Three song's $6.25. Sure, if you're a fan of My Chemical Romance, that may not be too high a price to pay. But more than $2 a pop seems absolutely ridiculous to me. Activision really needs to start rethinking their pack prices with Rock Band looming in the not too far distance.

The pack includes "Teenagers," "Famous Last Words" and "This is How I Disappear" as performed by My Chemical Romance Which seems to mean they're not covers, which is nice, but next time, maybe try $1.50 a pop or so.

Yesterday we had some pictures of Gene Simmons' disturbingly long tongue lashing out during some Guitar Hero 2 jamming. Today we have some video. Kind of reminds us what spazes we are compared to true rock gods. Brian Crecente

Look! Some dude is playing Halo with his Guitar Hero controller. The cool, yet impractical part, is that he got the buttons to match up with Halo controls. Though, could've done without the three minute demo, the 2 liter bottle of whatever and the nose scratching. Brian Ashcraft

Thanks, keviokevio!

Celebrities from the music, film, art and sports worlds have all pitched in to customize their own Guitar Hero 2 controllers for the Rock, Paint, Bid charity auction put together by Activision and Red Bull. The auction went live yesterday and runs through April 13.

The money raised will go to MusicCares, though I was a little disappointed to see that the auction manager, Kompolt, is apparently getting a 25 precent cut.

I hopped over to the eBay auction site and grabbed shots for all of the guitars currently up for sale. While some were totally phoned in, there are some really masterful creations up there. Brian Crecente

Celebrity Control Auctions [eBay]

I love this commercial. When I saw it last night I immediately thought of Heavy Metal, it's very reminscent of the style of that fantastic 80s movie. Brian Crecente

Activision just made my day.

Guitar Hero II is prepping to hit the Xbox 360 on April 3 as we speak.

The 360 version of teh game will include 70 songs, HD remodeled characters, unlockable guitars and venues and "different gamplay modes." While the game will let you go online to compare scores, check your rank and download content, it won't let you take someone on over Live. At least they don't mention Live multiplay in the press release. Color me sad.

If you pre-order the game they are going to throw in a free Guitar Hero gig bag, which is all kinds of cool. Brian Crecente

Computer and Video Games is reporting on a rumor from Official Xbox Magazine that the Halo Mjolnir Theme Song will be a downloadable add-on song for Guitar Hero II when it hits the Xbox 360.

The theme song is quite complicated and I'd suspect not so easy to play. I have calls out to Msoft with great expectations of a "we don't comment on rumors" in my future. Brian Crecente

Guitar Hero to Include Halo Mjolnir Song [CVG, thanks Alex]

Last night was fun.

Sure we didn't have a showing in the hundreds like in New York City, but at least four Kotaku readers showed up to represent at the Denver Press Club, that and play some Guitar Hero 2.

Besides the five of us from Kotaku the bar filled up quickly with Dave Thomas, Buzz Cut and Denver Post writer, and his friends. Also there was a "fireside chat" going on at the same time with Reggie Rivers, former Broncos player and current sports TV buy. He swung by the bar for a glass of water but didn't seem interesting in getting down with any Guitar Hero. His loss, his loss.

About two-thirds of the way through the dealio, Dave and I sat down and did a sort of live debate about our particular choices for game of the year last year. His was Wii Bowling, mine was Gears of War.

We were both a wee bit into our cups and it was very loud, so not sure how that came off, but it was podcast live and the guys who did it said they would send me a link today to a recording. So look for it in a bit.

One of the interesting things I noticed during the party was that Dave plays Guitar Hero with an actual guitar pick. Not only does it seem to make his strumming more fluid, it actually makes it sorta sound like he's playing a real guitar because the stumming is so rhythmic and loud. Does anyone else do this or is he just a big freak?

Anyway, thanks to Handles25, JohnnyHundo and the guy whose name I didn't get for showing up and also thanks to GameDaily's Robert Workman for the hardcore jamming and these two pics. Brian Crecente

I talked the bar into letting me hook up Guitar Hero 2 to their television and brought along a collection of guitars and my PS2, so if you're up for it swing by. Also expect all one of your Denver Kotaku readers to make an appearance. I'm talking to you Handles!

It will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Dave Thomas from BuzzCut and the Denver Post said he would be showing up as well. Oh, also you can yell at me about my choice for best games of the year. I know Dave plans to. (He picked Wii Bowling as the best game of the year, never mind it's really not a game... Wii Sports is.)

Denver Press Club [Denver Press Club]

OK, so there won't be free alcohol or any swag, but I will be guest bartending at the Denver Press Club on Wednesday. I convinced them to let me hook up a Playstation 2 to their television and I'm bringing Guitar Hero 2.

If you're legal and want to come hang-out, the event is open to everyone and will run from about 6 p.m. until at least 8 p.m. at the press club, 1330 Glenarm Place. For more information call: 303-571-5260. Brian Crecente

So you think that rocking out on Guitar Hero means you might be able to rock out with a real guitar as well?

Maybe, but the inverse sure isn't true. Want proof? The video above shows Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian trying to play one of his own songs on Guitar Hero 2 at some Best Buy. The video is packed with tons o whining and such. Brian Crecente [Thanks Freddy B]

My son Tristan and have been playing Guitar Hero 2 on and off since the game came out.

Shortly after the game's release The Ant Commandos sent me one of their Shredder guitars for my son, who is 5-years old, to test out.

The idea, was that the guitar was supposed to be easier to play for a child because it was smaller. I had heard that the it was really just a design flaw that they turned into a specialized product and wanted to figure out which was true.

It turns out, according to my son, that it's a little bit of each.

While he found the Shredder easier to strap around his shoulder and hold onto, the buttons still posed a problem.
Despite that he was still able to, after just a little bit of practice, nail enough of the Shout out the Devil Bass line to make it through the game with me.

And there is something so very cool about playing through Shout at the Devil with your 5-year-old, whether or not he's playing a real guitar.

A little post song interview confirmed that Tristan is a big fan of the strummer, which he insists is easier to use than on the regular-sized guitar, the smaller body and the shorter neck.

The one thing he wasn't a fan of was the buttons, which weren't changed at all for this smaller guitar. He found them both too small and too big. On the one hand he said he thought if the buttons were bigger he would have an easier time pushing them, but on the other hand if they were smaller it would be easier to switch from one button to the next with his tiny fingers.

Personally, I think if the buttons were a tad narrower he would have less trouble switching between them during a song.

Overall Tristan gave the Shredder four out of five stars, pointing out that while he loved the guitar, it had some controller issues.

As a parent, I'd say that it's worth getting the smaller guitar for your younger children if you're really into Guitar Hero and they like the game too.

My son loved Guitar Hero well before he received the Shredder, he just could never play it.

The smaller guitar certainly won't remove all of the hurdles for a child who wants to get his shred on, but it will remove some of them.

GameStop is holding a Guitar Hero 2 contest on February 3, 2007 at select GameStop stores. This appeared as a feature in one of their newsletters, but oddly, very little information is available at the moment. There's no mention of what the prizes are, but they certainly have no problem with advertising how much the game is. I would venture to guess that a copy of the game will be one of the prizes, although, if you're good enough to compete in a contest, one would assume you already own a copy. Gibson is listed as one of the sponsors, so let's hope that a REAL guitar will be included as well.

To officially register you must do so at an actual store, but seeing as they don't tell you which stores are actually hosting the events, you'll have to call your local GS store and check. A call to my GS was met with a curt, "I have no idea what you're talking about" and then a dial tone. Nice. There's a page on their site where you can sign up to receive "more information", but my sneaking suspicion is that it will just sign you up for their newsletter. This line sort of gave that away...

Click the Submit button below to sign up for more information and receive news and exclusive offers from GameStop. By clicking below you acknowledge that any information you submit may be used for marketing purposes.

I will be investigating this further as soon as I can get a hold of an employee who actually has any information. Until then it will be a contest shrouded in rock and roll mystery.... Flynn De Marco

If you are 21 or older, are in the vicinity of Brooklyn this Wednesday and, for some reason, weren't going to go to Joel's Funde Razor, this shit better change your mind.

What you are looking at is one of three full-sized, handmade Guitar Hero 2 controllers which you can win at the annual fund raiser for Child's Play.

Where are the fret buttons, you might ask? Why up on the top of the neck painted black. This controller kicks so much ass it has to stop and take a breather about half way through. Now go forth my children and get drunk and donate lots of cash for sick kids. Brian Crecente

Funde Razor

God. Damnit. IGN has attempted, and failed, to get the newly released PlayStation 2 title Guitar Hero II to work on their shiny new Sony monolith, only to be foiled by a forehead-smackingly bad design decision.

We assumed that Guitar Hero and its sequel would work perfectly well on the PlayStation 3. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. When you pop in a PS2 or PSone game, you're prompted to tap the PlayStation button on the controller. For what reason, we're not sure, but as Guitar Hero's SG controller doesn't have this button, you can't actually activate it. You also can't quick-swap from one controller to another as the second part of the problem lies in that you need to turn on analog control, but again, the SG guitar doesn't have an on/off button for analog play.

Surely their must be a way around this! This is, like, apocalyptically bad news.

I guess I'll keep my old North American PS2 around for a little while longer. But while we cry out to the heavens for mercy, let us pray that the folks at Sony are working diligently this weekend on a fix. Michael McWhertor

Guitar Hero II Compatible with PS3? [IGN]

I know what you're going to say. Gears of War right? Guitar Hero II? Not me. It's going to be a straight up Elite Beat Agents weekend freak out for yours truly. What with the frantic apartment searching, HDTV shopping, and PlayStation 3 game playing going on all week, I've not even had the time to take it out of the shrinkwrap.

Wait. Here I go.

Damn, that was some good shrinkwrap removal. Time to huff that new, full-color manual. /huff

Refreshing! So let's have it. Are you burning through this week's new releases to clear your gaming plate for next week's new releases (including Final Fantasy III and a slew of PlayStation 3 games)? Are you still on that next-gen boycott, pledging your devotion to the Sega Saturn? Well, what is it, people? Make with the comments! Michael McWhertor

I let him slap on his own stickers, and then set him up on Guitar Hero 2 playing Bass for Shout at the Devil. It was his first experience playing Guitar Hero. He didn't do so well, so we went back to Guitar Hero and I set him up on I Love Rock and Roll on easy.

Watching him play while I sat on the couch working, it sort of looked like he was being shocked every time a chord came up. It was sort of hilarious, but I tried not to laugh loud enough for him to hear me and he wasn't doing bad with such tiny hands.

After practicing the song for about 10 minutes and failing at the half way point he said he didn't want to play anymore. I told him to turn off the Playstation 2 and go upstairs. After he turned off the game I noticed that he had unplugged the guitar and was walking up the stairs with the chord dragging behind him, the guitar still slung around his neck.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going upstairs to play guitar."

"But you need the Playstation 2."

"No, I don't. I'm going to pretend."

Ooooooh, imagination. I totally forgot about that. I probably should have made him air guitar it, but I let him use the controller and he totally rocked.

TAC guitars DO work with GH II. Older versions of TAC guitars purchased before October 1st need the adapter, which are available on our website www.theguitarmania.com . All other TAC guitar controllers purchased after that time are FULLY compatible with GH and GH II.

So if you bought your controller before Oct.1 you need to pick up an adapter if you bought it later you're golden. Brian Crecente

According to a source, the peripheral will make all Guitar Hero guitars work with the news game. Yep that includes the wireless ones. I'm not sure if this compatibility issue is an ANT issue, or one that effects all Guitar Hero guitars, official and not so much. Brian Crecente