PS3 Fanboy

Whoops. If you're looking to buy Guitar Hero World Tour for the drumset, for use with Rock Band I or II, we've got some bad news. It won't work. Not sure why, we were promised, after all. Reports are that the games recognize the drum controller as a microphone, for some strange reason. Seeing as the drums were the only thing we found to be superior when compared to Rock Band, this removes a lot of the reasoning behind buying the game.

We're hearing that Rock Band instruments will work with Guitar Hero World Tour, however. So if you do actually find a reason to pick up the game, you'll be able to play it with those instruments. A Harmonix developer responded to the forum thread, stating "we are definitely looking into this. We'll keep you posted on updates as soon as more info is available." Anyone else get deja vu?

[Via Joystiq]

Guitar Hero World Tour will be getting new functionality in a patch available one week after its release. Most excitingly, this feature is something that only PS3 can fully realize. According to Shacknews, World Tour will be gaining a MIDI sequencer, which encompasses rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass, keyboard and drum tracks on the PS3. (It will be limited to only drum tracks on the Xbox 360 due to unspecified "hardware issues.")

"We have full, basically, computer editing control, at least on the PS3, through the music studio," Neversoft's Brian Bright stated in a Shacknews interview. "If you're a musician or you do any sequencing, it really just makes the pathway to getting your songs in the game that much easier--once you get it down. We just really want to give people enough tools to be able to make good music."

The feature won't be for everyone, of course. This is geared towards serious musicians that know how to work with MIDI on a computer. An extensive FAQ will be made available on the Guitar Hero site to help musicians take advantage of this exciting opportunity.

Another Guitar Hero III track pack is ready to be released this week. the Dragonforce track pack will include three tracks from the English speed metal band, including "Heroes Of Our Time," the debut single from their upcoming album "Ultra Beatdown." The other two tracks are "Revolution Deathsquad" and "Operation Ground Pound," both from their third album "Inhuman Rampage." The track pack will be released worldwide on August 21st.

Dragonforce fans will no doubt be ecstatic at the idea of not only playing three more of their songs on Guitar Hero III, but also shredding along to "Heroes Of Our Time" before the album is even released. For non-Dragonforce fans, this is probably only a worthwhile purchase if you're in need of a hardcore Guitar Hero III challenge. We just hope they're a bit easier than "Through The Fire And The Flames."

[Via Press Release]

There may not be much choice in new titles this week, but that shouldn't stop you from looking back and seeing what other titles the summer had to offer. One of those games is Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, and lucky for you we just so happen to have a copy to give away. To enter, just leave us a comment and tell us your favorite Aerosmith song. That's it. Comments must be left before 12am Eastern Time on Saturday, August 16. Multiple entries are allowed.

One winner will be selected in a random drawing. Grand Prize Winner will receive a copy of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (game only) for the PS3. MSRP: $60. Click here for complete Official Rules. Eligibility is restricted to the legal residents of the 50 United States (including DC) and Canada (excluding Quebec). You must be 18 years or older to enter.

Activision has announced today that Guitar Hero III will be receiving five downloadable track packs during the month of June. All of these will contain master tracks, but only two have been detailed, with the other three shrouded in mystery. The first song pack, which has been released today on the EU PSN Store and will no doubt be made available later today in America, is the Motorhead pack. This contains the songs "We Are the Road Crew," "Stay Clean" and "Motörhead."

The second pack will be made available on June 12th and will combine performances from the Isle of Wight 2007 and 2008 festivals into an aptly named "Isle of Wight" pack. This contains Kasabian's "Shoot The Runner," The Kaiser Chiefs' "I Predict A Riot" and The Sex Pistols' "Problems." A one-off free God of War II pack is also available today for free. With this, Activision is clearly really putting a lot of effort into downloadable content and, dare we say, giving Rock Band a run for its money. Well, not really, but it's pretty impressive nonetheless.

[Via Press Release]

"What's the best way to demonstrate how awesome the Guitar Hero World Tour drums are?" ponders the Activision Marketing department. Somehow the subsequent meeting resulted in some bright spark suggesting that they call in a few professional drummers to act completely up themselves and unrealistically compare GHIV's drums to a real set. Nice.

We're not prejudice towards Guitar Rock Hero Band World Tour. We're holding out until we can try all the aspects of the game first hand -- particularly the content creation stuff. In the meantime, however, videos like this don't really help. Did you hear the drums are wireless? We thought we'd mention it in case the video didn't push that point enough for you. That's sarcasm, by the way.

[Via Joystiq]

Guitar Hero IV World Tour has been further unwrapped today to reveal many more details on what we can expect from the game. Pegged as the "definitive rock and roll music videogaming experience," Guitar Hero World Tour will include "new state of the art wireless instruments." Yes, that means buying more plastic peripherals, bringing the total number of plastic guitars lying around your front room to a frankly ridiculous number. Don't be surprised to see a Guitar Hero branded guitar rack brought to market. But let's not give them any ideas ...

World Tour will have the "largest on-disc set list in a music-rhythm game to-date," all of which will be master recordings. Expect to see songs from the likes of Van Halen, Linkin Park, The Eagles and Sublime. The drum set promises to be the most realistic videogame drumset available, with three drum pads, two raised cymbals and a bass kick pedal. There will also be "significantly more localized downloadable music than ever before" as well as fully customizable characters, complete with user-generated band logos and cover art.

If what Activision's Bobby Kotick has stated in the latest issue of Conde Nast Portfolio magazine is true, then "Guitar Hero" could soon become a misnomer for the series. Guitar Hero IV could be branching out to "include a lot of other instruments, [and] vocals". Not a bad idea, except it's been done before.

Judging from Guitar Hero III's low quality controller build and its lackluster downloadable content, we don't really expect Guitar Hero IV to be much of a Rock Band beater. Especially when you consider Harmonix' superior ability to create note charts. Who knows though, maybe Neversoft will feature an instrument not currently available in Rock Band - that's the only real way we can see the franchise becoming relevant again.

Tony Hawk ... the franchise that just won't lie down and take a nap. Every month or so we get a new trick from this franchise and, frankly, we're tired of it. When the announcement rolled in about the new Tony Hawk's Proving Ground we smirked and thought to ourselves: "yes, this is a proving ground to see if you're a viable gaming franchise, still." Other than that, complete apathy.

Anyway, this new title to be released on the PS3 and 360 sports some revamped multiplayer, video editing, new modes (Nail-the-Trick was named), and a class system. Class system? For skaters? What, will one guy be pumping out buffer chants while the tank skater takes on the big tricks? Or will there be a homeless skater next to a sharp-looking business executive skater? We are interested to see how the multiplayer is changing and how in-depth the video editing tool will be. We'll keep you posted as information becomes available.