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No Doubt suing Activision for Band Hero 'circus act' appearance
by Xav de Matos 
{ Nov 4th 2009 at 4:40PM }
Of particular note is lead singer Gwen Stefani's displeasure that her likeness can be used to sing "Honky Tonk Woman" by the Rolling Stones -- a song which references sex with prostitutes -- using a male voice and mannerisms. For its "circus act" inclusion, No Doubt is seeking an injunction to halt the "unauthorized use" of the band's name and likeness, as well as an unknown amount of damages (aka mad monies). Seems like Activision can't keep rock stars happy, dead or alive.
[Via TeamXbox]
Nintendo World Store holding Band Hero launch event tomorrow
by Xav de Matos { Oct 31st 2009 at 11:45PM }
No, that isn't your high school gym teacher (pictured right), that's Weezer front man Rivers Cuomo and he's joining with Nintendo to help launch the upcoming Pop-centric music title, Band Hero. Tomorrow, November 1, beginning at 11AM (EDT) at the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Plaza, players will have a chance to play both the Nintendo Wii and DS versions of the game before lining up for an exclusive autograph session with the singer from 3PM to 4PM.Need more incentive to join the party? The first fifty players in line will walk away with a pre-release copy of the game to call their own and other random giveaways. Finally, you yourself can interrupt your sister's Taylor Swift karaoke sessions in homage to Kanye West's VMA performance. We call that, "emergent gameplay."
Beatles: Rock Band bests Guitar Hero 5 in U.S. Sept. sales
by James Ransom-Wiley { Oct 20th 2009 at 12:30PM }
The makers of B:RB have also rubbed in a few seemingly noteworthy facts; namely, (1) U.S. purchases of GH5 in September were eligible for a free mail-away copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen, and (2) GH5 is available on one additional platform, PS2. Of course, Van Halen isn't exactly the American equivalent of The Beatles, and the PS2 is no longer the dominant platform to stage one's acts upon. Still, despite the staggering odds stacked against its success, B:RB managed to capture the mindshare of U.S. gamers. (And we all know that Americans like to speak their minds with their monies.)
The sales de-feat must feel good for MTV Games and Harmonix -- what with B:RB being burned in the sales competition with GH5 by the kingdom that birthed the band (see: Chart-Track UK September sales rankings posted after the break). What was it? Right: Guitar Hero 5 supposedly outsold The Beatles: Rock Band "2-to-1 in the UK."
So, score a victory for B:RB in the battle of the bands fought in U.S. retail last month. But let's not forget there's a bigger, "World War of Rock" being waged, as well. And our wallets are the oft-unreported collateral damage.
Full Band Hero track list, importable songs revealed
by Griffin McElroy { Oct 19th 2009 at 10:34AM }
Man, we're seriously too nice for our own good.
Band Hero demo walking on Xbox Live
by Richard Mitchell { Oct 15th 2009 at 12:00PM }
- Finger Eleven - "Paralyzer"
- Katrina & The Waves - "Walking on Sunshine"
- Taylor Swift - "Picture to Burn"
Activision: Guitar Hero 5 launch 'probably' franchise's best, DLC sales getting 'interesting' [update 2]
by David Hinkle { Oct 14th 2009 at 4:45PM }
While one might assume that a series' strength starts to wane once it gets around to having the number "5" in its title, that's apparently not the case for Guitar Hero. Rosensweig claims that "the public report suggests that we've outsold 2/2.5/3-to-1 over Rock Band ... and we've probably sold more copies of Guitar Hero 5 than any other Guitar Hero game at launch." Sure, that's a pretty big probably, but Guitar Hero 5 is "fun as hell," after all -- and advertising the game with Playboy Bunnies probably didn't hurt sales either.
As for DLC, Rosensweig suggests that it's generating a ton of revenue for the franchise -- funny how that happens when you start to stick to a regular release schedule -- as users appear eager to expand their playable music libraries. While Activision doesn't release actual figures, Rosensweig touts that "each month [in DLC sales] is a record versus the previous month, and it's getting to the point of being interesting." Heck, what'll be really interesting is seeing how much of this financial success makes its way into Kotick's bonus for 2009 ...
Update 2: Activision has clarified Rosenweig's statements, saying he was, "Speaking only about Europe. The specific public report he is referring to is the September Charttrack data. For the month of September, GH5 outsold The Beatles: Rock Band by nearly 2-to-1 in the U.K."
Update: Dan Rosensweig's "2/2.5/3-to-1" sales comparison between Guitar Hero and Rock Band was a bit ambiguous (Europe? North America? Worldwide?), so we've contacted Activision for clarification.
Guitar Hero 5 demo rocks XBLM
by Richard Mitchell { Oct 9th 2009 at 12:45PM }
- "The Rock Show" by Blink 182
- "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down
- "A-Punk" by Vampire Weekend
Add the Guitar Hero 5 demo to your 360 download queue
Tony Hawk Ride pushed back to Dec. 4 in UK, arriving on time in NA
by Ben Gilbert { Oct 1st 2009 at 9:00PM }
We may be getting the game two weeks before you folks in the UK but look at it this way: now you have two more weeks to sell off your furniture and reorganize your living room for all your new plastic peripherals. Hooray!
Gallery: Tony Hawk Ride (09/03/09)
Italian gamers set new Guinness world record with Guitar Hero 5
by David Hinkle { Sep 14th 2009 at 1:30PM }
The record was set using Guitar Hero 5's Party Play mode, which supports drop-in and drop-out gameplay. There's no word on whether any Montagues or Capulets were harmed during the event, but as soon as we hear something, we'll let you know.
Guitar Hero 5 goes straight to the top of the UK charts
by Alexander Sliwinski { Sep 14th 2009 at 9:00AM }
The Beatles: Rock Band premiered at the number four spot, which some are sure to find disappointing. Both Guitar Hero and Rock Band have previously debuted at the fourth and sixth spot, respectively, with previous iterations. Music games may be on a sales decline, but they apparently still know how to make an entrance.
Source -- Guitar Hero 5 hits the right notes (Chart Track)
Source -- All formats chart (Chart Track)
Gallery: Guitar Hero 5
Hands-on: Tony Hawk Ride
by Griffin McElroy { Sep 9th 2009 at 9:15AM }
By the time I'd reached the end of my brief hands-on session with Tony Hawk Ride, I had only just begun to deconstruct the hardware's machinations, and started determining how to deftly manipulate it in order to do sweet tricks. I was making progress in this endeavor when the demo came to a halt, but I'm still not sure my mind had completely wrapped around how I was supposed to manipulate the device. Is that indicative of the peripheral's weakness? No, I think it can be entirely chalked up to the fact that skateboarders move in mysterious ways.
Gallery: Tony Hawk Ride
Report: Only 35 songs from Guitar Hero World Tour work with GH5 [update]
by Ben Gilbert { Sep 1st 2009 at 7:30PM }
We can't lie to you, friends -- when Activision claimed songs from last year's Guitar Hero World Tour would be playable in this year's Guitar Hero 5, we were skeptical. It seems that skepticism proved right, as USA Today reveals that a hair over one third of GHWT's tracks can be downloaded into the new game. Specifically, just 35 of World Tour's 86 tracks are playable in GH5, with an unspecified amount of Guitar Hero Smash Hits tracks available "later this Fall." The licensing fee for those 35 tracks is 280
/$3.50 for Xbox 360 and PS3, though it remains unclear whether or not that fee would include Smash Hits' tracks when those are released.We've asked Activision for clarification of which tracks specifically are available in GH5 and when Smash Hits will be ready for download, but unfortunately were told that we'd get a release tomorrow with "tons of details." So this is where we crowdsource things -- Guitar Hero 5 owners in the Joystiq Biomass™, please let us know which 35 of Guitar Hero World Tour's 86 tracks are playable! Our inbox is always open!
Guitar Hero 5 ad features Hugh Hefner, plethora of Playboy Bunnies
by David Hinkle { Aug 29th 2009 at 3:00PM }
- It shows that, should we pick up Guitar Hero 5, we too could have a room full of hotties gyrating and looking all sexy-like
- Playboy Bunnies are skilled in the art of clairvoyance and don't even need to look at the TV to play
EEDAR: Guitar Hero 5 will outsell The Beatles: Rock Band by nearly 2-to-1
by Randy Nelson { Aug 26th 2009 at 9:00PM }
EEDAR analyst Jessie Divnich has been quoted in a newly-published Bloomberg article, stating that the research group sees The Beatles: Rock Band facing a tough fight against the latest Guitar Hero in a genre that has, as he believes, "peaked." We got in touch with Divnich to talk about his assertion in the same article that Guitar Hero 5 will likely outsell Harmonix's Beatles game this year by a ratio of nearly two-to-one.
Divnich says he expects Activison to ring up sales in the order of 3 million GH5 units across all platforms, compared to a projected 1.7 million for The Beatles: Rock Band. "I believe that at the end of the day, it comes down to marketing muscle, and Activision has proven in numerous showdowns that they can out advertise and out promote their competitor," he tells Joystiq. "If Activision relaxes on the marketing spend, while MTV Games kicks it up a notch, there's certainly a chance that I could be wrong."
There's another scenario in which this year's Rock Band could prove more of a contender. "The only concern I have with my Guitar Hero vs. Rock Band analysis is that Activision may focus less on marketing Guitar Hero 5 and divert funding to DJ Hero, a new brand in their Guitar Hero line-up," EEDAR's chief number man admits. "That would certainly change the game."
No matter what, Divnich doesn't see a very-worst-case scenario playing out for MTV Games and Harmonix, assuring us that "[The Beatles: Rock Band] will outsell Rock Band 2 this holiday season."
Divnich says he expects Activison to ring up sales in the order of 3 million GH5 units across all platforms, compared to a projected 1.7 million for The Beatles: Rock Band. "I believe that at the end of the day, it comes down to marketing muscle, and Activision has proven in numerous showdowns that they can out advertise and out promote their competitor," he tells Joystiq. "If Activision relaxes on the marketing spend, while MTV Games kicks it up a notch, there's certainly a chance that I could be wrong."
There's another scenario in which this year's Rock Band could prove more of a contender. "The only concern I have with my Guitar Hero vs. Rock Band analysis is that Activision may focus less on marketing Guitar Hero 5 and divert funding to DJ Hero, a new brand in their Guitar Hero line-up," EEDAR's chief number man admits. "That would certainly change the game."
No matter what, Divnich doesn't see a very-worst-case scenario playing out for MTV Games and Harmonix, assuring us that "[The Beatles: Rock Band] will outsell Rock Band 2 this holiday season."
Guitar Hero 5 DLC not compatible with World Tour
by Xav de Matos { Aug 23rd 2009 at 8:30PM }
According to the Activision rep, Guitar Hero 5 DLC will be compatible with future titles in the franchise, but "advancements and innovations" made to the upcoming music title do not allow for tracks to be backwards compatible with World Tour. Don't light the torches and grab the pitchforks just yet though, the same reason has been given for The Beatles: Rock Band's inability to work with previous versions of the game.
Thankfully, Activision has already confirmed tracks from Guitar Hero: World Tour will be compatible with Guitar Hero 5 via an in-game importing process -- which adds new features such as band moments, expert+ drumming and the new vocal star power to older tracks.
[Via 1UP]
