Joystiq

Guitar Hero III getting free 'Top Gun Anthem' DLC

Ludwig Kietzmann — 2008-07-01T11:55:00+00:00

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!

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Coldplay's new single, two more tracks coming to Guitar Hero III

Randy Nelson — 2008-06-13T16:30:00+00:00

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

Just in case you hadn't heard via, oh, every manner of media possible, British rockers Coldplay will have a new album, Viva la Vida, on shelves (and your favorite music download service) June 17. Today Activision announced that a dose of Coldplay DLC will hit Guitar Hero III two days later on June 19.

The Coldplay track pack will contain three songs, including "Violet Hill," the first single from Viva la Vida. "Yellow" and "God Put a Smile on Your Face" from the album A Rush of Blood to the Head round out the set. Activision has yet to price the goods, but three-song packs have historically run 500 MS points via Xbox Live and $6.25 on PSN.

[update: Activision sends along confirmation that the Coldplay track pack will, in fact, set you back 500 MS points or $6.25 on XBL and PSN, respectively.]

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Guitar Hero III DLC brings Kaiser Chiefs, Sex Pistols, Kasabian

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-06-12T23:00:00+00:00

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

Following the Motörhead set earlier this month, more Guitar Hero III downloadable content lands on the PS3 and Xbox 360 today, with the three-song Isle of Wight Track Pack now available on both consoles for purchase and download.

The pack features "Problems [live at Brixton] by The Sex Pistols, "Shoot the Runner" by Kasabian, and "I Predict a Riot" by Kaiser Chiefs. The set costs 500 Microsoft Points, or $6.25 USD on PS3. For a taste, check out the above video for Kasabian's "Shoot the Runner." It's kinda rockin'.

[Via X3F]

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Guitar Herowned: GH3's hardest song rocked 100%

Randy Nelson — 2008-06-06T23:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Rhythm

Consider us impressed floored. Chris "iamchris4life" Chike, the recognized Guinness world record holder for the highest single-song point tally in Guitar Hero III has gone and done what many considered impossible. In the above YouTube video, Chike 100-percents Dragonforce's "Through the Fire and the Flames," revered and dreaded by fans as the most difficult song in GH3.

Watch in amazement - as we did - while Chike powers through the song on expert difficulty without missing a single note. In the end, he not only fully completed the song (beating his previous best of 97%) but scored 987,786 points (his best run prior to this netted 840,647). Our hats, glasses, and all other accessories are off to you, Chris. Now, may we offer you an ice pack for your hand?

[Thanks, Wibby!]

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PSN Thursday: Novastrike, Civ Rev demo, Commando 3, much more

Alexander Sliwinski — 2008-06-05T20:20:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Online

Big fat update this week. For starters, it's time for PS3 owners to jump in the pool and try out the Civilization Revolution demo. So far, our thoughts are positive, but conflicted. PC Civilization players will jump right in and notice some major changes, but will console gamers find joy in the methodical (yet incredibly streamlined) Civ gameplay?

Enough thinking, what about some twitch action? The free God of War theme for GH III is available today, along with the PSN's first game self-published by a developer, Novastrike. Also, storming out of left field is Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3. There's also a couple other nice additions in this week's update, so check it out after the break.

The PS3 Fanboy's got your European PSN update on their site, but be sure to bring chocolates. They like chocolates.

Qore Digital Magazine:

Qore Episode 001: June, 2008

Downloadable Games:

Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 ($10)
Novastrke ($10)

Add-on Content:

GH III God of War theme (Free)
GH III: Motorhead track pack -- "Stay Clean," "(We Are) The Road Crew" and "Motorhead" by Motorhead.
Rock Band DLC

Game Demos (free):

Civilization Revolution
Battlefield: Bad Company MP
NASCAR '09

Game Videos:

Guitar Hero III - God of War add-on
Resident Evil 5 Spring Trailer 2008
Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 Trailer
LEGO Indiana Jones Trailer
Dead Space Story Trailer
Fracture Trailer and Behind the Scenes "Story"
Hail to the Chimp: 3:00AM

PS3 Themes:

Retro

Game Music (Free):

God of War "The End Begins"

PlayStation Store for PC:

SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 2 ($16)
SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 2 trailer
SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 2 TV Spot 1
SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 2 TV Spot 2
SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 2 Wallpaper (x4)
SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 2 music tracks (x5)

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Five new Guitar Hero III track packs in June, Motörhead up first

Ludwig Kietzmann — 2008-06-05T13:25:00+00:00

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

Fret no more, for there is new reason to hold onto thy fret! Activision has announced that five new downloadable track packs for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock will be made available in the month of June. The first pack, a trio of songs from British band Motörhead, is already available on the Xbox Live Marketplace, and should follow on the PlayStation Network later today.

The only other release announced thus far is the Isle of Wight pack. The Isle of Wight is not, you'll note, a band, but a music festival held in 2007. Three of its "most memorable performances" have been converted into colorful note charts, with Kasabian, Kaiser Chiefs and The Sex Pistols providing the music. So, in summary:

Motörhead Track Pack (5 June / 500 MS Points / $6.25)

Isle of Wight Track Pack (12 June / Price unconfirmed, but likely to be same as above)

"Shoot the Runner" by Kasabian
"I Predict a Riot" by Kaiser Chiefs
"Problems" by The Sex Pistols

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God of War track hits PS3 Guitar Hero III today

Ludwig Kietzmann — 2008-06-05T08:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Rhythm

Having mastered every single one of Guitar Hero III's songs (including that one), perhaps you and your freakish, mutant fingers are yearning for some new notes to enliven those increasingly soporific shredding sessions. If you've got a PlayStation 3 copy of Activision's guitar 'em up, why not grab the promised God of War track, "The End Begins (to Rock)," from the PSN later today? It's epic, it's free and it sounds like this.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

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Guitar Hero: Aerosmith won't support GH3 DLC

Randy Nelson — 2008-06-04T17:00:00+00:00

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

Here's some news that's sure to strike a sour chord with the legions of Guitar Hero III owners worldwide. We've confirmed with Activision that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will not allow users to access content for GH3.

It will also be impossible for those who've purchased only Guitar Hero: Aerosmith to access and download tracks currently available for GH3. For those with both games: prepare for disc-swapping. The carry-over of DLC into Guitar Hero: Aerosmith seemed like a real no-brainer; hopefully Neversoft will take Guitar Hero fans' previous purchases into account while nailing down Guitar Hero World Tour and Guitar Hero: Metallica's feature sets.

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PS3 Guitar Hero III getting free God of War track in June [update]

Jason Dobson — 2008-05-22T09:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Rhythm

With Xbox 360 players getting a Halo 3 musical number for free last Thanksgiving, the gods of rock have now smiled down on PS3 owners as well. Tucked away in the latest PlayStation Underground newsletter comes word that PS3 armchair rockers will be able to download a free God of War-themed track for Guitar Hero III to rock out to on Thursday, June 5.

~~No other details have been revealed, including what selection exactly will be released.~~ Even so, free is free, though honestly we're racking our brains trying to come up with a single piece of God of War music that's memorable enough to warrant a living room encore.

Update: It has a name! "The End Begins (to Rock)." [Thanks, Dan; via Guitar Hero Community]

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Rumorong: Rock Band tracks not on South Park: Season 11 DVDs

Alexander Sliwinski — 2008-05-16T17:30:00+00:00

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

The website which reported that three Rock Band tracks would be packaged with the South Park: Season 11 DVDs has now taken that bit of info back. TVShowsonDVD.com says that a Paramount representative informed them the information was incorrect, but that there will be other bonus materials in the release. South Park's eleventh season had the infamous "Guitar Queer-o" episode.

Considering South Park had an entire episode about Guitar Hero, it would have been a little weird if the DVDs came with Rock Band downloads. However things got mixed up, it's a little sad to see the info turn out false -- unless the "bonus materials" end up being Guitar Hero III tracks.

[Via X3F]

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Guitar Hero III getting triple-pack of Muse on May 8

Griffin McElroy — 2008-05-03T16:30:00+00:00

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

It seems that Activision has stumbled across the correct formula for getting us to drop our drumsticks and don our trusty, dusty Les Paul peripherals -- a three-song DLC pack for Guitar Hero III featuring the music of the epic British prog-rock trio, Muse. As of May 8, "Supermassive Black Hole" and "Exo-Politics" from their 2006 album Black Holes and Revelations as well as the fan-favorite "Stockholm Syndrome" from 2003's Absolution will be available to download for a heretofore unannounced price (we're assuming it will match the $6.25 price of former GHIII packs). We've got videos for all three tunes after the jump -- go decide which ones are purchase-worthy! (Hint: All of them.)

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New Def Leppard single to hit GH3 before retail

Kyle Orland — 2008-04-11T11:50:00+00:00

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

We've known for a while that inclusion on a video game soundtrack can help drive music sales, but usually the song in question is actually available for sale when it appears in the game. Not so for Def Leppard's new single, "Nine Lives," which will premiere as a downloadable Guitar Hero III track before it's available at retail or other online services. No F-f-f-foolin'!

The track, which comes as part of a Def Leppard pack along with classics "Rock of Ages" and "Photograph," will be available on April 24th in the U.S. and May 8th in the U.K. The album "Songs from the Sparkle Lounge" follows soon after on April 28 (digital download) and May 5 (physical disc).

"I know from personal experience how much more you get into the music by playing the game," said Def Leppard Lead Singer Joe Elliott in a press release. "Guitar Hero is extremely popular with all kinds of music heads, which includes a lot of our fans - and we think releasing Nine Lives this way first is just fantastic!"

[Via X3F]

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Charlie Daniels upset that 'Devil Went Down to Georgia' in Guitar Hero III

Justin McElroy — 2008-04-08T12:30:00+00:00

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

We thought that the inclusion of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," as the final song in Guitar Hero III was a pretty inspired choice, but it seems not everyone was as thrilled with the selection, including Charlie Daniels, the song's author. The Christian country star (who no longer holds the rights to the song) recently posted about the game on his blog, his primary beef seeming to be that El Diablo can win.

He wrote that the song "is supposed to be a lighthearted novelty about a fiddling contest between a country boy and the devil and the devil always loses." But, he goes on to say that GHIII features "a guitar-playing devil who battles the player and very often wins." ... So, is Daniels complaining about balancing issues? Because, if so, we totally agree. The devil's way too tough.

But we do feel compelled to point out that the game never says the main boss is the devil. In fact, he has a name and it's Lou. Maybe Lou isn't a devil at all, maybe he's just deformed like that guy from Mask. So we ask you, dear reader, what's the worse sin? Letting the devil win in a video game or calling handicapped people demons? We think the choice is pretty clear.

[Via Bit-tech.net]

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Guitar Hero III squeezes out version for BlackBerry

Alexander Sliwinski — 2008-04-01T22:20:00+00:00

Filed under: Rhythm, Business, Mobile

Poor Bessy, the Guitar Hero cow is getting her teats squeezed raw by Activision. Hands-On Mobile announced another addition to the GH III oeuvre as the "number one selling" mobile version of Guitar Hero III became available for BlackBerry smartphones. Come on Bessy, just keep squirting.

According to Hands-On the mobile version of Guitar Hero III has achieved 7.5 million song downloads in less than six months and will be available on the nation's top four mobile carriers by April. Oh well, more power to 'em. Observing someone play GH III on a phone can't possibly be more awkward than it'll be watching someone play the DS version of GH III on the subway in the morning.

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Tabulator: Guitar Hero / Rock Band guitar compatibility

Ross Miller — 2008-03-24T19:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Features, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Rhythm

In light of today's official Rock Band Wii announcement, we asked Harmonix if there was any chance the Guitar Hero 3 controller would be compatible with Rock Band (and vice versa). The response was less than hopeful, with Harmonix telling us it's up to Activision -- in other words, no. On the bright side, it gives us an opportunity to update our Guitar Compatibility Guide. Check it out after the break.

Xbox 360
Rock Band Stratocaster	Yes	No*	No**
Guitar Hero 3 Les Paul	Yes	Yes	Yes
Guitar Hero 2 Xplorer	Yes	Yes	Yes

PlayStation 3
Rock Band Stratocaster	Yes	No
Guitar Hero 3 Les Paul	No	Yes
Nintendo Wii
Rock Band Stratocaster	Yes	No
Guitar Hero 3 Les Paul	No ***	Yes

Notes:
* Can navigate menus, but during the songs the green button is stuck down, orange is red, and everything else is dead
** Interestingly, the drums are recognized, so you can actually navigate menus using them, but playing songs is a no go.
*** From Harmonix spokesperson: "Support for the GHIII guitar peripherals in Rock Band on the Wii was not possible without Activision's permission. Therefore, any questions regarding lack of compatibility with GH III hardware should be directed to Activision."

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Wii Guitar Hero III owners get free faceplate

Justin McElroy — 2008-03-24T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Rhythm

We think that those playing Guitar Hero III on the Wii have every right to feel like the cast-aside stepchild. Not only does their system of choice not get the DLC from the other consoles, they also got the fun of sending their discs in to be replaced when it turned out that the game was mixed in mono rather than stereo sound. Now, Activision is attempting to make up for one of those slights with a free guitar faceplate for those who had to send their game away.

What's especially cool is that the company didn't make a big announcement about the deal, they just quietly went about trying to make things right with jilted fans. Good show, Activision. Now, about that DLC ...

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Dropkick Murphys pack now available, free in Guitar Hero III

Justin McElroy — 2008-03-13T08:00:00+00:00

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

Just in time for your weekend St. Patrick's Day celebrations (you're not really going to party on a Monday are you?) comes a trio of Dropkick Murphys songs for Guitar Hero III, available right now on Xbox Live and (we're assuming) a little later in the day on PSN.

The pack includes "Famous for Nothing", "Flannigan's Ball" and "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya", all master tracks and all from their album The Meanest of Times. Now, before you go complaining that they're not the DKM songs you would have chosen, you should know that the pack is free, free, totally free. Not bad for a holiday usually only good for "you're not wearing green" pinches from the 55-year-old woman in accounting.

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Activision files lawsuit after Gibson claims Guitar Hero patent

Christopher Grant — 2008-03-12T19:58:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Rhythm, Business

Yesterday was a busy legal day for the Guitar Hero franchise, what with Harmonix pulling a $14.5 million dollar royalty suit on the same day Activision decided to address a patent claim from its guitar partners at Gibson. Sure, we're not fancy lawyers with fancy pants, but it strikes us as particularly odd that Gibson managed to work up a deal with Activision - licensing its branding as well as the likenesses of some of its most iconic guitars - well before realizing that, hey! It's already patented this whole thing and owns the rights to a device whereby a "musician can simulate participation in a concert by playing a musical instrument and wearing a head-mounted 3D display that includes stereo speakers."

Turns out that while Gibson told its pals at Activision about the patent back in January, the Big A just filed a lawsuit yesterday asking the U.S. District Court for Central California "to declare Gibson's patent invalid and to bar it from seeking damages." Considering we're talking about a billion dollar franchise, we're sure Gibson's been seeing dollar signs. Perhaps it's afraid games like Guitar Hero are siphoning potential guitar sales away from, y'know, actual instruments ... or maybe it just figured why the heck not. Unless they make nice nice, we figure there's a chance we could see Fender-branded guitars in both guitar rhythm series going forward.

[Via Engadget]

Read - Activision's "Guitar Hero" violates patent: Gibson (Reuters)
Read - United States Patent Number 5,990,405

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SXSW08: Booth Hero

JC Fletcher — 2008-03-09T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, Rhythm, Galleries

What's better for attracting people to your booth than a fake guitar? Apparently nothing! Walking around SXSW's ScreenBurn Arcade, I began to notice that I was seeing a lot of Guitar Hero III and Rock Band setups. The guitars and drums are a lot showier than most game controllers, and are thus a lot better at getting attention than other games. I understood the power of these two games.

But that doesn't mean I didn't find it a little weird that groups who had basically nothing to do with Guitar Hero III or Rock Band were featuring it at their booths. I was also amused by the number of booths that featured guitar games, compared to the total number of booths in the ScreenBurn Arcade. It almost seemed like these two games outnumbered not-music games.

Gallery: SXSW guitar games

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Guitar Hero III gets Modern Metal, free Dropkick Murphys tunes coming

Justin McElroy — 2008-03-06T14:15:00+00:00

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

Well now, this is a trend we'd like to see continue: Just a week after it's last update (a batch of No Doubt tunes) Guitar Hero III is getting another song pack. This time, it's the "Modern Metal Track Pack," featuring master tracks of Deftones' "Hole in the Earth," Avenged Sevenfold's "Almost Easy" and Thrice's "The Arsonist." As you've come to expect, the three songs will cost you 500 points ($6.25).

If you don't find yourself in a metal mood, you'll be excited to hear that the next pack is already in the works. It's three from Dropkick Murphys, master tracks of "Famous for Nothing," "(F)lannigan's Ball" and "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya." It's due in mid-March in time for St. Patrick's Day. And the best part? Totally free. We didn't think it was possible for us to be more excited about drinking ourselves into oblivion on a Monday, but we guess wonders never cease.

[Thanks, Matt]

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