Posts with tag guitar hero
Posted Apr 6th 2007 4:15PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Guitar Hero II
If by some insane chance you've missed the metric ton of
Guitar Hero II coverage this week, you may be interested to know that the official commercial is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. If you don't know what
Guitar Hero II is all about, the commercial should give you an idea. Basically, rock and roll can (and does) save the world. You won't be destroying any meteors during the game, though you may feel like you have that kind of power once you finish playing. Go download and enjoy (unless you already have the game, in which case you'd probably prefer not to be bothered).
You can check out the "as seen through a screen door" version
here.
Posted Apr 6th 2007 2:00PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News, Guitar Hero II
Ever think about
Guitar Hero II's advertised song list? On the box it clearly states the game features 70 songs, but if you don't already know, you only have access to 6 off the get go as others are only playable if you unlock them. Though, this may be obvious and even acceptable to some, over at Game Stooge they've openly expressed their distaste with this unlocking method. Ultimately they feel ripped off by paying $90 for the game and then having to unlock new songs just to get to play the content that was promised on the box. If you beat the game in easy, you only have access 36 of the 70 tracks and the rest could potentially be too difficult for some to unlock. Heck, Game Stooge would settle for having access to the tracks in just practice mode. Then at least a person could play them.
What do you guys think? If you're plopping down $90 on a game do you think you it's your right to have access to all the content in the game or do you feel it's okay for the developers to make you work for it? We're not sure if it the comparisons Game Stooge uses are fair, but we agree ... we just want a way to rock out to all 70 songs.
Update 1: It looks like
GH II's game designer Chris Canfield responded to Game Stooge's post with insight into their decisions and, for those of you who want their songs now, an unlock all tracks cheat code. Also note that if you are going to be using the cheat code think about your guitar's button colors ... yeah, the "O" had us thrown off a bit.
Posted Apr 6th 2007 11:30AM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Guitar Hero II
Possessing a Geraldo-like level of journalistic investigation skills, our cruel masters at Joystiq have uncovered more info on the
faulty X-plorer guitars that shipped with the Xbox 360 version of
Guitar Hero II. It seems that the majority of whammy bar problems are being reported by owners of the guitar with the pedal jack near the power chord, model 95055. The other model, with the pedal jack near the headset jack and shoulder strap, model 95065, doesn't seem to be generating as many complaints (though our own David Dreger is reporting issues with his). Red Octane hasn't made any official announcements regarding its
investigation of the matter.
For clarity's sake, your best bet is to look for a box with Part No. 95065. The part number is located above the ESRB rating on the back of the box. Find a detailed image of the part number location after the break.
Continue reading GHII X-plorer problem explored, culprit found?
Posted Apr 5th 2007 12:00PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: Fan stuff, Guitar Hero II
We all wished it would happen, we all prayed to the powers that be it would happen, but in the end we were sadly let down. We're of course talking about the long rumored
Guitar Hero II wireless guitar that everyone wished they'd see, but ultimately ended up being one wired
disappointment. And our friends over at Ctrl+Alt+Del have finally gotten to the bottom of all the politics and discovered the real reason why we aren't rocking out to "Possum Kingdom" on our wireless X-plorer guitar. It was those darn Microsoft product developers who hoarded all the wireless magic. Yes sir, they're holding onto their precious wireless and aren't sharing. If you're reading this Microsoft, please let us have your proprietary wireless magic. We'll totally trade you one brand new ring ... straight up.
[Thanks, Paul]
Posted Apr 4th 2007 10:30AM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Guitar Hero II
Apparently, all is not well in the land of rock. Reports are coming in to Joystiq that many
Guitar Hero X-plorer guitars have unresponsive whammy bars. We've also received reports, along with Joystiq, that some Target stores are refusing to sell the game, saying that there has been a recall. We have been unable to confirm whether or not there has been a recall yet, though we should know sometime today.
Here at Fanboy Towers, we have at least one broken X-plorer, owned by none other than our own David Dreger. It seems that there are two variants of the X-Plorer, one with the pedal jack near the power cord and one with the pedal jack on the bottom of the guitar (near the headset jack and shoulder strap). Joystiq reports that the problem exists in the variant with the pedal jack near the power cord, but David claims otherwise, as his pedal jack is on the bottom. If you've been upset because you cannot yet afford
Guitar Hero II (like me), then you may want to hold off a bit longer to see where this all goes. We'll keep you posted on the situation as it develops.
[Via Joystiq]
Update: Added some language to clarify what is meant by the "bottom" of the guitar.
Posted Apr 3rd 2007 5:45PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Guitar Hero II
For those
about to rock that just plunked down $90 for
Guitar Hero II, we have some good news. On the official
Rock Band website, a Harmonix developer by the name of Jason Booth has confirmed that older
Guitar Hero guitars will work with the upcoming title. We assume he's referring to the Xbox 360 X-plorer guitar, as the PS2 guitars are essentially incompatible with the PS3.
The politics of this announcement are interesting, as the next iteration of
Guitar Hero will be developed by Neversoft instead of Harmonix. Harmonix, meanwhile, is working with MTV and Electronic arts on
Rock Band. If Harmonix owns the rights to the
Guitar Hero controller, it could mean Neversoft will have to develop a completely new one for
Guitar Hero III. Throw in RedOctane's (and thus Activision's) legal battle with The Ant Commandos and it gets even more confusing.
Granted,
GHIII is still a ways off, but we don't relish the idea of dishing out gargantuan sums of money every time a new music game hits.
Here's hoping the X-plorer will be compatible across the board.
[Via TeamXbox]
Posted Apr 3rd 2007 4:45PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Guitar Hero II
Yeah, we know, you're probably sick of all the
Guitar Hero II coverage by now, but we promise this we be the last
GHII story for at least the next hour or so. Without further ado, behold what the critics have to say about
Guitar Hero II.
- IGN (9.4/10) - "Guitar Hero II on Xbox 360 is the best iteration of the hit music rhythm game yet, but it's also an important addition to the Xbox 360 library. On a console dominated by shooters and action titles, it is one of the few titles that everyone can and will enjoy. RedOctane and Harmonix put their best foot forward with this release The result is a port that adds enough content to make it worth a second look from the hardcore fans, especially with the downloadable songs, and a game that is put together so well that all newcomers should give it a try."
- TeamXbox (9.3/10) - "The audio was also enhanced in the title's move to the Xbox 360, so if you have a surround-sound setup, you'll really enjoy GHII. On the other side of the coin, the well-defined audio makes some of the weaker song covers stand out that much more. Every time the singer overemphasizes the "RRRRR" in Nirvana's Heart-Shaped Box, [it] felt like fingernails on a blackboard to my ears. "
- Game Informer (9.5/10) - "Guitar Hero II is a fantastic game. If you haven't already, go out and buy it. It's just that simple."
As you can see, a negative review was difficult to find. In fact, 4 of the 12 reviews on Metacritic scored the game at an even 100 out of 100, and none of the remaining reviews dipped below 90. If you believe the critics, it's going to be hard to find a better way to spend $90. What say you fanboys, is it worth it?
Posted Apr 2nd 2007 3:00PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: Deals and Bargains, Guitar Hero II
Guitar Hero II is coming out tomorrow (even though some of you have your hands on it already) and we feel that our blogging duty requires us to tell you about the best deal out there. Enter Circuit City's gracious offering. This week at Circuit City, when you pick up
Guitar Hero II for $89.99 they'll give you a FREE 1600 Microsoft Points card. Yup, that's a $20 value kids. You can then use those points to purchase the recently
confirmed Guitar Hero tracks that will be on the XBLM next week or just splurge on random XBLA games or themes. Now, who says corporate retail giants don't care about the consumer's best interest?
Posted Apr 2nd 2007 1:00AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News, Xbox Live Marketplace, Guitar Hero II
In their recent
Guitar Hero II review, IGN confirms that the original
Guitar Hero tracks will be available for purchase from the XBLM. They are reporting that one week after
GH II's release (which would be next week) Red Octane will be releasing various original
GH tracks for the Xbox 360 version including Ozzy's "Bark at the Moon", Incubus' "Stellar", and "Higher Ground" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The other obvious question would be how much each track will end up costing, something we'll only know when the new tracks hit the XBLM. We're hoping the downloadable tracks end up being relatively cheap, but we're wondering how much you would be willing to shell out per new song.
[Thanks, murph]
Posted Mar 27th 2007 3:30PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: Fan stuff, Guitar Hero II
So, we went to Best Buy earlier today to nab a replacement headset --
Fancast recording sessions can get a little ... rough -- and then we saw it. Sitting next to the demure Wii kiosk and the somewhat more imposing PS3 kiosk was, naturally, the 360 kiosk. But what was this attached to it? A ... a
guitar? We strapped on the white X-plorer guitar, hit up the tutorials, and began to learn about
rocking. It wasn't long before we were champing at the bit to play the real thing. Picking Nirvana's "Heart-shaped Box," we began our first foray into
Guitar Hero II (die-hard Xbox fanboys that we are, we hadn't experienced the game on PS2). We were
ready to rock, or at least that's what we thought. The song, in a twisted reversal of the natural order, proceeded to own
us, and on medium (
medium!) difficulty, no less. After a quick switch to easy difficulty (oh the shame), we slowly came to grips with the controls and managed to recreate a reasonable facsimile of Nirvana.
But that was on
easy and our fingers were already cramped. Still, we want more, a lot more. It took some willpower to walk out of that Best Buy and continue blogging, knowing that
Guitar Hero II was only 2 miles away. We take considerable comfort knowing that $90 will be ripped from our wallet next week when
Guitar Hero II finally arrives. We take comfort because that transaction is no longer a choice. It's a necessity.
Posted Mar 22nd 2007 3:30PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Deals and Bargains, Guitar Hero II
360 Fanboy reader, Nitin, sends us word that he received a coupon from Best Buy offering $10 off games and accessory purchases of $75 dollars or more. Now, it just so happens that
Guitar Hero II will set you back 90 clams when it
debuts on Arpil 3rd,
and it just so happens that the Best Buy coupon expires on April 4th. You see where we're going with this? Of course, there is one possible caveat. According to the fine print, the coupon doesn't include video game hardware. Now, we're pretty sure that refers to actual consoles, but don't blame us if the guy behind the counter says the guitar counts as hardware.
At any rate, you were going to pick up
GHII anyway, right? You might as well
try and save 10 bucks.
[Thanks, Nitin]
Posted Mar 16th 2007 5:00PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News
Screw
Guitar Hero II demo stations! Why waste time with a puny demo station when you can bag the real thing in just two weeks? That's right, Activision has officially announced that
Guitar Hero II will release on April 3rd. Wait a minute, that sounds awfully familiar. Oh, that's because we
reported it two months ago, booyah!
At any rate, in just over two weeks, budding 360 rockers will finally get to lay down some righteous chops with the best of them. The 360 version of
GHII features the all new X-plorer guitar, updated graphics, and 10 exclusive new songs. Not only that, but Red Octane already has a ton of
downloadable content in the pipeline.
So, 360 fanboys, we ask you:
are you ready to RAWK?!
[Via Joystiq]
Posted Mar 15th 2007 3:30PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Guitar Hero II
One of X3F's regular anonymous tipsters has given us ... um ... an anonymous tip. What tip you ask? It looks like we might start seeing
Guitar Hero II demo stations as early as next week in retailers like Wal-Mart. Our tipster reports that demo units are already being delivered to retailers. What is more, the X-plorer guitar that comes with
GHII will feature a normal USB connection -- not exactly a surprise really -- which may allow PC users to find ways to utilize the controller.
So, there you have it, start looking for
Guitar Hero II demo kiosks starting next week. Be sure and
send the news to X3F when you find one. We're just as excited to get our hands on the game after all.
[Thanks, Anonymous Rep]
Posted Feb 12th 2007 9:30AM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Guitar Hero II
Update: Oops, looks like shipping isn't free. Instead, all customers will be upgraded to 2nd day air for the normal shipping cost of $7.67. Still, you'll get
Guitar Hero II for $87.66 delivered. Not too shabby.
Anyone looking to save a little scratch on the upcoming
Guitar Hero II need look no further than Costco. Costco is offering the bundle, including the game and X-plorer guitar controller, for $79.99. That's a full $10 off the retail price. As an added bonus, Costco will throw in a 2 day shipping upgrade for free. According to the website, this deal will only be available for a limited time, so those who prefer to rock on the cheap better get moving.
If any of you frugal rockers find any more great deals, be sure to send us a
tip.
[Thanks, james fearn]
Posted Jan 25th 2007 7:30AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News, Guitar Hero II
RedOctane, developer of
Guitar Hero II, posted a pre-order for the game's Xbox 360 version on their corporate store. Look closely though, because they listed an April 3rd ship date for the
Guitar Hero II bundle. This has to mean something, because this isn't Gamestop or Toys R Us listing a release date. This is the developer's official online store listing the release date. This has to be accurate, unless RedOctane is just as clueless to the release date of their game as the rest of us. And as an added bonus you'll get a free gig bag when you preorder the game directly from them. Can you say rock on to an April release?
[Thanks, Tig]
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