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Red Octane lets loose separate Wii Guitar Hero III controller
It looks like Wii users wanting to expand their Guitar Hero arsenal (or replace an axe after they got a little too into things) won't have to wait much longer, as Red Octane is now set to let loose a separate wireless Les Paul controller for the system. It doesn't exactly come cheap, however, with the company listing the controller at $70 on its own website, although Toys R Us is now taking pre-orders for $60 (Best Buy and others don't seem to be offering it just yet). What's more, while Red Octane only goes so far as say "ETA: March 2008," Toys R Us is giving a ship date of March 4th, so it looks like this one should be landing in your capable hands in no time.Read - Red OctaneRead - Toys R Us[Thanks, Nic]
Rock Band bundle only $149 at Target this week
If the price is the only thing holding you back from Rock Band, then you might want to swing buy your local Target sometime this week. Starting today, Target's offering the PS3 and 360 versions of the special edition bundle for $149 USD, $20 off the normal price. The offer's only good from the 17th to the 23rd, and sadly doesn't apply to the PS2 version. Despite those setbacks, it's still the cheapest we've seen the Rock Band bundle thus far. If you've already purchased the game, maybe this is a sign to buy it for a friend (or your favorite blogger who might have a birthday coming up...)[Thanks, Jon B]
Two feet, two guitars, one interesting Guitar Hero phenomenon
Have no friends? No self-respect? No foot fungus? Then the below video of an unorthodox method for playing two Guitar Hero parts at once might just be for you!When tipster Rob first sent us this extraordinary video, we thought it was somewhat unique. Apparently, though, playing Guitar Hero with your feet became a minor internet trend while we weren't looking. Some wimp out by only doing a solo part, or using their hands for one of the parts. Some use their feet out of necessity, others out of camaraderie. Some take it seriously and some just ham it up. But all of them use their feet for a game that ostensibly requires hands.One other thing seems constant too... they all pretty much suck. Unsurprisingly, hitting those fret buttons with your stinky toes makes it nearly impossible to play on anything past Easy difficulty ... and even then it's no bed of roses. Think you can prove us wrong? Send us your video of Expert-level, foot-controlled Guitar Hero and we guarantee you a spot of internet semi-fame on this very page. To those about to rock with their feet ... we salute you.
PS2 guitar pedal allows for precision rocking
Sure, everyone loves activating star power and wailing on the whammy bar in Guitar Hero. But for a certain, incredibly anal subset of players, these actions and their distracting arm movements represent potential streak killers. Well, those finicky gamers are in luck, because peripheral maker React has now released a foot pedal that transfers those pesky arm motions to your feet, which were just sitting there tapping out a rhythm before. The wireless pedals, which require 4 AA batteries and work with any PS2 guitar, might seem steep at $25, but they're a bargain for the truly compulsive GH player. As the sole Best Buy reviewer put it, "I bought this pedal primarily because activating Star Power by raising my guitar usually results in missed notes." And was we all know, rock music is about exacting precision above all else. [Thanks Dan]
Guitar Hero franchise makes billionth dollar
Activision has announced that the Guitar Hero franchise has officially earned one billion dollars. Furthermore, the franchise has achieved this feat in just over two years -- 26 months to be exact -- selling in excess of 14 million units across the many iterations of the series. Activision adds that Guitar Hero III was the number one title of 2007 and that it has become "the best-selling video game of all time in a single calendar year." So, we're guessing it sold a lot of copies. Finally, 5 million songs have been downloaded for the game, which ain't too shabby (just ask the Rock Band folks). Somehow, we get the feeling that Activision is happy they bought Red Octane.[Via Joystiq]
Activision opens pre-registration for Guitar Hero Wii replacement discs
For those of you who own the Wii version of Guitar Hero III and figured out you couldn't hear what the other speaker was saying, Activision is slowly beginning to remedy Guiter Hero Wii's mono sound. There is now a page up on the Activision's support site with information to pre-register for a replacement disc. The pre-registration is available for North American customers only, and the site claims new discs will be available in "early 2008." If you don't feel like pre-registering at this time, there is also a notification by email option for receiving updates on the situation. Guitar Hero Wii's mono sound should find a nice place in "How'd the heck that happen?" History, right next to Dead Rising's teenie tiny text.
This 9-year-old is better than you at Guitar Hero
It's sort of like the perennial Rubik's Cube gag. You see some guy fiddling with the famous puzzle toy, saying something like "these things are impossible; nobody could solve this." At that moment, a plucky young tyke will come along, pick up the toy, and solve it within seconds. Now apply said gag to Guitar Hero III and the song "Through the Fire and Flames" by DragonForce ... on Expert. Watch the video above and see 9-year-old Ben crush every ounce of Guitar Hero pride you ever had. Gasp in terror as the boy even has enough time to glance away from the screen in order to smile at the camera. In the end, he winds up landing 95% of the notes and earning a score of over 750,000 points.Now, if you'll excuse us, we're going to weep softly in the corner for a few hours.[Via Gamertag Radio]
Judge sides with Activision in Guitar Hero 80s lawsuit
Activision's let our pals at GameDaily know that a federal judge in Detroit has denied The Romantics request to halt sales of Guitar Hero Encore Rocks the 80s over its use of a cover of their track "What I Like About You." Though the judge said the publisher followed the proper copyright procedures in their use of the track, he has yet to announce what, if any, damages will be awarded to the former 80's stars. Activision was predictably pleased with the judge's decision, saying the suit was "without merit" and that they had a "long history of supporting artists from a range of entertainment fields." No word from The Romantics though we think it's safe to assume you'll never have a chance to play any of their other singles in rhythm game form ever. Hope those radio royalties are paying the bills, fellas.
GHIII gets some festive downloadable content
The holiday Guitar Hero III content announced earlier this month is now available on Marketplace, and guess what? One of the tracks is free. There is one track pack from Warner/Reprise that will run you 500 MS Points. There are also three single tracks available for 200 points each. The one free track is a rock rendition of "We Three Kings," which Joystiq seems to enjoy. Behold the complete track list below.The Warner/Reprise Track Pack (master recordings) "Pretty Handsome Awkward" by The Used "Sleeping Giant" by Mastadon "No More Sorrow" by Linkin Park Single song downloads "So Payaso" by Extremoduro "Antisocial" by Trust "Ernten Was Wir Säen" by Die Fantastischen Vier Free holiday track "We Three Kings" by Steve Ouimette Anyone going to grab any of these?[Via Joystq. Thanks, Dan \"DeadPlasmaCell\" Garcia]
Stootsi selling GHIII bundle for $80 for 24hrs
We're a bit late getting to this, but we would be remiss if we didn't mention that Stootsi.com is selling the Xbox 360 Guitar Hero III bundle for a dirt cheap $79.99. Now, before you head over there and place your order, you should know that this is an "open box" item, which means it could be a returned item, demo unit, or simply one that has been opened. Stootsi does say that you will get all the appropriate parts (wireless guitar, strap, game, and sticker sheet) along with a 14 day warranty, so it's probably a safe bet. Of course, the fact that it's $20 cheaper than the retail price doesn't hurt either. If you'd like to get in on this deal, you'd better hurry, as the bundle is only available for this price for 24 hours (we're honestly not sure how much time you have left). If you've used Stootsi before, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
Guitar Hero Mobile trailer is unsurprisingly terrible
You know it's a bad sign when the trailer for a game only uses six seconds of gameplay footage. To be fair, what did you expect? When we first heard the idea of Guitar Hero on a cell phone, we scoffed so hard that we needed to sit down. You may feel just like Hendrix as you shred on your touch-tone pad, but something tells us if we saw anyone actually playing this in public, it would look like they were trying to disarm a tiny cellular bomb.
Red Octane VP excuses axe incompatibility, blames Rock Band issues
Alright, try to stay with us here. Guitar Hero III's axe works just fine with Rock Band, but only the Xbox 360 hardware -- and Rock Band's guitar won't play the first note on any flavor of GHIII. Yeah, it's a bit confusing, but apparently the folks over at 1UP were downright tired of being dizzy, and phoned up Guitar Hero publisher Red Octane's co-founder and VP of Business Development, Charles Huang, to chat about the totally confusing compatibility quandary. We fully understand the complexities in getting the instruments to work with other games, as well as the potential business impact, but Mr. Huang chose to take a different route in explaining why no Guitar Hero title would accept a Rock Band controller. He was quoted as saying that Red Octane wasn't "too interested in having [Harmonix] guitars work on its game, because [Harmonix is] having a lot of issues with its guitars." Of course, this logic begins to fall apart when you realize there was absolutely no compatibility even before these malfunctions came to light. Nice try, though.[Via DailyTech]
Activision to fix Guitar Hero sound issues with new disc
People who bought the Wii version of Guitar Hero III have been (justifiably) annoyed by the lack of stereo and surround sound in Activision's popular music game. However, Wii owners can at least take some comfort in knowing that the problem will soon be fixed.Activision's customer support has replied to many irate users with an email stating that re-mastered discs should be available by early 2008. This means that customers who buy the game after the re-mastered version is available should get the fixed copies, while those who already own the game can get replacement discs at no charge.The last time we announced a disc swap for a glitched Wii game, many of you expressed your desires to have a simple downloadable patch instead. While we agree that a patch would be more convenient, we're still glad that there will be a fix available in the near future.[Thanks, Langst!]
Johnny Rotten loves GHIII for the wrong reasons
They call him Johnny Rotten for a reason folks, and it's not because he's all sweet and cuddly. Far from it actually, as he recently took the opportunity to bite the hand that feeds him at a UK Guitar Hero III launch event ... in a manner of speaking. During the event, Rotten went on record saying that he received the offer to be featured in Guitar Hero III, took it home and played it, and "loved" it. The intriguing part is why he loved it: "it weren't teaching you how to be a rock star, it was teaching you how not to be a rock star." He elaborated that the game taught gamers, "how not to be an asshole in your life, and how not to seek fame and fortune, because the whole f*cking thing's a joke." He then expressed his disappointment that Virgin records was unable to recover the Sex Pistols' master recordings, requiring the group to spend their advance payment to re-record the tracks. Rotten spent the rest of the event rambling back and forth about England, soccer, politics, and even his theological beliefs. It really was a bizarre moment in gaming history, one that the UK Official Xbox Magazine blessedly caught on video (taking care to censor Rotten's rotten language while they were at it). Watch the whole thing if you so desire (warning: it's long). If nothing else, you can amuse yourself with the swear counter placed at the bottom by the cheeky folks at OXM.[Via Xboxic. Thanks, Jonah Falcon]
Guitar Hero II gets Indie Label Pack
Odd as it may sound, there's new Guitar Hero II (yes, GHII) content on the Marketplace today and we guess we're going indie. The GHII "Indie Label Pack" features three songs for 500 Microsoft points including "State of Massachusetts" by Dropkick Murphys, "You Should Be Ashamed of Myself" by The Bled and "Memories of the Grove" by Maylene & The Sons of Disaster. Again, this is new content for GHII and not GHIII which makes our head quirk to the side a bit, but we guess that's some hardcore product support. Or maybe the powers that be just want to milk us for every last dime we have. That has to be it, those dirty milkers![Thanks, Joe]
Liveblogging: South Park 'Guitar Queer-o'
Come one, come all! Boys and girls, children of all ages, and feast your eyes on this spectacle -- a rare performance by the insufferable duo of Mr. Kyle Orland and Mr. Dan Dormer. Tonight, we'll be live blogging a piece of gaming culture -- the fusion of Guitar Hero with Comedy Central's South Park. Hit the jump, and keep refreshing to witness all the action.
Reminder: Guitar Hero on South Park tonight
If you were too busy playing Guitar Hero in your underwear on Monday, you may have missed the announcement that tonight's episode of South Park will feature the rhythm game prominently in the storyline. For those of you who just can't wait those last few hours, a Comedy Central press release reveals some more details about the impending rift between Stan and Kyle, and a short video preview shows the pair looking like total goobers while trying to look cool playing the game.In fact, the false cockiness brought on by Guitar Hero was a major motivation for the production team. On his South Park Studios Production blog, Production Assistant Mike McMahan asks us to imagine "some jerk trying to impress the ladies with his badass skills banging out Coldplay as hard as he can." By playing Guitar Hero, McMahan says, "We're even worse than that loser, because we're pretending to be him, all the while tapping our feet and clicking our fingers with the same proud idiocy that the real-life jerk performs with." On behalf of all those proud idiots, we have just one thing to say to that ... Ouch!We'll be liveblogging the episode right here on this very site, so come back here around 10 PM EST if you'd like some nerdy game discussion with your animated prime time TV.
You don't say: Guitar Hero III bringing in the big bucks
Earlier today, Activision announced Q2 revenues of $318 million, a 69% increase on the same period last year.Now, those figures alone are worthy of applause, if that kind of thing floats your boat. However, the recent release of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock on the Wii (and, y'know, some other consoles you may have heard of) is tipped to boost Q3 earnings to unprecedented levels, with many expecting Activision to shatter the $1 billion mark in net revenue. And sure enough, despite the odd issue, the game has made a fine start in the US, with Activision crowing today about first week revenues of $115m.Of course, it's not exclusively the Wii version of Guitar Hero III that will have contributed to that mind-boggling number, but you can bet your bottom dollar it will have played its part, thanks to the sheer ubiquity of the Wii, not to mention its popularity at social occasions. So "yay" for the Wii, "yay" for Guitar Hero, and "yay" for capitalism. A winning combination.Incidentally, don't forget that Legends of Rock headbangs its way into Australasia tomorrow, while Europeans will be rocking out from November 23.[Via Joystiq]
Wii Warm Up: Rock your face(plate) off
The plain white faceplate of the Wii Guitar Hero III controller has proven to be an excellent surface for artwork. Furthermore, the variety of vinyl skins (as well as the omnipresent potential for custom-printed skins) means you easily have the opportunity to make your guitar look like anything you want, as long as anything you want is shaped like a tiny Les Paul.If you didn't have to worry about ruining the controller, and if you had the artistic ability or technical cleverness to achieve it, how would you customize your guitar? What imagery, and what methods? Would you paint something onto the faceplate, or make your own custom skin? Game characters, realistic guitar finishes, or banana stickers?
Guitar Hero III's wireless guitar battery pack costs you more moolah
For all the innovation that the "new-gen" of consoles have brought us, there's one thing that will apparently never change: ridiculously over-priced accessories. Giving the wireless Guitar Hero III controller a feature it should have had from the get go is the $19.99 single recharge kit, which removes the need to use and dispose of single-use batteries. This continues on from the precedent that Microsoft set with its wireless controller, which only comes bundled with a case to stick a couple of AA batteries inside. You can grudgingly pick up this necessary but over-priced accessory on October 31st from Red Octane's store.
