van halen
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Live your life like there's no tomorrow with David Lee Roth in a box (video)
Seriously, guys, when was the last time you ran with the devil? It's been a while, hasn't it? Leave it to David Lee Roth to show us all the way, yet again, this time courtesy of Arduino-based soundbox created with help from the Adafruit Wave Shield. The box runs on a nine-volt battery and has a big trigger button on the top that plays what sounds like Roth's infamous "Runnin' With the Devil" isolated vocal tracks through a speaker on the bottom. The box's builder has promised more to come -- we'd like to request a Murry Wilson "I'm a genius, too" box, if one isn't already in the pipeline.
The Anvil of Crom: Unchained, free at last, and some initial observations
Timing, as they say, is everything, and so I'd like to take a brief moment to thank Funcom for fouling up my carefully laid column plans this week. Also, it's a rare day that I'm not prowling the interwebs in search of news for our fair website, so of course, the second day out of the last six months that saw me take some time off was naturally the very same day that Funcom decided to launch Age of Conan: Unchained. And yeah, I said Unchained, not Unrated, and if you think you're going to have trouble referring to the game as such after cozying up to the former moniker for the last month, console yourself with the fact that you now have David Lee Roth careening around inside your head for the foreseeable future. You're welcome. In all seriousness, though, Age of Conan is free at last, free at last, thank God almighty it's free-to-play at last (even if it was a little sudden).
Age of Conan: Unchained is here, as is F2P and a lot of new content
Cue the vintage Van Halen (not to mention your Age of Conan launcher), as it's a big day for everyone's favorite barbarian-flavored MMO. Why's that? Well, there's the small matter of free-to-play, and oh yeah, 2.6 is the most significant patch since the Rise of the Godslayer expansion in May of 2010. What's the big deal? Well, you've got your item shop as well as your free and premium membership tiers. You've also got new appearance tab functionality (or vanity armor, as Funcom's patch notes are fond of calling it). Still want more? How about relaxed difficulty and more frequent rewards on normal-mode 6-man Khitai dungeon content as well a significant price cut on factional armor pieces (epic chest-piece purples are now a mere 16 gold, for example). More still? By Crom, you are one needy barbarian. You're also in luck, as Funcom has added a new queue function to minigame PvP which resurrects the late, great pre-made vs. pre-made option. Oh, and before we forget, here are a couple of new level-scaling solo dungeons (The Breach and Forgotten City), the better to see your character from his 40s all the way up to 80 should you desire. Finally, there's a laundry list of combat- and quest-related tweaks, all of which are viewable via the patch notes on the o-boards.
First Guitar Hero: Van Halen trailer released, leaves us wanting for more
Though Guitar Hero spin-off games have already set a precedent for low expectations in terms of playable songs, Guitar Hero: Van Halen will be arriving at retail with only 48 songs available to play (three of which are guitar solos, mind you). We think it's fair to be disappointed, as the $60 Activision is likely charging only nets you 25 Van Halen songs to try your best and keep up with. Sure, yes, we do want to play "Panama." And yes, fine, we would be all for jumping around to "Hot for Teacher." But as this thing stands (and as the trailer dictates above) we will absolutely be rocking out with some of the "biggest hits" from "one of the most legendary bands of all time" -- it's just going to be The Beatles instead.
No Guitar Hero: Van Halen for Europe this year
We bring you sad tidings of yet another game's delay into 2010 -- but two elements of this particular delay may soothe your frayed nerves. First, the title in question will only be delayed in Europe, where a good number of you do not live. Second, the delayed title is Guitar Hero: Van Halen, which a good number of you apparently could not care less about.Activision recently told Eurogamer that the PAL version of the "Jump"-infused rhythm title would not hit store shelves later this year. The game has since undergone a release date bump to "TBD 2010" -- not the "Q1 2010" window we've become so accustomed to seeing this year's titles pushed to. The publisher didn't explain the reason for the delay, but we're pretty certain it didn't want Van Halen competing with the other 58 rhythm titles it's releasing this holiday season.
Guitar Hero: Van Halen is all David Lee Roth
Dream of playing the upcoming rhythm game Guitar Hero: Van Halen as your favorite Van Halen lead singer Gary Cherone? Well, Rolling Stone is reporting today on the dashing of your dreams, claiming that an Activision/RedOctane representative confirmed to them the game's exclusivity to David Lee Roth as lead singer. This is also to say that the tequila-shilling Sammy Hagar will also be excluded from the band's lineup in the game. We already kind of sort of knew about the exclusion of Cherone and Hagar from Activision's Senior Vice President of Global Brand Management telling us way back when, "Oh this is definitely Van Halen, not Van Hagar." The RS piece posits that the only Van Halen tracks featuring David Lee Roth will be making it into the game, possibly destroying all hopes of the chance to drunkenly belt "Why Can't This Be Love?" and "Fire In the Hole," though, as of press time, Activision had yet to respond to our inquiry. [Image credit]
Activision finally confirms Guitar Hero: Van Halen
Those Van Halen boys are likely happy today, as it marks the end of their need for silence regarding their long-rumored video game: Guitar Hero: Van Halen. Activision has confirmed to Joystiq that the title is in development and will release sometime during the second half of this year. Activision could not confirm any songs, and only said the game will contain Van Halen's "greatest hits," as well as guest acts such as Queen, Weezer, blink-182, The Offspring, Queens of the Stone Age, and more. We've put in word to Activision to clarify if the game will be all David Lee Roth, or if fans will also get some Sammy Hagar and some Gary Cherone love. Well, okay, maybe not Gary Cherone. Nobody liked that guy.Update: Activision's Senior Vice President of Global Brand Management (whew!) told us, "Oh this is definitely Van Halen, not Van Hagar," which is a plus since David Lee Roth is back with the band and they just finished a successful tour. There's a very slim chance that the rockers might show up at E3, so keep your eyes and ears peeled.
Pre-order Guitar Hero: Van Halen while you wait for Activision to announce it
Several listings at GameStop's site earlier today revealed Guitar Hero: Van Halen. The listings have since been pulled, but we managed to take a screen cap for you, which you can see past the break. It's a game that has been rumored for a little while now, and would be Activision's next logical step following Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero: Metallica. Each listing at GameStop's site points to an August 4 release for the title on PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii. So what are you waiting for, Activision? Just announce the thing already![Via Kotaku]
German ratings board rates Guitar Hero: Van Halen
Unfortunately, we've got a fairly strict policy against lengthy headlines -- otherwise, we would have given this post the title it properly deserves: "German ratings board Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) tries to rate Guitar Hero: Van Halen, finds music therein to be far too awesome, spontaneously explodes." Try fitting that into an RSS feed.Yes, the USK recently reported that it has rated the rumored rhythm title, which it actually calls Guitar Hero headlining Van Halen, for the PS3 and 360. If this rating guarantees the title's existence, we can't wait to hear absolutely everything about the game before Activision decides to formally announce it six months from now.[Via Kotaku]
Rumor: Activision preparing Guitar Hero: Van Halen
Psst. You wanna be privy to some exclusive, top secret information? Though it may sound like our usual brand of preposterous, blogger rabble rousing, we have reason to believe that Activision is working on ... another Guitar Hero game. It's true! Sources say that this next Guitar Hero will come out after the next Guitar Hero comes out....Alright, so we have a few more details beyond that evergreen speculation. Let's switch to third-person! Joystiq has been informed that Activision's next artist-oriented Guitar Hero release will be based around Van Halen. According to Joystiq's source, the game is set to arrive sometime after Guitar Hero: Metallica and will include several songs hailin' from the Californian rock band's catalogue, including "Jump," "Panama" and "Hot for Teacher." You can also expect a smattering of songs from other bands, like Judas Priest's "Pain Killer," Tenacious D's "Master Exploder" and Weezer's "Dope Nose."Activision was unable to lend the leaked information any more credence, saying, "The RedOctane/Guitar Hero team is currently focused on the upcoming release of Guitar Hero Metallica, as well as the recently announced titles Guitar Hero Greatest Hits and Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits, and does not comment on speculation or rumor." We didn't bother asking if Creedence is in it.
Neversoft to develop Guitar Hero sequel
Activision looks to be taking full advantage of the Red Octane acquisition as Neversoft is gearing up to take on the illustrious Guitar Hero franchise. While there was a small blurb in the latest issue of EGM concerning this very arrangement, Neversoft has updated their website tonight in hopes of bringing some new talent to the board specifically to rock. GameDaily seems confident that Neversoft will take over the franchise beginning with Guitar Hero III, but this is only one possibility. Other current Guitar Hero rumors (again, perpetuating from EGM) include an 80's version of the series to see release this year, which Neversoft could be working on, leaving the brand name sequels to Harmonix.And where does this leave Harmonix? While one would assume they'll still be involved with the series, they could very well be off starting up a new franchise, or perhaps working on one of those rumored Amplitude sequels. Regardless, they've laid out the foundation for an extremely popular and established series. Hopefully this changing of the guard will be more like a Sammy Hagar and less like a Gary Cherone.
The Van Halen Clause
Applications for high-end raiding guilds are kind of like job applications. You have to list your experience, your availability, and why you'd be a better player than every other mage/priest/warrior applying. On the other hand, as an officer or leader of a successful guild, you have tens or hundreds of qualified people applying. How do you decide who gets in and who gets shut out? Lucas, guild master of Gods on the Arthas server, has come up with an interesting way to weed out lazy applicants: the Van Halen clause. Lucas explains a Van Halen clause as such: "placing a frivolous and easily accomplished requirement in a contract to make sure that the other person actually read it." Apparently, Van Halen used to demand a bowl of non-brown M&Ms at every venue they played at to make sure the promoter actually read their contract. All Gods applicants must read the guild rules page, and if they don't find the Van Halen clause and do what it says, they're unlikely to get in. Can you find it? So is Lucas's policy a good way to keep uncommitted people out of the guild, or is it just a frivolous test of someone's skimming ability?
