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Joystiq
Joystiq (culture.joystiq.com) has great Guitar Hero news, photos, videos and more
Thursday, Nov 5
Guitar Hero, Call of Duty franchises lead Activision's 'better-than-expected' Q3 2009
Look, just feign surprise, it makes these financial posts so much more exciting: Activision today reported net revenues of $755 million (on a non-GAAP basis) in the quarter ending September 30, 2009 -- that's $55 million more than the suits hoped to stack, according to previous project...
Wednesday, Nov 4
Viacom: The Beatles: Rock Band sales strong, overall RB growth slow
Despite tanking sales, the music genre still remains one of the best in the industry and The Beatles: Rock Band shows us that the right approach could still determine financial success in the space. Its September debut was very fortuitous and it even managed to best Guitar Hero 5 in the US --...
Tuesday, Nov 3
DJ Hero sales 'modest,' analyst says; Activision refuses to comment
According to Cowen Group analyst Doug Creutz, the falling projections of peripheral games reflect both the casual consumer's decision to reduce spending on games, as well as the possibility that gamers are losing interest in the played-out rhythm genre.
A megamix of minimalist game remakes
This is the most abstract we've ever seen many of these games, but even without the audio, it would be easy to identify the sub-Meggy Jr. interpretations of our favorites. Although we were briefly confused by what we thought was supposed to be Gitaroo-Man -- until we realized it was Gitaroo-...
Friday, Oct 30
Guitar Hero 5: November DLC
In addition, on Nov. 5, players will be able to import 61 of Band Hero's tracks into Guitar Hero 5 for 400 ($5, 500 Wii Points), or 65 of Guitar Hero 5's tracks into Band Hero for 480 ($6, 600 Wii Points). Hooray for sharing! Continue reading Guitar Hero 5: November DLC
Thursday, Oct 29
Jay-Z is a gamer; likes Madden and, uh, you know, stuff like Madden
As far as Jay-Z's gaming roots, that's another story altogether. "I was really a gamer," Jay-Z urges. "Like, ask any of the guys. Like, I used to -- Madden and all these type of games," Jay-Z awkwardly cobbles together, "I was, like, really a problem. Like, those were my things -- for awhile." Pre...
Wednesday, Oct 28
Science makes Air Guitar Hero a reality
University of Washington Ph.D. student Scott Saponas demonstrated his muscle-movement interface for computer systems, by using it to control a familiar application: Guitar Hero. The system appears to guess finger movements by reading the signals from muscles in the forearm. The result...
Use a real guitar to play Rock Band 2 AND get punched while doing so!
Normally when people mod real instruments for use in music-rhythm games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, they don't intentionally include the ability for someone else to play along by punching them. For Norway's Morten Skogly, that choice seemed only natural. On his website, you can see a s...
Tuesday, Oct 27
Survey says, yes, teens and tweens still want video games this holiday
For the "Girly Girl" whose fashion obsession is getting way too costly: Wii Sports ResortFor the "Music Addict" who's not worth spending real guitar lessons on: Guitar Hero 5 For the "All Things Sports" lover who's just a tad bit uncoordinated to enjoy "outside" sports: Wii Sports Resor...
Sunday, Oct 25
Guitar Hero co-founder expects DJ Hero to have slower initial sales
It's rare that we hear anything but doe-eyed optimism from publishers of yet-to-be-released games -- however, Activision's Kai Huang, co-creator of the Guitar Hero franchise, recently voiced some fairly realistic expectations for the upcoming disc-spinning rhythm title, DJ Hero....
Wednesday, Oct 21
Harmonix calls for an encore in Gibson patent case
The patent suit brought by Gibson against Harmonix and other parties related to Guitar Hero and Rock Band was stayed due to the US Patent and Trademark Office deciding to reexamine the patent. According to Patent Arcade, Harmonix and a group of retailers have asked a Tennessee court to con...
Monday, Oct 19
Beatles: Rock Band bests Guitar Hero 5 in U.S. Sept. sales
The sales de-feat must feel good for MTV Games and Harmonix -- what with B:RB being burned in the sales competition with GH5 by the kingdom that birthed the band (see: Chart-Track UK September sales rankings posted after the break). What was it? Right: Guitar Hero 5 supposedly outsold The B...
Xbox 360 update to add Music Games Store, news section
Microsoft has revealed new details about its Fall 2009 Xbox 360 Dashboard Update -- yes, the same update set to bring Twitter, Last.fm and Facebook support. New to the list of update features is a dedicated Xbox Live storefront for music games DLC and a specific area of Inside Xbox called "Ne...
Full Band Hero track list, compatible DLC revealed
If you've been savoring the slow trickle of track list announcements for Activision's tween-oriented rhythm title, Band Hero, your prolonged pleasure is about to come to a satisfying, yet abrupt end. The publisher has detailed all the songs that will be available on the generically mon...
Sunday, Oct 18
Activision couldn't help but sign on to help market 'Couples Retreat'
If you're anything like us, you went running out to see the latest Vince Vaughn / Jon Favreau vehicle Couples Retreat the second you heard about the exciting partnership between Activision's Guitar Hero franchise and Universal contained within. You see, Vaughn's character works as a Gu...
Thursday, Oct 15
Runnin' Late with the Devil: Guitar Hero Van Halen delayed on PS3
If you have a PS3 and Guitar Hero 5, you might have noticed that, well, you don't have your free copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen. While copies of the freebie are shipping out for the other systems, all PS3 owners are getting right now is an apologetic email.
Wednesday, Oct 14
Activision: Guitar Hero 5 launch 'probably' franchise's best, DLC sales getting 'interesting' [update]
If you want to know anything about Guitar Hero, you talk to Dan Rosensweig, CEO of Activision's Guitar Hero division. (Yeah, it has its own division.) Speaking to GI.biz, Rosensweig offered -- rather candidly, we might add -- some insight into the performance of Activision's latest, Guita...
Activision: DJ Hero's 'diversity' key in attracting 'Hero' newcomers
Of course, they're only accessible through a large turntable peripheral, which doesn't seem to offer the same warm reception that a guitar and a Bon Jovi number might. The game's sales performance later this month should be a good indicator of how music lovers -- some of whom have yet to pur...
Friday, Oct 9
EEDAR: Game sales slowdown turned around in September
The music genre may be slowing down, but Divnich notes that "both Guitar Hero 5 and The Beatles: Rock Band have performed at levels ahead of retail expectations," with sales predicted at 800k and 1 million units respectively. The same analyst at EEDAR previously predicted that Guitar Her...
Thursday, Oct 8
Report: More Motorhead coming to Rock Band
I was working on '(We Are) The Road Crew,' which is an upcoming DLC track," the Harmonix employee responded to inquiries about the track. Of course, Lemmy and his pals are no strangers to Rock Band or games in general; Mötorhead is featured in the upcoming Metal Track Pack, frontman Lemmy ha...
Guitar Hero 5 demo rocks XBLM
Major Nelson has dropped knowledge, and we must heed: A Guitar Hero 5 demo is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo offers three songs that can be played in the game's Party Mode, which allows players to jump in and out of a song at any time. The songs available are: "The Rock Show" by B...
Report: Activision closes 'Web of Shadows' dev Shaba
Activision's Shaba Games, which most recently developed Spider-man: Web of Shadows, has allegedly been shuttered. Kotaku reports that sources with knowledge claim the studio closed yesterday; attributing the corporate downsizing to sluggish sales of Guitar Hero 5.
Wednesday, Oct 7
Activision: Guitar Hero beat Beatles because it's 'fun as hell'
We were just as perplexed as anyone when Guitar Hero 5 trounced The Beatles: Rock Band in the UK -- where we hear the Fab Four is fairly popular still. Thankfully, Activision's Guitar Hero business CEO, Rock 'n' Roll Dan Rosensweig, is there to explain it all. "The number one thing about Guita...
U2: We, too, want to be in our own music game
Evidently the representation of the band was the issue the first time. "What The Beatles have done, where the animation is much more representative of them, is what we're interested in, rather than the one-size-fits-all animation. We didn't want to be caricatured." Fans looking forward t...
Tuesday, Oct 6
Play as your Mii, or a professional skater, or a professional skater's Mii in Tony Hawk Ride
While both Guitar Hero World Tour and 5 included Mii modes, Xbox Avatar support was new for the latest GH game. We've contacted Activision to determine whether Avatars will find their way into Ride as well.Continue reading Play as your Mii, or a professional skater, or a professional skate...
Saturday, Oct 3
Swag Saturday: Guitar Hero 5 with Logitech Wireless Drums (PS3)
At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive Guitar Hero 5 ($60 ARV) and a Logitech Wireless Drum Kit ($230 ARV)For a list of complete rules, click hereSwag Saturday: Guitar Hero 5 with Logitech Wireless Drums (PS3) originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 03 Oct 2009 20:30:00...
Wednesday, Sep 30
Feign surprise: DJ Hero 2 allegedly in the works
With Activision already asking consumers to plunk down over $100 for the DJ Hero peripheral later this month, it's only fair that more games use it -- but only if those titles belong to the publisher. With that, GI.biz reports that "at least one independent UK games developer" is working wit...
Tuesday, Sep 29
LGJ: Products LiabilODST
Something that comes up from time to time in the gaming world is faulty products. Or potentially faulty products. Most recently, it seems to be Halo 3: ODST at the center of the issue (which, for the record, I've had no trouble with thus far), but the issue has touched numerous games, includin...
Monday, Sep 28
Activision 'Rocktober' trademark conflicts with EA's Brutal Legend marketing
When Activision sent out a press release this morning regarding a Guitar Hero DLC discount, we couldn't help but notice a tiny trademark symbol dangling precariously above the term "Rocktober[TM]." That got our mind grapes juicing: Isn't that the term EA has been using to market Brütal L...
Guitar Hero 5: October DLC
Activision has announced all of the forthcoming Guitar Hero 5 DLC tracks for ... Rocktober! Queens of the Stone Age, Billy Squier and Wolfmother are the featured track packs next month, along with some themed collections later in the month. Each pack will cost 440 on Xbox 360, $5.50 on PS3 and 55...
Saturday, Sep 26
Swag Saturday: Guitar Hero triple pack and bass pedal
At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive Guitar Hero: Metallica ($60 ARV), Guitar Hero: Smash Hits ($60 ARV), Guitar Hero 5 ($60 ARV), and a bass pedal game peripheral ($35 ARV)For a list of complete rules, click hereSwag Saturday: Guitar Hero triple pack and bass pedal o...
Monday, Sep 14
LGJ: Come As Your Avatar, Smells Like Lawsuit? Nevermind
The well publicized dispute over the use of an avatar of Kurt Cobain in Guitar Hero 5 has provided a good backdrop to discuss the 'right of publicity.' For anyone who doesn't want to take time to read the stories, here's a summary. Guitar Hero 5 includes Kurt Cobain as an unlockable playable av...
Hands-on: DJ Hero
As anyone who's ever seen me tickle the colorful neck of a Guitar Hero guitar or keep impeccable time upon a Rock Band drum kit will attest, I've got a knack for rhythm games. I've never placed my hands on a peripheral that I wasn't immediately able to mentally deconstruct and use to its fulles...
Italian gamers set new Guinness world record with Guitar Hero 5
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, Italy set a Guinness world record for "largest number of participants to play in a single Guitar Hero session over a 24-hour period." At the FNAC store, 594 people participated in a single, massive Guitar Hero 5 play session coordinated to celebrate t...
Guitar Hero 5 goes straight to the top of the UK charts
The Beatles: Rock Band premiered at the number four spot, which some are sure to find disappointing. Both Guitar Hero and Rock Band have previously debuted at the fourth and sixth spot, respectively, with previous iterations. Music games may be on a sales decline, but they apparently stil...
Saturday, Sep 12
Music game sales down 46%, still third best-selling genre
Of course, it's worth noting that -- apart from Guitar Hero: Metallica and Smash Hits -- the first half of 2009 was somewhat devoid of major music genre releases. With both Guitar Hero 5 and The Beatles: Rock Band both just released, the music genre is likely due for a significant boost. Still...
Friday, Sep 11
Nirvana disapproves of GH5 Cobain avatar
Novoselic and Grohl then entreat Activision to "re-lock" the avatar so that it can only be used to play Nirvana songs. Which is a surprisingly even-handed request.Nirvana disapproves of GH5 Cobain avatar originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms...
Thursday, Sep 10
Activision: Courtney Love agreed to Cobain avatar
This morning, we reported on Courtney Love's tweeted allegations that the ghastly Kurt Cobain avatar was included in Guitar Hero 5 without her consent. Though the company didn't mention whether or not the lawsuit has actually been filed against them, Activision just sent us a statement...
Courtney Love intends to sue Activision over Guitar Hero 5's reanimated Cobain
The Cobain avatar was upsetting enough when we thought Love had signed off on it. But now that we hear she hasn't, we're worried for our own sakes. We could all end up playable in a Guitar Hero game at any time. Via Perez Hilton, thanks, Andrew M.!]Courtney Love intends to sue Activision over Guit...
Monday, Sep 7
Buy one PS3 game at BestBuy.com, get a second for 50% off
Thankfully, the deal offers more than just clearance titles -- last week's Guitar Hero 5 and system-selling Metal Gear Solid 4 are among a the handful of good stuff on the list (if you buy GH5, you could technically get a free copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen as well, upping the value even more)....
Guitar Hero: The Beatles sends us into a terrifying alternate universe
The Guitar Hero: Whoever series reached its ridiculous extreme with the recent announcement that the Van Halen game would be given away as a freebie with Guitar Hero 5. While we appreciate it as a deal, it shows just how much even Activision thinks of it.
How Metallica helped sell Paul McCartney on The Beatles: Rock Band
If you come down with a chronic case of Beatlemania on Sept. 9, you could have someone unlikely to thank for it: Metallica. Speaking with The Guardian, Paul McCartney describes how Harmonix first started pitching him on the product way back in 2007, using Metallica (presumably one of the ba...
Thursday, Sep 3
Harmonix founders detail the company's failure-ridden road to success
Luckily for us, lessons learned overseas came back with the duo and Harmonix became a game company. Rigopulos and Egozy quickly changed their company's focus from "music tech" to "gaming," creating Frequency and Amplitude soon after. Though the games didn't directly lead to the financi...
Rock Band: Radiohead isn't real, is real funny
According to our precise calculations, roughly 10 gazillion versions of various Guitar Hero and Rock Band games now exist. And even though Radiohead has done its fair share of appearing in rhythm-music games over the years, Break.com does a great job of portraying an entire game based aro...
Wednesday, Sep 2
Guitar Hero 5: September DLC announced all at once
Activision announced the first month of DLC along with something called the "Guitar Hero Music Library," which, we believe, is a fancy marketing-style way of describing the collection of music you'll be able to build out of DLC, imported tracks, and on-disc content in Guitar Hero 5.Cont...
Tuesday, Sep 1
NEXiLUX offers plastic instrument storage solution with collapsible guitars
Here's the bad news -- these guitars are only compatible with the Wii versions of Guitar Hero titles or Wii/PS3/PS2 versions of Rock Band games. Also, when snapped together, they form what one could only charitably call a "guitar" -- it would probably be more accurately described as a "ski...
Monday, Aug 31
Rumor: Rock Band 2 will import LEGO Rock Band tracks
When contacted for comment, Harmonix told Joystiq, "While we don't comment on rumors or speculation with regards to our upcoming downloadable content, we can promise that the Rock Band platform is poised to remain the unchallenged best value and source of music for rhythm games."
Thursday, Aug 27
Kurt Cobain digitized in Guitar Hero 5
In addition to known quantities "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and a special, previously unreleased live recording of "Lithium," Guitar Hero 5 will also sport the digital doppelganger of deceased grunge pioneer Kurt Cobain, Activision announced today.
Wednesday, Aug 26
EEDAR: Guitar Hero 5 will outsell The Beatles: Rock Band by nearly 2-to-1
No matter what, Divnich doesn't see a very-worst-case scenario playing out for MTV Games and Harmonix, assuring us that "[The Beatles: Rock Band] will outsell Rock Band 2 this holiday season." EEDAR: Guitar Hero 5 will outsell The Beatles: Rock Band by nearly 2-to-1 originally appeared...
Sunday, Aug 23
Guitar Hero 5 DLC not compatible with World Tour
While original Rock Band owners were given the luxury to continue to buy new tracks for the music title even after the release of its sequel, Guitar Hero fans won't be given the same option when Guitar Hero 5 lands on store shelves. An Activision representative told Destructoid that DLC for...
Saturday, Aug 22
UK gets better bargain: Pre-order Guitar Hero 5, get World Tour free
Activision's making it awfully hard for folks across this big blue world of ours to not purchase their upcoming rhythm title, Guitar Hero 5 -- here in the States, folks who purchase the game are eligible to receive Guitar Hero: Van Halen for free. However, in the United Kingdom, the offer is...
Tuesday, Jun 23
Opinion: Activision confidence bolstered by 2009 lineup, 'sparser' competition
Griffith doesn't seem concerned by competition from The Beatles: Rock Band either, saying quite simply, "Well, Rock Band is the most similar title on the market, but Guitar Hero outsells it by four to one in the US; in Europe that number is ten to one." Okay then. Griffith also shakes off the n...
Wednesday, Mar 25
Joystiq Review: Rhythm Heaven
These days, it's impossible to talk about rhythm games without bringing up Guitar Hero and/or Rock Band. Nintendo's Rhythm Heaven, to use the nomenclature, could be described as Soccer Ball Bounce Hero, Love Potion Mixing Hero, Race Car Photography Hero, Lizard Mating Dance Hero (that...
Tuesday, Mar 3
Patch: Ask Joystiq Xbox: Resident Bundle edition
CA We found out last December that Harmonix and MTV were working on a patch to add support for the Lips microphone to Rock Band. The patch has yet to be released, but it should show up eventually. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Guitar Hero ...
Monday, Feb 16
Podcast: Xbox 360 Fancast 104 -- Who Watches the Fancasters?
Music: Intro/Outro: "Electromooq" by Uma Floresta. "Now" by Longwave Radio. For fans: Xbox 360 Fancast Facebook groupContinue reading Xbox 360 Fancast 104 -- Who Watches the Fancasters? originally appeared on Joystiq Xbox on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of f...
Tuesday, Oct 28
Metareview: Guitar Hero: World Tour
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Rhythm This week marked the debut of a second contender in the full-band-simulator genre. It's hard to find a review for Guitar Hero: World Tour that utters Rock Band less than a half dozen times. Compar...
Thursday, Sep 11
Read ScoreHero's impressions of Guitar Hero World Tour
Fans from the ScoreHero community got to take Guitar Hero World Tour for a spin last night, and until you start getting your own personal Cheetoh crumbs on the new and improved instruments, their detailed impressions are probably the closest you'll get to playing the game.
Monday, Sep 8
Patch: Guitar Hero III Les Paul support, PAX pack fix coming to PS3 Rock Band Thursday
Beginning this Thursday, junior rockers that prefer PS3 can rip their Rock Band tracks right to their system in preparation for Rock Band 2. But, much like Ziggy Stardust, the Sept. 11 patch will be hiding a secret under all the glam: The addition of Guitar Hero III Les Paul controller suppor...
Friday, Jun 20
This Week in Review wants to rock (ROCK!)
Filed under: Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360 A multi-instrument Guitar Hero World Tour means only one thing: more plastic controllers strewn about our living room. So goes the life of the virtual rocker. Check out all of our impressions and reviews from t...
Joystiq eyes and ears-on: Guitar Hero: World Tour
Activision invited us out to the House of Blues last week, which was a fitting place to give us a first look at Guitar Hero: World Tour in action. Though we didn't get to play it, we did watch the folks from RedOctane take a spin through all the new features. Suffice it to say, this isn't simply Gui...
Wednesday, Feb 6
First Guitar Hero 4 song revealed
It's amazing where you find video game news these days. Case in point, Eurogamer has picked up on a press release from British rock band The Answer, touting the inclusion of their single "Never Too Late" (video above) in the next Guitar Hero game (which, incidentally and unsurprisingly, i...
Friday, Dec 14
Patch: Activison: Actually, Harmonix to blame for PS3 guitar issues
Guitar Hero III controllers don't work with Rock Band on the PS3. Harmonix made a patch to fix the problem, which never appeared. Harmonix released a statement saying that Activision "objected to the release of the compatibility patch," ...
Friday, Oct 19
Hear GH3's fiddle-free version of 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia'
Though we already knew "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" was going to be in Guitar Hero 3 we didn't realize it was going to be the final track (the end boss, if you will). A helpful press release just informed us of the distinction while pointing us to this MP3 file of the now fiddle-free version. G...
Wednesday, May 23
First Guitar Hero III tracks revealed, Les Paul guitar licensed
Remember when we decreed yesterday big hair day at Joystiq, to commemorate the announcement of seven new tracks for Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s? Lucky for us, we didn't shower and Activision has rewarded our sloth, and our big hair, with some new details regarding the upcoming Guit...
Friday, May 11
Joystiq Review: Pelican PS2 to PS3 controller adapter
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, RhythmThe whole point of backward compatibility for most PS3 owners is being able to get rid of that PS2 in the old entertainment center. Yet many PS3 owners have had to keep their PS2 units hooked up for a few reasons, namely:
Thursday, Jan 25
RedOctane mourns the death of 'air guitar'
RedOctane recently held a Guitar Hero II PR stunt mock cremation service for its dearly departed predecessor 'air guitar.' Slash, Buddy Holly, and Ace Frehley -- at least the cheapest look-alikes RedOctane could score in East London -- filled in as pallbearers. Since no funeral parlor wo...
Monday, Jan 15
Opinion: Eight-year-old is better than you at Guitar Hero
We here at Joystiq have posted a lot of insane videos of people playing Guitar Hero and other rhythm games, even going so far as to declare one pizza-fueled shredfest as the best GH vid ever. Well we were wrong. This video of an eight-year old getting five stars on Guitar Hero II's Psychobilly F...
Tuesday, Nov 7
Metareview - Guitar Hero II (PS2)
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 2Let's face it; Red Octane would have had to sabotage (please add that song on version III) the first Guitar Hero to not get this sequel right. The original was already a blast to play. Add a new playlist (Freebird!), refine the graphics, increase game modes, an...
Friday, Oct 27
Incoming: official wireless Guitar Hero controllers
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 2, RhythmA technical marvel and a symbolic gesture of freedom shoved into the grimacing face of the everpresent Man, the wireless controller is practically indispensable in this day and age. As a company that's adequately adjusted to modern times, RedOct...
