The bad news? Activision is making Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Wait, that's not the bad news. The actual bad news was that all those Guitar Hero III tracks you downloaded from either Xbox Live or the PlayStation Store won't work on your copy of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.

Here's a dash of good. Guitar Hero World Tour will support your existing GH III downloads, which begs the question "Why would you buy Guitar Hero: Aerosmith?"

Dragonforce 100% On Expert

Be warned, Chris uses some strong language at the end of the run, but he damn well earned it. Thanks everyone for sending in the tip!

It was swell of Sony to bring a little parity to Guitar Hero's DLC, let PlayStation owners get their own console-specific, mascot-endorsed anthem to play with. While they made the initial announcement a few weeks ago, they neglected to tell us just which GoW song it would be. They have now: it'll be called "The End Begins (To Rock)", a guitar-heavy reworking of God of War II's title theme. There's a preview clip above (and it looks surprisingly excellent!), and if you dig it so much you just want to listen without playing, it'll be made available in "downloadable form" (an mp3, then) on the PlayStation Store as well. Both the DLC and song will be free, and they'll be part of the PSN update tomorrow.

Coldplay To Contribute To Guitar Hero's Demise

Coldplay are going to be in Guitar Hero. Coldplay. I'll give you a moment to emit a deep, remorseful sigh. As part of the promotional circus surrounding their latest album, the song "Violet Hill" will be made available as DLC for Guitar Hero III, though a date for its release has yet to be specified. Coldplay frontman Chris Martin says of the song, in all seriousness, "It’s not [all] about the piano shit". Come now, Activision. It wasn't enough to kill Guitar Hero, you now gotta whizz on its freshly-covered grave?

Coldplay to make 'Guitar Hero' debut [EW]

Guitar Hero Expert Beats Dragonforce Record Score

What's your high score on Guitar Hero III's sore-finger finale "Through The Fire And The Flames?" At a 24-hour Guitar Hero marathon held by Blockbuster to benefit the nonprofit "Education is Freedom" children's charity, Grapevine, TX native Daniel Johnson blew away the Guiness World Record for a single-song high score.

Playing on Expert, no less, on an Xbox 360. So how many points, now?

PS3 Guitar Hero Gets Free God Of War Song

360 owners got a free Halo song, it's only fair PS3 owners get a similar deal. And they are. An email just went out to PlayStation Underground members, announcing that on June 5, a "Free GoW song for Guitar Hero III" would be released. No word on just which song it would be. Surely this signals the beginning of a "free, exclusive track" arms race, which can only end when players are subjected to weekly updates like "The End Credits Music From Heavenly Sword" and "Bomberman Zero Main Menu: Ibiza Party Megamix".

[thanks everyone who sent this in!]

If you keep buying them, Amazon will keep posting them! Today Amazon is getting their groove on with deals on games involving dance and rhythm. The Deal of the Day? They've got the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock bundle on all systems for only $59.99 ($49.99 PS2), which is like getting the game and a free guitar...sort of.

Along with the Deal of the Day they are also holding Gold Box deals on games throughout the day, with the first - Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party for the Wii at $49.99 just about gone as I write this. The next deal starts at 10AM Pacific and looks to be Rock Band, with the remaining two consisting of a Singstar title, and possibly one of those trays for cooking bacon in the microwave. Remember my guessing problem?

Gold Box Deals At Amazon [Amazon.com - Thanks RyanRaven!]

Guitar Hero III Revisits Its Muse

Weezer Dude Recommends Real Guitar Over Fake Guitar

I've never played it. I don't get those games at all. I mean, I haven't tried them. But they must be fun because people love them. But, to me, it seems like if you're going to put that much effort into playing something, you should just play a real instrument. [laughs]

Def Leppard Debuting New Single In Guitar Hero (ie Videogames Killed The Radio Star)

Amazon is in the middle of another Gold Box Wii game day, where a different Wii game is available for a discounted price every couple of hours. This one sort of snuck up on us, so as of right now the deal of the day, Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games, is still available for the low price of $29.99. As for the timed special, so far all we've missed is Cabela's Big Game Hunter for $19.99, which is really no big loss. As this post goes live we're smack dab in the middle of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock for $64.99, with new games coming at 2pm and 6pm Pacific time. Who knows what wondrous values await us?

Amazon Gold Box Wii Games [Amazon.com - Thanks Andrew!]

Charlie Daniels - Guitar Hero Perverted My Song

I want any of you parents out there whose children have this game to know that I did not grant these people my permission to pervert my song and am disgusted with the result. Unfortunately I lost the publishing rights on the song many years ago in a settlement with a former partner and the license to Guitar Hero was granted by the company who now owns the publishing.

Zoey 101 and Roxy Hunter Get Their Guitar Hero On

Last week, Guitar Hero III came out in Japan. The game sold something like 3,000 copies fore both the PS3 and the PS2. Ouch. Not surprising as guitar-based music games were popular in Japan nine years ago. Nine years ago? As game site Next Generation points out, that's the same number that guitar manufacturer Gibson pulled out for its legal suit. As Next Gen points out:

1999, hmm? A quick visit to our good friend Wikipedia reveals that Konami's GuitarFreaks game made its debut in Japan in 1999, meaning it was most likely in the production and planning phases since 1998 at the latest.

My guess is that someone in the Gibson corporation's marketing department heard of GuitarFreaks in 1999 and immediately checked to see if Konami had filed a patent in the US. When their search revealed no results, they filed a patent themselves, and waited patiently. For nine years. How utterly slimy.

Win $2000 For Rockin' Out

If you're looking for a way to while away your boredom this weekend, or like the sound of becoming supreme national Guitar Hero champion, Play N Trade is looking for you. On Saturday, March 14, the 125 Play N Trade stores across the United States will be holding a nation-wide Guitar Hero III contest. The grand prize is $2000!!!... in store credit. But, nevertheless, that's $2000 more you'd have to spend on games than you would have had by not entering. Runner up gets a PS3, Guitar Hero III bundle, and $500, while third place gets a Guitar Hero III bundle and $200. And by dollars, I once again mean store credit. Keep in mind these are the national prizes - there's no word on anything for being the best in your Play N Trade store, other than a hearty handshake and bragging rights to all your friends. Full tournament rules and more information at the website.

Play N Trade Guitar Hero III Tournament