Activision has announced that it will continue to milk the Guitar Hero franchise, revealing that five new iterations, including one based off of the works of Van Halen, will make their way to store shelves in 2009, according to Eurogamer.

The releases of Hard Rock Van Halen, Guitar Hero 5, DJ Hero, and Band Hero will span four platforms (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and PS2) and should occur within the span of a few months during the second half of the year. Activision also has plans to release another Guitar Hero: On Tour title for the DS during 2009.

It seems that, for the time being, the oversaturation of the rhythm game market will continue unabated. 

Rumors that LittleBigPlanet is getting a PSP iteration have been around since April and were recently strengthened by a rumor found within the pages of the latest Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM), so MTV's Multiplayer Blog asked Sony's John Koller about the rumors during a phone interview yesterday.

Koller's comments from the story:

"'LittleBigPlanet’ is so expansionary. I think the developer’s really concentrating on right now making sure that the launched product is everything it could be and can be. We’re watching the UGC [user generated content] and seeing how that’s playing out. But for the future, I think certainly, we’d look at a wide variety of opportunities. Whether that’s the PSP or not, I can’t really say. We certainly look at ‘LittleBigPlanet’ franchise as a going forward franchise for us, and that speaks to the PlayStation brand overall.”

Multiplayer also asked Koller about the possibility of Rock Band or Guitar Hero hitting the PSP, as well:

“It’s of huge interest to us. That’s something you’d really have to talk to the developers on that side [if] it’s going to happen or not. For us, we look at the music area as being critical for PSP and the social area of interest as well. PSP is a lot different than your traditional handheld product and music is the number two use on the PSP, behind gaming. So, the marrying of those two concepts is of huge interest to us, and if there’s that opportunity to launch a title like that or even a new title that utilizes music in some way, then obviously we’re very interested.”

Sounds like there may be something to these rumors. Stay tuned, we'll let you know if anything is announced.

The game Rock Band on the Xbox 360 landed a patch soon after it's release on November 20th to allow players to use the Guitar Hero III controller in the game. The same can not be said for the PlayStation 3 version.

According to word from Harmonix, Activision is blocking the patch for the Sony console. The Harmonix team claims they completed the patch two weeks ago and was scheduled to release on December 4th, however Activision objected, stopping the release.

At this point, it appears to be a matter of Activision backing down to the pressure.

Following the news of the Activision Blizzard merger, the company has confirmed that, in fact, Call of Duty 5 and Guitar Hero IV are both in development. There are no other details for these upcoming titles at this time.

In addition, other titles in the works include a new James Bond, Tony Hawk, new Dreamworks and Marvel titles and a racing title from Bizarre Creations.

Those who wish to visit the official site can do so here.

At the main menu, select "Options", "Cheats", "Enter New Cheat", then enter one of the following codes to activate the corresponding cheat function. Note: Each note or chord must be strummed.

• All songs in Quick Play mode

Press Yellow + Orange, Red + Blue, Red + Orange, Green + Blue, Red + Yellow, Yellow + Orange, Red + Yellow, Red + Blue, [Green + Yellow] two times, [Yellow + Blue] two times, [Yellow + Orange] two times, Yellow + Blue, Yellow, Red, Red + Yellow, Red, Yellow, Orange to unlock all songs in Quick Play mode. Note: This code cannot be disabled once it is activated.

All items

Press [Green + Red + Blue + Orange], [Green + Red + Yellow + Blue], [Green + Red + Yellow + Orange], [Green + Blue + Yellow + Orange], [Green + Red + Yellow + Blue], [Red + Yellow + Blue + Orange], [Green + Red + Yellow + Blue], [Green + Yellow + Blue + Orange], [Green + Red + Yellow + Blue], [Green + Red + Yellow + Orange], [Green + Red + Yellow + Orange], [Green + Red + Yellow + Blue], [Green + Red + Yellow + Orange]. Note: There will be no sound while entering the four note "chords". Enter the shop in Career mode to access all items. This code cannot be disabled once it is activated.

Bret Michaels as the singer

Press [Green + Red] three times, [Green + Blue] three times, Red + Blue, Red(3), Red + Blue, Red(3), Red + Blue, Red(3). Note: Enabling this code will glitch online gameplay.

Easy Expert mode

Press Green + Red, Green + Yellow, Yellow + Blue, Red + Blue, Blue + Orange, Yellow + Orange, Red + Yellow, Red + Blue. This mode increases the size of the timing window. Note: This code cannot be used in Career mode.

No fail

Press Green + Red, Blue, Green + Red, Green + Yellow, Blue, Green + Yellow, Red + Yellow, Orange, Red + Yellow, Green + Yellow, Yellow, Green + Yellow, Green + Red. Note: This code cannot be used in Career mode.

Air guitar

Press Blue + Yellow, [Green + Yellow] two times, [Red + Blue] two times, [Red + Yellow] two times, Blue + Yellow, [Green + Yellow] two times, [Red + Blue] two times, [Red + Yellow] two times, [Green + Yellow] two times, [Red + Yellow] two times.

Hyperspeed mode

Press Orange, Blue, Orange, Yellow, Orange, Blue, Orange, Yellow. This mode makes the charts faster. There are five Hyperspeed levels. Press Green on the Hyperspeed option at the "Cheats" menu to cycle through them.

Precision mode

Press [Green + Red] three times, [Red + Yellow] two times, [Red + Blue] two times, Yellow + Blue, Yellow + Orange, Yellow + Orange, [Green + Red] three times, [Red + Yellow] two times, [Red + Blue] two times, Yellow + Blue, [Yellow + Orange] two times.

Performance mode

Press Red + Yellow, Red + Blue, Red + Orange, Red + Blue, Red + Yellow, Green + Blue, Red + Yellow, Red + Blue. This mode makes everything disappears except for the performance.

• Bioshock
• Assassin's Creed
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Halo 3
• Guitar Hero 3

• "She Builds Quick Machines" Off of the "Libertad Allbum"
• "Slither" Off of the "Contraband Allbum"
• "Messages" Off of the "Libertad (deluxe version)", as performed by Velvet Revolver.

• "The Pretender" Off of the "Echoes Silence Patience & Grace"
• "All My life" Off of the "One by One"
• "This Is A Call" Off of the "Foo Fighters (self titled)" as performed by Foo Fighters.

Activision has announced a national Guitar Hero III tournament in to promote Guitar Hero: III Legends of Rock.

The contest is available to contestants 16-years and up and the top winners at each stop on the tour will win $100 gift card to Hot Topic. The two finalists will get a chance to win a 2008 Pontiac G5.

The contest will be making it's way to:

11/8 Orland Park, IL (Chicago) Orland Square
11/12 Paramus, NJ (New York/Newark) Garden State Plaza
11/15 Buford, GA (Atlanta) Mall of Georgia
11/19 Austin, TX Barton Creek
11/26 Phoenix, AZ Metro Center Mall
11/29 Las Vegas, NV Meadows Mall
12/3 Northridge, CA (Los Angeles) Northridge Fashion Center
12/5 San Francisco, CA San Francisco Center

For more details, contact the Hot Topic store that'll be holding the event.

No details have been given on the songs to be included in the game. It is however scheduled to release on June 13th for the PlayStation 2 for $39.99. Hopefully we'll see this also release for download on the Xbox 360 after Guitar Hero II comes out in early April.

CEO Kelly Sumner announced today that Guitar Hero will likely see five or six new titles by the middle of 2007. RedOctane also announced that Guitar Hero 2 is definitely in the works right now and that it will feature 40 new tracks.

Meanwhile just like Harmonix's other franchise Karaoke Revolution, Sumner hinted at the possibility that genre specific guitar strumming titles could be in the works including Country and Heavy Metal versions.

Guitar Hero 2 is probably one of the most anticipated rhythm game sequels ever. And now, the follow up to the super smash hit, Guitar Hero, has finally arrived. The fact that it offers so many improvements in almost area makes the package all the more appealing to guitar-rocking fans. It’s almost the perfect sequel – almost.

Think about everything you know and love about the original Guitar Hero. Now think about the wish list you had after sinking hundreds of hours perfecting your shred technique – larger song list, multiple guitar parts, and a practice mode to help you get past those tricky parts. Well folks, all of your wishes have come true because Guitar Hero 2 boasts all of those plus a host of new characters, guitars, and performing venues.

For those of you not familiar with how GH plays, here’s a quick rundown about the core gameplay. The screen features a bar that scrolls towards you and colored circles that correspond to the ones on the SG guitar controller start out at the back and run to the bottom of the screen. That’s where the target area is and when the circles reach it, that’s when you strum and voila you’re playing the song. Those who have been playing guitar or any other stringed instrument for a while will feel right at home with the controller and the game’s mechanics. Don’t let that, however, let any of you who have no idea how to play an instrument stop you. Guitar Hero was the definition of pick-up-and-play and it still is.

On easy, you’re only responsible for the first three buttons and chords (hitting two buttons simultaneously) don’t appear until the last few songs. Bump it up to medium and the fourth fret button will come into play and chords will begin to appear more frequently. And just as the first game, be wary of sore fingers and stiff wrists from extended plays.

Hard and expert up the ante even more by introducing the fifth and last fret button and chords abound. This is where pinky strength will play a big role since the easiest way is to just stretch that pinky to hit that orange button. But, if you’re an experienced stringer you may find it much easier to shift especially when chord includes that fifth button.

Red Octane also upped the difficulty factor by including three-note chords. Now, that doesn’t sound too bad; I mean it’s only one extra button to press and/or hold on certain notes. However, when a song starts throwing them out in quick succession, it’ll definitely take some time adjusting to even for those of you who managed to five-star every song in GH. It’s a small addition that adds a ton to the core gameplay.

Hammer-on and pull-off are two techniques all too familiar to GH fans. A hammer-on involves holding a fret button down and strumming then while holding the strum hit or “hammer-on” one or two more notes so that you will have played multiple notes on one strum; a pull-off is just a hammer-on in reverse. To some, they were quite troublesome in the first Guitar Hero because it was either you got them with ease or feared them every time they came up and tried to rush the strum to hit all the notes. Here, however, it’s a lot easier to pull off because the timing window is more lenient. Those who had trouble with them before will feel an enormous amount of satisfaction when hitting the majority of those passages.

But don’t fret challenge seekers. GH2 is still plenty challenging, but it offers more tools to help you overcome those tricky solos. The addition of a training mode is a godsend. And it’s a pretty powerful. Not only can you practice songs in their entirety without fear of failing, you can also single out and practice small portions because they’re broken down into individual stanzas and phrases. On top of that, you can slow it down with three speed options. Practice makes perfect and if you’re dedicated enough, that can and will be the case here. The only unfortunate part is the fact that you need to reload after each attempt which is a tad cumbersome. It would have been easier to have it loop when practicing a small part, but hey, it’s just something to wish for in GH3, right?

Easily the best improvement lies in multiplayer. The first GH featured a multiplayer mode that was downright bland – exchange parts and whoever has the highest score wins. That same mode is still in GH2, but there’s also an unlockable mode where each player plays the exact same song - every note, chord, etc. – with high score winning. That ought to shut up any arguments involving the “you had an easier part” excuse. The best addition to multiplayer, however, is cooperative mode. Depending on the song, you and a friend can separate into lead and either bass or rhythm guitar parts. The bass parts on some songs can be underwhelming, in both and difficulty and volume (sounds like something went wrong recording in stereo). It doesn’t sound like you’re actually playing with someone, but instead you’re just playing beside your friend. But, that’s not too important because it doesn’t occur on every song and some of the bass parts are more fun than the lead guitars. I can guarantee that if you have two SG guitar controllers, this mode will be the one you’ll find yourself in the most. They smartly included the option to allow each player to select their own difficulty, so don’t be afraid that you’ll have to match your partner’s skill level.

The same cast of characters from the first title makes their way over here along with a few new characters. The most memorable one is the hulking KISS wannabe. Along with the new characters are alternate outfits for a select number of them. Add to that a load of new guitars, and now with more purchasable finishes, and you have yourself a whole slew of things to spend your hard earned career cash on. Oh, and let’s not forget that everyone’s favorite rocker, the Grim Reaper, himself returns as an unlockable rocker.

I just mentioned career money and the career mode remains virtually unchanged. Because of the much larger song list, there are more tiers to play through. Unfortunately, the difficulty progression isn’t as smooth as it was last time. As you go through the set lists, you’ll come across a few songs that will trip you up, but nothing that seems unbeatable. It’s more apparent in the jump from medium to hard difficulties. It used to be that the last songs on a difficulty had you well and prepared for the next difficulty, but it’s not the case here. Instead, the first tier on the harder difficulties throws you straight into the fire. Again, nothing impossible, but the progression is not as smooth as it once was.

You’re probably wondering why I haven’t mentioned the song list. Now, you’re probably wondering why I’ve waited until the bad and ugly section to finally talk about it. It’s not to say that the song list is bad. In fact, that’s far from the truth. It feels more of a disappointment than anything else.

The first GH offered a great variety of songs, most considered classics. If that’s what you’re expecting from GH2, then prepared to feel let down, even though it offers more songs than its predecessor. It’s clear that the developers chose songs that feature quite a few guitar solos and songs that have some freakishly fast sequences. In that sense, it was a job well done. But, in GH, some of the slower songs were just as difficult because they were very technical, especially the bluesy sounding ones. Unfortunately, those kinds of songs are sorely lacking, though the Allman Brothers’ “Jessica” helps fill the void a bit.

It’s nice to finally see Van Halen on the list, and while it’s a song I love, is “You Really Got Me” the one Van Halen song most would want to play? On top of that, it’s a cover of an old Kinks song. The same goes for Aerosmith – nice to see them here, but I know they’ve had more hits than “Last Child”.

But, the play list isn’t a complete disappointment; remember that this is only my opinion. Just because the entire list doesn’t appeal to me shouldn’t have you hesitating to pick it up. Heck, even knowing what songs were in GH2 in advance didn’t stop me from wanting to play this. And there are still a number of songs that everyone can enjoy. There’s The Police’s “Message in a Bottle” for the classic rockers; Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box” for the grunge fans; and for the internet fans, Strong Bad makes an appearance to sing “Trogdor”.

One last note is the fact that the covers are still for the most part very well done. There are some sore spots – the one singing “Killing in the Name” in particular fails to capture Zack de la Rocha’s sound – but it’s still of the same quality as the first GH. The developers, however, managed to snag some master, or original, tracks. The master reels include Primus’ “John the Fisherman” and “Stop!” from Jane’s Addiction. Now, let’s hope for more in the next installment of this great series.

Guitar Hero 2 offers all the fun and excitement of the original and more - more songs; easier hammer-on/pull-off techniques; new characters, guitars, and outfits and skins; and a much needed practice mode. While not as earth-shattering as the original, no fan of rhythm games should be without Guitar Hero 2 in their library.

Same as last time, but new practice mode and more technique leniency are great additions.

Never was GH’s strongpoint, but with all the frantic note reading, you won’t really notice.

Bass parts are sometimes lacking in co-op. The covers are still excellent.

If you had fun with the first, then you’ll have just as much fun here, if not more.

60 some-odd songs. 4 difficulties. Plenty of things to buy. You’ll be playing GH2 for a while.

]]> Fri, 10 Nov 2006 11:58:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/guitar_revolution_in_the_works http://www.gamebump.com/go/guitar_revolution_in_the_works http://www.gamebump.com/go/guitar_revolution_in_the_works# There is little information at this time, but we will follow this developing story.

Ever wanted to play guitar in a band but don’t have the time or dedication to spend years honing your skills? Too embarrassed to break out the air guitar when that memorable riff of your favorite song graces the radio? Well fear no more, friends, as Red Octane and Harmonix, the team behind the underrated rhythm titles Amplitude and Frequency, delivers the game that will make you, as they so succinctly put it, “kiss your air guitar goodbye” with the highly-addictive rhythm game, Guitar Hero.

The best and really the only way to play Guitar Hero is with the included SG guitar controller which costs $69.99 MSRP for the bundle (for those interested in buying a second guitar, it costs $39.99). It features five colored fret buttons near the top of the neck and a small flipper on the body of the guitar where the strings would be to simulate strumming. There’s also a whammy bar with which to hammer down on as you hold some of those long notes. While it is much smaller than a real guitar, you can’t help but feel like you’re really playing the guitar, as you’re just so absorbed in the gameplay to think otherwise. That’s a testament to just how much effort Red Octane and Harmonix put into GH. And don’t fear lefties because they’ve included an option to flip the controller around to suit your needs. The only problem is that the whammy bar will be above the strum bar and not in its normal place of near the bottom of the guitar. It won’t be a perfect fit, but it will feel natural nonetheless.

The screen features a bar that scrolls towards you and colored circles that correspond to the ones on the guitar start out at the back and run to the bottom of the screen. That’s where the target area is and when the circles reach it, that’s when you strum and voila you’re playing the song. Those who have been playing guitar or any other stringed instrument for a while will feel right at home with the controller and the game’s mechanics. Don’t let that, however, let any of you who have no idea how to play an instrument stop you. Guitar Hero is the definition of pick-up-and-play and the progression through the difficulty levels feels very natural.

On easy, GH only throws out the first three buttons and chords (hitting two buttons simultaneously) don’t appear until the last few songs. Bump it up to medium and the fourth fret button will come into play and chords will begin to appear more frequently. This is where some people will start to have trouble as the easiest way to hit that fourth fret is with the pinky. But, for most gamers, the pinky isn’t that strong a finger because it’s not used very much when playing a traditional game. Don’t sweat it though because you’ll overcome that problem in a few hours. Just be wary of sore fingers and stiff wrists from extended plays. I urge you to take a break every few songs. I played for seven hours straight the day I got it and I couldn’t move my wrist for the next two days. So, there’s your warning.

Hard and expert up the ante even more by introducing the fifth and last fret button and chords abound. This is where pinky strength will play a big role since the easiest way is to just stretch that pinky to hit that orange button. But, if you’re an experienced stringer you may find it much easier to shift especially when chord includes that fifth button. Two advance techniques become prevalent in these later difficulties – hammer-ons and pull-offs. A hammer-on involves holding a fret button down and strumming; then while holding the strum hit or “hammer-on” one or two more notes so that you will have played multiple notes on one strum. A pull-off is just a hammer-on in reverse. It may sound confusing here, but there’s a really good tutorial that explains it quite well. The only bad part about it is that it’s hard to hit those sequences in a song when it goes by so fast.

Most of the time you’ll be playing just to pass the song, but when you’ve progressed deep into the game, you’ll want to start achieving high scores. To do so, you’ll need to maintain long note streaks. The more you hit in a row, the higher the multiplier gets, which maxes out at x4. But, while you’re playing and reading the notes, you’ll notice that some of them are shaped like stars. If you complete these note combos, you’ll build your star meter, which is located just above the amp icon that shows how well you’re doing. When you have filled the bar, a message will appear saying that “Star Power is Ready”. To activate it, you can either do it the boring way and hit select, or be awesome and tilt the guitar vertical. When you do this, you’ll double your current multiplier. Thus, it’s in your best interest to activate it when your multiplier is at max and when there’s a portion of the song that contains a lot of notes. Or on harder songs, you can save it for difficult parts or use it when your approval meter his the red since it can save your behind.

Now that we’ve gotten the gameplay mechanics out of the way it’s time to address what is probably one of the biggest questions one would have about the game – how’s the soundtrack. Simply put – it’s superb. There are clearly some glaring omissions, but overall it’s a great soundtrack. The wide variety that Red Octane chose insures that a song here or there will appeal to a wide range audience. Indeed there’s a little bit of something for everyone here. For the older crowd there’s Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock and Rock”, ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man”, and for the more mellow crowd, Boston’s “More Than a Feeling”. You’ve also got some hard metal with pre-mainstream Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath tracks “Iron Man” and “Bark at the Moon”. They’ve also managed to give the youth movement some attention with The Donna’s “Take It Off”, Sum 41’s “Fat Lip”, and my personal favorite song on the disc, “Take Me Out” by Franz Ferdinand. Trust me when I say that you will definitely find at least five songs that you will not only like, but love playing.

What’s surprising is that all the performances are done by cover bands. Now, that’s usually the death knell to a song/game being good, but it’s something you can overlook because the cover artists did a fantastic job. You can’t even tell that some of them are done by cover bands unless you checked the music credits in the booklet. Yes, a couple of them sound off in a few places, but the vocalists generally did damn good imitating the original performers. “Infected” and “Take Me Out” are two such examples of those amazing performances. So please, play this game really really loud – there’s no other way to go.

It’s kind of hard to pay attention to everything else on screen while paying attention to the scrolling notes. Because of that, you think the developers would have skimped and half-assed everything else – but they didn’t. There are a handful of venues and different character with which to shred with. To unlock them you’ll have to play through the career mode and earn money.

Progression through career mode is simple. All you have to do is pass a number of songs in a block before you can move onto the next one. Each block is matched up with a different venue, so passing these is what lets you open them up. You’ll start out in a lowly basement then make your way to the local club, a small theater, and finally “The Garden” – a huge arena with thousands of screaming fans and a giant Viking in the backdrop that stares down at you.

Earning money is an easy task as well. Passing a song gives you money, but the better you do at a song, the more money you get. You can then use the money you earned to buy new guitars and skins, bonus songs, “making of” videos, and two characters. One of the locked characters is Izzy Sparkz who looks like Gene Simmons after being thrown through a box of Crayola’s; the other is the king of all rockers, Death himself.

Graphically, Guitar Hero isn’t pushing the PS2 to its limits and in this kind of game, those kind of graphics aren’t necessary. However, it does have its own style and humor, which is clearly evident in the character designs. Besides the two secret characters I mentioned earlier, there are six more to choose from, all of whom are exaggerations of stereotypical guitar heads. There’s the big bulking football player looking dude who makes the guitar look like the toothpick; you’ve got your Beatle/Oasis wannabe; there’s you’re nu-wave British rocker; and lastly your goth chick badasses.

Lastly, there’s a multiplayer mode. Here, you and a friend will trade off solos and parts in an effort to outscore each other. And just like with the single-player, two guitars are needed to get the full enjoyment out of this as playing with a Dual Shock controller is just flat-out boring.

In all honesty, I really can’t think of anything bad to say about Guitar Hero. Nothing. Really, I don’t see any truly horrible about it. It’s not a perfect game, of course, so no ten here, but it is a fantastic game. So, let’s do something different for this section and make a laundry list of what I’d like to see in a sequel.

Let’s finally see some Metallica and AC/DC and a bunch of others that were missing. Give us multiple guitar parts in multiplayer. Hell, while you’re at it, gives us bass guitar parts in single player. Sound modifiers ala Um Jammer Lammy. And lastly, a karaoke mode! Imagine playing the guitar while singing with the Karaoke Revolution mic. That would be freaking sweet.

There is no other way to describe Guitar Hero other than it’s a fantastic game that’s a blast to play. It has an awesome soundtrack. It does an excellent job of simulating playing a guitar. And most importantly it’s just so much fun to play, especially if you have friends to play it with. If you ever wanted to play the guitar, but haven’t gotten around to it, or you’re a fan of music and rhythm games, you need to get this now.

Does a great job of simulating playing the guitar.

Great for what they are. Humor found all over the place – art, characters, backgrounds etc.

Awesome soundtrack that has variety. Cover bands did an excellent job recreating the songs.

Guitars and videogames – a perfect blend.

Multiple difficulties feature different takes on a song, expanding the experience immensely.

]]> Tue, 22 Nov 2005 14:50:00 -0600