Guitar-Hero
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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]
TAC Freedom V wireless problem and how to fix
The Ant Commandos, makers of the Freedom V Wireless guitar for Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II, have contacted Joystiq about a problem being reported with the latest Freedom V shipment. This issue only affects the most recent shipment of Freedom V guitars. Turns out the black foam, which was recently added, surrounding the battery pack is causing the wireless guitar to lose connection. Fixing the problem is as simple as "removing this foam padding from the battery pack." Once again, this only affects Freedom V Wireless units purchased recently and fixing the problem involves removing the black foam around the battery pack. That'll be all, rock on!
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.
RedOctane dropping new Xbox 360 Guitar Hero II info tomorrow
RedOctane will be rockin' the Xbox 360 world tomorrow when they make their announcement regarding the upcoming release of Guitar Hero II for that console. They are expected to confirm the March release date, and to cover the new songs this version will have. TeamXbox has the scoop on almost all of the ten new tracks that 360 players will get, which is ten more than the PS2 version for a total of 74. Additionally, Xbox Live will let rockers download songs from the original Guitar Hero (hope that includes the ones you can buy, like The Slip's "Even Rats"), as well as the ability to purchase new songs in the future.Check out their complete coverage, and stay tuned (get it? tuned? Okay, slap us) tomorrow for more after the word hits the show floor.
What if... you could learn real guitar through games?
When the New York Times wrote about the PC Recording Studio Guitar (a guitar that plugs in to a Mac or PC via USB), we wondered immediately whether the device could be used for a more authentic guitar-hero experience. Instead of mindless entertainment that does little to advance skills that are appreciated by the non-gaming public, game technology could be used to teach us skills that might help us climb the Maslovian pyramid to self actualization. If a capable game developer were to write a strong rhythm game that used a real guitar as a controller, we'd gladly slap down the 200 bones required to learn guitar. It'd be a steal, and an investment in the future.
Sony hates music games: no Traxion or Frequency?
IGN's David Doel recently had a conversation with Harmonix, the development team behind games like Frequency and Guitar Hero. The team proposed a sequel to the fan-favorite Frequency and Amplitude for the PSP, however Sony declined their request. The music game would've been well suited for the PSP, as the excellent gameplay of other music games, like Gitaroo-Man, show.However, to add insult to injury, it appears that the other music game heading to the PSP, Traxion, has also been canned. This music game from LucasArts was supposed to allow players to import their own songs into the game, a "Frequency-killer," as reported by IGN's nixice. He didn't give a reason, but it's sad to see that the music genre seems to be so neglected on our handheld.
Frets on Fire - OSS Guitar Hero Clone
Guitar Hero was a huge hit for the PlayStation 2 console. Using a special guitar shaped controller you could "play" a variety of rock hits, hitting the fret buttons in time to on-screen cues. Well now there's an Open Source cross platform clone of Guitar Hero called Frets on Fire which includes support for OS X. The program was originally designed to be played with a keyboard, but at least with the Windows version, you can use the actual Guitar Hero controller (along with a PlayStation 2 to USB adapter) to play Frets on Fire on the computer. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to determine if the controller also works with the Mac. So anybody out there "jamming" on the Mac with the Guitar controller?[Edit: those of you having trouble on PPC check out this forum thread]Thanks, Carlo.
PS2 controller on Xbox 360, keyboard n' mouse too
At $79.99, TeamXtender's XFPS 360, a keyboard and mouse adapter that also sports a PlayStation 2 device port, is no impulse buy. But, aside from being an obvious investment for PC-trained gamers, XFPS 360 promises some bizarre possibilities by way of its PS2 port. Never mind that wielding your Dual Shock 2 to rip apart the Locust is so inappropriately rad, dude, try pluggin' in your (Guitar Hero) guitar and thrashing RAAM to death!The XFPS 360 is scheduled to ship in early January via Video Game Advantage (official retailer of TeamXtender products).[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Tigers pitcher sidelined by too much Guitar Hero
While the Wii may be getting most of the attention for video game-related injuries, it's not the only non-conventional controller capable of causing some serious bodily harm -- and as this latest incident shows, not even professional athletes are safe. When Detroit Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya was sidelined for the first three games of the American League Championship Series earlier this year, the cause of his bad arm was kept under wraps. But now the source of his ailment has finally been revealed, with team president and general manager Dave Dombrowski telling WXYT-AM that too much Guitar Hero was to blame -- after Zumaya gave up the game, his arm improved enough to pitch in the World Series. Of course, this all could have been avoided if he'd rigged up a full-size guitar for Guitar Hero instead of rocking out for hours on end with the bundled pint-sized piece of plastic that dares call itself an axe.[Via PC World]
Guitar Hero benches big leaguer
When Detroit Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya was benched during October's American League Championship series with inflammation in his right arm, Tigers Athletic Director Kevin Rand theorized it was because the pitcher was "playing in different times now, different weather." Turns out the actual problem was not different weather but a different game -- specifically, Guitar Hero.The Detroit Free Press is reporting that Tigers manager Dave Dombrowski told WXYT-AM yesterday that Zumaya's injury recurrence came from excessive virtual guitar shredding, not from excessive baseball throwing. Once the Tigers training staff realized the injuries were "more consistent with the action of a guitar player than a baseball pitcher," Zumaya stopped playing the game and recovered in time to pitch in three World Series games.We can't help but question Zumaya's priorities here. While pitching in the World Series is important, think of the damage done to Zumaya's Guitar Hero career during this hiatus. We can only hope practice and hard work during the off-season will bring him back to top shredding form.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
NPR chats up older gamers
NPR's Alex Cohen spoke to some older gamers recently on Day to Day and she found out, courtesy of Nintendo's George Harrison, that seniors play games differently than the 18 to 34 year-old demographic. Well, duh. They cut his sound bite short however, because he starts going into his standard boilerplate speech about how games have gotten so complex with multiple joysticks and buttons, but they want to change all that with the Wii, etc etc. Cohen goes on to find out how arthritis keeps a 70 year old woman from playing Guitar Hero, but she manages to kick butt with her grandson in Final Fantasy XII. She has 13(!) grandkids and goes on to say that she thinks playing games keeps the mind active. Gamer grandma kicking your ass, FTW!Here are some interesting facts from the piece: 25% of all gamers are over the age of 50 A third of all Baby Boomers polled want a next-gen system for Christmas That hot buxom blonde you play with in Guild Wars might be older than your mom You can listen to the show here. Of course, if you're over the age of 50 and reading our site, you probably heard this show on NPR already, right after catching Matlock. We keed! We keed! Everyone knows that Murder, She Wrote is far superior.
DIY Guitar Hero controller
Toolmonger is offering up a how-to guide for building a custom Guitar Hero controller -- using a real guitar! Be warned, it's a difficult task, as the original modders can attest. It took Toolmonger a full 75 hours of dirty work (read: deconstruction, cutting, and mangling). Thankfully, the site documented the process down to the minutest detail. Did you know that cat-5 networking cable is the ideal wire to run inside the neck?Alternatively, you can try your luck at winning the modded guitar during "Funde Razor II," an event to raise money for Child's Play.[Via Hack A Day]
NES Paul, the Gibson for gamers
Guitars plus game consoles equals Guitar Hero, right? Wrong, at least if the person behind the NES Paul project has anything to say about it. No, your eyes are not deceiving you: what you're looking at here is really one man's original Nintendo console modded into a working electric guitar. Strangely, you sometimes have to blow into the cartridge bay to get it working, but we'd still take it over a Fender any day -- sharp NES-edges be damned![Via MAKE]
Play Guitar Hero with your shirt (on)
Australian scientists have sewn together a shirt capable of transforming your air guitar techniques into real music. Both elbows are equipped with motion sensors that detect chord picking and strumming movements. The data is then sent wirelessly to a computer, which outputs your fevered thrashing into sweet riffs.The applications for this new technology are practically limitless, but we'd be satisfied if it made its way into the next Guitar Hero. Did we mention there are tambourine and percussion shirts too?[Thanks, Jose]
Play what in 2007?
With the recent release of Gears of War you may be asking yourself, "man this game roxorz, but what other games can I look forward to in 2007?" It's okay my friend we're here to enlighten you, because About.com compiled a nice list of the most anticipated Xbox 360 games dropping in 2007. I'm already saving up for games like BioShock, Lost Planet, Halo 3 (duh), Alan Wake, Too Human, Assassin's Creed, and Guitar Hero II. I'm going to shed a tear ... just look at what we'll be playing in 2007.[Via, Digg]
Win Guitar Hero II, 'graphed by Dave Navarro
So, maybe the hardcore Guitar Hero thrashers that queued up at the LA Best Buy Monday night didn't care if it was Dave Navarro or Trogdor pimping the sequel to the hit rockstar simulator (groupies and crippling drug addiction not included). But that didn't stop us from getting him to autograph a guitar (and box), along with some Guitar Hero II posters.Of course, we're going to give everything away to a handful of lucky readers. The rules are simple Record a video of yourself playing Guitar Hero 1 (pizza suit optional) Upload that video to Netscape with the tag "GH2contest" Double check to make sure you tagged it right ... otherwise, no prize for you! Vote on your favorite entries, conveniently compiled at Netscape.com/tag/gh2contest We'll give the autographed guitar and game to the entry with the most votes, while the two runners-up will each get a t-shirt and autographed poster So, those are the entry rules ... but what about the fine print? Pretty simple: the contest will be open for three weeks, so you've got some time to get something together; you need to be a US resident (or at least know someone in the US who can receive your prize for you); and you need to own the video content you upload, you can't just submit something you found on the net.
Dave Navarro & Guitar Hero II at Best Buy coverage [update 1]
Hot guitar strummin' and finger pickin' action collided with the corporate man at Best Buy in Los Angeles on Monday, with Dave Navarro (because real rockers love the game too) on hand to promote Guitar Hero II, and Joystiq was there. We lined up about half an hour early to get pix and vids, quietly slipping in amidst the obsessive fans of either Navarro or this game. After talking to about a dozen people, we realized that they could have sent James Taylor to plug this thing, and the same people would've shown up. Everyone was stoked for the midnight release of the game, and one hardcore fan even drove up from San Diego, just to get his axe signed.A representative from BB handed tickets out and told us that they were only giving out 50 so that you could get in line to have things signed. Once they finally opened the doors and let us flood in, we spent some time at the various demo stations they had set up (with pretty sweet speaker systems that looked like they were on loan from a K.I.S.S. concert), and then dutifully took our spot in the signing line. We grabbed a game en route to the table and pulled the guitar out of the box, got it signed by Navarro, and then -- surprise! We were told that Activision was buying the game for those first 50 tickets. Score! Big announcement about that guitar & game soon on Joystiq, so keep your eyes open.Pictures and video after the jump, but sadly no Carmen Electra since she and Dave went splitsville earlier in the summer.[Update: added some rockers]
Guitar Hero 2 experts are already better than you
You might think that today's release of Guitar Hero 2 marks the official start of the race to master the game's new songs. But that would be naive. The real battle for Guitar Hero perfection started when the demo was released to the general public in Official Playstation Magazine issue 110. In honor of the official release of the game, we've scrounged up some highly-variable-quality videos showing off some people who are already on their way to true Guitar Heroism.
