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It looks like these university students have spent too much time playing Guitar Hero, and not enough time studying for their exams! But of course, we're benefiting from their procrastination as you see how they've made it possible to play Guitar Hero without a guitar. Isn't it amazing what you can do when you're bored?
Attempt to make it!
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...
"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..."
"IGN had an interview with Paul Gadbois, producer on Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits, the upcoming compilation of what Activision has determined are the most popular songs from every console GH title to date. Canadian development studio and port-expert, Beenox, is putting together the disc, which hits 360, PS3, PS2 and Wii in June. (It's confirmed at $60 for the 360/PS3 release, $40 on Wii and $30 on PS2.)
According to Gadbois, this mix of previous Guitar Hero games will offer full band play on ..."
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.
"...Gene Simmons has a lot to say about it.
I never do anything half way. My AXE controller is the closest thing you can have to being onstage in KISS. I created and designed the Gene Simmons AXE bass guitar and I cant wait for the fans to experience it for themselves," said Gene Simmons. The Gene Simmons AXE guitar is such a recognizable symbol - people have been asking for a gaming replica ever since Guitar Hero was first introduced."
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 ...
"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..."
"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.
"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.
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...
"The company recently decided to celebrate the fact that a couple of Guitar Hero performances would take place at this years Isle of Wight Festival, an event partly known for featuring one of Jimi Hendrixs 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..."
Well, this sounds interesting.
It appears the next 'true sequel' (read: not Guitar Hero: Aerosmith) of the Guitar Hero franchise will feature custom soundtracks. So, you and your band will be able to upload custom instrumental tracks that you created. Pretty rad, neh?
It isn't surprising that the vocal aspect would be excluded, since (as the article states) it would be hard to do voice (to text) recognition (even modern software is a bit iffy, especially considering different people h...
"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."
"Its 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, Well include a lot of..."
The Guitar Hero series was a hit, it's that simple. Recently Guitar Hero III sold over nine million copies. But a new musical video game has entered the picture: Rock Band. Though it was no where near as successful as Guitar Hero III it still sold roughly 1.5 million for it's first debut. As more Guitar Hero games and Rock Band Wii are released, who knows which brand will really come out on top?
Thats right, Activision are giving you the chance to fly out to California and become a character within the next Guitar Hero game. In order for a chance to be that lucky gamer all you have to do is create a video of yourself rocking out to a song of your choice and submitting it here (once logged in) to be within a chance of winning.
Terms and conditions apply.
Such inspiration and ideas can be found in this Youtube video they have offered, Enjoy and good luck if you enter.
""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..."
Recently, American rock band The Romantics sued Activision because the Guitar Hero cover of their popular song, What I Like About You, "improperly imitates their sound, causing consumers to believe that The Romantics recorded the music and endorsed the product". In other words, they felt as though the Guitar Hero cover of their song was too similar to the original. Err ... is that not the point of cover songs?
Fortunately, common sense prevailed, and the judge denied The Romantics request ...
"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..."
South Park will air an episode on Wednesday night featuring a Guitar Hero-like game. It will be called "Guitar Queer O"
This will be similar to their World of Warcraft themed episode last year.
"Today, this intricately crafted LEGO Guitar Hero controller appeared on the internet, and GamerSquad's jaw duly dropped.
Obviously, constructing a replica of Guitar Heros 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 Heros 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..."
Grab your plastic Gibson SG, pull on your best pin-heavy denim jacket, slide the moth-eaten hair band back across your head, slip the sweat protector wrist guards on, lace up your leather pants... it's time to ROCK! Although that's 80's rock, which really isn't rock, is it? What do the critics think of Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80s? Let's find out.
What do you do if Guitar Hero II all-too easily hands you your gameplay ass, which you duly accept with teary eyes, bleeding fingers and sagging enthusiasm? Why, you promptly set about constructing a robotic player in order to thrash the Harmonix-developed devil child good and proper. Bearing that in mind, meet the "Guitar Heronoid" and be impressed.
The post-E3 depression is setting in as yet another new release listing fails to inspire anything more than a heavy yawn. Then again, is that surprising following a week of fevered expectancy with one huge game after the other dangled tantalisingly before us? No, not really. Still, this week's release listing is still pretty darn poor.
![Box shot of Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s [North America]](http://i.neoseeker.com/boxshots/R2FtZXMvUGxheXN0YXRpb25fMi9BcmNhZGU=/guitar_hero_encore_rocks_the_80s_frontcover_small_4wGrP3UKxoJcpJ2.jpg)