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We hope you weren't excited by the supposed Guitar Hero World Tour set list that was 'leaked' yesterday. Activision and Red Octane have made it known that the list, which included artists like Tool and The Doors, is a fake. A representative informed Game Informer (see what we did there?) that while some of the songs on the list will make it into the game, namely Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher," the majority of the list is "wishful thinking and pure speculation."

But hey, we know it will have "Hot for Teacher," right? That counts for something. Now all we have to do is get Activision to confirm the rest of the set list ... one song at a time.

[Via Joystiq]

'OMG Megaton' is a phrase often uttered by fanboys everywhere. Rarely, however, is it done with any sort of sincerity. After yesterday's massive leak of Intellisponse Survey info, we think it's safe to use the phrase with complete and utter confidence: OMG MEGATON!!!!111LOLZ1! Seriously, there is so much information being disseminated that people are actually starting to mock up fake survey pages in an attempt to grab the spotlight. Here we have gathered up all the rumors -- they are just that, by the way: rumors -- that we've posted so far as well as some that Joystiq posted while we foolishly slept.

Of particular interest, note the video above, which reportedly comes from an as yet unreleased Silicon Knights game entitled Crucible: The Evil Within. Looks like Too Human set in a more traditional fantasy realm, which is an idea we fully support.

• 'Avatars' are Microsoft's take on Mii's?
  
• First video of Silicon Knight's Crucible: The Evil Within
• Forza 3 will have 2 discs, 400 cars, more
  
• Guitar Hero 4 costs $179.99 w/ upgraded instruments
  
• 'Lips' is MS response to SingStar?
  
• Powers & Titans - multiplayer superhero game for 360, PS3, PC
• Spider-Man vs. Marvel Zombies creeping to Wii, 360, PS3
• Tony Hawk to get board peripheral on 360, PS3; new Spider-Man to use Wii Fit board
• Ultimate Band coming to 360, PS3, compat with Rock Band instruments; new trailer for Wii
• Xbox Live getting massively competitive social games - Jeopardy, Millionaire, etc.
• Possible COD5 box arts

Update: Thanks to X3F reader Josh, we embedded the drum'tacular World Tour video after the break. You're welcome ...

The not at all English website InsiderGamer posted a new Guitar Hero World Tour video that gives us a better look at the game's drum set, the design process behind it and a first look at Blink 182's Travis Barker in a mo-cap suit. For realz! You can view the video after the jump and take in all the World Tour drumming that it has to offer including velocity sensitive drum pads, which we admit are so very next gen. And would it be wrong for us to think that these drums may possibly be better then what Rock Band has to offer? If it is, forget we ever posed such question.

[Thanks, L1B3RATION]

Finally, after what seems like months of magazine scans confirming its existence, Activision just officially announced the next true installment in the Guitar Hero franchise (you don't count Aerosmith), originally dubbed Guitar Hero IV, will now officially be known as Guitar Hero World Tour.

As expected, World Tour will add singing and drum playing to the mix, featuring what they call the best drum set peripheral EVAR, a reworked guitar peripheral and Acti promising that all peripherals will be wireless as well. With features like a Band Career Mode, online integration and the ability to record and share music, Activision is also touting World Tour's track list which they admit will be the largest list of any GH game featuring bands like Van Halen, Linkin Park, The Eagles and Sublime.

So, now that it's official and we have some concrete deets, do you think World Tour will give Rock Band some competition and will you be checking out World Tour later this year?

Well, not as realistic as, you know, actual drums, but apparently the next Guitar Hero will be setting some sort of benchmark in the battle of the fake bands. Judging by the above debut trailer for "Guitar Hero World Tour," the new peripherals are convincing enough to lure hundreds of people into a poorly lit grotto and subject them to a cacophony of plastic instrument flailing. It's out this Fall.

Last night, our homies over at 360sync exclusively posted a preview of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith's achievement in all their achievement glory sans any achievement artwork though ... bummer. So far, they posted 42 of the 49 game achievements with the majority of them being pretty plain Jane, though a whopping 16 of them are secret, so there may be some originality with those. The other seven "mystery" achievements are a mystery for good reason, because they're part of 360sync's giveaway shenanigans. You see, 360sync is giving away a GH:Aero bundle and if you can guess one of the 7 mystery achievements, you'll get an extra entry into their random drawing giveaway. So, make the jump, look over the achievements, make a guess and win us yourself some Aero!

Thanks to the Game Informer article that broke all the Guitar Hero IV news recently, comes the first photograph of the game's drum set. And after a quick look over, the biggest difference between it and the Rock Band drum set is the addition of the yellow and orange pie wedged "symbols" and use of three other drum pads. Interesting, different and ... well, interesting. We're also informed that the set's durability is top notch as they point out that "this thing is not going to crack". We'll see how durable their drum creation really is after it feels the abusive drumming madness that SuperDunners brings everytime he takes stage. As plastic peripherals shake in fear, we warn you GHIV drums ... be afraid.

We'd like to extend a thanks to reader John M, who heeded our call for a new Guitar Hero IV image. Who better to replace Skeletor with than The Most Powerful Man in the Universe himself. Check out our highlights for today:

Joystiquery
Joystiq interview: GameTrailers EIC sets record straight on GRID controversy

News
Viva Piñata, Scene It? sequels revealed by Microsoft
Banjo-Kazooie 3 screens flood the net
'Lips' and 'Ninja Blade' also revealed, speculate away!
New games this week: We Ski edition?
WiiWare live, no Virtual Console update this week
Rockstar's Houser talks EA takeover
OMGS4: Guns of the Patriots gets its first 10
This Wednesday: Assault Heroes 2 shoots everything on XBLA
Pitfall Wii-vived for 'The Big Adventure'
GTA IV has 40% attach rate with new Xbox 360s, says Microsoft
GameTrailers compares PS3 GRID to 'PS3' GRID
Burnout 'Bogart' update barrels back to Live
Metal Gear Solid 4's Kojima explains PS3 comments
GameStop GTA IV data: 360 easily outsells PS3, not per console though
LucasArts planning demo for The Force Unleashed
See first screens of Skate It on Wii and DS
Agetec shows kid-friendly PS2 love in Falling Stars

Rumors & Speculation
Strong Bad could eventually check mail on Xbox Live, PSN
Pachter predicts PS3 beat Xbox 360 in April
Rumor: Microsoft's 'Lips' is an Xbox accessory
Rumor: Game Informer talks Guitar Hero IV's drums, create-a-track mode
Rumor: Sega publishing Platinum Games ... games

Culture & Community
Miyamoto: 'America has always been better at creating unique products'
For the Horde! BlizzCon 2008 invades Anaheim Oct. 10-11
NYC game development community slowly growing

Here we go again. Every month, someone gets an early copy of a gaming magazine, posts the highlights in a forum post, and we run it as a rumor until we can confirm its veracity. And again, we can't confirm this information, but a Neo GAF poster has claimed to already receive a copy of the latest Game Informer, the cover story being Guitar Hero IV.

Here's the alleged information. Guitar Hero IV features the requisite Rock Band features: drums, vocals, bass, guitar and create-a-rocker. Additionally (and most interestingly), there will be the option to create your own song tracks. Although vocals are excluded, all other tracks can be made and uploaded to GH Tunes for sharing and rating. We're not sure how this will apply to songs not in the game, given copyright concerns, but color us intrigued.

All songs will reportedly be master tracks, and four bands have been confirmed: Van Halen, Eagles, Linking Park and Van Halen. Is this the "significant leap" mentioned by Activision last week? Until we can obtain a copy to verify, consider this a rumor.

Activision is planning to innovate the Guitar Hero franchise. In a conference call yesterday, Publishing CEO Mike Griffith said, "For the holiday, we will provide a significant leap forward in innovation for Guitar Hero worldwide, on all platforms." That includes PlayStation 3, PS2, Xbox 360, Wii and DS. Griffith also said that more information will be provided "in the coming weeks."

We wonder if this has anything to do with those recent rumors about Guitar Hero IV going multi-instrumental. Guess we'll find out soon.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is set for release in June, but as most of you know it isn't the next true installment, it's an expansion upon GHIII so to speak. But that's where Guitar Hero IV comes in, the next true stand alone sequel and word from Activision is that it'll be a lot more like Rock Band. Oh joy!

Talking to Conde Nast Portfolio magazine, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick mentioned that Guitar Hero IV will "include a lot of other instruments" including a microphone for vocals. Hence the Rock Band comparison. Kotick also mentioned that GHIV will be the "first game we've had in which we can use local content and local bands", possibly allowing them to release local band DLC to select markets.

So, there you have it. Guitar Hero IV (not the Aerosmith edition, that's something entirely separate) will feature additional instruments and local content while still retaining the Guitar Hero name. Maybe, to clear up any confusion, they'll drop the "IV" and simply go with Guitar Hero: Rock Band Edition ... eh?

[Via Game Stooge]

We're sorry to doubt the messengers of Rock Gods, but we finally got our own confirmation that Def Leppard has indeed contributed three songs to Guitar Hero IV. While not replaying the full interview, Rockline Radio's website did provide a stream of the bandmates talking specifically about the game.

"We're gonna have like three songs on Guitar Hero IV," said guitarist Phil Collen, before specifying "Photograph," "Animal" and "Rock of Ages." We've gone ahead and embedded the music videos after the break for those who want to rock out in this post.

Wouldn't you know that not only can we safely say that Guitar Hero IV will be releasing by the end of the year, but that The Answer's "Never Too Late" will be a part of the game's setlist. How do we know? Well, from a rather unlikely source. UK band The Answers and their record label just put out a press release confirming their inclusion in Activision's upcoming GHIV which also confirmed the game's 2008 release date and the first official track on the setlist, their song, "Never Too Late". Interesting stuff indeed. We'd also be lying if we didn't say that we're a bit worried by the fact that the Guitar Hero franchise can churn out a sequel this quickly all while holding back a very strong competitor.

[Via Joystiq]

In news that won't totally shock or awe you, we have semi-confirmation of a few games Activision is working on and are headed down the development pipeline. Activision games that include Call of Duty 5, Guitar Hero IV, new James Bond, new Tony Hawk, new Dreamworks titles, new Marvel titles and a Bizarre racing game. All these sequels are mentioned in a fact sheet posted over on Activision Blizzard's newly live website under Activision's "pipeline includes" section. No dates, no time frames or other specifics are mentioned in the fact sheet other than the confirmation that the games exist and are being worked on. Again, nothing earth-shattering here, but it's still exciting game announcement stuff.

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]