I'm holding out for GH: Yanni.

Benjo

GH: Van Halen? First Aerosmith, now possibly this. There can be only one explanation. Activision is trying to bankrupt me.

eugaet

Hey! Let's launch 20 versions of the same game this year but we'll break them up into specific bands!!! This franchise is dead in a year if they decide to drive it into the ground like this.

Amazing-Steve

@Padriac: ...or, I have friends but when I do stuff with my friends I go do things that aren't video games *GASP* I know, that's a tough concept for you to grasp because your friends would never want to be around you if they had to actually talk to you. Van Halen, while better when DLR was still there, was always known for EVH's guitar skills. For me (I'm not saying everyone) the drums are only fun for a bit as a novelty because I can't play drums, and that is all. I'll eventually pick up RB, probably for PS2 instead of PS3 so I can use the controllers I already have that I like much better, but it will be something that I will only play when having a party and not something I'll play on a normal day when I'm bored.

ceilingFANBOY: now with 100% more fanboy

@ceilingFANBOY - have you heard the Aerosmith "cover" of Dream On, that was a free download yet? It's nothing like the original, it sounds like it was recorded at a live concert or something to get the crowd singing along with Steve Tyler.

If they are just going to get the band to re-cover their own songs to get them in the right format, it's not going to be all that much better than getting a good cover band to do it, I fear.

As for artist-specific GH titles, I think they are going to sell poor, but what it does is has their box in the "new releases" section all the time. If Rock Band sticks to DLC for 18-24 months, that's 12-18 months that their box isn't prominent on the shelves, and their "units shipped" numbers look bad. Now, the given that folks are actually PAYING for Rock Band DLC is an indication of the success they should have, versus the fact that every song I have DLC for GH3 has been "free to download" so far.

Bluvox

Okay, this I would buy in a heartbeat.

Mike Fahey

Bleed that fucking franchise, keep making shitty addtions. Unless you like your GH games super friggin difficult then you know that GH2 was the last great title from the franchise.

@Spaz569: damn the drums would be so hard and I suck at the drums but still, yea, I want some TOOL on RB

SAKY

Well, it could just be that, y'know, Van Halen will be one of the OTHER bands in the Aerosmith game...

sanctusmortis

ABSOLUTELY. Van Halen is so awesome that I would totally buy this. Who needs Aerosmith when we've got Van Halen? : D

Tzibo

Aerosmith? BAH SUCKS (with a big mouth and all)! But this, this i like!

FelicioLostHorizonPT

I want to Drum all the Tool songs on rockband, you know, because I hate my hands.

Spaz569

@Len Bias Cocaine Surplus:
It actually requires you to be decent at them, instead of having a spasym on the guitar aka, Through the fire and the flames.

boxofthegods

@Karlott: there is something wrong with them in rock band?

Len Bias Cocaine Surplus

@Padriac: Uh, actually, I think it goes like this:

Van Halen = Van Halen
Van Halen = Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen = Insane Guitar
Insane Guitar = Guitar Hero

BTW, I don't mind the "forgiving accuracy." I kind of like how hammer ons and pull offs actually work in GH3.

Karlott

Besides the obvious fact Aerosmith's willing to whore out their music for anything, why did Activision choose to start with Aerosmith? Don't get me wrong, pre-90s Aerosmith rocks (especially with booze).

While I disagree with the principle (milking the fans for every $), I cannot lie - I'd buy Guitar Hero: Metallica, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Beatles, Faith No More, Guns 'N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Lynyrd Skynyrd, pre-90s Megadeth, Opeth, Pantera, Pink Floyd, QOTSA, Slayer. Most likely, the majority of these bands would never do it (without a fairly sizeable paycheck).

Long list, I know, my apologies - but from my perspective, I already own all the albums and DVDs. Where else (or what form of new media) can I go for my Pantera or Faith No More fix?

MegaDethKlok

@ceilingFANBOY: now with 100% more fanboy: Look, I'm sorry you don't have friends but it's very simple:

Van Halen = David Lee Roth
David Lee Roth = Singing
Singing ≠ Guitar Hero 3
Guitar Hero 3 (as far as Van Halen is concerned) = teh gay

And Rock Band still has more variety, even in single player. Drums are where it's at my friend. Guitar is played out.

@BananaKid: what good are better note charts when the accuracy in GH3 is so forgiving you barely have to be following the chart in the first place?

Padriac

this was my idea first !!

=p, when i heard of guitar hero aerosmith, and that they're making 3 other guitar hero's, i was thinking "they'd BETTER get guitar hero van halen"

kokiri-kid

@Len Bias Cocaine Surplus: We have a winner, guys. No need for more comments.

Afore Notation

@ceilingFANBOY: now with 100% more fanboy: Yeah, I never bought Rockband mostly because I heard that.

Legendary GIR

@Erwin: yeah it was pretty fucked up. hardcore shows are the craziest when it comes to violence but the funny thing is that youll see all the people that just kicked each others asses slappin hands and huggin each other afterwords.

these days im all about the prog metal. i just want to chill back with a drink and watch sick ass musicians do their thing.

DontTouchMyDaughterYouFilthyGaijin

I wonder who has U2, they are signed to Universal (but they own their own masters), but Bono is friends and former investment partner with EA CEO John Ricitiello. A U2 Rock Band expansion would be heavenly, especially if there is a keyboard peripheral involved.

mindscienceofthemind

@Padriac: I guess you didn't read my other comments. I'm not denying that Rock Band isn't better for parties. However, I prefer Guitar Hero's single player, which is how I am playing the game 90% of the time. If you were bored enough to look through my comment history, I have always said that RB is better for multiplayer while GH is better for single player. RB as a single player is too easy for me, so I would only want to play RB as a multiplayer game and therefore would probably not play it enough to justify the full price of the bundle.

ceilingFANBOY: now with 100% more fanboy

@Padriac: Yeah, there's a better multiplayer experience in Rock Band. But I'm willing to trade that for guitar notecharts that don't suck ass.

BananaKid

Oh yeah: the Guitar Hero guitar and all its Fisher-Price glory is for babies. There, I said it.

Padriac

@ceilingFANBOY: now with 100% more fanboy: GH3 is bad because playing just guitar with a whole whopping 2 people at a time is so pathetically lame compared to what Rock Band offers as a social experience it's not even funny.

So if GH3 ruins my dreams of playing Panama with my friends *with me on drums* and with somebody doing their best David Lee Roth impression on the mic then I will personally shoot Sammy Hagar out of a cannon at Activision headquarters.

Padriac

If they ever fix the compatibility issue between RB and GH on PS3, it probably won't be long afterwards that I would pick up RB and a drum set. By that time, GH4 will probably be out so I'll have 2 GH controllers to use with it. Maybe the Aerosmith version will have a controller to go with it, that would shorten the wait for a second controller, too.

ceilingFANBOY: now with 100% more fanboy

@Archaotic: PS3 :-/

ceilingFANBOY: now with 100% more fanboy

Metallica, god dammit.

theswitcher

Now, if we do get Guitar Hero: Van Halen, will we be getting a new super-star move of playing the guitar using a power drill (ala "Poundcake")?

Count_Zero

As the accompanying picture demonstrates, if they TRULY want to make a Van Halen edition that does Eddie justice, they need a mechanic for two-handed tapping.* Good luck with that. I suppose each stage will be built around his on/off the wagon phases.

Go get "Fair Warning", kids. Listen 'n' learn...and then trash your shitty, illegally-obtained MP3 collection.

*--And 'tremolo picking' sections, I suppose.

jollydwarf

@ceilingFANBOY: now with 100% more fanboy:
Then use a Guitar Hero 2 controller with it like my roommates do, man. It works fine.

...at least if you're on the 360 or PS2 versions.

Archaotic

@ckranger11: If I were having a party, yea, Rock Band would be better, but for just playing the guitar alone, Guitar Hero is better. I'd also be a bit more apt to like Rock band if I could use the GH controller with it instead of the craptacular guitar that comes with RB. I like the click much better than the squish, I don't like the fret keys of RB as much, but that might be because I'm used to the GH ones, and I like my downstrums to actually work.

ceilingFANBOY: now with 100% more fanboy

What I don't seem to understand is how people seem to forget that GH: Aerosmith is not going to be just Aerosmith. It'll have bands that were inspired by and toured with Aerosmith and, when you think about it, it opens the door considerably to more than the crapfest that was Rock the 80s.

I personally blame most of the GH3 problems on it being Neversoft's first attempt at the franchise. Hopefully, they've learned from the failures that occurred in the game. GH3 is still a good game, just one that didn't venture very far from that which came before it. Hopefully there's a few pleasant surprises waiting for us down the line.

NoaAltwynn

there's another gh game I won't buy.

DesmondHume

I'd buy this in a heartbeat if ture!

shadowfox

@TRT-X:
I agree...when I'm at my store, I constantly explain to customers that Rock Band is the "real" Guitar Hero III...of course, I work in the Boston area, so if I mention that RB was made by people in Boston and GH wasn't, that tends to convince them by default anyways.

Archaotic

@gusiskirby: I'd like a version that's more like GHII and less like GHIII. You know, good.

That's why I look at Rock Band as the "proper" growth of the Guitar Hero/rhythm genre. And Guitar Hero is just about insane difficulties and annoying mini games (LOL BOSS BATTLES!)

TRT-X

Guitar Hero: We Swear We are Still Relevant to Rock Band!

Len Bias Cocaine Surplus

Eh. The Aerosmith game is a shitty idea, but Van Halen may be passable as a bargain bin pickup.

But yeah, "band exclusive" titles are a bad idea.

KaneRobot

@DontTouchMyDaughterYouFilthyGaijin: Wow, I've never seen anything that bad at any jam band concert. By the way, Bonnaroo isn't just jam bands: [bonnaroo.com]
My wallet hurts, but it's just temporary.
And by the way, nothing is as crazy as metal shows: [www.vidmax.com]

Erwin

@DiscipleofJamzy: goddamn...that was more 'annoying' than 'good'. That's why I don't noodle all over the place when playing guitar.

Neopolitian

Activision paid $15MM for Van Halen exclusivity.

FACT.

sharbaz

There goes my hopes of having a good amount of Van Halen in Rock Band...

RickyTV

They should have a poll to see what version people want next. I would love an AC/DC Guitar Hero.

gusiskirby

@ceilingFANBOY: now with 100% more fanboy: Hey, GH fanboys do still exist!

ckranger11

@Strangelove: Sounds like "Guitar Hero: Bonnaroo edition" is what you really want. Damn hippy music gets really mundane after a couple songs, which is why 90% of their audiences are fucked up on copious amounts of drugs.

I went to a Phish show a couple years ago and that was one of the most horrific and disgusting displays of indecency I've ever seen. People stealing left and right from the vendors, group circles of people pissing in garbage cans inside the fucking arena where there was a ton of human traffic, hairy women pretending they can dance by doing some weird spastic twisting and shit.......fucking gross.

People say the metal scene is fucked up but it's nowhere even close to being as bad as the headie scene is.

How does this relate to Guitar Hero? I don't fucking know, just ranting cuz I saw your taste and am assuming you're down with the scene. I got a lot of reformed hippy friends who grew out of the scene....gotta get your beastors somewhere!

DontTouchMyDaughterYouFilthyGaijin

@kidko: This is a strange time for this to leak considering the events of recent weeks. Eddie Van Halen's in no shape to push a videogame with his name on it, or tour for that matter.
[stereogum.com]
I saw that clip last night attached to the Stereogum story, but I think the first 30 seconds of this recent attempt at Eruption has clearer sound and tells the story a bit better.

+ Watch video

DiscipleofJamzy

Ugg, Im tired of "Guitar Hero: Mediocre Bands"

Let's get "Queen" in there please.

Diamondblade

I would consider buying a Van Halen edition.

As long as it has Hot For Teacher, of course.

KirbySS

You can't have versions of GH with bands like Green Day and Nirvana because the game would simply be too damn easy. There's a reason why all those pop songs are the lower tier stuff while all the stuff that actually requires decent skill is in the higher tiers and mostly Metal.

Bands like the ones I mentioned would be a better fit for Rock Band but in a game where skill and guitarwork are appreciated they have no place other than the 1st tier of songs.

Blink 182, Nirvana (aside from Grohl, who is a great musician) Green Day, etc really don't have any impressive guitar work at all in their entire catalogs. Just a few catchy riffs here and there but nothing that couldn't be learned in 5 minutes by a beginner.

I would like to cast my vote for

Guitar Hero: Iron Maiden

have fun learning those songs.

DontTouchMyDaughterYouFilthyGaijin

to me these artist specific releases are almost as dumb as if Nintendo would replace the Mario model in Mario galaxy and add a sprite of donkey kong....OK maybe not quite that dumb. Same game with new tracks that could have been DL content. for shame!!

Sinnbox

Hopefully, they will make these artist specific versions expansions. It would be much better if these can just be added to GH3 so you can just have a really large set list for the one game rather than having to swap out discs. Also, I'm hoping that these will be priced as expansions rather than full releases.

@Legendary GIR: The Rock Band covers were much worse. The cover of Tom Sawyer made me weep. Besides, at least with Aerosmith, it sounds like they would be working closely enough with the band that there won't be covers.

@Padriac: How is GH3 bad? If you didn't like the battles, it is such a small part of the game that it shouldn't have effected your overall view of the game. At least the GH controller actually works.

ceilingFANBOY: now with 100% more fanboy

This is stupid!! if they are goign to release anything in between now and guitar hero 4, they should release "Expansion packs" that have the online trakcs for people that don't ahve highspeed.

Sinnbox

Isn't prostitution illegal? Because it seems to me that Activision is slapping 25 cent lipstick on Guitar Hero and sending it out to the street corner.

ShaggE

I really dont like the idea of a artist specific guitar hero game. Its pointless and stupid. I can think of only one game that should be released like this, led zeppelin but should include alot of stuff from their early live shows that wasnt released on albums.

aazzametalhead

@boxofthegods:

The inclusion of the real artists for the majority of tracks did nothing for you? That was a pretty big step for the series.

Strangelove

I demand Guitar Hero: Incubus.
Or an Incubus song that's not a shitty cover.
...
I don't like Van Halen.
I just don't.

Teh Emo Penguin

If I said it once I've said it a hundred times, Activision is taking the bullet train down the shitter with the Guitar Hero franchise, 3 was overall a pretty lackluster title, very little songs worth playing more than once, terrible DLC, horrendous ports to the Wii and ps2, I think I'll stick with Harmonix and Rock Band kthxbye.

boxofthegods

There are two versions I would love to see:

Guitar Hero: Pink Floyd. 'Nuff fucking said.

Guitar Hero: 60s/70s Soul/Funk collection. James Brown, Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, Bootsy Collins, that type of shit.

Strangelove

I don't think the 80's version, or Aerosmith justify's being a full 50-60 bucks.

TWEEDLEDEEZNUTZ

I'm so very, very torn on all of this.

First off, I love the Guitar Hero games. It's an addiction in my life that's bigger than WoW ever was with me. I bought in at the first game and now am the proud owner of all 4 games for the PS2. New songs are great, and one part of me screams "bring on as many expansion packs and artist only games as you want". But then, I think of the price. 50 bucks for what amounts to 30 songs? 80s was a hard pill to swallow in and of itself. I don't know if I could do that 2 or 3 times a year instead of waiting for a full fledged sequel with added content and such, not to mention a diverse and varied track list.

I've had some hands on experience with Rock Band and Guitar Hero 3 on the Xbox 360, and I almost think DLC might be the right way to go here instead of retail discs of what amounts to new songs. Obviously, there would have to be some sort of change in the prices that are charged (even a dollar a track when you're buying 30 at once is better than nothing) and it ensures that the game lasts longer instead of NEEDING the full sequel to keep gamers happy.

Then we have Rock Band, which I believe blows the pants off of Guitar Hero as a whole. As a single game just on Guitar it isn't anything special (although Green Grass and High Tides IS amazing), but when you have a full band it's one of the best social games I've played. Add new music to that in large packs (like they're planning to do with full albums like Nirvana's Nevermind album). I think that's going to work far better than a new retail game with new songs and not much else.

*looks up* Holy crap, wall of text crits me for 1000. To keep the end short, I think that the idea of new songs and full artist albums are GOOD, just not in a pressed disc form, and I'm one to side with more fleshed out DLC choices.

-nesdude

nesdude

SOLD

SO FUCKING SOLD

BananaKid

@Erwin: But have you heard THAT version? wait until Eddie comes in. Oooh yeah

kidko

Personally, I think these artist-speciffic Guitar Hero games could be a good idea, if they make enough of them with varied enough bands. I'm sure that even naysayers would get excited if a game based on their favourite band was announced.

87th

There's only one band deserving of its own rock simulator. Led Zeppelin.

Archaotic

@Nesagwa: Took the words out of my mouth.

Danin

@Sheen_Latrine: The peoblem here is that this is true for pretty much everybody. They all have this ONE band that they will buy NO MATTER WHAT. For me, it would be Green Day. For someone else it's going to be Metallica, for someone else it will be The Beatles.

And as long as there are enough of "that one person" buying the game themed off one Band, they will continue to do it. Remember "Rocks the 80's"? The exact same game as guitar hero 2 but with different character skins and different COLORS for the song selections, oh yeah don't forget different songs. They will continue to do that. Over and over and over.

I'm not buying it for sure, ..... unless they do a Green Day one.

Sigh

Narynan

If they go for Van Halen they better make sure that it is ACTUALLY VAN HALEN. Doing more covers *may* actually make it worse than 'Van Hagar'.

I obviously still can't get over how shitty the covers were in GH:III, I cried at how terrible "Pride and Joy" by Stevie Ray Vaughan was...

Legendary GIR

If you want a real challenge, try Guitar Hero: Leo Kottke Edition.

COLDBLOODED_BMC

@xboxsab: "DLH era" does not need mentioning, as there is no other Van Halen.

COLDBLOODED_BMC

@Padriac:
This is a good point...first we have Sony and Microsoft throwing money around and fighting over exclusive games...now we have Harmonix and Activision fighting over exclusive bands? Jesus Christ, this generation is petty.

Archaotic

My only concern is single artist games locking them out for rockband or vice versa. Music with all its genres never has had universal appeal, but if single artist guita hero games are where they want to take it thats fine.

As a previous poster said GuitarHero: running it into the group edition.

but if these artists then lock users out of dlc content thats when we start losing not the developers.

trunk3h

instead of guitar hero, i would rather have van halen guitar.

dexterr

If this is true it is HORRIBLE news because it means no Van Halen for Rock Band. If I can't drum Panama then to hell with everything.

Guitar Hero 3 is so bad it brings Rock Band down into its crap hole. I hate it.

Padriac

GH:Van Halen would be the first and likely only spinoff disc I would buy. Van Halen kicks ass!

Sheen_Latrine

Agreed, I'd be interested *IF* it was download, I don't want to shell out another $50 per artist every time for a few songs of theirs that I might enjoy. They could have easily just added character downloads and album packs instead and not charged the price of a full game which I know is what they'll do.

I'll keep playing Rock Band thanks and enjoying the variety.

Zakuen

@kidko:
Heh, I once heard a story where Van Halen opened AND closed their show with Jump.
"Oh, he's going back to the keyboards!"

Erwin

+ Watch video

baxterpunch

I'd get it, if it was DLR only, but you know it won't be.

They'd probably include that lame-ass Crystal Pepsi ad.

baxterpunch

@Nesagwa:
A-Goddamn-men.

Reddo

The single artist thing could be cool, but it could also turn a lot of people off. I think they should do more themed editions, like GH: Classic Rock, GH: Heavy Metal, GH: Punk & Ska, GH: Psychedelic Rock, etc. instead of just one dude. If it is going to be one band, make it like Nirvana or something more people can get down with.

That said, I'd much rather play the Van Halen edition then Aerosmith, but I'm such and addict on GH, I'll probably buy both.

What about GH: Bob Marley Edition. Who doesn't like Marley?

cybereality

Wish there were some DLR-era VH on Rock Band.

xboxsab

The annoying thing about this all is that you just know Activision's going to try to find a way to bundle in some NEW AND SPECIAL guitar peripheral for each artist-specific game, for maximum potential consumer milkage.

Archaotic

@TOWER_JUNKIE: More than you'll ever know. Or perhaps you know.

The artist-centric titles of the Guitar Hero series are simply Activision trying to squeeze every penny out of the consumer. The chances of these titles being anything other than sub par, regardless of the artist featured, are minuscule on the smallest of scales. Case in point being Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s. This game still has a $50 dollar price tag and is the biggest disappointment in the series to date. A lesson is not being learned by Activision. Unless these artist titles are released for less than $30, the fans will not clamor to own the game. So it can perhaps be percieved that this Activision's desperate attempt to prevent Rock Band from taking hold. A seemingly futile attempt, as prices will sway in favor of the consumer at a point, and songs have the potential to keep being added for roughly the same price of another game disc. Please try something interesting or worthwhile Activision. Here's hoping DJ Hero will come, although it will probably end up as just a rip off of Beatmania.

Xaero_Dumort

I think the artist-specific titles are going to really clutter up the franchise. I don't see the point for releasing a whole other game for specific artists rather than continuing to sell song packs for a way cheaper price.

Sandbox_Emperor

+ Watch video

kidko

@TheCleaningGuy: Yeah, but it would get too "samey" after a while. The great part about these games is their variety. The most we should want is an album, not everything by them.

Erwin

Sigh. Another day, another Activision milking.

@TOWER_JUNKIE:
You should see my store manager. The mere mention of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith sends him into a rage.

Archaotic

I want variety, not 1 artist only junk...ACTIVISION FAIL

SSDatGuy

Still waiting on Rock Band Nirvana...

GOLD5

Guitar Hero: Running it into the Ground Edition.

THPS style.

Nesagwa

Sigh.
These artist exclusive games seem a bit unexciting to me. I think they'll be a bad idea in the long run.
A Black Sabbath one with both Ozzy and Dio would be nice though. Or perhaps a Queen one. Maybe the Smiths...
Oh crap, the idea is growing on me! Help!

TheCleaningGuy

Is there anyone else who views these artist-only titles as totally pointless?

TOWER_JUNKIE

Guitar Hero: VAN HALEN could kick some serious ass :D

Hiro0015

Sounds good to me!

Taco Bell™

While we're on the general subject of upgrades/new features: What I'd really like to see is the ability to put together a set-list of 3, 5, 7, etc. songs and put on a concert. They could have events happen in the crowd in-between songs, or have the performers do cool stuff, etc. Well, I think it's a good idea, anyways.

Strangelove

@DontTouchMyDaughterYouFilthyGaijin:

No offense, but what? Pink Floyd and Soul/Funk music are far from hippy music. Listen to Isaac Hayes "The Look of Love" -- there's a five minute or so guitar solo that would be unbelievable in GH. And basically any Pink Floyd song would work beautifully.

Pink Floyd, James Brown, & Isaac Hayes = hippy music? Really? What planet is this?

Strangelove

What we need is GHIII: Spinal Tap Edition

Rually

Here's another idea: "Guitar Hero: Live Cuts" where all the tracks are live cuts from various artists/groups...and you cuold still break it down by genre this way (i.e. GH: Live Metal/Rock Cuts, GH Live Jam Band Cuts, etc.)

and these off-shoots should retail for no more than $40 retail at launch for the brick and mrter version.

Make a DLC version for $25 for all PS3 & 360 (and maybe Wii?) owners.

Hotcakes. These particular titles would sell as such. IMHO, that is.

metalhed27

@TOWER_JUNKIE:

*raises hand*

Yeah. same here. Then again, I'm not a huge Aerosmith or Halen fan. I like them but not enough to buy thier catalogue and such. I'd sooner hope Activision would produce genre-based GHs (thrash metal, death metal, classic rock, alternative, NWOBHM, country, and perhaps a "Virtuoso Edition" - Featuring instrumentals by Eddie V.H, Joe Satriani, Marty Friedman, Al Dimeola, Steve Vai, Alex Skolnick, Jimi, Clapton, etc)

metalhed27

To heck with that! I want a Led Zeppelin eddition.

TheForgotenHero

Is never buying another Guitar Hero installment next for Teknohed?

teknohed

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES.

DO IT. DO IT NAO.

Tomahawk214

@theswitcher: YES! and if they keep doing this single artist thing, I wanna see Guitar Hero: Iron Maiden.

Ausl0

@Len Bias Cocaine Surplus: I wouldn't know. The three different RB guitars I'd tried (two demos, one that someone actually bought) were all so badly broken I had to play with the mini d-pad. So I couldn't really tell how well anything worked.

Karlott