Gene Simmons rocks Times Square with Guitar Hero II

by Andrew Yoon { Apr 11th 2007 at 7:25PM }

The legendary Gene Simmons (of KISS fame) rocked hard in Times Square promoting the newly released Guitar Hero II for Xbox 360. The nation's (supposed) top Guitar Hero masters were invited to perform in NYC's Virgin Megastore, and the top hero would be gifted with an autographed guitar and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play with Simmons. Of course, as any legitimate rock star would do, he played with the ladies too.

The large audience may have proven too nerve-wracking, as many of the performances were stiff, littered with missed notes, and lacking personality. Of course, everything changed when Simmons walked in the room, tongue intact. His charismatic interaction with the audience proved that it takes a lot more than fast fingers to become a real rock star. Remember that, next time you "strap on."

Gallery: Guitar Hero II rocks NYC

Tags: gene simmons, GeneSimmons, guitar hero, guitar hero ii, GuitarHero, GuitarHeroIi, xbox 360, Xbox360

Related From Joystiq

Xbox 360 release of No More Heroes may be censored in Japan
18 days ago
No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise screens touch down
19 days ago
Famitsu: No More Heroes being ported to PS3 and Xbox 360 [update]
21 days ago

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

copa @ Apr 11th 2007 7:32PM

You may view this video three times for 500 MS points.

Smoke_Dawg_187 @ Apr 11th 2007 7:36PM

Wish I could have been there.

rom @ Apr 11th 2007 7:46PM

I'm kind of disappointed he didn't get a real guitar. A real guitar signed by Gene would seem a bit more "priceless". IMO

Ian Von Porter @ Apr 11th 2007 7:49PM

Only $180 for the full game to match your $180 HDD. M$ gives you so many choices.

Shore @ Apr 12th 2007 8:12AM

Gene is God!

You know he got paid to be there, Gene does NOTHING for free!

jaysins @ Apr 11th 2007 7:53PM

Scary

Rubang B @ Apr 11th 2007 7:55PM

So how much is this game going to cost after you buy the disc, 2 guitars, and every song pack from GH1 and the NEW songs?

Jason B @ Apr 11th 2007 7:58PM

1 meeliun dollars!

Judd @ Apr 11th 2007 8:07PM

Note: I write a weekly article for my newspaper at my small school(Ramapo College of New Jersey). I personally am a huge Guitar Hero fan, but I wrote an article about how disgusted I was with how they handled the Xbox 360 version. Tell me what you guys think!(Constructive criticism please).

Guitar Hero In a Jam

Ever since premiering on the Playstation 2 in Fall 2005, the Guitar Hero franchise has been a runaway success. Although music games like Dance Dance Revolution have been out for a while, Guitar Hero changed the way people played video games. Allowing anyone to live out their dream of becoming a rock star, the game came with a plastic guitar with five frets, a strummer and a whammy bar. Featuring 47 songs, gamers could play songs ranging from Queen to Queens of the Stone Age. Developer Red Octane and publisher Harmonix had a hit on their hands and everyone knew it. By 2006, Red Octane was bought out by Activision and Harmonix was bought out by MTV, who hoped to expand their reach to music video games.
By the next holiday season, Guitar Hero 2 was released to just as much critical and consumer reception as the original. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that Guitar Hero 2 would be released for the Xbox 360 on April 3. With downloadable songs, high-definition video and online play, everyone could see the possibilities with next-generation systems.
Unfortunately, as news started to trickle out about Guitar Hero’s next-gen debut, more and more problems sprung up. The game would cost $90, which despite the Xbox 360 title coming with 10 extra songs, is $10 more than the already expensive Playstation 2 version which came out half a year earlier. Then it was announced that Guitar Hero 2 would not allow online play, a feature which is present in almost all current multiplayer games.
Despite all this, the pure fun enjoyed by Guitar Hero was too much to halt the swarm of fans that could not wait to spend $90 or an extra $60 for a second guitar. However, the real problems started after the release of the title. Reports were surfacing throughout the internet of broken whammy bars as early as launch day. The special X-Plorer guitar released for the Xbox 360 version was just not as responsive as the Playstation 2 guitar. It appeared as if there were two models released for the Xbox 360 guitar, 95055 and 95065. The general consensus was 95055 was the broken guitar, which was more likely to have issues with the whammy bar. Gamers were outraged. Why would a company ship two different models of the same product without informing the customers? Did they know that one guitar was more reliable than another?
I have a very close friend who purchased Guitar Hero 2 for the Xbox 360 on Thursday, April 6th. By midday, Friday it was broken. I decided to visit him that day because I was very curious to see what it was like to play Guitar Hero on the Xbox 360. There was only one guitar left to exchange for his malfunctioning original guitar. I tried playing it for a couple of minutes and passed it off to him. He got an electric shock as soon as it reached his hands. The second guitar was broken. He later informed me that the first guitar broke in the exact same way. Somebody was playing it, it was passed off to him, he got an electric shock and the same exact buttons stopped working. Both models were 95055.
Only four days after the game came out Red Octane released a statement, asking gamers who purchased either guitar model number 95055 or 96055 to exchange it for another guitar. Red Octane’s statement was baffling simply because of their lack of options. Most game stores sold out of Xbox 360 guitars on day one and almost all models have been either 95065 or 95055.
The day before Guitar Hero 2 was released USA Today reported that the same developers are working on Rock Band, which will allow two Guitar Hero guitars, a drum set and a microphone. On Tuesday, Red Octane’s website stated "Guitar Hero 3 for the Playstation 2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii are currently scheduled for release in the United States in Fall of 2007." On Wednesday, three sets of three songs from the original Guitar Hero went on sale as Xbox 360 downloadable content for $6.25 each. Whenever any company releases a product that’s popular enough, it is to be expected that they will milk it for all it’s worth. However, when all the concentration is put on spin-offs downloads and sequels, it can be easy to forget the basics.

Rubang B @ Apr 11th 2007 8:25PM

So the game and guitar is $90, 2nd guitar is $60, and the 3 song packs are $6.25 each. So far it's $168.75. If they keep the songs at that price, the 38 additional songs from GH1 will cost another $79.

Total: $247.75. Throw in ONE MORE song pack, and the full game costs more than a Wii.

Alex @ Apr 11th 2007 8:28PM

^BANNNNNNNNED

Rubang B @ Apr 11th 2007 8:32PM

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

AnimalTaglits @ Apr 11th 2007 8:32PM

My friend Kelly got 3rd place, woooo!

Xenikos @ Apr 11th 2007 8:37PM

Were there no non-douchebag rockstars available?? I feel bad for the guy who won; who wants a GH2 guitar signed by Gene Simmons?

Lewis @ Apr 11th 2007 8:45PM

seriously. FACK GENE SIMMONS.

Mikeawesome @ Apr 11th 2007 8:53PM

Your friend Kelly is hot, just sayin'.

Ins0mn1ac @ Apr 11th 2007 10:59PM

What they didn't mention was that each contestant had to pay $6.25 in order to play 3 songs.

rom @ Apr 11th 2007 8:58PM

Yeah!!! Ban Rubang B and all his infernal math calculations and logic! :)

GaryM @ Apr 11th 2007 9:00PM

Was there someone hidden behind a curtain who actually did the "playing" while Gene faked it the same way he usually does?

uglyteeth @ Apr 11th 2007 9:26PM

Don't be jealous Gary, I'm sure you're a much better musician and showman than Gene. Say, when is your next cd coming out so we can not buy it.

Grant @ Apr 11th 2007 9:32PM

i wonder if the whammy bar on that guitar works....
it's pretty sick looking though, and it is probably easier to play because it's less cramped.
imagine if they did this promotion without the PS2 version being out forever? all the people involved would get up on stage and it would just be missed notes galore

Grant @ Apr 11th 2007 9:44PM

i would also have to say that not only was "kelly" the most attractive person to take stage on the whole video, she also put on the best show by bouncing around and rocking out.

I think just for the fact that she rocks out at the same time instead of just standing there like the little fat kid that got the most points, she should have won.

Rubang B @ Apr 11th 2007 11:08PM

Too bad I got banned, 'cuz I've got some great jokes for you guys.

Dave @ Apr 12th 2007 12:04AM

I would have peed my pants if the guy had failed the song.

Also, while I'm probably not as good as that guy at the game, and can look better playing it. Considering how simple the game is, you'd think a "pro" like him would be able to go crazy during his solos like a real guitarist. But I guess not.

ZodiacfreaK @ Apr 12th 2007 7:31PM

Coming from a real guitarist, all of these people look like a bunch of freaking nerds. And that bass part was so easy I could have played it with my tongue, and I bet Gene Simmons could have too. The whole thing flat out sucked. Why not watch one of the many awesome real guitarists who actually have some talent.

p3arl @ Apr 12th 2007 2:46AM

wow, i think it was a great promotion and all, but damn, isnt the whole idea of rock and roll about sticking it to the man? Gene seems to be selling out alot in his later years.

also @9, dude its called a comment for a reason, people read comments not essays, condensation would be good for you