"The company recently decided to celebrate the fact that a couple of Guitar Hero performances would take place at this year’s Isle of Wight Festival, an event partly known for featuring one of Jimi Hendrix’s last performances before his tragic death. So how does one celebrate a fake guitar performance? By vandalizing a tribute to a real guitar legend, it seems. Activision decided to deck out a bronze statue of Hendrix to make it look like he was holding a Guitar Hero controller instead of an a..."

"He tells Rolling Stone: "Guitar Hero was devised to bring the guitar-playing experience to the masses without them having to put anything into it.

“And having done both, there's nothing like really playing guitar. I mean, what would you rather drive, a Ferrari or one of those amusement-park cars on a track?""

"With the recent announcement of Guitar Hero World Tour, not to mention hints towards a Rock Band sequel, music-based games are undoubtedly more popular than they were a few years ago. One need only look at the recent slate of rereleases like the XBLA port of Rez or Samba de Amigo for the Wii - hardcore faves that weren’t commercial successes - to understand the value of music games on the market today.

We've charted their popularity and placement in today’s gaming world, and now we present..."

"Guitar Hero World Tour was announced earlier this week by Activision. No details on pricing was revealed, but GameStop has already listed the "Guitar Hero World Tour - Band Kit" for various gaming systems. The Band Kit, which likely includes a guitar, drums, mic and game, has been listed for $189.99 by GameStop for the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and PLAYSTATION 3 bundles. The PS2 release is listed for $179.99.

Also listed on GameStop:
• Guitar Hero World Tour - Guitar Kit: $99.99 (PS3, PS2, W..."

"Activision has revealed that the next true sequel in the Guitar Hero franchise will introduce new instruments. A preview of Guitar Hero 4 in the latest issue of GameInformer has now shed some light on that and revealed that GH4 will introduce drums, bass, and vocals.

The preview also reveals a new gameplay element. Apparently, Guitar Hero 4 will feature custom made tracks. Players will be able to create tracks, name them, create cover art, and upload it all online for others to enjoy. Due ..."

"Have your PS2 guitar controller and want to rock out on the new PS3 console? TAC has a perfect solution for you. The PS2 to PS3 Converter will enable your old PS2 controller (guitar or non-guitar) to be used on PS3 for both Guitar Hero and Rock Band games*.

The converter has a USB connector on one end and PS2 connector on the other. Simply plug the converter into PS3, connect the PS2 controller, and set the switch to either Guitar Hero, Rock Band or Gamepad and you are ready to go."

"The trademark refers to "computer game software and related instruction manual sold together as a unit; interactive video game programs; computer game discs; downloadable software for use in connection with computer games; video game controllers; interactive video game comprised of a CD or DVD sold as a unit with a video game controller." It looks like your guitar is going to get a friend."

"It’s been known for a while now that more instruments would eventually be incorporated into the Guitar Hero brand. The question is whether that means bringing drums into the mix and totally ripping off Rock Band, or creating a whole new game in the Guitar Hero universe with different toys to rock out with. The developers are currently figuring out how to move the series beyond the standard guitar and bass repertoire, as the CEO of Activision Bobby Kotick recently said, “We’ll include a lot of..."

"When Guitar Hero 3 launched last year it was an immediate success, selling out at a fairly quick pace throughout the holiday season. Following just behind it was Rock Band, selling very well, but not nearly as quickly as Guitar Hero. So far, all versions of Guitar Hero III have sold about 9.1M copies, versus just roughly 1.5M for Rock Band. Of course, part of the discrepancy lies in the fact that Rock Band launched on two platforms while Guitar Hero 3 launched on four, but that is about to be..."

"Hey fellow rock fan!

What would you give to be a rock star? It’s ok, we don’t need your soul, we just want to find someone who has the moves and attitude to embody what Guitar Hero is all about.

Simply grab a tennis racket, the dog, or whatever you have lying around and video yourself rocking out to the track of your choice and upload it for a shot at glory in our weekly video montage. We want fearless guitar-slingers and we don’t care about your looks, size or style. If you have rock ..."

""Guitar Hero is one of the biggest brands and one of the most powerful distribution platforms in all of entertainment today," said Michael Griffith, president and CEO of Activision Publishing, Inc. "Guitar Hero's popularity with broad audiences is a confirmation that video games have become a true mass medium."

But wait, there's one more feather for Activision to stick in their no-doubt very large and well ornamented hat: since Guitar Hero III's release in November, it has surpassed 5 mill..."

"A federal judge has denied a request by the rock band The Romantics to prevent Activision from using their song in Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s.
As reported earlier, the band filed suit almost a month ago, alleging that the Guitar Hero recording of the song improperly imitates their sound, causing consumers to believe that The Romantics recorded the music and endorsed the product.

The judge who made the recent ruling indicated that, to the extent there were any copyright issues, Acti..."

"In fact, the immense popularity of the hit Guitar Hero franchise--the third iteration of the game, Guitar Hero III, brought in $115 million during its first week on the market--may be the best thing that has happened to the instrument, to rock 'n' roll, and to guitar instructors, in a long time.

"I have an overwhelming feeling that my business is safe for years to come when I see kids playing Guitar Hero," said Dan Emery, owner of New York City Guitar School. "These kids are really enjoyin..."

"This episode follows the last year's hugely popular "Make Love, Not Warcraft" episode, which helped garner the long-running animated show an Emmy."

"Today, this intricately crafted LEGO Guitar Hero controller appeared on the internet, and GamerSquad's jaw duly dropped.

Obviously, constructing a replica of Guitar Hero’s Gibson Explorer-inspired controller using just LEGO is a feat worthy of applause on its own, but get this: it even works with the game."

"On Rock Band specifically, Janco sees the Guitar Hero competitor creating "a compelling option for the music oriented category beginning in holiday ’07, which will pressure Guitar Hero’s growth."

"That said," says the group, "we expect Guitar Hero to follow a natural product evolution by adding additional music peripherals in CY08."

"Importantly," Janco adds, "the Guitar Hero franchise that is developed internally and owned, offers a meaningful operating margin expansion potential versu..."

"Despite the largely insipid track listing, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80s thankfully does not come complete with a hairspray-riddled rock wig, leg warmers, or spandex tights – so at least only the music exists to remind us just how shockingly bad the 1980s were.

Guitar Hero, phenomenon that it is, is known by pretty much every gamer alive at this juncture, and with Harmonix now focusing on improved interactivity and downloadable content options (via Xbox Live) with the much anticipated ..."

"There are a number of very good and very fun tracks to be found, like Iron Maiden's "Wrathchild", Anthrax's "Caught in a Mosh", Extreme's "Play With Me" and a handful of others, but they're comparatively few and far between. For the first five of six sets of songs, you may find one in there that's fun while the rest will be rather boring. The last set is great, but it feels like too little too late.

Another disappointing aspect is that there are only 30 tracks to be found. There are no bon..."

"Readers, say "hello" to the Guitar Heronoid, a creation brought to you by robotics enthusiast Rafael Mizrahi and the letters ‘W’, ‘T’ and ‘F’. The purpose of Mizrahi’s bizarre invention? Simple - to play the PlayStation 2 version of Guitar Hero II more perfectly than any human being ever could."

"On both sides of the Atlantic it’s left to the ever-willing PlayStation 2 and ever-giving Nintendo DS to flesh out the weekly release offerings. On the PS2 front, the week’s biggest entrant is Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80s, followed by the likes of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 and Rugby 08."

""

The latest tracks listed have been:

18 and Life (as made famous by Skid Row)

Bathroom Wall (as made famous by Faster Pussycat)

Lonely is the Night (as made famous by Billy Squier)

Nothing But a Good Time (as made famous by Poison)

Play With Me (as made famous by Extreme)

Shaken (as made famous by Eddie Money)

Synchronicity II (as made famous by Police)

There's a couple that stick out to me but again, nothing too huge to "zomg" about. The full list so far would be:

I Wan...