Barring Guitar Hero 5’s revitalization of the series, Guitar Hero is becoming a bit of a one-trick pony. Take the latest iteration: Guitar Hero: Van Halen. Given out for free with the purchase of Guitar Hero 5, the full retail release has finally reached store shelves. It “features” 20 rock “superstars” alongside 80s rockers Van Halen in a wholly underwhelming exercise in tedium that reminds me exactly why I treasure my quality time spent with more polished offerings that rely less on filler tracks completely unrelated to the featured band and more on making my experience feel like a unique one with some of the music I love. Perhaps this game is a real treat for the hardcore Van Halen fans still truckin’ out there — after all, they are quite the prolific outfit — but even for franchise fans, this is most certainly a miss.
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Yes we heave and haw about another Guitar Hero being released every few months, because it’s generally the same game with a $60 sticker price for a setlist that could have just been DLC. I understand that, but with all the changes, tweaks, and upgrades Neversoft has made to the latest installment of Guitar Hero — I urge you to hear me out! Many of the finishing touches placed on the game make it a complete package worth a measly three Andrew Jacksons.

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John, Paul, George, and Ringo – four young men who would unknowingly change the face of the music world forever. Regardless of your personal opinion as to the quality of their work, one cannot deny their influence on the way music has been shaped over the years. With infectious hooks, haunting melodies, and musical trips, the Fab Four have entranced us for years with a song catalogue that had never before been allowed to see its way onto a rhythm title, and for quite a while it seemed as though this was an event that would never occur – that is, until now. Though, sadly, John Lennon and George Harrison could not live to see it happen, the day has finally come that the Beatles’ music has been extended a warm welcome into the world of music gaming. Using what can arguably be called one of the most accessible music titles to general audiences, Rock Band, The Beatles have finally been immortalized in digital form, complete with their likenesses, voices, and even photographs, and they are ready to sing with you via the magic and intrigue of The Beatles: Rock Band.

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The main man, the man in black, the legendary inspiration Johnny Cash is officially going to be making a star appearance in Guitar Hero 5 when it releases on September 1st. He has been remembered and tributed in CG to deliver to you a trailer of his arrival. Check out my favorite (and probably only link to my interest in country music) hero in all his glory in the trailer below.

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While the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero 5 will support Avatars, Eurogamer reports that the Wii version of Guitar Hero 5 will support your Miis, although it’s unclear whether this is only in Mii Freestyle mode or in every game mode of the title. A recent IGN interview with Vicarious Visions CEO Karthik Bala also reveals that the Wii version of Guitar Hero 5 will also more or less every feature of its PS3 and 360 counterparts, including the Party Play mode.

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Adding to the known setlist of 85 songs in Guitar Hero 5, Activision has revealed twenty four more songs that will be in the game. Among these songs are some re-recorded tracks like “Bring the Noise 20XX” by Public Enemy and unreleased singles such as AFI’s “Medicate” that will soon appear on their new album, Crush Love. Activision also mentions many of the bands featured in Guitar Hero 5 have never been in a rhythm game before, such as A Perfect Circle and Grand Funk Railroad.

Check out the new twenty-four tracks revealed by Activison below, as well as the ones previously announced if you haven’t seen those yet.

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MSN has posted the first trailer for Activision’s Band Hero, which seems to be another Guitar Hero World Tour but with pop-oriented and mainstream tracks from the likes of Lily Allen and Taylor Swift. You’ll be using the same guitar, drum, and microphone peripherals and playing along to more than 65 tracks which include The All-American Rejects’ “Dirty Little Secret” and No Doubt’s “Just A Girl.”

The article also touts the “Party Play” and “RockFest” modes, both of which are new additions in Guitar Hero 5, leading to the question, “Is this just Guitar Hero 5 with different songs?” Of course, there is the focus on a more family-friendly image and a perhaps “cleaner” setlist, but really?

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I can almost hear Steve Perry’s pure toned alto just reading about it.  A fairly impressive new video from the folks over at Activision and Red Octane showcases some of the new features and many pretty new visuals for the 5th installment in the Guitar Hero franchise.  And it does in fact claim that you can rock any way you want.  I’ll let you be the judge.  Jump for the rock-ety goodness.

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The next few months are going to be filled with sunscreen, swimming pools, and outdoor barbeques. The average nerd will also be indulging in his or her yearly tradition: playing the awesome titles from winter’s past. But unlike most summers, it seems that this summer won’t be quite so dull for all the hardcore gamers out there. There won’t be any of those heavy-hitting blockbusters that we all love coming out any time soon, but there is more than a few shining glimpses of hope to get your great summer game on.

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During all the mayhem of E3 this week, let us not forget about the impending titles slated to hit shelves this June. Guitar Hero Smash Hits hit the marketplace early this week and now that it is calming down and we are recollecting ourselves in a moment of zen, I noticed it an did my Xbox 360 in for a good late-night download. I’ll leave you with a quick summary, it has three songs, I Want to Rock and Roll All Night being the headliner… Or at least the best contender for a Name That Tune game. It runs a little bit short of half a gig and made for a quick romp on Xbox LIVE. The songs that will be featured in the game are 48 of Guitar Hero’s finest with a majority of them joining us from Guitar Hero I and II, with all of the instrument tracks added alongside the once guitar-only songs to make for some full functionality. The demo is currently only on Xbox LIVE at this time.

Guitar Hero Smash Hits goes on tour at your local retailer for $59.99 on June 16th.

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Activision reminds me a little of the Energizer bunny: they just keep going, and going, and going…  The company has recently announced three new games for fall ‘09: Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero, and DJ Hero.  Very little information was given for the Guitar Hero sequel, other than a brief statement touting the new flexibility of the game: “the ability to drop in and out of songs and change band members, instruments and difficulty levels on the fly.”

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Like we have learned from countless remakes of Japanese horror movies, America enjoys screwing up a good thing. When gamers stateside received RedOctane’s submission to the rhythm genre, Guitar Hero, they were stunned at its originality and overall cool factor. Imagine America receiving a veritable rhythm game, just like GuitarFreaks in Japan! We were psyched – familiar songs, awesome gameplay, and good old-fashioned challenge was finally in our hands. No more importing for a fantastic game.

Well, it was awesome, but we lost it. I quote Miley Cyrus because her music represents the quality Guitar Hero has gone to only a few short years after its initial release. What began as a relationship that chugged along swimmingly has quickly deteriorated into that abusive arrangement you had with your boss so he wouldn’t leak the photos of you singing and dancing along to Clay Aiken in the break room. Spawn Kill is proud to present Doin’ It Rong: Guitar Hero.

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