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Activision: Guitar Hero III still a contender
In the face of Rock Band, Activision seemingly has an uphill battle on its hands with Guitar Hero III. As one of our blogging buddies on Joystiq put it, "if you have Rock Band and a guitar, you already have Guitar Hero." Naturally, the addition of more instruments would seem to expand this value even further. According to Activision Senior VP of Marketing, Will Kassoy, however, Guitar Hero III is not down and it's certainly not out. First of all, Kassoy notes that Harmonix (developers of Rock Band and previous GH games) are experienced in software, not hardware. In other words, the Rock Band peripherals may not stand up to the standards set by Red Octane. A little more on point, Kassoy notes that the two games are likely to have a very large price disparity, with Guitar Hero III on the winning end of the spectrum. This makes much more sense, although it's somewhat mooted by the fact that Rock Band will support Guitar Hero II controllers. Still, there is no denying that the cost of entry for GHIII is lower than aiming for the full experience of Rock Band, and that may work in Activision's favor.
Slash will rock out in Guitar Hero III
A new trailer for Guitar Hero III has dropped from the heavens of rock, and lo and behold, the game officially features legendary guitarist, Slash. Made famous by Guns N' Roses and now rocking with Velvet Revolver, Slash will be featured in the upcoming game, which is now subtitled Legends of Rock. Naturally, this leads us to believe there may be a few other famous rockers in the game as well, though this is only speculation at this point. Check out the latest trailer after the break.
IGN's GHIII Preview on XBLM
IGN has put a preview for Guitar Hero III up on Xbox Live Marketplace in all its HD glory. The video gives us a first look at the new Les Paul wireless guitar, as well as some other cool features. One thing that impresses us was their use of face capture to have the lead singer properly lip-synced to the songs lyrics, as opposed to the previous iterations generic lip service. The video also touches on some of the visual changes, in the HUD as well as the art direction. A solid watch, if you're a fan of the series.
Video: Slow Ride intro in GH III
Unfortunately, the videos of Guitar Hero III we showed you at the end of May are no longer available on YouTube. Gametrailers fortunately came to the rescue and put up the first minute or so of Foghat's "Slow Ride" on Expert difficulty. It definitely looks pretty and leaves us only wanting more. Hopefully we're get more details on the song list, possible online multiplayer, or when the wireless Les Paul will be available. Where does this stand on your holiday wishlist?
Rock out to the first vids of Guitar Hero III
Yup, these are videos of Guitar Hero III. Yup, they look pretty much like Guitar Hero II (and Guitar Hero I for that matter). Of course, no one really cares do they? It's Guitar Hero! With that said, there are some small differences worth noting. First of all, the character models look like they've received some new-gen love and are more detailed. The HUD has some slight graphical tweaks as well, though none of them seem to affect gameplay. The star power meter has been replaced with a series of light bulbs. As you fill the meter, more of them light up. They slowly fade out once star power is activated. In addition to displaying your current multiplier, the left side of the HUD now keeps track of how many notes you've hit consecutively. Frankly, we'd like the ability to turn that feature off, as it could add undue stress to achieving those perfect runs. You'll find another video embedded after the break. Check it out and tell us what you think.
A look at GHIII's wireless Les Paul guitar
The crew over at IGN received an exclusive look at Guitar Hero III's new guitar the Les Paul and walked away very impressed. One of the biggest improvements added to the Les Paul guitar controller is that it will feature wireless technology, which will be the first time Microsoft has allowed a third party peripheral maker to do so. They've also added removable faceplates, made the neck detachable, kept the same color fret buttons, and even added a third strap knob for even more customizability. It looks like GHIII's Les Paul guitar is shaping up to be one solid controller to rock out with. But fear not GHII owners, because your X-plorer guitar will work with GHIII and vice versa. How very convenient.
New Guitar Hero III tracks revealed, Les Paul guitar coming
As we're still struggling to crank out perfect scores on Hard difficulty in Guitar Hero II, Activision goes and announces a whole slew of new tracks coming to Guitar Hero III. Seriously, just look at all these damned tracks (which we have politely lifted from Joystiq)! "Paint It Black" (by The Rolling Stones) "Cherub Rock" (by Smashing Pumpkins) "Sabotage" (by Beastie Boys) "The Metal" (by Tenacious D) "My Name is Jonas" (by Weezer) "Knights of Cydonia" (by Muse) "Rock And Roll All Nite" (as made famous by Kiss) "School's Out" (as made famous by Alice Cooper) "Slow Ride" (as made famous by Foghat) "Cult of Personality" (by Living Colour) "Barracuda" (as made famous by Heart) First thing's first, please recognize the distinction between "by" and "as made famous by" in that list. You'll notice that a full 7 of those tracks appear to be recorded by the artist themselves. That's worth throwing up the horns right there. In some more exciting news, Activision has announced that Guitar Hero III's guitar controller will be modeled after the Gibson Les Paul, and will feature customizable faceplates. Furthermore, there will be wireless controllers available for the game, though it is unclear if said guitars will be included with the game or if they will be separate purchases. There is one troubling note in the press release, though: the new guitars will feature a new "button color design" in order to create a more authentic experience. Hopefully, this doesn't hinder the performance of the (very expensive) guitars we've all purchased for Guitar Hero II.So, what's your favorite song on the list?
Online multiplayer coming to Guitar Hero III
Recently announced Guitar Hero III will be sporting something we wish Guitar Hero II would have included ... online multiplayer. In an interview with Red Octane president Kai Huang, Pro-G confirmed that GH III would indeed include an online component. So fanboys, does this mean that a rumored future GH II update to include online multiplayer will never see the light of day? Well, it doesn't sound overly promising seeing that they'll probably use "Super Duper Online Multiplayer" as a new feature and bullet point for their third installment. Oh well, we still love you GH II and will wait to see if you'll grace us with online play later this year.[Via Joystiq]
Guitar Hero III60 encore this fall
RedOctane's Support Center has an interesting tidbit of information regarding the next installment of Guitar Hero, and it's release schedule. The PS2, PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360 can expect to be rocking out to a new set of songs to unlock in Guitar Hero III this Fall (for North America). This also will be Neversoft's first shot at the game, so it will interesting to see what direction they take the series, and if the pedal jack will be used or not. Do you think that this is too soon for the next game? Or is it justified as the PS2 release was back in November?[Via QJ.net]
