RockGamer.com

RockGamer.com’s Cena Reviews the New Xbox Experience

Jen — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:11:58 +0000

Although some folks were given an extra day or two to play around with the new Xbox Experience before today’s official launch, the rest of you Xboxers will find that something looks just a little bit different when you turn on your consoles today. After a quick console update, you’ll find that everyone should now be seeing the new Xbox Live we’ve been hearing so much about.

Not sure where to start? Overwhelmed with all the changes? Well, RockGamer.com’s highly rated reviewer Cena has all the answers for you in his Xbox Live Experience review. Head over to Cena’s Corner to watch the video walkthroughs and get his meticulous review of what to expect.

Ready to upgrade to a real guitar this holiday season?

Jen — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:29:42 +0000

If you’re looking for the right way to drop a hint to your loved ones to get you a super shmoozy cool guitar in place of your plastic guitar for the holidays, Guitar Center has come up with a pretty cute way to do it. They’ve created a website that allows you to upload a photo of yourself and then send a video announcement to your gift givers.

A couple of the choices were fairly cheesy, but I found the newscast quite clever. Check out arealguitar.com and test out the previews for yourself. Here’s my pic of my mug on my own personal tv newscast.

Wired Opens NYC Store 11/21, Q&A With Rock Band CEO

Jen — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:13:08 +0000

Wired magazine is setting up a new shop here in New York City later this week and if you’re in the area, you may want to attend. Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos will be joining Wired’s Chris Kohler at 7pm for an hour of Games: The Future of Music, a talk about the rise of music games, where they’ve been, where they’re going. Also planned is an audience Q&A, so if you have something Rock Band related on your mind, you may want to RSVP for the event.

The new store will be located at 15 West 18th St in the city.

Guitar Hero World Tour Wii Owners Denied Hendrix Songs

Jen — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:21:11 +0000

Poor Wii owners. Somehow they are always treated like the red-headed step children of the console wars. Apparently you won’t be getting the jimi Hendrix downloadable content that the rest of us can choose. According to an Activision PR rep:

Due to technical or licensing restrictions, the DLC offerings will not be the same for every console platform. For example, certain artists prefer to keep the integrity of the track pack rather than releasing singles and the Wii’s infrastructure only allows us the ability to release single songs as DLC.

Apparently the Wii platform can’t handle packs and the late Jimi Hendrix really prefers you have ALL of the songs or forget it! Well at least you guys get the consolation of Wii Music. Oh wait…

Clem Burke Drumming Project gives GHWT thumbs up

Mike — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:26:35 +0000

From http://www.clemburkedrummingproject.com

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 – is based on the pursuit of knowledge through the application of scientific principles to the various art forms of drumming. With 10 years of research behind it already, The Clem Burke Drumming Project is committed to the dissemination of information leading to increased enjoyment, health and well-being of all participants involved in drumming.

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Lips Release Tomorrow - No Go on Mic Compatibility

Jen — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:32:07 +0000

Well folks, my dream has died. I was so excited at the prospect of the “Lips” wireless mic option for Rock Band and Guitar Hero - but now, alas, we’ll have to wait and see if Logitech’s is any good in December. Word is out that the two wireless microphones that will be coming with the “Lips” game release tomorrow will not be cross-compatible with any other games.

From the MTV article, we discovered with much dismay:

During a hotel demo of “Lips,” creator Keiichi Yano of Inis told MTV Multiplayer his wireless, accelerometer-enhanced microphone will only work with “Lips” at launch.

Perhaps a patch will come after launch? Quickly after launch? Like on Wednesday???

Guitar Hero World Tour First Week Unit Sales 60% Fewer Than GH3

Jen — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 21:22:21 +0000

According to the recently released October sales numbers by the NPD group, first week sales for the newest installment in the Guitar Hero series may have been a disappointment to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and Co. Sales for Guitar Hero World Tour in its first week (launch date October 26) were 534,000 units. Compare this to last year’s October release of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, whose sales were 1.4 million units in its first week and you’ll see the huge disparity. Could we be seeing signs of the rock game war raging between Activision and its closest competitor Harmonix’s Rock Band series?

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Both GHWT and Rock Band Get Killers DLC 11/25

Jen — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:38:22 +0000

According to an Activision press release and Wired.com, apparently both Rock Band and Guitar Hero World Tour will have new downloadable content from the Killers on November 25th, the same day their 3rd album “Day and Age” hits stores.

Wired.com reports that three Killers songs will arrive in Rock Band: “Mr. Brightside,” Smile Like You Mean It” and “Spaceman,” with the final song coming from their new disc.

Activision’s announcement has three songs as well, but with two of the three coming from the new album plus the hit single “Mr. Brightside”. The new songs will be “Human” and “Losing Touch”.

Check out DLC Central for updates and previews.

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Rock Band DLC Week of 11/18: Dead Kennedys, Lacuna Coil, More

Jen — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:16:37 +0000

Has anyone done the math lately on how many songs Harmonix has to release each and every week in order to hit their stated goal of having 500 songs out by the end of the year? It’s a pretty big number and this week gets us another 10 songs. Three different 3-packs from the Dead Kennedys, Misson of Burma, and the Century Media Girls of Metal pack which includes two by Lacuna Coil. Also available is an on-the-cheap single from Crooked X. Check out DLC Central for a listen and look at the tracks. Details below.

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RockGamer.com’s Nearly News - 2nd Edition

Jen — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:51:59 +0000

We’re back with another edition of Nearly News - your source for news from other sites that I personally can’t believe is all that newsworthy. We’ve got articles on Konami shipping the Rock Revolution bundle, the Playstation 2 version of GHWT shipping (does anyone still really have a PS2?), Rock Band (version one) going on sale in time for the holidays, and more.

Check out the links below and thanks as always to the dedicated reporters who did find the inner strength to report on them.

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