Put Your Hands Up Here Comes My DJ!

In an industry that has been said to be over saturated with peripherals for rhythm games do we really need a plastic turntable? People that don’t enjoy the gentle musings of Children of Bodom and Metallica would have to say: Yes!

Activision and FreeStyleGame’s DJ Hero is a game that still has you making coloured circles disappear much like previous Guitar Hero games but adds in the new functionality of scratching and cross-fader manipulation. Does DJ Hero have the replay value and fun factor to have it stand beside Guitar Hero though? In the words of Flava Flav, “CHECK THIS OUT!”

The Controller

DJ Hero’s controller consists of a spinning record with three buttons on it, a cross-fader that has slight resistance/click in the middle, an effects knob, an euphoria button (DJ Hero’s star power), and of course the standard native system controls shielded by a hinged compartment.

The controller works great from the hours I’ve put into it,  though I think that the effects knob and the euphoria button should be swapped as I find my hand knocks the cross-fader around while twisting. The disc itself spins very easily, sometimes on complicated scratching sections this can be bothersome as the buttons sometimes slip away from me. Being a right handed guitar hero player, complicated button patterns can be quite daunting as the hand positioning is awkward at first and having to press and scratch with my strumming hand can be quite tiresome.

You cannot play this game without the turntable peripheral which forces the $130.00 package on you. Or, if you are an Eminem/Jay-Z fan, the $230.00 package for The Renegade Edition.

Gameplay

DJ Hero’s learning curve is interesting. You cannot start the game without playing the tutorial which ensures the player knows the basics of the game. The only way to bypass the tutorial is with the unlock all code which disables all achievements. After the tutorial narrated by Grandmaster Flash you get to play 3 of the easiest songs in the game. The next tier however is significantly more difficult, I still haven’t gotten 5*s on some of those songs and it only gets harder from there.

DJ Hero compensates for this increased level of difficulty by making the game all about getting points, there is no way to fail (you can only fail yourself). Once you unlock later set lists such as The Scratch Perverts or Daft Punk’s Record Bag you’ll understand why.

DJ Hero’s set up is fairly simple and when watching a video of it you might find it appears to be very easy compare to the 5 lanes in Guitar Hero you’ve come to know.

The green track (left) represents record one, The red track (middle) are your samples, and blue (right) is record two. Using the cross-fader you have 3 positions you can be in: Left, Middle, and Right. On earlier difficulties scratching is non-dependent on what direction you move but on Expert not following the pattern of up or down will cause you to break combo.

Some things that set aside DJ Hero’s gameplay mechanics from Guitar Hero’s is the new concept of rewinding. Rewinds occur when you reach a 60 note streak and allow you to go back to a section of the song you’ve already played. How far you go back depends on how fast you spin the turntable backwards (as far as I can tell). Rewinds should be used as soon as you get them as you cannot store more than one.

The second feature of DJ Hero is the effects knob which can be used on sections with an orange bridge over the track. The faster you twist the knob, the more points you get. If you are familiar with the club scene you might like to slowly twist the knob for an interesting effect reminiscent of a real mixer setup with less points awarded.

Euphoria works like the star power in guitar hero however you can activate it after only one phrase is collected. Activating Euphoria auto-cross-fades allowing you to focus on button taps and scratching. However, if euphoria runs out and your cross-fader is not aligned properly you will break combo instantly.

While providing a challenge, DJ Hero’s game play is quite fun!

Who would’ve thought that scratching a complicated section would feel as cool as hitting a crazy solo in Guitar Hero!

Graphics

DJ Hero is a game about the club scene, so it features scantily clad female dancers, flashing lights, and of course DJs!

The Graphics are good for what they are, which is essentially Guitar Hero 5 but in the Club. Though, I doubt you will be paying attention to them much given the fact you’ll be concentrated on looking at the notes. One thing that could be improved is sometimes the DJ on screen doesn’t exactly do what you are doing with your peripheral. Maybe DJ Hero 2?

One thing to note however. is the great job they did on the Celebrity DJs. DJ AM (RIP), DJ Shadow, Z-Trip, and yes even Daft Punk all look fantastic.

Sound

This game sounds great! Even artists I previously hated (Black Eyed Peas, The Killers) have mixes I enjoy.

I especially enjoy playing the mixes involving KRS-One’s Jack of Spades and Daft Punk. It also should be mentioned that I have never been a fan of Jay-Z yet I keep coming back to his set list for more.

One downside however is the lack of electronica/dance music but the David Guetta DLC pack coming out on Tuesday (November 24th, 2009) will fix that.

DJ Hero boasts 93 original mixes so there is bound to be something you’ll like!

Multiplayer

Here is the downside of DJ Hero.

In my opinion it is a very anti-social game, when it comes to actually playing. While the Guitar/DJ Mixes can be enjoyable there are only 10 of them and the scroll speed difference seems to make playing them quite tiresome. This could however be corrected with the Hyperdeck code which for some reason nobody can figure out.

Online Multiplayer is a total wash since there is no ranked matches or indication of any reason to try to win against people besides an achievement/trophy.

One amazing thing though about online is that your score achieved in a pro face off match is transferred to your career- a feature that should definitely show up in future Guitar Hero games.

Given the fact there is no stand-alone turntable available I see no real reason to even consider playing anything but the single player campaign in this game- maybe a future DJ Hero game will address this.

The Interface

One thing that has to be said about DJ Hero, is the whole set up of  “Make a Setlist” is very confusing at first. You have to add mixes to play a setlist with the blue button rather than with green as we’d come to expect. As well there is no way to sort the setlist by title. You can only sort by mix author, intensity, high score, and stars needed. This makes finding one song out of 93 quite annoying. Also DJ Hero erases your lower scores even if they were on a higher difficulty than the one you achieved a higher one on.

Your best way of going about making a set list is going to quick list rather than using the “Custom DJ Set list 1/2″

Final Thoughts

DJ Hero is off to slow start much like the original Guitar Hero. Nobody would have thought a game where you play plastic guitar would get as big as it is now, yet many people scoff at the idea that anyone would want to play DJ Hero.

I say to you, try the game before you dismiss it! It’s one of the most refreshing, unique, and difficult titles North American rhythm gaming has ever seen.

DJ Hero is also a game that can be as difficult as the mix authors want it to be, they don’t need to depend on whether a band has a guitarist that can shred for hours for the song to be difficult- and if the final songs are any indication of what FreeStyleGames/Activision can come up with, expert players should be very scared for what’s to come.

Gameplay: 4.5/5

Graphics: 4.5/5

Sound: 5/5

Replay: 4.5/5

Codes for DJ Hero

DJHero.com

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In yet another case of The Music vs. Acitivision, No Doubt are filing a lawsuit against the makers of Band Hero.

The suit contends the game “transformed No Doubt band members into a virtual karaoke circus act,” and the use of the band members’ avatars far exceeded anything agreed upon in the contract, according to the Los Angeles Times. One aspect of the game allows players to manipulate their characters into singing songs by other artists, for example having lead singer Gwen Stefani sing “Honky Tonk Woman” by the Rolling Stones.

“While No Doubt are avid fans of the Rolling Stones and even have performed in concerts with the Rolling Stones, the Character Manipulation Feature results in an unauthorized performance by the Gwen Stefani avatar in a male voice boasting about having sex with prostitutes,” the complaint reads.

The complaint also claims Activision withheld information on the Character Manipulation Feature, and allegedly told the band after they had requested to the have the function disabled that it would be too expensive to do so.

Initially, No Doubt signed on to having their likenesses used for only three of their own songs in the game, but wound up appearing in more than 60 songs either as a band or solo. The lawsuit  asks for actual and punitive damages that are as yet unspecified, a temporary restraining order and a permanent injunction stopping the distribution of Band Hero, as well as a recall of any existing copies.

The complaint argues the songs No Doubt appear on “include lyrics, contained in iconic songs, which are not appropriate for No Doubt and have not been chosen by No Doubt for recordings or public performances.”

“The band [members] are bitterly disappointed that their name and likeness was taken and used without their permission,” band manager Jim Guerinot told the Los Angeles Times. “They agreed to play three No Doubt songs as a band. . . . Activision then went and put them in 62 other songs and broke the band up [and] never even asked.”

As for Activision, they must be getting used to this sort of thing after coming under fire from both Dave Grohl and Courtney Love on behalf of Kurt Cobain when his likeness was used with the same Character Manipulation Feature.

Activision is claiming No Doubt’s suit is “without merit” and the company is now exploring its own legal options with respect to No Doubt’s obligations under the agreement.”

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Activision Blizzard created an organization for charity called Call of Duty Endowment to help veterans combat unemployment. Endowment will direct resources to organizations helping soldiers transition to civilian careers.
The organization is created with a goal to raise and donate millions of dollars and help raise awareness of veterans unemployment. A portion of Modern Warfare 2 sales will go directly to CODE and since the game has already been a runaway hit it is safe to assume they are on their way to making a difference.

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Dying to play Dj Hero? Well aren’t we all. The good news is that a demo has been brought forth to the curious and excited. Gamestop now has demo to the highly anticipated Dj Hero. Starting on October 11^th in a select few stores the demo will be present. Gamers and music enthusiasts that take it for a spin on the Xbox 360 can enter to win prizes. One of them winning a VIP trip to meet Eminem and watching him perform. As well as many other prizes.

The prizes you could win:

Grand Prize (1 Winner)

VIP trip for you and a friend to EMINEM’s concert at the Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans on October 30, 2009
Exclusive invitation to EMINEM’s sound check
VIP meet and greet with EMINEM
2 Xbox 360 DJ Hero Renegade Editions signed by EMINEM
2 Xbox 360 consoles
2 Xbox LIVE Messenger Gold Packs

1st Runner Up (10 Winners)

Xbox 360 DJ Hero Renegade Edition signed by EMINEM
Xbox 360 console
Xbox LIVE Messenger Gold Pack

2nd Runner Up (1,000 Winners)

DJ Hero exclusive prize pack including: DJ Hero hat, keychain, pen and sticker

As Eminem once sang “if you had one shot, or one opportunity. To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment. Would you capture it or just let it slip?” If you’re up to the challenge to try this out, you can locate the closest demo to you at Djhero.com Although it looks like this is only an American deal. Sorry Canada = (

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Move aside, guitar, there’s a new Hero taking over the video game world: the turntable.

Video game creator Activision has released the much-anticipated massive set list for the DJ Hero video game, which comes out on Oct. 27, according to CHARTattack.

The game features 93 exclusive mixes by some of the industry’s top DJs, including Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow, and the late DJ AM. On the game these DJs slice up songs by artists such as Daft Punk, The Killers, Jay-Z, Public Enemies, and the Beastie Boys.

DJ Hero aims to expand on the technology used in video games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band. The game will use a turntable controller to help immerse players into DJ culture. It will give aspiring DJs the chance to learn DJ techniques including sampling, crossfading, and scratching.

DJ Hero is being marketed as a game to be played in groups. Activision is hoping the game will do for house parties what Guitar Hero did for guitars. Unlike other games of its kind, DJ Hero actively encourages players put their own artistic input onto the tracks, as there is room for creative expression on all mixes.

The Renegade Edition of the game, featuring Eminem and Jay-Z, includes a copy of the game, a premium controller, and a hard-shell turntable carrying case that converts to a performance-ready DJ stand. The special edition also contains an exclusive Eminem and Jay-Z two-CD pack including some new and unreleased material.

Here is the full DJ Hero set list:

2Pac – “All Eyez On Me” vs. The Aranbee Pop Orchestra — “Bittersweet Symphony (Instrumental)”
50 Cent – “Disco Inferno” vs. David Bowie — “Let’s Dance”
50 Cent – “Disco Inferno” vs. InDeep — “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life”
Afrika Bambaataa – “Zulu Nation Throwdown” vs. Freedom Express — “Get Down”
Beastie Boys – “Here’s A Little Somethin’ For Ya” vs. DJ Shadow — “The Number Song (2009 Version)” (Produced and mixed by DJ Shadow)
Beastie Boys – “Intergalactic” vs. Blondie — “Rapture”
Beastie Boys – “Lee Majors Come Again” vs. Daft Punk — “Da Funk” (Produced and mixed by Cut Chemist)
Beck – “Where It’s At” vs. DJ Shadow — “Six Days (Remix ft. Mos Def)”
Bell Biv DeVoe — “Poison” Beat Juggle
Bell Biv DeVoe – “Poison” vs. Beastie Boys — “Intergalactic” (Produced and mixed by DJ AM)
Bell Biv DeVoe – “Poison” vs. Cameo — “Word Up!”
Benny Benassi – “Satisfaction” vs. Tiësto — “Elements Of Life”
Billy Squier – “The Big Beat” vs. N.E.R.D. — “Lapdance” (DJ-Guitar mix)
Black Eyed Peas – “Boom Boom Pow” vs. Benny Benassi — “Satisfaction”
Bobby “Blue” Bland – “Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City” vs. 2Pac — “How Do You Want It”
Bobby “Blue” Bland – “Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City” vs. Connie Price & The Keystones — “Fuzz And Them”
Boogie Down Productions – “Jack Of Spades” vs. David Bowie — “Let’s Dance” (Produced and mixed by DJ Shadow)
Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers — “Bustin’ Loose” vs. The Zombies — “Time Of The Season” (Produced and mixed by DJ Shadow)
Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers —”Bustin’ Loose” vs. Young MC — “Bust A Move”
Common – “Universal Mind Control (U.M.C.)” vs. Masta Ace — “Jeep A** Gutter (Aaron LaCrate & Debonair Samir RMX)” (Produced and mixed by The Scratch Perverts)
Cypress Hill – “Insane In The Brain” vs. Classics IV — “Spooky”
Cypress Hill – “Insane In The Brain” vs. David Axelrod — “The Edge”
Daft Punk – “Around The World” vs. Young MC — “Bust A Move”
Daft Punk – “Da Funk” vs. N.A.S.A. — “Strange Enough ft. Karen O, ODB & Fatlip”
Daft Punk — “Megamix 1″
Daft Punk — “Megamix 2″
Daft Punk — “Robot Rock” vs. Hashim – “Al Naafyish (The Soul)” (Produced and mixed by The Scratch Perverts)
Daft Punk — “Robot Rock” vs. Queen – “We Will Rock You”
Daft Punk — “Short Circuit” vs. Boogie Down Productions – “Jack Of Spades”
Daft Punk — “Technologic” vs. Gary Numan – “Cars”
Daft Punk — “Television Rules the Nation” vs. No Doubt – “Hella Good”
David Axelrod — “The Edge” vs. Eric B. & Rakim – “Eric B. Is President”
Dizzee Rascal — “Fix Up, Look Sharp” vs. DJ Shadow – “Organ Donor (Extended Overhaul)”
Dizzee Rascal — “Fix Up, Look Sharp” vs. Justice – “Genesis”
DJ Shadow — “Six Days (Remix ft. Mos Def)” vs. D-Code – “Annie’s Horn”
Eminem — “My Name Is” vs. Beck – “Loser”
Fedde Le Grand — “Put Your Hands Up For Detroit” vs. Sandy Rivera and David Penn — “I Can’t Stop (David Penn Remix)”
Foo Fighters — “Monkey Wrench” vs. Beastie Boys — “Sabotage” (DJ-Guitar mix)
Foreigner — “Juke Box Hero” vs. DJ Z-Trip ft. Murs — “DJ Hero” (Produced and mixed by DJ Z-Trip)
Foreigner — “Juke Box Hero” vs. DJ Z-Trip ft. Murs — “DJ Hero” (DJ-Guitar mix, produced and mixed by DJ Z-Trip)
Gang Starr — “Just To Get A Rep” vs. Mobb Deep — “Shook Ones, Pt 2″ (Produced and mixed by J. Period)
Gorillaz — “Feel Good Inc.” vs. Blondie — “Atomic”
Grandmaster Flash’s — “Boom” vs. “Tap” (Produced and mixed by Grandmaster Flash)
Grandmaster Flash, DJ Kool, DJ Demo — “Here Comes My DJ” vs. Gary Numan – “Cars” (Produced and mixed by Grandmaster Flash)
Gwen Stefani — “Hollaback Girl” vs. Gorillaz – “Feel Good Inc.”
Gwen Stefani — “Hollaback Girl” vs. InDeep “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life” (Produced and mixed by DJ AM)
Gwen Stefani — “Hollaback Girl” vs. Rick James — “Give It To Me”
Herbie Hancock — “Rockit” Beat Juggle
Herbie Hancock – “Rockit” vs. N.E.R.D. – “Lapdance” (Produced and mixed by Grandmaster Flash)
InDeep — “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life” vs. Cameo — “Word Up!”
Jackson 5 — “I Want You Back” vs. Gang Starr — “Just To Get A Rep” (Produced and mixed by DJ Yoda)
Jackson 5 — “I Want You Back” vs. Third Eye Blind — “Semi-Charmed Life” (DJ-Guitar mix)
Jackson 5 — “I Want You Back” vs. Third Eye Blind — “Semi-Charmed Life”
JAY-Z feat. Pharrell — “Change Clothes” vs. 2Pac — “All Eyez on Me”
JAY-Z — “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” vs. Eminem — “My Name Is”
JAY-Z — “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” vs. Jackson 5 — “I Want You Back”
JAY-Z — “Excuse Me Miss” vs. Rick James — “Give It To Me”
Jean Knight — “Mr. Big Stuff” vs. Masta Ace — “Born To Roll”
Jurassic 5 — “Jayou” vs. Billy Squier — “The Big Beat”
Jurassic 5 — “Jayou” vs. Herbie Hancock — “Rockit”
Kid Cudi — “Day ‘N’ Nite” vs. Black Eyed Peas — “Boom Boom Pow”
Kool Moe Dee — “How Ya Like Me Now” vs. Reel 2 Real featuring The Mad Stuntman — “I Like To Move It”
Little Richard — “Tutti Frutti” vs. Shlomo — “Beats” (Produced and mixed by DJ Yoda)
M.I.A. — “Paper Planes” vs. Eric B. & Rakim — “Eric B. Is President” (Produced and mixed by The Scratch Perverts)
M.I.A. — “Paper Planes” vs. Wale — “Lookin’ At Me”
Marvin Gaye — “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” vs. David Bowie — “Let’s Dance”
Marvin Gaye — “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” vs. Gorillaz — “Feel Good Inc.”
Motörhead — “Ace Of Spades” vs. Noisia — “Groundhog” (DJ—Guitar mix)
N.A.S.A. — “Strange Enough ft. Karen O, ODB & Fatlip” vs. Isaac Hayes — “Theme From Shaft”
Noisia — “Groundhog” Beat Juggle (Produced and mixed by The Scratch Perverts)
Paul van Dyk — “Nothing But You” vs. Sandy Rivera and David Penn — “I Can’t Stop (David Penn Remix)”
Public Enemy — “Shut ‘Em Down” vs. Beck — “Where It’s At”
Public Enemy ft. Zakk Wylde — “Bring The Noise 20XX” vs. Justice — “Genesis” (Produced and mixed by DJ Z—Trip)
Public Enemy featuring Zakk Wylde — “Bring The Noise 20XX” (DJ—Guitar mix)
Q—Tip — “Good Thang” vs. Billy Squier — “The Big Beat” (Produced and mixed by J. Period)
Queen — “Another One Bites The Dust” vs. Beastie Boys — “Brass Monkey” (Produced and mixed by DJ Z—Trip)
Queen — “Another One Bites The Dust” vs. Daft Punk — “Da Funk”
Rihanna — “Disturbia” vs. Kid Sister — “Control”
Rihanna — “Disturbia” vs. The Killers — “Somebody Told Me” (DJ—Guitar mix)
Rihanna — “Disturbia” vs. The Trammps — “Disco Inferno”
Shlomo — “Beats” vs. Billy Squier — “The Big Beat”
Street Sweeper Social Club — “Fight! Smash! Win!” vs. Beastie Boys — “Intergalactic” (DJ—Guitar mix)
Tears For Fears — “Shout” vs. DJ Shadow — “Six Days (Remix ft. Mos Def)”
Tears For Fears — “Shout” vs. Eric B. & Rakim — “Eric B. Is President” (Produced and mixed by DJ Jazzy Jeff)
Tears For Fears — “Shout” vs. Eric Prydz — “Pjanoo”
The Aranbee Pop Orchestra — “Bittersweet Symphony (Instrumental)” vs. LL Cool J — “Rock The Bells” (Produced and mixed by DJ Jazzy Jeff)
The Scratch Perverts Beats and Pieces (Produced and mixed by The Scratch Perverts)
The Killers — “Somebody Told Me” vs. Eric Prydz — “Pjanoo”
Vanilla Ice — “Ice Ice Baby” vs. MC Hammer — “U Can’t Touch This”
Vanilla Ice — “Ice Ice Baby” vs. Paula Abdul — “Straight Up”
Wale — “Lookin’ At Me” vs. Black Eyed Peas ft. Tippa Irie — “Hey Mama”
Weezer — “Beverly Hills” vs. Evidence, The Alchemist, Aceyalone, Rakaa & 88 Keys — “Fresh Rhymes And Videotape” (DJ—Guitar mix)
Wild Cherry — “Play That Funky Music” vs. Gang Starr — “Just To Get A Rep” (DJ— Guitar mix)

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PARTY ON!

In early 2006 Harmonix split ways with the Guitar Hero series and went off with MTV to create Rock Band leaving Activision to contract Neversoft to re-build the game that Harmonix arguably perfected. This move marked the day that split the plastic instrument community right down the middle.

While some people saw no problem with the direction that Guitar Hero went in there is a hardcore contingency of people that would like nothing more than to see Guitar Hero vanish into obscurity and let Harmonix’s Rock Band franchise rule supreme. It has been said that ever since Rock Band was released Guitar Hero has been scrambling to avoid doing just that by “ripping off” Rock Band any chance they get. Well if that’s the case then on September 1st, 2009 they finally caught up.

Guitar Hero 5 seems to have fixed everything “wrong” with Guitar Hero World Tour and thrown in all the improvements we have received from the side games that followed (Metallica, Smash Hits). What we have now is a sleek interface with incredible graphics which still retain the trademark over the top Guitar Hero style mixed with a bit of Rock Band’s low frame rate use to give the illusion of a music video. Guitar Hero 5 also boasts a different take on some of Rock Band’s innovations: the ability to “save” your band mate once they fail through maintaining a long enough streak of notes hit, individual star-power for each member of the band which if maxed out will overflow to other members, and band moments which work much like Rock Band’s “Unison Bonuses” however focused on band multipliers rather than added star-power/overdrive.

The really big feature however is Party Play mode which combined with the fact Guitar Hero 5 allows any instrument to join allows you to have just that- a party. As soon as the game loads up the music starts playing and all you need to do is press Yellow (Y Button on your controller) and you are able to join instantly! Pick your instrument (Guitar/Bass) your difficulty and off you go! Same thing applies to vocalists and people with drums, I especially liked how it remembered my hyper-speed settings dependent on the slot my instrument was connected to (Player 1, Player 2) and yes Hyper-speed is now in the options of quickplay- it’s no longer under cheats!

Another nifty feature in party play is making playlists of up to 125 songs and you don’t even need to play them you can just sit back and watch the animations and join at anytime! If your group of friends has a fondness for the music Guitar Hero licenses this will no doubt be a hit at parties- I mean come on… Who doesn’t like a bit of Rammstein followed by Stevie Wonder.

Contraversial digi-Kurt, an in-game character.

Track lists are of course subjective by nature but I really feel that the setlist for Guitar Hero 5 while not having the most insanely difficult “ow my hand hurts please make it stop mommy” songs it still has some fairly challenging Guitar songs (Scatterbrain by Jeff Beck, Done with Everything Die for Nothing by Children of Bodom) it does have a 14 minute song by Peter Frampton after all complete with Talkbox solo and an outro solo that may take you by surprise. If I had to guess though that as we go forward with these games the focus seems to becoming more about drummers and vocalists because with Guitar Hero 5 it surely delivers on that front. 21st Century Schizoid Man by King Crimson and Brianstorm by Arctic Monkeys will give any expert drummer a run for their money- or hard difficulty drummer even. Another plus is that the Rock Band drum kit which is 4 pads as opposed to Guitar Hero’s which is 5 has been modified so that the orange crash note is now on green- which allows more a much better feel while playing the reduced charts.

As vocals are primarily my main instrument there are some real interesting picks here, who would’ve thought singing Bush’s 90s hit “Come Down” would be so fun! There’s quite the challenge in store for you as well if you play expert vocals as vocal phrases are now scored by how much of each phrase you hit. Singers with high lung capacities and accurate pitches are rewarded with higher scores and Neversoft has finally given us a visual feedback meter to help us determine how much of the phrase we are hitting akin to Rock Band’s pie meter.

Everyone should know by now that Kurt Cobain is in the game as a playable character and unlike Hendrix (in Guitar Hero: World Tour) you can play other songs with him! Of course if you choose to do that Kurt won’t be left handed anymore and you wouldn’t want to do that, now would you? It’s great to play Lithium and Smells Like Teen Spirit with his character however and it’s an experience only had in the career mode of the game, which can be played with any combination of instruments and online!

Use your Xbox Live avatar as an in game rock god? SCORE!

To add to the replay value each song in career mode has a challenge associated with it I won’t list them all but to get some of these diamond challenges you are either going to have become really good at expert guitar or find someone online to play with you and that goes for any challenge (vocals, drums, bass) as long as they are in your band you get the challenge unlocked.

Another great thing about Guitar Hero 5 is the ability to import my World Tour DLC into the game which feels brand new in comparison, and additionally a portion of songs (which is rumoured to expand eventually) from World Tour and Smash Hits for a small fee of $3.50 US for each game (approximately on Xbox Live). However you must actually have the manual from the game in your possession, and with the way people are I could see the code being copied at stores and people being unhappy when they buy it and have their code show up as invalid. It’s nice to see my song list up to 195 songs though.

The online mode has also been revamped with new competitive modes that while still are about hitting all the notes provide an added challenge through modes such as Momentum, Do or Die, Perfectionist, and Streakers. I’ve played them and they were a blast and a nice change from who can use starpower at the better opportunity while hitting every solo ever.

In short while Guitar Hero 5 doesn’t have the level of expert difficulty Dragonforce gives us or Guitar Hero: Metallica it’s still a great game with tons of replay value especially if you are willing to play different instruments. This game is great for parties I can’t stress it enough- being able to join instantly in the middle of a song may be the best idea ever for these games. Plus the game has King Crimson – 21st Century Schizoid Man if that won’t sell the copies I don’t know what will.

Gameplay: 5/5

Graphics: 5/5

Sound: 4/5

Replay Value: 5/5

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Ah, Twitter, where would we be without you.

In the first of today’s Twitter-leaked news stories, Courtney Love spilled the virtual beans last week about her outrage over the new Kurt Cobain Guitar Hero avatar.

“FOR THE RECORD, I DID NOT APPROVE KURTS AVATAR FOR GUYITARHERO5. i think Kurt would despise this game alone let alone this avatar,” she wrote.

Then came the more telling post: “We are going to sue the shit out of Activision we being the Trust the Estate the LLC the various LLCs Cobain Enterprises.”

Activision has since responded in a less-mouthy fashion.

“Guitar Hero secured the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a written agreement signed by Courtney Love to use Kurt Cobain’s likeness as a fully playable character in Guitar Hero® 5,” according to Pitchfork.

Certainly the idea of iconic Nirvana frontman and unofficial leader of grunge, not to mention the figurehead for a generation of disenchanted teengers in the early 90s, is upsetting. Imagine the shaggy, plaid-wearing singer known for his gravelly, disenchanted moan belting ”Total Eclipse of the Heart” at the mercy of some audacious gamers or drunken frat-boys.

It’s enough to make you sick, or at least that’s what happened to Love. (Though it’s probably not that difficult.)

“I saw a piece of [Kurt's] avatar on the nightly news. I actually had to vomit,” she said via Twitter.

Former bandmates Dave Grohl and Kris Novoselic were less violently opposed to the avatar, and actually articulated their stance in an official statement.

Though they claim to have been aware of Cobain’s likeness appearing on Guitar Hero, they didn’t anticipate the control players would have over the avatar.

“This feature allows the character to be used with any kind of song the player wants. We urge Activision to do the right thing in “re-locking” Kurt’s character so that this won’t continue in the future,” they wrote in the statement found on Pitchfork. “It’s hard to watch an image of Kurt pantomiming other artists’ music alongside cartoon characters. Kurt Cobain wrote songs that hold a lot of meaning to people all over the world. We feel he deserves better.”

It remains to be seen if Love’s claims of legal actions will become a reality, but stay tuned to her Twitter where you will probably find all that information and what she f*****g had for dinner.

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I still remember the summer when Guitar Hero 2 came out.  It was a summer not unlike this one.  The sun was hot and the air was clear, but I did not go outside.  I stayed in and worked my way through career mode on medium, then hard, and then expert.  Would you believe, I started impressing girls with my button-shredding abilities?

Video game fans, take my advice.  Stay in this season and hone your fake guitar skills with Activision’s Guitar Hero: Smash Hits.  Some may scoff at this newest entry, a compilation of the greatest hits from previous guitar hero releases, but the core gameplay remains tight and challenging as ever.  The tracks have been taken from Guitar Heroes 1, 2 and 3, with entries from Rock the 80′s and Aerosmith.  All of the tracks are now playable by the whole band – guitar, bass, vocals and drums – just as in Guitar Hero World Tour.  The selection features lots of reliable favourites, but like the rest of the series there’s a heavy weighting on classic rock and metal.

GH has always separated itself from Rock Band by playing up the competitive aspect of the game.  Where Rock Band 2 added favourites like Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads and Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, Guitar Hero 3 saw soul-crushing entries like Raining Blood by Slayer and Through the Fire and the Flames by Dragonforce.  As a devoted Guitar Hero player since the series started, I could simply not get through either of the latter songs, even on hard mode.  Guitar Hero: Smash Hits has remedied the problem by smoothing out the gap between difficulty modes.  It took me lots of work to beat Raining Blood on Hard in GH3, but the song has been rejigged to make it less complicated this time around.  The difficulty definitely ramps up in Expert mode – but even Through the Fire and the Flames lets you play most of the song on the slider bar without worrying about strumming.  On the other hand, it means that the note layouts on your favourite song have probably changed.  If you had almost memorized The Sword’s Freya, for example, you might be as bothered as I was to have to learn the song again.

As the music genre slowly evolves, gamers are becoming more familiar with plastic instruments.  Guitar Hero: Smash Hits doesn’t quite offer anything new in the way of gameplay that a previous entry hadn’t already done.  Guitar Hero: Metallica brought us Expert+ mode on drums – and it’s back.  Some really tough songs have a skull and crossbones icon, meaning you can attach a second bass pedal to your drum kit and blast your way through Lamb of God’s Laid to Rest, among others.  The bass has recently been improved with an open note, where no buttons are pressed, and this makes songs like Rush’s YYZ all the more dynamic and enjoyable.

Despite these subtle changes I have described, this is still a Guitar Hero game, and you have definitely played this before.  The game runs on the same engine as World Tour, and features many of the same options including customizable avatars, guitars and tattoos.  Activision has recently announced a downloadable licensing patch that will make Guitar Hero 5 backwards compatible with most of the tracks on the Smash Hits disc.  This will certainly give the GH franchise some legs, as it jostles to dethrone Rock Band 2 as the reigning rhythm game.

Guitar Hero: Smash Hits has the same visual style as its predecessors.  There is a cartoony feel to the characters on screen matched by realistic motion capturing.  The venues are exotic this time around, everything from the pyramids in Egypt to the strangely-chosen final level in Quebec City.  The sound is generally pretty good in this game, but there are some slight discrepancies between the tracks as they appear here and their original recordings.  No One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age suffers from this – the bass is way too quiet in the game mix.  Audience effects are pretty minor here, and I’m fondly reminded of Rock Band here; nothing sounds as exhilarating as when the audience sings along with your song.

Ultimately, the gaming enthusiast has two distinct choices on the console.  Rock Band is known for its lengthy list of downloadable tracks.  Lots of popular genres are represented, including simpler tracks that demand less skill to play.  This can make it boring for extended play sessions.  Guitar Hero, on the other hand, has always curated a list of challenging songs.  Sure, the series features I Love Rock and Roll and other ultra-basic tracks, but the difficulty ramps up fast.  The career mode of Guitar Hero: Smash Hits is where it’s at.  Practice with this game, and you will be a fret-shredder in no time.

Gameplay: 5/5

Graphics: 4/5

Sound: 4/5

Replay Value: 4.5/5

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Wolfenstein, the first, first person shooter I ever played has come back with an all new story, new powers, and yes, zombie Nazis. But do powers, a unique story and zombies really make a game great? I figured since I have history with this title that I would put it upon myself to find out by writing up a full review about Wolfenstein on the Xbox 360, below see what I thought.

Taking place during Nazi Germany during WWII, Wolfenstein focuses on the paranormal studies both the Nazi’s and the allies looked into. Experiments using a Dark Force known only as the Black Sun are extremely close to giving Nazi’s the power needed to rule the world and all that stands in the way of total domination is a spunky young American soldier known lovingly as BJ. A straight up WWII FPS for the first few minutes, players quickly see where this game veers off course into a sci-fi shoot-em-up with everything from space-aged weaponry to zombie Nazis, what more could a gamer ask for?

BJ has a number of weapons at his disposal, from melee attacks using his gun butts and shovels, to occult powers of the veil and a mysterious amulet that lets him use and recharge his powers. These powers are somewhat out of place, but give the title a little more depth to the already shallow story. With the ability to see an alternate world around him (complete with exploding freaky metroid type monsters only you can see), slow down time, create a shield, strengthen bullets, and more you will find yourself constantly utilizing these powers (more than I would have liked), and constantly looking for pools to refill your veil energy. Like Wolverine’s feral sense, Spiderman’s spidey sense, and Batman’s … bat sense? You will find yourself playing through most of the game in veil view, taking away from the graphics and textures… which might not actually be a bad thing.

Expect to play most of the game through this perspective.

The graphics found in Wolfenstein are a mixed bag, sometimes it looks fantastic, other times, not so much. Case in point is a cutscene with BJ is talking to two other soldiers, all their heads and hands are well textured and animated, while the room around them, their bodies and their suits look absolutely horrible, Call of Duty 2 graphics (and no, not Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2). Character animations in game are pretty underwhelming as well, while the Havoc engine is at use to create the necessary physics in this one, you would never know by the way npcs moved around during gun fights. When you will notice it however is whenever a special effect is present. Shooting Dark Force barrels will send enemies floating in the sky where they will grab at anything to balance themselves, a nice touch but really nothing new since Star Wars: the force unleashed. The lighting effects are overall very nice, however as mentioned before, more often than not you won’t even be able to appreciate most of them as you will be using your veil view throughout most of the game.

While I may have slammed the graphics a little for this game, it’s nothing in comparison to how bad the audio experience was when playing. Bad voice acting is one thing, but Wolfenstein takes the top spot for wishing my ears would just give out a little. Poor voice acting with horribly bland german accents of English throughout most of the game gets extremely tiring very quickly. Even when Nazis are talking to you and think your another german citizen, they still speak English with bad heavy German accents. The biggest issue I had with the voice work in this game came from the design of gameplay. Walk into one of the secret hidden ally hideouts (conveniently painted logos on their doors by the way) and walk past 3 npcs and you will hear 3 separate people telling you 3 different stories at the same time with the same volume. It gets so bad that unless you stop and listen to each person as you come up to them and wait for them to finish talking, you won’t know where you are supposed to go next. Explosions, and gunfire are standard fare and don’t merit discussion.

Zombies... and Nazis... combined into the ultimate enemy.

The game itself plays fine and is in fact a fun game to play. There’s a level of patience necessary when traversing the city as you are constantly being hunted down and chased by Nazis if your not holed up in a safe house. Utilizing basic gaming form, hidden passages, exploding barrels, collectible items such as gold and intel and finally earning cash for completing missions which can then be used to upgrade your weapons and powers provide enough reason to retry a mission or two but in the end, you will be playing this game to stop the Nazis and nothing else. Zombie Nazis look ghoulish and outlandish, which I feel, is a plus. How could anyone not want to shoot two of the most hated being types in the world (zombies and Nazis) put together into one monster? There’s definitely a level of satisfaction coming from the death of each one (by the way, you don’t even see your first zombie Nazi until a good 4 or 5 hours into gameplay).

Nazi Moby directs traffic in Berlin.

Another aspect Wolfenstein holds is a decent multiplayer mode in which up to 12 players (only 12) can battle in team death match, objective, and stopwatch modes and pick between three different classes such as solider medic and engineer. As you play, you gain experience to allow you to unlock items such as flack jackets, extra grenades, weapon upgrades, and power upgrades.  While the addition of multiplayer modes is always welcome, with games such as Modern Warfare offering so much more it almost comes as an insult thinking that Wolfenstein could get away with such a meager offering.

As long as you can handle the bad graphics, bad voice acting, and ridiculous story, you might very well enjoy Wolfenstein. While it is somewhat reminiscent of the original Wolfenstein 3D (such as the old school loading screen and the difficulty levels being the same as the original PC ones), Wolfenstein is a completely new game for a new generation.

Gameplay: 3/5

Graphics: 3/5

Sound: 1/5

Replay Value: 2/5

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In a move sure to delight and anger plastic instrument enthusiasts everywhere Kurt Cobain has been included in Guitar Hero 5 alongside living rockers Santana, Matt Bellamy, Shirley Manson and deceased Johnny Cash.

The addition of Kurt Cobain gives us two never before used Nirvana tracks in a Guitar Hero or Rock Band video game, “Lithium (live)” and the holy grail *drum roll* “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.

One has to wonder how much money Courtney Love made off this little foray but in any event I’m excited to take my flannel jacket out of the closet and rock out come September 1st.

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People who Pre-ordered Tony Hawk Ride from Gamestop/EB games will now recieve a code for unlockable content on the games launch. The content is open for anyone who pre-ordered  in-store or online at http://www.gamestop.com between now and Nov. 17 will receive an exclusive code on release day to unlock the brand new Quiksilver All ’80s All Day Level in the game.

The unlockable level was inspired by a real quicksilver event and promises to drop players in an authentic 80s skater feel complete with a retro wardrobe and 80′s Tony Hawk. Also unlocked will be Legendary skater Christian Hosoi.

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Activision has announced the November 3rd release of Bizarre Creations’ new racing extravaganza game – and it looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. Players will race up to 50 licensed cars, over courses featuring jumps, alternate routes and hairpin turns – business as usual.  What’s unusual is that while this is going on, players will be picking up power-ups – nitro, shields, and offensive weapons to knock the other players into last place – or out of the race completely.

Blur looks upon first glance to be no more than a Burnout clone, but without going into too many details, it’s a project all it’s own.  Placing an emphasis on the multiplayer experience through a community-based interface, a “unique story-driven social network”, this game promises to deliver better, more personable online play.

So look for this title on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in November – if you’re not paying attention, it might just blow right past you.

Cheers.

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Encore once more…

You know what’s funny? I did a bit of digging around before I got down to writing my review and realized that the DS version of Guitar Hero has seen its third offering in about a years time. So you know it’s been selling relatively well to merit a sequel and since the Guitar Hero Brand is popular there is no stopping this juggernaut on any platform. Despite that it’s a bit too quick to be releasing so many sequels if you ask me.

With Activition’s third offering for the DS we dive into the basic same game with a different playlist and more broad approach to single player progression. Save for a few key setbacks this has become my favorite Guitar Hero title on the DS simply because of the aforementioned feature and playlist.
Now andPOP has reviewed the previous iterations so for a full understanding I will kindly ask you to refer to those in depth reviews to get a broader understanding of the game.
I find it funny that this game actually took physical form, it couldn’t be download only on the DS, but had they gone that way I wouldn’t be surprised since that’s the amount of content that’s packed within the cart. That’s not to say it’s not worth a pick up if you are a huge fan of the series on the DS but if you’ve played and owned the previous two versions than you’ve essentially played the third. Now if you don’t have any of the DS incantations then this is the version you have to pick up.

Game play
Developed by Vicarious Visions, the same fine people who blew our minds on the Gameboy advance with the stellar Tony Hawk conversions. These guys know and understand the DS and this is evident the moment you start the game. Essentially the true Guitar Hero feel and vibe is spot on and the presence has been scaled down and fit inside your DS screens.

The game play has remained the same tried and true formula of playing songs in different venues to open up more songs and more venues. The primary difference this time around is that this experience is made less linear. Now each venue has different songs categories that need to be played; these are Headline, Opening, and Fan request. Essentially you are free to check each venue and play either category in any order you want in order to progress to the next venue and their list of songs.

In a sense you can probably call this just an organizational method cheekily hid behind “a new game play” banner and you’d be almost right. I said almost because the third mode in each venue-fan request- has you playing through the songs with special conditions to satisfy. Sometimes you’ll have to hit a 100 note streak, other times you have to use no star power, and a couple more to make the repeated songs you’ll play seem a bit fresh. It gives the game a small boost since objective play was very rare on any of the consoles previous installments.
The title has the same game play options since its debut, save for the online component and playlist, you will feel like you’ve played this twice before (assuming you did buy the other two versions). I must say I did enjoy the guitar strumming on the DS and my hand didn’t cramp this outing, probably because it’s used to it by now. The pic stylus always makes me smile. The once unique control still suits the title and has not lost its charm.

um... the 80's called and want their style back.

Graphics
It wasn’t really broken so they need not to try and fix the visuals, but I wanted something of an upgrade.
It’s hard to demand upgraded visuals of a title that probably was developed in tandem with the other DS version and knowingly released a good few months later.
It’s sort of sad but none of the animations have changed and things still don’t sync up to what you are playing, not that it was ever their intention to do so but you lose the connection with the visuals knowing they’re just there and are not affected by your actions. For what it’s worth it has the Guitar Hero look and feel but still carries the late N64 era visuals that look half decent on the DS screen (go read our review on Guitar Hero: On tour for the DS). I’m sort of getting a bit bored with the ultra stylized look and feel of the Guitar Hero games and this game doesn’t help. Maybe it’s time for a visual overhaul and a fresh rocking look guys?

Sound
The most important part of the game is handled very well.
You won’t believe the sound quality on these 25 tracks (plus 2 bonus), not only do they sound crisp but they manage to avoid sounding like glorified cell phone ring tones. I never knew my DS could output such quality. Kudos to the developer! Personally I like the music selection the most in this version, with favs like the Strokes-Reptillia, Tenacious D-The metal, and Kaiser Cheifs- Ruby this is the best selection of different styles of music to ever make it into the DS version. That’s more or less a personal taste thing here. If you dig The Strokes, Modest Mouse, AFI, and Wolfmother then you’ll dig this game.
I won’t ruin the whole playlist for those few that are like myself and through game progression discover what made the cut, though if you’re not sure you’ll like the selection offered just check the rest online and make your decision.

Replay
The game is very short and you’ll realize the linear nature of the Guitar Hero games more on the hand held than any other platform. We all love and bought every Guitar Hero game on the consoles but it was the plastic guitars and multiplayer options that made the game worth. It was a party machine on the consoles and here it seems like an alternative to listening to your MP3 player. Granted the multiplayer options have been beefed up so as you can connect with any of the previous two games and have access to the combined playlists of the series (OVER 50 TUNES!!), but this is only if you have friends who decided to buy the DS version instead of the console offerings. You certainly will get a kick out of how fun the multiplayer option can be on the hand held, but even with the entire list of shared tunes you will find this isn’t the same as its console brethren.  Adding to the replay factor is the fact you have either the lead guitar and rhythm or bass to play and a bit more replay can be squeezed out of each song.

What this game is at its core is an updated playlist with a couple of added features. If you must have anything and everything Guitar Hero this will satisfy your appetite! For all the others out there, this is getting a bit redundant and repetitive since the games launch. They could have done some really cool groundbreaking things such as streaming live selections online every week, or new download only challenges (Professor Layton, I’m looking at you) but they just opted for an updated playlist and new title.

If I were to get one version of the hand held series this would be it, but they have to do something more than just a playlist update the next round to keep my attention. As it stands it’s fading pretty fast.

Game Play 2.5 /5
Graphics    3 /5
Sound         4.5 /5
Replay       2 /5

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Activision has announced the newest Call of Duty is being released exclusively for the Nintendo DS this fall. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized (two colons… let’s not make that joke) is going to feature intense PvP action as gamers fight ground battles, hack into enemy computers, shoot from gunships, battle tanks, and much more. Some cool features of this game include the different modes of play.  Players will have the ability to play through the story with it’s companion narrative, as well as an Arcade mode.  The Arcade mode is basically the story mode but with add-ons like a time limit, score and related achievements.  Other modes include the Survival mode, where players can resist wave upon wave of enemies until overwhelmed, using a variety of weapons.  This mode just screams “Zombie Mod!” Anyway, despite the distinct lack of zombies, I am excited enough over this game to borrow my friend’s DS to play it.  Sounds like a blast! Oh, me. Cheers.

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Somehow we all knew this was coming!!

Today Activision announced Call of Duty4  Modern Warfare will be released on Nintendo Wii on November 10th along side Modern Warfare 2.

The game will be ported by the fine people at Treyarch  who have proven their skill set with with porting titled to the Wii and things are looking pretty good.

No word on the rating of the game and any gameplay changes the title might take.

It was rather sad seeing modern warfare love to every console except the wii.. but now thats being taken care of.

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I have been waiting for Inglorious Basterds since it was announced.  I have been waiting for the newest Wolfenstein game since I finished the last one I played.  What can I say? I enjoy killing Nazis.

Tarantino’s magnum opus depicts a team of American soldiers performing shocking acts of brutality on Nazis so intense that it really only makes sense to have an affiliation with the Wolfenstein franchise, where players get to do basically the same thing, but with cooler weapons.Activision has announced that they are sponsoring a contest for 2 lucky winners to attend the premiere of Basterds in Hollywood, and the sure-to-kick-ass after-party.  The prize includes a pair of roundtrip tickets to L.A., a three-night stay, and 2 tickets to the show and after-party.  I haven’t been this excited since Crank paired off with Grand Theft Auto.

Oh wait, that never happened – but why not?

Check out http://www.gamespot.com/ for details.

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DJ Jazzy Jeff joins the in game character list (DJ Shadow, DJ Z-Trip, DJ AM and the Grandmaster Flash) for fake plastic DJs to use this fall in DJ Hero.

With the addition of DJ Jazzy Jeff comes new track list additions such as: Tears for Fears “Shout” vs. Eric B. & Rakim “Eric B. Is President” and LL Cool J “Rock the Bells” vs. The Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra “Bittersweet Symphony.”

“I am very, very excited DJ culture is finally getting its due.  To have a song in DJ Hero is a dream come true; to be a character someone can pick up the controller and select you and play is probably the biggest thing to happen to me in my career,” said DJ Jazzy Jeff.  “Music is so much a part of everyone’s life, DJ Hero is going to appeal to almost everybody.”

That’s all well and good  but when can I play “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Theme” in one of these games?

For more information on DJ Jazzy Jeff, please visit djjazzyjeff.com.

http://djhero.com

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Activision is teaming up with a crew of industry veterans at Twistory Studios and Image Publishing.  They’ll be publishing a comic book based on the upcoming game Singularity.

The team includes David Atchinson, of the Occult Times Taskforce, Davide Fabbri, with credits from Heavy Metal and Dark Horse’s Star Wars, Christopher “mink” Morrison, whose work includes Dark Horse’s  upcoming Shinjuku with Yoshitaka Amano, and Tom Mandrake, renowned artist of Batman and The Punisher.  Atchinson, Fabbri and Morrison are making an appearance at this year’s San Diego Comic Con.

In Singularity players attempt to unravel a deadly Cold War conspiracy that has fractured the fabric of time itself, fighting their way through an ever-shifting environment occupied by Russian mercenaries and time-ravaged creatures.

The comic will tell the story of the shadowy events off the Russian Peninsula that unraveled time as we know it and ultimately led to ‘the Singularity’.  The single issue graphic novel will be available following the launch of the game, scheduled to release in early 2010 for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

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Band Hero™ invites music and video game fans of all ages to log onto BandHero.com and immortalize themselves and/or their band within a mosaic tribute to the newest game in the Guitar Hero® family.  Submitted photos will populate the mosaic and enter the individual’s or group’s names into a weekly contest where randomly selected winners will score a Band Hero band kit for the platform of their choice and a Nintendo DS Lite band kit.  Head over to BandHero.com to learn more.

This November, Guitar Hero will be entering a game into the E10+ market this game is called Band Hero. Featuring chart-topping hits from favourite acts such as: No Doubt, Lily Allen, The All-American Rejects, Snow Patrol and Jackson 5 coupled with some of the biggest names in music as in-game artists and playable characters.

Band Hero seems to offer all of the  features of Guitar Hero 5 but for a more casual audience- a game the whole family can enjoy! Whether the songs from this game will export into Guitar Hero 5 is unknown at this time unfortunately which causes some less than desirable commentary from the rhythm game community.

Will Band Hero be able to go up against the strong brand recognition of Lego: Rock Band? I guess we’ll find out in November.

Known Track list:

1.)All-American Rejects – “Dirty Little Secret”
2.)Culture Club
3.)Fall Out Boy
4.)Jackson 5 – “ABC”
5.)Janet Jackson
6.)Jesse McCartney
7.)Lily Allen – “Take What You Take”
8.)Marvin Gaye
9.)Maroon 5
10.)No Doubt – “Just A Girl”
11.)Snow Patrol
12.)Taylor Swift – “Picture To Burn”
13.)The Go-Go’s
14.)The Killers
15.)The Turtles

Want to see the first reveal trailer for Band Hero? Click Here

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Unveiling 24 more songs to Guitar Hero 5′s massive 85 song list (not including new songs added for download in the future) Activision gives a taste of their variety in this upcoming title by announcing such hits as Iron Maiden’s “2 minutes to midnight”, Rush’s “The Spirit of Radio” (an exclusive live recording), No Doubt’s “Ex-Girlfriend” and much much more.

That’s not the big news that excites me however as not only will GH5 feature the unreleased single “Medicate” from AFI’s upcoming album Crash Love (available in game before the album’s release) but also Two legendary acts will join forces for the greater good of the global gaming… group.

Public enemy and Zakk Wylde have teamed up for an exclusive re-recording of Public Enemy’s rap anthem “Bring the noise 20xx”. You will love it, and you will only be able to enjoy it on Guitar Hero 5.

On top of all this GH5 goodness, a number of bands will pop their proverbial game cherry such as A perfect circle, Brand new, Eagles of death metal, Gorillaz, Gov’t Mule, Grand Funk Railroad, King Crimson, Peter Frampton, Spacehog (wow, that’s a band name I haven’t heard in a LONG time), Sunny day, Real estate, and the Derek trucks band.

I’m not sure what I’m more excited for with Guitar Hero 5′s release on September 1st, all these new bands that have never been in a game before, or the Zakk Wylde / Public Enemy collaboration. No wait… I’m definitely more excited for more Zakk Wylde!

and hey! here’s a list of all the songs that have been announced for GH5 so far!

* AFI – “Medicate”

* A Perfect Circle – “Judith”

* Billy Idol – “Dancing With Myself”

* Brand New – “Sowing Season (Yeah)”

* Bush – “Comedown”

* The Derek Trucks Band – “Younk Funk”

* Duran Duran – “Hungry Like The Wolf”

* Eagles Of Death Metal – “Wannabe In L.A.”

* Gorillaz – “Feel Good Inc.”

* Gov’t Mule – “Streamline Woman”

* Grand Funk Railroad – “We’re An American Band”

* Iron Maiden – “2 Minutes To Midnight”

* King Crimson – “21st Century Schizoid Man”

* No Doubt – “Ex-Girlfriend”

* Peter Frampton – “Do You Feel Like We Do? (Live)”

* Public Enemy Featuring Zakk Wylde – “Bring the Noise 20XX”

* Rush – “The Spirit Of Radio (Live)”

* Scars On Broadway – “They Say”

* Smashing Pumpkins – “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”

* Spacehog – “In The Meantime”

* Sunny Day Real Estate – “Seven”

* T. Rex – “20th Century Boy”

* Weezer – “Why Bother?”

* Wild Cherry – “Play That Funky Music”

Previously announced tracks include:

* Attack! Attack! UK – “You And Me”

* Band Of Horses – “Cigarettes, Wedding Bands”

* Beastie Boys – “Gratitude”

* Beck – “Gamma Ray”

* Billy Squier – “Lonely Is The Night”

* Blur – “Song 2″

* Bob Dylan – “All Along The Watchtower”

* Bon Jovi – “You Give Love A Bad Name”

* The Bronx – “Six Days A Week”

* Children Of Bodom – “Done With Everything, Die For Nothing”

* Coldplay – “In My Place”

* Darker My Love – “Blue Day”

* Darkest Hour – “Demon(s)”

* David Bowie – “Fame”

* Deep Purple – “Woman From Tokyo (’99 Remix)”

* The Duke Spirit – “Send A Little Love Token”

* Elliott Smith – “L.A.”

* Elton John – “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)”

* Face To Face – “Disconnected”

* Garbage – “Only Happy When It Rains”

* Iggy Pop – “Lust For Life (Live)”

* Jeff Beck – “Scatterbrain (Live)”

* John Mellencamp – “Hurts So Good”

* Kaiser Chiefs – “Never Miss A Beat”

* Kings Of Leon – “Sex On Fire”

* Kiss – “Shout It Out Loud”

* Love and Rockets – “Mirror People”

* My Morning Jacket – “One Big Holiday”

* Nirvana – “Lithium (Live)”

* The Police – “So Lonely”

* Queens Of The Stone Age – “Make It Wit Chu”

* Rammstein – “Du Hast”

* The Rolling Stones – “Sympathy For The Devil”

* Rose Hill Drive – “Sneak Out”

* Santana – “No One To Depend On (Live)”

* Screaming Trees – “Nearly Lost You”

* Sonic Youth – “Incinerate”

* Sublime – “What I Got”

* The Sword – “Maiden, Mother & Crone”

* Thin Lizzy – “Jailbreak”

* Thrice – “Deadbolt”

* Tom Petty – “Runnin’ Down A Dream”

* Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “American Girl”

* Vampire Weekend – “A-Punk”

* The White Stripes – “Blue Orchid”

* Wolfmother – “Back Round”

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