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Import GH: Metallica into Warriors of Rock for free during first week
Activision this morning revealed an incentive for Metallica slash Guitar Hero fans to pick up the forthcoming Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock in the game's first week launch window: the ability to import 39 of the former game's 49 tracks into the latter game for free. Like Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, some of the songs in Guitar Hero: Metallica will be importable into the forthcoming rhythm game release. After the week is up on October 5, the import will cost 480 MS Points / $4.99 / 600 Wii Points, tying it for first place with Guitar Hero 5 for most expensive import cost. We've broken down the track listing from GH: Metallica that will be available for import into Warriors of Rock (39 of 49 songs) after the break.
Swag Saturday: Guitar Hero triple pack and bass pedal
It's time for Swag Saturday once again, and this week's prize is a doozy. Up for grabs we have not one, not two, but three Guitar Hero games. We've got Xbox 360 copies of Guitar Hero: Metallica, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits and Guitar Hero 5, all for the low, low price of nothing (and all released this year, if you can believe it). And, as if that weren't enough, we're throwing in an extra bass pedal (with splitter cable) too. For your chance to rock with the best of them, follow these simple directions: Leave a comment telling us about your favorite rock and roll moment. You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec, due to a domestic dispute) Limit 1 entry per person per day This entry period ends at 8:31PM ET on Monday, September 28 At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive Guitar Hero: Metallica ($60 ARV), Guitar Hero: Smash Hits ($60 ARV), Guitar Hero 5 ($60 ARV), and a bass pedal game peripheral ($35 ARV) For a list of complete rules, click here
How Metallica helped sell Paul McCartney on The Beatles: Rock Band
If you come down with a chronic case of Beatlemania on Sept. 9, you could have someone unlikely to thank for it: Metallica. Speaking with The Guardian, Paul McCartney describes how Harmonix first started pitching him on the product way back in 2007, using Metallica (presumably one of the band's songs running in an earlier Guitar Hero title) as an example of what could be done with The Beatles: Rock Band. There were "a couple of grown-ups standing looking very foolish with these little plastic guitars playing to a screen", McCartney says. "And we're going, 'Yeah, all right... It just looks like a really bad band.' They said: 'We really can do a great one with the Beatles, and we'll show you.' So Ringo and I got a bit intrigued." So, when McCartney says they looked like a really bad band ... is he talking about the people playing or the guys on the screen? Because, yes.
Pick up Metallica/Smash Hits Guitar Hero bundle for cheap
Yet another crazy music game fire sale from RedOctane today: For $49.99 on PS2, $59.99 on Wii or $69.99 on PS3 or 360, you can pick up a two-pack of Guitar Hero: Metallica and Guitar Hero: Smash Hits.As an added bonus, you'll also get a free Guitar Hero World Tour shirt. Now, you should by no means wear this in public, but if you need to work on your car or play the Super Sloppy Double Dare home game, it's a nice perk.
Xbox 360 Wireless Microphone ships this fall for $49.99
Remember that microphone that we peeked just before Lips hit and (subsequently fell off) the scene? Microsoft has just announced that a standalone version will soon be available sans a tether, giving owners of the aforesaid title, Guitar Hero Metallica, Rock Band 2, Disney Sing It: High School Musical 3: Senior Year and The Beatles: Rock Band the ability to carry a tune in a bucket right in the comfort of their living room. Too bad it'll run you $49.99 when it ships in the fall, but who knows, maybe there's some sweet Sennheiser diaphragm in there that we're not aware of.[Via Joystiq]
Xbox 360 wireless mic sold separately this fall for $50
We're having a hard time wrapping our heads around this one, so do us a favor and bear with us while we put our heads down and power through. Microsoft is releasing a wireless microphone this fall meant to be used with "your favorite Xbox 360 music games," a list that includes: Lips, Guitar Hero: Metallica, Rock Band 2, Disney Sing It: High School Musical 3: Senior Year, Lips: Number One Hits, and The Beatles: Rock Band.We know, we know -- you're asking yourself, "Why would Microsoft release more peripherals? Just to add extra confusion to the Joystiq instrument compatibility matrix?" According to Microsoft, the mics are meant to assist in your living room rockstar efforts, and will retail this fall for an "estimated retail price" of $50. Meanwhile, the promise of Lips mics working in Rock Band 2 has yet to arrive and an asterisk in Microsoft's press release from earlier today indicates that these new mics won't work either without a title update. Does that mean we'll finally see the allowance of Lips' mics in RB2 when these new mics ship in the fall?
Guitar Hero: Metallica faceplate bundle will be Europe exclusive
Activision Blizzard has announced that European territories will be receiving an exclusive "Solo Guitar Game" bundle when Guitar Hero: Metallica launches on May 22 (May 29 in the UK). The bundle will contain a copy of the game, a wireless guitar controller and the exclusive faceplate which you can see in the image to the right.By now, ardent followers of the rhythm genre should have more peripherals than they can count, but it doesn't end there. With four new games having just been announced, there'll be plenty more plastic instruments -- and DJ decks -- where that came from.
Guitar Hero: Metallica supports Lips mic, Rock Band 2 patch 'this summer'
Microsoft has issued a plea to new and future purchasers of Guitar Hero: Metallica for Xbox 360 to also please, please, PLEASE buy its Lips karaoke game -- for the microphones. Didn't you know? The metal music game features built-in support for those uh-huh-they-do-sparkle mics. Neversoft, the current Guitar Hero developer, initially confirmed this compatibility -- which isn't coming to World Tour -- on its Twitter feed last month, but the posting has since been removed. Nevertheless, Guitar Hero: Metallica is the first music game to support the much praised, wireless Lips peripheral, which has been unsuccessfully bundled with a mediocre singing game.Additionally, Microsoft has tentatively dated that long-ago-promised Rock Band 2 patch for "this summer" and suggested that additional titles supporting its mic will be available later this year. When, surely, we'll be able to purchase a standalone Lips mic. Pretty please?
Guitar Hero: Metallica ads ditch Heidi Klum for college basketball coaches
According to an Activision Blizzard press release, we won't be seeing more Heidi Klum in ads for upcoming Guitar Hero: Metallica, as the company has revealed a new advertising campaign focusing on college basketball coaches. In an attempt to capitalize on all of this March Madness hoopla, the new ad features four famous college basketball coaches (from left to right: Roy Williams, Rick Pitino, Bob Knight, and Mike "Coach K" Krzyzewski) and their "surprise encounter" with Metallica. As you can tell from the image above, the new ad will continue the Risky Business theme, but includes a surprise ending where we see all all four coaches walking home through the snow, uphill, with no shoes on. Watch it for yourself after the break.
PSA: Guitar Hero: Metallica melting faces, store shelves today [update]
We thought we'd pass along a courteous reminder from Activision informing the gaming community that Guitar Hero: Metallica began rocking store shelves today. If you haven't found current full-band simulators to be punishing enough, Metallica promises to deliver with an "Expert +" mode, double kick pedals, and guitar solos capable of turning even the sturdiest fingers into tiny puddles of red goo. If you've got $59.99 lying around (or $49.99 for the Wii version, $39.99 for the PS2), you can simulate "riding the lightning"* with unparalleled accuracy.*Warning: Riding lightning can lead to unintended health consequences in the groin region, including serious unsightly burns and impotence. Consult your doctor before deciding to mount any arcs of electricity.Update: The PS2 version isn't actually dropping until Sunday, May 24 -- meaning Activision is effectively tainting two of 2009's Sabbath days with a touch of unholy metal.
Behind the scenes with Guitar Hero: Metallica
On March 29, Metallica thrashes into Guitar Hero ... axes blazing behind more than two decades of rock. Or for the less dramatic, Guitar Hero: Metallica is totally coming out soon. Ever wonder what goes into developing a game, starring one of the world's most famous bands? Three new "Behind the Scenes" trailers with interviews and capture session footage with James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo cover that very topic.Watch as the band rocks in mo-cap gear (video above), discuss the opportunity to introduce a new generation to their music and finally becoming rock stars after all these years (videos after the break).
GH Metallica demo on XBLM, nothing else matters
Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, get your plastic instruments ready: A demo for Guitar Hero: Metallica is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo allows you to rock out on bass, drums, guitar and vocals.Undoubtedly the most exciting Guitar Hero release since the last Guitar Hero release -- but not nearly as exciting as the next Guitar Hero release -- Guitar Hero: Metallica is one seriously heavy metal game. It seems pretty heavy anyway, considering the demo weighs in at over one gig. Queue it up for download by clicking here.[Via Major Nelson]
Joystiq impressions: Guitar Hero: Metallica
Imagine if Guitar Hero: World Tour featured a song selection consisting mostly of songs by Metallica, contained trivia about Metallica and let you play as video game-ified likenesses of Metallica. That is Guitar Hero: Metallica. Is it fun? Sure. Is it for non-fans? Eh, maybe. Is there anything remotely new about it apart from the fact that it's totally, completely, fully and thoroughly Metallica? Yes.In a move to make the game more party-friendly than GHWT from the get-go, Neversoft has thoughtfully unlocked every song on the disc in Quick Play mode; playing through career mode is mainly about unlocking items and the overall Metallica "experience." Which, as we found, starts out by having you play a couple of songs by the metal legends then becoming so inspired that you start your own band (who you play the games non-Metallica songs as).%Gallery-47658%
Trophies: Guitar Hero Metallica
1 Platinum1 Gold12 Silver37 Bronze Difficulty: Very Difficult Online Trophies? Yes Time to Completion: 20 hoursDLC Trophies? No View Trophy List Read More About the Game %Gallery-47658%
Guitar Hero: Metallica box art 'mispellz' Lynyrd Skynyrd
Take a look at this close-up of the recently released Guitar Hero: Metallica box art. Note the highlighted name "Lynyrd Skynrd," located in the top left. The band's name is clearly misspelled. The correct spelling is "Lynyrd Skynyrd" -- duh.Some conspiracists might insist that the error is intentional, enforced by Metallica (take note: "Metallica" is spelled correctly), which secretly despises Skynyrd's musical success and demanded humiliation in the form of a misspelling. Seriously? No, that can't be it. Chalk up this mistake to poor proofing. (On a side note: we're petitioning to have "Lynyrd Skynyrd" introduced into the Scripps National Spelling Bee -- it's a tough one!)[Via playgirlz]
Motorhead's Lemmy playable in Guitar Hero: Metallica
Upcoming Guitar Hero: Metallica will feature the likeness of Motörhead frontman, Lemmy, as a playable character, continuing the franchise's tradition of including celebrities in-game. "It's great to be in Guitar Hero with all these famous people and I'm really pleased to be in it with Metallica," Lemmy said. Well, we can say we're glad you're in it, too!With Guitar Hero: Metallica featuring a variety of non-Metallica tracks (as well as some of the classic Metallica tunes), and now Lemmy, it's going to be hard to ignore this when it hits retail in North America on March 29.
Activision reveals other pre-order bonuses for Guitar Hero: Metallica
The pre-order bonuses for Guitar Hero: Metallica run the gamut of usefulness when dealing with down payment freebies -- the first (and unquestionably most desirable) of these bonuses we already knew about: Dropping a paper Lincoln on the title at GameStop will net you an extra drum pedal with which to face the game's most punishing percussion solos. A bit further down on the Scale of Practicality is the pre-order bonus for Hollywood Video and GameCrazy: A pair of Guitar Hero: Metallica drumsticks. Not an amazing gift, but it sure beats a keychain.On the complete opposite side of the aforementioned scale is the gift that Best Buy patrons will bring home: Tattoo sleeves. We can only imagine that they're talking about those fake slip-on things that make it look like you've swapped appendages with Tommy Lee, and not, you know, actual tattoos. We assume that particular consumer electronics retailer has some policy prohibiting in-store decorative body modification.
Full Guitar Hero: Metallica track list revealed, Wii version arriving late
It looks like we might get our wish: Guitar Hero: Metallica will consist mostly of songs from the band's first five albums, with only eleven post-1991 tracks appearing. Metallica's official site has leaked the full track list, which also contains twenty songs from artists such as Queen, System of a Down, Slayer, Motörhead, and Thin Lizzy. You can view the full line-up past the break.Also, some less-than-great news: the release of the Wii version is set to lag behind the competition. Whereas the Xbox 360 and PS3 will be ready for March 29, Metallica themselves (or whoever writes on the website pretending to be the band) say we can expect the game "in the Spring, most likely in early May." Sad But True, indeed.
The official rock-n-rollin' Guitar Hero: Metallica setlist
Not wanting to be outed by those tricky Activision execs, Metallica has taken it upon themselves to reveal the entire Guitar Hero: Metallica setlist over on Metallica.com. The list (viewable after the break) is comprised of over 25 Metallica songs and over 20 tracks from other "hand picked" bands. Bands including Alice in Chains, Seger, Judas Priest, SOAD, Skynyrd and Britney Spears. Joking, of course, about Spears' inclusion. Oh, and don't forget about that second drum pedal.
Metallica reveals full setlist for Guitar Hero: Metallica
Up until now, we've been uncertain about what tracks would be appearing on Guitar Hero: Metallica -- though the educated guessers among us presumed that it would have quite a few tracks by its titular band. They were correct -- the news section on Metallica's official site recently revealed the 28 tracks the rock outfit would be contributing to the game (PS2 and Wii versions will include three extra songs in lieu of access to the band's Death Magnetic DLC pack), as well as the extra tracks from "some of the bands we admire and even call friends." The full list is posted after the jump, and features our patented new Bold-O-Vision technology to point out the particular song we can't wait to croon without shame or self restraint in whatever social setting we happen to find ourselves in.
