Guitar Hero Custom Track Of "The Touch"

Yes, there is a bit of a theme running today, but that's just the sort of thing that happens when they leave me and Adam and Jim alone and head off to Japan. We need something to rally us. A cause. Til all are one.

Thanks Mirai for pointing this clip out!

Stan Bush Wants "The Touch" In Guitar Hero, Rock Band

No, I will not let this topic drop. There can be no real winner in the Guitar Hero / Rock Band war until one song...just one, little song appears in one of the two, and that song is "The Touch" by Stan Bush. Originally appearing on the soundtrack to the Transformers animated movie in the 80's, the song made countless little boys believe that they could do absolutely anything, no matter how many Decepticons got in their way.

The fact that this song isn't in Guitar Hero or Rock Band yet is eating away at me, so much so that I actually contacted Stan himself to see if there was anything I could do to help. When he actually answered me I just about died. Turns out not only would he love to have the song in either game, he even contacted Activision himself. His reply to my email follows!

Peak's Solid Wood Guitar Hero/Rock Band Guitar

Peak just sent me one of their solid wood Playstation 3 guitars for Guitar Hero and Rock Band. The Starpex is the same scale as a real guitar and uses the same sorts of parts, when possible. For instance the tuning pegs are real as is the whammy bar.

Of course all of this realism makes for a pretty heavy kit, but I think it's worth it. The controller works with both the PS2 and PS3 and comes with wireless and wired options. I'll make sure to weigh in with my opinion after I've had some time to go a few round with it on the Playstation 3.

Activision Trademarks 'Dance Hero'

We'll bet you never saw this one coming. A recent filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office shows that Activision has filed a mark for Dance Hero, claiming services such as "interactive video game programs" and "video game controllers." The filing comes soon after first details on DJ Hero were posted on Kotaku, a trademark Activision filed for in February.

While we imagine that Activision's theoretical take on the dancing game genre, if that's what the trademark is intended for, will require the rhythmic stepping on of various buttons and/or arrows. If we were in charge, Dance Hero would involve serious amounts of "serving" and a group of gold-hearted, brightly outfitted underdog street toughs who band together for a dance off to save their struggling community and maybe learn a lesson or two about diversity along the way.

Dance Hero [USPTO]

Judge Metallica Sound Quality For Yourself

Metallica's 'Death Magnetic': 'Guitar Hero' beats CD? [NME]

Slash "Announces" Guitar Hero: Jimi Hendrix?

In an interview with Rolling Stone, former Guns N Roses guitarist Slash gets chatty about Guitar Hero. Talk the Aerosmith version, talks the Metallica version, then talks about a version we didn't know yet existed, saying Neversoft are "doing a Hendrix one, which is great". You know, it would be great! If that's indeed the case. Course, Slash being a rock star, and not a games developer/Activision PR representative, he could just be talking about the recent announcement from Activision that several Hendrix tracks would be appearing in Guitar Hero: World Tour.

Slash on His Solo LP, “Guitar Hero” and How Guns n’ Roses Changed Fans’ Lives [Rolling Stone]

Activision Boss Says Guitar Hero Is "Dominating" The Competition

Guitar Hero and Rock Band have quite the rivalry going on. One for one, tit for that, and all that. From where we're sitting, it looks an even fight, Harmonix's passion vs Activision's money, but Activision don't see it that way. No, according to Activision boss Bobby "what, me worry?" Kotick - speaking today at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia XVII Conference (no, I did not make that up) - Activision are simply dominating the competition:

We’re outselling [Rock Band] 6:1. When you think about the access we have to 30% of the world’s music at Universal, we have a unique advantage there. I would also say when you look at resources, you know, our next-nearest competitor has a couple of hundred people working on these projects, we have close to 2000 people just dedicated to the Guitar Hero note tracking, introduction of new hardware, introduction of new software, and so we just have a lot more in the way of resources available to us to continue to dominate the category.

The more you tighten your grip, Kotick, the more punters will slip through your fingers.

Metallica Album A Sonic Disaster, Fans Turn To Guitar Hero For Better Sound

Metallica fans are pissed. The release of the metal outfit's latest album, Death Magnetic, isn't quite what they were expecting, at least from a sound quality standpoint. Metallica fans contend that the album is overly distorted, that clipping distortion from the album being mastered too loud, are making for bad impressions.

Ted Jensen, head engineer at Sterling Sound, who mastered the album, allegedly responded to fan concerns, writing "I’m not proud to be associated with this one, and we can only hope that some good will come from this in some form of backlash against volume above all else."