JJ Lechleiter, Senior Product Manager on all three Guitar Hero Mobile titles explains why his games are like the only two cell phone ports that don’t suck.

For those of you that have never played Guitar Hero III Mobile, Guitar Hero III: Backstage Pass Mobile or Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile, it might come as a shock that you can play the game without a plastic guitar (or plastic drums). Developer Hands-On got their heads around that early on in GHIII’s development and were able to keep it sexy by dropping the fret count from five to three. They also were able to hang on to original song content and score master tracks by approaching music rights holders on their own, instead of waiting around for Activision to do it.

“Most of the R&D went into making the audio sound as good as possible,” said Lechleiter. They got around the challenges of only having a single audio channel on most cell phones by having a third party develop an audio mixer that could supply four channels for separate sounds (guitar, drums, crowd noises, etc.), and by focusing on all the different audio types that mobile phones support (MP3, AMR, AAC, MIDI, etc.).

“Everyone wants MPS3 quality,” he said. “MIDI I think is acceptable as a lowest common denominator – but that’s what people are looking for, the true experience”

The game’s quality isn’t just about sound, though. By introducing head-to-head multiplayer that works across all different kinds of cell phone, World Tour is like a breakthrough for mobile gaming. Players can either do drums or guitar and the server does the rest in terms of matchmaking and providing four common songs between competitors. Hands-On provides a website where people can look at their stats and the stats of competitors, and the developer makes a habit of releasing one new song a month for free.

This puts their three mobile titles at something like 4 million purchases with other over 250,000 songs downloaded a day, says Lechleiter.

I think World Tour is an example of a mobile developer being aware of a platform’s limits instead of blithely assuming quality doesn’t matter. Hopefully, other developers will follow their lead.

“We’re kind of in the infancy of music games right now,” Lechleiter said. “I’m happy with [World Tour] and I’m excited to see what people can do [in the future].”

We don’t expect celebrities to genuinely be good at the video games they appear in, but one would think that Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich could play his own band’s songs in Guitar Hero. But no…

Disappointingly, the Metallica founder, who will digitally appear in Guitar Hero Metallica in May doesn’t have the skills to unlock his own song. Lars tells music mag Blender the sad tale of proving to his kids that, you know, there are actually Metallica songs in Guitar Hero III.

“We were never good enough to earn our way to play ‘One.’” Ulrich says. “So after a couple of months, my kids didn’t actually believe there was a Metallica song in this fuckin’ game, so I had to call the guys: “Can we get the cheat codes, please?” And the same thing with ‘Enter Sandman’ on Rock Band.’”

But wait, it gets more disheartening.

“I’ll tell you a little secret about the gaming industry: You know who gave me the cheat codes to Rock Band? The guy at Guitar Hero! Isn’t it nice how they all sort of work together in a perverse way?” Ulrich said. Well, that shatters the illusion that Harmonix and Neversoft employees guard their secrets with ruthless abandon and that if either developer is seen on the other’s turf, a switchblade fight ensues.

Lars also recounts the harrowing tale of being wedged into a motion capture suit, which Guitar Hero Metallica tune is his sentimental favourite and how three Kill ‘Em All tracks almost didn’t make it into the game.

Lars Ulrich Reveals the Secrets Behind Guitar Hero Metallica [Blender]

Guitar Hero’s big business. Multiple versions, multiple consoles, it’s a big hit. But are you prepared for just how big a hit it is, or for how important it is to publishers Activision?

Well, according to Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith, Guitar Hero III has become the first single game in the history of the world to top $1 billion in sales.

That’s $1,000,000,000. Spent just on Guitar Hero III.

Sure, it’s more expensive than your average game, but do you think that’s going to stop the high-fiving and cork-popping going right now in the deepest, darkest depths of Castle Activision?

Nope.

Activision: Guitar Hero III Passes $1b [Edge]

3D gaming is huge at CES 2009. It’s a great gimmick that blows the mind of the buttoned down conventioneer glassy-eyed from looking at television monitors and cell phones that are 0.01% different this year.

Chip maker Nvidia is attempting to lure in the mid-level manager still wowed by 3D displays, showing off Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock with convincing three-dimensional depth. Nvidia’s take requires powered glasses — pretty much like everyone else’s solution — and works just as well.

The businessmen ate it up. It’s definitely impressive, seeing the Guitar Hero note highways popped out beyond the on-stage antics. Well, it’s definitely impressive to look at. It doesn’t add anything new to the actual playing experience, as you’re so focused on the highways during play that everything else requires tuning out. Still, neat-o, at least according to the glasses-sporting passerby.

Nvidia has more than just Guitar Hero on display in 3D, so we’re off to hunt down the company’s other 3D offerings.

Activision Supports The USO, Gives Guitar Hero to The Troops [Shacknews]

Slash, who would prefer that I say is of Guns N’ Roses fame and not Guitar Hero III fame, gave a Q&A to Rolling Stone this week, and had this to say about an upcoming solo album and his custom Les Paul guitar …

Which is also what you play in Guitar Hero.

I was very specific about that because they didn’t have a Les Paul in their entourage at that time, and I said the only way we can do this is with a Les Paul.
Has the huge success of Guitar Hero boosted your rep even further?
Yeah, but the flip-side of that is I met this kid who came up to me and was blown away by the fact I was the guy in the Guitar Hero game, and he kept going on about that. Ten minutes later he goes, “Do you play real guitar?”

I can picture Slash, after recoiling in horror at this encounter with a real geek in the wild, immediately seeking to reassure himself of his rock-star status — in the bosoms of about a dozen adoring groupies wearing no underwear.

UPDATE: Oops, this went out early; I forgot to set the posting time correctly. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Slash: This Time Around We’re Not Making Compromises [Rolling Stone]

Pricing wasn’t provided in the press release, which is after the jump, but if you happen to like Marilyn Manson, Flyleaf and AFI, you probably can’t go wrong. There’s also a very strong possibility that you’re wearing eyeliner right now, regardless of your gender.

ACTIVISION SET TO RELEASE TRACK PACK FOR GUITAR HERO® III: LEGENDS OF ROCK FEATURING DISTINGUISHED ARTISTS FROM INTERSCOPE RECORDS

SANTA MONICA, CA – August 5, 2008 – The distinctive chords of three hit artists from Interscope Records will soon take the stage in Activision Publishing, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVID) Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock. The three-song Intercope Track Pack will let gamers further expand and customise their Guitar Hero playlists and experience a variety of new tunes on August 7.

The pack will include the heavy lyrics of Flyleaf’s “Tina,” the heartfelt track “Carcinogen Crush” from hardcore-punk turned goth band, AFI, as well as a remix of Marilyn Manson’s grinding, fast-paced “Putting Holes In Happiness” by Nick Zinner from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The Interscope Track Pack, originally offered to purchasers of the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock soundtrack CD, will be available on August 7 for download on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®Store for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock offers the ultimate rock experience with new wireless guitars, freshly added content and features including a multiplayer action-inspired battle mode, grueling boss battles, a host of exclusive unlockable content and visually stunning rock venues. Expanded online multiplayer modes allow axe-shredders worldwide to compete head-to-head for true rock status as they riff through a star-studded soundtrack including master tracks by legendary artists such as Aerosmith, Guns ‘N’ Roses, The Rolling Stones, Beastie Boys, Rage Against the Machine and Pearl Jam, as well as original songs by guitar icons Slash and Tom Morello. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is now available and is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB. For more information visit http://community.guitarhero.com.

About Activision Publishing, Inc.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision, Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.

[Roadrunner Records, thanks Silenced!]

Here’s a dash of good. Guitar Hero World Tour will support your existing GH III downloads, which begs the question “Why would you buy Guitar Hero: Aerosmith?”