Guitar Hero, age six, passed away yesterday, February 9, 2011.

The cause of death was “continued declines in the music genre,” according to a statement by its publisher, Activision.

Click to read more…

So the upcoming Rock Band 3 apparently has a “pro guitar mode,” which will feature a new toy guitar that requires players to actually make chords and hits notes and pluck strings and stuff. Made in conjunction with Fender, you’ll even be able to plug these things into amps and play ‘em that way.

In theory, this should quiet some of the rhythm game naysayers who claims that Rock Band, Guitar Hero and their ilk discourage players from picking up real instruments, as these new “guitars” will actually require users to learn about notes, chords, scales, etc., instead of just pressing colored buttons. The flip side, though, is that players still won’t have to learn about things like tuning, and it’s not hard to imagine an “instrument” like this becoming to guitar playing what auto-tune has become to singing: a shortcut and a cheat.

Check out the video previewing Rock Band‘s lastest creation below, and then weigh in with your thoughts in our comments section.

-AR

First of all, I think we can all agree on one thing: without Jimi Hendrix, there would be no such thing as heavy metal. The man revolutionized guitar playing, and is one of the few musicians who inarguably influenced literally everyone who came after him. Period.

So. It’s almost the fortieth anniversary of the man’s death, and I think all the legal issues surrounding his estate have finally been cleared up, which must be why there’s an abundance of cash-ins new Hendrix products being released in the coming months: for one thing, there’s going to be a new album of previously unreleased studio recordings, entitled Valleys of Neptune; you can watch the video for the title track, which wants really, really badly to appeal to stoners aging or otherwise, above. And then there’s gonna be a Hendrix-themed iPod for yuppies who want the world to know that they like good music.

On top of all of that, Hendrix’s sister, Janie – who controls his estate – apparently let it slip in a recent interview that there’s an edition of the video game Rock Band in the works which will center around her late brother. I guess Rock Band: The Beatles must have sold well despite the fact that rhythm games’ fifteen minutes are just about up.

Of course we have no way of knowing what Hendrix himself would have made of such a game, but… fuck it, I’d play it. If you can’t get right and pretend that you’re the rock god you’ll never actually be, why go on living?

-AR

[via Metal Insider]

Apparently the makers of Rock Band are now allowing fans to suggest which songs be included in the time-wasting game’s next iteration. Reads the official Rock Band website:

Request a Song: Got a band or artist you’d like us to know about? A song you’re dying to play in Rock Band? Go ahead—we’re listening…

The page has a form with three fields: Artist Name, Song Title, and Why It Rocks. We could really have some fun with that last one.

Let’s try and get Cannibal Corpse’s “Fucked With a Knife” on the docket for the next Rock Band. Write in the most ridiculous shit possible in the “Why It Rocks” field… how it inspired you to sexually experiment with knives, or some such real-life true stories nonsense. Go here to do so. Because selecting “Fucked With a Knife” at a party would be massively hilarious (and fun to play).

-VN

[Thanks: Adam Muirhead]

He looks a tad bit bored at first… but around the :30 mark his face lights up and he gets really into it, and by the end he’s having a smashing good time. It’s funny to see a drum legend playing a dumbed-down version of music that already has a really simple drum beat, and it’s hilarious when he fucks up at the end. I’d love to see him tear up some shit on the Expert level.

-VN

[Thanks: Brandon Marvin]

I’m not actually anti-Guitar Hero/rhythm games the way some people are, and this is only sorta kinda related to metal, but this satirical look into the making of Guitar Hero: The Beatles (not a real game, obviously) is too funny not to share.

-AR

[via CHUD]

Really? Yes, really. That sound you hear isn’t just the craptastic floppy bass of Korn, but the official death knell of the Guitar Hero / Rock Band / music video game axis. Yup, it’s officially over. Deader than MySpace in 2007.

-VN

[via Revolver]

First thing’s first: Axl and I are going to see AC fucking DC at Madison Square fucking Garden tonight. HOLY SHIT! Big thanks to the folks who hooked us up with tickets; you know who you are!

AC/DC also happens to have just released their own Rock Band “Track Pack,” a standalone video game available for around $40 featuring AC/DC’s legendary 1991 Live at Donington concert. This pretty much seals the deal for Rock Band as the instrument-based video game of choice for metalheads and hard rock fans; the list of available full albums already includes Judas Priest’s Screaming for Vengeance, Megadeth’s Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying?, Rush’s Moving Pictures and Dr. Feelgood by Mötley Crüe. They’ve only got one Metallica song (“Enter Sandman”), but we’ll overlook that for now.

If we get a gaming system for the MetalSucks Mansion I’d definitely go for Rock Band, if only because playing the drums is so fucking fun. But we’d have to place a moratorium on drunk girls singing, because this is always, always annoying.

Well, it was only a matter of time: yet another song from Axl Rose’s revamped Guns N’ Roses has leaked online, and, as usual, it’s surrounded in some mystery: it would seem obvious that the song is “Shackler’s Revenge,” which is scheduled to appear on the new edition of the Rock Band video game next month… bu the mp3 is actually labeled “Chicken Dinner.” Could this be some sick joke by a misguided Buckethead fan (the guitar playing on the track is pretty clearly by the former GN’R guitarist)?

Anyway, some of the vocals during the verse sound nothing like Axl, but that’s clearly him kickin’ it on the chorus, which, as Vince just said to me, is kinda alt-rock – but in a majorly catchy way.

So what does this mean in the major scheme of things, Chinese Democracy-wise? Probably nothing. More updates as we get ‘em.

-AR

So last week a few of you e-mailed us with rumors that a new Guns N’ Roses song, “Shackler’s Revenge,” would be on the forthcoming Rock Band 2 video game. Diligent reporters that we are, we completely ignored these e-mails. I mean, can you blame us? There’s a crazy Guns N’ Roses rumor every week, most of them amounting to nothing; with no one from team GN’R making any official announcements, it seemed kinda silly to report on crazy rumors.

Well, don’t we feel silly. ‘Cause the rumors were apparently true.

Click to read more…

Gotta please the metalheads too, right? Rock Band, the full-band cousin of Guitar Hero, will continue releasing downloadable weekly upgrade packs featuring new songs for the game. In addition to plenty of predictable releases, this one caught our eye: the week of March 4th will see the release of the “Thrash Three Pack,” featuring “Blinded by Fear” by At The Gates “Thrasher” by Evile “Shadow World” by The Haunted.

We’re shocked too. Sure, a few enterprising headbangers will be psyched to hear this news, and At the Gates are pretty legendary in a certain segment of the metal community, but I can’t see this being a big seller to a crowd that would rather sing “S.O.S.” by The Police for the 169th time. In any case it’s pretty damn cool, and I hope my richer friends who have Rock Band will spring for the Thrash Three Pack. After all, I’ve always wished I had long hair, lots of tattoos, was awesome at guitar, played in front of thousands of people… oh yeah, it’s just a video game.

-VN

I know it’s wrong to rag on Rock Band – I’ve never even played it, and I certainly loves me some Guitar Hero – but the news that Metallica may debut their new single via the video game rubs me so raw you’d think I was an adolescent kid’s dick right after he discovered jerking off but before he became aware of the joys of doing so with vasoline.

I’m not even sure why this not-even-an-official-announcement-yet pisses me off so bad; I mean, it doesn’t effect me at all. Someone will still rip the song and put it on the net within a matter of hours anyway, and since that’s pretty much how I was gonna hear the song to begin with (yeah, like I listen to the radio… HA!), what friggin’ difference does it make?

Is it just the thought of Metallica indulging in yet another corporate cash-in? Is it the fear that when the song is inevitably St. Anger-bad some kids who love the game will mistake it for being good? Am I just jealous that I don’t own Rock Band? While I wrestle with these issues, feel free to debate the merit (or lack thereof) or putting out a new single in such a fashion in our “comments” section.

-AR

You guys are gonna be happy with this — the tracklisting for Rock Band, aka Guitar Hero for the whole band, has been revealed. Such shredster-pleasers as Nine Inch Nails, Boston, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Faith No More and Metallica are confirmed to be in the game, which comes out on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms on November 20, and PlayStation 2 on December 18.Those in New York City can play a demo of the game for free at the Best Buy on 23rd St. & 6th Ave — not sure about other locations and cities, but I’m guessing some of them have the demos as well. The complete Rock Band soundtrack after the jump.

Click to read more…

The song list to the upcoming video game Rock Band — you know, like Guitar Hero except for all the instruments in a full rock band — has been released [The Syndicate Blog]. Jams by such headbanger friendly bands as Faith No More, KISS, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Metallica and Nine Inch Nails are confirmed to be included in the game.

We still don’t really understand how the singer part is going to work, but we’re hoping reports are true that you get extra points for flashing the screen while performing Hole’s “Celebrity Skin.”

Full song listing for Rock Band after the jump.

Click to read more…