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Wii Warm Up: Words and guitar
No, not the simple-yet-catchy Sleater-Kinney song, but in this instance, it's how you'll be using your Wii in the near future. Whether you want to dance, sing, or thrash, there's something on the Wii for all you musically-inclined gamers. And think -- this is only the beginning. By this time next year, how will the music-themed game scene look? We can only assume Guitar Hero love will expand tenfold when it hits the Wii, so we're curious about your predictions now about music games in the future. Will we move beyond guitars and DDR? Boogie is trying for something new, but again, we're talking tip of the iceberg. Let's do the future instead. What do you see?
A Guitar Hero noob: the obsession begins
So, we went to Best Buy earlier today to nab a replacement headset -- Fancast recording sessions can get a little ... rough -- and then we saw it. Sitting next to the demure Wii kiosk and the somewhat more imposing PS3 kiosk was, naturally, the 360 kiosk. But what was this attached to it? A ... a guitar? We strapped on the white X-plorer guitar, hit up the tutorials, and began to learn about rocking. It wasn't long before we were champing at the bit to play the real thing. Picking Nirvana's "Heart-shaped Box," we began our first foray into Guitar Hero II (die-hard Xbox fanboys that we are, we hadn't experienced the game on PS2). We were ready to rock, or at least that's what we thought. The song, in a twisted reversal of the natural order, proceeded to own us, and on medium (medium!) difficulty, no less. After a quick switch to easy difficulty (oh the shame), we slowly came to grips with the controls and managed to recreate a reasonable facsimile of Nirvana.But that was on easy and our fingers were already cramped. Still, we want more, a lot more. It took some willpower to walk out of that Best Buy and continue blogging, knowing that Guitar Hero II was only 2 miles away. We take considerable comfort knowing that $90 will be ripped from our wallet next week when Guitar Hero II finally arrives. We take comfort because that transaction is no longer a choice. It's a necessity.
Snag Guitar Hero II for $10 less
360 Fanboy reader, Nitin, sends us word that he received a coupon from Best Buy offering $10 off games and accessory purchases of $75 dollars or more. Now, it just so happens that Guitar Hero II will set you back 90 clams when it debuts on Arpil 3rd, and it just so happens that the Best Buy coupon expires on April 4th. You see where we're going with this? Of course, there is one possible caveat. According to the fine print, the coupon doesn't include video game hardware. Now, we're pretty sure that refers to actual consoles, but don't blame us if the guy behind the counter says the guitar counts as hardware.At any rate, you were going to pick up GHII anyway, right? You might as well try and save 10 bucks.[Thanks, Nitin]
Guitar HeroNoid will melt your face off at Guitar Hero
Screw robots that play real instruments, the new hotness is all about robots that play fake instruments. Like, video game fake instruments, as in Guitar Hero. Enter Guitar HeroNoid, the real robot that shreds fake axe and melts real face. Supposedly capable of seeing the screen and jamming with the best of us meatsacks, we think it's time we show these would-be robot overlords what's what. You may be more efficient at manual tasks, robots, but hell no do you have the soul of a musician. And hell no can you reach that wammy bar -- yet!
Guitar Hero II rocks 360 on April 3rd
Screw Guitar Hero II demo stations! Why waste time with a puny demo station when you can bag the real thing in just two weeks? That's right, Activision has officially announced that Guitar Hero II will release on April 3rd. Wait a minute, that sounds awfully familiar. Oh, that's because we reported it two months ago, booyah!At any rate, in just over two weeks, budding 360 rockers will finally get to lay down some righteous chops with the best of them. The 360 version of GHII features the all new X-plorer guitar, updated graphics, and 10 exclusive new songs. Not only that, but Red Octane already has a ton of downloadable content in the pipeline.So, 360 fanboys, we ask you: are you ready to RAWK?![Via Joystiq]
Guitar Hero II surfs Xbox 360 crowd on April 3
Activision has grabbed the nearest microphone and screeched out the official release date for the Xbox 360's Guitar Hero II. "Pay attention you motherfrackers, drop the keyboards PC hackers, Guitar Hero II drops April three, get out your wallets these frets ain't free! Woooowrgh!" You'll likely be able to obtain much better tunes than that lyrical atrocity later on, thanks to this version's ability to download a "consistent stream of new tracks" from Xbox Live. RedOctane's Dusty Welch notes in the press release that the online component "is going to provide an incredible opportunity for our fans to extend the gameplay experience, and we have ambitious ideas to continue to fully support these efforts." Sadly, said ambitious ideas don't include online multiplayer just yet. [Image: NeoGAF]
Guitar Hero II demo stations next week?
One of X3F's regular anonymous tipsters has given us ... um ... an anonymous tip. What tip you ask? It looks like we might start seeing Guitar Hero II demo stations as early as next week in retailers like Wal-Mart. Our tipster reports that demo units are already being delivered to retailers. What is more, the X-plorer guitar that comes with GHII will feature a normal USB connection -- not exactly a surprise really -- which may allow PC users to find ways to utilize the controller.So, there you have it, start looking for Guitar Hero II demo kiosks starting next week. Be sure and send the news to X3F when you find one. We're just as excited to get our hands on the game after all.[Thanks, Anonymous Rep]
EA busting into rhythm games 'sooner than you think'
Much like its title implies, Guitar Hero arrived as a sort of savior for a rhythm genre that had grown a little too obsessed with hypnotic arrows for its own good. The rocking success of Red Octane's franchise thrust the genre back into the console limelight, with its financial gyrations quickly drawing the fixation of several publishers. According to a recent interview conducted by Stephen Totilo of MTV News, EA is one such a publisher.Upon being asked about EA's plans in response to the success enjoyed by titles such as Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution, EA's Worldwide Executive of Music and Marketing indicates that the gigantic publisher is already positioning itself on the diving board. "I've been pushing for a long time to be honest with you," says Steve Schnur. "I think you'll see us breaking into the genre sooner than you think."Of course, one could argue that EA is already doing so with the upcoming Boom Boom Rocket, an Xbox Live Arcade title which sees (and hears) players detonating fireworks in rhythm to music. Is the Bizarre-developed title merely the first step in an increasingly complex dance maneuver? And more importantly, will there be an insane peripheral? If anybody's going to exploit the untapped Glockenspiel-breakdancing market, it'll be EA.See also: Electronic Arts mixes on iTunes
Halo theme could join Guitar Hero II set list
According to the March issue of OXM, Steve Vai's guitar-charged "Halo Theme (Mjolnir Mix)" could be a downloadable track for Guitar Hero II. Heck, if Spartan-458 can jiggle in Dead or Alive 4, then Halo 2's theme can be strummed along to in the GHII encore. This is one Halo rumor that smells probable; if not simply because it screams, "impulse buy!"Assuming we'd have to pay to play, the Halo theme has the potential to pocket as many micropayments as just about any licensed track imaginable. This is the Xbox 360 venue, folks, where Master Chief is as big as any 'Rock God' -- dead or alive.
Shredz64 project bringing Guitar Hero to the Commodore 64
We've already seen the Guitar Hero controller hooked up to a PC, but hardware hacker Toni has decided up the difficultly level even further, endeavoring to wire the ubiquitous plastic axe to his Commodore 64, complete with an all new "Guitar Hero-like" C64 game. While he's still quite a ways from fully realizing that goal, as the pic above and audio clip on the page linked below show, he is making considerable progress, with all of the guitar's buttons working, although the whammy bar, sadly, remains silent. Unfortunately, it's also been over a month since the last update on the project, so we can only hope that he hasn't given up on it -- there's undoubtedly countless C64s just waiting to be dusted off as soon as the DIY guide is ready.[Thanks, Joseph S]
RUMOR: pack of games that may or may not be in the works
This one's definitely a rumor, since it's coming from Rumor Reporter -- the same guys who spread all that awful Warhawk stuff. Whether that is true or not is irrelevant. We're here to focus on the latest rumors. There are a couple of games being tossed around and, for the most part, aren't surprising but worth talking about.
