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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.
Report: Microsoft not down with third-party 360 wireless peripherals
In case you haven't been following the virtual rock and roll scene lately, videogame publisher Red Octane recently revealed that there would be no wireless ax for the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II -- even though owners of a "last-gen" console, PlayStation 2, will be able to jam out sans tether. Now since the 360 already ships with wireless technology on board, it would seem relatively simple to implement a cable-free controller for this particular deployment. Not so fast, says Red Octane. According to the studio, Microsoft isn't actually allowing third-party manufacturers to make anything using its proprietary wireless standard -- so while the capability is there, the all-important green light from Redmond is not. It's not clear at this point why a year-old system is being stifled by this seemingly arbitrary restriction, but with the PlayStation 3 offering developers Bluetooth out of the box, it seems that Microsoft either needs to change its tune or risk losing the small-but-vocal "rocker wannabe" demographic to the enemy.[Via Joystiq]
Full Guitar Hero II setlist with 24 bonus tracks
No sooner did we let y'all know that DethKlok, the fictional band in Adult Swim's Metalocalypse, would be making an appearance as an unlockable bonus track in Guitar Hero II, than we found out the entire bonus song list ... 24 tracks in total! It appears certain Wal-Marts, depending on how many copies of Guitar Hero they sold, have demo kiosks with the sequel set up and ready to rock! Twenty-four low-res pictures later, we know the entire list of unlockable songs. Combine those with the forty tracks already confirmed, and you've got yourself quite the rock feast.A notable addition: Popular Flash cartoon -- and Nintendo Tag Team Wrestling alum -- Strong Bad's metal/dragon opus Trogdor (The Burninator). Check out the video -- and the entire 64-track setlist -- after the break, then play the Trogdor game, to hone up on your burninating.[Thanks, notafan]
In The Groove to "respect" Dance Dance Revolution
Konami, publisher of Dance Dance Revolution, has settled a lawsuit with In The Groove's developer Roxor. With mighty samba moves and Euro Beat legal techniques, Konami now owns the intellectual property rights to In The Groove -- guess the games were a little too similar.The best part of the agreement is that Roxor must agree to "respect Konami's intellectual property rights." Can you feel that pimp-slap Roxor?Roxor may have been the developer of In The Groove, but Red Octane was the publisher. Red Octane is also the publisher of Harmonix's Guitar Hero, which shares similarities to Konami's GuitarFreak. RedOctane, owned by the Activision, may not have put up too much of a fight to lose In The Groove, but you know the nails are coming out if Konami's legal team goes after the infinitely more successful Guitar Hero. RedOctane may become better known for their legal issues than their games soon.
Guitar Hero II tracks Warrant attention
Check out the list of riff-ready songs Red Octane is including in Guitar Hero II. Of course, we all expect a bunch of extra tracks via XBLM. Speaking of guitar heroes, isn't it satisfying (in a VH1 sort of way) to finally meld your love of all things Xbox with your older sister's crush on erstwhile glam metal heart throb Jani Lane. Have you seen this guy lately? Way too much cherry pie.
Guitar Hero II setlist speculation is over
Over the past several weeks, crafty netizens have managed to piece together an almost comprehensive account of Guitar Hero II's setlist, taking most of the wind out of IGN's big exclusive. Yesterday, IGN had the names of all forty songs delivered unto them on a silver platter -- or maybe it was a fax ... probably an email. The missing tracks: Living End's "Carry Me Home" and Suicidal Tendencies' "Institutionalized."Phew. It's over. Now we know all forty songs; all the names, artists, versions, everything. Except the fifteen unlockable bonus tracks that Red Octane claims are being kept under wraps until the game's November 7th release. Alright crafty internet sleuths, you know what you need to do.The rest of you can peep the entire confirmed list after the break.[Via videogamesblogger.com]
Guitar Hero II setlist finds hell with Danzig, et al
MTV Overdrive's video gaming show, The G-Hole, spent some time with Guitar Hero II at Harmonix's studios in Boston and accidentally let their nosy camera spy some of the title's top secret tracks. This isn't the first time MTV let something slip. Last month, MTV's GameTrailers property accidentally revealed Megadeath's "Hangar 18" and Aerosmith's "Last Child" before their video got pulled. Good thing MTV owns Harmonix now too, eh? The G-Hole episode is still online, but all of the unknown tracks have been blurred out ...... but not before one diligent forum-goer copied down the entire list. Included in the newly revealed tracks are Danzig's "Mother," Kansas' "Carry on My Wayward Son," The Stray Cats' "Rock this Town," and more. In total, 38 of the reported 40 licensed songs have been discovered, with 15 more bonus tracks to come.Check out the list, clipped after the break and -- before you have a temper tantrum 'cause your favorite face melter isn't on there -- tell us what's still missing? We'll take this opportunity to formally request some Tenacious D. Make it happen, Harmonix. [Thanks, Supa]More Guitar Hero:MTV snaps up Guitar Hero developerJoystiq interviews Rob Kay of HarmonixActivision paid nearly $100 million for RedOctaneSpotlight on Harmonix Music
MTV snaps up Guitar Hero developer [update 1]
How much is a franchise like Guitar Hero worth? Roughly $275 million. That's what you get when you add the nearly $100 million that Activision paid for publisher RedOctane and the $175 million in cash that MTV is set to pay for developer Harmonix.True, RedOctane also has a modest game rental business and Harmonix is also the developer behind the successful Karaoke Revolution series, but there's no question that Guitar Hero was the game that sent these two companies fortunes into the stratosphere.The MTV deal, as reported by the New York Times, will utilize Harmonix's experience with music-based games to design play-and-remix-and-sing-along experiences for MTV's web, mobile and VMTV virtual world services. That's all well and good, but we'd like to see what this partnership can do with the console-based MTV Music Generator series, which has lagged a bit since CodeMasters took the publishing rights over from... Activision. Hmm...[Update 1: Harmonix has issued a press release with more details about the buyout][Thanks Ben]
Guitar Hero II's final boss revealed, all 11 solos of it
In the latest issue of EGM, Guitar Hero's resident axman, Marcus Henderson, revealed that we would know the identity of Guitar Hero II's final boss "when it arrives." He gushed, "This is a major, major guitar ass-kicker. It has no less then 11 guitar solos in it." Speculation led one poster on PlayStation Lounge to guess the killer track in question was Megadeth's eleven guitar solo-havin' "Hangar 18" (why not just make it eighteen guitar solos for consistency?).Guitar Hero II hasn't arrived yet, but we've gone the extra step of putting this two and that two together to get four, and we feel pretty comfortable saying that "Hangar 18" will indeed be the final boss in Guitar Hero II. You see, a now mysteriously absent GameTrailers video titled "Staying on Track" had Will Littlejohn, Senior Producer/Mixer at Wavegroup (he records all the songs), revealing that Aerosmith's "Last Child" and Megadeth's "Hangar 18" would be on the sequel, so it's pretty obvious. Of course, fans of the series will recall that Megadeth's "Symphony of Destruction" was "actin' like a robot" on the first installment, so it'll be great to spend some more time with Dave Mustaine & friends. Eleven solos? Sheesh.Read on for the confirmed songs thus far, including Cheap Trick's "Surrender," accidentally left out of 1UP's list.[Thanks, monkeydog and Aaron]
Free Bird in Guitar Hero II
In the original Guitar Hero, one of the loading screen tips warned potential rock gods, "They don't really want you to play Free Bird. They're just heckling you." I guess the guys at Harmonix didn't take the tip to heart, though, because a new video has surfaced showing that the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic "Free Bird" will be playable in Guitar Hero II.This comes on the heels of a recent revelation that Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child of Mine" will be in the game and brings the number of songs confirmed for the game to 14. Can a full list of all 55 songs be far off? Check out the video after the jump.
Bedridden 'Guitar Hero' to make full recovery
An Omaha man, known simply as Jimmy, reports he will soon be walking again after a botched guitar toss during his "Texas Flood" solo on July 3 left him with a broken knee. To clarify, Jimmy isn't in a Stevie Ray Vaughan cover band, he's just a Guitar Hero addict.Catch up on his freakish accident (read: ogle gruesome surgical pics) on his website, guitarherobrokemyknee.com, where Jimmy writes, "Against the urging of my mother I plan to practice and return to Guitar Hero as the champion of my neighborhood."Anyone got a video game scar that tops this?[Thanks, Dan]
PS2 impressions: Guitar Hero II
Red Octane's Guitar Hero II is on show and we tried out the co-op mode. It's an improvement on Guitar Hero's multiplayer modes, as it assigns different parts to both players; we took the bass part to another player's lead, and made some beautiful music.Inevitably the bass line has less sparkle than the lead, so this allows less skilled players to accompany those more proficient. The single-player mode caters to the harder end of the spectrum with three-finger chords -- a Red Octane employee hinted at four finger chords too. Before you run away in terror, remember it takes just as many fingers to play a real guitar.
Joystiq Review: Guitar Hero (European release)
Note: Guitar Hero has been released in the US for six months, but is a new release in Europe. This review uses the European version of the game. Once, I dreamed of being on stage, lights in my eyes and music in my ears. Yesterday, for five glorious, rock-filled minutes, I was living my dream. Sliding my fingers up and down the fretboard in power chords, using fingers which haven't borne callouses for years, I was creating music… and what music it was! Songs I remembered tentatively picking out came to life, finally, with consummate skill. The fact I was pressing five brightly coloured buttons on a reduced-size guitar that looks like a child's toy is irrelevant. I was engrossed in the music, concentrating hard, picking out notes and chords with a frown when I missed and a smile when I did well, the audience's cheers and boos echoing my success. Welcome to Guitar Hero.
DIY-erless Guitar Hero controller
Some might say the cord on the Guitar Hero "controller" is more realistic, simulating the cable on an electric guitar. Lucky for us TheDude06 isn't one of them. He's done the due diligence, and posted it all on Make's forums, so we can reap the rewards. His instructions make the project seem pretty doable, if you have a little patience and a soldering iron. He says, "If you dont mind possibly trashing your contoller, there is only minimal electronics knowledge required to do this "mod". i didnt do anything more than run a wire from the guitar switch, to a pad on the controller. The only parts required were a battery holder, and a switch."Sure it costs a couple rupees, but if you have a tendency to slide on your knees or jump off the couch while rocking your face off playing, you're probably sold on the idea already.[Via Continuous Play]
