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DeepNote Guitar Hero bot reveals its secrets on video
Don't even try to deny it -- you've been holding one mean grudge against that ridiculously accurate DeepNote bot ever since you saw it dominate Guitar Hero in mid-July. Really though, all that pent up aggression is completely unnecessary, and if you've been fruitlessly aiming to concoct one of your own, we've found the perfect place to start. The video posted up after the jump gives a fantastic overview of how the device actually works, and while it's far (very far) from simple, it's nothing the seasoned DIYer couldn't handle on an extended weekend. Give it a look if you're head over heels for PCBs and flashing LEDs (oh, and shameless rock 'n roll).[Thanks, Jeremy]
Logitech to produce "premium" Guitar Hero: World Tour instruments
If you didn't think every single third-party peripheral provider would try to snag a piece of the band game pie, we guess you thought wrong, huh? With outfits like Mad Catz and Ion already jumping in, it was only a matter of time before Logitech threw on its tightest jeans, blacked out its blond hair and threw up some horns. Details are admittedly scarce, but the company has promised to provide "premium instruments" for Guitar Hero: World Tour on PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and the Wii. Rockers can expect the new gear to start shipping "later this year," though prices, designs and pretty much anything else of importance remains a mystery.[Via NintendoWiiFanboy]
Guitar Hero III: Backstage Pass simulates the crushing pain of having your demo tape rejected
The Guitar Hero franchise is synonymous with headbangin', mosh pittin' in-your-face rock 'n roll, but the latest joint released for phones is going in a slightly different direction. Rest assured, rock is still an integral component of the game, but Guitar Hero III: Backstage Pass takes a step back from the actual performances to simulate the whole rockstar experience from end to end. Buyers can apparently expect "more than 25 hours of gameplay" through a whole RPG-like storyline of promotion, gigging, and getting screwed over by shady managers. Even better, an online component over the web lets players compare stats and achievements, download new content, and set up challenges for in-game money. Groupies aren't included, as far as we can tell -- you'll still need your Ferrari-branded Vertu to help out with that.
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero: World Tour to work with Rock Band instruments
Good news, plastic rockers -- Activision announced at E3 today that its upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour game will work with Rock Band's controllers, including the drumkit, and that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith on Xbox 360 has received an update that "should" make the game compatible with Harmonix's axes. Nothing too wild on the Aerosmith tip, as the guitars should just work now (finally!), but Activision's had to do some work to make World Tour play nice: the game is designed for a five-pad drumkit, but it'll compress down to four to work with Rock Band's set. See? Friends all around. Is that so hard, guys?Read - Guitar Hero: Aerosmith updatedRead - Guitar Hero: World Tour
StarPex wooden guitar controller adds a little heft to your rock
Sure, Guitar Hero and Rock Band have fake plastic Gibson and Fender controllers, but cheap plastic ain't exactly rock'n'roll -- which is why this new StarPex PS2 / PS3 guitar controller looks pretty sweet. The ersatz Strat features a hardwood body and neck crafted by "a leading guitar manufacturer" (we'd bet $100 it's made by Samick), as well as solo buttons, an Overdrive / Star Power button in addition to the tilt sensor, and both wired and wireless capabilities. On top of that, the electronics are modular, so you'll eventually be able to swap parts and build your own custom axe. Sounds great -- but you better start singing in the subway, since this thing'll set you back $179 when it goes on sale late next month. Yeah, maybe we'll stick with the plastic axes after all.
DeepNote Guitar Hero bot 'watches' the game, rocks you within an inch of your life
We've seen a lot of Guitar Hero bots in our time, but we're pretty certain that Mechanized Rock's take on shredding automatons is something special. The system -- dubbed DeepNote -- actually watches the on-screen action with "eyes" that it uses to analyze notes, which the bot then plays in real-time. Using photodiodes aimed at the screen, the components pick up changes in light within eight nanoseconds, then convert that information to brazen, parent-shocking, full-throttle rock n' roll. As you well know, pictures say a thousand words (and video is prone to run-on sentences), so watch DeepNote in action in the clip after the break.
Activision plans to launch iTunes alternative
Most of you should know that two days ago Activision merged with Vivendi's games division Blizzard to form the new publisher Activision Blizzard. The chief executive of the new company, Bobby Kotick, told the Financial Times today the company plans to create an iTunes alternative based off the Guitar Hero franchise. Kotick feels this is "the natural evolution" and Guitar hero has the "potential" to be a "credible alternative to iTunes."These plans, of course, emerged at least partly due to Activision now having access to Universal Music, which is owned by Vivendi. Vivendi is also known to have payment processing capabilities in "virtually every country." The newly formed company ain't kidding around -- with $3.5 billion dollars lying around that was originally going to be used for a tender offer, there are rumors of them after everything from the Beatles catalogue (which iTunes failed to gain access to), to entering the bidding for Take-Two. Will Activision finally get its act together with the new sources it has at hand? Rock Band has obviously become a major threat by taking market share for rhythm games away from the profitable Guitar Hero franchise. Thoughts?
Deal of the Day: Guitar Hero wireless Les Paul guitar for $36
Looking to rock out with an extra wireless controller for Guitar Hero III? Look no further than this deal. The official Guitar Hero III Les Paul wireless guitar controller for the PS3 shipped to your door for $35.24. Retail is $59.99 but some like Best Buy are asking for $69.99. And remember, this will not work with Rock Band. We are not sure how long this deal will last, so act fast.[Via CAG]
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith won't play nice with Rock Band guitars
While the axe that comes with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is pretty sweet, if you were hoping to just get the game and use your Rock Band guitar, you're out of luck. Despite rumors that Activision had opened its doors to the Harmonix-made Rock Band guitar controllers, early users of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith are reporting that the Xbox 360 version game isn't being so friendly after all. The sad message: "An unsupported guitar peripheral has been detected. Connect either a Guitar Hero guitar or Xbox 360 controller and press START to continue." It's like they never even knew each other.
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith gets unboxed, rag-covered mic stand not found
Well, what do you know? That Guitar Hero axe that was spotted a few months back on How I Met Your Mother was actually a sneak peek of the six string that comes bundled with the new Activision title. The unwavering rockers over at FW Labs were able to secure a copy of the game in Chile before most everyone else on the planet, and rather than enjoying their fortune without telling a soul, they decided to snap a host of photos and even upload a few videos of the experience. The new toys in the attic are right there in the read link.[Thanks, David]
McFarlane Toys casting Guitar Hero in plastic
You have room on your desk, right? Right there between the Varia Suit Samus statue and Battle Armor Skeletor sits a space just begging to be filled. Now, McFarlane Toys, whose figs have more in common with plastic sculptures than actual toys, has announced plans to fill that space on your already crowded desk with figures based on Guitar Hero this November.Already known for creating figures based on other video game properties such as Metal Gear Solid and Halo, McFarlane Toys has announced a manly lineup of four Guitar Hero personalities, each featuring 15-18 moving parts and a price between $10-15. The first wave of plastic rockers will include Johnny Napalm, Lars Ümlaut, Axel Steel, and God of Rock, while Casey Lynch and Judy Nails cheer lead the first wave from the sidelines.%Gallery-26283%
Guitar Hero: On Tour for the DS now on sale
Alright, so Guitar Hero: On Tour technically went on sale on Sunday, but who launches a game on Sunday? Anyway, the DS version of the rocker franchise is now available, goofy Guitar Grip accessory included, for just $49 of your hard-fought dollars. Reviews of the control system have been pretty positive so far, and the game itself looks like it's a solidly fun time -- even if that insanely bad promo video had us convinced otherwise for a while. Rockers -- to arms![Thanks, Wraggster]
Joystiq eyes and ears-on: Guitar Hero: World Tour
Activision invited us out to the House of Blues last week, which was a fitting place to give us a first look at Guitar Hero: World Tour in action. Though we didn't get to play it, we did watch the folks from RedOctane take a spin through all the new features. Suffice it to say, this isn't simply Guitar Hero: Rock Band ... which is what we thought it might turn out to be. Read on after the break to find out why you'll soon have a closet filled with enough peripherals to make your own one-man band.%Gallery-25627%
Guitar Hero World Tour's new gear gets previewed
We've already seen plenty of Guitar Hero World Tour's drums, but while we've heard rumblings of a touchpad for the new guitar, this is the first time we've seen it in the flesh. IGN has a preview of all the new gear, and says the strip will be used for fiddling around with notes during sustains, tapping to play notes, and for interfacing with the new music creator. The guitar is also larger than its other toy guitar predecessors. In other news, the drums are pressure sensitive, the mic is pretty plain, and the music creation software is completely off the chain. Unfortunately, you won't be allowed to record vocals for songs, but otherwise you can pretty much build anything you'd want with the software. In even better news, the Wii version of World Tour will share all these features, and while we promised ourselves we wouldn't install two full sets of fake band gear in our living room, we're starting to get some serious cravings here.
Ozzy-signed GHIII package up for auction
This is a pretty interesting auction, if we may say so. For one, we can understand if, say, Slash or Tom Morello, signed this Guitar Hero III package, but why would anyone get Ozzy to sign this? He's not in the game!Still, it's pretty impressive to have Ozzy sign your toy guitar. The auction ends on June 25th, so get while the getting is good.[Via Gamesniped]
Possibly the best Guitar Hero III player ever
We've seen our fair share of fantastic Guitar Hero performances here at Wii Fanboy, but this one takes them all, pushes them to the ground and buries them beneath mounds and mounds of dirt. YouTube user iamchris4life comes out of the ending song in Guitar Hero III, DragonForce's "Through the Fire and Flames," with a 100% completion. As much as we'd like for you to already be watching the video at this very moment, we had to place it after the break. The end of the video has a lot of naughty words being screamed in celebration. So it's NSFW.
Coldplay to make Guitar Hero debut
According to Entertainment Weekly, British music act Coldplay have said that their single, Violet Hill, will be on Guitar Hero. The article did not specify which Guitar Hero this will be, but it's more likely than not to be Guitar Hero III since it was mentioned that the track will be DLC. The downloadable song is part of a huge publicity campaign for the band's new album, Vida La Vida, which is out June 17. A date was also not specified, but it's safe to assume that Violet Hill will appear sometime before, around, or on June 17.[Via X3F]
Guitar Hero: On Tour promo video makes grown men cry
If you've been wondering just how you're going to play Guitar Hero on the DS, the answer is upon you. For the extreme in cringe-worthy videos, we present the Guitar Hero: On Tour promo, replete with some of the worst faux-rock music and singing your ears and eyes have ever been subjected to. If this doesn't make you want to impale yourself on the nearest sharp object, nothing will. We're not sure if they were going for irony here -- all we see is fail... oh, and the game looks pretty impossible to play too. Video after the break.[Via Digg]
Guitar Hero World Tour debuted
A little earlier today Activision CEO Bobby Kotick debuted Guitar Hero World Tour to the audience at D -- but he wasn't content doing something trite like picking up a guitar (or drums) and playing himself. Oh no, he trotted out Paula Abdul (to judge), and Tony Hawk and Brody Jenner as the front-men for the virtual band. The video's after the break; it's a little bit front-heavy during the introduction, but there's certainly enough gameplay footage in there to get a basic idea of what to expect: Rock Band.
Guitar Hero: On Tour video of genius
Our two immediate thoughts upon loading up this Guitar Hero: On Tour "How To Rock Out" video: Pshaw, like we really need anyone telling us how to rock out Ugh, not this Patrick Fugit wannabe from the first trailer again As it turns out, despite the almost Almost Famous kid, it's a hilarious video very reminiscent of Budweiser's "Real Men of Genius" campaign! And, even when the accompanying singer gets annoying towards the end, the video stays informative with previews of multiplayer attacks -- like swapping their screens or sending shirts for your opponents to autograph. "Now, who do I make it out to? To your mama?"%Gallery-19362%
