Filed under: Rhythm

Rock Band to be swept away in a Texas Flood next week

by Griffin McElroy { 9 months ago }

Blues fans, rejoice -- nimble-fingered guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan's seminal eighties album Texas Flood will be landing on the Rock Band Music Store next week for 1280

($16). The 10-song pack will include every track off the original album, meaning we'll soon be warbling our way through Billboard-toppers like "Pride and Joy," "Rude Mood," and the titular track (which you might remember from the original Guitar Hero). Finally, we'll have some appropriate DLC to boot up whenever our flannel-shirted cohorts decide to explain how "that woman gone and done them wrong."

We'll let you know about the pricing of the individual songs -- and whether Texas Flood will have company when it hits the music store -- if Harmonix makes its standard official DLC announcement tomorrow.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Activision reveals other pre-order bonuses for Guitar Hero: Metallica

by Griffin McElroy { 9 months ago }

The pre-order bonuses for Guitar Hero: Metallica run the gamut of usefulness when dealing with down payment freebies -- the first (and unquestionably most desirable) of these bonuses we already knew about: Dropping a paper Lincoln on the title at GameStop will net you an extra drum pedal with which to face the game's most punishing percussion solos. A bit further down on the Scale of Practicality is the pre-order bonus for Hollywood Video and GameCrazy: A pair of Guitar Hero: Metallica drumsticks. Not an amazing gift, but it sure beats a keychain.

On the complete opposite side of the aforementioned scale is the gift that Best Buy patrons will bring home: Tattoo sleeves. We can only imagine that they're talking about those fake slip-on things that make it look like you've swapped appendages with Tommy Lee, and not, you know, actual tattoos. We assume that particular consumer electronics retailer has some policy prohibiting in-store decorative body modification.

Sega re-registers trademarks for Rez, 18 Wheeler

by Griffin McElroy { 9 months ago }

Depending on what half of the information we're about to report appeals to you, be prepared to launch your trance vibrators or cans of Skoal high into the air in a fit of glee. Sega recently saved two franchises from the trademark trash compactor, effectively renewing its claim on future installments in the Rez and 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker series -- two staples in anyone's daily Dreamcast diet.

Try and contain some of your ecstasy/caffeine pill-fueled exuberance -- remember, re-registering a trademark isn't the same as announcing an actual game, so don't start designing your countdown page quite yet. Still, it does mean that Sega thinks these two stones have some blood left in them. Delicious, trance-inducing/cargo-hauling blood.

Source - Rez trademark
Source - 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker trademark

[Via Sega Nerds]

14-year-old breaks GHIII 'Fire and Flames' record, guitars

by Griffin McElroy { 9 months ago }

At the tender age of fourteen, our oafish hamfists could barely handle the simplest daily tasks: Shoe tying, pencil handling, typing and so on. Danny Johnson, a 14-year-old with such outrageous manual dexterity that we're of the firm belief he's at least two-thirds robot, recently performed a task we thought unthinkable -- he broke 17-year-old Chris Chike's official record on Guitar Hero III's most difficult song, "Through the Fire and Flames", and he broke it by nearly 100,000 points. Robot.

Johnson, who's broken nearly 80 guitar peripherals over the past nine months in pursuit of the record, set a wide margin with strategic Star Power usage, elevating his score to 973,954 (topping Chike's 899,703) during a performance at a Best Buy event with Guinness officiaries in attendance. However, we've seen Chike garner even higher scores without being witnessed by the aforementioned officiaries -- we think it's time for these two Jimmy Woods-esque virtuosos to settle this in a no-holds-barred, winner-take-all guitar duel.

[Via Game|Life]

Official enough: Kotick confirms DJ Hero for 2009

by JC Fletcher { 10 months ago }

Activision has yet to announce DJ Hero through any official channels. The "rumored" game has been revealed through trademarks, secret sources, and even musicians whose work is included. But because Activision hasn't sent out a true press release, the game continues to be in some kind of limbo between reality and rumor.

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick totally spilled the beans to CNBC, saying, "We have this product called DJ Hero coming out later this year which is a turntable that you can actually play competitively, spin discs and mix on." Can we call this first Guitar Hero spinoff "confirmed" yet? Because it's totally happening.

In other news: CNBC's Joe Kernen is basically mystified by Nerf N-Strike. Just like everyone else.

[Via GamesIndustry.biz; image credit: lolololori]

Rock Band Wiikly: Six more tracks, just what we needed

by Ross Miller { 10 months ago }

Another week, another bundle of Rock Band DLC oldies for the Wii, which according to the press release should be available now.

Individual Tracks (200 Wii points apiece)

"Attack" - 30 Seconds to Mars
"Gimme Three Steps" - Lynrd Skynrd
"Live Forever" - Oasis
"Just What I needed" - The Cars
"Siva" - Smashing Pumpkins
"Tell Me Baby" - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Fun fact: the Rock Band series has about 559 songs. At this point, Wii owners have access to 212 of them, leaving 347 songs to go. At 6 songs per week -- not counting any future DLC -- we should see Wii owners catch up to everyone else some time before mid-2010.

Guitar Hero World Tour Monthly: Wings, Bob Seger, Shins, Incubus, Ryan Adams

by Ross Miller { 10 months ago }

Much like it did last month, Activision Blizzard has announced three new DLC packs for Guitar Hero World Tour due out in February. Let's hope this remains a dodeca-annual affair.

Acoustic Track Pack (440

/ $5.49)

"Drive" - Incubus (160 / $2)
"New Slang' - The Shins (160 / $2)
"Wonderwall (Oasis cover)" - Ryan Adams (160 / $2)

Wings Track Pack (440

/ $5.49)

"Junior's Farm" (160 / $2)
"Hi Hi Hi" (160 / $2)
"Jet" (160 / $2)

Bob Seger Track Pack (440

/ $5.49)

"Old Time Rock and Roll" (160 / $2)
"Her Strut" (160 / $2)
"Get out of Denver (live)" (160 / $2)

The Acoustic Track Pack is coming Thursday, February 12, followed by Wings and Seger on the two Thursdays after that, respectively, for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii. Check out videos for the first trio after the break.

Continued →

NPD: Guitar Hero World Tour outsells Rock Band 2 by 2:1 in 2008

by Ross Miller { 10 months ago }

The NPD Group has tallied up all of the SKUs for Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour -- both multi-instrument packs and separate games -- and found that Activision / Neversoft's rocker came out on top with 3.4 million units sold last year, twice the number achieved by Rock Band 2 (1.7 million).

Though the staggered release dates (especially for Wii) didn't help matters, this hardly indicates a terrible loss for EA's side. The Guitar Hero branding is, after all, a powerful force to be reckoned with. We'd be interested to see how the original Rock Band fared last year, given that it's also competing for living room space alongside the other two. And hey, why not throw in some Rock Revolution sales data? We could use a laugh.

Metallica reveals full setlist for Guitar Hero: Metallica

by Griffin McElroy { 10 months ago }

Up until now, we've been uncertain about what tracks would be appearing on Guitar Hero: Metallica -- though the educated guessers among us presumed that it would have quite a few tracks by its titular band. They were correct -- the news section on Metallica's official site recently revealed the 28 tracks the rock outfit would be contributing to the game (PS2 and Wii versions will include three extra songs in lieu of access to the band's Death Magnetic DLC pack), as well as the extra tracks from "some of the bands we admire and even call friends."

The full list is posted after the jump, and features our patented new Bold-O-Vision technology to point out the particular song we can't wait to croon without shame or self restraint in whatever social setting we happen to find ourselves in.

Continued →

Rock Band Weekly: Grateful Dead Pack 2

by Alexander Sliwinski { 10 months ago }

Next week's Rock Band DLC brings back the Grateful Dead for a second six-pack of tracks. We hope you're prepared to taste the color purple as the eclectic band takes you on a trip. Just make sure to bring your wallet ... and a towel.

Grateful Dead Pack 2 (800

/ $10)

"Hell In a Bucket" (160 / $2)
"Don't Ease Me In" (160 / $2)
"Cold Rain & Snow" (160 / $2)
"Doin' That Rag" (160 / $2)
"Fire On the Mountain" (160 / $2)
"Uncle John's Band" (160 / $2)

All tracks are masters and will be available for download next Tuesday and Thursday for Xbox 360 and PS3, respectively.

Ubisoft hiring for 'new cross-platform music based game'

by Jason Dobson { 10 months ago }

Ubisoft looks to be making good on Yves Guillemot's interest in joining the rhythm game genre. Following comments made by Ubi's chief exec last September regarding a pair of mysterious music-based games in the works, the company has posted a job opening seeking someone to "help guide the creation of an exciting new cross-platform music based game."

Nothing else is known at this time, so feel free to speculate. Whatever the studio has up its sleeves, however, we sincerely hope there are peripherals involved. After all, what else are we to fill our living rooms with if not more fake plastic instruments?

[Via superannuation]

Metal God Rob Halford trademarks 'Metal God' video game

by Christopher Grant { 10 months ago }

Rob Halford – lead singer for Judas Priest and the bearer of the immeasurably cooler-than-ours nickname "Metal God" – has filed a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office under the "class" of "Computer games; video games; and game controllers for computer games." The name he's seeking to trademark? You got it: "Metal God."

Maybe it's just Halford watching out for numero uno (hey, if our nickname was "Metal God" we'd trademark everything from video games to hair curlers) or maybe, after getting a taste of that Rock Band DLC money, Halford has more palpable ambitions. What could he bring to the world of videogames, you ask? We've got a couple ideas:

Better cover art (see our mashup above)
An all Judas Priest and/or Rob Halford-themed soundtrack (who wants all the filler?)
And lastly, a rhythm game for the bald metalhead – a tragically underserved niche audience

[Via superannuation]

Rock Band Wii store adds 6 tracks, DLC schedule syncing in Feb.

by Alexander Sliwinski { 10 months ago }

Harmonix announced today that six DLC tracks, previously released on other Rock Band enabled consoles, are now available on the Wii's Rock Band music store.

Individual songs (all tracks are 200 Wii Points/$2)

"March of the Pigs" - Nine Inch Nails
"The Collector" - Nine Inch Nails
"Rockaway Beach" - Ramones
"I Fought the Law" - Clash
"Margaritaville" - Jimmy Buffett
"Volcano" - Jimmy Buffett

The developer plans to continue releasing packets of previously released DLC content on Wii every week until it's completely synced with the library on Xbox 360 and PS3. Furthermore, starting in February, new DLC should also become available to Wii owners. Those preparing to start a Rock Band Wii music library better pick up a solid 2GB SD card for storage... just not the "official" one, please.

Forbes profiles Kotick, calls Rock Band 'shameless knockoff of Guitar Hero'

by Ross Miller { 10 months ago }

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is the cover story for the latest issue of Forbes magazine, and the article's got one helluva quote -- and it's not even from the man himself. While you might balk at the businessman's lack of gaming credentials (read: he doesn't play games), this is the line, written by Forbes itself, that'll cause more than a few raised eyebrows: "EA also teamed with MTV to sell Rock Band, a shameless knockoff of Guitar Hero that added drums, bass and a microphone to the world of make-believe rock stars."

The decidedly negative tone without attribution is uncharacteristic for the magazine, and also feels a bit ... off? We know the Harmonix-RedOctane schism can be a bit confusing, but when the creators of the hit franchise are the ones making Rock Band -- and doing the multi-instrument thing first -- is that really the best choice of words?

[Via geoffkeighley]

Guitar Hero: Metallica pre-orders come with bonus drum pedal

by Griffin McElroy { 10 months ago }

There's a thick cloud of fear hanging over fans of faux-drumming in games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero: World Tour -- fear inspired by the near-impossible rhythms which will need to be kept when Guitar Hero: Metallica hits store shelves. We're not sure how familiar you guys are with the speed with which Mr. Ulrich is capable of producing percussion, but we assure you, his work will be most unpleasant to attempt to mimic.

Thankfully, an uncharacteristically useful pre-order bonus from GameStop will give the game's quick-to-act reservers an extra bass drum pedal and input splitter. This will allow the player to use both pedals to tackle the game's more heel-punishing tracks. It's certainly a better option than splitting your foot down the middle, and training yourself to control both halves independently, which, now that we think about it, would be pretty rock-and-roll.