"With music ranging from one of the first and most influential alternative rock bands, R.E.M., to the timeless GRAMMY award-winning rock anthem Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield, Activision today announced a rich and diverse line-up of launch week downloadable content for the highly-anticipated Guitar Hero: World Tour. Available exclusively on XboxLIVE! Marketplace for the Xbox360 for two weeks starting October 30th, the R.E.M. Track Pack features three songs, which can also be downloaded as s..."

"Avid gamers and would-be rock stars alike can pit their skills against each other while expo attendees serve as their audience, with judging based on scoring, accuracy, and performance. Participants will be split into teams of four and compete to a list of the game's hit tracks, from Beastie Boys to Modest Mouse. Prizes include more than $2,000 in cash, Target Gift Cards, and other merchandise."

"Okay, the FBI and/or Lars Ulrich isn't going to rappel through your window and arrest you for copyright infringement if you try to share your covers. However, Activision will pull down any covers of copyrighted songs they find being shared online."

"1 Through the Fire and the Flames (The Tribute to Dragonforce)
2 Knights of Cydonia (The Tribute to Muse)
3 Prayer of the Refugee (The Tribute to Rise Against)
4 Cherub Rock (The Tribute to Smashing Pumpkins)
5 Woman (The Tribute to Wolfmother)
6 Black Magic Woman (The Tribute to Santana)
7 When You Were Young (The Tribute to The Killers)
8 Sweet Child of Mine (The Tribute to Guns n Roses)
9 Heart Shaped Box (The Tribute to Nirvana)
10 One (The Tribute to Metallica)
11 Raining Blood..."

Blogger Theo Georga voices his thoughts on whether Guitar Hero is becoming the new Tony Hawk Pro Skater.

Tony Hawk started as a really popular gaming series from it's initial beginning in 1999 on the Playstation. It lost sales fast later on due to the fact that despite the games having improvements and new themes, they were releasing it at least one every year and even more leading to an influx on the market that buyers just don't take notice anymore.

Guitar Hero looks to be doing simil...

"To celebrate the upcoming releases, Neversoft and Vicarious Visions hosted a little party in downtown Santa Monica for media and friends to get a little hands-on time with the near final builds (and sip some cocktails). Thankfully, we were invited. So off I headed, camera in tow, vocals warmed up, fingers limbered… In other words, I was ready to rock."

"Finally, there’s the game’s interface. Rock Revolution sports a number of modes, including Quick Play and Career for solo or co-op play and a create-your-own-music Studio. These are fine, expected inclusions; while we didn’t get to toy with Studio, it is at least a nice bonus for gamers who are willing to put the time in.

Our real problem with Rock Revolution’s interface is the menu system. Who could possibly have thought it would be a good idea to leave artist names off of the pre-Qui..."

"Activision UK has announced “the biggest pre-order incentive the industry has ever seen” as it gears up for November’s anticipated release of Guitar Hero World Tour.

Gamers who pre-order the ‘super bundle’ – containing the game, drum kit, guitar and microphone – will receive a free Guitar Hero bass guitar, which currently retails for approximately £50.

“This programme signals our enormous commitment to Guitar Hero World Tour,” Activision’s marketing director for the UK and Ireland David..."

""You can press play on the computer, and if you have it connected through MIDI, you can record into the music studio."

When asked about the specifics of the recording process, Bright noted that "it's going to take an FAQ on the Guitar Hero site--it's not something that your average user is gonna do."

"If you're a musician or you do any sequencing, it really just makes the pathway to getting your songs in the game that much easier--once you get it down. We just really want to give peop..."

Guitar Hero: World Tour, coming to all major consoles very soon!

IGN has recently put up a vast array of screens for the new game.

(A lot more screens in source)

"Director Brett Ratner has been plenty vocal about wanting to develop a movie based on the game Guitar Hero. But Activision, the company that owns the franchise, isn't going for it. "I'd really like to do it, but they're not letting me," he tells EW.com. "I expressed my interest, but because it's such a success, it's like now there's no reason to make a movie about it." Ratner is a big fan of the game, incorporating it into videos he's directed for Miley Cyrus and Mariah Carey, and he envision..."

"In celebration of the impending release of Guitar Hero World Tour, GameStop wants you to send them hot pictures of your mother. Dress her up in some fishnets, tease up her hair, and for god sakes show a little cleavage, and she could be well on her way to winning a $1,000 gift card for Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spas and a copy of the game in their Ultimate Guitar Hero contest. There are also prizes up from grabs for Families Who Rock! (Six Flags tickets, a $500 gas card and the game) and Guita..."

"Activision just put out a press release detailing the full set list for Guitar Hero World Tour. Information has been coming out in drips and drabs about which songs made the cut so some of these might not be news to you. But here they are, all together"

Guy demonstrates the editing capabilities in the new Guitar Hero game, Guitar Hero: World Tour. For example, the guy drums a beat into the game which is recorded. He then plays it back and has a button to omit certain bits. He can even change the volume of the drumming by changing the position of the guitar. Another feature is playing it back in a different way, which he shows with the drumming played back in a gaming/techno/trance sort of sound.

The game is set to come out very soon, so w...

Tool are a band renowned for their extensive talent, spiritual messages, and dabblings in the occult. Honestly, I can't really describe the group without trivializing the music, so just listen if you are curious/have no idea what I am saying.

Anyhow, they're contributing three tracks to the upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour game, those being "Parabola", "Schism" (both from the masterful 2001 album Lateralus), and "Vicarious" from 2006's 10,000 Days record. If you were expecting a little mor...

"Guitar Hero World Tour hits Australia on November 12th, 2008."

"With movies like Max Payne set for release this year and Street Fighter: Legend of Chun Li & Tekken next year along with talks of making a Gears of War movie and a Bioshock movie, it seems that Guitar Hero is the next game that’s been thrown into the hat to be adapted to the big silver screen.

Producer/Director Brett Ratner has apparently asked Activision if he could make a movie based on the popular hit video game Guitar Hero. He did of course name the latest installment in the Guitar Her..."

"Following on from the news that Line 6 technology had been dropped from the Wii version of Guitar Hero World Tour, a little more bad news has unfortunately emerged from Activision which affects both World Tour and EA's rival product, Rock Band 2.

Rock Band 2's instrument peripherals will not be compatible with the Wii version of Guitar Hero World Tour, and similarly Guitar Hero World Tour's instruments can not be used with the Wii version of Rock Band 2. Brian Bright, Guitar Hero World Tou..."

"Ah, the Rhythm Action genre. Bashing away on a fake, plastic instrument or leaping around like a loon on a bunch of arrows while a banging track plays in the background. Do it well and you’re a rock god on stage in front of thousands or the very ghost of Timberlake himself, throwing down some awesome shapes. For some people, this is escapism at its height. For others, well, they just don’t ‘get’ it."

"Blake Peebles, a 16-year-old in Raleigh, N.C., whose parents have let him drop out of school so that he can focus on a professional gaming career via Guitar Hero.

Blake convinced his folks (that is, "We couldn't take the complaining anymore," said his mom) to let him drop out last September. They hired in-home tutors to continue his education there, at least, but there's no doubt priority number one is Guitar Hero. There's a vaguely defined goal of Blake playing it professionally, either t..."

In the latest issue of the OXM magazine, 30 new songs for Guitar Hero: World Tour have been confirmed. There are songs from the Foo Fighters, Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix, and a lot more famous artists/bands!

OXM goes on to say we can expect more than 50 more songs to be revealed as Guitar Hero: World Tour gets closer to release.

"The latest artist announced to join Guitar Hero World Tour? Ozzy Osbourne. He and guitarist Zakk Wylde will appear in the game, due this fall, as will songs such as Crazy Train and Mr. Crowley. Those songs will be playable in a virtual Ozzfest venue. Osbourne chatted on the phone — just days before this year's Ozzfest Saturday in Dallas — with me about video games and technology.

"I had to put on this black suit with all these little ping-pong ball-like things all over me, motion capture. ..."

"Warner Music Chief Executive Edgar Bronfman says "The amount being paid to the music industry, even though their games are entirely dependent on the content we own and control, is far too small.""

"PC gaming’s dying, hunh? Not if the rumormongers have anything to say about it. Between recent ‘confirmations’ of Final Fantasy XIII and Grand Theft Auto IV, PC gamers have started dreaming of a brighter future — and judging by a recent scan of the ESRB ratings, those dreams will soon have a soundtrack.

The ESRB has now rated Guitar Hero: World Tour for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Windows PC."

"It means, first, that classic acts can make an easy paycheck licensing their back catalogs to rhythm games, although both publishers are becoming less willing to accept anything except master tapes. With both games shipping with an in-game music store that allows players to browse, listen to tracks, and purchase new songs for the games, the ability to make money pushing classic and up-coming bands is virtually limitless.(Right now the holy grail of music licensing seems to be the Beatles, and..."

"Tired of plastic toys? The Peavey® AG RiffMaster™ Guitar Controller is a real Peavey Guitar that’s sure to quench your thirst for the authentic rock star feeling.

LIMITED EDITION! If you want the prestige of owning this piece of gaming history, you better hurry and get your hands on some real wood! With hot designs from legendary bands such as Kiss and Pantera, your Peavey AG RiffMaster™ Guitar Controller will impress all who set foot on your rock stage.

Controllers are currently availa..."

"A rumoured track-listing for Guitar Hero IV: World Tour has appeared online thanks to GoNintendo. They claim that the list which appears below for you is set to be the real thing and should be confirmed within a matter of days.

Whether or not we trust a Nintendo blog as a source, remains to be seen, but someone either has too much time on there hands or has a vast knowledge of rock music suitable for the game."

"Activision today (officially) scored a major player for Team Guitar Hero (take that Rock Band!), landing Jimi Hendrix, who will make his posthumous "video game debut" in Guitar Hero World Tour. Hendrix will feature as a playable character in the game, and two master tracks from the fire-casting rock star will ship on the game disc:

* "Purple Haze (Live)" (recorded in 1969 at the San Diego Sports Arena)
* "The Wind Cries Mary"

Additionally, Activision has announced plans to rele..."

"Videos in Link.


Rock Band 2

While everyone loves strumming the bass or wailing on lead guitar while someone else screams into the mic, users frequently criticized the drums in the original Rock Band. As fun as they are, they’re too simple, not realistic enough and way too loud (not in a good way). But drums in music games like Rock Band pose a unique problem for developers: They can’t make them too complicated—no one would want to play except professional drummers—but developers need ..."

"At Activision’s unofficial E3 press conference Tuesday evening, one of the developers of this fall’s “Guitar Hero: World Tour” made a quick comment to the crowd about the new “GH” game being compatible with non-”GH” instruments.

Later, I asked for clarification.

Two Activision representatives confirmed that the age of cross-game instrument incompatibility is nearing its end.

They explained that the Xbox 360 version of “Guitar Hero: World Tour” will indeed be compatible with the instr..."

"

We've seen a lot of Guitar Hero bots in our time, but we're pretty certain that Mechanized Rock's take on shredding automatons is something special. The system -- dubbed DeepNote -- actually watches the on-screen action with "eyes" that it uses to analyze notes, which the bot then plays in real-time. Using photodiodes aimed at the screen, the components pick up changes in light within eight nanoseconds, then convert that information to brazen, parent-shocking, full-throttle rock n' roll. ..."

"There's little doubt that the artist line-up for Rock Band 2 is shaping up nicely. Guitar Hero is getting some nice exclusives as well. With Journey, Boston, Metallica, The Who and other top tier acts lending their tunes to the dominant rhythm games, there aren't many superstars left to cross off the list.

One of the artists that continues to elude both Activision and Harmonix is Led Zeppelin. It's been chalked up to a lengthy licensing process, but a recent write-up from the Wall Street J..."

"Activision and Neversoft confirm rumors of "touch strip" guitar neck for Guitar Hero holiday edition; Billy Idol, Foo Fighters, Sublime, Linkin Park, Van Halen, and The Eagles on board."

"World Tour lets you become the rock star in every way possible -- from playing the tunes to making the music itself. I got my first look at the next game in the hit franchise and there's no doubt about it: I'm impressed. Neversoft and Activision didn't sit on their laurels and pump out a cash-in sequel. There's so much new here that it's tough to decide where to begin"

"The official website is now live, with general information on how it works on the DS with the little grippy thing, track samples and - best of all - watch videos of ’cool’ indie kids messing about on their DS’s, including, unrealistically, a pretty girl. As if."