That Gaming Site Writes: "I play real Guitar and Guitar Hero.

Being a fan of both, I've been subject to numerous arguments over and over about how playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band is a waste of time and that 'nerds' should try picking up a real instrument and do something productive for a change. It was in this week's edition of NME (a British Indie Music Publication) that brought me this comment, in an article that........"
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Console Monster writes: "If you've been kept in the house because of the 'poor' weather conditions and are looking for new content to download then look no further as the Xbox Live Marketplace update for Thursday 4th December 2008 is here:

Name: Race Driver GRID 8-Ball Pack
Price: 800 Microsoft Points
Availability: All Xbox Live Regions

Name: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Jedi Temple Mission Pack
Price: 800 Microsoft Points
Availability: All Xbox Live Regions

Name: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Costume Pack #2
Price: 400 Microsoft Points
Availability: All Xbox Live Regions.."
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MCV: The Guardian sticks up for gaming following attack from music mag NME
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"December 3, 2008 – Legendary multi-platinum recording artists The Eagles, Nirvana and The Smashing Pumpkins, all featured in the on-disc set list of Activision Publishing, Inc.'s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Guitar Hero® World Tour, are returning in December with exclusive downloadable content for the game. Additionally, fans will be in for a treat just in time for Christmas with three free Reggae Rock tracks from Pepper, Slightly Stoopid and Expendables."
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Guitar Hero World Tour has been a success for Activision, but it may be such a success that they can't keep the product on store shelves. Cowen Group analyst Doug Creutz said short supply -- not a lack of demand -- is to blame if the game doesn't meet sales expectations.
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Harmonix has patched Rock Band 2 on PS3 to support Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Revolution peripherals.

An Xbox 360 update is "forthcoming", according to the Rock Band forum.

"Consumers should not be forced to buy separate controllers for each game. Rock Band peripherals should be compatible with other music games - even those of our competitors," said the developer.
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Shortages in the supply of Guitar Hero World Tour's full band kit for all platforms is driving resale demand to above the USD 300 mark.

Analysts at Cowen and Company downplayed concerns over the latest instalment of the Guitar Hero's sales, labelling them "overblown", and putting down the underperforming results to a limited supply - something the soon to be released PlayStation 2 SKU should go part way to solving.

However, the analyst group did say that the poor supply was being exploited by resellers selling the full kit at a cost many times higher than the retail price.
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Console Monster writes: "Compared to yesterday's Xbox Live Marketplace update todays seems to be a little bit on the short side. Here is the full Xbox Live Marketplace update for Thursday 20th November 2008:

Name: Guitar Hero World Tour Raconteurs Track Pack
Price: 440 Microsoft Points
Availability: All Xbox Live Regions

Name: GHWT Raconteurs Solute Your Solutions Single
Price: 160 Microsoft Points
Availability: All Xbox Live Regions

Name: GHWT Raconteurs Hold Up Single
Price: 160 Microsoft Points
Availability: All Xbox Live Regions..."
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As part of the "New Xbox Experience," as Microsoft is calling it, the company has made it possible to view downloadable content in terms of user popularity.

It's not as robust or scientific as the Nintendo Channel and MTV Multiplayer doesn't know how long it's been tracking these statistics, but it does provide some insight into gamer habits.

So, what are the top five downloads for gamers who are playing "Rock Band 2," "Guitar Hero: World Tour," "BioShock," "Halo 3? and "Gears of War"?
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MCV: 'Rock Star' combo blame rhythm action titles for lack of new US bands
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Activision Publishing, Inc. today announced an exclusive XboxLIVE! online entertainment network weekend for their smash-hit Guitar Hero World Tour. Starting November 27, 2008, players 14 years of age or older will be able to participate in a number of exciting online activities to determine who is truly the top Guitar Hero rocker...
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Leading drum research initiative The Clem Burke Drumming Project has today announced a year-long collaborative research project which will examine the benefits of using Activision Publishing, Inc's Guitar Hero World Tour's Drum Kit Controller.

The Clem Burke Drumming Project – a unique collaboration between Blondie drummer Clem Burke, Dr. Marcus Smith from the University of Chichester and Dr. Steve Draper from the University of Gloucestershire...
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October was a pretty impressive month for the video game industry considering the overall economic environment in the U.S. Although neither Guitar Hero nor Rock Band made it into the NPD's top 10 selling games for the month, the two popular music franchises still helped boost sales overall. Guitar Hero World Tour placed 11th, 12th and 20th on the Xbox 360, Wii, and PS3, respectively, while Rock Band 2 for PS3 placed 16th.

What's more interesting, however, is a direct dollar sales comparison. According to data provided by Deutsche Bank Securities, Activision's Guitar Hero easily outsold MTV's Rock Band 2 (distributed by EA). Sales for Guitar Hero totaled $67 million for the month of October compared to just $27 million for Rock Band 2.
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After making their entry in a Guitar Hero set list with When You Were Young on Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, multi-platinum alternative rockers The Killers are playing a downloadable encore in Activision Publishing, Inc.'s Guitar Hero World Tour, the company announced today...
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OXM UK reports that the Terms Of Use agreement for Guitar Hero: World Tour's GH Tunes mode covers more than just your country or even continent - it covers the entire universe.

The phrasing is that "you hereby grant Activision... a perpetual license throughout the universe."
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What is going on with the pricing of the DLC for Guitar Hero. Gameplayer are reporting some marjor variations between the PS3 and X360 version of the game online.
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The lead designer on Rock Band 2 says that Harmonix wants to let gamers create and share their own music, but wants it to be "an authentic experience".
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Is it any surprise that some of the most popular tracks being created in "Guitar Hero: World Tour"'s music creation studio are ripped from video games?

When GH Tunes launched in late October, the most popular songs on the service were based on music from "Super Mario Bros." and "The Legend of Zelda."

But they aren't anymore.

Based on a recent search, those songs do not appear to be on the service any longer, likely a result of copyright infringement monitoring from Neversoft and Activision Blizzard - but they are still on my hard drive. The creators of the game can't remotely delete material.

However, the blips and bloops of Mario and Link have been replaced with other video game jingles, ranging from "Final Fantasy" to "Sonic the Hedgehog" and even "DOOM."
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"The release date for the PS2/PS3 version is November 15. Work is already underway for a Wii version for Guitar Hero, due December 1, a Wii version for Guitar Hero and Rock Band, due January 31, and an Xbox 360 version for Rock Band and Guitar Hero in April."
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Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick knows a cash cow when he sees one, and has let it be known that the user generated content being created within Guitar Hero: World Tour could be sold as part of a subscription service in the future.

The revelation came during Wednesday's quarterly Activision Blizzard conference call with reporters. As noted by Kotaku, Kotick has previously stated the Guitar Hero music service, GH Tunes, has the potential to be one of the "credible alternatives to iTunes."
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