Displaying stories with the tag "Guitar Hero". Subscribe to this URL for an RSS feed of this tag. Want more news? Click here for the Shacknews frontpage.Instead, they opted to craft custom software for use with Guitar Hero instruments that, according to Current, allows them to create "thousands of sounds" and songs.
"Listen, I can't keep up with this shit," complained Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich in response to the internet pointing out that the Guitar Hero III DLC version of the band's new album Death Magnetic is of better quality than the CD on store shelves.
Speaking to Blender, Ulrich sounded much more educated on the issue than he gave himself credit for. "You gotta remember, when we put out '...And Justice for All,' people were going, 'What happened to these guys, this record? ... It sounds like it was recorded in a fuckin' garage on an eight-track.' And now '...And Justice for All' is sort of the seminal Metallica record that supposedly influenced a whole generation of death-metal bands."
As for the new record, Ulrich defended album producer Rick Rubin who allegedly "compressed" the record, sacrificing ... Read more
"When you look at the impact [Guitar Hero] can have on an Aerosmith, Van Halen or Metallica, it's really significant," Kotick told the Wall Street Journal as relayed by Edge. "So much so that you sort of question whether or not, in the case of those kinds of products, you should be paying any money at all and whether it should be the reverse."
Kotick also echoed a point recently made by games industry analyst... Read more
Slash, speaking on tribute games Guitar Hero: Metallica and Aerosmith, said to Rolling Stone: "Those are two ones that I think gives it some credibility. And they're doing a Hendrix one, which is great."
As one of the original Guitar Heroes, Slash speaks with authority and enthusiasm on how the real-world music industry interacts with the plastic-guitar-jamming franchise. "You have to understand how the game works and what band really fits in to that," explained Slash. "AC/DC is probably the top one. They don't need the boost, but that would be the top one," he added.
Official confirmation of the game, or information on platforms or a release date, has yet to come from Guitar Hero series publisher Activision.
Internet audiophiles have discovered that the Guitar Hero version of Metallica album Death Magnetic is of better quality than the retail CD recently released by label Universal--and they have science to back it up.
"The CD version ... has been heavily compressed, limited and/or clipped, and sounds massively distorted as a result," said recording industry mixing engineer Ian Shepard in a blog post relayed by Wired.
The Guitar Hero version, on the other hand, uses a fuller dynamic range, as illustrated by a soundwave comparison pictured above. The more dynamic Guitar Hero version is more likely to resemble the songs as recorded by the group.
In this case, "compression" does not refer to data compression like MP3 files, but rather a "part of the 'loudness war,'" a recording industry technique in which the music's dynamic range (the range from soft to loud) is squished together to make music sound as loud as possible.
The technique, commonly used in TV commercials, means that the retail CD is ten decibels louder than the $18 Guitar Hero III DLC, or twice as loud to the human ear.
Looking even further out, we're exploring new models, like an annual pass subscription where players can subscribe and get a certain number of songs downloadable each month.
No further details, such as a price or a start date for such a program, were made available. The plan would, however, be just part of Activision's plan to "monetize" the Guitar Hero series.
"We've learned that the consumer still has an insatiable appetite for more," said Griffith. "Consumers have downloaded over 20 million individual songs for the franchise, and they still tell us they want more," he added.
"In fact, the Guitar Hero: Aerosmith game delivered 10x the revenue compared to Aerosmith's most recently released CD in 2004, when comparing equivalent launch periods," Griffith continued. Most of the revenue from the game, of course, went in Activision's direction instead of Aerosmith's.
Universal has come down on Activision Blizzard's side in its public argument with record label Warner Music, which claimed it deserved more money for inclusion of its tracks in rhythm music games including Guitar Hero. Universal is the world's biggest record label with sales more than doubling those of Warner.
Horowitz added for emphasis that "My Name is Jonas," a Weezer track appearing in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, saw a real-world sales increase of a staggering 1,000% in the weeks following the game's release. How Universal arrived at those statistics is unclear, but Universal clearly sees a business opportunity in the rhythm-music genre that Warner may still be hesitant to acknowledge.
That expansion extends to both retail titles and downloadable content for the popular multi-instrument music game series, and follows Activision's plans to double the amount of Guitar Hero releases in 2009.
The growth will be accomplished by bringing in more developers and more hardware suppliers, Griffith explained. Late last week, the company purchased UK developer FreeStyleGames, which is currently working on "localized downloadable content" for the Guitar Hero brand.
The next Guitar Hero game, officially dubbed World Tour but often referred to as Guitar Hero 4, hits PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii on October 26.
Famed gaming analyst Michael Pachter at Wedbush Morgan has now chimed in on the troubled couple, bluntly telling Gamasutra that "Activision doesn't 'need' Warner Music at all."
Warner started the fire by publicly complaining that video game studios, whether selling Guitar Hero or Harmonix's rival series Rock Band, don't pay record labels enough money for the rights to use those songs in the games. Activision countered by saying that Warner lacked respect for Guitar Hero.
Pachter's reasoning is straightforward: "There are over one million songs out there--probably two million--and Activision is going to turn fewer than a thousand of them into Guitar Hero songs every year." ... Read more
Rush Hour and X-Men: The Last Stand director Brett Ratner hopes that, one day, he can make a film based on Guitar Hero.
"I would love to do a Guitar Hero movie, if [owner] Activision would ever let me," the director told MTV. I'm trying to convince them, but why would you have a movie screw up such a huge franchise?"
"Not that I would make a bad movie," he added. "It could be about a kid from a small town who dreams of being a rock star and he wins the Guitar Hero competition. One of these dreams-[come-true] kind of concepts."
Currenly slated to direct the film adaptation of Sony's God of War series, Ratner is no stranger to video games, especially Guitar Hero. His consultancy firm was responsible for Guitar Hero product placement in several music videos, and he claims to have come up with the name for Guitar Hero World Tour, the next entry in the music game series.
"They said, 'come up with a name,'" he boasted. "I did, and it became Guitar Hero World Tour."
According to Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith, the publisher's 2009 lineup will include "multiple new Guitar Hero SKUs [and] an all new Call of Duty [due to our] leapfrog studio strategy," along with the next Tony Hawk game.
The next batch of Guitar Hero and Call of Duty games are arriving this fall in the form of Guitar Hero World Tour and Call of Duty: World at War.
The "leapfrog studio strategy" refers to the company's practice of rotating development responsibilities. Series creator Infinity Ward has helmed Call of Duty 1, 2 and 4, while Treyarch has produced Call of Duty 3 and the upcoming Call of Duty: World at War.
"I don't think there have been a lot of credible alternatives to iTunes but Guitar Hero certainly has that potential," said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick.
The executive also stated that a Guitar Hero online music platform was a "natural evolution" of the franchise, which has generated over $1 billion in revenue for the company.
The newly formed Activision Blizzard arose from a merger between Activision and Vivendi Games, which owns Universal Music. Kotick added that the music label could help the company create a venture which could successfully compete... Read more
According to the report, both publishers have held discussions with representatives of the band concerning a "Beatles-themed video game."
It was not immediately clear whether the companies seek to license the music as downloadable content for existing titles or for a completely new Beatles-focused game, similar to Neversoft's Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (PS2, PS3, Wii, 360).
Any licensing agreements for the Beatles' catalog would first have to be cleared by Apple Corps, a multimedia corporation established by the band to oversee its business interests, as well as the music group EMI, which owns the Beatles' ... Read more
"In fiscal 2009, we plan to publish Guitar Hero: On Tour for the NDS; Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Guitar Hero: Metallica, and Guitar Hero IV across multiple platforms," the company said in the filing.
Activision's 2009 fiscal year ends on March 31 of next year, pinning the previously unannounced Guitar Hero: Metallica for a release prior to that time. The multiple-instrument update to the series, Guitar Hero IV, is expected this fall, making a release in the 2008 calendar year unlikely for Guitar Hero: Metallica.
No platforms were divulged in the filing, though Activision's other band-centric offshoot Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is slated to appear on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, and Wii.
Thanks to Masem for the heads up.
A press release issued by the record label stated that "One Armed Scissor" from the band's third album "Relationship of Command" will make an appearance in Guitar Hero IV alongside Aerosmith and Def Leppard. The label noted that the game is aimed for a release this June on "all major platforms including Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, PC, Mac, and Nintendo DS."
However, publisher and property owner Activision has not yet officially announced Guitar Hero IV, though Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (PS2, PS3, X360, Wii) has ... Read more
"[Guitar Hero IV's] not just about guitars," Kotick told IGN. "We'll include a lot of other instruments, vocals. It will help us expand internationally. It's the first game we've had in which we can use local content and local bands."
The runaway success of the multi-instrument rhythm game Rock Band, which includes drums and vocals on top of guitars, had led many to speculate that the traditionally guitar-only Guitar Hero franchise would eventually see the addition of more instruments.
Guitar Hero IV is expected for release this fall, as the third Guitar Hero title announced by Activision for release in 2008. The first two were announced as Guitar Hero: On Tour and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.
"We're going to have, like, three songs, I think, on Guitar Hero IV," guitarist Phil Collen said on Rockline Radio. "I think Photograph, Animal, and Rock of Ages."
While Guitar Hero IV has yet to be officially announced, franchise owner Activision previously confirmed it is a prepping a new Guitar Hero title for this fall, with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (PS2, PS3, X360, Wii) and Guitar Hero: On Tour (NDS) due this summer.
A partial listing of the 40-plus tracks contained within Neversoft's upcoming music title Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (PS2, PS3, X360, Wii) has been revealed, detailing a number of songs from Aerosmith as well as other groups that are, in one form or another, close to Steven Tyler and crew.
In addition to expected Aerosmith hits such as "Sweet Emotion" and "Make It," the game will also feature Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes," Cheap Trick's "Dream Police," "I Hate Myself for Loving You" by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, and a cover of The Kinks' "All Day and All Night."
While most tracks unveiled thus far have been master recordings, GameSpot reports that Aerosmith was forced to re-record several songs, including "Making It," as the master tracks were missing. According to the outlet, the game's tracklist will be roughly 60% Aerosmith, and 40% other bands that "either inspired Aerosmith, played with Aerosmith, or are liked by Aerosmith."
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is expected to arrive on PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii this June. Read on for a full list of the known tracks at this time: ... Read more
"It is unfortunate that Gibson unfairly desires to share in the tremendous success enjoyed by the developers of Rock Band and Guitar Hero," a Harmonix spokesperson told Shacknews. "This lawsuit is completely without merit and we intend to defend it vigorously.
"Gibson's patent, filed nearly 10 years ago, required a 3D display, a real musical instrument and a recording of a concert," Harmonix's statement continued. "Rock Band and Guitar Hero are completely different: among other things they are games, require no headset and use a controller only shaped like a real instrument."
Original Story: Continuing its recent legal activity, guitar manufacturer Gibson has sued Rock Band developer Harmonix, along with owner MTV Networks and publisher Electronic Arts, for infringing on one of its patents.
According to Gibson, Harmonix--which developed the multi-instrument music title Rock Band (PS2, PS3, X360) and created the Guitar Hero series--violated a 1999 patent for technology that simulates a concert performance via pre-recorded audio and a musical instrument.
The guitar maker sued six retailers--GameStop, Amazon.com, Wal-Mart... Read more
Original Story: Guitar manufacturer Gibson has announced that it is pursuing legal action against unspecified retailers for selling publisher Activision's popular Guitar Hero line of music video games, an action that Gibson claims infringes on one of its patents.
"Gibson Guitar took this action reluctantly, but is required to protect its intellectual property and will continue to do so against any other person in accordance with the law and its rights," the company proclaimed in a statement.
Earlier this year, Gibson began claiming that Activision's Guitar Hero games violate a 1999 patent for technology that simulates a concert performance via pre-recorded audio and a musical instrument.
Gibson had previously granted Activision and subsidiary RedOctane the license to use Gibson instruments in the Guitar Hero games, and as a model for the... Read more
Advertisement
Copyright 1996-2007 Shacknews LTD, All rights reserved. Shacknews logos, lols, rofls, lmaos, and possibly also wtfs are service marks or trade marks of Maarten. He will try to bathe with you. Watch out! User-posted content, unless source quoted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain License.
