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Deal of the Day: Guitar Hero III bundle for $60
If you missed out on this generation of music gaming, this deal from amazon.com may help kickstart the habit. The Guitar Hero III bundle, which includes a wireless guitar, is now available for $60. Yeah, that's expensive ... but that's $40 cheaper than standard MSRP.While we're pretty sure this guitar will work in the upcoming Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero IV, don't expect to use it in Rock Band. If you don't care about cross-series compatibility, this is a pretty stellar deal.[Via slickdeals.net]
Game with the dev girls of Guitar Hero III
Tonight, if you're too good to join our super cool and totally manly X3F Live event, you can join the Guitar Hero III development team for some rockin' gaming tonight as part of Xbox.com's Game with Developers initiative. Oh, and only the female GHIII developers will be participating ... if that matters or anything. Hit up the GwD page for a list of (female) developer gamertags and join in on the GHIII fun at 9:30PM eastern tonight. Just please, we beg you, keep your hormones in check.
Rumorong: Rock Band tracks not on South Park: Season 11 DVDs
The website which reported that three Rock Band tracks would be packaged with the South Park: Season 11 DVDs has now taken that bit of info back. TVShowsonDVD.com says that a Paramount representative informed them the information was incorrect, but that there will be other bonus materials in the release. South Park's eleventh season had the infamous "Guitar Queer-o" episode.Considering South Park had an entire episode about Guitar Hero, it would have been a little weird if the DVDs came with Rock Band downloads. However things got mixed up, it's a little sad to see the info turn out false -- unless the "bonus materials" end up being Guitar Hero III tracks.[Via X3F]
South Park Rock Band tracks ditched
Remember earlier in the month when we mentioned that the eleventh season of South Park on DVD would include three mystery Rock Band tracks? Well, the mystery has been solved and those songs are ... nothing, nothing at all. Yes, it seems a studio spokesperson has confirmed the three-tracks were not happening after all and that retailers actually had incorrect information.If we could speculate for a second as to why. Considering South Park had an entire episode dedicated to Guitar Hero and that the concept art for the eleventh season DVD set shows Stan and Kyle rocking out to Guitar Hero-style controllers it's possible that the tracks were never intended for Rock Band but for ... you guessed it, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. But why would a retail insider say Rock Band? Well, for the same reason your mother calls all your videogames Nintendo. They just don't know the difference.The studio spokesperson did say new details on the set are coming soon, so stay tuned.[Thanks, Will B.]
Activision boasts 15 million Guitar Hero song downloads
Not to be outdone by its more innovative brother Rock Band, Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith revealed the Guitar Hero franchise has recently surpassed 15 million individual song downloads. The announcement was made during a recent earnings call where Activision also revealed future plans of the Tony Hawk, Call of Duty and James Bond licenses.Viacom, owner of Harmonix, recently announced Rock Band has reached the 10 million song download mark.It's notable that the Guitar Hero announcement seems to relate to both Guitar Hero II (Xbox 360) and Guitar Hero III (Xbox 360 and PS3) downloads while the Rock Band announcement appears to be a combination of Xbox 360 and PS3 online sales. While Harmonix and Activision continue their urinating contest over numbers, we'll just assume both are doing well in the content sales department for future reference.[via Joystiq]
Guitar Hero III Muse DLC arrives on the XBLM
Oh teh noez! Sifting through the news today we discovered that we forgot to remind everyone that there's new Muse Guitar Hero III downloadable content on the XBLM. But we're only a few days late on our reporting, so that's not all that bad ... right? We still cool? Sweet. Available for 500 Microsoft points is a Muse Track Pack featuring the master tracks "Exo-Politics", "Stockholm Syndrome" and "Supermassive Black Hole". Now that you're in the know, go purchase some Muse DLC and rock out.
Strum with your feet! Ben Heck goes Guitar Hero
It's been a looong time since the first 360 Laptop, and console modder extraordinaire, Ben Heckendorn, has been busy. His newest project is designed to allow users to use their Guitar Hero controllers with a single hand. The controller plugs into a modified Guitar Hero 3 Les Paul wireless controller, and operates the strumming and whammy. Placing ones foot into the pedal depresses the heel and inserts ones toes into the metal trough. Tapping your toes and foot up and down is the equivalent of strumming, and raising your heel is the equivalent of the whammy bar. Plus, they look cool. From laptops to controllers, you're doing some pretty unique things Ben, keep up the great work!More kick-ass photos after the break.
Guitar Hero III getting triple-pack of Muse on May 8
It seems that Activision has stumbled across the correct formula for getting us to drop our drumsticks and don our trusty, dusty Les Paul peripherals -- a three-song DLC pack for Guitar Hero III featuring the music of the epic British prog-rock trio, Muse. As of May 8, "Supermassive Black Hole" and "Exo-Politics" from their 2006 album Black Holes and Revelations as well as the fan-favorite "Stockholm Syndrome" from 2003's Absolution will be available to download for a heretofore unannounced price (we're assuming it will match the $6.25 price of former GHIII packs). We've got videos for all three tunes after the jump -- go decide which ones are purchase-worthy! (Hint: All of them.)
GHIII to get a three pack of Muse DLC
Activision just sent word that a three song pack of new Guitar Hero III downloadable content is making its way to the XBLM featuring British rockers Muse. The Muse Track Pack will be available for purchase on Thursday, May 8th and feature their three hits "Exo-Politics", "Supermassive Black Hole" and "Stockholm Syndrome" all for (what we expect) to cost 500 Microsoft points. You can check out the complete press release after the break.
Another Week in Europe
Featuring charts from across the region, Another Week in Europe documents the buying habits and quirky tastes of a whole continent of Wii lovers. While yours truly had trouble tracking down a copy of Mario Kart Wii on the high street (for our review), it appears plenty of others around Europe had no such problem.Bar Denmark (where it has now dropped to fifth), the title sits at the top of every European chart, and we suspect it might even be influencing the sales of other games. Surely the rise of Mario Kart DS to 8th in Ireland, 8th in France, and 7th in Germany can't all be a mere coincidence? By our reckoning, Mario Kart Wii has ramped up Europe's interest in Mario Kart generally. Fortunately, Mario Kart DS is the bee's knees!Finally, this week's overachiever award goes to Sega Superstars Tennis -- despite the Wii version's lack of online play, Sega's tennis/blue skies extravaganza climbed to fourth in the UK. Head beyond the break for more European chartage, and please accept our humble apologies for the lack of a Spanish top ten -- that should be back next week.
Guitar Hero III Def Leppard tracks now available
For your downloadable content information, Guitar Hero III's previously announced Def Leppard Track Pack is now available for purchase off the XBLM. The track pack includes three Def Leppard songs including the two live tracks "Nine Lives" and "Photograph" as well as the master recording of "Rock of Ages" all for 500 Microsoft points. Which, for analytical minds, breaks down to around 166 MS points per song. GHIII DLC, it's rare, so grab it before it magically disappears.
Poking holes in the New York Times's claims
Refuting perceived negative statements against your console of choice is usually a very petty, fanboy kind of thing to do, but the New York Times' recent coverage of the Wii's terrible attach rate deserves it. The article has some problems that make the Wii seem to be in a worse situation than it is, though we don't know whether it's an intentional angle or a bit of haphazard reporting. John Scalzo of the Video Game Librarian blog identified some of the issues. Scalzo identifies the paper's dependence on numbers from VGChartz (a "a team of analysts who study video-game sales"), their claim that Smash Bros. sales have tanked, and their spurious analysis of Guitar Hero III sales as noticeable problems with the coverage. The last is especially startling: the NYT claims that "Guitar Hero, for example, sold 2.2 million copies for the Wii, but 2.8 million copies for the Xbox 360 and almost 5 million for two versions of the PlayStation," bringing in the PS2 to make its point. "The only way the author could get the numbers he was looking for," Scalzo said, "was to combine the sales of Guitar Hero III on the PS2 and PS3 to push it past the Wii."Hit the break for some of our own thoughts on the article.
Google employees rock out to ... 360 dashboard?
In today's edition of what's wrong with this picture, we present to you a "candid" photograph of a few Google Zurich employees taking some time off from their Googling stresses in the company's Guitar Hero III lounge. So, what's wrong with the picture? (begin obnoxiously long Jeopardy thinking music ...) Time's up! The problem with this candid photo is that it really isn't all that candid, it's actually very staged. The GHIII intensity seen in the Google workers' eyes is actually the result of playing the Xbox 360 dashboard. Yup, on the screen to the left you can see exactly what they see. No intense GHIII face-off, it's just the 360's dash. Staged photos FTL ...
Toyota and Guitar Hero III pull an All-Nighter
The driving fools at Toyota and the strumming chaps at Activision have set forth plans for an Xbox Live All-Nighter event where gamers are encouraged to rock out with friends on Guitar Hero III until the early AM hours. Beginning April 26th through the 27th, gamers can register for the All-Nighter fun by downloading the registration picture off the XBLM, then enter by pulling an All-Nighter. After you awake from your crash, you can then complete a writeup of you All-Nighter festivities and send it Microsoft's way. For your efforts, you could win a super nifty (and fully functioning) Peavey AG RiffMaster guitar complete with custom All-Nighter artwork. Check out all the event details after the jump.
GHSkinz adds style to your fake instruments
Folks looking to jazz up their plastic Les Pauls for Guitar Hero or instruments they'll be jamming with in Rock Band, take note. Website GHSkinz is looking to offer you skins and other accessories for your fake instruments.The skins themselves look like they're high quality, but with that comes the problem of price. It won't be cheap to outfit your instruments. But, then again, when your guitar looks as badass as this, we're not sure you're going to care about how much you spent to make sure it looks this way.See also: Give your Rock Band drums some extra lives
Guitar Hero III still on sale at Amazon
You may have missed out on Amazon's Gold Box deals, but the online retailer is still selling Guitar Hero III for cheap. Sure, it's not as cheap, but it's $15 off the MSRP, nonetheless.Since the Les Paul guitar will cost you $59.99 alone, buying the set for $74.99 isn't too bad of a deal. Also, it seems that Amazon is selling the fixed edition of the game, so you won't have to worry about mono sound issues or future disc swapping with your purchase.[Thanks, David!]
PS3 Fanboy hands-on: Nyko's Front Man guitar
The popularity of games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero has created an extraordinary demand for guitar peripherals. However, many PS3 fans are left cold knowing that their Guitar Hero controllers won't work in Rock Band, and vice versa. It seems ridiculous to have a small army of guitar controllers lying around to play these two games. Thankfully, Nyko has an excellent solution.The Front Man guitar is an excellent option for those looking for an extra guitar. Unlike the official options from Activision and Harmonix, this third-party solution allows for playback on both games, with a simple flip of a switch. For those looking for one guitar that works with both music games, this is obviously an ideal choice.However, we found that the Front Man guitar is simply the best guitar available on the PS3. Like other guitars on the platform, you will need to connect a dongle to the system for it to work wirelessly. The dongle is rather cute, looking like a guitar foot pedal. There are lights on the front of the pedal, each corresponding to the five buttons you can press on the guitar. They light up according to what you're pressing down. Neat!
New Def Leppard single to hit GH3 before retail
We've known for a while that inclusion on a video game soundtrack can help drive music sales, but usually the song in question is actually available for sale when it appears in the game. Not so for Def Leppard's new single, "Nine Lives," which will premiere as a downloadable Guitar Hero III track before it's available at retail or other online services. No F-f-f-foolin'!The track, which comes as part of a Def Leppard pack along with classics "Rock of Ages" and "Photograph," will be available on April 24th in the U.S. and May 8th in the U.K. The album "Songs from the Sparkle Lounge" follows soon after on April 28 (digital download) and May 5 (physical disc)."I know from personal experience how much more you get into the music by playing the game," said Def Leppard Lead Singer Joe Elliott in a press release. "Guitar Hero is extremely popular with all kinds of music heads, which includes a lot of our fans - and we think releasing Nine Lives this way first is just fantastic!"[Via X3F]
Guitar Hero III gets Def Leppard DLC
It's been a while since we've heard any big Guitar Hero III news. The assault of Rock Band and its variety and scope of DLC shoved GHIII out of the limelight for many. Whether this new development is any sort of attempt to bring back the game's popularity or not, we can't help but think that this would do better in Rock Band. Basically, Def Leppard is going to be releasing its new single "Nine Lives" via GHIII before any retail or online release. The song will be available in a three song pack that will be online for download April 24th in the US and May 8th in the UK. The other two songs in the pack include "Rock of Ages" and "Photograph".
Guitar Hero III replacement process begins in Europe
Folks in Europe no longer have to be the only Guitar Hero III owners suffering through the game in mono sound, as Activision has finally started the replacement process in the neglected continent. In order to register for your replacement discs, just go to this site, enter the appropriate information, and print out the shipping label. Then, you just send out your glitched version and wait for your new disc to arrive.Better late than never, we suppose.[Thanks, Ashlee and Locke2007!]
