Activision trademarks 'Guitar Hero Modern Hits'

by Randy Nelson { Oct 16th 2008 at 4:00PM }

The US Patent Office, ever the treasure-trove of game publishers' worst-kept secrets, has today offered up -- for our speculation pleasure -- Guitar Hero Modern Hits. The trademark was filed by Activision on Oct. 3 and, unsurprisingly, covers everything from "downloadable computer game software" to "interactive video game comprised of a cartridge or DVD sold as a unit with a video game controller." Nothing about handhelds in there, though.

It's not surprising that yet another game in the franchise is on the cooker. Activision has already said it wants to pump up the volume of Guitar Hero games in the next two years, with plans to deliver at least four distinct titles in calendar 2009. Along with the also so-not-secret Guitar Hero: Metallica, Guitar Hero Modern Hits would make two out of four. We're not exactly sure what constitutes a "modern hit" in this case, though -- aren't there plenty of those included with Guitar Hero World Tour (not to mention its DLC)?

As for those other two super-secret Guitar Hero titles for '09: Our Tyco Talking Magic 8-ball advises that Guitar Hero World Tour 2 is "most definitely" going to happen and ... oh, "not a chance" of Guitar Hero Bluegrass Hits. Go ahead, you pick the fourth and we'll give it another shake.

[Via GameSpot]

Tags: activision, guitar-hero, guitar-hero-modern-hits

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

JJ Rooster @ Oct 16th 2008 4:06PM

I'm getting pretty disgusted with the "Tony Hawk/whore it out" approach Activision has been taking with the good Guitar Hero franchise name they bought.

I can only hope the general public soon sees the GH series as a letdown and recognizes Rock Band is where it's at!

B3astofthe3ast @ Oct 16th 2008 4:19PM

What I don't understand is how they plan to offer DLC on the scale of RB's library, and NOT have games like "modern hits" directly competing with there own music store and/or the user generated content.

SKI @ Oct 16th 2008 4:52PM

They decided that 60-80 songs for $60 a pop is better for them then selling songs for $2 a pop as DLC and have some of the music they payed good money for not selling.

Vcize @ Oct 16th 2008 4:54PM

Indeed, RB is where it's at. They'd never wh0re themselves out like GH by releasing a sequel that is basically the same game with a minor patch, or by releasing a standalone $40 gimped version of their game with only 16 AC/DC tracks.

Never.

Never ever.

Vcize @ Oct 16th 2008 4:55PM

Oh wait...

Jakka @ Oct 16th 2008 5:07PM

As Vcize just put it, the whoring of RB has only begun.There have been 5 proper Guitar Hero games(assuming you have dignity to let the DS Games go) over the span of three years.Now Rock Band 1 hasn't even been out for a full year and we already have a sequel and 40$ RB:AC/DC.

Flame me a fucking volcano,bloody hypocrite RB-Tards.

VaultICEE @ Oct 16th 2008 5:31PM

I think one of the reasons AC/DC Live is most likely being made as a standalone disk is because AC/DC doesn't like selling their music online. I know it's not the same, but we may never know.

Also, Rock Band HAD to make a sequel... with the way GH is being whored and slaughtered, they can't expect to keep up. They'll lose a fanbase who DOES want music games faster.

But 4 games a year? Give me a break... we're going to run out of good music for the games in no time.

Jakka @ Oct 16th 2008 5:45PM

"Also, Rock Band HAD to make a sequel... with the way GH is being whored and slaughtered, they can't expect to keep up. They'll lose a fanbase who DOES want music games faster."

But fanboys said that RB is better than Guitar Hero as thanks to their fanbase they profit from DLC instead of "making you buy a full game every year" :(

DCBlack @ Oct 16th 2008 5:48PM

At this point, it's about the tracklist to me. If I like it, I'll get it...eventually.

Jack @ Oct 16th 2008 6:20PM

Jakka, I don't think your point holds up too much. While true RB's sequel came quite quick, GH is a whore plain and simple.

I don't think your point is valid...yet. IF Harmonix does what they said they do then your point will fail.

Remember the formula:

1. Make new ORIGINAL badass game
2. Improve it, tweak it whatever.
3. Make new ORIGINAL IP.

They haven't whored just yet.

OTAM @ Oct 16th 2008 7:29PM

How do you "whore" out a game series where the only thing you can change basically is the track list? They add new songs via disc. Rock Band adds new songs via the internet. I don't see how one is "whoring" something over another.

NBShermanator @ Oct 17th 2008 1:25AM

Its not whoring when you consider the price.

It's $2 per song online, yet rockband 2 costs $60 (+5 for backwards compatibility) and gives you more than that value AND gives you the better interface, new venues and campaign excetera excetera

You could honestly consider that game a track pack on a disk bundled with a patch. Same goes for AC/DC

I'm sorry but when the value is that nice, it isn't whoring, unlike Guitar Hero, who charges an absurd amount for DLC, makes way to many games, and offers 0 backwards compatibility

I know RB said they'd only make one disk per console, and that's why i went RB over GH, yet I'm ok with RB2 because the value is so high

Vcize @ Oct 17th 2008 10:16AM

"You could honestly consider that game a track pack on a disk bundled with a patch. Same goes for AC/DC

I'm sorry but when the value is that nice, it isn't whoring"

So by your estimations:

16 songs for $40 (AC/DC track pack) = $2.50 per song. Not wh0ring because the "value" is too good.

42 songs for $60 (Aerosmith) = $1.40 per song. Wh0ring because the "value" isn't good enough.

Riiiiiiiiigghhtttt....

VaultICEE @ Oct 17th 2008 2:14PM

It is value, just depends how you look at it.

Aerosmith had NO backwards compatibility. Aerosmith had NO charting for all instruments.

Even though I'm against the price tag ($30 should have been at most), I don't think Aerosmith is any higher of a discount than AC/DC is.

B3astofthe3ast @ Oct 16th 2008 4:06PM

Or buy newer tracks from the Rock Band music store...

OTAM @ Oct 16th 2008 4:30PM

And what about the people who don't have internet access or a hard drive? They can go fuck themselves?

Disc based games are still good. Look at the Wii with Rock Band,they came out with a disc based version of DLC because it had no storage solution.

Try to expand your mind and think about others for once.

Titanium_Orchid @ Oct 16th 2008 4:55PM

OTAM is right, roughly 60-70% of 360 owners are actually online. For many, this would be the only way to get new songs.

CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw @ Oct 16th 2008 4:56PM

OTAM that was a pretty pathetic argument.

OMGOMG @ Oct 16th 2008 4:06PM

WAL*MART EXCLUSIVE!!

JuanGrande386 @ Oct 16th 2008 4:09PM

Milkage to the extreme. Its funny how theres only been 2 Rockbands because they know how to release DLC but Guitar Hero will have like 10 physical games by 2009.

Vcize @ Oct 16th 2008 4:57PM

Since Harmonix split off, we basically have now or in the immediate future:

Guitar Hero 3
Guitar Hero: World Tour
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith

Rock Band 1
Rock Band 2
Rock Band: AC/DC

Looks oddly similar...

VaultICEE @ Oct 16th 2008 5:35PM

AC/DC isn't arguably a full game though. Just a really overpriced track pack (not that there's anything wrong with that other than the price).

Plus, there's:

Guitar Hero On Tour
Guitar Hero On Tour Decades
Guitar Hero Metallica
(and if true) Guitar Hero Jimi Hendrix
along with Guitar Hero Modern Hits.

Come on Activision, the cow is getting tired!

Jakka @ Oct 16th 2008 5:42PM

Jimmy Hendrix is still a rumor and this is just a trademark.Thus it stays at 6 games.

Either way if you have to be that picky there's always Rock Band: Japan and trust me when I say that (I got an A in Maths on my last test), Six(or even Ten if we have to count Cell Phones) games over three years still compares a lot more favourably than four games in one year.

So http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h56/Kirridia/pfft.jpg jog on!

Dr. @ Oct 16th 2008 4:09PM

Guitar Hero: Violin Hits (with plastic chinrest attachment and bow!)

Or is that Guitar Hero: Yellowcard?

Tim Sykes @ Oct 16th 2008 4:12PM

Is that a big Cock behind them?

Xoviet chiK - Gyiyg Strikes Back @ Oct 16th 2008 4:15PM

No, It isn't a Braid title screenshot either.

Jack @ Oct 16th 2008 4:31PM

Yeah, and its Activision's coming for you!

Jakka @ Oct 16th 2008 4:57PM

It's a fucking spaceship, kk?

Haggard @ Oct 16th 2008 4:14PM

"nothing about handhelds"

What about the 'software cartridge' part?

Dirty @ Oct 16th 2008 4:21PM

I want the version where you get strung out of heroin in the middle and ruin your life, only to come back a few years later to do reunion tours.... and groupies, I want my band to have groupies to do things that I read about in Slash's book. Yes he "wrote" a book.

Titanium_Orchid @ Oct 16th 2008 4:56PM

I think they sell those in the alley behind 7-11. Ask for Shaky Bob

Neuromancer @ Oct 16th 2008 4:21PM

Guitar Hero: Spinal Tap

I'd buy it, or at least think about it

Dr. @ Oct 16th 2008 4:28PM

It's certainly a better idea than Aerosmith was...

Joe @ Oct 16th 2008 4:32PM

Nah, it'd have to be a Rock Band game. How else could you experience the bowel-quaking badassitude of the triple-bass classic, "Big Bottom", or the sex-filled, sexy "Sex Farm"?

capt_carl @ Oct 16th 2008 4:34PM

You mean "Guitar Hero Complete Crap" right?

OTAM @ Oct 16th 2008 4:36PM

Again,I get the feeling people just want to shit on Guitar Hero because it's the thing to do. Get over the Rock Band suck-fest.

If it was Rock Band putting a "Modern Hits" pack online with all the songs,you people would come on here posting about how Rock Band is killing Guitar Hero with the amount of content. Then,Guitar Hero puts out piles of content and because it's on a disc you people talk shit about it? The minuscule difference is with a plastic disc and that's what you're complaining about? REALLY? Not only does it give Guitar Hero more content to play (which is what the game IS,playing songs),but it enables people who don't have internet access to get new stuff as well.

At the end of the day the game with more content gets my money,not what wizards are behind Oz.

John Z @ Oct 16th 2008 4:55PM

No, the difference is that with the online packs, Harmonix does not require you to go into an all-or-nothing situation. To wit: I got into the Red Hot Chili Peppers late, and as such I really only wanted "Under The Bridge". I could get that without getting the rest of the album, and that was fine (though now I kinda wish I had got the rest of it).

With these disc-based releases, it appears to many folks that the best tracks for GH are deliberately being withheld for discs, when DLC has been shown to be a viable option.

Plus, well, some folks prefer Rock Band, and last I checked that was still legal and moral to do.

Vcize @ Oct 16th 2008 5:00PM

John Z, everyone's defense for RB2 being a full $60 release instead of a small patch adding solo World Tour is how great of a deal it is to get those 80 new songs on disc for 60 bucks. Seriously, go look at the RB2 metacritic threads and whatnot.

You can't have it both ways. If disc based content where you don't get to pick in choose individual songs is a ripoff, then RB2 is a ripoff.

John Z @ Oct 16th 2008 5:03PM

Mind showing me where I said it wasn't?

Vcize @ Oct 16th 2008 5:08PM

Heh, fair enough, not you specifically.

It's a more general thing.

OTAM @ Oct 16th 2008 5:17PM

@ John Z

"No, the difference is that with the online packs, Harmonix does not require you to go into an all-or-nothing situation."

Which brings me to 2 things.

1. Guitar Hero does have online content and they plan on going full steam ahead with World Tour to match Rock Band's online system.

2. Not everyone has internet connections,so then what? They should go fuck themselves because you do? Disc based content gets content out there for people who WANT more full titles and people who can't go online. Stop being so selfish & pigheaded.

VaultICEE @ Oct 16th 2008 5:39PM

OTAM, come on now. We know Activision will NEVER be on par with Rock Band's DLC library?

Why?

Because they want money.

We probably will see little to no Metallica songs - they're saving them for GH Metallica. Same thing with Jimi Hendrix (if its true), Aerosmith, and all of the songs they plan to put in upcoming games.

I don't think Activision spitting out the discs left and right because they care so much about people not having internet connections, but to get a full $60 + instruments deal out of you.

Oh, and in Rock Band I can play all of those songs I downloaded on one game instead of switching back and forth and back and forth just to play one song.

Hafk @ Oct 16th 2008 6:23PM

VaultICE.... seriously...... "Harmonix cares" yadda yadda, we all know.... but they are still a business.

Harmonix DOESN'T want money? You think they just shovel out DLC for no good reason?

DLC and Full disc games are both ways to make a considerable amount of money.

The Full disc boasts more songs for your dollar, resale/gift value, and offline obtainability, however you have to change discs, and discs could get scratched.
DLC is more expensive (Price Per Song), and can only be obtained online. However, it gives much more selection.

Both are equal ways of getting money.

Also, having a full-disc game doesn't force you to buy them at all! Actually, it could just as well have the opposite effect. "Wow, I only like five of those songs, I won't pick this up." DLC would have made more money in this situation.

burgerbat @ Oct 16th 2008 6:35PM

You're a real big toolbag, it seems.

Obviously the difference in releasing a "Modern Hits" on disc vs. DLC is that through DLC a user can pick and choose what songs he/she wants. If you want a ton of options as far as music goes, RB is the only, I repeat, ONLY way to go. Backwards compatible DLC, tons of on disc songs, and 20 free after the fact. You're banking on a promise from Neversoft to have tons of DLC available for GHWT, which they have never delivered on in the past (GH3). That's ridiculous. Their plan is to make you buy the disc for every single GH game. Plain and simple.

And I question your vociferous defense of an inferior product. It doesn't take a game designer or even a very smart person, for that matter, to see that RB has better note charts, offers more ways to play, is more aesthetically pleasing, better music, and, most importantly, the originator of the rhythm band game. But I'm sure you can see past you're love for Dragonforce-level retardation in your music games.

The AC/DC pack's situation is not similar to GH:Aerosmith or GH:Metallica and thus should not be compared. I will be able to import my AC/DC into my RB2 experience, but when I bought GH:Aerosmith all I got was pastel-colored venues, horribly rendered characters, crappy audio quality, and the worst note charts known to man. For $60. That's fucking crazy. Think about that.

And to you, that simmering shitbag Jakka, just because the majority of people on Joystiq know a quality game when they see it doesn't make them all "sheep". Makes them smart consumers, not prone to corporate cash-in schemes.

Hafk @ Oct 16th 2008 7:14PM

Note charts are a matter of opinion. Just like everything else.

Just like I will play the GH3 version of 3's and 7's over the Rock Band version, but I will play the Rock Band version of Peace of Mind over GH3's.

No note chart is "clearly" better than another.

And leave keyboard parts out of this, since Harmonix and Neversoft are both guilty of this. (I don't mind it one bit, I don't play GH/RB for realism, I'll play GUITAR for realism! Excuse me while I pop in GH1 and shred away at the saxophone solo in Frankenstein!)

I just think nobody gave Neversoft a second chance. In my eyes, Guitar Hero Aerosmith's note charts were great, except a select few. (Joe Perry Battle, and it's no-fun strums) Actually, some of World Tour's charts, dare I say, actually look better than the Rock Band versions.

Remember, Guitar Hero 1's charts were not perfect either. (They throw in a kickass outro to the Ace of Spades cover, and didn't chart it! Agh!) Experience makes everything better!

OTAM @ Oct 16th 2008 7:22PM

@burgerbat

How am I a "toolbag"? Because i'm tired of seeing people complaining nonstop about Guitar Hero from the day Harmonix left? I don't even have any Guitar Hero games past number 2,but I do have Rock Band with Rock Band 2 on pre-order (Sunday baby,yeehaw). It shows i'm not just a die-hard Rock Band hater or something. I enjoy both titles.

Activision loves money just as much as Harmonix does. These companies are a BUSINESS. It's the same way people act with Nintendo,as if Nintendo gives a shit what you think at the end of the day. Newsflash: they don't. They aren't going to give you hugs and teddy bears,they want your cash,they are an entertainment company.

Disc based content and downloadable content can exist in harmony. You don't need to sacrifice one for the other. Nobody knows how Activision will end up doing their re-haul of DLC and to think like a pessimist is just stupid. Why would you want to think badly about it and hope for it to fail,rather than see something awesome come out of it to make gamers happy and get some competition going? It's being selfish and an asshole.

Sure you can't pick and choose with disc based content,but you CAN with DLC,which is why it's good for people who have internet access and just want a few songs. Not to mention some people enjoy buying the new Guitar Hero titles with piles of songs on it. Nobody is forcing you to buy the disc based songs. This is why we need both physical discs packed with games and DLC supplementing the online content. People can get what they want from either a full packaged game or pepper their collection with certain things they want via the music store.

As for the idea of switching discs,seriously,get off your ass for 8 seconds. It won't kill you.

burgerbat @ Oct 16th 2008 8:11PM

I never said you couldn't have disc-based content as well as DLC. I will be buying AC/DC for sure, so I support that idea. I think it's really awesome that Harmonix came out with a DLC disc for the Wii. Shows they give a shit. But I don't believe they are supposed to coddle us, fans of their work, at all. I'm saying I appreciate their wonderful game and I appreciate all they do to make a kick-ass interface and fun songs with note charts that actually go along with the music (as much as a fake instrument game can).

It's insulting to me that Activision thinks that band-based games that don't allow for importing or even use of past DLC is what the fans, me, want. That's why I'm done with GH. I obviously don't mind buying discs with more songs, because I bought RB2. I got 80 songs and 20 free. Now that's fan service. So fuck Guitar Hero.

Maybe you were replying to everyone above in your post to me, but I never said disc-based expansions are bad, nor did I say that Harmonix has a duty to protect me from said expansions. All I'm saying is Rock Band is the better game, hence all the GH hate. And no, the two cannot coexist. Rock Band will always have more content, and therefore should be getting everyone's money.

burgerbat @ Oct 16th 2008 8:16PM

Oh, and I had GH: Aerosmith, the amount of pink and and Steven Tyler's creepy digitized face made me return it promptly. That was the "jump the shark" moment for the franchise. In the past I've supported both series, but I'd rather spend my money on quality considering how much money I've invested to date...just further proof I'm no stranger to disc-based expansions.