During today's Activision Blizzard conference call, Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith boasted of a "robust lineup" of three new
Guitar Hero titles dropping before the midpoint of the year:
Guitar Hero: Metallica in Q1 as well as "a new
Guitar Hero game for the Nintendo DS" and "a separate greatest hits compilation
Guitar Hero game" in calendar Q2, (through June). In case that's not clear, the
Guitar Hero Greatest Hits pack (or GH
2 as we're likely to think of it) will include "full-band versions of some of the most popular songs from previous
Guitar Hero games and will be made available for the 360, PS3 and Wii."
Something tells us that despite some healthy competition from the likes of
Rock Band, with products like this "greatest hits compilation" on the way, we're not going to be ripping our
Guitar Hero tracks anytime soon.
{ Feb 11th 2009 at 11:00PM } 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ice~ @ Feb 11th 2009 11:04PM
When......*last dying breath* when will it all end, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Donald @ Feb 11th 2009 11:04PM
Activision: Having its way with the dead horse since 2007
Adam @ Feb 12th 2009 6:09PM
Activision published Tony Hawk, too right? I would say since 2003 :)
Psycho300x @ Feb 11th 2009 11:04PM
Activision is really riding this franchise into the ground...and they are starting to dig...
VaultICEE @ Feb 11th 2009 11:05PM
I will hand it to Activision...
They sure know how to sucker customers into buying "compilations" instead of just putting them up for download ala Rock Band
BIGGEN (LIVE-PSN: BIGGEN1103) @ Feb 12th 2009 3:49AM
yeah, and i have a dummy of a friend who gobbles every single GH related thing up. i'm actually starting to hate him...
NOOK @ Feb 12th 2009 4:23AM
Still better than not even releasing the Song Packs in Europe, as Harmonix does.
Download-only content sucks.
Maurice @ Feb 12th 2009 5:35AM
Rock Band 2 contained 84 songs.
A DLC song is 2$
So normally, the songs would have costed 168$.
Rock Band 2 however, including new modes, graphics and whatnot costed 70$ (I live in Europe so I'm not sure about the retail prices).
That's actually a LOT cheaper.
VaultICEE @ Feb 12th 2009 7:40PM
It is cheaper, I will give it that.
But I'm honestly willing to pay the extra for the convenience. I would rather give up a few extra bucks for the opportunity to be able to play it right away when its released, other than wait a couple months and go to the store to buy a retail game.
One that might not even be compatible with the other songs I own from different games.
Haggard @ Feb 14th 2009 12:39PM
@Nook
You can usually find the DLC, it's just that some of it's not in the in-game store and some of it's not in the PSN store.
Gewurz Man got equipped with... XBox 360! @ Feb 11th 2009 11:07PM
So I have the option to re-purchase titles with the same songs? I already did that by switching consoles, thanks.
juangrande386 @ Feb 11th 2009 11:09PM
the guitar hero cow must be shooting blanks from all this milkage
Nap @ Feb 11th 2009 11:09PM
Might be pretty cool to play Jordan with a different hitbox
Ghen @ Feb 12th 2009 7:02AM
and gh1 songs with real hammer-ons.
Yeah, I'll be buying a greatest hits...
Alex @ Feb 12th 2009 4:44PM
GH II was the best one. The 360 version, of course.
I just wish I could have a few Buckethead songs on WT... even if they were hateful DLC.
wazmo @ Feb 11th 2009 11:09PM
i personally dont have a problem with them continusly realeasing games. The more the marrier I say. and a greatest hits would be amazing. that means well be getting master tracks with full bands from gh1 and 2 which as we all know had crappy covers.
BxGT @ Feb 12th 2009 12:08AM
Yea that's called dlc.
Mr.U2 @ Feb 11th 2009 11:12PM
Dear Activision: Please stop milking. thx.
Dr Jeckyl and Mr ESC. @ Feb 11th 2009 11:28PM
Well if you think about they do so because those games actually sell. Harmonix would do the same with Rockband if they could.
To be honest I had enough of Guitar games after GH2 which was the only Guitar game I bought. Is fun to play on Medium but once you start hard is where the fun ends and the chores begin. There were like six songs I liked mostly the ones at the beginning and when I managed to do poorly in a song in hard after practicing for a while I noticed that in order to reach Firebird on career mode I had to pass to a lot of the songs I hated.
Practicing a song you like on hard or expert I guess it could be fun but practicing the songs you don’t even like to get to Sweet Child O mine which you also have to practice first is so boring.That’s the point where I said “Goodbye and thanks for the fish”.
slycooper_rocker (The Agent of Orange) @ Feb 11th 2009 11:40PM
@ Mr. ESC
so did you get to jordan or not? because if practicing is your complaint, you probably hated that song.
T @ Feb 11th 2009 11:42PM
I think Harmonix is a little too busy making a metric s**t-ton of money off of DLC. You know, that handy little thing that lets you take a game that came out a year ago (RB1) and tide you over with new content until they release a new title a year later (RB2)
As opposed to that pesky little support issue that carries a company through that awkward three months between disc releases.
Dr Jeckyl and Mr ESC. @ Feb 12th 2009 12:12AM
Nah I soon realized after a few songs that hard won't make playing again the songs that I already hated on medium any better.
I played GH2 for I guess 40 to 72 hours max.I also realized that I enjoyed the songs not much pressing colored buttons.
greg @ Feb 11th 2009 11:13PM
I would definately get that. Then we can get better versions from GH1,2 and hopefully the couple good songs from Rock the 80's. I wonder how many songs there will be, and if they will add the drums and vocals from previous versions that didn't have them.
Marmot @ Feb 11th 2009 11:16PM
It's not the milking of the franchise that annoys me, it's this way that everyone in Activision management has of delivering news. They come off as either evil or robotic or both.
juangrande386 @ Feb 11th 2009 11:16PM
im guessing you people who support this havent upgraded to 360 or PS3 yet. When i got rockband 2 and was able to transfer all my songs over and then have new songs every week for download i lost all the love i ever had for guitar hero.
Cookie Monster @ Feb 11th 2009 11:35PM
You read my mind.
on a side note, i think that the releasing of all of these games is just going to drive the whole "band" style rhythm games into the ground. Its going to be hard to stay fresh.
slycooper_rocker (The Agent of Orange) @ Feb 11th 2009 11:42PM
but if you want to have songs from before and activision is dead set on no transfering, there's no choice. and guitar heroes 1-3 had some GREAT songs so i wouldn't mind too much if they keep the price at a good point.
DBuck_Eye @ Feb 11th 2009 11:18PM
I feel like I'm watching Revenge of the Sith and Activision is Anakin. And it's like you don't want them to go to the evil side, but you know that in the end that's where they will end up.
PS Also like RotS, afterward I'll wonder why I'd payed to watch this, except instead of paying $9, I'll have payed over $200.
slycooper_rocker (The Agent of Orange) @ Feb 11th 2009 11:18PM
if this means jordan and soothsayer by buckethead, i'm game.
Martin @ Feb 12th 2009 11:37AM
I agree entirely. If they had Soothsayer for DLC on RB2, that would be even better.
slycooper_rocker (The Agent of Orange) @ Feb 12th 2009 5:41PM
buckethead is exclusive to guitar hero as are the eagles and van halen. :(
Hafk @ Feb 13th 2009 8:35AM
Uh, when exactly did he become exclusive?
He was on a DLC pack, but that's it.
slycooper_rocker (The Agent of Orange) @ Feb 14th 2009 4:49PM
he hasn't been in rock band and i read somewhere that he has a deal with activision or something similar.
Ignatius @ Feb 11th 2009 11:25PM
And you wonder why Activision-Blizzard is posting losses.
Artimus C Frog @ Feb 12th 2009 3:23AM
http://kotaku.com/5151500/activision-blizzard-shrugs-off-recession-reports-5-billion-in-revenue
...what losses? If you don't like the idea don't buy the game. And for the love of God people please stop praising RB's DLC like it is the greatest thing ever. It's been over 3 months since I found even a single decent track to download.
Ignatius @ Feb 12th 2009 8:26AM
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/11/activision-blizzard-loses-72m-in-q4-08-outlook-misses-09-expe/
These losses? :P
Sir Buzz Killington( The Artist formerly known as Jakka) @ Feb 12th 2009 12:39PM
Ignatius, let me give you a quick maths lesson.
5 Billion - 72 Million = Still a shit-load of money with no debt.
Ignatius @ Feb 12th 2009 12:48PM
Let me give you a tiny economics lesson;
revenue - expenses = profit/loss
Obviously the revenue wasn't enough to outweigh the expenses.
ScottG13 @ Feb 11th 2009 11:29PM
Talk about stomping a franchise into the ground. At this point, I couldn't care less about any GH branded product. I have RB2 and gobs of DLC up and down the pike.
PSN:B1gg_Randall @ Feb 11th 2009 11:31PM
What is gonna happen is, after gamers started realizing what Activision is doing to the series... Rock Band is gonna be the music game everyones get....Then they are gonna take sometime off to make it better just like Tony Hawk :(
Joshua @ Feb 17th 2009 1:12AM
Tony Hawk games got better?
Foetoid @ Mar 4th 2009 10:31PM
Yes they did. It's called Tony Hawk Downhill Jam on the Wii. I've played and finished every console Tony Hawk game ever made and this is easily the best.
KIMP @ Feb 11th 2009 11:37PM
Dont get it if all you do is complaining!
Me I'll get it for sure, as songs from the first three GH will end up on that disc but playable as a band!
Marco Martinez @ Feb 11th 2009 11:38PM
bah, I probably wont be getting that silly game
Mouthsmasher @ Feb 11th 2009 11:40PM
Too bad they can't release something similar to Rock Band, so we could rip songs from all the old Guitar Hero games to play them on the newest version. Guitar Hero isn't a very good value with Rock Band on the market. :(
WINterfang @ Feb 11th 2009 11:51PM
Like ROCK BAND isn't going to get milked either >_>.
Mikey @ Feb 12th 2009 12:45AM
No. No it's not. No Rock Band 3 this year. I think EA knows not to milk the franchise.
linebeginstoblur @ Feb 12th 2009 1:03AM
The very fact that there are new Guitar Hero games is the definition of milking. The series was only started because of Harmonix and Activision helped them release it. After the acquisition by MTV Games, Harmonix went with EA to continue their work.
Neversoft had NOTHING to do with the series. The ONLY reason they picked up the series is because Activision knew that Guitar Hero had MAD name recognition, so really, they could release crap in a box and as long as it says Guitar Hero on it, people will buy it. Since Activision owns the property, they were able to get away with this shit.
Then they had to ripoff the band formula that Rock Band made. I have lost ALL respect for anything that Activision has ever done. (Do they do anything other than vomit new Call of Dutys, Guitar Heros, and World of Warcrafts?) and am much happier with EA.
Brett from Atlanta @ Feb 12th 2009 12:00AM
Let suckers buy it. I'll stick to my DLC thanks. We will look back at this in future years and say that Rock Band succeeded because they viewed their product as a platform, not a SKU. Especially in this recession, people would much rather pay for a favorite album as DLC than a full fledged SKU with new instruments etc. Another thing is, how long til the majority of people have an instrument based game in their house? With the exception of the enthusiasts (us), I have to think that the reason these SKU's sell so well is that they are selling to people who do not yet own a music game. When the market becomes saturated with these types of games and people don't want another plastic peripheral set in their living room I think that it will hit Activsion hard, and by that time Rock Band will be light years ahead with a huge library and an easy way to get it other than buying multiple discs. Not trying to be a Rock Band snob or anything, but they are doing it right IMO. They have a long term business plan whereas Activision is deploying a "ready, fire, aim" business strategy that will come back to bite them in the ass eventually.
lego91994 @ Feb 12th 2009 6:45AM
The thing is, RB is going for the "hardcore" crowd who reads sites like this, while activision is going for the "casual crowd". Sales show GH is doing better than RB, and most casual people who buy these games probably don't even know DLC exists. Whichever is the better game is another issue, but sales show Activisions strategy works.
Plus, people dont need to buy a new sku with instruments, they can just get the disc.
I personally like Activisions strategy, where I live the GH and RB DLC isn't even on the local PS store and RB has yet to be released here, so atleast I can get some new songs to play during the year. I reallythink there is room for both games, and people should stop acting like only one can exist and the other should die in a fire.