While we were busy covering the frenzy of the Halo 3 launch yesterday, it seems some other game news was also being covered. Yeah, we're as surprised as you. But lo and behold, it looks like Guitar Hero III is pulling out the big guns for its impending battle with Rock Band. Activision revealed yesterday that the remaining members of the Sex Pistols will reunite to rerecord "Anarchy in the UK" for Guitar Hero III. The master tapes of the original recording have been lost, thus necessitating the need to rerecord the tracks. We have to admit, with so many great tracks heading to Guitar Hero III, the decision between Rock Band and GHIII is getting more difficult every day.
[Via Joystiq]
Read -- Video interview with the Sex Pistols about Guitar Hero III
Read -- Sex Pistols join Guitar Hero III
Even with Guitar Hero III just month's away, it looks like Activision is still keen to milk its very lucrative downloadable content business. As such, the company has announced a new song pack for Guitar Hero II. Like the previous packs, the new song pack includes three new tracks for you to shred to your heart's content. The song pack includes the following tracks.
Trivium - "Detonation"
Atreyu - "Right Side of the Bed"
Protest the Hero - "Bury the Hatchet"
Lest you are unfamiliar with the new tracks, let's just say they're a bit on the hard side, especially compared to last month's DLC. According to ScoreHero, the new content will be available tomorrow at 2:00AM (PT) for the still onerous price of 500 MS Points. Now, if Activision would finally release some Fine Young Cannibals, we'd be in business.
Today, Activision is touting the success of their Guitar Hero II downloadable content claiming to have sold 650,000 song packs via the XBLM, which totals over 2 million songs. Activision says that the "song packs are some of the most popular content on Xbox Live and are quickly becoming a very lucrative revenue stream" and announced that their latest GH IIMy Chemical Romance song pack has been purchased over 55,000 times. Cha-ching!
So, everything is peaches and fresh daisies over at the Activision camp as it pertains to the success of GH II's downloadable content, but we ask what happened to the community's complaints about the price? Back when the new tracks became available everyone was up in arms at the cost, refused to support the expensive content and even went as far as to create online petitions. But now it's looking like it was the vocal minority who were expressing their distaste or those who were complaining just gave in and purchased new tracks. We aren't sure if we should applaud the success of GH II's DLC or be somewhat sad that the "success" of it may just have solidified the high price point for the future. We guess we'll just have to see how it all works out when Rock Band puts its first round of content on the Marketplace.
Not too long ago, it was revealed that DragonForce would finally be gracing Guitar Hero for it's third outing. The song chose for the game: the incredibly difficult "Through the Fire and Flames." But hey, don't take our word for it, just check out the video above. The amount of skill and practice required to nail this song borders on lunacy. Wherever the song isn't a maelstrom of hammer-ons and pull-offs, it is filled with machine gun strumming on multiple frets. It is both a nightmare and a beauty to behold, and we bet your little brother will master it in a week.
Posted Aug 22nd 2007 11:45AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
Even though you are still diligently strumming away at Guitar Hero II, working on that "Start a Real Band Already Award" achievement, now you have a new set of achievements to look forward to with the release of Guitar Hero III. Over at Xbox360Achievements they've discovered and posted all 59 achievements for upcoming rocking game GH III and there are some doozies. A few notable achievements that stand out would be "Buy a Guitar Already", "Tone Deaf" and "Meet Your Maker" where you have to (somehow) beat one of the creators of GH III. It'll be another nearly impossible 1000 gamerscore coming from this third installment, but really ... would you have it any other way?
Posted Aug 21st 2007 3:15PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
Adding to the ever expanding list of Guitar Hero III tracks comes two new songs via a pre-order box. The fuzzy image you see above (bigger one after the jump) was taken from the back of a retail pre-order box for GH III and lists two yet to be announced songs. The two newly new songs listed are The Killers' "When You Were Young" and Santana's "Black Magic Woman". So, adding these two new tracks to the previously listed ones we're at a comfortable 33 musical tracks-o-greatness. And since we're all about stealing Joystiq's recap idea we've posted all 33 confirmed Guitar Hero III songs after the break. So go ahead, look at 'em all in their rockin' glory.
From now through August 18th, when you purchase Guitar Hero II from Circuit City you'll get 1600 Microsoft points for free and free shipping on your online order. This offer is available online and in-store, but you'll have to send in a rebate form to get your money back. Check out the offer here.
True, we have seen a similar free 1600 Microsoft points offer before when GH II released and there was no forms to send in. But if you're willing to send in a rebate and wait for your cash this is definitely a good deal. Or you could just wait for Guitar Hero III or the game X3F is in love with ... Rock Band. Decide and plan your purchase accordingly.
The consumer versus Guitar Hero II downloadable content pricing war rages on with Activision taking the defensive on their pricing strategy. According to Dusty Welch, the head of Red Octane publishing, the downloadable track packs have been a "tremendous success" and that "demand seems to be insatiable" as they're reporting that 300,000 song packs have been purchased since April. Mr. Welch goes on to say that they have been listening to Guitar Hero II customers, but will still be "offering even better music at current price points" due to the success of the previous song packs.
So guys, who's to blame? We know we didn't purchase those overpriced track packs, but know there are a bunch who did. This is just another case of the financial bottom line being more important than the vocal majority, so quit buying the songs already! .... now back to the corner to cry myself to sleep again.
A new trailer for Guitar Hero III has dropped from the heavens of rock, and lo and behold, the game officially features legendary guitarist, Slash. Made famous by Guns N' Roses and now rocking with Velvet Revolver, Slash will be featured in the upcoming game, which is now subtitled Legends of Rock. Naturally, this leads us to believe there may be a few other famous rockers in the game as well, though this is only speculation at this point. Check out the latest trailer after the break.
IGN has put a preview for Guitar Hero III up on Xbox Live Marketplace in all its HD glory. The video gives us a first look at the new Les Paul wireless guitar, as well as some other cool features. One thing that impresses us was their use of face capture to have the lead singer properly lip-synced to the songs lyrics, as opposed to the previous iterations generic lip service. The video also touches on some of the visual changes, in the HUD as well as the art direction. A solid watch, if you're a fan of the series.
As the promises of loads of downloadable content echo through the empty halls of memory, Red Octane has let out a squeak, nay, the smallest chirp of information regarding the next batch of downloadable songs for Guitar Hero II. According to a forum post by a Red Octane admin by the name of rodth, new downloadable content for Guitar Hero II should drop sometime in July. Specifically, rodth noted, "While nothing's been formally announced, look for something to come down the pipeline around the July timeframe ...."
If you've been keeping track, this would be the second batch of DLC we've seen since April. We're not experts, but we're not sure that qualifies as the most DLC for any 360 game evar.
You're a Guitar Hero II rockstar god, aren't you? Well, if you think you're good enough and are willing to travel, the Mall of America in the lovely state of Minnesota is holding a Guitar Hero II tournament this Saturday, June 9th. The guitar gaming fun will take place in the mall's rotunda from 10:00AM-4:00PM with prizes including a Guitar Hero II game pack, Fender Squier Strat Pack, and a pair of airline tickets. And if your dress up skills are better then your guitar playing, dress up like your favorite rocker and win prizes for your creativity. Practice a few expert songs, make a trip to the MOA and win a few prizes. Living the life of a rockstar is good.
You know the feeling. You're playing Guitar Hero II, you've got full Star Power and here comes that sweet string of notes that will send your score into the stratosphere. Only one thing to do: tilt that controller and rock like you mean it. But what's this? You tilt the control and nothing happens, or maybe it's a little delayed, or maybe the act of tilting screws up your fingering. Whatever happened, you're stuck with a piddly x2 multiplier and a lot of wasted Star Power. If this sounds familiar to you, you may want to check out the fancy Star Power button mod at GrownUpGamers. As is the case with most mods, this will require you to crack open your X-plorer and do some soldering, so it's not for the timid. The mod also instructs users how to install a "kill switch" which essentially gives you a second strum button, helping you land those wicked solos.
If you're chops are righteous enough for this mod, click the "read" link and check it out.
Over at GrownUpGamers.com they've posted a helpful tutorial to fix those unreliable Guitar Hero II fret buttons on your X-plorer guitar. Their tutorial is for those of you who experience not so responsive fret buttons when rocking out to your favorite jam. This unresponsive fret button problem occurs when the fret buttons don't fully press down on the contact due to some shifting action. And all you need to fix those buttons is some confidence to open up your guitar, some cardboard, scissors, and tape. And voila! Fret buttons fixed. We're just wondering what type of cardboard would work best. Gushers, Pop-Tarts, Fruit By the Foot, or Cheerios ... oh the choices.
Joystiq reports that Guitar Hero II supply problems are becoming prevalent to gamers in Canada and the UK. This has been confirmed by one of Joystiq's UK bloggers, who states, "I've tried about a dozen retail stores, [it's] harder to find than a Wii." Wow, that is hard to find. When reached for comment, Red Octane told Joystiq that the supply issues were purely a result of an "insane amount of demand" for the title. Furthermore, they note that there are still many retailers in the United States experiencing supply troubles as well.
Red Octane's advice? Buy directly from the Red Octane store. If you just have to have Guitar Hero II (and honestly, you do), ordering from Red Octane may be your only hope. Be warned though, shipping costs are not cheap.