Guitar Hero / Rock Band

[Matt]

I see, thanks for the explanation.  Interesting to see you shift away from Sony and PS3 to XBox. 

I didn't know I had ever aligned myself with Sony/PS3. 

Nah, I'm pretty much console agnostic--I go where the games are.  Right now, the games are on 360, so that's where I went.  But I'll more than likely get a PS3 eventually, when more good exclusive games come out for it (I'm looking at you, God of War 3) and the price drops a little (okay, a lot).

[Morgbug]

I didn't know I had ever aligned myself with Sony/PS3. 

Nah, I'm pretty much console agnostic--I go where the games are.  Right now, the games are on 360, so that's where I went.  But I'll more than likely get a PS3 eventually, when more good exclusive games come out for it (I'm looking at you, God of War 3) and the price drops a little (okay, a lot).

I don't think you did.  I just made the assumption you'd move to PS3 given you had GHII on PS2.  But really no need.  So essentially just a bad assumption on my part. 

I'm basically non-committal to the platforms since I'm too cheap to own many.  I picked up the PS2 because of the games for my daughter (DDR, High School Musical) and this way I could get the older GH games as well, rather than just being able to go with GHIII. I'm in the same boat with 80s.  I have I-III and lots of room to improve, so no need to get it until it's about half price. 

[Morgbug]

So what's happening with the PS2 and GHIII? 

When the game was first released, there was a mad rush to get the controllers and game.  I saw all the platforms and they all sold out quickly. 

Prior to Christmas you could find all the platforms off and on if you're timing was right, though the closer you got to Christmas the more impossible it became.  Quite reasonable and expected.

Since Christmas I've seen all of the controllers out there except for PS2.  The PC version is the most obvious since it seems to sell less.  XBox has been around a fair bit too.  Hardly see the PS3 version and almost never see the Wii version, but you do see them.  But I haven't seen a PS2 controller since about three weeks before Christmas.  I can rationalize that it's probably the largest platform for the game since GHI and GHII came out on PS2 so that's where the most games currently exist are.  I can also accept they might want to switch production to the newer platforms Xbox/PS3/Wii for the game.  What I'm finding just a bit odd is that there simply aren't any PS2 showing up at all.  Did they stop production for it or is it that they just disappear that quickly when they arrive?

[BrentS]

Yesterday was my son's birthday - we got him Guitar Hero III for the Wii.  While, I've never been a "rocker" I must say, this game is a lot of fun!  I can certainly see what all the hype is about. 

[Matt]

Hope you guys like Aerosmith:

Fire up the fret board, crank the amp to 11 and get ready to rock this way with Activision, Inc.’s (Nasdaq:ATVI) Guitar Hero®: Aerosmith®, the first game built around the legendary music of America’s Greatest Rock ‘N Roll Band: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer. Slated for release this June, this latest installment from the franchise with the #1 best-selling video game in 2007, puts players in the shoes of Perry (guitar), Whitford (guitar) and Hamilton (bass), as they rock out alongside frontman Tyler and drummer Kramer. Gamers will experience Aerosmith’s GRAMMY® winning career, from their first gig to becoming rock royalty, in a way that no other entertainment vehicle offers.

To celebrate this historic, ground-breaking collaboration, Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock fans will have the opportunity to download and jam to Aerosmith’s “Dream On.” The song will be available for free from February 16-18 on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®Store for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. For more information, please visit www.guitarhero.com.

“Having a game built around Aerosmith has been a huge honor and really a great experience for us,” says Joe Perry. “We’ve put a lot of ideas into the game so that fans can have fun interacting with our music, getting inside our body of work and learning about the band’s history.”

Steven Tyler says, “Any band that can go from ‘Don’t Want to Miss A Thing’ (Aerosmith’s #1 smash hit) to the ass-kicking ‘Sweet Emotion’ to the cheekiness of ‘Love in an Elevator,’ to the classic ballad ‘Dream On’ shows why Activision chose us to headline this game based on the diversity of the Aerosmith catalog. Not only is songwriting a bitch, but then it goes and has puppies.”

Perry adds, “On a larger scale, it’s cool for us to be pioneers helping to rebuild the music industry through a format like video games. It’s great for rock since the record companies are struggling to make sense of how things are changing. Fans want to get and experience music in new formats--and there are going to be some of them who will play the game, then pick up the guitar for real and start bands. It’s what’s happening now, and it’s only going to build more momentum in the future. It’s a massive change for the music business.”

“We are extremely excited that Aerosmith chose to team up with Guitar Hero, bringing one of the world’s all-time best-selling artists together with one of the biggest video game brands, to deliver a new and unique interactive way for our customers to connect with artists and their music,” said Dusty Welch, head of publishing for Activision/RedOctane. “This partnership will give Aerosmith, a band that has sold more than 150 million albums worldwide, a powerful and innovative platform to reach their fans and new audiences.”

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith brings these quintessential rock legends to the interactive realm to create the ultimate gaming experience. As fans progress through their careers in the game, they can rock out to scores of Aerosmith’s greatest hits, as well as songs from celebrated artists that the band has either performed with or has been inspired by in some way. Venues from historical moments during the band’s illustrious career offer the experience of “sweet emotion” and further capture the essence of the band’s rise to fame.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is being developed by Neversoft Entertainment for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. The Wii™ version is being developed by Vicarious Visions. The PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system version is being developed by Budcat. The game is not yet rated by the ESRB.

Aerosmith plugs into 'Guitar Hero' popularity
By Mike Snider, USA TODAY

Two years ago, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry came home and found his youngest son, Roman, now 16, playing Guitar Hero with friends. "I played it a little bit and said, 'This is fantastic. Does it have any Aerosmith songs on it?' " Perry says. "The first game didn't, and I was hugely (upset)."
Perry may have been playing the blues then, but no more. The first one-band edition of the game, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, is due in June for PlayStation 2 and 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. GH: Aerosmith (about $50) will track the history of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, who have sold 100 million-plus albums.

"It's got our whole career, from the first place we ever played as a band, Nipmuc High School (in 1970, about 40 miles from Boston) to the (2001) Super Bowl halftime show," says lead singer Steven Tyler. "It's 30 years of the legend of Aerosmith and where we played to get where we are."

GH: Aerosmith is based on the technology of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, which has sold 6 million copies in its first four months. The $820 million in Guitar Hero sales for 2007 set a U.S. industry record. The GH franchise has sold more than 15.6 million copies worldwide of the games that let you strum and hit note buttons on a guitar-shaped controller as tracks play on-screen.

Aerosmith can be played by one or two players, who start out as Perry and can unlock guitarist Brad Whitford and bass player Tom Hamilton. The entire band did motion-capture sessions so screen images would be realistic. (Beyond Aerosmith, some opening acts will appear in the game, as well as some special guests — think Run-D.M.C.)

"It's a cartoon, but it's got all my movements and Steven's movements," Perry says. "You can tell it's Joey (Kramer) playing the drums."

Aerosmith members took their motion-capture sessions seriously, says Chris Parise, the senior producer on the game for developer Neversoft. "People get a feel for what going to an actual Aerosmith concert is really like," he says. "It is pretty authentic."

Aerosmith seemed destined to connect with Neversoft. As the game developer was fine-tuning Guitar Hero III, company president Joel Jewett was listening to the cover version of Aerosmith's Same Old Song and Dance and said the cover singer "didn't sound like Steven Tyler," said the game's lead designer, Alan Flores. "So we went back to get the original master, and in one day Joe Perry found out about it and was super-excited. He got the masters, and that sort of established the relationship."

About the same time, the game's development team began researching ways to expand the hit franchise. It surveyed Guitar Hero buyers and non-gamers, too, about which musical artists they liked and which ones might they be interested in playing a game about. "Aerosmith was consistently one of the top selected bands not only by (Guitar Hero) owners but also by the mass audience that is not an owner," says Dusty Welch of the game's publisher, RedOctane. Welch spent eight years at Activision before it acquired RedOctane in 2006.

The band had the headliner qualities they were looking for, Welch says: a respected lead guitarist, a charismatic frontman and a multiplatinum, globally appealing playlist.

"Aerosmith has demonstrated this resiliency and relevance that spans many decades," he says.

Aerosmith, which also has a new album in the works, hopes to benefit from the effect Guitar Hero has on music sales. Every Guitar Hero III song tracked by Nielsen SoundScan (62 of 70) saw an increase in digital download sales the week ending Dec. 30, when many who got the game as a gift were playing it.

Downloads of relative newcomer DragonForce's Through the Fire and Flames, selling fewer than 2,000 weekly, rose to more than 10,000 after GH III's release and approached 40,000 the week ending Dec. 30. Aerosmith earned a more modest increase on its Same Old Song and Dance, which rose to 2,041 from 374 copies the previous week.

To boost online sales, iTunes has a Guitar Hero store with collections from the original artists and WaveGroup, the music studio that created the many cover tracks used in the games. (iTunes also has a section devoted to songs in the similar game Rock Band).

Also out: an 11-track Guitar Hero III soundtrack CD.

Video games, Perry says, will "be one of the ways people are going to get their music. Guitar Hero works on so many levels. It break down a lot of barriers."

To promote GH: Aerosmith, the band's first single, 1973's Dream On, will be available for GH III players to download for free via Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Some day, the band could release new music through the game, Perry says: "It would make sense."

Eventually selling music tracks online, Welch says, "is part of the next evolution."

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming...itar-hero_N.htm

And in case you missed it in those huge blocks of quoted text:

*The first one-band edition of the game, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, is due in June for PlayStation 2 and 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. GH: Aerosmith (about $50) will track the history of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, who have sold 100 million-plus albums.

*"Dream On" will be available as a free download for GH3 players with 360s and PS3s

[Morgbug]

Well I like Aerosmith.  I actually like them quite a bit.  But I'm not sure that I really want to pay that much money just to get a game based entirely on them   I like the variety on the current game setup.  There are songs on there I've seldom or never heard before and have grown to like them.  That makes them more interesting than a game based on a group whose music I already own all of. 

[Matt]

Well I like Aerosmith.  I actually like them quite a bit.  But I'm not sure that I really want to pay that much money just to get a game based entirely on them   I like the variety on the current game setup.  There are songs on there I've seldom or never heard before and have grown to like them.  That makes them more interesting than a game based on a group whose music I already own all of. 

I agree with this, very much.  I like Aerosmith too (well, at least the 70's Aerosmith), but not enough to pay fifty bucks for *just* Aerosmith tracks--especially if a bunch of the tracks are their 90's and 00's garbage.  I'll treat this like the PS2 Rocks the 80's game--once it gets down to between $20-30, I'll bite.  In the meantime, I will enjoy "Dream On" for free, though.   

Also, rumor has it that a similar game based upon The Band With One Good Song may be due out this year, as well. . .

[CaptainYoda]

I agree with you guys. 50 plus dollars for just Aerosmith is kind of a strange idea. I like the variety of different bands as well.

[Diddly]

I've heard they're making a U2 version as well. Supposed to come out this winter with GH4.

[Morgbug]

U2 is a strange choice for guitar hero.  Great band by most people's measure, though I'm not the biggest fan.  But not a band that screams guitar to me. 

Sorry but going with just a solitary band is going to leave me not buying the stuff at all. 

[MetalJedi]

I'd rather them not put out single band Guitar Hero so they could put some better content to download on XBL. Rock Band has gotten alot of good downloads and yet Guitar Hero hasn't had many. I will however download "Dream On".

[ruiner]

A Metallica version of GH up to (and including) the Black album makes sense.

[Morgbug]

A Metallica version of GH up to (and including) the Black album makes sense.

Yup, it does.  But I still wouldn't buy it until it hit the $20-30 mark.  I'm just not interested in single band versions of the game.  I do think they'd be much better served taking those songs to a download situation where you can go get tons of a particular band's songs at a cost if you want them.  Leave future releases for mixed compilations and let the obsessive fans get what they want too.  As a PS2 owner, I'd be kinda screwed on the download aspect but that's ok, I'll live.  I'm already annoyed by not getting Dream On and would be miffed to not get more of the Aerosmith and Metallica stuff but if I really want it, I guess I can upgrade to a PS3 system.  Or Xbox. 

[Matt]

I wouldn't be interested in single-band games from any band, not even my favorites.  It'd get too monotonous, and I think a big part of the appeal of the series is the variety of all the different bands and types of music.  I'm not saying I wouldn't buy a Metallica game, but definitely not at full price--$20 or $30 tops.  I'd really rather have all that stuff as downloadable content and not separate discs.

That said, this got a bit lost in the shuffle in all that news last week:

As fans progress through their careers in the game, they can rock out to scores of Aerosmith’s greatest hits, as well as songs from celebrated artists that the band has either performed with or has been inspired by in some way.

Now what exactly that means, as far as ratio of Aerosmith tracks to non-Aerosmith tracks, nobody knows at this point.  But that makes it a little more appealing, to me anyway.

(And Brent, you're not missing much with "Dream On."  It's super-easy and it's a 2007 re-recording, not even the original.  And on that note, I've heard that all the old 70's masters may be lost, so it could very well be that whatever "classic" Aerosmith tracks we get in the new game may be new re-recordings.)

(Although, "Same Old Song and Dance" was the original master track, I do believe. . .)

[Matt]

Amazon has the game-only, 360 version of Rock Band on sale for $34.99 today (well, for the next several hours, anyway).  It usually sells for $59.99.  Great deal if you've already got one of the GH games (and guitars) for the 360. 

I went ahead and snagged it.  I've been wanting to get Rock Band but couldn't decide whether I should buy the big-ass bundle, or if I should buy everything separately.  But this was just too good a deal to pass up.  I'll probably pick up the drums later on, but I don't care about the mic, and I've already got the Les Paul guitar controller, which I like a lot more than the Strat controller that comes with Rock Band.  Much better deal for me than buying the bundle.