Category: Games

No Metallica, Beatles Just Yet For ‘Guitar Hero’
Although rumors continue to buzz, Metallica and the Beatles aren’t headed to the “Guitar Hero” franchise just yet, according to Kai and Charles Huang, the sibling founder of game publisher RedOctane.
Speculation abounds that Metallica will be the next band featured in their own version of “Guitar Hero,” much like the just-released recent Aerosmith-centric game.
“We’re not ready to comment about Metallica yet, but what I will say is that we’d love to work with all of the top rock bands of all time, whether it’s Aerosmith or Metallica or AC/DC or Led Zeppelin,” Kai Huang tells Billboard. “If we get an opportunity to work with those bands, we would love to do that.”
As for reports that “Guitar Hero” is in discussions with the Beatles to bring their music to the game, Kai Huang would only say, “Unfortunately, those are rumors right now and we don’t have any comments yet.”
“Well, I don’t have to tell you how difficult it is,” Charles adds. “Everybody in the world has tried to get the Beatles to put their music on all kinds of different platforms, and it certainly would be exciting, but it’s also a difficult challenge.”
Next up for the franchise is “Guitar Hero: World Tour,” which for the first time adds drums and vocals to the mix in a bid to compete with rival “Rock Band.” An added twist for the expected fourth-quarter release: The game’s “music studio” feature allows users to compose and record tracks and share them online.

‘Rock Band 2’ to include new online modes, songs
LOS ANGELES – “Rock Band” is ready for an encore.
A sequel to the play-along music game that redefined the genre last year will be released first for the Xbox 360 in September, according to publisher MTV Games and developer Harmonix. “Rock Band 2” will feature a new variety of instruments, online modes and songs, and will allow players to import their previously purchased “Rock Band” tunes.
“With the original ‘Rock Band,’ the focus was on innovation,” Harmonix co-founder and CEO Alex Rigopulos told The Associated Press. “With ‘Rock Band 2,’ the focus is on perfection of the experience. We’ve had a year to listen to our fans and build out the scope, depth and polish of the experience, so it feels like a second-generation band game.”
MTV Games and Harmonix will debut “Rock Band 2” on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 in September then make the game available for Sony’s PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2 as well as Nintendo’s Wii later in the year. The original “Rock Band” was simultaneously released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 last November before later coming to the PlayStation 2 and Wii.
“Microsoft has been a great partner for ‘Rock Band,'” said Van Toffler, president of MTV Networks Music Group, which oversees the “Rock Band” franchise. “It’s just so easy to download the content using the Xbox 360 system. It’s evolved into a great marketing partnership as well. They’ll really blow it out for us.”
“Rock Band” allows up to four gamers to form a virtual band, thrashing and singing along to songs with friends online or in-person on various phony instruments. The second edition will feature a playlist of over 80 songs ó all master recordings ó which will include more female-fronted bands and artists who have never contributed tunes to a music game.
If you’ve already downloaded a song for the original “Rock Band” ó at about $1.99 per track, which can’t be transferred to an MP3 player ó it will immediately be loaded into your “Rock Band 2” song list without needing to be repurchased or re-downloaded. It’s the first time such retroactive compatibility has been introduced in a music game.
“It’s the No. 1 most-requested feature from our fans,” said Rigopulos.
All prior versions of “Rock Band” instruments, as well as many from the competing “Guitar Hero” franchise, will also be compatible with “Rock Band 2.” Harmonix will unleash a collection of new instrument-shaped controllers, including a sturdier drum kit and a Fender Stratocaster reproduction guitar lined with faux wood-grain buttons.
“For fans interested in hardware, the second-generation peripherals are an amazing step forward from the first-generation guitar and drums,” said Rigopulos of Harmonix, which created the first two “Guitar Hero” games. “The instruments make huge strides in both fit and finish as well as features and functions.”
Thus far, over 15 million songs of the over 200 available tracks have been downloaded from the “Rock Band” online music store since the game’s launch last November. The catalog includes songs from rock acts such as The Rolling Stones, Blondie, The Cars, Wolfmother, Queens of the Stone Age, Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth and Jimmy Buffett.
MTV Games and Harmonix are releasing 12 “Rock Band” songs on July 15 from The Who ó ranging from “My Generation” to “Who Are You” ó that all utilize the band’s master recordings. The tracks will be available for $1.99 individually or $19.99 together. The special release coincides with the upcoming “VH1 Rock Honors” ceremony commemorating The Who.
“Their music really comes alive when you’re playing it,” said Rigopulos. “We were trying to release ‘Who’s Next’ in its entirety, but we were unable to locate all the masters. So in the face of that, Pete (Townshend) and Roger (Daltrey) helped curate this best-of soundtrack of everything we were able to find.”
The official announcement of “Rock Band 2” means the industry’s rhythm game rivalry will enter a three-way matchup this fall against Activision and RedOctane’s latest “Guitar Hero” title and Konami’s new-music-game-on-the-block “Rock Revolution,” which will use the Wii’s controllers to simulate air guitars and drums.
Playing music on plastic guitars has become a big business. “Guitar Hero III” has sold 2.5 million units while “Rock Band” has moved 1.3 million units. Both music games are in the top-10 moneymakers for 2008 so far, according to the most recent monthly video game sales data from NPD Group analyst Anita Frazier.
Rigopulos wouldn’t comment on how much “Rock Band 2” would cost. The original game bundled with all the instruments went for about $170 at launch. Rigopulos said MTV Games, Harmonix and distributor Electronic Arts were making every effort possible to provide several choices for consumers looking to gear up for “Rock Band 2.”
“Guitar Hero World Tour” ó the fourth iteration of the franchise that started the music-game trend ó will be released in October and will feature a “Rock Band”-like assemblage of peripheral instruments for the first time, as well as the ability make instrumental music, a feature Rigopulos said won’t be found on “Rock Band 2.”
“We really felt like we wanted to do it right,” said Rigopulos. “We’re taking a radically different approach to that problem. It’s something we wanted to take more time to do it right. It’s actually something we’re not focused on in ‘Rock Band 2.’ We’re really focused on other areas related to the music and bringing the community together.”
MTV Games and Harmonix plan to announce additional “Rock Band 2” details ó including the game’s playlist ó at the E3 Media and Business Summit in July. MTV executive Toffler hinted that “Rock Band 2” will be expanding upon idea of what it means to play online as well eventually broadening the musical genres of available downloadable content.
“I believe we’re going to see global online competitions where bands performing throughout the world will compete against each other,” said Toffler. “I’m personally excited to open up the genres of music to country, hip-hop and R&B. We’ve just scratched the surface, really.”

Activision launches Aerosmith-only “Guitar Hero”
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Aerosmith fans can finally get their chance to step into the shoes of Steven Tyler and Joe Perry as video game developer Activision Inc released its Guitar Hero: Aerosmith game on Friday.
Dozens flocked to the Hard Rock restaurant in Times Square to see the legendary five-member rock band debut the game and try out the latest Guitar Hero addition.
Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford even brought his sons to take a look at the band’s creation.
The game features 30 of the band’s most notable hits such as “Love in an Elevator” and “Sweet Emotion.” It also includes songs from various artists Aerosmith performed and collaborated with over the years, including Run D.M.C.’s “Walk This Way” and “I Hate Myself for Loving You” by Joan Jett.
There is even a special guitar controller emblazoned with the band’s red-and-white logo for hard core fans.
The game and guitar controller bundle for Microsoft Corp’s Xbox 360, Sony Corp’s PlayStation3 and Nintendo Co Ltd’s Wii sells for $99.99, with an additional PlayStation2 version for $89.99. The game is also sold individually for each of the consoles and costs $59.99 and $49.99, respectively.
The Aerosmith game is the first Guitar Hero edition that focuses on an individual rock band. The previous three versions of the game featured various rock music genres that ranged from grunge, classic rock, metal, punk and ’80s hits.
“This is an experiment for us,” said Charles Huang, co-founder of Activision’s RedOctane unit, which oversees the Guitar Hero franchise. “There are certain artists that have so much great music like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen … but we wanted to do something much bigger.”
The Santa Monica, California-based company said Aerosmith’s vast collection of rock hits and elite status in the music industry made the band the ideal choice for the new game.
“There’s only a handful of bands that have that longevity,” Huang said.
During the game’s creation, band members spent two weeks performing in a motion capture studio in order for their video game figures to move exactly as the group performs on stage.
Activision is set to come out with a Metallica Guitar Hero edition in 2009, but declined to specify what month the game will be released.
The company will also release Guitar Hero: World Tour during the Christmas season, which will include a drum set and microphone in addition to the guitar controller. This version will rival Activision’s biggest competitor “Rock Band,” produced by Viacom Inc’s MTV unit and Electronic Arts Inc.

The Beatles Reportedly Heading to ìGuitar Heroî or ìRock Bandî
Following the success of two weeks of the Beatlesë music on American Idol, the Fab Fourís catalog may be branching out again: Reps for the band are reportedly talking to both Activision and MTV Games about possibly releasing a Guitar Hero or Rock Band based around Beatlesí tunes.
According to a source close to the negotiations, the final deal could be worth millions, but first must get the approval of both Apple Corps. and EMI. Apple Corpsí tight grip on the Beatles catalog has loosened since Jeff Jones became the companyís chief executive, as evidenced by the bandís music appearing in American Idol, Cirque du Soleil Love show and the film Across the Universe.
ìTo my view, itís only a matter of time before we see Beatles songs that are the original recordings in motion pictures, in television work, and yes, maybe even one day in a commercial,î said Sony/ATV chief executive Martin Bandier, who holds more than 200 Beatles copyrights.
Whichever video game company wins the battle to release a Beatles-themed game, a source says a deal ìcould be reached in a matter of weeks.î

Weak dollar blamed for Wii Fit shortages in North America
The reason for Wii Fit shortages in the U.S. is that Nintendo can make more money selling the game abroad, according to oft-quoted analyst Micheal Pachter.
Wii owners in North America are getting plenty of exercise from Wii Fit — primarily because just finding one requires a LOT of legwork.
The latest creation by Shigeru Miyamoto has reportedly sold out in North America in two weeks time, everywhere from Gamestop to Amazon, and there’s little relief in sight.
According to the LA Times, Nintendo shipped a paltry 500,000 copies of the game to North America, but saved the bulk of their Wii Fit units (2 million) for higher-paying UK gamers and their fancy European money. That’s right — the UK got more units because the Euro is worth more than the U.S. Dollar.
“The shortage demonstrates one consequence of the weak dollar,” said analyst Michael Pachter, speaking to the Times. “We’re seeing companies ignore their largest market simply because they can make a greater profit elsewhere.”
As Pachter cleverly added, Nintendo “knows that Americans will be just as fat a few months from now,” meaning the demand will be just as high when more units become available.

Guitar Hero: Metallica confirmed for early 2009
And justice for all… Activision quietly announces Guitar Hero: Metallica.
According to a recent SEC filing obtained by GameSpot, Activision said it plans “to publish Guitar Hero: On Tour for the NDS; Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Guitar Hero: Metallica, and Guitar Hero IV across multiple platforms” in fiscal 2009, which ends March 31, 2009.
With Guitar Hero: On Tour (Jun 22), Guitar Hero: Areosmith (Jun 29), and Guitar Hero: World Tour (Oct. 27) already announced, the statement marks confirmation of an official Metallica version of the popular rhythm game, likely expected after the holidays in early 2009.

How Iron Man was trounced by a scruffy car thief
LOS ANGELES – Niko Bellic is richer than Tony Stark.
While vying for similar audiences at the same time, “Grand Theft Auto IV” bested “Iron Man” by about $300 million in their respective first weeks on the small and big screens. The highly anticipated video game about immigrant gangster Bellic drove away with over $500 million, while the movie about Marvel billionaire superhero Stark blasted off with over $200 million worldwide.
Each figure is a history-maker in its own right: The supercharged “GTA IV” launch topped last year’s blockbuster “Halo 3” release, making it the most lucrative debut video games ó and, by all accounts, entertainment in general. Meanwhile, “Iron Man” can claim the second-best non-sequel movie opening ever as a consolation prize.
Software publisher Take-Two Interactive bandied the behemoth sales figures on Wednesday, days after “Iron Man” vaunted an unexpectedly huge opening weekend box office. The eye-popping digits left many wondering how such a blockbuster could be so soundly trounced by a controverisal video game.
The simple answer: “GTA IV” costs more to buy.
“‘GTA IV”s first-week performance represents the largest launch in the history of interactive entertainment, and we believe these retail sales levels surpass any movie or music launch to date,” Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick said in an official statement on Wednesday.
Such comparisons aren’t entirely fair. Bellic and Stark, for example, play by different rules. Video games are sold online and in stores, a distribution model more like CDs and DVDs than newly released films. However, such similarities end there, because DVDs don’t usually involve completely original fare. And CDs typically only contain, well, music.
The reach is vastly different, too: “Iron Man” was released on over 7,000 movie screens while “GTA IV” was available for about 24 million Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles at launch, according to Wedbush Morgan video game analyst Michael Pachter. But to achieve its $100 million weekend milestone, “Iron Man” had to sell more than twice the number of tickets as “GTA IV” units were moved ó about six million ó in the first week.
Janco Parters video game analyst Mike Hickey originally suspected “GTA IV” could dampen the success of “Iron Man” since both properties were setting their targets on young adults and were being released at about the same time. That doesn’t seem to have been the case.
What “GTA IV” did impact was the sale of consoles. Microsoft said Xbox 360 sales jumped 54 percent in the week following the game’s launch, compared with the prior week. Sony didn’t reveal similar specifics but said there has been a significant spike in PS3 sales.
The contradictions extend beyond distribution. The running time of “Iron Man” is two hours and six minutes. “GTA IV” isn’t nearly that linear; the game’s criminal missions ó which players can stop and start anytime ó can take 60 hours to complete, not counting hours of multiplayer matches or exploration of Liberty City, the highly detailed virtual urban locale where “GTA IV” takes place.
But undoubtedly, the most influential contrast is cost. The standard edition of “GTA IV” is $59.99, while a special edition goes for $89.99 and comes with a soundtrack, art book, duffel bag and safety deposit box. Either way, every time a copy of the game is rung up, what’s added to the week’s tally is significantly more than the $7 average ticket price to see a movie in the U.S.
Quantifying the game’s lucrative launch is trickier against other mediums. The book “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” sold more than 10 million copies at launch. That’s acutally four million more than Bellic, but the Hogwarts student’s final adventure cost about half as much as Bellic’s mature-rated exploits.
There’s one group that Bellic, Stark and Potter all individually reign supreme over: ‘Nsync.
The pop quintet’s “No Strings Attached” holds the record for biggest first-week CD sales with 2.4 million copies when it was released in 2000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That’s far meeker than the first-week success of “Iron Man,” “Deathly Hallows” and “GTA IV.”
Maybe the Eastern European gangster, boozy billionaire and boy wizard should form a boy band.

MADD attacks ‘Grand Theft Auto IV’
LOS ANGELES – Mothers Against Drunk Driving wants a stricter rating on “Grand Theft Auto IV.”
The organization is calling on the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, the independent organization that assigns video-game ratings, to reclassify “GTA IV” as an Adults Only game. The action-driving game, which includes the ability to drive while intoxicated, is currently rated Mature.
“Drunk driving is not a game, and it is not a joke,” MADD said in a statement released Tuesday. “Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable.”
MADD is also calling on publisher Take-Two Interactive and developer Rockstar Games to consider stopping distribution of the game ó which analysts expect to sell 9 million copies and make over $400 million at launch ó “out of respect for the millions of victims/survivors of drunk driving.”
In the critically acclaimed open-world game, players have the choice of patronizing a bar and then attempting to drive drunk. While virtually under the influence, the screen becomes blurred and the controls are more difficult to use. Players also have the option of hailing a taxi or walking. The intoxication effects wear off after a few minutes in the game.
“We have a great deal of respect for MADD’s mission, but we believe the mature audience for ‘Grand Theft Auto IV’ is more than sophisticated enough to understand the game’s content,” Rockstar Games said in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday. “For the same reason that you can’t judge an entire film or television program by a single scene, you can’t judge ‘Grand Theft Auto IV’ by a small aspect of the game.”
“GTA IV” follows the criminal exploits of protagonist Niko Bellic, an imigrant-turned-gangster who travels from Eastern Europe to Liberty City, the game’s fictional locale based on New York City. As Bellic, players can hijack cars, earn cash for criminal activities, shoot innocent bystanders and visit strip clubs.
MADD declined to comment further about their statement.

Stores prepare for Grand Theft Auto
Retailers are planning for an onslaught of video game fans early Tuesday morning, when Grand Theft Auto IV is scheduled for release, despite the fact that the video game was hacked and posted online earlier this week.
Retailers such as Best Buy and Future Shop are opening their doors 12:01am on April 29 to handle the crowds expected to snap up the game, produced by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.’s Rockstar Games.
Ironically, the game, as the name suggests, lets you carjack any vehicle in Liberty City, and challenges players to work their way up the criminal underworld by performing missions for seedy characters.
Savvy Xbox 360 gamers can now download this GTA sequel from Bit Torrent sites including the popular PirateBay.org, which has replaced is main logo with a large graphic of the game’s protagonist, Niko, and the words “Liberty Bay.”
But the number of hoops players will have to go through to steal a digital version of this “Mature”-rated game suggest that only a small percentage will likely try and succeed.
For one, you first need to download a 7 gigabyte file, which is more than 2,000 times the size of a typical MP3 song. Then you need to burn this file onto a dual-layer DVD ñ capable of storing up to 8.5GB of data, compared to a single-layer DVD’s 4.7GB of space ñ with a compatible dual-layer DVD burner in your PC. Finally, the Xbox 360 has to be modified or “chipped” to play the downloaded and burned game, especially as there are both NTSC and PAL versions for different geographical regions.
Co-operative and competitive multiplayer modes, which are one of the key new features in this sequel, may also not work online since they’re not official copies of the game, not to mention you might be missing some single-player missions or cut-scene story sequences.
Analysts said the pirated versions of Grand Theft Auto IV are unlikely to significantly affect Take-Two’s sales of the game.
This is the latest release in a highly successful game franchise from Rockstar Games. According to Take Two Interactive, the Grand Theft Auto franchise has sold more than 70 million units world-wide.
The last release, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, was mired in controversy when it was discovered that a patch (called Hot Coffee), made it possible for the main character to engage in explicit sex acts during game play.
The latest game will be released on the Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox platforms. There is no date set for a PC release.

No frills Rock Band (finally) arrives on Wii June 22
A Wii version of Rock Band was all but certain given the success of the console and now it’s official: the popular band emulator from Harmonix arrives on Nintendo’s console June 22 for $169 — DLC and online still in doubt, however.
Better late than never, eh Rock Band Wii?
Harmonix confirmed today that Rock Band is coming to the Wii on June 22 for $169.
The announcement was seen by many as a formality given the success of Nintendo’s console among non-traditional gamers, but it wasn’t until today that EA and Harmonix apparently decided the Wii’s audience had reached sufficient mass to warrant a port to that system.
And this version of Rock Band is indeed a port, with no Wii-specific extras of any kind promised in Harmonix’s short press release.
Also missing was any information about downloadable content or a music store like the one recently announced for PS3 and Xbox 360 — but such omissions have undeniably been par for the course with any third party online effort on the Wii thus far.
“The Wii’s success among casual and core gamers of all ages makes it an ideal match for the cross-generational appeal of the music featured in Rock Band,” says Bob Picunko, Vice President of Electronic Games and Interactive Products, MTV Games.
The Harmonix release said Rock Band for Wii will be released as a Special Edition bundle including the software, drums, microphone and a wireless guitar. Stand alone instruments will also be available at launch on June 22nd for people who want to build their band one instrument at a time or want to play the drum versus drum game mode. The game will feature 63 songs including five exclusive bonus songs.
UPDATE: Harmonix has responded with the following statement: “The feature-set is a lot closer to the PS2 version of Rock Band which was also developed by Pi Studios… Because the Wii’s online capabilities and potential have yet to be fully realized, we wanted to wait before we explored online functionality for Rock Band to ensure that players get the high-quality of online performance they’ve come to expect.”