Talismoon, purveyor of replacement Wii shells, has announced a new guitar controller for Wii, the “Rock Thunder Guitar.” Normally, a guitar controller from some random third-party wouldn’t be terribly noteworthy, but the Rock Thunder Guitar has two features that distinguish it from its peers:
It is shaped like a Gibson Flying V, which is awesome.
The wireless guitar also features a sleep mode, as well as its own motion sensor, probably for use in Rock Band (which doesn’t require a WIimote to be attached to the guitar). Now, as for features like “the buttons all work” and “won’t fall apart” — the product description does not specify. [Via MaxConsole]
Activision has made some mistakes with the Wii edition of Guitar Hero III, and it probably wasn’t all too much fun for game owners to send in their discs and await fixed copies. The company, along with RedOctane, are trying to get back into people’s good graces, though, by sending a free guitar faceplate to people who’ve replaced their discs.
We think this is a great move on Activision’s part, especially since they didn’t announce their good will publicly. It’s nice that they’re trying to compensate gamers for the inconvenience they’ve caused, considering they could have done nothing but fix the problem at hand — that’s what we call good customer service. From what we understand, the faceplates will arrive a few weeks after customers get their fixed editions.
So, what do you say, Guitar Hero owners? Will you forgive Activision, or will the company still be sleeping on the couch tonight?
To see Activision and RedOctane’s love note to customers, check past the break.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in! And thanks, Michael, for the pics!]
As you may know Rock Band allows up to four gamers to perform music from the world’s biggest rock artists as a virtual band using drum, bass/lead guitar and microphone peripherals, in addition to online multiplayer. Built on deals with the world’s biggest record labels and music publishers, the music featured in Rock Band spans all genres of rock and include many of the master recordings from the biggest songs and artists of all time, as you can see and hear in the full Rock Band songlist.
In the video review Rock Band is described as Guitar Hero, Drum Hero, Karaoke Revolution, and a band-based rhythm game all in one. But is this stairway to heaven worth its hefty price tag?
The official Rock Band website has finally revealed the last secret songs out of the 58 songs total in Rock Band. We’re adding gameplay and music videos for each of these songs, so you can see the complete setlist of soundtracks included in the game. It will first launch in America on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on November 20th, 2007, with the PlayStation 2 version arriving a little later on December 18, 2007. For the other dates, check the worldwide Rock Band releases page.
Rock Band allows gamers to perform music from the world’s biggest rock artists with their friends as a virtual band using drum, bass/lead guitar and microphone peripherals, in addition to offering online connectivity. Built on deals with the world’s biggest record labels and music publishers, the music featured in Rock Band spans all genres of rock and include many of the master recordings from the biggest songs and artists of all time.
The below list is ordered by song title and followed by band name, with cover versions marked with an asterisk*, songs not marked are master tracks. You’ll notice the two link to a video of the song itself or the song being played in Rock Band (depending on availability), each video will pop up in a new window for you to watch when you click on the link. Here’s the list including videos for each song:
Harmonix and MTV Games announced their line-up of weekly Rock Band downloadable content (songs) available before the end of 2007. The music game Rock Band hits retail shelves on Tuesday, November 20th for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Beginning on November 20th, fans will be able to purchase 3-song packs from Metallica, The Police and Queens of the Stone Age for a suggested retail price of $5.49 per pack or $1.99 per track (440 Microsoft Points per pack and 160 per track for Xbox 360). Individual tracks from Foreigner, Wolfmother and The Runaways, among others, for $1.99 per track (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360).
A variety of song packs, albums and individual tracks will be available for download on a weekly basis. And that’s just through the end of 2007. Fans can expect more music every week through 2008 with suggested retail pricing varying from $.99 to $2.99 per track (The equivalent of 80 to 240 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360), with the vast majority selling for $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360).
In addition to the 58 songs available on the Rock Band game disc, Harmonix and MTV Games are offering a robust calendar of new downloadable content including packs, full albums and individual tracks to satiate the desire for constantly refreshed Rock Band content, including:
Rock Band Downloadable Content Release Schedule – November / December 2007
Week of November 20, 2007:
3-Pack for $5.49 or Individual Tracks for $1.99 Each
(160 Microsoft Points per track and 440 per pack for Xbox 360)
Metallica Pack
“Ride the Lightning” – Metallica
“Blackened” - Metallica
“And Justice for All” - Metallica
The Police Pack
“Can’t Stand Losing You” – The Police
“Synchronicity II” – The Police
“Roxanne” – The Police
Queens of the Stone Age Pack
“3’s and 7’s” – Queens of the Stone Age
“Little Sister” – Queens of the Stone Age
“Sick Sick Sick” – Queens of the Stone Age
Individual Tracks for $1.99 Each (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360)
“Fortunate Son” as made famous by Creedence Clearwater Revival *
“Juke Box Hero” as made famous by Foreigner *
“Bang a Gong (Get It On)” as made famous by T-Rex *
“My Sharona” as made famous by The Knack *
“Cherry Bomb” as made famous by The Runaways *
“Joker & The Thief”- Wolfmother
Let’s clear up some recent Rock Band release date shuffling. The dates are: The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions are scheduled for an American release on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version will be released in America on December 18, 2007. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game will be available alongside the PlayStation 2 version in Canada on December 17, 2007, and will be released in Europe in early 2008.
Publisher Electronic Arts has previously noted it won’t be producing enough copies of the music-rhythm game for the American holiday season to meet demand, leading Joystiq to surmise Canadian supplies are being redirected to America.
Electronic Arts president John Riccitiello predicts that Rock Band bundles may be tough to come by for a while. “We won’t be able to put up enough inventory to meet the demand of this fiscal or calendar year,” Riccitiello also added that those who don’t buy at launch “won’t be getting one for Christmas, unless you know someone at one of our retailers.”
Bizarre Creations, the developers of the Xbox Live Arcade music-rhythm game Boom Boom Rocket, have added something really cool through an upcoming title update, which has just passed certification and will be “coming soon”. It’ll add support for guitar and dance mat controllers!
Here’s a list of what’s new in the update:
* Guitar and dancemat peripheral support (oh yes!)
* Japanese and Korean language support.
* Tweaked scoring system to make grade awarded more fair (now purely based on accuracy).
* The huge loud “noise” which popped up occasionally on endurance mode is now gone.
* Occurrences of scores getting overwritten with a lower score when playing with 2 profiles signed in is now fixed.
* Display updates when viewing the game through a VGA cable.
* Friends leaderboard now shows extra information such as grade, accuracy, etc.
* Multiplayer endurance mode fix for player colours swapping sporadically.
* Slightly bigger and better explosions (updates to firework rendering).
Watch the developers try both the guitar and dance mat controls at the same time.
You know what's missing from those extended Guitar Hero III sessions? Link. One guy, however, has solved that pesky problem ... or rather, his loving girlfriend solved it for him. Now blogger Silmarwen can rock out in style. The rest of us, sadly, are stuck with skins. Unless, of course, we can get someone to whip up something special. Start begging your more artistic friends now!
If Link's not really your cup of tea (for shame), you can also try something with a portly plumber.
Only a few benches are active. Just fly around to find the other Camping benches in this Sim. In the first pic, the avatars were Ruthed (they should get the Autoderuth HUD) and on the second pic the images or skins didn’t load.
The Camping rate is unknown because the floating text didn’t have it displayed and there were no available Dance Pad which I can use to check the current Camping rate.
Boy, that Guitar Hero franchise really sucks, huh? If there were ever a set of games that were a complete and utter waste of time, it's these. Luckily, Guitar Hero III changes everything.
No, wait. We have that all wrong. Guitar Hero is unconditionally awesome, and we can expect nothing less from the latest and soon to be greatest version -- especially when we're playing it on the Wii. 1UP recently took a look at all three next-gen versions of Guitar Hero III and reported back improvements across the board, particularly in regard to the guitar peripheral. From buttons to accelerometer, the guitars seem to have gotten a major overhaul, and longtime fans of the series will find their frustrations with past versions fading away. The Wii controller offers up a tiny bonus, as well; the Wii remote speaker outputs, as as 1UP's Garnett Lee accurately puts it, "the ugly guitar string twang" that sounds when players miss a note. Not only is that more accurate -- such sounds should come from your guitar, after all -- but in multiplayer situations, when you're strumming along with no problems and your buddy can't seem to find his butt from the strum bar, you're less likely to be distracted by his mistakes.
All in all, it seems that Guitar Hero III is taking the franchise to a whole new level and getting closer to simulating actual guitar play without involving actual guitars.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
New guitar controller compatible with Rock Band, Guitar Hero, metal originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Week of November 20, 2007:
