Guitar Hero

[06.09.15] ‘Guitar Hero Live’ E3 preview

It’s been almost a month since the exciting announcement of the return of “Guitar Hero.” Since then, a steady stream of songs has been released to help tease the excitement of the game. Included tracks have spanned the likes of Killswitch Engage, Ed Sheeran, Tenacious D, Anthrax, and Skrillix, to name just a few. We’ve seen some returning favorites, some highly request tracks, and some wonderful surprises as well. Any fan should be able to be able to find something they love and should, hopefully, discover something new along the way as well. If you haven’t yet, don’t fret, as there’s still plenty to come. It should be time for another #TrackListTuesday on this Tuesday, June 9; however, E3 is less than a week away, so instead of a track list, it’s time for some more exciting announcements!

During the initial reveal of “Guitar Hero Live,” the new GHTV was also unveiled. GHTV brings the popular trend of recent music streaming services, such as the newly revealed Apple Music, to the “Guitar Hero” experience. In essence, GHTV will be the very first playable music video network. It will be constantly updated with a bevy of new tracks, including old favorites and, again, hopefully plenty of new music for players to discover and love. So far, over 54 artists’ songs have already been confirmed for the game’s library. GHTV will be online 24/7/365, with a nonstop playlist, meaning players will probably be able to drop in and out freely, much like the “party mode” of previous “Guitar Hero” games. Exact details on this as well as additional information on the service will be covered during E3 next week.

Speaking of E3, Activision and FreeStyleGames also confirmed today the “Guitar Hero Live” will be available to play at E3.

“We’ve been working super hard on ‘Guitar Hero Live’ for years, so we’re so stoked to show people more of the game every chance we get and to give fans a chance to play it themselves,” said Jamie Jackson, Creative Director and Co-Head of FreeStyleGames. “Five years is a long time. Not only has technology changed, but we’ve had years to think about what makes Guitar Hero so much fun to play and also to talk to fans about what they loved most about the original game. We’ve developed an awesome new experience built from the ground up and we are integrating new technology and techniques that just weren’t possible back then. GHTV is a huge part of that and comes with a bunch of new songs, of which we’ll announce more next week. See you at E3!”

“Guitar Hero Live” launches Fall 2015 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U, and select phone and tablet devices. If you missed the initial announcement, you can see it – along with the reveal trailer – here.

In case you’ve missed any or all of the #TrackListTuesday announcements, here’s a rundown of the complete set list so far.

 

June 2, 2015

Queen – “Tie Your Mother Down”

Alice in Chains – Stone”

Bullet For My Valentine – “Temper Temper”

Deap Valley – “Lies”

Wolfmother – “Sundial”

Weezer – “Buddy Holly”

Angus & Julia Stone – “A Heartbreak”

Catfish and the Bottlemen – “Kathleen”

Neon Trees – “Everybody Talks”

New Politics – “Harlem”

 

May 26, 2015

Halestorm – “Love Bites (So Do I)”

Tenacious D – “Tribute”

Beartooth – “I Have a Problem”

Pearl Jam – “Mind Your Manners”

Rise Against – “Tragedy + Time”

Soundgarden – “Been Away Too Long”

Anthrax – “Got the Time”

Architects – “Gravedigger”

Chevelle – “The Clincher”

A Day To Remember – “Right Back At It Again”

 

May 19, 2015

Royal Blood – “Little Monster”

Marilyn Manson – “Disposable Teens”

Killswitch Engage – “In Due Time”

Marmozets – “Move Shake Hide”

Of Mice & Men – “Bones Exposed”

Deftones – “Diamond Eyes”

Vista Chino – “Sweet Remain”

Bring Me the Horizon – “Shadow Moses”

Mastodon – “High Road”

Trivium – “Strife”

 

May 12, 2015

Rage Against The Machine – “Guerrilla Radio”

The Killers – “When You Were Young”

The Lumineers – “Ho Hey”

Skrillex – “Bangarang”

Sleigh Bells – “Bitter Rivals”

Ed Sheeran – “Sing”

Blitz Kids – “Sometimes”

ALT-J – “Left Hand Free”

Broken Bells – “Leave It Alone”

The Black Keys – “Gold on the Ceiling”

The War on Drugs – “Under The Pressure”

Garry Clark Jr. – “Don’t Owe You a Thang”

My Chemical Romance – “Na Na Na”

Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Higher Ground”

Pantera – “Cowboys from Hell”

The Pretty Reckless – “Going to Hell”

System of a Down – “Chop Suey!”

Fall Out Boy – “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)”

The Rolling Stones – “Paint It Black”

Green Day – “Nuclear Family”

Alter Bridge – “Cry of Achilles”

Black Veil Brides – “In The End”

Judas Priest – “Breaking the Law”

Pierce The Veil – “King for a Day (Feat. Kellin Quinn)”

 

[04.14.15] Activision unveils 'Guitar Hero Live'

Activision

Activision

It’s time to get real. Real different, anyway. That’s because Activision announced this morning, April 14, that the beloved blockbuster franchise “Guitar Hero” is making its return later this year with “Guitar Hero Live” and with it comes an entirely new experience. “Guitar Hero Live” will feature changes on both the physical and digital sides of the game, and it’s unlike anything that has launched before.

Everything about “Guitar Hero Live” is about creating a more real, live experience. The game puts you in the first-person perspective up on stage with real, live band mates and a real, live audience that dynamically reacts, in real time, to everything you do. The better you play, the happier everyone is. If you start to stink it up, well… be ready for their wrath. As the lead guitarist, it all falls on you, from the smallest bar venues to the largest stadium rock concert. Can you handle the pressure of a real stage environment?

If not, maybe the second offering of “Guitar Hero Live,” known as “Guitar Hero TV,” is more your style. GHTV is the first-of-its-kind playable music video network. If you’re familiar with the Xbox exclusive karaoke game “Lips,” it’s just like that, only with a guitar. The platform will be constantly evolving and will feature multiple channels and themed shows as well as the ability to play songs on-demand. Players can take on their friends in the same room or attempt to climb the online leaderboards from around the world. GHTV will elevate the unmatched party atmosphere and encourage music discovery.

A major physical change comes to “Guitar Hero Live” with a completely redesigned controller that marries the feel of the vintage axe with the new in-game experience. Much like how the live experience emulates realism, the new 3x2 layout of the controller is supposed to make playing “Guitar Hero Live” feel more like a real guitar. It provides gameplay that is easy to learn but difficult to master. On expert mode, the unique button layout will create an experience closer to playing chords and playing multiple strings than has ever been done in “Guitar Hero” before.

“Guitar Hero Live” offers you the opportunity to play your way with multiple game modes and a release that spans consoles, tablets, and mobile phones. It will release this Fall on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and the Wii U. Select mobile devices will be announced soon.

[05.19.11] PlayStation Store rumored to return May 24

According to Gamasutra, PlayStation Network users are now one step closer to claiming that “Welcome Back” package they’ve been promised. Assuming Sony doesn’t run into any more problems, they’re expected to launch the PlayStation Store on May 24th. Being that the storefront has been down for almost a month, Sony has a lot of catching up to do; and they’ve got an ambitious schedule to get things back on track.

To get everything back in order, Sony plans on pushing out new content twice a week for the next two weeks following the return. That may sound appealing, but what it really means is that gamers will have to wait even longer for content that should have already been available. All content that was originally set to release on April 26th will now be the first batch of releases available opening day, May 24th. Just three days later, Sony will make another large push releasing everything that had an original set date of May 3rd. After that, the next batch will be saved for the following week with releases scheduled May 31st and June 1st, in order to release everything else that was spread over the three-week downtime. Nothing is set in stone though, and content that is deemed more “urgent” may be pushed up. It’s likely this will be content that has been available on other platforms and was delayed for the PS3 because of the PSN downtime; however, any developer has the chance to argue their case.

There was no mention, though, if Sony was going to be offering any assistance to developers. After all, users are getting free content and subscriptions for their ‘troubles’, but when you think about it, the users were really the ones who were affected the least. Although it may have been tough, all you were really missing out on was game time, let’s be honest. To game developers though, you’re messing with their pay checks. These people are trying to make a living off their work, and if their content isn’t available to be purchased, they can’t make any money. Capcom corporate officer and SVP Christian Svensson estimated that their companies lost revenue could be in the “hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars”. That’s some pretty substantial cash flow. With that in mind, you might want to consider finding ways to support your favorite local developer if at all possible. Times are hard for everyone, especially the smaller studios, as can be seen by local Iowa City based studio BudCat Games which was recently closed by Activision in the Guitar Hero fiasco. So with that in mind, buy one of their games to tide you over, since you’re not getting your free games quite yet. Sony has stated that the “Welcome Back” package will not be available until the network has been ‘fully restored’.

 

[04.22.11] 'Running out of appetite' for 'Guitar Hero'

Activision

Activision

For many gamers, February 9th, 2011 is a day that will live in infamy. That was the day on which the highly criticized Activision killed one of the most popular party games of all time, Guitar Hero. For those of you whom haven’t heard yet, on that day Activision announced that they would no longer be developing the Guitar Hero title that was set to be released this year. Activision COO Thomas Tippl wrote, “Because of significant declines in the music genre for the second year in a row, we have made the decision to close the stand-alone Guitar Hero Business Unit and discontinue development on the previously announced 2011 game.” Tippl also stated that, "Despite our very high-quality releases last year, including the 90+ [Metacritic] rated DJ Hero 2, the innovative Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, as well as a 90+ rated release from our competitor [Harmonix's Rock Band 3], demand for peripheral-based music games has continued to decline at a dramatic pace. Given the considerable licensing and manufacturing costs, we simply cannot continue to profitably make these games based on current consumer demand." Many people thought that the series would be going away for good; however, a press release a few days later indicated that Guitar Hero was just ‘resting’.

Today an internal memo from Activision to its employees was leaked explaining why Activision was ‘walking away from Guitar Hero’ and what their future plans were. Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said that, "The most compelling reason for this decision is the fact that so many high-quality games have suffered the same fate in the marketplace. DJ Hero 2 received a remarkable 92 rating, Guitar Hero, Warriors of Rock was a great game with several innovations for the category. Our key competitor, Rock Band 3, also achieved a 90+ rating and yet none of these games succeeded in finding an audience. This is not a matter of lack of quality or poor execution. This is simply a matter of the market running out of appetite for this genre." Although many diehard fans of the series are upset to see it go, even they know that sales have been gradually declining. All hope is not lost though, as Hirshberg indicates that a future title is definitely possible, “Perhaps after a cooling period we will revisit the franchise with fresh innovation. But innovation will take time and a deep reconsideration.”

Most fans and critics would argue that the biggest problem was simply oversaturation of the Guitar Hero brand. Since its original release in 2005, there have been 11 new titles released for consoles. That averages out to more than two games a year! Although not having the latest songs to jam out to with your friends seems like a bummer, it actually does seem like Activision is taking the right steps here to save the brand. If you really need something else from the music genre to sink your teeth into, EA currently seems to have no plans to discontinue their support for Rock Band 3, and there are quite a few other titles out there that are worth a try. If pretend plastic instruments aren’t your thing, you could try a little karaoke with the Xbox exclusive title Lips or the Playstation exclusive SingStar; both of those are sure to get your party going, assuming your friends aren’t afraid to step up to the mic.

Original Article: Giant Bomb via Google Docs