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Guitar Hero II aims to have the most Marketplace content
In an interview that featured more ducked questions than a limbo contest at a mallard convention, Red Octane's Ted Lange managed to boast a little regarding their plans for Guitar Hero II and the Xbox Live Marketplace. When asked about the service, Lange points out that while they're still working on the fine details, Red Octane's current plans include having the most content available for any game to date. This can, of course, be a very good thing or a very bad thing. Still, a bold statement nonetheless.What could Red Octane possibly offer in order to follow through with these plans? The most obvious chunk of content are songs from the original Guitar Hero, but it could also be anything from new characters skins to original songs. Our wallets can only hope that they recognize the thin line between what is a micro- and what is a macro- transaction.
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?
Guitar Hero II for $79.99 [update 1]
Update: Oops, looks like shipping isn't free. Instead, all customers will be upgraded to 2nd day air for the normal shipping cost of $7.67. Still, you'll get Guitar Hero II for $87.66 delivered. Not too shabby.Anyone looking to save a little scratch on the upcoming Guitar Hero II need look no further than Costco. Costco is offering the bundle, including the game and X-plorer guitar controller, for $79.99. That's a full $10 off the retail price. As an added bonus, Costco will throw in a 2 day shipping upgrade for free. According to the website, this deal will only be available for a limited time, so those who prefer to rock on the cheap better get moving.If any of you frugal rockers find any more great deals, be sure to send us a tip.[Thanks, james fearn]
Gears of War wins big at Interactive Achievement Awards
The 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards have at long last confirmed a growing, industry-wide suspicion: Gears of War is pretty good. In a ceremony held last night at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences bestowed eight shiny statuettes upon Epic Games' monsters vs. testosterone epic. In addition to winning overall Game of the Year, it picked up gongs for Console Game of the Year, Online Game Play, Animation, Art Design, Visual Engineering, Outstanding Character Performance and Action/Adventure Game of the Year.Wii Sports waggled three awards out of the academy, including ones for Outstanding Innovation, Gameplay Engineering and Game Design. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Guitar Hero II and Loco Roco all came away with double wins, whereas The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess made off with a single prize for Outstanding Story and Character Development (in your face, Saint's Row!). Inaugural Lifetime Achievement awards went to Minoru Arakawa and Howard Lincoln, for their involvement with the NES and the rebuilding of a shattered games industry during the 1980's.Check out the full list of winners after the break.Read -- AIAS press release [PDF]
RedOctane mourns the death of 'air guitar'
RedOctane recently held a Guitar Hero II PR stunt mock cremation service for its dearly departed predecessor 'air guitar.' Slash, Buddy Holly, and Ace Frehley -- at least the cheapest look-alikes RedOctane could score in East London -- filled in as pallbearers. Since no funeral parlor would disgrace its reputation by hosting such a preposterous mingle, the gang said "goodbye" in a Shoreditch art studio. "People generally took it seriously," observed RedOctane's Dave Noble.Multiple sightings of the departed have since been reported.
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]
Interactive Achievement Awards nominees announced, Gears in the lead
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has announced the nominations for the 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. Though Gears of War has yet to make an acquaintance with that irrelevant temptress, Emmy, it stands a very good chance of winning a statuette that actually matters -- it's been nominated in ten different categories, including Console Game of the Year, Action / Adventure Game of the Year, and Overall Game of the Year. The AIAS (probably not pronounced "Ahyeehuss") also fancies The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, each garnering six nominations. These, along with Guitar Hero II and Wii Sports complete the list of classy nominees in the Overall Game of the Year category. The full list of nominees is available on the official Ahyeehuss website.[Via GameDaily BIZ]See also: Joystiq's Game of the Year
Guitar Hero II to have Original's tracks on Marketplace
Gamespot held an interview with RedOctane's Dusty Welch about the much anticipated Guitar Hero II for Xbox 360. One question came up that is probably on the minds of many fans of the series: Will Guitar Hero's tracks be available for download over Marketplace? Welch didn't outright spill the beans that all of the tracks would be there for the taking on launch day, as no specifics on the content has been confirmed yet. What he did say, however, was that fan feedback had high demand for the original's set list, and it would be a safe bet to see a good portion of the songs.So, should Guitar Hero's tracks be available for download to play on GHII, how would you want the content organized? One big 47 song download featuring all the tracks, broken up into the same sets as the first game, genre based, or even single song downloads of the "fan favorites"? We'll be satisfied as long as "More Than A Feeling", "Killer Queen", "Sharp Dressed Man", and all the other top-notch tunes are confirmed.
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 II: online play? Maybe
GameSpy has posted a new preview of Guitar Hero II that answers some of our most burning questions. Of course, no GHII interview would be complete without asking about a wireless guitar. The answer, unfortunately, is the same as always: Microsoft still isn't allowing 3rd party wireless peripherals. Bummer. What about online play? Right now, the game will be limited to leaderboards, but Red Octane is considering adding real online multiplayer via an update in the future. We're keeping our fingers crossed. Finally, the cost of downloadable songs is expected to be on par with other music download services. In other words, it should be something to the tune of $1 a song (get it, tune? Get it? Oh, never mind.).This game cannot come out fast enough.[Thanks, Jonah Falcon]
Video: 360 exclusive GHII song
We are mucho excited for Guitar Hero II to finally make its debut on 360. We're just dying to live out all of our broken dreams. Recently we've been lucky enough to learn about the impending bundle as well as the 360 exclusive songs. Today, we bring you a video of one of those songs, "Possum Kingdom" by the Toadies -- oh, those middle school memories. It's a good song and a great addition to Guitar Hero II. Check it out after the break.
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]
GTR interviews Red Octane [update 1]
Godfree of Gamertag Radio had a chance to sit down with Red Octane and discuss Guitar Hero II. He discusses the leaderboards, plans for tournaments, what sorts of downloadable content we can expect (hint: songs), and what's in store for Guitar Hero III. Also, a wireless guitar is in the works but right now it's not even close to official. If you have an idea for songs you'd like to see available for download, head over to the Guitar Hero forums and let your voice be heard.GTR also got a chance to chat with Old Grandma Hardcore, so be sure to check it out.Update: Clarified the wording regarding the wireless guitar.
GH II: 360 exclusive tracks revealed [update 1]
Joystiq brings word that Guitar Hero II info is to be revealed today by TeamXbox. It is expected that they will confirm the March release of the game (just in time for tax season, yay!). Already revealed are 7 of the 10 exclusive Xbox 360 bonus tracks. These eight tracks are: Billion Dollar Babies (Alice Cooper) Dead! (My Chemical Romance) Hush (Deep Purple) Life Wasted (Pearl Jam) Rock N Roll Hoochie Koo (Rick Derringer) Possum Kingdom (Toadies) Salvation (Rancid) The Trooper (Iron Maiden) While most of these songs will be typical covers, it's rumored that Dead! and Possum Kingdom will be the original recordings. So, let's ask the important question: are you ready to rock? We can't here you! We said are you ready to ROCK?!On a side note, what tracks would you like to see available for download?[Via Joystiq]Update: Found a muppet, learned to count to eight.
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!
Joystiq's Game of the Year
Gears of War (Xbox 360)What the hell just happened? Did we honestly pick Gears of War as the best game of 2006? No, that can't be. The plan was to throw juvenile tantrums and to violently thrash against the machine! To blind the world with an elitist badge and proclaim an innate resistance against games that are both popular and heavily marketed! It's a shooter, for Allard's sake. You shoot things. With guns.The senseless violence is but one reason to look away from the screen in disgust. The other, as you may have concluded already, is the appalling state of the game's graphics. They make Pong look like an M.C. Escher painting being displayed in a room pumped full of hallucinogenic gas. If you can even discern your pixelated soldier from the flat environment, you'll note how you get repeatedly punished for running blindly into a hail of bullets and neglecting to take "cover." Not only is this completely unrealistic and contrary to modern warfare, it's a needless refinement to a bizarre, self-preservation concept in the genre. See, it's not even a very good shooter. The complete lack of immersion and excitement carries over into the game's terrible online cooperative mode. Some idiot on your friends list can rudely jump into your game at any point and then proceed to get in your way at every available turn. Multiplayer deathmatch isn't any better, forcing you to work with 3 other buffoons (who can't even circle-strafe or jump) if you hope to succeed. Add a forgettable MIDI soundtrack, poor pacing and a complete failure to emulate an action film to your considerations, and you become perfectly equipped to answer the pertinent question. Game of the year? Obviously not.The runners-up are presented (in order) after the break.
