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Gaming has hit a bit of a slump in terms of design and innovation. Endless sequels plague the release calendar, and will kill the industry. This isn't the first time that something like this has happened, but I welcome the fallout and eventual recovery that will come.
"Nickelback represents the new face of modern rock, always pushing the envelope with their generally badass sound and gravelly vocals. They’re probably the only band around today that you’d never accuse of being unoriginal or formulaic, so their inclusion in Guitar Hero is practically destined. It’s also clear from looking at them that these dudes bag a lot of pelt."
"With more sequels to both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchise that we can shake a rusty spoon at, its time to take a long, hard look at these games and see where they are lacking. Both franchises are prone to releasing sequels which don’t introduce enough new features in them, but Guitar Hero in particular seems to churn out new games more often than most. Music games are becoming more and more like the FIFA music game, with a new iteration having to be released every year for seemingly l..."
"According to sources at both Activision and Neversoft, after the developer completes work on technically-unannounced-but-we-all-know-its-coming Guitar Hero 6, the publisher will hand the groundbreaking franchise over to Vicarious Visions. Vicarious Visions has some history with the Guitar Hero franchise, having worked on the Wii ports of every GH console game since Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. The studio works on the Nintendo DS Guitar Hero: On Tour series as well."
"The fifth day of Christmas has arrived and, as those that have been following Electronic Theatre’s The Twelve Games of Christmas feature will know, today is the turn of May 2009. Incidentally, the month in which Electronic Theatre’s brand spanking new site went live! For those not in the know, everyday for the twelve days of Christmas we have been taking a look the very best that 2009 had to offer, one month at a time and suggesting what you should be looking out for in those January bargain ..."
Bobby Kotick's logic has spread to Daniel Rosensweig, CEO of Guitar Hero.
20% of households with consoles own the game. And the GH CEO wants to go after the remaining 80%? Truly it doesn't mean that 80% do not quite like rhythm games or don't have the coordination/rhythm needed.
Until we see a better game (singular here, not plural; as in ONE game, just like Rock band), Guitar Hero will always be seen as saturated.
Open the pool up for others while you're at it. Rhythm Heaven over...
"Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. (AMEX/TSX: MCZ), a leading worldwide third-party interactive entertainment accessory provider, today announced the shipping of the Rock Band Wireless Wooden Fender Stratocaster replica guitar for use with the Microsoft® Xbox 360 videogame console.
Compatible with Rock Band™, Rock Band™ 2, the up coming The Beatles™: Rock Band™ game, alongside other music and rhythm games, the Rock Band Wireless Wooden Fender Stratocaster guitar controller is a true 1:1 replic..."
"Looking at music games as part of our NPD analysis, Gamasutra has discovered that U.S. Guitar Hero/Rock Band revenues are down 49% year on year, as discounted hardware and over 20 SKUs flood the market.
June 2009 was the second consecutive month without a Rock Band or Guitar Hero title in the top 20 software titles. The last time the software charts went two months without one of these franchises was in September and October 2007, right before the launch of Guitar Hero II on the PlayStatio..."
James Walker has had it. This goes past Bobby Kotick's recent dropping Sony support threats. This has been a long time coming. Someone needs to call Bobby out on the things he is doing with what was a company we all could at the very least say used to be "better than EA"
"6:00 AM – Slice and dice, bub.
They start out with a pretty decent title, one of those cases where the game is better than the movie. X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
10:00 AM – If only Jack Ryan had his wings.
Out of all the clues, this is the only one that has me slightly confused. So I checked where all bargain gamers like myself would go, Cheap Ass Gamer. Most users are saying it is Tom Clancy’s HAWX, so I’m going to agree for now.
Another guess is Bioshock (based on “Jack Ryan” being in..."
If only Metallica had written the song a minute shorter, I could have used the South Park joke for my lead-in. But the Guitar Hero whiz kid, Danny Johnson, broke the world record for the most points in any song on Guitar Hero: Metallica. He played the 11-minute song, Mercyful Fate, off of Metallica's cover album, Garage Inc. Johnson's already broken the record in Guitar Hero III by setting the highest score on Dragonforce's Through The Fire And Flames. Congrats on unlocking Superstardom, kid.
"The new Guinness World Records set included the Longest Note Streak on Guitar Hero, with a score of 3,722 and 100% on the track Through the Fire and the Flames during which he also beat his previously held record for the Highest Score For a Single Track on Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Xbox 360) with a score of 985,206."
"If any one band should have the right for its own Guitar Hero (GH) game; it’s Metallica. With album sales exceeding 100 million dollars worldwide, it is safe to say Metallica are legends of rock. Metallica’s song list is just perfect for GH that is of course if you like Metallica. The track list features some of the greatest Metallica hits! Metal heads are going to be jumping up and down like a little school girl who just got the latest Barbie doll when they get their hands on this title, and..."
"Following the introduction of the Logitech Wireless Guitar Controller, Premiere Edition (previously available only in select markets), the new black guitar controller is expected to be available worldwide later this month."
"Guitar Hero Metallica is set to be released across Europe and in Australia on May 22nd, 2009 and in the UK on May 29th, 2009 for Wii, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation2 and PLAYSTATION 3 systems. For more information on Guitar Hero Metallica, you can visit guitarherometallica.com, for everything else stay right here at Electronic Theatre."
A short but kind of sweet release list this time.
PC owners are treated to Demigod, a game which fuses too many genres to count and looks to be rather fantastic (we'll have a review up Tuesday on Neoseeker) and horror-ish title Cryostasis, one we've never heard of but could be great (it's been getting some favourable reviews and has a rather unique plot).
DS owners, meanwhile, are treated to two more Atlus-published RPGs: Dokapon Journey and The Dark Spire.
"Now these mics will help people jam like never before with other great music games on Xbox360, first with Guitar Hero: Metallica. A title update this summer will also activate mic compatibility with Rock Band 2. Additional titles that support the Lips microphones will available later this year, and only on Xbox360."
"Activision Publishing, Inc., a Californian leading developer, publisher and distributor of interactive products, has today announced its sponsorship for the 2009 European Sonisphere Festivals, headlined by Metallica. The festivals will be held in Holland, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Finland, and UK too, where it is going to end. Fans willing to get a taste of the higly anticipated game Guitar Hero Metallica will have the chance to try their skills on a demo, instead of waiting for the game to ..."
Heidi Klum will no longer be the spokesperson for the Guitar Hero: Metallica commercials. She has been replaced by four famous college basketball coaches. But if you think the ad is just the same ol' Risky Business inspired scene, stick around till the end...
Dance Dance Revolution Disney Grooves, anyone?
Pretty shoddy release list this week, unless you feel like giving those Metallica arseholes more money.
Tokyo Beat Down on the DS is probably the only real highlight, though Gardening Mama could be uh, fun, and stuff.
There's also Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust on the PC and 360, though that series has been cheesed out since the last iteration..but perhaps this one will be different. With Carmen Electra and Tom Arnold on the voice ...
The Guitar Hero Metallica Demo is up for Xbox Live users. A nice switch up from the GH Aerosmith game, which released the demo many months after the release (or even GHWT, which still has no demo). Songs for this demo include: No Excuses by Alice in Chains, Stone Cold Crazy by Queen, Sad But True and Seek & Destroy by Metallica.
Click "Go to source" to add this to your XBL queue directly from Xbox.com.
You know a company is milking a brand when they plan on something like this. Currently its mostly a rumor, but some of these games have been confirmed. The current list so far is:
1. Guitar Hero: Metallica (confirmed for March 29, 2009 on the PS3, 360 and PC)
2. Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits (confirmed for June on the PS3, 360 and PC)
3. Guitar Hero: Modern Hits (confirmed on the DS)
4. Hard Rock Van Halen (rumored to be coming in August)
5. Guitar Hero 5 (not the final title, we imagine--S...
"Once honoured by Metallica with seven Motörhead covers performed as The Lemmys, GRAMMY Award-winning legend and lead vocalist and bassist of Motörhead, Lemmy, will take his rightful place on stage alongside Lars, James, Kirk and Robert in Activision Publishing Inc.s Guitar Hero Metallica this spring."
"Activision Publishing, Inc. has released a fact sheet on Guitar Hero: Metallica, due for release on Xbox360, PLAYSTATION3, PlayStation2 and Wii in Spring 2009. The complete release follows below:"
"So the tracklist for Guitar Hero Metallica is upon us. I am going back on my past words about this game being "meh".. it is looking quite solid. Unlike the Guitar Hero Aerosmith game, well over half the Metallica tracks are good ones, and nearly every single one of the non-Metallica tracks are awesome. My only fear for the game now is it will have an annoying fretboard that distracts from the notes (as GH Aerosmith did), but so far it is looking really really good.
Tracklist below includes..."
"Show notes:
This week we have been playing:
Left 4 Dead (Xbox 360), Katamari Damacy (PS2), Myst (PC), Super C (NES), Guitar Hero Aerosmith (Xbox 360), World of Goo (WiiWare), Rock Band 2 (Xbox 360), Call of Duty 4 (Xbox 360), Empire Total War (PC), Fallout 3 (PS3), Quake Live (PC)
Not Likely: Zack & Wiki 2 and Left 4 Dead on PS3
Exclusive Xbox 360 DLC. Should we be angry at the developers/publishers, Microsoft, or Sony ?
Castle Crashers DLC is ALREADY ON YOUR HARD DRIVE.. enjoy p..."
Good news has come for Guitar Hero fans with recent news posted up on Metallica's website. Some dates have been made for the upcoming title in the series. March 29th for North America (Xbox 360 and Playstation 3) with everyone else in early May, along with the release for the other consoles.
This new peripheral from ezGear looks pretty darn sweet - it is called the You Rock Guitar and is part Guitar Hero/Rock Band controller and part real guitar to use on your PC as a MIDI instrument. It features a touch-sensitive full fret board and strings to strum. It is a pretty pricey instrument at $149, but that is cheaper than most real guitars.
"
Metallica is the upcoming standalone Guitar Hero band game (just like Guitar Hero: Aerosmith before it) where you get to live out your favorite moments from Metallica’s days gone by and play their most famous songs."
Metallica.com makes an official statement about the upcoming new Guitar Hero: Metallica.
So far this is what we have confirmed.
Sounds interesting, definitely worth following if you are a fan of the band, or the genre.
"GH:Metallica looks exactly like I suspected it would. Heres the confirmed stuff.
Expert Plus: New Drum difficulty. It's a special difficulty for people with a splitter and two kick pedals. Not compatible with World Tour online Leaderboards.
DVD Style Content: Photos, set lists, fan club videos, rare live and behind the scenes footage
New tones: GHTunes is in the game and it offers up exclusive tones from James Hetfields ESP Truckster guitar and Slayers Tom Araya's ESP Bass.
Drum..."
Do you fail at Guitar Hero? Can't beat TTFAF on expert? Perhaps you should get yourself a Cythbot and no, it doesn't use the force.
The Cythbot is comprised of a camera for vision pneumatic fingers for playing the popular video game series Guitar Hero.
So why make a perfect Guitar Hero player? To show off what the company is capable of doing.
So far the bot has managed to hit 98%, one percent higher than one of the best human players in the world. The problem is that the fingers are...
Chad Kroeger, guitarist and vocalist for Nickelback, wants to you stop playing Guitar Hero, because he feels not enough bands have "put a solid rock-and-roll package together", feeling they are one of the ones that have. As such, he advises you to stop playing the games and start playing instruments.
I could go on a very long rant here, but I'll just say this: yes, you certainly have put together such a package. It's all neat and tidy, that "rock-and-roll" band of yours. Sigh.
Everyone ...
The lighter side to politics! The latest in cartoons, filibustercartoons.com has posted up a picture in relation to the latest in American Politics. We see Obama and McCain playing Guitar Hero! Ok, Obama is playing and McCain is seemingly on a ghost hunt.
Well the fact is he really is chasing ghosts. He's losing in nearly every poll and the media is predicting a large defeat! McCain seems to ignore this though, insisting it's still a close call. Maybe he should retire and enter Guitar Hero...
"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..."
"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..."
"It was announced at E3 last July that Metallica's new album, Death Magnetic, would make its way in full to Guitar Hero III as downloadable content, and now Activision Blizzard has released new details about pricing and availability: The DLC will be made available on the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network concurrently with the release of the album this Friday, September 12, for $17.99 (1440 Microsoft Points).
In addition to the standard 10 songs on the album, the Guitar Hero III ..."
"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 thats 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..."
"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 youre 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 dont get it."
Seriously? Yes, unfortunately.
Blake Peebles, only 16 years old, convinced his parents to allow him to drop out of school and focus primarily on his professional gaming career, specifically geared towards Guitar Hero.
Blake's parents have hired in house tutors to help him keep up with his studies.
He has won only $1,000 in tournament prizes so far to date, and hopes on signing on with MLG in the future.
Chris Kluwe, the Minnesota Vikings punter, was at a restaurant in Mankato focusing in on the T.V. screen, playing Guitar Hero on the Xbox 360. Vikings executives Rob Brzezinski and Rick Spielman were amazed at how good Kluwe really was at the game.
Kluwe says that he is roughly one of the top 100 Guitar Hero players in the world, he has even beat the guy who holds the Guinness World Record! Kluwe was also able to play Activision's corporate sales meeting earlier this year. Kluwe really enj...
"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.""
The famous guitar amplification company Peavey is now selling custom-made Guitar Hero controllers. These controllers are essentially a real guitar. Made with wood, and complete with a pickup and all the circuitry required, it is possible to play this as a real guitar. Although, those 5 brightly-colored buttons and that strum bar may get in the way.
Not only is there a good amount of pre-made custom designs to choose from, you can even make your own.
"
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. ..."
Unfortunately for us all who grew up in the 70s and the 80s, as well as the few kids who actually have a decent taste in music - Led Zeppelin isn't all that keen on lisencing their songs for use in games like Rock Band or Guitar Hero. (I was pulling for Guitar Hero: Led Zeppelin too, shucks...) I guess when they said "No Stairway!" in Guitar Hero 2's loading screens, they weren't kidding.
In other news, Van Halen, Steely Dan, The Eagles, and Guns N' Roses are perfectly fine with it, and ha...
Beatles representatives have had talks with Activision and MTV Games, who both make the Guitar Hero and Rock Band games, to possibly make a Beatles-themed video game. According to a person close to the talks, the deal could be worth millions of dollars.
![Box shot of Guitar Hero: Metallica [Europe]](http://i.neoseeker.com/boxshots/R2FtZXMvWGJveF8zNjAvUmh5dGhtXyZfTXVzaWM=/guitar_hero_metallica_frontcover_small_cblqwjlrgRseWR1.jpg)