Joystiq

Axl Rose's Guitar Hero 3 lawsuit dismissed

Richard Mitchell — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:30:00 EST

The last vestige of Guns N Roses lead singer Axl Rose's lawsuit against Activision has been dismissed, reports the San Marino Tribune. Originally filed in 2010, Rose's suit alleged that Guitar Hero 3 associated the song "Welcome to the Jungle" with former GNR guitarist Slash. According to Rose, the association constituted both fraud and breach of contract.

The judge tossed the fraud claim out of court last year, as the statute of limitations had expired. According to today's report, Judge Charles Palmer has dismissed the breach of contract claim as well.

Thus ends another case in the litany of lawsuits filed against Activision over its music games. Let's recount, shall we?

Gibson: Lost, countersued, settled
No Doubt: Settled
Courtney Love: Nevermind
Adam Levine: Marooned?

Oh, and as for the Guitar Hero franchise itself: Dead.

Axl Rose's Guitar Hero 3 lawsuit dismissed originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Axl Rose's Guitar Hero 3 lawsuit gets its day in court on Feb. 1

David Hinkle — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 08:30:00 EST

Axl Rose and lawyers defending Activision Blizzard had a preliminary hearing over the Guitar Hero 3 lawsuit, laying the groundwork for a potential court date in February 2013. For those playing catch-up, Axl Rose insinuates the game, which launched in late 2007, unlawfully associated Guns 'N Roses music with ex-GNR guitarist, Slash, whom Rose has been feuding with for years. Rose filed suit in November 2010.

The judge during the preliminary hearing wanted to toss out Axl Rose's claim of fraud because the statute of limitations has expired, says The Hollywood Reporter. The other half of Rose's suit claims breach-of-contract. During the hearing, Rose also shed some light on why he took three years to file a grievance: he was supposed to get his own video game.

"The reason I did not file a lawsuit is because Activision - through my managers and representatives - offered me a separate video game and other business proposals worth millions of dollars to resolve and settle my claims relating to GHIII," Roses said in his deposition. "From December 2007 through November 2010, Activision was offering me a Guns N' Roses dedicated video game, a game dedicated to music from the 'Chinese Democracy' album, and other proposals."

Activision argues that it licensed "Welcome to the Jungle" through GNR Music, the song's license holder, and that Rose "had no authority to enter into a license for 'Welcome to the Jungle' in his individual capacity because he does not own the song or the sound recording." While the judge has seemingly dismissed the claim of fraud, the breach-of-contract dispute is currently set for a February 1, 2013 court date.

Axl Rose's Guitar Hero 3 lawsuit gets its day in court on Feb. 1 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Slash looks back at working with Activision on Guitar Hero

Mike Schramm — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:45:00 EST

Real-life guitar hero Slash was in Los Angeles last week promoting a new music game called BandFuse: Rock Legends. Speaking to Joystiq, he shared some insight on what it was like to work with Activision for the immensely popular Guitar Hero series. "A lot of kids tripped out," says the former Guns and Roses guitarist, "because they were under the impression that the character in Guitar Hero was just that character. So a lot of kids trip out that I was actually a real person."

Once they found out that he was an actual person who was in an actual band, however, Slash says Guitar Hero was surprisingly effective at winning new fans. "It opened up the doors of a demographic that was way younger than me," he says. "I had no idea that would happen." He couldn't speak to the lawsuit that claims the game took advantage of his GnR connection, but he does say the game has inspired a much younger generation to check out classic rock.

As for interest going the other way, Slash says he hasn't found the time for video games -- not even his own. "I couldn't play it," he says, "because I was actually in the game and it was too surreal."

Slash looks back at working with Activision on Guitar Hero originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Peripheral price-drop madness: Guitar Hero, DJ Hero, and Tony Hawk bundles for 10 bucks

Jordan Mallory — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 19:30:00 EST

Toys R Us has decided that all peripherals must go, and in order to clear the shelves as quickly as possible, a ridiculous number of DJ Hero, Tony Hawk, and Guitar Hero bundles for all systems have been marked down to $9.99. If you've just got too darn much free space in your living room, make the jump for the full list of store-only mega-deals. We recommend getting a swift move on, however; even with these franchises functionally dead, we don't expect this stuff to hang around for long.

[Thanks, Teeftwo!]

Continue reading Peripheral price-drop madness: Guitar Hero, DJ Hero, and Tony Hawk bundles for 10 bucks

Peripheral price-drop madness: Guitar Hero, DJ Hero, and Tony Hawk bundles for 10 bucks originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 20 Aug 2011 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

NPD: Guitar Hero 3 is this generation's highest-grossing game

JC Fletcher — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 10:15:00 EST

Call of Duty: Black Ops might be the best-selling game by unit sales, but it isn't the US bestseller in terms of gross revenue. According to NPD data going back to 1995, and compiled by CNBC, the honor of the highest-grossing game of "this generation" goes to another Activision game, the Axl Rose-angering Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock. Black Ops is #2.

The list of the NPD's top ten best-selling games by revenue (after the break) includes a second Guitar Hero game, too -- R.I.P. -- along with Rock Band and both Wii Fits, which suggests that the best way to make a lot of revenue is simply to make your game cost more. Although Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii are also on the list, so maybe people just really like finding peripherals inside their game boxes, like cereal box prizes.

Continue reading NPD: Guitar Hero 3 is this generation's highest-grossing game

NPD: Guitar Hero 3 is this generation's highest-grossing game originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Axl Rose suing Activision over inclusion of Slash in Guitar Hero 3

JC Fletcher — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 22:38:00 EST

Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose has unleashed a November rain of litigation against Activision, filing a $20 million lawsuit against the publisher for allegedly associating Guns N' Roses' music (specifically, "Welcome to the Jungle") with former GnR guitarist Slash and his new band Velvet Revolver in 2007's Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock.

Activision had permission to use "Welcome to the Jungle," but according to court documents obtained by Radar Online, broke its contract with Rose by including imagery of Slash in the game and offering music by Velvet Revolver as downloadable content. The juxtaposition "exploits the prior association between Slash and Guns N' Roses, promotes Slash's and VR's (Velvet Revolver) separate interests and includes VR tracks as available downloads, all of which was and is directly contrary to the contractual obligations of Defendants," according to the filing.

Indeed, Rose's filing asserts that Activision explicitly promised not to use images of any former members of GnR in the game. Even more surprising, Activision EVP of Music Affairs Tim Riley is quoted as saying "Come on Beta, you can't believe everything you read on the Internet" in response to rumors of Slash's inclusion heard by Rose's rep Beta Lebeis."

Whether Rose's claims of treachery on Activision's part turn out to be true or not remains to be determined, but one fact is incontrovertible: he is really, really late in noticing.

Axl Rose suing Activision over inclusion of Slash in Guitar Hero 3 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 22:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Guitar Hero III getting free 'Top Gun Anthem' DLC

Ludwig Kietzmann — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:55:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Rhythm

In celebration of this week's Fourth of July holiday, Activision plans to serenade Guitar Hero III players with in-your-face patriotism and ambiguous homo-eroticism -- that's right, the "Top Gun Anthem" will be available as a free download on July 3rd. The film's instrumental theme, obtainable from both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, is sure send your fingers up and down your instrument as you dream of being Val Kilmer's wingman. No, Tom Cruise's wingman!

Guitar Hero III getting free 'Top Gun Anthem' DLC originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments