GuitarHero2
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Halo 2 Theme on Guitar Hero II? Schweet
OXM's exclusive article and review combo of Guitar Hero II in their March issue had an interesting tidbit on an exclusive song. Apprarently, the Xbox 360 version will get a little spartan nostalgia as they get to rock out to the Mjolnir Mix of the Halo 2 theme. In terms of the song itself, it sounds like a lot of fun, as the guitar is very distinctive. Honestly, who wouldn't want to play the Halo 2 theme? Still, when we read the magazine's article prior to coming across this news, we didn't see any mention of the song, but perhaps we overlooked it in a sidebar or something. So, until we double check our issue of OXM, or a Fanboy reader confirms it, we're going to classify this as a rumor. No word if it is going to be available on the disc off the bat or through a download off of Xbox Live Marketplace. We're going to look into this as soon as we can. Let's say this is true, how do you feel about the Halo's theme showing up in other games? [Via GameStooge]
Video: Guitar Hero II DLC Details and More???
GameTrailers sat down with Bryan Lam of Red Octane to talk about Guitar Hero II, and he touches on a lot of the latest topics regarding the title. He brings up the amount of downloadable content they're bringing, the availability of the original Guitar Hero songs on Marketplace, wireless guitar controllers, Neversoft taking the helm for the next game, and even implementing online co-op in the future. All in all it's a very interesting sheds light on many things that are on gamer's minds about GH II. It's also available in HD if you're into that resolution.
GH II wireless guitar arriving "hopefully rather shortly"
Associate Producer for Guitar Hero II, Ted Lange, was asked a few questions by IGN Australia. They touched on downloadable content as well as the exclusive tracks and even licensing issues with other bands. The main thing that caught our attention was Ted's thoughts on a wireless guitar. He said that he hopes they'll be able to provide a wireless solution rather shortly to fans, which is definitely a good thing. Hopefully this indicates that their talks with Microsoft about bringing this to the market is making significant progress. After getting Guitar Hero II with its wired guitar, would you buy a second one if it was wireless, and for how much?
"Dead!"ly Master Track Goodness Video
On Friday, IGN added another one of Guitar Hero II's Xbox 360 exclusive songs to their video page. It is, of course, none other than My Chemical Romance's "Dead!". It, alongside "Possum Kingdom", are the only "Master Tracks" of the new songs included. This is definitely a good thing, as Gerard Way's distinctive vocals would be hard to reproduce by the cover artists used. The video is pretty good, and available in High Definition for IGN Insiders, showing how difficult the Expert rendition of the song is. For the purists out there, it seems the complete lyrics are intact (2:50 in the video, 2:40 in the song). In any case, everyone here at Fanboy Towers is pining for this game and can't wait for its release. This video, along with the others available on the same page, makes the wait all the more difficult. Are you guys ready to rock out?
Did RedOctane confirm GHII's release date?
RedOctane, developer of Guitar Hero II, posted a pre-order for the game's Xbox 360 version on their corporate store. Look closely though, because they listed an April 3rd ship date for the Guitar Hero II bundle. This has to mean something, because this isn't Gamestop or Toys R Us listing a release date. This is the developer's official online store listing the release date. This has to be accurate, unless RedOctane is just as clueless to the release date of their game as the rest of us. And as an added bonus you'll get a free gig bag when you preorder the game directly from them. Can you say rock on to an April release?[Thanks, Tig]
First Guitar Hero II impressions [update 1]
Those lucky guys over at GamePro got their hands on a preview of Guitar Hero II and came away impressed. They were in love with the high definition graphics, polished 3D models, pretty lighting, and enhanced audio capabilities of the 360 ... it just adds to the whole rockstar environment. They also felt that the Xbox Live Marketplace is going to add a lot of longevity to the game, because you can download new songs and content. Overall, GamePro enjoyed themselves and said that the Xbox 360 version is the crème de le crème of the Guitar Hero series, take that PS2! They've posted a few new never before seen screenshots of the menu and Live leadboards, go check them out after the jump. Update 1: Please be patient, we're just learning how to spell "hero".[Thanks, Jonah]
It's true, Guitar Hero II price and tracks confirmed
Last week an employee at EB Games wrote in telling us that Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360 was available for preorder and was going to cost us $89.99. There was no preorder page online at the time, so we couldn't confirm the price. But now the page is up and you can preorder Guitar Hero II online at EB Games and check out the song tracks too! Head over there to reserve your $89.99 copy and read through the track listings. See guys, our readers are the best tippers on the net and you doubted them? For shame! Complete track listing after the break and preordering info after the jump.[Thanks, to everyone who sent this in]
Guitar Hero II for preorder, $89.99
Mark, an employee at his local EB Games, sent us a tip that the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II is now available to preorder at their stores. He also mentioned that the full price of the game, including guitar, will be $89.99. Currently, there is no page up on either Gamestop.com or EBgames.com to preorder the bundle, so we can't actually confirm the price. If anyone is heading to Gamestop or EB Games in the near future please ask about Guitar Hero II and how much you can preorder it for. We're an army, a fanboy army, who hungers for knowledge![Thanks, Mark Z.]
Learn to rock and achieve in GHII
Today, Xbox 360 Achievements posted every last achievement for RedOctane's Guitar Hero II. And there's a lot of 'em. Our favorites have to be the Extra Credit Award, Long Road Ahead Award, and for all those rockers who don't give a damn about their fans, the Rock Snob Award. We cannot stress enough how much we enjoy achievements that are spread out in a game making you take in everything it has to offer. Don't you just love well thought out achievements?[Thanks, DaKing240]
Guitar Hero: distortion pedals on the way?
Game Informer has posted a pretty straightforward preview of the Xbox 360's version of Guitar Hero II, listing the ten exclusive tracks and some of the achievements waiting to be unlocked (both lists after the break). Things get a little more interesting, however, when the focus shifts to a mysterious port situated on the X-plorer controller."While RedOctane wouldn't elaborate on that port's function other than saying it will be 'gnarly,' it's the same port that's used to connect the pedals to the base station on Microsoft's steering wheel. Let's just call that a coincidence for now..." The folks at BBPS stomp the subtlety out of the article and venture that distortion pedals might be due for the next Guitar Hero installment. We don't use the word much, but that really does sound gnarly.[Via BBPS]
Guitar Hero II box and bundle pics
RedOctane released some pictures of both the box art and bundle for their upcoming 360 game Guitar Hero II. Not only does the white guitar look sexy, but the promise of additional songs and downloadable content ... we love you RedOctane. Even with the release of these pictures there is still no firm release date set. We're ready for the release though, already bought the purple hair dye, tight leather pants, and Super-X hold hair gel ... let's rock!
Japanese hardware sales, 30 October - 5 November: Stream-of-consciousness edition
Without further ado, I present the inner workings of my iron-clad genius:well yet another week of hardware sales, I wonder if my post will beat ludwig's, I dunno, we were talking about it earlier and his idea was good as hell, but of course i'd never admit it, damn south africans. when do they even get the wii? i guess probably not for awhile, sucks to be him, but he DID order phoenix wright 2, i wonder if he got it yet, i wanna wait for the american version because of all the typos in the game, why do those bother me so much, oh well, ive plenty of play, guitar hero 2 hasn't even left my tv screen in like days, my roommates are out there right now playing tonight i'm gonna rock you tonight, i really like that song, but man freebird is just too cool, i need to practice it...oh, and not to mention final fantasy 12, or okami which i still havent beaten, or tales of the abyss which I havent even OPENED, or final fantasy V advance, and FFIII in a few days, and yoshi's island 2 and oh yeah those four more games i'm picking up for the wii (twilight princess is 70+ hours?) DAMN YOU VIDEO GAMES my grades are spiraling out of control...well, not really, i got a 97 on my digital design test, take THAT schwartz, wait no one wants to hear about my academic life, well whatever. hell YES battlestar tonight, though i have to set the torrent for it since i'm going to an mc chris concert, which means i better finish this damn post and get on with it. peace out.- DS Lite: 113,09745,584 (28.73%) - PSP: 23,725 2,183 (8.43%) - PS2: 21,832 850 (3.89%) - Xbox 360: 6,580 5,015 (320.45%) - GBA SP: 1,443415 (22.34%) - Game Boy Micro: 1,299 52 (3.85%) - Gamecube: 6473 (0.47%) - DS Phat: 373259 (227.19%) - GBA: 205 (33.3%) - Xbox: 07 (100.00%)[Source: Media Create]
Guitar Hero 2 experts are already better than you
You might think that today's release of Guitar Hero 2 marks the official start of the race to master the game's new songs. But that would be naive. The real battle for Guitar Hero perfection started when the demo was released to the general public in Official Playstation Magazine issue 110. In honor of the official release of the game, we've scrounged up some highly-variable-quality videos showing off some people who are already on their way to true Guitar Heroism.
X06: ...and the rest
Quick impressions and thoughts on some other noteworthy games shown on the X06 show floor. Guitar Hero II (360): Not playable, but demo'ed continuously by two rock gods with the stamina of heavyweight boxers (see picture). They confirmed that the final Xbox 360 guitar controller would look like a Gibson Explorer but refused to comment on wireless capabilities or the intriguing D-pad on the base. Game itself looked nice in hi-rez, but graphics lagged a bit with the music at this early stage. Viva Piñata: Playable tutorial walks you through building a house, attracting new piñatas and making baby eggs. Rare demo with ten hours of progress showed a thriving garden brimming with life and fully accessorized piñatas. Hired helpers prevent the game from becoming a micromanagement chore. Looks like it could be a hit with the Pokemon set. Forza Motorosport 2: Game had major frame rate issues, making it very difficult to play and/or judge. PR handlers say it's 60 percent complete... that last 40 will be an uphill battle. Halo 2 (PC): Game played great with the mouse and keyboard, and looked great on the decked out Dell Dimension 9150 with large widescreen monitor. Other than that, it's still Halo. Map editor was not available for demo. Crackdown: Grand Theft Auto meets Hulk: Ultimate Destruction in a mess of a game with rough graphics, sloppy controls and an awful camera system. Needs serious work to be a worthy contender. That about does it for X06 posts from Barcelona. Sorry if I didn't cover your favorite game, but there wasn't enough time to do justice to everything available on the show floor. If there's anything you're still wondering about that wasn't covered in our X06 posts, I'll do my best to answer specific questions in the below comment thread in the coming days.
A confirmed Guitar Hero 2 song lineup
Confirmed in the October issue of EGM, here's the list everyone has been curious about ever since they first got their rockin' fingers on the original's colorful plastic frets. Take a look at the Guitar Hero 2 song list and tell us your personal favorites: Nirvana; "Heart-Shaped Box" Primus (original recording); "John the Fisherman" Stone Temple Pilots; "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart" Anthrax; "Madhouse" Motley Crue; "Shout at the Devil" The Police; "Message in a Bottle" The Pretenders; Tattooed Love Boys" Spinal Tap; "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight" Heart; "Crazy on You" Allman Brothers Band; "Jessica" Lynyrd Skynrd; "Freebird" Avenged Sevenfold; "Beast and the Harlot" Dick Dale; "Misirlou" Lamb of God; "Laid to Rest" Alice in Chains; "Them Bones" Reverend Horton Heat; "Psychobilly Freakout" Black Sabbath; "War Pigs" KISS; "Strutter" Butthole Surfers; "Who Was in My Room Last Night?" Van Halen; "You Really Got Me" Guns N' Roses; "Sweet Child O'Mine" The Rolling Stones; "Can You Hear Me Knocking?" Rush; "YYZ" (The bands I can't wait to mimic: Nirvana, STP, Skynrd, Black Sabbath and GnR. Rock on Joystiqers!)
Rock out with Guitar Hero tournaments
Last month, RedOctane teased visitors to the Guitar Hero MySpace page with a graphic cryptically promoting something called G.H.O.U.L. Earlier this week, they revealed the project as the Guitar Hero Organized Underground League, a set of sponsored tournaments where you provide the organization and promotion and RedOctane provides the banners and prizes.We were totally stoked about this, until we saw that RedOctane is only taking "a limited amount of sponsorships" for the time being. But why should that stop you? Here's a quick checklist of things we recommend to have on hand for your own rocking Guitar Hero party/tournament: PS2, Guitar Hero, two guitar controllers (consider investing in wireless) A good speaker system (crank it to 11!) Plenty of alcohol (or grape juice, if you're under 21 *cough*) Non-greasy finger food (don't want any slippery frets) Atmosphere (Disco ball, strobe light, smoke machine, etc.) Costumes (fake wigs, top hats, mascara, etc.) Plenty of floor space (for tricks/excessive rocking) How to Play Air Guitar (to peruse in between rounds) Plenty of beginner and expert players (for two tourney brackets) Massive whiteboard/poster board (to display results) Anything to add, Joystiqers?
Preview of new Guitar Hero II co-op mode
In case you missed it on Friday, IGN posted a pre-E3 hands-on preview of Guitar Hero II's new co-op mode. It's a departure from the first game's multiplayer mode in that the two players have to depend on each other a lot more to pass each song and thereby make beautiful music together.While the old multiplayer option will still be around in the sequel, the new mode mixes distinct lead guitar and bass or rhythm parts where each player affects the other in various ways, whether by failing if either performance slips (as in DDR), sharing the same Rock Meter (with mistakes from either player resetting the score multiplier), and needing to both go vertical at the same time to activate the shared Star Power. Thankfully, different difficulty levels can be assigned to each player.The Joystiq team out in L.A. will probably find something to do until they get their sweaty paws on a guitar controller or two on the E3 show floor (maybe one of those wacky press conferences will help pass the time), but we're sure the wait to try the latest build of this rockin' series will be worth it. The seven songs available at E3 are listed below.[Thanks, murph]
