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New peripheral may be part of DS Guitar Hero III package
It's no surprise that Activision is putting a lot of thought into getting git-box game Guitar Hero III on the go, but exactly how they plan on doing it may be a little clearer after a new interview with RedOctane cofounder Charles Huang. He says that a special peripheral on the DS is "definitely one of the options" they're exploring, adding, "the DS peripheral is very intriguing to us. It's an integral part of the Guitar Hero experience, so as much as possible, we would like to keep it within the experience as long as it makes sense and it plays well."Dearest Activision, unless you already have a patent firmly squared away, we would like to humbly offer our prototype as seen above. Please contact us for the mailing address where you can send the giant novelty check for $1 billion dollars.[Via DSF]
Guitar Hero III DS may include a peripheral
At this point, even if there hadn't been official confirmation, it would be no surprise that Guitar Hero III is on the way to the DS. Never mind that the DS is ill-suited for the Guitar Hero experience-- it's a game console.At least there's evidence that the RedOctane/Neversoft/Activision Power Team is considering ways to make the DS less ill-suited for the game, including the method they used to make the original Guitar Hero something other than just a simplified Frequency: peripherals. "It's an integral part of the Guitar Hero experience, so as much as possible, we would like to keep it within the experience as long as it makes sense and it plays well," RedOctane's Charles Huang told CNET. Bring on the peripherals, RedOctane. The more ridiculous the better. We're already pretending we're playing guitar on the DS-- we don't need to look dignified doing it.
Stone Roses track revealed for Guitar Hero III
If you were among those who had an issue with the addition of a My Chemical Romance pack to Guitar Hero II yesterday, maybe your spirit will be lifted by this news: It was revealed at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival that the Stone Roses track "She Bangs the Drums" will be included on Guitar Hero III. If you're unfamiliar with the Roses, check out the entirety of their eponymous first album, considered by many to be one of the greatest pop records of all time.What's more, this is apparently just the start of the European-based song reveals, with more tunes that hail from Our Fanciest Continent to be revealed at the Leipzig Games Convention. We've still got our fingers crossed for Falco.
EA and Activision find mud, start slinging
We knew it had to happen eventually. EA and Activision have officially begun sniping one another in regards to Rock Band and Guitar Hero III. In one corner, you have Activision's Will Kassoy who sees Guitar Hero III as a highly accessible sequel in a genre-defining series. Furthermore, he says that Rock Band may prove too complicated for the average gamer, while Guitar Hero III offers fun for everyone. EA, naturally, takes a different stand. According to EA's Frank Gibeau, the various choices available in Rock Band (guitar, bass, drums, and vocals) is precisely what makes it accessible. As Gibeau notes, some folks would rather sing than play guitar. Which will ultimately win? Gamers will decide later this year.[Via Joystiq]
EA and Activision talk smack about rock battle
Activision and EA traded a few barbs with each other over this fall's Battle of the Brands, pitting upstart Rock Band against stalwart Guitar Hero III, over at GameDaily BIZ. Their arguments are about what you'd expect, with Activision saying that Rock Band isn't accessible enough and EA saying that Rock Band is, in fact, so very accessible that it makes handicap ramps look more like ramparts.While they're busy towing the company line, we're a little more interested in where you stand on the issue. Will you be venturing into the unknown? Or will you dance with who brought you, so to speak? Will you do both? Or, will you be like us and abandon both in favor of the secret dark horse: I Can Play Guitar.
Dash update preps 360 for wireless guitars
Major Nelson sends word that a Dashboard Update is now available. Users will be prompted to download the update the next time they sign into Xbox Live. Before everyone goes crazy looking for fabulous new features, you should know that this is not the Fall Update. Most of you probably figured this out, as it is still summer. All the update does is ready the 360 to accept those fabulous wireless guitars that ship with Guitar Hero III and Rock Band later this year. It's good to know that the 360 will play nice with the wireless guitars and all, but we'd really like to know how much they're going to cost.
Let the showdown begin: GHIII nabs Metallica
The gloves are off folks, after yesterday's revelation that Rock Band and Guitar Hero III would definitely be sharing songs, there was really only one other question that needed answering: what about Metallica? We know Metallica is in Rock Band, but what about Guitar Hero III? That question has been answered and answered well. As it turns out, Guitar Hero III will not only feature Metallica -- the news was slipped during an Activision conference call -- but the song to be featured is "One," and what's more, it's a master track. Metallica fans couldn't ask for much better than that. If the end result of having two competing music games is more awesome tracks for both of them, then we say bring on the competition.[Via Joystiq]
Metallica in Guitar Hero III, not just Rock Band
In a conference call where Activision re-tooted their own horn about how much money they made so far this year, they also let it slip that Metallica would be in Guitar Hero III. The song will be One, a master track off of Metallica's ...And Justive for All album. This may sound like old news, but you're probably getting confused with Rock Band also having Metallica. Yes, it is going to be hard to keep track of what games have which songs in this holiday rhythm showdown.During the conference call Activision also said that Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the '80s was the best-selling game on its first day in Activision history. They also said they are significantly increasing guitar production to meet the expected demand of Guitar Hero III this holiday season.
GHIII lays on 6 more tracks: Sabbath, AFI, more
Activision has announced the addition of 6 more tracks to Guitar Hero III. The new tracks consist of both newer bands like AFI and Queens of the Stone Age and classic groups like Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult. Check out the new tracks below. "Miss Murder," by AFI "3's and 7's," by Queens of the Stone Age "Raining Blood," by Slayer "Reptillia," by The Strokes "Paranoid," as made famous by Black Sabbath "Cities on Flame," as made famous by Blue Oyster Cult "Mississippi Queen," as made famous by Mountain As usual, pay close attention to the distinction between "by" and "as made famous by." In other words, 4 of the 7 new tracks are master recordings, leaving "Paranoid," "Cities on Flame," and "Mississippi Queen" as the only covers. We also must note that "Mississippi Queen" was featured in a leaked video of Rock Band shortly before E3 (the video has since been pulled). While its inclusion in Rock Band is far from official at this point, it will be interesting to see if Rock Band and Guitar Hero III wind up sharing songs. We've posted a list (politely cribbed from Joystiq) of the 22 officially announced tracks after the break.
Guitar Hero III Euro debut at Edinburgh festival
Europeans will get their first chance to play the game on the continent when Activision debuts Guitar Hero III at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival in a couple weeks. Codemasters will also premiere Turning Point and Rise of the Argonauts.The new Red Octane wireless controllers for Guitar Hero III are pretty sweet, especially now that they are travel and storage friendly. The festival runs August 13-14 and tickets are still available. If you can't make it to Edinburgh, Leipzig is sure to have your chance at Guitar Hero III the following week.
GHIII nabs DragonForce, Chili Peppers, more
The pleas of Guitar Hero fans everywhere have been answered. Yes, DragonForce will finally be featured in a Guitar Hero title, specifically Guitar Hero III. The fancy lads at ScoreHero have uncovered several new groups to be featured in the game including: The Red Hot Chili Peppers -- "Suck my Kiss" ZZ Top -- "La Grange" Iron Maiden -- "Number of the Beast" DragonForce -- "Through the Fire and Flames" Even better news, all the above tracks except "La Grange" are the master recordings. A new character by the name of Midori was also revealed, along with several new locations (we can't wait to see the Kaiju Megadome). Activision is adamant that Guitar Hero III is still a contender in the face of Rock Band. With impressive songs like these, as well as the ones we already know, they might be right.[Via Joystiq]
Chili Peppers, ZZ Top, Iron Maiden in Guitar Hero III
You're about to read a post about Guitar Hero, so go ahead and get the above video going to initiate face melting. Boy, those cats at Neversoft know how to take care of their fans. Not only did they fly members of fan community Score Hero out to check out Guitar Hero III, they let them get away with some new info. The first nugget, and the one you all care about, is four new songs. They are: "Suck My Kiss" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers "La Grange" by ZZ Top "Number Of The Beast" by Iron Maiden "Through The Fire And Flames" by DragonForce Of those, only "La Grange" isn't taken from the original master recordings. If you've forgotten what's already been announced, here's a refresher. SH also confirmed a new character ("Midori") and some of the locations like "Shanker's Island," "Desert Rock Tour" and "Kaiju Megadome." We know that GH III may not have the fancy drums and microphones of its competitors, but with a stellar song list like this, it sure won't be going down without a fight.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Activision: Guitar Hero III still a contender
In the face of Rock Band, Activision seemingly has an uphill battle on its hands with Guitar Hero III. As one of our blogging buddies on Joystiq put it, "if you have Rock Band and a guitar, you already have Guitar Hero." Naturally, the addition of more instruments would seem to expand this value even further. According to Activision Senior VP of Marketing, Will Kassoy, however, Guitar Hero III is not down and it's certainly not out. First of all, Kassoy notes that Harmonix (developers of Rock Band and previous GH games) are experienced in software, not hardware. In other words, the Rock Band peripherals may not stand up to the standards set by Red Octane. A little more on point, Kassoy notes that the two games are likely to have a very large price disparity, with Guitar Hero III on the winning end of the spectrum. This makes much more sense, although it's somewhat mooted by the fact that Rock Band will support Guitar Hero II controllers. Still, there is no denying that the cost of entry for GHIII is lower than aiming for the full experience of Rock Band, and that may work in Activision's favor.
Joystiq hands-on: Guitar Hero III
We got a lot of information on Guitar Hero III this week, we even got some solid time with Red Octane's wireless controllers, but what about the game? You can definitely tell Guitar Hero III, from a graphics perspective, was made by Neversoft instead of Harmonix (Guitar Hero I and II). The look is just "different" for better or for worse. For better is that the mouths actually move to the song now instead of just moving up and down, plus the game looks beautiful because it was designed for now-gen systems. For worse is that it just doesn't look like the first two, even the characters we've come to know and love look, um ... different. But it's not all about the graphics in GH, it's about the gameplay and music. As for the gameplay, it's Guitar Hero, the look may have changed, but the feel is still the same. We were told that many more artists are looking to be featured on Guitar Hero now that it is such a big hit, so there are far less "as made famous by" and far more original master tracks. The most amazing of which is "Paint it Black" by the Rolling Stones. Also, "Cult of Personality" was actually re-recorded by the original band Living Colour to bring it a little bit more up-to-date for Guitar Hero III -- but it is still most definitely the original song. The tracks already revealed for Guitar Hero III show that the game won't be lacking in the rock department.For fans of the series and for those who don't know all about the Guitar Hero vs. Rock Band kerfuffle, the transition should be relatively smooth. It is Guitar Hero after all and if you already have a guitar you'll be all set, or you can purchase a wireless one, available on all systems with the game, when it releases. The only thing that could resonate badly for the title is that one of the Joystiq crew came back to the room after playing Guitar Hero, having played Rock Band as well, and said, "It's great! It's just a little lonely." But as far as being a Guitar Hero game, Guitar Hero III looks and plays fine as a continuation of the series. Now we shall go seek red doors.%Gallery-4675%
Guitar Hero III, Rock Band guitar gaming round-up
There's been a lot of guitar gaming related news lately for some reason, starting with the spotting of a wired version of the Rock Band virtual guitar. Joystiq speculates that this could mean a cheaper guitar for the Xbox 360 version of the game, but then again they've been playing a lot of Rock Band lately so the rockin' out may be affecting their minds. The second tidbit of news comes from the ever informant FCC, which has just taken a look at the Guitar Hero III Les Paul. We've seen this particular model before a couple of times -- albeit without the black lick of paint -- so it's not a great surprise to see this hanging around at the Federal Comm' Comm'. A much bigger surprise is the fact that the FCC shots don't include blurred pictures of the approval team (and cameraman) rocking out: an FCC tester position evidently ≠ a rockstar lifestyle. You can also see hands-on with both Guitar Hero III and Rock Band over at Joystiq.Read - Guitar Hero III guitar at FCCRead - Wired Rock Band guitar?Read - Wii's wireless Rock Band guitarRead - Hands-on: Rock BandRead - First-look : Guitar Hero III
Wii's Guitar Hero III Les Paul unearthed
As the axe battle continues to heat up, here we have a first look at the Guitar Hero III controller for the Wii, which looks an awful lot like the first Les Paul-modeled iteration we saw -- save for that handy Wiimote slot and Nintendo-esque toggle switch, of course. Reportedly, the white faceplate is also removable, but we know the most of you won't want to disturb the color mojo that will be going on between your Wii and Gibson. Click on for an enlarged view.[Via Wii Fanboy]
Slash will rock out in Guitar Hero III
A new trailer for Guitar Hero III has dropped from the heavens of rock, and lo and behold, the game officially features legendary guitarist, Slash. Made famous by Guns N' Roses and now rocking with Velvet Revolver, Slash will be featured in the upcoming game, which is now subtitled Legends of Rock. Naturally, this leads us to believe there may be a few other famous rockers in the game as well, though this is only speculation at this point. Check out the latest trailer after the break.
Guitar Hero III gets subtitle, cool guitars
Since the amazing success of its first two games, the Guitar Hero series has gotten a little subtitle happy. First it was the mouthful of Guitar Hero Encore: Rock the '80s, now Activision has revealed a new subtitle for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.In addition to the new title, Activision has also released some nice, high-res pictures of the previously announced faux-Gibson guitars that will be used to control the game -- a Les Paul model for the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 and a Kramer model for the PS2. Note that the fret buttons are now all black with thin colored outlines to maintain a cleaner, less toy-like look on the neck. The wireless guitars will also have removable faceplates to let you customize your rock experience.The characters in the game will also be rocking out on Gibsons. Check out a list of all the unlockable axes after the jump. %Gallery-4675%
Guitar Hero III rocking European PS3s in October
Do you live in Europe? Ready to rock out with Guitar Hero III? Well you don't have too long to wait. A representitive from Activision has confirmed to InsideGamer.nl that the game will be one shelves, for all consoles, on the 28th of October. It's a good thing it's coming out early. Just in time to keep us busy for a month or so before Rock Band gets released. Then it's "Guitar Hero who?"It is still unknown when the US release is set for, though it will be sometime this autumn. We'll let you know as soon as we find out.[Via N4G]
IGN's GHIII Preview on XBLM
IGN has put a preview for Guitar Hero III up on Xbox Live Marketplace in all its HD glory. The video gives us a first look at the new Les Paul wireless guitar, as well as some other cool features. One thing that impresses us was their use of face capture to have the lead singer properly lip-synced to the songs lyrics, as opposed to the previous iterations generic lip service. The video also touches on some of the visual changes, in the HUD as well as the art direction. A solid watch, if you're a fan of the series.
