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Battle mode power-ups revealed in new Guitar Hero III videos
When Neversoft took over the Guitar Hero franchise from Harmonix there were worries that the gameplay would change unrecognisably. While the interface of the game has remained largely the same (surely lumped into the "if it aint broke, don't fix it" category), there seem to be a couple of new features shown in this newest batch of Guitar Hero III vids.The video above, showing Living Colour's "Cult of Personality", gives us some insight into the new additions to the battle mode. It's fairly widely accepted that the multiplayer mode in Guitar Hero I was pretty bad, but Guitar Hero II more than made up for it with its co-op and battle modes. Even then the battle mode could at times feel like little more than comparing scores. With the inclusion of power-ups in Guitar Hero III we will be able to directly affect our opponent's guitar playing abilites by making their markers blink, their fret board tremble or even increasing the difficulty level temporarily. Sounds like a great update to us. Once all the songs are unlocked, multiplayer really is where it's at with the Guitar Hero series, so it's good to see Neversoft are doing their best to improve on it. As for the single player, there's not much there to improve. Unless, maybe, you included a couple of other instruments? Maybe a singer? Oh wait, nevermind. Be sure to watch the rest of the vids after the jump.
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?
Guitar Hero III wireless Les Paul spotted
Are you ready to rock? I can't hear you... are you ready to RAWK?!If you answered yes to both the above questions, please check out the early sneak peak of the Guitar Hero III wireless Les Paul controller IGN's got. It's got an improved button layout, it's wireless, and just generally makes our crappy white X-Plorers look totally ancient and pathetic. Thanks a lot, guys.[Via Wii Fanboy]
Guitar Hero 3 videos unleashed upon the world
We love videos as much as the next person, so when we stumbled upon these Guitar Hero 3 videos (and by stumbled we mean directed towards by a helpful tip), we thought it would be great to share them with you guys. First up is for the song My Name Is Jonas -- it's cool. After the jump, you can check out the video for Slow Ride. We just don't want to overload you unless you really want to see both. Rumors are these are from the Xbox 360 build, but it's kind of moot since we're sure the game will be about the same for every system. Enjoy and get ready to rock. That will be the most over-used line ever regarding these games. Guaranteed.[via Arrogantics]
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.
First Guitar Hero III videos are ... different
From the "If It Ain't Broke, Change It" department comes these first videos of Guitar Hero III, which were posted, then apparently pulled by IGN. We believe these are from the 360 version, but the quality is low enough that it's probably a moot point. As you can see, the HUD has been completely revamped, with lights replacing the Star Power meter and a new chain counter that tells you how many notes you've hit in a row. According to this IGN feature, the timing has also been changed, which may explain the early Wyld Stallyns-level performance in the videos.It's hard to blame the team from Neversoft if the game's playing a little differently at the moment, as they didn't have access to the code (created by Harmonix) from the original two games. Besides, there's still time for tweaking. Feel free to express your rage at the ever-progressing march of time (and rock out to some Foghat), right after the jump.[Via Arrogantics]
Joystiq Podcast 008 - Sony Gamer's Day edition
After a short break marred by technical difficulties, Ludwig rejoins the podcast to go over the Halo 3 beta, the StarCraft 2 announcement, and Guitar Hero III. Song. By. Song. We also join up with Joystiq's Kevin Kelly who spent a couple days in San Diego at Sony's Gamer's Day event, to get the skinny on what Sony's got in store. Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Joystiq Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3) [RSS] Add the Joystiq Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [Digg] Like the show? Digg it. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Hosts: Christopher Grant, Ludwig Kietzmann, and Justin McElroy Guests: Joystiq's Kevin Kelly Music: "We Weren't Put Together" by David E. Sugar Program: 0:05:10 - Halo 3 beta 0:13:41 - StarCraft 2 0:19:16 - Sony Gamer's Day 07 (see PlayStation Fancast for more detail) 0:21:08 - Little Big Planet, PlayStation Home, Pain 0:35:40 - WarHawk, Drake's Fortune, Heavenly Sword 0:44:35 - Socom Confrontation, Folklore, High Velocity Bowling 0:51:18 - Stranglehold, God of War: Chains of Olympus 0:57:58 - April NPD ("My Pokemans. Let me show you them.") 1:05:39 - PlayStation 3 1.80 1:08:44 - Guitar Hero III songs 1:22:05 - FIN
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?
Wireless 'Les Paul' guitars revealed with Guitar Hero III details
Today RedOctane have released some new details about Guitar Hero 3. Perhaps most excitingly, they have revealed that controllers for the next gen consoles will be wireless. Great news for everyone who kept getting tangled up whilst rocking out to the previous two games. The controller itself will be in the shape of a Gibson Les Paul (pictured) for the PlayStation 3. The Playstation 2, however, will have a Gibson Kramer shaped controller instead. Presumably this is due to the PS2's lack of bluetooth, so expect it to be either wired or to include some kind of USB plug-in. Other announcements for the game include 'a new multiplayer action-inspired battle mode, grueling boss battles, a bevy of exclusive unlockable content and authentic rock venues', as well as online play. The game will take advantage of RedOctane's partnership with MTV by including a large number of original tracks, rather than covers. Hopefully this will reduce the production time for downloadable songs. Speaking of tracks, below are a few names to get your juices flowing. Let us know what you think of them. Expect the game out before the end of the year. 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 Fog Hat) Cult of Personality (by Living Colour) Barracuda (as made famous by Heart)
First Guitar Hero III tracks revealed, Les Paul guitar licensed
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/First_Guitar_Hero_III_tracks_revealed_Les_Paul_guitar_licensed'; Remember when we decreed yesterday big hair day at Joystiq, to commemorate the announcement of seven new tracks for Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s? Lucky for us, we didn't shower and Activision has rewarded our sloth, and our big hair, with some new details regarding the upcoming Guitar Hero game ... the one hitting all new-gen systems (even Wii) and the PS2, being developed by Neversoft. So, what's the news? First, some songs: "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) Next, they're making wireless guitars "available" for all platforms; no word on whether they'll be the default axes, or optional peripherals. Furthermore, they've gone all Rock Band licensing the legendary Gibson Les Paul guitar for all new-gen platforms. Those afraid of change get the decidedly less legendary Gibson Kramer, available for the PlayStation 2. There's also a "new button color design" to confuse anyone thinking about sticking to their old axe. We're still expecting Guitar Hero III (not its real name, yet) in the fall of 2007 ... just after Rocks the 80s rocks our summer barbecue parties. Our carpal tunnel is acting up just thinking about it.Check out all the latest Guitar Hero III news!
RedOctane promises new Guitar Hero every year
Tina Turner be damned, you're getting a new Guitar Hero game every year. In a Eurogamer interview, RedOctane co-founder and president, Kai Huang, reveals that every guitar freak's favorite franchise will soon have something in common with large men tossing balls and slamming into each other. "I think that fans can definitely expect that we're going to have one major release a year," says Kai. Following that, the peripheral manufacturer plans to "release update packs and content packs so there's more songs." And what about the controversial pricing of already released song packs? The pricing's "competitive," says Huang, though his comment may have been slightly garbled due to the degradation of interplanetary transmissions. "We've done a lot of evaluation on the pricing and the costs for each of the songs and how they work for each of the packs, and we think that they're priced competitively, but certainly we listen to the fans and we take that feedback, and if that's something we'll need to evaluate we'll do that."An annual release of Guitar Hero is hardly something we'd consider to be terrible news, but one caveat certainly needs to be heard -- not many franchises keep their sparkle on a yearly release schedule. Even fellow music maniac, Dance Dance Revolution, has taken a few bad steps in its rapid-fire career. We cringe at the thought of seeing a great franchise doing a power slide... down a set of stairs.
Guitar Hero 3 = online multiplayer
Red Octane's boss Kai Huang had an interview with Pro-G recently that hasn't yet been released. Whoop-de-doo, right? Wrong. In the interview, it seems Huang went ahead and confirmed the dream of many rockers who were too embarassed to take their show on the road... or in front of friends: online multiplayer with Guitar Hero 3. Yes, you can now show off your mad skillz without showing off your crazy drooling problem you get whilst playing that Black Sabbath solo.We don't know exactly what the online multiplayer feature offers, but if it's more than just a leaderboard, we'd be pumped. Sure, lag would seem to be a problem unless the whole song is pre-loaded before the multiplayer gets underway or something (thank you, PS3 hard drive?), but it could just be a score comparison between two players. This is sort of a test run for the inevitable multiplayer bound for the gigantic ambition known as Rock Band. What do you think this multiplayer will consist of?[via Joystiq]
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]
Harmonix quits the band, starts up new project
As a follow-up to our speculative post regarding the future of Guitar Hero development, Harmonix has cleared up the whole mess in an interview with Gamasutra. We'll hit you with the good news first: Harmonix is in fact working on a brand-new music title. The (possibly) bad news being that they will not be involved with Guitar Hero III, leaving that title in the hands of, presumably, Neversoft.Regarding the new project, Harmonix producer Daniel Sussman took time away from reading the blogs of his favorite Laguna Beach cast members to say it's "a bigger and more ambitious endeavor than we felt we could pursue within the bounds of the Guitar Hero franchise." Though he could have just been talking about the new Fall Out Boy album (they're still hot with the kids, right?), we're excited all the same for whatever the future may hold for the MTV-owned developer.
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.