The guys from UK site Gamer ran into Grammy-winning rapper Coolio in the elevator on the way to a Guitar Hero World Tour demo at a hotel recently. Of course they invited him along to check the game out.

After taking on La Bamba, Coolio was peer-pressured into taking a stab at Beat It and Gamer captured the whole thing on video. Wow, he really can't hit those Michael Jackson high notes. But he does trash talk the game after eeking by on medium.

FEATURE: Coolio vs Guitar Hero: Who will win?

In-game advertising company IGA Worldwide continues its streak of signing major console manufacturers and publishers to their network, announcing that they've signed a multi-year agreement with Activision to supply dynamic advertisements for the company's PlayStation 3 titles, beginning with Guitar Hero: World Tour.

"Our partnership with IGA will allow us to deliver dynamic in-game advertising to the growing PlayStation Network community for the first time," said Dave Anderson, head of business development at Activision Publishing. "By incorporating dynamic in-game advertising in our titles where it is appropriate, we can increase the realism of our games by presenting consumers with authentic environments in genuine settings, while also expanding a key growth opportunity for the company."

See? It's all about realism. I hate it when video games make me thirsty for a beverage or excited about a masculine hygiene product that doesn't actually exist. Thank goodness for realistic advertising!

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Of course we couldn't reasonably compare Guitar Hero: World Tour's PS3 graphics against the Wii version. However, you do have a choice of which version you pick up. For that very reason feel free to take a look at these new screenshots for both. Sorry Xbox 360 owners, we don't have any screens for you guys today, but we'll make it up to you later, I promise. Lots of screens in the galleries.

Guitar Hero: World Tour PS3 Screens

Guitar Hero: World Tour Wii Screens

When it comes to breaking down the feature sets of Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour, Activision's title has long had an extra tick in the "for" column: its song creation utility. And not because you honestly think you can recreate your favourite songs in the included editor, but because, with the game allowing the online sharing of created songs, you're relying on someone more talented to do it for you. Well, turns out you won't be doing anything of the sort. Activision have told 1UP "If there's a licensed song and someone holds the copyright to it, we'll take it down regardless of whether or not someone complains". So if you want that note-perfect cover of Honey Bucket, you're going to have to roll your sleeves up and do it yourself.

Guitar Hero World Tour [1UP, via VG247]

Just got back from spending the morning at Activision HQ in Sydney, getting some hands on time across a few upcoming titles. One of these was Guitar Hero: World Tour, which I've been very keen to get some time with. Once upon a time I played drums (though I wouldn't call myself a real 'drummer'), so I've been itching to get some time on the kits from both this and Rock Band for a long time. Consequently my initial impressions are weighted heavily toward the skins. I've had time on Rock Band with the Gamespot Australia crew in recent times, and today it was time to see how World Tour stacked up. The short of it? REAL nice. I wasn't chasing the kit across the room like I was with Rock Band's drums. Oh, and Purple Haze is an absolute showstopper! Long story after the jump.

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Last month saw an interesting bit of back and forth between Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Acitivsion boss Bobby Kotick which began with Edgar complaining that the music industry wasn't getting enough money from games like Activision's Guitar Hero and ended with Kotick firing back that delivering a not-so-subtle threat about which music they'll choose to include in the future. Now in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Kotick takes the money argument full circle.

There's a misunderstanding of the value we bring to the catalog...When you look at the impact it can have on an Aerosmith, Van Halen or Metallica, it's really significant, so much so that you sort of question whether or not, in the case of those kinds of products, you should be paying any money at all and whether it should be the reverse.

Goodness, Bobby's getting a bit vicious now, isn't he? He does have a point though. I'd say most of the money I've spent on music in the past two years has been for video game DLC. Poor, put-upon record labels.

The Future of Videogames, According to Activision CEO [Wall Street Journal via Edge]

About 2 hours ago Crecente told you that the Ted Nugent was going to lend his voice, likeness, and guitar style to Guitar Hero World Tour. Now you get to see it for yourself. It'll be interesting to see his signature show entrance - riding a live buffalo onto the stage.

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One more Guitar Hero press release, one more rumour confirmed.

Ted Nugent is lending his voice and likeness to Guitar Hero World Tour, Activision confirmed today. World Tour will allow gamers to challenge Nugent in guitar duel, play as him in the game or jam alongside the Motor City Madman.

Nugent joins Hendrix, Ozzy and Sting as confirmed rockers in the game. Other rumoured rockers that will be included are Billy Corgan, Travis Barker, Hayley Williams, and Zak Wylde.

Hit the jump for the full release. Personally, I'd pick Ozzy or Sting over Nugent any day. And Hendrix! Wow.

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Metallica's upcoming ninth studio album Death Magnetic hits Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock in its entirety this Friday, the same day the album goes on sale.

Better still the Guitar Hero downloadable album will include two exclusive renditions of Suicide & Redemption with extended solos by James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett. And to wrap up the good news, Activision says the album will be fully forward compatible with Guitar Hero World Tour, which is quite a trick considering the additional instruments in the new game.

"We've been working very closely with Metallica and we're extremely excited to offer Death Magnetic not only in its entirety, but also with the exclusive recordings of 'Suicide & Redemption' as downloadable content to Guitar Hero fans," said Tim Riley, Vice President of Music Affairs for Activision Blizzard. "We're proud to be setting a new precedent for our two industries, making an entire new album available in two different mediums simultaneously."

Death Magnetic will hit the 360 for 1,440 Microsoft Points and the Playstation Network for $US 17.99 on Sept. 12.

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In this new video from Guitar Hero World Tour Billy Corgan - the lead guitarist for the Smashing Pumpkins - shows us some of the motion capture that he had to endure to get his likeness in the game. The game will be hitting stores on October 26th.

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