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Guitar Hero 3 videos unleashed upon the world
We love videos as much as the next person, so when we stumbled upon these Guitar Hero 3 videos (and by stumbled we mean directed towards by a helpful tip), we thought it would be great to share them with you guys. First up is for the song My Name Is Jonas -- it's cool. After the jump, you can check out the video for Slow Ride. We just don't want to overload you unless you really want to see both. Rumors are these are from the Xbox 360 build, but it's kind of moot since we're sure the game will be about the same for every system. Enjoy and get ready to rock. That will be the most over-used line ever regarding these games. Guaranteed.[via Arrogantics]
Star Power made easy: an X-plorer mod
You know the feeling. You're playing Guitar Hero II, you've got full Star Power and here comes that sweet string of notes that will send your score into the stratosphere. Only one thing to do: tilt that controller and rock like you mean it. But what's this? You tilt the control and nothing happens, or maybe it's a little delayed, or maybe the act of tilting screws up your fingering. Whatever happened, you're stuck with a piddly x2 multiplier and a lot of wasted Star Power. If this sounds familiar to you, you may want to check out the fancy Star Power button mod at GrownUpGamers. As is the case with most mods, this will require you to crack open your X-plorer and do some soldering, so it's not for the timid. The mod also instructs users how to install a "kill switch" which essentially gives you a second strum button, helping you land those wicked solos.If you're chops are righteous enough for this mod, click the "read" link and check it out.See Also:Guitar Hero II cardboard fret mod
Harmonix doing best to keep Rock Band price 'affordable'
How much are Harmonix's Rock Band peripherals going to cost? Harmonix's Art Director Ryan Lesser said in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz that the $300 price cited for the full Rock Band peripheral set by Gamestop is false, and even went so far as to say the $150 - $200 price brought up in focus testing wasn't correct either. How low (or high) can she go? Form a line, it's time to limbo!Lesser says, "There's no way we're going to make a game that people are not going to be happy about buying. We scrutinize every little piece that goes into every peripheral to make sure that it's affordable and still really high quality." He added, "I think when it's just rumor and no one has anything tangible to hold on to, people can be afraid -- but the fact is we're very conscious of it, and we're doing our best to make it awesome and affordable."Lesser says one of his "orders" was not to "let anyone know anything about pricing" of the peripherals and says Harmonix is far from releasing the actual price of peripherals at this point for reasons he can't talk about. We just need to know how big our coin jar needs to be to start saving. Nutella jar size, pickle jar size or, you know, much bigger?
Boston mayor wants more developers, but backs Jack Thompson
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino really can't seem to craft a clear message on the video game industry. Despite numerous attacks against the industry, including his full support to pull GTA ads on the T for purely political reasons and supporting a Jack Thompson drafted bill, he wants to bring more gaming companies to the city. The city of Boston currently has no notable game companies within its borders. The best up-and-coming companies (meaning they aren't Blizzard, EA, Activision or Ubisoft just yet) like Turbine (Lord of the Rings Online), Harmonix (Guitar Hero, Rock Band) and Blue Fang Games (Zoo Tycoon) are all located outside the city in Westwood, Cambridge and Waltham respectively. Meaning they bring neither tax revenue or help "creative industries flourish" within the city.It would be great to see some creative energy be injected into the city with tax incentives given to game companies. This is also part of the mayor's plan to retain young professionals, which the city continues to hemorrhage after the students leave university due to cost of living. Now if the mayor could just be schooled that one of the ways to attract game companies is not to align yourself with Jack Thompson there might be hope for the city yet. Looks like Thompson is leaving more than a few politicians looking stupid in his wake.[Via GamePolitics]
Rock Band's peripheral prices in focus testing
Time to get serious about pricing with the Rock Band peripherals. We hope to find out soon if a Rock Band funding jar needs to be set next to the PS3 jar. As we reported earlier this week, the sticker price of Rock Band currently on Gamestop's website, including all peripherals, rings up to between $300 - $350 USD. Although some make the arguement that you're only supposed to pick one peripheral and then the price isn't so bad, we prefer to get our games "whole," with the option of inviting friends, sorority houses and/or The Osmonds over to play.GameSpot reports that focus testing is currently being done to see where consumers will find "the price is right." Their "reliable" source says the focus-group was asked if a Rock Band bundle package with "a wireless guitar, a drum kit and a microphone" would be reasonable at $200. The idea wasn't "terribly popular." Around the $150 mark is where the focus-group apparenly got on the bus to funkytown. A Harmonix representative admits to the testing and told GameSpot, "We are conducting consumer focus groups for Rock Band but have not finalized any pricing or packaging details. Any speculation at this point is just that -- speculation." Part of the focus testing also involved discussion over a Wii version of Rock Band, although Xbox 360 and PS3 are the only two systems currently slated. Either way, $200 or $150 for a bundle that includes Rock Band and 3 of the 4 peripherals isn't so awful. That second guitar missing from the bundle may or may not be a controversial added buy, but we still need to wait and hear official word. Still, $200 and under is a far less jagged little pill to swallow than the "estimated" $300 that Gamestop continues to list.
Wii Warm Up: Rock Band to empty Wii owners' wallets?
A Gamespot reader participated in a focus group about Harmonix's Rock Band, and then, being a civic-minded individual, did the Right Thing and blabbed about it to the Internet. Apparently, he was told by the test administrators that the rhythm game would be coming to the Wii. Don't hyperventilate-- we know the idea of an EA game going multiplatform shatters your worldview, but we will get through this together.Harmonix (developer of the wonderful Frequency and Amplitude, as well as Genuine Cultural Phenomenon Guitar Hero) is considering selling the game, a wireless controller, a microphone, and a drum kit (with a kick pedal) as a bundle. They tested price points of $150, $175, and $200 on the focus group, looking for reactions. Guess which one they preferred?We don't want to know if you aren't planning on buying this (Harmonix music game = insta-buy for us), but we would like to know which configuration interests you the most. Are you interested in any one instrument in particular? Plan to go in with some friends and form a band? Or are you just going to buy the whole thing yourself?[Via NeoGAF]
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]
Guitar Hero II Xbox ad, care of Feel Good, Inc. animations
Did that stylish Xbox commercial for Guitar Hero II remind you of the world's most successful animated rock group, Gorillaz? It's no coincidence, the animation for the ad and for many of the group's music videos were all directed by Pete Candeland of production company Passion Pictures. Granted, Candeland did not design the characters for the Gorillaz (that'd be Jamie Hewlett) or animation (credit Robert Valley, among others), but the style is unmistakably similar. Which makes it all the more discouraging that we haven't had any songs from Gorillaz or, given the Damon Albarn connection, Blur featured on Guitar Hero yet.Kudos should be given to Passion Pictures and whoever greenlighted such an inventive commercial; it really grabs people's attention and keeps them talking. Video embedded after the break.[Via GameSetWatch and Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Rock Band to feature Fender guitars and equipment
Harmonix and EA announced that their upcoming rhythm game, Rock Band, will feature a Fender Stratocaster guitar peripheral, and Fender guitars, basses, amps, and other equipment in game. Rock Band will also feature BOSS and Roland in game. CEO of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation Bill Mendello showed great interest and enthusiasm in Harmonix using Fender equipment in the game, commending the developer's ability to capture the essence of rock 'n' roll in digital entertainement. So, since the GH II Gibson X-plorer will play nice with Rock Band, which one are you going to side with? Fender or Gibson?
Rock Band guitar modeled after Fender Stratocaster
Just when you've finally gotten that old PS2 guitar to work on your shiny new PS3, along comes news of the next plastic instrument from Harmonix. The one-time Guitar Hero devs are busy working on Rock Band for their new corporate overlords at MTV and, part and parcel to that enterprise, is the creation of an entire suite of new instrument-based controllers. First on that list is the guitar, which will be modeled after the legendary Fender Stratocaster, so all you would-be Jimmy Pages out there can play the part that much better (no word on possible Led Zeppelin songs, so our hunger strike continues). Along with the Fender deal, they've announced branding arrangements with Roland (they make synthtastic synthesizers) and BOSS (they make boss guitar effects pedals). They did not announce potential marketing partners for the drum and microphone peripherals, but we imagine they won't be settling for no-name knockoffs. Trouble is, aren't these peripherals gonna be pricey enough already? Inquiring nerds wants to know: what's the Fender name adding to the bottom line?
New Rock Band details - Fender Strat controller coming
Harmonix have signed an exclusive deal with Fender, guitar maker extraordinaire, to design the upcoming Rock Band controller around their ultra-popular Stratocaster model. There's a bit more teaser information on the game itself to follow.When asked about whether the new controllers will be compatible with Guitar Hero III onwards, or vice-versa, Harmonix responded saying that they would love for that to be the case. Guitar Hero I and II controllers will be compatible with Rock Band (cutting the price slightly for those wanting the Ultimate Rock Band experience), but that the new controllers would have a couple of new features over the old ones. Whether the new Fender Strat controllers will be compatible with Guitar Hero III, however, is up to Activision but is something the guys at Harmonix would be very interested in making happen.Responding to worries of a lack of single player mode, due to the apparent focus on online-play, Harmonix made sure to reassure everyone that there will be a "deep, complete solo experience" for each of the different instruments. So that Guitar Hero, Donkey Konga, Singstar combination idea you thought up down the pub last year is even closer than you think. As for fears that the online play might be ruined by lag, we're told not to worry. It's a problem "for which we have a unique solution...and it's a heck of a lot of fun in action."
Canadian and UK Guitar Hero II supply woes
Joystiq reports that Guitar Hero II supply problems are becoming prevalent to gamers in Canada and the UK. This has been confirmed by one of Joystiq's UK bloggers, who states, "I've tried about a dozen retail stores, [it's] harder to find than a Wii." Wow, that is hard to find. When reached for comment, Red Octane told Joystiq that the supply issues were purely a result of an "insane amount of demand" for the title. Furthermore, they note that there are still many retailers in the United States experiencing supply troubles as well.Red Octane's advice? Buy directly from the Red Octane store. If you just have to have Guitar Hero II (and honestly, you do), ordering from Red Octane may be your only hope. Be warned though, shipping costs are not cheap.
Guitar Hero '80s edition in June -- maybe July
A Guitar Hero: '80s Edition for PlayStation 2 was unofficially announced back in January by EGM. Although the game still hasn't been officially announced -- like some other games that kept popping up without official confirmation -- sites are starting to show release dates for GH: '80s.Gamespot says GH: '80s is being released June 4, 2007. However, Gamefly and Amazon Canada (but not US) have the title slated for a July 31 release. Gamefly has been a pretty reliable source for a title being legitimate, but the release date is up for debate. What we do know is that the ESRB has not rated the game yet. So rockin' to the '80s is in the cards for the near future, but we hope to get a solid date real soon for this still officially unannounced game.[Thanks, Brian]
Rumor: Are these the next Guitar Hero DLC packs?
We don't really know if the list of three new song packs for Guitar Hero II reported by HarmonixFans.com is on the level. They look logical enough to us, but we also don't have access to the mysterious "Microsoft certification documents" from which the information was reportedly taken. So, take it with a grain of cliché, but here's the list:Pack 1: "Cowboys From Hell," "I Love Rock & Roll," "Cochise" Pack 2: "Godzilla," "I Wanna Be Sedated," "Sharp Dressed Man" Pack 3: "Iron Man," "Take Me Out," "Smoke on the Water" The thing that makes this list harder to dismiss is that this same site had a list of the first packs of GH songs before they were released to the public, and HarmonixFans says this latest tidbit is from the same source. Of course, they also qualify that the last batch of songs was on PartnerNet when they reported it and this one isn't. So, feel free to discuss the relative merits of the songs, just don't go buy $24,000 of MS points (or whatever they cost) in anticipation.[via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
RedOctane not taking Rock Band route
RedOctane and Harmonix are going full steam ahead to best each other in the rhythm game genre. The former allies are now locked in a Cold War with their new parent companies in a rhythm game arms race. Speaking with Eurogamer about future non-Guitar Hero projects, which have not been announced, RedOctane co-founder Kai Huang said, "We're definitely looking and evaluating and have been evaluating all types of different instrument-based games, and drum is certainly one of the ones that we've been looking at ... We haven't made any announcements yet about what we're going to do and when we're going to release a game, but fans can rest assured we're definitely looking at all of those types of games." Huang says the beauty of Guitar Hero is its simplicity. It looks like we're starting to see a clear divide showing between RedOctane and Harmonix. RedOctane will continue down the simple and proven route, while Harmonix is going for something bigger -- much bigger. There's still a lot of debate about which company is on the right path. It'll certainly be interesting to watch these two keep on rockin' down different roads and see who can make it work.
Red Octane 'looking into' Guitar Hero II patch problems
"We're aware of the problem and we're looking into it." So says RedOctane in response to complaints of a Guitar Hero II patch leaving Xbox 360s paralyzed by the dreaded red ring of death. A string of users have posted their tales of woe on the official Xbox forums, noting post-patch game freezes, startup glitches and eventual system lockups. The patch was initially issued to correct unresponsive whammy bars in some guitar controllers.Though Red Octane doesn't divulge to Eurogamer just exactly what "we're looking into it" entails, there's little hope that a further software patch could repair completely inoperative consoles. There's also no direct evidence to suggest that the patch itself is causing the Xbox 360 hardware to malfunction. The operating system might be fooled into thinking there is, however, which isn't much better than a physical malfunction. This occurrence is awfully similar to what transpires whenever a new Xbox 360 game is released -- is software causing a new problem, or is it letting you know that you had a rotten system to begin with?We'll let you know as soon as RedOctane or Microsoft comment further.
Pachter: Activision right to buy Red Octane instead of Harmonix
In the wake of Red Octane's controversial Guitar Hero II launch on the Xbox 360 and MTV's purchase of Harmonix --- the original developers of Guitar Hero -- there's one big pink elephant question floating around the industry: Did Activision make a mistake when they purchased publisher, peripheral manufacturer, Guitar Hero rights holder Red Octane instead of developer Harmonix?Michael Pachter, managing director at Wedbush Morgan Securities, thinks Activision made the right decision, "Would you pay $150 million dollars for someone who ripped off [Konami's] Guitar Freaks? The game is fun, I totally respect Harmonix, I'm sure Red Octane turned to them [with Guitar Hero] and said let's figure out a way to rip off Guitar Freaks and help sell our peripherals ... I think at the end of the day, the MTV/Harmonix game [Rock Band] will be a good game, it will cannibalize market share. I think it's good for consumers and it'll make Activision and Neversoft work harder [on Guitar Hero III]."The entire situation between Red Octane and its former developer Harmonix has become very complex. With Activision's purchase of Red Octane and MTV's purchase of Harmonix the two companies are on very separate paths. Red Octane has retained Neversoft to develop the next Guitar Hero. Red Octane retained all rights to Guitar Hero, including the look and -- most importantly -- the guitar.
Video: Killer Queen on GHII, worth $6?
So, Red Octane and Activision have taken some flack for the pricing of of the Guitar Hero II downloadable content. As a quick reminder, the song packs costs $6.25. With three songs to a pack, that's a little more than 2 bucks a song. Regardless of whether or not the pricing is truly reflective of the licensing costs and other related costs, many folks out there think the price is too high. So, we found this video on GameTrailers showcasing one of the new tracks, Queen's "Killer Queen." The pack also includes "Frankenstein" by the Edgar Winter Group and "Take It Off" by The Donnas, which are both decent songs in their own way. The question is then, now that you've seen "Killer Queen" as it plays in Guitar Hero II, is the $2/song price any more palatable? Would any of you be more amenable to paying 160 points for individual songs?
GHII problems software based, patch inbound
Guitar Hero II, we've been writing about it nonstop since it was released. It was the major topic of our most recent Fancast. The song packs have outraged us. The game itself, however, is basically pure gaming gold. At least, it's gold so long as you have a functional guitar. Our own David Dreger, for example, has a broken whammy bar. Or does he? According to a recent statement from Activision, it looks like the whammy bar issue may actually stem from software, not hardware. Activision and Red Octane's support pages note that the issue is caused by an element of Guitar Hero II that was added to "ensure accurate scoring". In other words, it was placed there to prevent cheating. Activision plans to release a patch that should rectify the issue within the coming weeks. So, if you were planning on fixing that guitar yourself, you may want to wait for the patch. After all, if you fix your guitar, and then Activision patches the game, you may wind up with the same problem all over again.
RedOctane site: Guitar Hero 3 coming in Fall '07
It's not quite an official announcement, but a posting on the Harmonix Suport Center site seems to point to a Fall 2007 multiplatform release for the inevitable third entry into the best-selling Guitar Hero franchise. Responding to a question about platform support for Guitar Hero 2, the RedOctane knowledgebase robot reveals that "Guitar Hero 3 for the Playstation 2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii are currently scheduled for release in the United States in Fall of 2007." [Update: As of this afternoon, this text has been taken off the site. But it was there. Trust us.]We've long known that the new game was being planned for "every significant new platform," and more recently got all-but-explcit confirmation of a Wii version, but we're still kind of surprised to see the PS2 on that release list? Wasn't that system supposed to shrivel up and die in the light of all this fancy new competition? Then again, it would be a shame to let all those original guitar controllers and potential customers to go to waste. Speaking of which, how are Red Octane and new developer Neversoft going to handle the controllers needed for a four-platform release. Will each system get its own specially designed guitar, or could the somewhat touchy Xbox 360 USB controller be modified to be a universal axe? You'll know when we do.[Image modified from ahjteam.com. Thanks to everyone who sent this in.][Update: Fixed a stray reference to Harmonix instead of Red Octane]
