guitar
Latest
Friday Video: Just wait 'til we get Jam Sessions ....
This week was such a killer on the news front that we decided it might be a good idea to seek out a kinder, gentler week-ending video. Something ... soothing. And something that makes us all wish we could play the guitar as well as this guy does as he picks out the Mario theme. Check it out after the jump.Of course, we've got to ask: anyone else playing (or trying to play) game themes on their own?
Rock Band's dubious $300 Gamestop price
Gamestop listed prices for EA/MTV/Harmonix mega-title Rock Band's peripherals and we sincerely hope there is an error. Before going any further, please take this info with a brick of salt until we've received official word on pricing from the cluster of companies involved in handling this title. Also, Gamestop's website is notoriously unreliable in early pricing. So, here we go, just prepare yourself: Rock Band - $59.99 (No shock there, Xbox 360 and PS3 both listed) Rock Band drums set - $79.99 (Yikes) Rock Band microphone - $49.99 (Wha?) Rock Band guitar controller - $59.99 (No, get serious now) Rock Band wireless guitar - $79.99 (ARE YOU FRACKIN' ... wait, wait, wireless controller, hmm?) The cost of Rock Band, according to this very early, very dubious, listing would come in at $309.95 wired ($349.95 wireless). Did EA and Harmonix flat-out err in judgement going into the peripheral manufacturing business on their own, or does Gamestop simply need to update their pricing? Turn the insanity up to 11 if this is true. Now, how do we afford our Rock n' Roll lifestyle?Update: Apparently this issue came up a month ago. A representative for Rock Band said at the time, "Let me nip this one in the bud right now. Those are estimated prices and not official in any even remote way. We haven't even decided on prices ultimately, much less announced them." Then why are these "estimated" numbers still floating out there and shouldn't somebody pick up the phone and go tell Gamestop corporate? If these prices are merely "estimates," they're the bad kind of estimation.[Thanks Vlad]
Xbox 360's Guitar Hero II axe: now shredding in OS X
Ah, the sequence of events is nearly complete. First, we get the Xbox 360 axe rockin' on the console itself, and then comes the inevitable hacks to get it rollin' on Windows, and without further adu, we present the ability to melt those plastic frets on OS X. Thanks to an impressive development from TattieBogle (v0.5), a USB driver which purportedly "allows the use of wired Xbox 360 controllers via USB" on your OS X-based machine is finally available. Apparently, it actually works fairly well to boot, so if you've been pouting over your Mac not being able to enjoy the same face melting Guitar Hero II niceties as the other guys, be sure to hit the read link and get your download on.[Via Joystiq]
DS Daily: GHDS
In case you missed it, Guitar Hero, rhythm-game-turned-pop-icon, has been announced for the Nintendo DS. "Rock on!" we thought, excited to get our shred on during bowel movements bus rides. And as we picture it, we can ... wait ... what the hell are we picturing?We love Elite Beat Agents, but we really hope there's a unique flavor to the gameplay. If you were lead designer, how would you guys implement the controls? Would you retain the common five-fret board, or mix it up entirely? We've seen guitar applications on the DS before; will any of those be plagiarized? [Note: Image from VGSPlayer, a Guitar Hero training program.]
Guitar tuned for makeshift IR decoding
While its practicality may be somewhat limited, we've got to give some props to Benjamin Eckel for finding what is surely one of the most geeky uses for a guitar yet devised: turning that otherwise wailing axe into a makeshift IR decoder. In true DIY fashion, Benjamin admits that he doesn't entirely understand how the whole thing works, but he assures us that it does, requiring nothing more than a WAV editor and a means of hooking the guitar up to your PC. You'll still have to do the hard work of deciphering the waveforms yourself, however, which should prove to be endless good times.[Via Hack a Day]
Taking air guitar to higher levels
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Taking_air_guitar_to_higher_levels_Nintendo_Wii_Fanboy'; Forget Guitar Hero -- these guys are doing it for themselves. Turning the Wii controls into a guitar, that is, and it's pretty awesome. Clearly, this guy doesn't need no instructions to know how to rock. Half the fun of the Wii has been seeing all of the creative uses people have drummed up for the controls. Hit the jump to see this latest in action.
Confirmation and vague release window on Guitar Hero DS
At this point, we think it may be safe to assume that any and all awesome franchises will appear in some form on the DS ... and as long as they put some effort in, hey, we're not complaining. At last, Kai Huang, president and founder of RedOctane, confirmed to GameSpot that the company is looking at a DS Guitar Hero for release early next year. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to have said anything else about it, but if we're a year away, there may not be much to say. Of course, We're curious about the approach they're going to take with the portable Guitar Hero games; there's even a version set for mobile phones, and so we can only guess they're looking at several control options. We predicted an Elite Beat Agents-style scheme, and we're sticking to that for now.
Red Octane looses Guitar Hero II patch for Xbox 360
We're not quite ready to consider this a coincidence, but the hard-working souls over at Red Octane have officially unleashed a patch for the malfunctioning Guitar Hero II axes just in time for the weekend. Recently, it was claimed that axes sporting 95065 and 95055 model numbers could lose responsiveness in the whammy bar, but thanks to Xbox Live, users can download the patch and get back to unadulterated rockin' right away. So what are you waiting for? Finish up those finger exercises, fire up your console, and let us know if in fact the downloadable solution mends the problem.[Via Joystiq]
Playing Halo PC with a ... guitar?
Trying to use the Guitar Hero II guitar controller for other applications may be a tad difficult, especially if you try to play a first person shooter with it. But AMarine decided to do just that and setup his guitar to control Master Chief on Halo PC. After mapping the buttons and demoing it in game we're going to say it seems ... awkward. But that's expected. We totally give AMarine props for taking the jump and trying it out, but would love to see someone crazy enough to master the use of the guitar in Halo. That's the challenge guys, get twenty kills in a ranked Halo PC game using the Guitar Hero II guitar as a controller and send us the vid. Anyone up for the challenge? [Via 360style.net]
Guitar Hero 3 headed to the Wii this Fall? [update 1]
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Guitar_Hero_3_headed_to_the_Wii_this_Fall'; Sure, it doesn't take Nostradamus to predict that the gaming world will be receiving Guitar Hero 3. Even with the popularity of the franchise, we have to be honest and say we didn't expect the franchise would be hitting the Wii and we certainly hoped that, if it were to happen, the Wii wouldn't receive just another port of Guitar Hero 2. Turns out, we all may be lucky come this Fall as, according to Red Octane's customer support website, the Wii (along with a bunch of other systems) will be receiving Guitar Hero 3.For those about to rock, we salute you ... Update: Red Octane has changed the information on their page, taking out the information about Guitar Hero 3.[Thanks, Juan!]
Buy Tony Hawk's board-burdened GH guitar, help starving musicians
Here's a charity item we guarantee no one has ever auctioned off before: a Guitar Hero controller bonded to a skateboard fragment -- with Tony Hawk's siggy, no less. Bidding starts at $100 and proceeds go to the MusiCares organization, which catches panhandling musicians in a delicate safety net and provides them with "critical assistance" (read: not a record deal). Some 29 other celeb- and rocker-decorated GH controllers are also up on eBay to support the cause.For anyone hoping for more than just a geeky display piece, please note the fine print: "Owing to customization, the controller is offered solely as an art object and is not guaranteed to have retained any functionality; buyers who choose to connect the controller to a console do so at their own risk." (Ever seen a skate-guitar asplode...?)[Via IGN]
School of Rock: free Guitar Hero strategy guide
If there's one thing we like, it's a really well-done strategy guide. Add the words free and video to that guide, and you had us at free. The video part is just a bonus. It sure beats the old days of searching Usenet and praying that someone had posted a way to beat the uber-boss on level nine.GameAlmighty has put together a top-notch strategy guide for Guitar Hero to help you rock yourself to high-scores. It does get a bit dry at times, but thankfully the videos are brief and informative. It's not quite a face-melting tribute to rockmania, but it'll improve your thrashing for sure.However, it probably won't help you if you've got whammy bar problems.
DeVillian's Centerfold guitar sees release
First designed by airline pilot Fredrik Johansson all the way back in 2004, the newly-named and self-descriptive Centerfold guitar is now finally seeing the light of day courtesy of DeVillian Guitar Co., with the company now accepting orders for the flip-and-fold axe. According to the company, that portability doesn't come at the expense of quality, with the guitar supposedly staying in tune throughout the whole contortion process, and high-end components used to ensure you'll get your money's worth. We certainly hope that's the case, as you'll have to drop a full $3,370 for the pleasure of tossing one of these in your backpack.[Via Wired: Gadget Lab]
Just because: Jam Sessions video
This Jam Sessions video is just too great -- we love the way it's shot, so that it looks like the guy is actually playing a guitar, and then ... oho! Behold, for it is a DS Lite. What can't the DS do? We keep waiting for it to just take over the world. While we await our new DS overloards, hit the jump for the video.
Guitar HeroNoid will melt your face off at Guitar Hero
Screw robots that play real instruments, the new hotness is all about robots that play fake instruments. Like, video game fake instruments, as in Guitar Hero. Enter Guitar HeroNoid, the real robot that shreds fake axe and melts real face. Supposedly capable of seeing the screen and jamming with the best of us meatsacks, we think it's time we show these would-be robot overlords what's what. You may be more efficient at manual tasks, robots, but hell no do you have the soul of a musician. And hell no can you reach that wammy bar -- yet!
We're hot for the Van Halen-style DS
Now this is how you play Jam Sessions. Flickr user Mr. Atrocity and his girlfriend gave their DS systems (both Phat, and we're happy to see people sporting them) custom paint jobs-- his a replica of Eddie Van Halen's guitar finish, and hers a lavender with gold details. Not only does the gallery contain pretty pictures of modded systems, but it is a great tutorial for spraypainting your own DS, which is exactly the kind of thing you should have a tutorial for, unless you want to play New Super B Button Is Stuck Down Bros. or Trauma Center: Under the Red Blob.
DS Daily: We just want to talk about Jam Sessions some more
It's been a popular topic of discussion lately-- the DS guitar simulator/toy/thing that Ubisoft is surprisingly localizing for a US audience. For some of us, weirdly enough, it was the biggest story to come out of GDC. We're still actually not sure why Ubisoft, a company generally known to play it safe and never release anything that hasn't already been released on other systems, decided to pick up something that isn't even a game. A misguided attempt to jump on the Guitar Hero bandwagon, perhaps?Whatever the reason, we heart Ubisoft for doing it. We haven't made any attempt to hide it: we are eager to try Jam Sessions. We want it to be out right now. We don't care that it isn't a game, or whatever.So what about you commenters? Are you ready to strum-- but not solo-- on a virtual guitar doodad? Have you learned to stop worrying and love the non-game?
We love non-games now: Jam Sessions preview
We know Electroplankton sort of covered the musical DS toy thing, but we are so impressed with every aspect of Jam Sessions. It sounds great, it looks fun, the interface, while a little homebrew-looking, is just ... pleasant. Look at that floral background!We now know a little more about Jam Sessions, like that it will come loaded with 20 licensed songs to play along with, complete with lyrics, and that your playing is limited to strumming rather than picking individual notes-- sorry, no solos. You can also change the sound of your guitar, adding distortion and delay effects. There's still no game attached, just songs you can play along with, or freeform strumming.This game (well, toy) just goes so far against what usually gets released in the US in so many ways. It looks totally fun and totally relaxing.Check out a couple of screens after the break.[Via GoNintendo]
From Eigo Zuke to Jam Sessions
Newsweek's N'Gai Croal, who reported the news that Ubisoft would be localizing Hiite Utaeru DS Guitar M-06 as Jam Sessions, has posted an interview with Seth Delackner of Plato, the director of the "game". The story of how Delackner got to create a guitar simulator is pretty surprising: he was hired to program a sequel to the English training game Eigo Zuke. But Nintendo decided to handle the programming themselves as they had for the first game, leaving Plato with a DS programmer, a DS development kit, and no projects. The team brainstormed new ideas, and came up with a music game.As a demo, Delackner put together a little program that allowed the user to "strum" over a line on the touchscreen to play guitar samples. Plato loved it, Nintendo loved it, and Hiite Utaeru DS Guitar M-06 was born.It's no secret that we love music games, so expect more on Jam Sessions as we hear it. We want the story on that beautiful, but random boxart.
Ubisoft is going to publish Jam Sessions
Remember that Guitar-type game on the DS? Well, we're happy to inform that Ubisoft is going to be publishing the title stateside, allowing all of us to live the dream of being a rock star whilst still getting our gaming fix. It's like a delicious sandwich that is chock full of peanut butter (that would be Jam Sessions) and fluffer nutter (and that would be the DS Lite). Wait ... what would that make the bread, then? You? We didn't really think that through and are, honestly, kind of hungry right now ...Grumbling stomach aside, the game will be releasing in June. For those unaware, the game turns the DS into a tiny guitar, where the stylus is used to pluck strings and create music. Using the d-pad and shoulder buttons, you can switch the tone of the notes you're playing, allowing for a wide variety of different tones from your virtual guitar.
