And the Guitar Hero games keep on coming! The latest, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, culls the cream that has risen to the top of each Guitar Hero game and injects them into one über Guitar Hero. Instead of throwing all of the tracks out there for one and all to see, Activision held open voting to see which of the previous games’ included tracks would be revealed first (gee, thanks!). The winner was the original Guitar Hero.
Head past the break for the first list of tracks, along with some links to YouTube videos for your sampling pleasure.
We thought we’d pass along a courteous reminder from Activision informing the gaming community that Guitar Hero: Metallica began rocking store shelves today. If you haven’t found current full-band simulators to be punishing enough, Metallica promises to deliver with an “Expert +” mode, double kick pedals, and guitar solos capable of turning even the sturdiest fingers into tiny puddles of red goo. If you’ve got $59.99 lying around (or $49.99 for the Wii version, $39.99 for the PS2), you can simulate “riding the lightning”* with unparalleled accuracy.
*Warning: Riding lightning can lead to unintended health consequences in the groin region, including serious unsightly burns and impotence. Consult your doctor before deciding to mount any arcs of electricity.
Okay, so it will be a Rock Band game. Apple Corps LTD., Harmonix and MTV Games have announced that rock music’s dream cast, The Beatles, will be reduced to multicolored note charts on 9/9/09, when the “The Beatles: Rock Band” launches worldwide on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii.
The “unprecedented, experiential progression through and celebration of the music and artistry of The Beatles” will allow players to tackle a cavalcade of culturally monumental songs via mic, drums and guitars, all included in a Limited Edition Premium bundle for $250 (all platforms) and “modeled after instruments used by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr throughout their career.” Standalone guitars will also be available ($100), as will separate game discs ($60, all platforms) for those already surrounded by Instrument Protagonist equipment. According to the press release, The Beatles: Rock Band will be compatible with all prior Rock Band instruments and “other current music-based game peripherals.”
And now we wait until September. God, we hope the lady behind the counter is named Jude. It’s going to be SO funny when we ask her to get us a copy.
At the tender age of fourteen, our oafish hamfists could barely handle the simplest daily tasks: Shoe tying, pencil handling, typing and so on. Danny Johnson, a 14-year-old with such outrageous manual dexterity that we’re of the firm belief he’s at least two-thirds robot, recently performed a task we thought unthinkable — he broke 17-year-old Chris Chike’s official record on Guitar Hero III’s most difficult song, “Through the Fire and Flames”, and he broke it by nearly 100,000 points. Robot.
Johnson, who’s broken nearly 80 guitar peripherals over the past nine months in pursuit of the record, set a wide margin with strategic Star Power usage, elevating his score to 973,954 (topping Chike’s 899,703) during a performance at a Best Buy event with Guinness officiaries in attendance. However, we’ve seen Chike garner even higher scores without being witnessed by the aforementioned officiaries — we think it’s time for these two Jimmy Woods-esque virtuosos to settle this in a no-holds-barred, winner-take-all guitar duel.
Let’s consider, for a moment, the immense and stalwart dedication exhibited by one Jem Alexander, our man at an ongoing Sega event in a snow-encased London. Despite being in the magnificent company of games featuring a certain sword-wielding hedgehog, this blogger deliberately looked away from the screen (reminder: featuring a hedgehog wielding a sword!) to send us an important email from his iPhone. Which he briefly confused with his iPod Touch — a notable hazard for those eccentric and loaded enough to own both. What’s up with that, Jem?
Anyway, he says Sega’s rhythmic finger bash, Let’s Tap, has been announced for European release. With the party game’s undoubtedly arduous localization confirmed, it probably won’t take too long for Sega of America to drum up a press release of its own. We’ll point out (and at) any updates as we receive them.
Do we really need more music game peripherals cluttering up our homes? Well, no, obviously not, but that could be a very real danger we have to face in the not-too-distant future, because Ubisoft is planning some sort of new music game for the Wii and other platforms. superannuation found this job listing posted at Gamasutra, asking for a lead designer on an “exciting new cross-platform music-based game.”
We’ve no idea what Ubi is plotting, but the company has plainly grown envious of the money pie being scarfed down by fellow powerhouse publishers EA and Activision, and intends to do something about it. There’s the possibility that this might not even involve plastic instruments, but if it does … well, isn’t it time your folks checked into their retirement home? Isn’t that for the best?
If you’re one of the eight individuals on the planet yet to acquire Guitar Hero Something, roughly now would be a good time to start. In a heartwarming display of post-festive cheer bid to rid itself of excess stock, the troubled Circuit City is offering savings on two Guitar Hero game/guitar bundles: Guitar Hero IIIand Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, both for $47.99.
Alternatively, if you’re a grizzled, orange-button-happy Guitar Hero veteran whose home and life is being gradually consumed by plastic peripherals, Amazon is willing to sell you Guitar Hero World Tour for $34.99 — sans another instrument.
Source: Guitar Hero III Wireless Bundle Source: Guitar Hero Aerosmith Special Edition Wireless Bundle Source: Guitar Hero World Tour
Some of you may disagree with our enjoyment of the Let’s Tapsoundtrack, but we’re of the opinion that Prope’s percussive minigame collection features music that even penguins could tap their feet to.
These Let’s Tap “Rhythm Tap” mode videos are presented as “Rhythm Tap Training” on the website, because you can use them to practice for the actual game! You don’t actually touch the Wiimote while playing the real thing, so you can basically play along by watching the video and tapping yourself. You’ll just have to measure your own progress. Or you could just enjoy the song, “Milky Way Rendezvous.”
The same area of the website in which you can find these videos (fifth link from the left in the top navigation bar) features new wallpaper of the various vizualizers from the game.
Okay, so We Cheer is a game about cheerleading, and that immediately raises the hackles of most Wii gamers sensitive to the system’s relative lack of games about men firing guns at each other in space. Yes, this game was probably designed for someone other than males aged 18-35.
However, we can’t help but admire the soundtrack. Aside from a few diversions into modern “we had to put this stuff on here for the kids” territory like the Ataris’ “In This Diary”(which makes no sense for cheerleading), it’s a greatest-hits compilation of our high school pep rallies, full of vintage ’90s music designed to make EVERYBODY DANCE NOW.
We don’t really know the nuances of cheerleading, but we imagine that were we to try to rouse a crowd, “It Takes Two” by Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock would be a good start. Head past the break for the full track list.
You know that instrument you always hear during those awesome kung fu movies? Yup, it’s a shamisen. You can check it out in Wii Musicabove, courtesy of the Today’s Instrument marketing plan from Nintendo. It, uh, pretty much sounds like it should: a string being plucked. We’re sure there are more subtle nuances to the instrument, but we’re game bloggers, not music buffs.
First round of Guitar Hero: Smash Hits tracks revealed originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
