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Guitar Hero IV will feature other instruments and vocals
If what Activision's Bobby Kotick has stated in the latest issue of Conde Nast Portfolio magazine is true, then "Guitar Hero" could soon become a misnomer for the series. Guitar Hero IV could be branching out to "include a lot of other instruments, [and] vocals". Not a bad idea, except it's been done before. Judging from Guitar Hero III's low quality controller build and its lackluster downloadable content, we don't really expect Guitar Hero IV to be much of a Rock Band beater. Especially when you consider Harmonix' superior ability to create note charts. Who knows though, maybe Neversoft will feature an instrument not currently available in Rock Band - that's the only real way we can see the franchise becoming relevant again.
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 ...
GH: Aerosmith: Same old Les Paul, new faceplate
Activision recently sent word about Guitar Hero: Aerosmith's bundle offer and for everyone who was hoping for a brand new wireless guitar peripheral, we have the enjoyably-twisted honor of crushing your fragile guitar dreams. How it's laid out, with any $99 Guitar Hero: Aerosmith bundle purchase you'll receive the game, a special Aerosmith tour book and a wireless Gibson Les Paul guitar controller as was bundled with GHIII. But with a special red Aerosmith faceplate. No new guitar technology, just a new faceplate. We aren't sure if we're supposed to feel cheated or angry at ourselves for expecting something entirely new. Humph to it all.
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".
Charlie Daniels: Guitar Hero 'perverted' my song
While a lot of people here may have spent hours rawking out and pulling buffoonish poses to Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, it's safe to say that country rock musician Charlie Daniels wasn't quite as enthusiastic. Firstly, the guy is 71, and if performing high kicks and the splits is beyond us flexible twenty-somethings, it's probably going to be unrealistic for anyone who qualifies for a free bus pass. Secondly (and a lot more relevantly), he's not too chuffed about how one of his songs, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," has been presented by Legends of Rock.According to an entry by the musician on his blog, the song in question is "a lighthearted novelty about a fiddling contest between a country boy and the devil and the devil always loses," but try telling that to Guitar Hero III. Instead, the game has players competing on the song with old Beelzebub himself, in a face-off which the devil can win. Insert outraged gasps here!Anyway, this is the main sticking point for Daniels, who accuses developer Neversoft of "perverting my song," and huffs that he's "disgusted with the result." He also describes the game as having "a dark side, complete with grotesque monsters on stage with the band, strange, eerie lighting effects and all manner of weird things popping up on the stage," and reckons it's "not the healthiest thing in the world for young, impressionable minds to be exposed to."As it happens, Daniels' complaints look set to fall on deaf ears, because he sold off the publishing rights to the track. Nevertheless, his diatribe is worth a read, if only for a chuckle.[Via Kotaku]
First Guitar Hero: Aerosmith tracks include 'Draw the Line,' 'Sweet Emotion'
Though we were briefly distracted by mention of some other bands set to feature in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Activision has reminded us that the rhythmography will, in fact, include Aerosmith tunes. Gamespot reports that of the 40-plus songs in the game, 60 percent will be devoted to the increasingly decrepit crooners.Ah, but age is just a number and fans aren't likely to care when they start pressing plastic in rhythm to these confirmed numbers: "Make It" "Uncle Salty" "Draw the Line" "No Surprize" "Sweet Emotion" Expect further songs to be revealed at an excruciatingly slow pace as the game's June release walks this way.
Guitar Hero Aerosmith trailer 'Same Old Song and Dance' but is still 'Amazing'
As everyone knows, Activision's first foray into the band-dedicated Guitar Hero releases kicks off with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith this summer. While we've joked about the title in the past we're excited to see how the final product will hit with fans of the billion-dollar franchise. One interesting note from the video is the text that follows the introduction of legendary rockers. After gazing upon the awesome interestingly animated faces of the band, the trailer introduces the gamer as "and you." This disappointingly points at the inability to play as Joe Perry, Brad Whitford or Tom Hamilton. But we'll wait and see. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is set to rock on the Xbox 360, PS3 and Nintendo Wii this June.
Counting Rupees: Battle of the brands
Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming: When Guitar Hero 3 launched last year it was an immediate success, selling out at a fairly quick pace throughout the holiday season. Following just behind it was Rock Band, selling very well, but not nearly as quickly as Guitar Hero. So far, all versions of Guitar Hero III have sold about 9.1M copies, versus just roughly 1.5M for Rock Band. Of course, part of the discrepancy lies in the fact that Rock Band launched on two platforms while Guitar Hero 3 launched on four, but that is about to be remedied with Harmonix's recent announcement of Rock Band for Wii. While Rock Band was a more ambitious game and representative of an evolution of the music game, it did seem like Activision may have made the right choice in buying the Guitar Hero publisher (and thus the Guitar Hero brand), but not the developer. With so much brand awareness already built into Guitar Hero, was there any way that Harmonix could possibly top the original creation that it no longer owned the rights to?
GH: Aerosmith to feature Kinks, Cheap Trick, Jett and more
Guitar Hero fans who are no fans of the Aerosmith will be happy to know that this Summer's Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will not be limited to music from the mouth of Steven Tyler. Praise the music gods!Gameinformer received the scoop straight from Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry's mouth, when he mentioned that bands like The Kinks, Cheap Trick, Mott the Hoople and Joan Jett will also be featured in GH:Aero. These new band announcements, on top of Lenny Kravitz, The White Stripes and Deep Purple all of which Perry confirmed previously, make GH:Aero a more rounded and acceptable purchase. That said, we wonder how gamers' negative sentiment surrounding Activision and how they're handling the GH franchise will play out and how well GH:Aero will sell. Thumbs up to the new band announcements though.
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith gets more non-Aerosmith tracks
For all of you that were hoping a game called Guitar Hero: Aerosmith would contain as littleAerosmith as possible , know that today pushes the title further into your good graces. A slew of new bands were confirmed to be in the game and not a single one of them is called Aerosmith.New tracks confirmed for Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (via Game Informer) include Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes", The Kinks with "All Day and All Night," Joan Jett with "Hate Myself for Loving You" and Cheap Trick with "Dream Police." While not entirely clued in to the kids and their crazy music, our interest in this game is growing through each new non-Aerosmith song. What about you all?[Via Joystiq]
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith adds Mott the Hoople, The Kinks, Joan Jett
You may not be crazy about the music, but you have to admit the concept of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is kind of cool: A band's story, almost a documentary, retold as a game. Game Informer's got the scoop this month on the steps Neversoft is taking to complete the experience (recreating the high school where they played their first show, mo-capping the band) and we actually found ourselves being interested in the project since the first time we heard of it.Sweetening the pot is the inclusion of artists who've intersected with Aerosmith, which GI says includes Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes", The Kinks with "All Day and All Night," Joan Jett's "Hate Myself for Loving You" and Cheap Trick with "Dream Police." It's all very concerning but it's the inclusion of that awesome Mott the Hoople track that really has us worried. Are we going to have to [gulp] buy this game?
Dropkick Murphys pack now available for GHIII
That was quick. Only a week after Activision announced a Dropkick Murphys downloadable content pack for Guitar Hero III, it's already here. Then again, it's not like there was much time left before St. Patrick's Day (which is relevant because the Dropkick Murphys is a Celtic punk band, you see. Best of all, the content is absolutely free. Here's a reminder of what you'll find in the new DLC pack (all the tracks are master tracks): "Famous for Nothing" by the Dropkick Murphys "(F)lannigan's Ball" by the Dropkick Murphys "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya" by the Dropkick Murphys Just remember, if anyone plays one of these songs without wearing any green, it is your legal right to pinch them. You should also remember that anyone playing Guitar Hero is automatically carrying a blunt weapon, so pinch at your own risk.[Via Joystiq]
Guitar Hero III + amBX = party machine
Well, any rhythm game really, but this example uses Guitar Hero III. Honestly, we'd never heard of amBX before, but Phillips would have you believe it's the next step in interactive technology. Nope, it's not touch screens or big ass tables, it's ... colors? Desperate marketing aside, when combined with Guitar Hero III, amBX does make for an impressive light show. Whether or not it gives the $99 Rock Band stage kit a run for its money remains to be seen. At twice the price, you'd think it would (or hope so anyway). Unfortunately, it looks like we'll have to wait for the 360 version of amBX hardware -- this video utilized the PC version -- as it's still in development. We're waiting with sarcastically bated breath.
SXSW08: Booth Hero
What's better for attracting people to your booth than a fake guitar? Apparently nothing! Walking around SXSW's ScreenBurn Arcade, I began to notice that I was seeing a lot of Guitar Hero III and Rock Band setups. The guitars and drums are a lot showier than most game controllers, and are thus a lot better at getting attention than other games. I understood the power of these two games.But that doesn't mean I didn't find it a little weird that groups who had basically nothing to do with Guitar Hero III or Rock Band were featuring it at their booths. I was also amused by the number of booths that featured guitar games, compared to the total number of booths in the ScreenBurn Arcade. It almost seemed like these two games outnumbered not-music games.%Gallery-17993%
Activision now a sponsor of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
We imagine the deal went something like this:"So, you guys made Guitar Hero, huh? Sounds like a perfect match for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.""Well, no actually. We just bought the name. Oh, and did I mention we're loaded!""Sold!"The end result of that (imaginary) exchange is that Activision looks to further embed itself in the annals of rock, as the company has announced that it has become a sponsor of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Specifically, Activision will be sponsoring the museum's exhibit featuring famous guitarists (surprise!), and also will sponsor the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Cermony being held on March 10. Finally, Hall of Fame visitors will soon be able to play "the latest and greatest" version of Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero III (and presumably future iterations once they're released) on demo kiosks at the museum. At the rate Activision is going, the curators may soon find themselves displaying more versions of Guitar Hero than actual exhibits.[Via Press Release. Original image: Jason Pratt]
GHIII gets Modern Metal pack, Dropkick Murphys for St. Pattie's Day
A new track pack for Guitar Hero III is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. Entitled the Modern Metal pack, the new DLC includes three new tracks from the Deftones, Avenged Sevenfold, and Thrice. As an added bonus, all three tracks are master tracks. The tracks, which will run you 500 MS Points, are as follows: "Hole in the Earth" by Deftones "Almost Easy" by Avenged Sevenfold "The Arsonist" by Thrice In addition to the Modern Metal pack, Activision has also announced that a special pack is in the works for St. Patrick's Day later this month. The pack will include songs by the Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys. The three (master) tracks that will be available on the pack are "Famous for Nothing," "(F)lannigan's Ball" and "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya." Best of all, the track pack will be free. Expect it to arrive (you guessed it) sometime before St. Patrick's Day.[Via Press Release]
Secure your copy of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith today!
For those of you interested in the upcoming Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, you can ensure your copy will be set aside from Red Octane's official website when the flood of loyal Steven Tyler fans remember to buy it after taking their Alzheimer's medication.No, we joke. We wouldn't want to offend people with Alzheimer's by insinuating they would want to play a dedicated Aerosmith Guitar Hero game, which actually also features artists that inspired and are inspired by the band.Set to hit stores this June, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith brings GH fans closer to a band that is known for their ... vocals. Wait, we still don't get it. OK, Aerosmith is cool enough but their staple band member is the singer not the guitarist. In fact we don't even know who the guitarist is but we assume he's the guy holding the guitar in the header above. Else, that could be a roadie doing some sound tests. Wait, I think Neversoft just trademarked Guitar Hero: Sound Test. Sorry readers, our bad.Note: To clarify, this was written in jest. I know who Joe Perry is guys. ToJo is awesome, we're poking fun.[via THEBBPS]
No Doubt about it, GHIII gets new track pack
A new track pack for Guitar Hero III has been released, and this time it's all about No Doubt. Yes, the same No Doubt featuring Gwen Stefani, the woman who stole Gavin Rossdale and crushed the dreams of thousands of women everywhere. The track pack includes the following songs for the price of 500 MS Points: "Don't Speak" "Sunday Morning" "Excuse Me Mr" Fans will be happy to know that all three songs are master tracks, so no one will have to suffer through someone attempting to sing like Gwen Stefani (really dodged a bullet there, seriously). So, when do we get a Bush track pack, hmmm?[Thanks, DeadPlasmaCell]
Activision offering refunds for Wii version of Guitar Hero III
As our bat-eared readers discovered when the game was first released, the Wii edition of Guitar Hero III, though advertised as possessing Dolby Surround Sound capabilities, could only duplicate one channel of audio through multiple speakers (a.k.a. mono sound). Incensed, Nintendo's virtual troubadours demanded action -- Activision responded with a somewhat less-than-timely disc replacement program. Now, four months after the game was released, Activision has announced another method of atonement for their single-channel sins.Instead of replacing your half-mute disc with a standard one (though this option is still available), you can now replace said disc with cold, hard cash (or warm, soft cash, depending on your local climate and the weariness of the bills you receive). While we're sure this policy will be exploited by those who tire of faux rocking and simply want the cash, it's refreshing to see Actie-V face their shortcomings so directly -- if not a tad unpunctually.[Via Evil Avatar]
