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

Freebird! Freebird!

The song enters holy fuck mode at about 5 minutes and super holy fuck at 7 I believe it causes grand mal seizures at 9. Brian Crecente

Just in case that fifth fret on Guitar Hero's controller wasn't throwing you off enough, The Ant Commandos just released a guitar with an extra five to blow your mind.

The Double Range Rocking V guitar controllers have 10 fret buttons. Two up high on the neck and five downlow, for extra spicy virtual jamming. The wired sells for $50 and the wireless for $60.

Personally, I still freak out whenever anything orange flashes up on the screen in the game. I have enough trouble dealing with four buttons, I don't need five, let alone ten. Brian Crecente

The Guitar Mania [TAC]

I have to give props to the Destructoid guys for finding this official thread on the Guitar Hero forums spilling perhaps the most awesome gaming extra of all time: Trogdor the Burninator is an unlockable bonus song in Guitar Hero II.

You know, I'm not really a Homestar Runner or Strong Bad fan, but even I will admit that the Trogdor song is absolutely brilliant: I even know the lyrics by heart and I have become quite adept at singing the chorus in an aurally-castrating shriek. This one edition to Guitar Hero 2 is actually better than the entire announced list of songs. Florian Eckhardt

The Bonus Songs!! spoilers!! [Guitar Hero]

Kotakuite Genki wrote us in with this swank image of a custom painted Guitar Hero controller he gave away at the EB he manages:

, I just wanted to let you know that I manage an EB Games and we held a Guitar Hero 2 tournament this past weekend. I know some of the Kotaku staff are big GH fans, so I wanted to submit a photo of the grand prize we gave to the winner of the competition - a custom-painted guitar controller done by a local tattoo artist (who also works at my store). The enclosed photo shows the guitar in the display case behind our counter and the back of the guitar, which the artist also painted. This was NOT an EB Games event per se....it was something I did on my own, with corporate's approval and Red Octane's assistance (they provided t-shirts and posters and a 10-song demo). The turnout was pretty huge and the store was packed for the Finals on Sunday....the final 2 competitors played Expert VS "Who Was In My Room Last Night", then solo "War Pigs," and then the tie-breaker was solo "Psychobilly Freakout" since that was the hardest song on the demo. I didn't expect either of them to finish the song since they hadn't played it before the tournament, but they both aced it on their first try, with the winning spread being only a dozen or so notes.

Very nice. I need to co-opt a a tattoo artist to spruce up mine. That toy guitar sitting in the corner doesn't have my nocturnally-visiting chicksters thinking "Rock Badd Ass." Florian Eckhardt

Tommy Gun over at Cracked Rabbit Gaming has released another Guitar Hero 2 video in which he aces You Got Another Thing Comin' on Hard while playing in some implausible positions, not including missionary or reverse cowgirl.

As an aside, why the heck does a site that updates like one time every two weeks have such a totally professional video logo? Florian Eckhardt

Let's cut to the chase. Here what you wanna know:

1. Opening Licks
Motley Crue - Shout at the Devil
Danzig - Mother
Cheap Trick - Surrender
Wolfmother - Woman
Spinal Tap - Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight

2. Amp-Warmers
Kiss - Strutter
Nirvana - Heart-Shaped Box
Police - Message in a Bottle
Van Halen - You Really Got Me
Kansas - Carry on Wayward Son

3. String-Snappers
Foo Fighters - Monkey Wrench
Alice in Chains - Them Bones
Iggy Pop and the Stooges - Search and Destroy
Pretenders - Tattooed Love Boys
Black Sabbath - War Pigs

4. Thrash and Burn
Warrant - Cherry Pie
Butthole Surfers - Who Was in My Room Last Night
Mathew Sweet - Girlfriend
Rolling Stones - Can't You Hear Me Knockin'
Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine

5. Return of the Shred
Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name Of
Primus - John the Fisherman
Sword - Freya
Thin Lizzy - Bad Reputation
Aerosmith - Last Child

6. Relentless Riffs
Heart - Crazy on You
Stone Temple Pilots - Tripping on a Hole in a Paper Heart
Stray Cats - Rock This Town
Allman Brothers - Jessica
Jane's Addiction - Stop

7. Furious Fretwork
Anthrax - Madhouse
Living End - Carry Me Home
Lamb of God - Laid to Rest
Reverend Horton Heat - Psychobilly Freakout
Rush - YYZ

8. Face-Melters
Avenged Sevenfold - Beast and the Harlot
Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized
Dick Dale - Misirlou
Megadeth - Hangar 18
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird

And as a special treat, game site Shizzle Games even linked to YouTube videos of almost all these tunes. You know, to get everyone in the mood. May I recommend the Dick Dale and the Cheap Trick and the Iggy Pop and the Black Sabbath and the... Brian Ashcraft

Guitar Hero YouTube Vids Here [Shizzle]

Tommy Gun of Cracked Rabbit Gaming — a strangely listless boychik — may have the weirdest Raggety Ann hairdo, but he's a mean hand at Guitar Hero 2. Watch him get 5 stars on Strutter on expert, effortlessly nailing those three button chords. Meanwhile, I soldier lamely on with three star streaks on Hard mode. Florian Eckhardt

MTV has since cut out chunks of the song lists, but viewers were quick to write them down. Here's the list from the Guitar Hero II forums which shows 38 of the 40 songs. The game also has 15 bonus songs. Brian Crecente

Guitar Hero II New Songs Revealed By MTV [Video Games Blogger]

Opening Licks:
Strutter - Kiss
Mother - Danzig
Monkey Wrench - Foo Fighters
Shout At The Devil - Motley Crue
Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight - Spinal Tap

Amp-Warmers:
Heart Shaped Box - Nirvana
Message In A Bottle - Police
Woman - Wolfmother (artist not confirmed)
You Really Got Me - Van Halan (Kinks)
Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas

String Snappers:
Surrender - Cheap Trick
Them Bones - Alice in Chains
Search and Destroy - Stooges (artist not confirmed, but it damn well better be the stooges!)
Tatooed Love Boys - The Pretenders
War Pigs - Sabbath

Thrash and Burn:
Cherry Pie - Warrant
Who Was In My Room Last Night - Butthole Surfers
Girlfriend - Darkness (artist not confirmed), some say Mathew Sweet
Can't You Hear Me Knocking - Rolling Stones
Sweet Child of Mine - GnR

Return of the Shred:
Killing In The Name - Rage Against The Machine
John The Fisherman - Primus
Freya - Sword (artist not confirmed)
Bad Reputation - (too hard to say, my guess is Thin Lizzy, but could be Joan Jett)
Jessica - Allman Brothers

Relentless Riffs:
Crazy On You - Heart
Trippin On A Hole In A Paper Heart - STP
Rock This Town - Stray Cays
Last Child - Aerosmith
Stop - Janes Addiction (artist not confirmed, but I really hope it's Janes Addiction.)

Furious Fretwork:
Madhouse - Antrhax

Already confirmed songs:
Hangar 18 - Megadeath
Laid to Rest - Lamb of God
Misirlou - Dick Dale
Beast and the Harlet - Avenged Sevenfold
Freebird - Lyn Skyn
YYZ - Rush.
Psychobilly Freakout - Rev Horton Heat

A reader recently got a chance to fill out a Guitar Hero 2 survey. The questions seem to hint at some pretty kick-ass things to come.

I've put a big chunk of the reader's email after the jump, but here's a summary of some of the interesting ideas hinted at:

Keyboard Hero or Drummer Hero, Guitar Hero II Expansion Packs for $30 with an extra guitar, Band-specific expansion packs, genre-specific expansion packs, a full-sized wood guitar controller, a microphone add-on for singing and playing (I like to call this the Crecente pack), a stand-alone amp, custom skins, motion-sensing controls, two-piece guitarto make it easier to transport, an effects pedal, higher level of customization which would allow you to put your face in the game, create your own guitar, download outfits, venue guitars and songs or create your own set lists, new guitar body shapes for the controller, like the Gibson Firebird or Kramer Striker.

Drummer Hero? Keyboard Hero? Microphone support? I think I'm going to pass out.

Keep in mind, despite my hyperventilating, that this all comes from an unseen survey. Which means it's highly speculative. The jump has a more detailed list of questions and such. Brian Crecente

Asked whether I intend to buy a Wii and/or PS3

Asked how likely I'd be to buy an expansion pack with new songs,
guitars, characters, etc. that requires owning the full game and
includes a guitar for $30 over the base price, one that does not
include the guitar, and the same two options for a version that
doesn't require me to own the original.

Asked my top three choices of band to be featured in an expansion
pack. Bands were: Van Halen, Guns n Roses, U2, The Killers, Led
Zeppelin, Jane's Addiction, Aerosmith, Green Day, Metallica,
Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, KISS, Rush, Eagles,
Coldplay, The Beatles, AC/DC, Alice in Chains, Black Sabbath, Jimi
Hendrix.

Then asked to rate my interest in each of above bands being featured
in their own expansion pack.

Then asked how likely I would be to purchase following themed
expansion packs: Country (like Brooks & Dunn, Garth Brooks and Toby
Keith), Ozzfest Edition (like System of a Down, Disturbed and
Sepultura), Southern Rock (like ZZ Top, The Georgia Satellites and
Black Crowes), Modern Hard and Alternative Rock (like Tool, Slipknot
and Foo Fighters), Hair Metal (like Quiet Riot's Bang Your Head,
Twisted Sister's I Wanna Rock, and Whitesnake's Here I Go Again), Rock
of the 60s, 80s Metal (like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Def
Leppard), Modern Metal (like Pantera, Lamb of God and Slayer), Warped
Tour Legends (like Alien Ant Farm, Anti-Flag and Weezer), Classic Rock
(like The Who's My Generation, Rolling Stones' Brown Sugar and
Santana's Black Magic Woman),Modern Punk (like Anti-Flag, Bouncing
Souls and Rancid), Grunge (like Soundgarden's Outshined, Smashing
Pumpkins' Siamese Dream and Pearl Jam's Alive), Christian Rock (like
King's X, MxPx and P.O.D.), Tour-a-Palooza (like Soundgarden, Stone
Temple Pilots and The Smashing Pumpkins), Old School Punk (like
Misfits, Dead Kennedys and Minor Threat), Rock of the 70s, Rock of the
80s.

Asked my opinion on how likely I would be to buy a new Guitar Hero if
it included the following hardware enhancements: Premium full sized
wood guitar controller, a microphone that allows you to sing and play
like a rockstar, a separate speaker that plugs into the console and
plays your guitar playing, custom vinyl skins of different graphics or
colors for the guitar controller, motion sending controls that would
allow your character to mimic your real-world motion for extra
power-ups and higher scores, a two-piece guitar that breaks down for
storage/portability, and an effects pedal for special sound effects.

Asked my opinion on features, like downloading your face into the game
to make the character look like you, building your own guitar hero,
downloadable characters, custom guitar creating, downloadable outfits,
downloadable venues, downloadable guitars, downloadable songs, and the
ability to create your own set lists.

Asked opinion on guitar shapes for future included guitars, including
Gibson Firebird, Flying V, Les Paul, SG, X-plorer, ES 335, and Kramer
Striker.

Asked about colors including Metallic (mirror), Red, Green, Cherry,
Orange, Black, Pink, Blue, Natural (wood grain), light blue.

Asked if I would be interested in a game that goes beyond forms of
guitars to the rest of the band, and then specifically asked about
games entitled Keyboard Hero and Drummer Hero.

See any wires, boys and girls? I sure as hell don't. All I see is a bleary-eyed drunkard holding the ugliest fake guitar I've ever seen, playing Guitar Hero 2 on the 360. Florian Eckhardt

Guitar Hero 2 for Xbox 360 [Major Nelson]

Ed's Note: It looks like there's a wire there afterall, see it, it's right there at the bottom being all obscure and such. While the big MN didn't actually point this out until after Florian's post, I'm not sure why Florian didn't notice it. Though on first blush I didn't either. Maybe Flor has been dipping into the same G&T that made Major N so bleary-eyed. Sorry for the confusiong and here's hoping for an official wireless controller down the line. Brian Crecente

An anonymous tipster — quaking in trepidation lest he be discovered giving us an 'exclusive' — directed us to this absolutely awesome 25 minute Guitar Hero 2 video. It was a competition held at Beerland in Austin at with the IGDA. Amazingly, the guy who ended up winning the competition had only play Guitar Hero a dozen times... and managed to win without even looking.

I can not frickin' wait. Does anyone spy any unannounced songs in the vid? Florian Eckhardt

The songs to be covered?

• Shout at the Devil - Motley Crue
• Strutter - Kiss
• YYZ - Rush
• You Really Got Me - Van Halen

I'm going to have to import this issue. Florian Eckhardt

Guitar Hero 2 Demo [Official Forums]

Harmonix just slapped up this Guitar Hero porn. Love the red guitar, but I was holding out hope that the shape would be different. I want to rock out on a Flying V. Brian Crecente

Guitar Hero 2 New Box Art [Myspace]

Last night during the Penny Arcade concert, Jerry called guitarists from The Minibosses and MC Frontalot to the stage to face off on a little Guitar Hero 2 in front of the screaming fans.

The Minibosses ending up winning. MC Frontalot said, in their defense, it was their bassist.

One cool thing that Activision is doing is pulling people out of the crowd to play Guitar Hero 2 on stage. If they can face the public ridicule and manage not to blow note after note through the nervous trembling of their pudgy, grease-moist sausage rolls, they get a free Guitar Hero 2 t-shirt. You can see that they are playing a co-operative duet: one player rhythm, one player lead.

Me? I'm PRESS. I just went up to a homoerotic booth babe and coldly demanded a t-shirt. With a wink and a sailor, he handed me one in five seconds flat. Power of the press! Florian Eckhardt

You know, typically I wouldn't post about every little detail of a game, but everyone at Kotaku is addicted to Guitar Hero, so we tend to endlessly write about it. So, sorry, here's another little tidbit.

Gamespot UK has a cool little video up showing a chunk of Sweet Child of Mine being played on Guitar Hero II. That's going to be a lot of fun to play through. To watch it for yourself click on link for Guitar Hero II Official Movie 1 that was upped today. Brian Crecente

Guitar Hero 2 [Gamespot]

Joystiq is reporting that Red Octane is considering three new sequels to the uber-popular Guitar Hero franchise and they have the logos to prove it.

Their source tells them that Guitar Hero: World Tour, Guitar Hero: Encore and Guitar Hero Axe Grinder are all under consideration. Hit Joy for a list of some of the other names under consideration. I just hope that Red Octane is also thinking about expanding the game to include more than just new songs with every iteration. Come on Bass. Brian Crecente

Guitar Hero: Encore & Guitar Hero 2006 [Joystiq]

Eli Neiburger, Kotaku reader and library tech manager, got a chance to hang with Harmonix' Elena Seigman and talk about Guitar Hero 2 the recent Sandbox Symposium.

Neiburger found out some interesting tidbits about the game and the people who make it. Nothing shocking, but fun to know, especially for fans of the game.

Here's a quick run through of the trviai and facts about the game, set to hit by Black Friday, that Neiburger dug up.

Multiplayer will include a Pro Faceoff mode which allow both players to play the exact same notes and practice mode will be speed adjustable.

The game will feature in-game endorsements and real-world venues.

There will be at least two new characters: Dax DeVille, the Rockabilly formerly known as King Kendall after Harmonix' Jason Kendall, and a still unnamed Norwegian death rocker.

The game will feature a new venue lighting system that sync up the music being played to the lighting.

Hammer-ons and pull-offs have been tweaked. You will no longer have to hold down the lower frets to pull them off and the window of success for hammer-ons has been tweaked.

Three-note chords have been added, but the game will no longer feature chords that bridge from fret one to five. (Damn, my tiny hands, I could never do those.)

The save screen from the original Guitar Hero was done by Shepard Fairey, creator of the Andre the Giant has a Posse sticker.

Star Power was originally intended to be turned on by raising the neck and turned off by lowering the neck, but the sensors weren't accurate enough to pull that off.

While Harmonix would love to create a sequel to Amplitude, the success of GH has made it nearly impossible to find a publisher for a music game that doesn't include a peripheral. Brian Crecente

A Day Spent in the Presence of the Mighty Guitar Hero 2, and its Rocking Producer [Tricho]

This tidbit comes with a large "unconfirmed rumor" stamp on it, but game site Gamer Andy says an inside source reports that Guitar Hero is coming to the Xbox 360. Microsoft decline to comment, but this insider claims that Guitar Hero developer Red Octane is working on PS2 sequel as well as the new 360 version. If this is true, one wonders how Microsoft lured Red Octane away from Sony. I'm willing to bet it was more than free concert tickets. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Gamer Andy] Thanks, Josh!

Kotakuite Brent hit the Vans Warped Tour in sunny Phoenix, Arizona over the July 4th weekend. He writes:

During a performance by Every Time I Die, vocalist Keith Buckley stated that their song "The New Black" would be featured in Guitar Hero II for the PlayStation 2.

That announcement was followed by dirty guitar licks and stage posturing. This is exactly what gaming needs. More announcements made by rocker dudes, fewer by fuddy dudes! Brian Ashcraft

Eds Note: An insider at Harmonix just sent us an email, saying "Unless they have some plan to come beg us for an in I wouldn't get your hopes up on these guys." Looks like Every Time I Die is D.O.A. on Guitar Hero 2

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