks. Dropping September 3 (two days after the game hits store shelves), the pack includes live cuts of "Prodigal Son," "You Gotta Move," "Under My Thumb," "I'm Free," and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." You can bring the whole British Invasion to your console of choice for just 720 ($9, 900 Wii Points) or get single songs from the pack for 160 ($2, 200 Wii Points).Seriously, though. Do your best Jagger. (Video NSFW!)
Guitar Hero 5 for Wii can stream downloaded songs directly from SD card
In what's hopefully indicative of future trends, the upcoming Guitar Hero 5 for Nintendo Wii has the ability to stream content -- in this case, extra songs -- directly from the SD card. Up until now, everything from the card had to be transferred to 512MB internal memory before use, meaning you'd be pretty limited if making that near-endless set list of premium downloaded tracks. With 32GB of space now at your disposal, it looks like the only limit is your bank account and your predilection to Eagles of Death Metal. So when are we gonna see this trick in other Wii titles, eh Nintendo?
Activision clarifies Guitar Hero 5 song importing process
Activision's announcement that songs from Guitar Hero World Tour and Smash Hits can be "imported" into Guitar Hero 5 (and Band Hero) had everyone thinking back to Rock Band 2's ability to rip songs right off the original Rock Band disc. As it turns out, in this case you won't need a disc at all.We followed up with the publisher to find out exactly how the process works, as it had been referred to as both "importing" and "downloading" on an initial info sheet. The short answer: you'll be downloading new versions of your old songs. "Within the Guitar Hero 5 song import menu, gamers will key in their unique ID from the manual of the previous game, pay a small re-licensing fee and then be given access to download the available songs (like DLC) in a big batch," we were told this morning. That's for PS3 and 360; with the Wii version, the songs can be downloaded on a track-by-track basis."This is done to bring these songs up to date with enhanced Guitar Hero 5 features like band moments, expert+ drumming (new for World Tour songs) and the new vocal star power. The game reacts to these songs as though they were DLC and are available in the same play modes," Activision explained. So, you just need the manual (and a decent internet connection). Unfortunately, this means that some second-hand copies of GHWT and Smash Hits can't be used for the process, as they'll either be missing the original game manual, or their previous owner already redeemed the 20-digit code. "These codes can be used only once," a PR rep revealed. "However, once you have downloaded the content, you are free to re-download it at anytime at no extra cost, if you need to make more hard drive or SD [card] space."
Buy Guitar Hero 5, get Guitar Hero: Van Halen for free
Even if you're experiencing some music game overload, you have to take notice of something like this: Those who buy Guitar Hero 5 during the month of September will be able to send away for a free copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen, which will be sent to them before it arrives in stores. OK, it's not quite enough to cure our Beatlemania, but damn it if it doesn't make picking up GH5 considerably more appealing. [Update: This offer is good only in the USA.]
Hands-on: Guitar Hero 5
We recently went hands, feet and ... voice-on with the latest Guitar Hero installment, and while we didn't come away with our world totally rocked by innovation, we can confirm that there's more to Guitar Hero 5 than just a new song list. It's a game that does more to challenge hardcore series veterans than Guitar Hero World Tour did, but its variety of new mechanics and modes make it clear that Neversoft (and Vicarious Visions on Wii) haven't forgotten those who just want to party.%Gallery-63471%
Hands-on: Guitar Hero 5 'Roadie Battle' mode (Wii/DS)
The biggest surprise of Activision's Guitar Hero 5 pre-launch event in San Francisco wasn't the addition of a hot band to the song list or something to do with DLC; it was a game mode exclusive to the Wii version called "Roadie Battle," which wound up being the most refreshing and fun addition to the series since ... ever.In this guitar-only duel, two players can assist the pair battling on the big screen using Nintendo DS. Using DS Download Play, the Wii transfers the Roadie Battle "app" to both DS units (two human "roadies" aren't required; the CPU can fill in for the friend-deprived) and the (frantic) fun begins. %Gallery-69695%
More on Guitar Hero 5 song import, DLC support (Band Hero will do it, too)
Yes, Guitar Hero 5 is getting all modern-like and letting those who buy it -- and own other GH games -- access all those songs they already bought (on disc or in DLC form) without firing up another title. GH5 and the upcoming Band Hero will work with songs from the Guitar Hero World Tour and Guitar Hero Smash Hits game discs, along with GHWT DLC -- even on Wii.PS3 and Xbox 360 owners who own GHWT will be able to download a free update from within GH5 that enables DLC backwards-compatibility (for 152 of 158 available tracks) and adds new GH5-specific features to their existing DLC. In order to rip the tracks from GHWT and SH discs will need to purchase what Activision says will be a "nominal re-licensing fee" and have the unique 20-digit code on the back of the games' manuals. As with Rock Band 2, all songs from the discs will be ripped to the systems' hard disks, but unwanted tracks can be individually deleted.The process will be similar on Wii, with a couple noteworthy differences. First, DLC must be re-downloaded (to add new GH5 features, plus they'll sound better) either en mass or track-by-track to the Wii's internal memory or (thankfully) SD card. There'll also be an individual song copy option for importing disc-based songs from GHWT. Now to find out what those six DLC tracks that aren't supported are ...
Guitar Hero 5 allows song imports from previous games, features playable Johnny Cash
We've been blown away by the effort Activision and Neversoft have put into making Guitar Hero 5 actually worth playing -- but their most recent move may be their wisest yet. A recent IGN preview of the title revealed the game will allow players to import "some" of the tracks from World Tour and Smash Hits into GH5 (and Band Hero) for a small fee. In addition, 125 of World Tour's 128 DLC tracks will automatically work in the two upcoming rhythm titles. Of all the features to borrow from Rock Band 2, the removal of bothersome disc-swapping is one of the best.For those who aren't particularly thrilled by this piece of news, try this one on for size: Johnny Cash will be a playable character in Guitar Hero 5. There's a video of the black-suited man performing "Ring of Fire" after the jump. We suggest checking it out -- but only if you like things that are completely badass.
