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Guitar Hero and Pump It Up contests want you to shake your moneymaker
Two contests currently underway encourage gamers to strut, vogue, power chord, and basically rock their way to winnings. 1up is hosting The Ultimate Guitar Hero contest, with tons of great swag as prizes. You have until October 30th to record your entry, and submit it to GameVideos.com. Bad wigs and skinny ties optional. Entries will be judged on rockmanship, style, and sex appeal. We hope entrants don't take that third category too far.Not to be outdone, Dance Dance Revolution clone Pump It Up: Exceed is hosting the first ever United States Pump It Up Festival, we kid you not. Fans of the arcade game, which also has PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions, can compete this Saturday in Charlotte, NC to try and win an all-expense paid trip to Korea. Not surprising, since the game features all the Korean pop music you might ever need in a lifetime. Winners also compete for a top worldwide prize of $146,000, which is a serious gamer payday.Read -- Guitar Hero contestRead -- Pump It Up contest
It's official: Guitar Hero II heading to Xbox 360
As rumored and expected, Guitar Hero II is officially making the jump to the Xbox 360. RedOctane and Activision announced today at X06 that the rumors were true -- the power of the guitar shall no longer be confined to a single console.With the newly announced X-plorer guitar controller designed for the 360 (we wanna know, is it wireless?), the hard drive and Xbox Live Marketplace, this game is a match made in heaven for this system. Future downloadable songs, new bass and rhythm tracks, the mind just reels.Will we be able to one day jam with Drum Hero, Guitar Hero, Microphone Hero, and Keyboard Hero, and everyone on their own wireless instrument? Dare to dream.
The Ant Commandos counter RedOctane and Activision lawsuit
The lawsuits are beginning to fly in the battle between The Ant Commandos (TAC), who design and manufacture gaming peripherals and RedOctane, publisher of Guitar Hero and subsidiary of Activision.Activision threw out the first volley when they sued TAC for "unfair competition, trademark infringement, copyright infringement, unfair and deceptive trade practices, false advertising, unjust enrichment and more." Now TAC has filed a counter suit claiming that Activision and RedOctane "copied the identifiable trade dress of the [guitar] controller from its developer and part owner of TAC, Topway Electrical Appliance, Co."The photo you see at top is the "Magical Guitar," which according to TAC was designed in 1999 for Konami's GuitarFreak. TAC claims between 2001 and 2004 that representatives from RedOctane, including the CEO and top sales manager at the time, visited the Topway factory where the "Magical Guitar" was being produced asking questions regarding its design. TAC also claims that between 2002 and 2004, RedOctane "purchased several hundred of the Magical Guitars from Topway prior to producing the [SG] controllers themselves." In 2005 RedOctane produced the Guitar Hero SG controller -- if the picture submitted as evidence in the lawsuit holds up in court, the only obvious identifiable design difference between the SG controller and the "Magical Guitar" is the missing whammy bar. However, TAC and Topway do not have a U.S. patent on the "Magical Guitar" controller.In addition to the suit, TAC has filed for an injunction asking Activision and RedOctane from infringing on the "trade dress" developed by Topway and separating the Guitar Hero bundle to allow for fair competition. Currently, the SG controller is bundled with Guitar Hero. RedOctane did not return requests for comment. Full press release after the break.See also: RedOctane rocks the courthouse
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]
RedOctane rocks the courthouse
In a spectacular display of canine cannibalism, RedOctane and its new parent company, Activision, last month set their army of attack lawyers on a company called "The Ant Commandos". Much like the RedOctane that existed before the Guitar Hero franchise became mildly popular, the latter company produces unlicensed, musically inclined controllers. These include bongo drums, guitars (wireless versions, natch), dance pads and a weird "Soccer Arena" mat which isn't really musical but will likely tie your legs into a knot just the same.According to the Gamespot report, RedOctane and Activision feel that TAC's guitar controllers are guilty of "unfair competition, trademark infringement, copyright infringement, unfair and deceptive trade practices, false advertising, unjust enrichment and more." One can only assume that the "more" part involves some sort of violence against defenseless puppies. Along with the similar packaging and advertising, even the quality of TAC's product is called into question. The lawyers argue that TAC's claim of 100% compatibility with Guitar Hero is false, as the tilt function necessary to activate Star Power is apparently not very consistent in their line of guitars. Getting sued for printing a lie is one thing, but to be dragged in front of a judge indirectly because your product might be a bit rubbish? Now that's music to our ears.
Guitar Hero coming to multiple new platforms
According to Eurogamer, Activision CEO Robert Kotick let it drop at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia XV Conference (that's a mouthful) that Guitar Hero would appear "on every significant new format." We can only guess this means whammy-barring on the Xbox 360 is pretty much confirmed, with Gamestation employees hearing earlier this week that they will be getting Guitar Hero II for that console in early 2007. With the Wii, DS, PSP and PS3 being significant new formats, chances are you might be able to jam just about anywhere.
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]
Rumor: Guitar Hero II on Xbox 360
Get this, so, some anonymous source -- don't worry, this source is, like, totally "in the know" -- has tipped off a blog -- okay, not just any blog, but GamerAndy.com -- and ... you ready ... Red Octane & Harmonix are developing a version of Guitar Hero II for Xbox 360! Rock! On!Alright, so it's just a rumor without a credited source, but it's at least worth entertaining the possibilities: a wireless 'guitar' ... downloadable tracks ... Xbox Live battles! Please...Guitar Hero II is scheduled for release in November on PS2. Neither Red Octane, Harmonix, or Microsoft has confirmed -- or even hinted at -- a version for Xbox 360. As always, take any rumor with a grain of salt (but it doesn't hurt to keep your fingers crossed).
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.
RedOctane CEO: More music games coming
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, RedOctane CEO Kelly Sumner revealed that the company's "got other products in development" in the music genre.The former Take Two Interactive Europe CEO's statement that he "can't tell you what [these other products] are and when they're coming" would lead us to believe he's not talking about the Guitar Hero sequels (sorta like song expansion packs) already announced.A rhythm line-up to rival Konami's Bemani brand, perhaps? This blogger would love something to take advantage of the RedOctane drum peripherals created for Namco's Taiko Drum Master, and it wouldn't be too hard for Harmonix to work up a karaoke game considering their work on Karaoke Revolution (unless licensing prevents it). Whatever the case, fans of music gaming would love to see what Sumner's got up his sleeve.[Thanks, murph]See also: Guitar Hero readies for European tour A whole range of Guitar Heroes to be available A postmortem on Accordion Hero (with a little info on Guitar Hero, too) RedOctane Guitar Hero Specialty Store [where'd the cherry SG go?!]
A postmortem on Accordion Hero (with a little info on Guitar Hero, too)
Just in case you missed the Guitar Hero parody Accordion Hero reported here on Joystiq a week or two back, Gamasutra has now posted a tongue-in-cheek postmortem on the squeezebox simulator. It's cheeky.You'll learn not only "that accordion players get all the girls" (with female players, of course, getting all the guys), but you'll also get a handle on some detailed developer data such as the number of accordions broken during development (none) and the number set on fire during the same period of time (twenty-three).
A whole range of Guitar Heroes to be available
Why have one hero when you can have them all? While Accordion Hero may not be your thing, perhaps this will mollify Guitar Hero fans keen to expand their repertoire. The CEO of RedOctane has revealed to UK trade magazine MCV that several Guitar Hero sequels are in the pipeline, from Guitar Hero 2 to country'n'western and metal, following SingStar's successful genre-themed-spinoff model. Guitar Hero launches in Europe in a month's time, giving gamers this side of the pond the chance to finally see what all the fuss is about.
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]
