PlayStation LifeStyle » Guitar Hero

Rumor: The Guitar Hero Franchise… Not as Discontinued as We Thought?

Mike Hartnett — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:56:49 +0000

It was announced months ago that Activision would be discontinuing their formerly successful Guitar Hero franchise, along with the highly rated DJ Hero franchise. Well, if the Pachman himself, Michael Pachter, is to be believed, one of these franchises may be poised for a comeback sooner, rather than later.

It was thought that the Guitar Hero franchise was officially considered dead, but that may not be the case. Speaking in an interview with GTTV’s Geoff Keighley, video games market analyst Michael Pachter accidentally let it slip that Activision was planning on producing a new Guitar Hero title for the Wii U.

Here were Pachter’s comments from the interview:

I walked out with the guy who runs Guitar Hero, and I said I can’t believe that that’s not on Wii U, and he goes “It’ll be on Wii U, but we’re not gonna announce that yet”. So, there you go.

After Keighley caught the slip up, Pachter immediately tossed out a brief apology with a “Sorry Dave!”. While not as awkward as Phil Harrison’s premature reveal for Loco Roco 2, it did prove to raise some eyebrows. Considering the power behind Nintendo’s upcoming console, would that mean that a new Guitar Hero title might also be slated to hit the PS3 and 360 somewhere down the line? Only time will tell.

Of course, this should be taken with a large grain of salt, and should only be seen as a rumor considering Pachter’s track record with predictions.

Is this just a brief comment taken out of context and blown out of proportion? Or is there a real chance that we could be looking at yet another Guitar Hero title? Let us know what you think in the comments below! And be sure to stay tuned all this week for PlayStation LifeStyle’s continuing E3 coverage!

Guitar Hero Developer Moving on to the FPS Genre

Paulmichael Contreras — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 19:08:15 +0000

With the exceptions of Spider-Man in 2000 and Gun in 2005, Neversoft was all about the Tony Hawk and later Guitar Hero series of games since the turn of the millennium. However, the developer may be moving on to a genre new to them.

When Activision canceled the Guitar Hero series of rhythm games, it left Neversoft with no concrete project to work on. According to some postings spotted on their jobs page, the developer is looking for talent to work on an unnamed FPS title. Could it be a spiritual successor to Gun in the form of a Western-themed FPS, or simply another spin-off of the Call of Duty series? There really is no telling at this point, but rest assured PlayStation LifeStyle will let you know any new tidbits about this as it develops.

Xperia Play Already Has A Growing Library

Joseph Peterson — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 18:38:43 +0000

The Xperia Play has already been announced, but there have been many questions surrounding the new smartphone. One of those being what titles will be available for the phone, well it seems that question has been somewhat answered at the Sony Ericsson Xperia Event.

There are already 50 titles confirmed for the phone, and they will include titles such as Battlefield, Dead Space, Guitar Hero, and Assassin’s Creed. It is also worth noting that the library is growing on a daily basis as more developers sign on to release games on it.

What else would you like to see released on this fantastic smartphone?

Harmonix Responds to Guitar Hero Receiving the Axe

Paulmichael Contreras — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 23:52:35 +0000

The gaming world was shaken (though perhaps not too unexpectedly) by the news that the Guitar Hero franchise has been effectively ended. Competing developer Harmonix caught wind of this downfall, and have released a statement in an attempt to calm any fears fans of the Rock Band series may have.

As spotted on the Rock Band forums, Developer John Drake stated that the team was “sad to hear” the news, and that their “thoughts are with those who are losing their jobs.” He also mentions that the “discontinuation of Guitar Hero is discouraging news for fans of the band game genre,” also acknowledging that retail sales of both series of games have slowed over time. But the company has remained “focused on building a robust digital platform for music gaming and have recently crested 2,500 songs available for play within Rock Band 3.” Mr. Drake goes further to explain that Harmonix is “looking forward to the imminent release of the Fender Squier Stratocaster Guitar Controller, a fully functional guitar which doubles as a Rock Band Pro controller.” The Rock Band Network is also set to undergo a relaunch, which will apparently allow for bands of all sizes to get their content up for sale on the platform in a different way than before. The posting ends as such:

It’s been a wild battle of the bands since 2007, but we respect and appreciate all of the hard work and innovation of our peers who have shared the music gaming space with us, and we look forward to rocking in the future.

So, will a relaunch of the RBN and continued focus on digital content save Harmonix from suffering from the same fate as Guitar and DJ Hero, or has their recent departure from MTV Games/Viacom already sealed their fate? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Activision Kills Guitar Hero, Cancels True Crime: Hong Kong

Anthony Severino — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 00:03:32 +0000

Wow. One of the biggest, most well-known video game franchises in history, is now just a memory. Fond memories or not, there is no denying Guitar Hero‘s effect on not only the Music genre, but the entire industry. Guitar Hero was single-handedly responsible for revitalizing the Music-game genre, and helping to make video games a mainstream living room attraction. But those days, my friends, are over.

In an Activision investor press release, the mega-publisher behind such titles as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, revealed that they’d be pulling the plug on the Guitar Hero franchise. Not only has development ceased on the 2011 Guitar Hero game, but future DLC on previous titles are dead in their tracks. Here’s Activision’s official statement:

Due to continued decline in the music genre, the company will disband Activision Publishing’s Guitar Hero business unit and discontinue development on its Guitar Hero game for 2011. The company also will stop development on True Crime: Hong Kong™. These decisions are based on the desire to focus on the greatest opportunities that the company currently has to create the world’s best interactive entertainment experiences.

Guitar Hero isn’t the only franchise seeing cuts. Activision has also cancelled True Crime: Hong Kong, an open-world crime-stopping game with deep storyline. True Crime: Hong Kong was likely somewhat close to being finished, as we previewed a near-complete build all the way back at last year’s E3 Expo.

Guitar Hero being killed off is the big news here, as it’s a franchise almost everyone who has touched a video game controller has played at one point or another. Despite taking a turn for the worse, the franchise will always have a place in our memories and our hearts. How about you? Tell us about your time with the long-standing series.

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Disappointing At Retail

Paulmichael Contreras — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 17:10:24 +0000

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock was released during the last week of September. This was developer Neversoft‘s last shot at the long-running series, since publisher Activision had handed the reigns over to the team at Vicarious Visions. But it looks like Neversoft’s final gig in the series may have been its most disappointing.

According to a report on CVG, Doug Creutz, analyst from Cowen & Company has reported that during the last five days of the month that the game was available for purchase, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock sold only 86,000 copies. As our review of the game indicates, the game just did not do enough to reinvigorate the series, and we are not the only ones who feel that way – consumers have spoken with their wallets. What does the series have to do in order to stay relevant? That is the multimillion dollar question.

PlayStation Release Horizon 09/27/10

Kishen Patel — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 23:03:56 +0000

The gaming season has finally peaked to a height suitable for loyal PlayStation fans. This week, PlayStation 3 owners have a wide selection of new releases with something for virtually anyone. Whether the taste is an RPG, action adventure, music, or sports, PS3 gamers have a variety of choices; even PS2 owners got a bone thrown at them. Anyways, check out this week’s PlayStation releases below.

PS3 -

Atelier Rorona: The Alchemists of Arland (09/28)
Battle vs Chess (09/28)
Dead Rising 2 (Collector’s Edition) (09/28)
FIFA Soccer 11 (09/28)
Front Mission Evolved (09/28)
Get Fit with Mel B (09/28)
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (Guitar Bundle) (Super Bundle) (09/28)
MySims Sky Heroes (09/28)
Quantum Theory (09/28)
Rapala Bro Bass Fishing 2010 (w/ fishing rod peripheral) (09/28)

PSP -

FIFA Soccer 11 (09/28)
Rapala Pro Bass Fishing 2010 (09/28)

PS2 -

FIFA Soccer 11 (09/28)
Rapala Pro Bass Fishing 2010 (09/28)

It’s clear that those who look most forward to the next Guitar Hero title will not feel the same way towards Atelier Rorona. Regardless, every individual gamer is unique with their own tastes so tell us what you’re most excited about and planning on picking up in the comments section below.

Guitar Hero’s Warriors of Rock to Shred Last Year’s Hero

Thomas Williams — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 20:21:51 +0000

It’s time to face that facts: The dominance that the music genre had over the gaming industry is slowly, but surely, coming to an end. But that hasn’t stopped Activision from claiming that the year’s entry for Guitar Hero, Warriors of Rock, will silence the critics and sell more copies than last year’s version, World Tour. Has Activision visited the future or will this rock show just not retire?

When speaking with MCV, Activision brand manager, Jonathan Edney, discussed the fact that he believes Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock will actually outsell Guitar Hero 5, which claimed #1 selling spot in the UK upon release, even outselling The Beatles: Rock Band in the region.

“Such is the quality of the game and the campaign we’re pulling together to support it, that we fully expect it to beat last year’s numbers and help retain Hero’s position as the most valuable music gaming franchise in the world.”

Most valuable music gaming franchise in the world or not, with a grand total of 4 rock-centric music titles (GH: WOR, Rock Band 3, Rock of the Dead and Power Gig: Rise of the SixString) hitting this fall, it seems Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is going to have plenty of competition in this battle of the digital bands!

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock battles its way into stores on September 24th in the UK and September 28th in the US.

GameStop’s Exclusive Guitar Hero Axe Will Shred In Style

Ray Conley — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 10:51:14 +0000

Activision’s Rock installments have been taking the stage to the gamer in their living rooms since they took charge of the franchise in 2006. It looks like the publisher understands that shredding won’t be as entertaining if you can’t shred in style. And with GameStop’s exclusive axe design for Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, you’ll not want to pass this one up.

For this round of Guitar Hero, Activision has actually come to the realization that rockin’ out on a small sized guitar just might seem a bit silly. This time, they plan to release a newer design that will be a 1:1 scale of a life-sized rock guitar (about time!). The newer design will also allow the player to remove the wings on the guitar to swap them out for custom pieces. With GameStop’s exclusive guitar body, you’ll definitely want to take the time to make the swap. The edges alone, look like they could cut meat.

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock will be bringing you 90 new tracks (some revealed at E3) to thrash with your new controller. Expect to rock out to this record as it hits the streets this 28th of September.

[Source]

Next Guitar Hero Title Announced

Christopher Gordon-Douglas — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 11:20:31 +0000

Guitar Hero: Warriors Of Rock was revealed some time ago by Activision as the next iteration the the popular music rhythm series. Activision made a bold statement that the series is back to its best with a more focused approach on rock, there was also rumors that the story would be voiced and written by rock legend Gene Simmons. Activision recently splurged all the details about the new game.

The latest installment’s set to focus on guitar hits from bands such as Black Sabbath and Slipknot and band anthems from Queen. Among the headline features are an “all-new, story-driven Quest Mode” narrated by KISS front man Gene Simmons, a redesigned “rock-inspired” controller, and the biggest on disc selection of rock music so far and a “Quickplay+” mode.

“Guitar Hero has set the standard for music based gaming and with Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and the game’s all-new Quest Mode, robust and authentic set list, over-the-top challenges and rock-inspired new hardware, we are once again bringing the soul and energy of rock n’ roll to fans around the world,” said David Haddad, Chief Operating Officer for the game.

The quest mode will have you using any instruments you have and you’ll follow a career mode from the stage of a club to the molten lava fields of rock treachery”using one of eight characters that each have game changing super powers.

“The world is a boring place. Come with me, and enter a world populated of Demi-Gods and Beasts. Transform from an everyday person and become the savior of rock and roll,” said Gene Simmons of KISS.

“It was an honor and privilege to narrate Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, even more so, to voice the Demi God. From the God of Thunder to the Demi-God, how cool is that…”

The first tracks from the game are:

AFI – “Dancing Through Sunday”
Anthrax – “Indians”
Avenged Sevenfold – “Bat Country”
Black Sabbath – “Children Of The Grave”
Buzzcocks – “What Do I Get?”
Children Of Bodom – “If You Want Peace… Prepare For War”
The Cure – “Fascination Street”
Def Leppard – “Pour Some Sugar On Me (Live)”
Dethklok – “Bloodlines”
Dire Straits – “Money For Nothing”
DragonForce – “Fury of the Storm”
Drowning Pool – “Bodies”
Fall Out Boy – “Dance, Dance”
Foo Fighters – “No Way Back”
Foreigner – “Feels Like The First Time”
The Hives – “Tick Tick Boom”
Jane’s Addiction – “Been Caught Stealing”
Jethro Tull – “Aqualung”
KISS – “Love Gun”
Linkin Park – “Bleed It Out”
Megadeth – “Sudden Death”
Metallica & Ozzy Osbourne – “Paranoid (Live)”
Muse – “Uprising”
My Chemical Romance – “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)”
Night Ranger – “ (You Can Still) Rock In America”
Nine Inch Nails – “Wish”
The Offspring – “Self Esteem”
Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Rammstein – “Waidmanns Heil”
The Rolling Stones – “Stray Cat Blues”
Silversun Pickups – “There’s No Secrets This Year”
Slayer – “Chemical Warfare”
Slipknot – “Psychosocial”
Stone Temple Pilots – “Interstate Love Song”
ZZ Top – “Sharp Dressed Man (Live)”

The games new controller is said to be specially reflect the games new style and direction, expect some gameplay to be shown at E3 and beyond. Check out PlayStation LifeStyle regulary during E3 for all the latest news.

Guitar Hero 6 Calls For Warriors to Come Out and Rock

Christopher Gordon-Douglas — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:39:23 +0000

The latest installment in the popular music rhythm game series Guitar Hero was revealed a couple weeks ago, and now Amazon seems to have listed the game title that will accompany it.

The Amazon listing shows that the game will be released on the 21st of September in the usual stand alone and bundle form, the listing shows the title which is being developed by Neversoft and will be called Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.

According to reports the game will be going back to “basics” as well as a more focused approach on rock.

The latest game in this series is expected to launch sometime in 2010.

Guitar Hero May Get the Funk Out

Kyle P. — Sun, 02 May 2010 18:58:38 +0000

Amiss their negative public image over the Infinity Ward controversy, Activision is looking to continue their nearly five year old, billion dollar music franchise, Guitar Hero. If the rumors are correct, this latest game will definitely bring out the funk in all of us.

According to a survey forwarded to Kotaku, Activision is trying to gauge interest in a possible Guitar Hero: Red Hot Chili Peppers game. Just like previous band-centered games such as Metallica, Van Halen and Aerosmith, the game would feature many of the group’s popular recordings. The survey included the following quote:

“Celebrate the entirety of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ life, starting with their early days in LA, to their famous Hyde Park concert to their highly anticipated new studio album.”

The popular band’s highly anticipated album has a rough release date of 2011. Obviously, if songs from the band’s next album are in the game, sometime next year would be the earliest we should expect to see the title debut. Until PSLS gets a confirmation from Activision, it is best to just label this as a rumor for now.

As an avid RHCP fan, I am finding it hard to get excited for this potential title. Activision is milking a franchise that should have ended long ago. Certainly, Guitar Hero has seen better days. Is Activision dragging along a dead franchise, in an effort to get more money? Or do you believe this is an honest sequel, that is deserving of your money?

Activision Turning Down the Volume This Year

Paulmichael Contreras — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:52:59 +0000

Spared!

Last year, there were a lot of games in the “Hero” series by Activision. So many, in fact, that people may have been turned off by the sheer number of variants. Things are going to be different in 2010, however.

Not Spared!

In a recent conference call, Publishing CEO Mike Griffith stated that Activision expects sales of bundles to dwindle due to the market being saturated with so many plastic instruments. As a result, Activision plans to release “less than 10″ SKUs in the “Hero” line of games. They plan to cut PS2 versions of the games as well as Band Hero bundles. The focus will instead be on Guitar Hero and DJ Hero titles in the “back half of the year.” Prepare for a lot less Hero-related news this year.

Activision Blizzard Talks Financal Results, IP Success

Zak Islam — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:30:46 +0000

Activision has just released its calendar Year 2009 financial results, which confirms its releasing new titles for Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk, True Crime and the SpiderMan series, all by the end of 2010.

Activision Blizzard has just confirmed that the firm has made a $1.56 billion revenue for Q4 2009. The full year revenue stands at a staggering $4.28 billion.

The company has also confirmed some new games are in the making, as a new Call Of Duty and Guitar Hero game are confirmed.

We generated approximately $1.2 billion in operating cash flow and ended the year with approximately $3.3 billion in cash and investments. For the calendar year, in the U.S. and Europe, Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare™ 2 was the #1 best-selling title overall and DJ Hero™ was the highest grossing new IP launched in 2009. Additionally, through Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft® we remain #1 in the subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game category worldwide, according to The NPD Group and internal Activision Blizzard estimates.”

Modern Warfare 2′s success:

In November 2009, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 became the first video game ever to surpass $550 million in retail sales in its first five days of release, according to Activision Publishing’s internal estimates. To date, the game has sold more than $1 billion in retail sales worldwide, according to The NPD, Charttrack and Gfk.

Stick with PlayStation LifeStyle as we reveal more on the financial results. Do they include new gaming news, like how the EA Q3 report did? Stay tuned.

Activision Spinning Up DJ Hero Sequel

Paulmichael Contreras — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 23:37:49 +0000

DJ Hero, the surprisingly good Guitar Hero spin-off that took on the DJing scene, has so far inched its way to around 1.8 million units sold across four platforms. It looks like more virtual DJing is headed our way.

As was hinted at a few weeks back by DJ Guetta, there is going to be a second DJ Hero game. A press release by Activision that was mentioning DJ Hero’s involvement in MIDEM 2010 (A French music business convention) leaked the following information:

“2010 DJ Hero will be hosting an exclusive Listening Session, providing one lucky undiscovered musician the priceless opportunity to have their winning song mixed, mastered and featured in a future installment of DJ Hero.”

So there you have it. Sequel confirmed! No word on if this latest installment will feature a specific DJ or be a more traditional music game, but the 1.8 million gamers who may be wondering if they bought a one-time-only accessory can breathe a bit easier now.