Pages tagged “guitar hero iii”

Okay, so maybe we're featured in it. That minor conflict of interest won't prevent Paste from keeping its readers abreast with all things Guitar Hero III. The latest good news for GHIII: according to Variety, the game raked in $100 million in its first week of sales. How much of that will Paste see? None. But one thing's for sure - this is one best-seller that everyone in the Paste offices can get behind (unlike certain others).

The Variety article also mentions that these mighty sales could impact the fortunes of the rival Rock Band video game, which was created by the developers of the first two Guitar Hero titles. After all, even if it is almost Christmas, how much money do people have squirreled away for electronic music peripherals?

Related links:
GuitarHero.com
Paste: The Axeman Cometh
Paste: Price and date announced for Rock Band

Got news tips for Paste? Email news@pastemagazine.com.

Will success spoil rock gaming?

Platforms: Mac, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii

To sell out, or not to sell out?

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock asks the eternal question with pierced tongue wedged firmly in cheek. Again the game tracks the rags-to-vintage-designer-rags trajectory of the lead shredder in the mother of all cover bands. With a plastic, guitar-shaped controller in hand, players strum their way through a playlist brimming with classic rockers, alternative hits and beloved metal anthems. The game’s controller still makes pulling off solos, nailing chord progressions and fingering hammer-ons feel sweet. And new “boss battles” against celebrity axe-wielders like Tom Morello and Slash offer just enough innovation to confirm that the keepers of the Guitar Hero flame aren’t resting on their laurels.

But at times it feels like the game would rather play it safe than play it loud. Finger-scorching obscurities like DragonForce’s “Through the Fire and Flames” feel more rare, while bona fide hits ala “Sabotage” by The Beastie Boys and GN’R’s “Welcome to the Jungle” prevail. And that plot line about selling your soul for rock ’n’ roll? Product placement from Red Bull and Pontiac—and some soulless, ultra-corporate rock rag called Paste—sorta undermines that particular sentiment. Most will be too busy melting faces, however, to ponder such moral quandaries. Because when it comes down to it, living the rock ’n’ roll fantasy in your living room continues to be way more fun than it ought to be.

Every rock critic is a failed rock musician. This is not a general tendency; this is an ironclad rule we're talking about, here. So you can perhaps fathom why we at Paste are all such Guitar Hero junkies. Hell, we wouldn't even be putting out a magazine if we could actually get our copy of Guitar Hero II to play on the TV in the office lounge. Nowhere else can one find such an authentic rock guitar experience... at least without, you know, actually learning how to play the guitar and starting a band. It's not as easy as Art Brut makes it out to be, you know!

By now, GH II's most avid players have most assuredly mastered every of the game's tunes on every difficulty level. And when rock stars get bored, bad things happen to furniture and household pets. Thank goodness, though: Guitar Hero III is almost here! Dropping in stores on Oct. 28, the game's imminent arrival has the whole Internet buzzing with the question: how righteous of a shred session are you going to have to celebrate?

While you're pondering that existential quandary, get ready for a GH III warm-up. Yesterday, a free five-song demo of the game hit XBox Live. Here are those first songs to master:

Pearl Jam - "Even Flow"
Tenacious D - "The Metal"
Priestess - "Lay Down"
Pat Benatar - "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"
The Scorpions - "Rock You Like A Hurricane"

That same Planet XBox 360 article also makes mention of a "Meet Your Maker" competition, where GH III aficionados can take on the game's developers via XBox Live on Nov. 2 from 6-9 p.m. EST.

In other news, a Guitar Hero Essentials compilation has appeared on iTunes, collecting every song that has ever appeared in the series. Perfect for additional practice, no? Oh yeah, and Carmen Electra's a fan of the new game, too. As if greasy fanboys needed any more incentive to master every riff and whammy of Guitar Hero...

Finally, we leave you with some preview videos of Guitar Hero III, including some of the most obscene fretwork that the franchise has ever seen.

(Full disclosure: Paste appears in Guitar Hero III as one of the sponsors. You don't have to buy it!)

Related links:
GuitarHero.com
Paste: Guitar Hero III track list leaks
Paste: Beyond Guitar Hero

Got news tips for Paste? Email news@pastemagazine.com.