The Latest Guitar Hero News

GUITAR HERO® 5 AND BAND HERO™ OFFER ROCKERS A STRONG LINEUP OF DOWNLOADABLE TRACKS IN MARCH

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

GUITAR HERO® 5 AND BAND HERO™ OFFER ROCKERS A STRONG LINEUP OF DOWNLOADABLE TRACKS IN MARCH

Popular Bands blink-182, OK Go, Flogging Molly, Mötley Crüe, The Go-Go’s and Night Ranger Round Out the Roster of Top Acts Contributing Music to Guitar Hero®’s Music Library

SANTA MONICA, CA – February 25, 2010 – Guitar Hero® shifts into high gear with the announcement of this month’s lineup of downloadable songs for Activision Publishing, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Guitar Hero® 5 and Band Hero™. With a new three-song offering every Thursday, Guitar Hero raises the bar once again with track packs from premier pop-punk band blink-182, alternative rockers OK Go, Irish-infused music from Flogging Molly and a collection of 80’s hits from iconic bands Mötley Crüe, The Go-Go’s and Night Ranger.

Leading the charge on March 4, pop-punk trio blink-182 returns to Guitar Hero with a track pack featuring three of their biggest hits that helped shape the development of the pop-punk music genre. The blink-182 track pack features “First Date,” the second single from Take Off Your Pants And Jacket, as well as mega-hit “All The Small Things” and the slow-paced, serious track “Adam’s Song,” both from the band’s 1999 multi-platinum album Enema Of The State.

Grammy award winning band OK Go smashes onto the scene March 11 with “Here It Goes Again” and “Do What You Want” from their 2005 release Oh No. Longtime OK Go fanatics will also be thrilled to rock out to “Get Over It,” the first single off of the band’s 2002 self-titled debut album.

Living room legends can continue their St. Patrick’s Day celebration as they download the Flogging Molly track pack on March 18. The three Irish-inspired favorites from the Celtic punk rockers will have fans jamming all night long to “Requiem For A Dying Song” and “(No More) Paddy’s Lament” from the band’s 2008 album Float and “The Seven Deadly Sins” from their 2004 release Within a Mile of Home.

The 80’s return on March 25 with some of the music that made the decade famous, including the title glam metal anthem “Girls, Girls, Girls” off of Mötley Crüe’s 1987 album, The Go-Go’s biggest hit, “We Got The Beat,” off of their debut album Beauty And The Beat, and Night Ranger’s milestone power ballad “Sister Christian.”

The blink-182, OK Go, Flogging Molly and 80’s track packs will be available on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 440 Microsoft Points, on the PlayStation®Store for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system for $5.49 and for Wii™ for 550 Wii Points™. In addition, all songs in each track pack will be released as downloadable singles for Xbox 360 for 160 Microsoft Points, PlayStation 3 system for $1.99 and Wii for 200 Wii Points each. In addition to the in-game music store and the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360, Xbox 360 owners can expand their Guitar Hero music library using the Guitar Hero VIP Pass Music Store, available exclusively on Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network.

For more information about Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero and their entire line-up of downloadable content, please visit www.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.

Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Russia, Japan, South Korea, China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com.

February 2010 DLC Announcement

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

GUITAR HERO®’S FEBRUARY DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT LINEUP PACKS A POWERFUL PUNCH WITH FRESH MUSIC FROM TOP BANDS

Heavy Metal Powerhouse Black Sabbath Debuts Master Tracks as Compatible Guitar Hero® 5 and Band Hero™ Downloadable Songs

Guitar Hero Music Library Further Expands with Hit Songs and New Music from 30 Seconds To Mars, Breaking Benjamin and Third Eye Blind

SANTA MONICA, CA – January 28, 2010 – Guitar Hero® cranks up the heat in February with a strong lineup of weekly downloadable songs that are sure to satisfy fans’ musical appetites. For the first time in a music video game, master tracks from popular heavy metal band Black Sabbath are hitting center stage. In addition, top bands 30 Seconds To Mars, Breaking Benjamin and Third Eye Blind lend both hit songs and new music, to the vast Guitar Hero music library with downloadable content for Activision Publishing, Inc.’s Guitar Hero® 5 and Band Hero™.

Epic alt-rockers 30 Seconds To Mars return to Guitar Hero with searing vocals, imaginative percussion sequences and blazing guitar riffs in a three-song track pack on February 4. The 30 Seconds To Mars Track Pack features hit singles “Attack” and “From Yesterday” from the band’s sophomore album A Beautiful Lie as well as “Kings and Queens,” the first single off of their latest album, This Is War.

On February 11, breakout alternative metal band Breaking Benjamin makes their Guitar Hero debut with a three song track pack including “Sooner or Later” from their 2004 album We Are Not Alone and “Until The End,” off of the band’s third album Phobia. The Breaking Benjamin Track Pack will also have metal fanatics thrashing to the band’s newest single from their Dear Agony album, “Give Me A Sign.”

Heavy metal pioneer and Rock And Roll Hall of Fame inductee Black Sabbath brings their original music to a music game for the first time on February 18. With master tracks of the hard-hitting, crunching classics “After Forever,” “Into The Void” and “Sweetleaf,” all off of their certified-platinum album Master of Reality, the Black Sabbath Track Pack delivers an unforgettable and intense music experience where fans can enjoy music they love in a whole new way.

As a follow up to their recent appearance on Guitar Hero® Van Halen with their 1997 hit “Semi-Charmed Life,” Third Eye Blind returns to the Guitar Hero stage for an encore performance with a three-song track pack releasing on February 25. The Third Eye Blind Track Pack features “Can You Take Me” off of their latest album Ursa Major, as well as new versions of “Losing A Whole Year,” originally released on their 6x certified-platinum, self-titled debut album and “Never Let You Go,” the hit single released on the band’s 1999 album Blue.

The 30 Seconds To Mars, Breaking Benjamin, Black Sabbath and Third Eye Blind track packs will be available on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 440 Microsoft Points, on the PlayStation®Store for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system for $5.49 and for Wii™ for 550 Wii Points™. In addition, all songs in each track pack will be released as downloadable singles for Xbox 360 for 160 Microsoft Points, PlayStation 3 system for $1.99 and Wii for 200 Wii Points each. In addition to the in-game music store and the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360, Xbox 360 owners can expand their Guitar Hero music library using the all-new Guitar Hero VIP Pass Music Store, available exclusively on Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network.

For more information about Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero and their entire line-up of downloadable content, please visit www.guitarhero.com.

Get your own Guitar Hero® VIP Pass and start downloading new music the easy way!

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Discover the Latest Downloadable Tracks in the Guitar Hero® VIP Pass Music Store on Xbox LIVE®

Now it is easier than ever for Xbox LIVE® users to expand their Guitar Hero® music library. The new Guitar Hero® VIP Pass Music Store offers features such as the ability to preview clips from songs before purchasing them and flexible searching and sorting of songs from several Guitar Hero® games. To get started, download the Guitar Hero® VIP Pass Music Store to your Xbox 360 by clicking here.

January 2010 Track Pack News

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Happy New Year everyone!

Start the new year off right by downloading new tracks for Guitar Hero 5 or Band Hero! This month we are visiting many places on the musical map from blues to Euro indie bands, a trip into classic rock territory and also landing smack dab in the land of teh metalz.

January 7th has us exploring some up and coming Blues artists. The new Blues Masters Track Pack allows players to jam to Tyler Bryant’s “Who I am,” experience the American blues-rock styling’s of Joe Bonamassa with “Lonesome Road Blues,” or rock out to "Broken Man" by Scott McKeon. The Blues Masters Track Pack will be coming to your

To celebrate the release of Vampire Weekend's new album Contra on January 11 - UK/January 12 - US, we are bringing all you Heroes a three-song track pack! The Vampire Weekend Track Pack features the songs "Holiday" and "Cousins" off the new album plus "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance" off their self-titled to round out the pack.

Are you ready for some Metal? Get ready for the shredding because on January 21st, we have three new bands making their appearance on Guitar Hero for the first time! The Metal Track Pack has “Still I Rise,” a track of Shadows Fall sixth studio album, Retribution, "Twilight of the Thunder God" off Amon Amarth’s seventh studio album similarly titled, Twilight of the Thunder God, and “Laser Canon Deth Sentence" off Dethklok’s second full-length album, Dethalbum II.

And last but certainly not least we have a Creedence Clearwater Revival Pack hitting the music store on January 28th. The three song track pack contains “Proud Mary,” a track off Creedence Clearwater Revival’s second album Bayou Country, “Bad Moon Rising” from their third album Green River and “Travelin' Band” off their fifth album Cosmo's Factory.

Enjoy the songs everyone and have a rockin' Januray!

* The New Blues Masters, Vampire Weekend, Metal and Creedence Clearwater Revival Track Packs will be available on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 440 Microsoft Points, on the PlayStation®Store for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system for $5.49 and for Wii™ for 550 Wii Points™. In addition, all songs in The New Blues Masters, Vampire Weekend, Metal and Creedence Clearwater Revival Track Packs will be released as downloadable singles for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 160 Microsoft Points, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system for $1.99 and Wii for 200 Wii Points each. The New Blues Masters Track Pack will be available for the Xbox 360 and Wii starting January 7, and for the Playstation 3 starting January 21.

New DLC for the holidays!

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

What better way to welcome in the holidays then by playing along to Steve Ouimette's version of the classic "Hark The Herald Angels Sing," available as a free download now in the Music Store! We think this is an awesome way to spend the holiday!

Then live it up and rock out with a three song track pack featuring Band Hero in-game artists. Players can sing along to Taylor Swift's "Our Song," jam to Maroon 5's "Harder to Breathe," or rock to "New" by No Doubt as they bring in the New Year, Guitar Hero style in the Celebrity New Year's Track Pack. All songs are available now in the Music Store! Playing these new tracks are a great way to get your 2010 off to a rockin' start!

Have a very happy holiday everyone!

Band Hero Avatar Parts Now Available on Xbox Live Marketplace!

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Available now in the Xbox Live Marketplace are brand new avatar parts to add some Band Hero style and flair to your 360 avatar! We have awesome new accessories such as stylin' shirts for girls and guys (that even include ties! Oh so 80's!) vests, Band Hero shirts, pants and the two most coveted and awesome accessories we've created yet, a special mic that your avtar can belt out a tune with and my favorite, a boombox, that when your avatar plays it, you break dance and do the robot. NO JOKE.

Hurry to the Xbox Live Marketplace and download some Band Hero avatar parts today!

[Avatar parts range is price from 80 MS Points to 240 MS Points and can be purchased via the web at the Band Hero section of the Xbox Live Marketplace.]

GHTunes Showcase: GHDevBrianE discusses his made for Band Hero track

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

* Name & job here at Neversoft:

Brian Effinger (GHDevBrianE) - Jr. Midi Designer

* What is your song's title and does it mean anything?

A Me Jo – just a play on my wifes first and last name – I’ve used that melody before in a tune I wrote years ago and titled the song "amys song"

* How long did it take you to create your GHTunes track?

About 4 days

* Why is GHTunes such a unique feature in the game to you?

I think it’s a great way to get a lot of different music to people who play guitar hero

* What is your favorite songs to play in GH?

I really enjoy playing AndyTHPS’s "Don’t Push the Red Button," really awesome song and fun to play

* What is your favorite type of music to play/listen to?

Funk – Metal

* Has there been a GHTunes song you've heard and downloaded that you enjoy playing?

Yes but I can’t remember the name!

* How many tracks have you created for GHTunes?

2 – one called "Smoker on the Roof" (L4d tribute) which was in metallica and now this one

* Are you in a band? What's your bands name? What kind of music do they play? (your Guitar Hero band doesn't count!)

I’m currently just working on songs at home, but it’s just me, no name but I could be called Effinjerk or something!

GHTunes Showcase: New tracks for Band Hero from GHDevDom

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

* Name & job here at Neversoft:

Dominic Liberati, Jr. MIDI Designer

* What is your song's title and does it mean anything?

Hip Hoppananomuz…not really, just wanted it to be fun and humorous

* How long did it take you to create your GHTunes track?

About 2 days

* Why is GHTunes such a unique feature in the game to you?

It’s a great way to connect non-musicians, gamers, and/or musicians just getting started to the recording world.

* What is your favorite songs to play in GH?

I am a bassist first, so anything with a great bass line

* What is your favorite type of music to play/listen to?

All forms of rock, but mostly Alt./Pop Rock.

* How many tracks have you created for GHTunes?

About 3, though this was the first one I’ve felt like publishing.

* Has there been a GHTunes song you've heard and downloaded that you enjoy playing?

Feed Forward, Moonlit

* Are you in a band?

Yes, I have my own solo project

*What's your bands name?

Dom Liberati - http://www.domliberati.com/fr_index.cfm

*What kind of music do they play?

Mainstream/Alt. Rock

GHTunes Showcase: Band Hero MashUp Jam from GHDevThomasO

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

If you think that Style Patterns are just used for GHJam demos then you may want to look a little deeper into Pattern Mode. There are 12 different styles to pick from when you create a new song in GHMix. Each of the styles selects the tempo, Line 6 effects, keyboard samples, mixer presets and default patterns for the style. These patterns are the same ones that are used in GHJam but can also be used in GHMix to easily recreate or remix the examples.

You can take Pattern Mode further by mixing and matching different styles to create new music. I created Mashup Jam by combining hip hop, chip tunes, hard rock, and funk styles together. The drums track is a combination of funk and hip hop styles played using the chip tunes sounds. All of the other tracks were created with a combination of hard rock, funk, and chip tunes styles.

To get started using Pattern Mode, paste in the same style in all of the tracks. These should line up to sound like the styles in GHJam. Choose Pattern Select to define which patterns are set to each fret button on the guitar. The easiest track to start changing styles with is the drums track since all of the sounds are rhythmic instead of harmonic. Not all of the patterns will sound great together but finding unexpected combinations is part of the fun.

Try mixing styles in Pattern Mode the next time you are looking for creative inspiration in GHMix and check out my other Band Hero GHMix songs (Spin Room and Feed Forward).

GHTunes Showcase: Rockin' tracks created for Band Hero by GHDevJordanS

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

* Name & job here at Neversoft:

My name is Jordan Sapp (GHDevJordanS) and I am a MIDI Designer here at Neversoft. I get to design the note layouts for guitar and bass.

* What is your song's title and does it mean anything?

My song is called “Miami Beat” and is lighthearted take on some of the more popular hip-hop and rap out right now. I was aiming for a 16^th groove, Miami-style beat and tried to turn that into a fun track for Band Hero that people could freestyle or write their own rhymes over.

* How long did it take you to create your GHTunes track?

It took me about 3 hours to write and track the song and about another 2 hours for the artwork. I’m actually just as proud of the artwork as I am the actual song.

* You've made songs for GHTunes before. Was the experience any different this time?

I think making a song for with Band Hero in mind really allowed me to focus in on a certain style. I wanted something synth-driven and pop in nature with less emphasis on rock and metal. It was fun to try and make something is just listenable. If it’s fun to listen to, naturally it’s fun to play.

* What is your favorite songs to play in Band Hero?

“Picture to Burn” by Taylor Swift is one of my favorites because of the banjo part in the verses. It’s really fun. I also like “The Adventure” by AVA, “Ocean Avenue” by Yellowcard, and “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn” is fun too. The game is full of songs that are just fun to play.

GHTunes Showcase: GHDevBrett talks about his GHTunes tracks

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

* Name & job here at Neversoft:

GHDevBretDubin and I am a Quality Assurance Tester.

* What is your song's title and does it mean anything?

- "Tip Tow" - The lead guitar intro sounded sort of "stealthy" and reminded me of a person tip toeing.

- "Extroverted" - No real meaning, the song is just heavy and in your face.

- "Plead the 6th" - Again, no real meaning...the song's time signature is in 6/8 and thought it was a clever title.

- "Unwelcome" - No meaning,...a random Metal song title with matching Album Art.

- "Glowstick Party" - I just thought the title was funny and appropriate for the song's genre.

Overall, I guess I just found it difficult to come up with meaningful song titles for instrumental songs. For me, a song's title would be derived from the lyrics, but with no vocals, I'd just end up naming it along the lines of what the song sounds like and/or reminds me of.

* How long did it take you to create your GHTunes track?

Each song took me roughly 8-10 hours.

* Why is GHTunes such a unique feature in the game to you?

I think that GHTunes/GHStudio is so unique because there is really nothing else quite like it. It allows the players to create music, then play it and share it with anyone in such a way that has never really been done before...on a gaming console! No "ProTools" experience necessary!

* What is your favorite songs to play in GH?

Black Magic Woman - Santana [Guitar Hero 3]

Dyer's Eve - Metallica (on drums Expert+)[Guitar Hero - Metallica]

Done with Everything, Die for Nothing - Children of Bodom (on drums Expert+)[Guitar Hero 5]

* What is your favorite type of music to play/listen to?

I have a rather broad range of music that I like to play and listen to....as long as its not Country or Rap, I'll probably like it.

* How many tracks have you created for GHTunes?

Not quite sure..about 15 or 20.

* Are you in a band? What's your bands name? What kind of music do they play? (your Guitar Hero band doesn't count!)

I don't play in a band at the moment. But over the years I have played in numerous bands with genres ranging from Ska to Metal to Alternative/Rock covers of TV shows and commercial theme songs.

* What GH instrument/difficulty are you best at?

Drums / Expert+

GHTunes Showcase: GHDevChad and his sweet music

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

* Name & job here at Neversoft:

My name is GHDevChad, and I’m a note-tracker here at Neversoft.

* What is your song's title and does it mean anything?

I’ve put 2 original songs up for this game’s showcase. The first is called VillageOfDarkness, and the second is called MRD.

* How long did it take you to create your GHTunes track?

Each track takes me on average 1 day to write initially, and another day to tweak and perfect the game-play to my satisfaction.

* Why is GHTunes such a unique feature in the game to you?

It’s such a great way to discover new musical tricks. I guess I should explain what I mean by this. When I write music, most of the time I only have the luxury of using one instrument. If I want to write music for a full band, it requires me to be with a few other talented musicians, or I might need to have some very expensive computer software. Using GHTunes, I can experiment with chord progressions, Guitar/Bass harmonies, and unique rhythms and see if I can procure a great song from it.

* What is your favorite songs to play in GH?

So many to name. Six, Hangar 18, Raining Blood, Cliffs of Dover, pretty much all of GH:Metallica, and most of GH:Smash Hits.

* What is your favorite type of music to play/listen to?

To be honest, I tend to like metal and all its sub-genres the most, but really I’m open to pretty much anything that can invoke some emotion in me.

* How many tracks have you created for GHTunes?

Let’s see… “Lieing Rebel Shor” was showcased for Guitar Hero World Tour. GH:Metallica had two of my songs on disc, Desimate and Stealing Life. And now 2 more for GH5! That’s 5.

* Are you in a band? What's your bands name? What kind of music do they play? (your Guitar Hero band doesn't count!)

Actually, Lieing Rebel Shor and Stealing Life were both adaptations of songs from my real band. Although I’m not actually part of it anymore, they still play the songs. The band’s name is Cynica. Pretty much your typical rock band I would say.

GHTunes Showcase: GHDevJordanS has music and rhythm

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

* Name & job here at Neversoft:

My name in Jordan Sapp (GHDevJordanS) and I am a Guitar/Bass Notetracker here at Neversoft.

* What is your song's title and does it mean anything?

I called my song “Dotted Jam”. It’s based on the dotted eighth delay pattern in the guitar hook.

* How long did it take you to create your GHTunes track?

It took me about 6 hours total to create the song from start to finish. This includes writing the song and creating each part for every instrument.

* Why is GHTunes such a unique feature in the game to you?

There’s nothing like creating something from the ground up. I love watching a song come together from nothing and seeing it take shape. It’s a passion of mine. The fact that Guitar Hero provides an outlet, and an expansive one at that, for creating original material is a great thing. Playing your favorite songs in Guitar Hero is a ton of fun, but if we can also encourage people to create their own music and share it with the world, we’re doing something right.

* What is your favorite songs to play in GH?

As a Notetracker, I sort of naturally become fond of the songs I track for the game. I try to lay out note charts that are the most possible fun to me, so I’m obviously going to enjoy them a little more than others once they are finished. Some of my favorite songs to play in Guitar Hero 5 are “2 Minutes to Midnight”, “Do You Feel Like We Do”, and “Bleed American”, all of which I tracked.

* What is your favorite type of music to play/listen to?

As a guitar player, I love to play rock and blues mainly. However, I’m also really inspired by different sounds, tones, and effects and I love to be as creative as possible in any musical situation. Some of my favorite bands/artists are U2, John Mayer, AC/DC, and Johnny Lang.

* Are you in a band? What's your bands name? What kind of music do they play? (your Guitar Hero band doesn't count!)

I am not currently in a band, but I am working on an album of original tunes that I will produce and it should be available by January. The style of the songs ranges from rock and blues, to pop and funk. I’d like to form a band around this project and play around the L.A. area, but we’ll see how it turns out.

Dev Blog: Band Hero Treasure Hunt Achievement

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Let me first introduce myself. My name is Lee Ross and I am one of the many folks here at Neversoft that work on bringing the Achievements/Trophies for the Guitar Hero and Band Hero games into your living room. You might have read a recent blog I posted about getting into the gaming industry. Well enough about me. Let's talk "Treasure Hunt" our newest Achievement/Trophy addition to Band Hero!

With Band Hero we wanted to break the mold of the traditional Achievements/Trophies (ex: streaks, scores on songs, etc). We do have some of the more traditional Achievements/Trophies this go around but we also have something completely new and different for you.

The way it works:

Treasure Hunt is only one of 20 Achievements/Trophies in Band Hero that are all tied directly together. Spread throughout the Band Hero songs are secret notes. These notes look just like your ordinary notes only these notes serve a very special purpose. When someone plays a song containing the secret notes and manages to play all of them successfully, that player will be awarded with a single Achievement/Trophy for finding the secret notes. If a player successfully plays all of the secret notes in all 19 of the songs containing secret notes and earns all of the secret note Achievements/Trophies, they will then be awarded the coveted "Treasure Hunt" Achievement/Trophy.

Now I am sure you are thinking "How are we supposed to know which songs contain these secret notes?". To aid in your search the description for each secret note Achievement/Trophy contains a clue as to who performs the song you will need to play. You will need to figure out who that artist is and then play their song and try to locate the secret notes by playing them all successfully.

Since Band Hero offers the option to play as a vocalist, bassist, guitarist or drummer we offer the ability to earn this Achievement/Trophy as any one of those performers. We also offer this Achievement/Trophy for all difficulties. This means you can play as any instrument and perform on any difficulty you see fit. Of note, these Achievements/Trophies can only be earned once. So if you earn "Secret notes 5" as a drummer, you will not be able to earn it again with any other instrument.

So what is all of this hard work worth to you? On the Xbox 360, once you have earned the "Treasure Hunt" Achievement you will have netted yourself a cool 585 points! Each Secret Note Achievement is worth 5 points with the Treasure Hunt Achievement weighing in at a hefty 490 points! For our PS3 owners, you will have earned 19 Bronze Trophies and 1 Gold Trophy!

We hope you enjoy the new challenge set before you. If you have any questions I will try to answer as many as possible. Please note, I will not be revealing any of the songs nor giving any additional hints as to how to earn these Achievements/Trophies. =)

Thanks!

Lee Ross, Producer

Dev Blog: Why I Love Band Hero by GHDevTina

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

I'm a gamer. RPGs, FPS, MMOs, not to mention episodic games based on characters from early 90s PC titles. I love games for the fun, for the challenge, for the "I'm never going to beat this as long as I live" moment, followed by the elation when you *do* knock it out of the ballpark.

The great thing about music-based games, Guitar Hero specifically, is that they have always afforded both a really fun and challenging gameplay experience alongside great music! What's more, that music has always been extremely versatile and having something for almost everyone. If you love Metal, you're not going to find much better than Guitar Hero Metallica. Big fan of extreme guitar riffs and wailing solos? Everyone still has massive love for Dragonforce’s “Through the Fire and Flames” from Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, which you can also play in the full band setup in Guitar Hero Smash Hits. Classic Rock? Guitar Hero Aerosmith. A big mix of everything? Guitar Hero World Tour covers the bases...

BUT!!!!! What if you're a fan of pop music? You know... that music that you sing along to in the car or shower, or if you're like me, the music that you love to belt out at the top of your lungs at a karaoke place or a friend’s party. The songs that just make you feel good and put you in a better mood by hearing them.

I'm talking about Culture Club, Janet Jackson, and maybe you can even work out your moves to a little bit of Marvin Gaye.

These are songs that are just fun to play, and what's more, they're songs that *everyone knows*... Say you want to fill out your band with a singer who isn't a "gamer"... what better way to do that then to offer them up the chance to sing along to The Go-Go's?!?! I know that personally, I know a lot of guys (and some gamer girls) who try desperately to get their significant others, parents, friends, and kids to play with them. This is a great way not just to introduce them to rhythm games, but ALSO to gaming as a whole.

Everyone has their own personal taste in music, but if any genre comes close to appealing to everyone, I think it would be these pop songs. As for me? I'm looking forward to taking this game home and playing it with my mom for some serious mother-daughter vocals competition. It's going to be awesome!

-GHTina: Guitar Hero Producer

Dev Blog: Vocal Updates in Guitar Hero 5

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Hey everybody, my name is Anthony Campos (GHDevAnthony) and I work as a Note Tracker here at Neversoft. With all of the GH5 information being released, information about the vocals in the game has been pretty sparse. Well, today I’m gonna fill you in on everything you need to know about singing in GH5.

A lot of changes and tweaks have gone into vocals since Guitar Hero World Tour. Some changes are aesthetic, such as the overall look of the pitches in the highway (which are much cleaner and easier to read). There are also some minor changes to earning and maintaining your multiplier. Earning an “Excellent” rating still increases the multiplier by one, but if the player has a 4x multiplier and earns a “Solid” rating, the multiplier will drop to 2x (earning another “Solid” rating consecutively will drop the multiplier back to 1x).

One thing that has changed (that I’m sure competitive singers will be happy about) is that freeform sections no longer affect the players score. Gone are the days of lopsided scoring and exploiting these sections for points. Players are now awarded with a boost to their rock meter. This makes it so freeform sections feel less mandatory, and turns them into something the player can enjoy if they so choose (and possibly help them out in a tight spot if they’re struggling).

Another welcome addition to vocals is the inclusion of Star Power (SP) phrases. Up to this point, SP was awarded to the player based on their performance in each phrase, with an “Excellent” rating giving the player the highest amount of SP available for any given phrase. As a result, this made SP available at any given point since it was awarded after every phrase, removing a lot of the strategy and difficulty from vocals. We now assign SP to individual phrases. These phrases require an “Excellent” rating for SP to be awarded to the player.

One of the new features that I am most excited for is the inclusion of a phrase progress meter. This meter essentially tells the player how well they are currently doing in any given phrase. As a player sings through a phrase, the meter will change color to indicate what rating they will earn or how close they are to earning a particular rating. While it may seem like a rather hum-drum addition, this progress meter is the foundation to how vocals are now scored.

Scoring is handled completely different than how it was handled in previous games. To start off, players will no longer earn a base score per phrase. Phrases are now scored based on the amount of time they stay on pitch. Think of it in terms of how sustains continuously score points on guitar and you have the basic idea. So to put it simply, the more pitches you nail within a phrase, the more points you get! As a result of this new system of scoring, the length of a phrase is directly related to how many points you will earn from a phrase. So if you have two phrases, one short with many short notes, and one very long with long sustained notes, the longer phrase will inherently award more points since you are spending more time singing in that phrase than the shorter one.

So where does the progress meter fit into all of this? Well, in order to earn an “Excellent” rating on a phrase, the player is required to hit 80% of the pitches within that phrase. The progress meter reflects this by changing to the color green when the player crosses that threshold (pictured below). However, even though the meter has turned green, the meter will show the remaining 20%, be that what the player missed or what they have yet to hit. This 20% is where players can squeeze more points out of a phrase even after they’ve earned an “Excellent” rating.

The same concept applies to SP phrases as well. If the player barely crosses the “Excellent” threshold of a SP phrase, they will be awarded the standard 1/4 of the star power meter. However, if they begin to push into the extra 20% of the progress meter, the player will be awarded extra SP relative to how much of the meter is filled. Think of it like whammying SP for vocals. This new system really makes vocals much more dynamic and reflective of the player’s ability. To put it all in perspective, I have passed the same song multiple times with 100% (FC), and I have never earned the same score twice. For all of you competitive score hunters out there, I’m sure this is just what the doctor ordered.

So there you have it. You are now up to date with everything you need to know about vocals in Guitar Hero 5. Keep on rockin’, and I’ll see you guys online soon! \m/

GHTunes Showcase: GHDevThomasO talks about his GHTune

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

* Name & job here at Neversoft:

GHDevThomasO – Midi Designer

* What is your song's title and does it mean anything?

“Simmer” was titled from my focus on the Guitar game play in the song. The song’s difficulty shifts between melodic passages and faster solo licks throughout the track. Even when the guitar is playing the more complex sections, the groove of song stays in half time feel.

* How long did it take you to create your GHTunes track?

Three Days. I found it easiest to start by testing out different combinations of sounds to see what works well together. Once I found a sound palate to work with I started trying some new ideas. I usually keep a keyboard in front of me while I’m recording to experiment with different rhythmic and melodic content. Adding effects changes in the middle of sustained chords turned out to be great way to shift the guitar timbre.

* Why is GHTunes such a unique feature in the game to you?

There is a ton of recording software available. What makes GHTunes unique is the ability to customize game play while you are composing and immediately share it with your friends when you are finished. I love how many different songs can be created using a predefined group of sounds.

* What is your favorite songs to play in GH?

Some of my favorite songs include the Tool songs from GHWT, Derek Trucks and Jeff Beck songs from GH5 and the DLC Country Track Pack.

* Has there been a GHTunes song you've heard and downloaded that you enjoy playing?

I can’t wait to see what songs are made with the updated studio. There have already been some really cool chip tunes style demos made with the new expressive strums.

* How many tracks have you created for GHTunes?

So far I’ve created six songs in GHTunes including four GHMix On-Disc demo songs. Each one was composed by trying a different workflow. “Y and Z” (GHWT Demo) was created by restricting each track to one preset and exploring each instrument to see how many different sounds they could create. “Notch” (GHWT Showcase Song) was my only attempt so far to convert a song that I had previously written with some help from the hidden guitar effect button combinations. “DownTurn” (GHM Demo) was made by copying and pasting pitch shifted notes using the drum machine into new patterns. “Overdub” (GHM Demo) was written by quickly switching the rhythm track between palm muted and bar chords throughout the main riff. “Feedforward” (Band Hero Demo) was created with the new Line 6 delay effects and velocity switching.

* Are you in a band? What's your bands name? What kind of music do they play? (your Guitar Hero band doesn't count!)

I’m currently playing in an electronic duo. We just finished recording our first entirely live ambient album titled “Noble”. Recently, I’ve finished coproducing an album by a group out of South Florida called Sterling Road and a second album from Exit Ramp.

GHTunes Showcase: GHDevTravis and his tracks

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Hello! My name is Travis Chen (GHDevTravis) and I'm a programmer at Neversoft entertainment. I work exclusively on Guitar Hero's GHStudio.

My two songs, Hello Universe and Solar Event, are themed around the wonderful galaxy we live in. I tried to give them a real ethereal spacey feel while combining elements of chiptunes / low-fi /game music. I'm really excited this year about GHStudio's chiptune potential. We have a wide variety of samples and effects catered to the genre. That paired with our more extreme sweep and bend note expressions really give you the tools to recreate that old school game sound.

Daft Punk is probably the biggest inspiration for the songs I create; although, my taste in music runs rampant across all genres. One of my favorite bands to see live is The Aquabats, who are the self proclaimed greatest band in the world and dress up like super heroes for all their shows. I was in a ska band all through college called My Favor!te Button. We specialized in covering old tv and cartoon theme songs. We weren't great but it sure was good times.

Nowadays, you can find my new music alongside interesting electronics projects and illustrations at my personal blog: http://www.defcon6.com.

Band Play: Star Power Overflow

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Howdy! I’m Ken Moodie, a Gameplay Designer at Neversoft. Guitar Hero 5 was my first Guitar Hero title in this role after being a MIDI Designer (Note Tracker) on Guitar Hero World Tour and Guitar Hero Metallica. I’ll be discussing some of the updates we made to game in GH5 in detail in my developer blog posts. I hope you enjoy them as well as the game itself!

In Guitar Hero 5, we wanted make a few upgrades to the Band Play mechanics established in World Tour to encourage interaction between band members without diminishing the ability to concentrate on one's own individual performance. Star Power is a very significant component of band play and was one of the first things we planned improvements for.

Guitar Hero World Tour took the shared Star Power system that was used in co-op play in Guitar Hero 2 and 3 and applied it to a full band experience. While this was good for emphasizing the cooperative nature of band play, the centralized location of the Star Power meter on the HUD made it difficult for individual players to see if Star Power was available, and sometimes led to one player draining the entirety of the band’s pool, or players forgetting about Star Power entirely.

In order to improve the way Star Power was used in GH5, we needed to establish a system which would still emphasize cooperation, but also work on an individual level. There were two major improvements we made to make it work in this manner.

The first was doing away with the common Star Power pool, and giving everyone their own personal Star Power meter, located on the side of their highway. This makes it a more logical extension of the single-player experience, and makes it easier to activate Star Power simultaneously, since there's no risk of depleting the entire band's pool before everyone gets a chance to join in.

As a side-effect of this change, there is now more maximum Star Power available to the band. The sum of four individual meters exceeds the total possibly available in Guitar Hero World Tour's shared Star Power pool.

The second improvement was the addition of Star Power Overflow. Playing by oneself, any Star Power earned while one’s meter is full goes absolutely nowhere. If it's being saved for a particularly difficult or high-scoring passage, whole phrases might be wasted. With Star Power Overflow, however, any Star Power earned while one's meter is full overflows into the meters of one's band mates.

Now, players who are in a band will automatically have their extra Star Power allocated to other players who may be struggling, or the entire band can focus on channeling all their Star Power into one player who maybe able to score higher on particular sections, or who is attempting one of the career mode's Bonus Challenges, adding a light strategic element to the game. The decision of when and where to activate Star Power is a crucial component to high scores, and now band play gives players even more options about how to best employ it.

Competitive Modes: Perfectionist

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

This is the fifth in the series of Competitive Mode blogs that describe the new and improved Competitive Mode games that are available in Guitar Hero 5. The series started with a more general entry about the new Competitive Mode and specifically, Pro Face-Off. This was followed by an entry about Momentum, followed by Streakers, and most recently Do or Die. This blog entry is about the GH5 Competitive Mode game where players are scored on the accuracy of their performance: Perfectionist.

My name is Michael Bilodeau, aka GHDevMichael, and I’ve been a designer at Neversoft since before we got the chance to work on Guitar Hero. Guitar Hero 5 is a big step in the evolution of Guitar Hero, we've improved just about every aspect of the game. Through this series of blog entries, I’m going to tell you about the Competitive Mode games that we crafted to give you even more ways to enjoy the music with your friends. I worked on Competitive Mode directly, so I’m really excited to see what the world thinks of all the stuff we’ve done for Guitar Hero 5.

Overall Accuracy
At the end of every song players are shown their performance accuracy, via the Note Hit Percent. This number is derived from the ratio of notes that were in the song to the number of notes the player was able to hit. It is possible to hit 100% of the notes, but still not get the best score. This is due to a few factors, one being Star Power pathing, or choosing the proper time to unleash your Star Power for maximum points. A player can also come up with a dramatically lower score due to over-strumming, where they're hitting notes that are not there. In Guitar Hero 5, every instrument except the vocalist is penalized for strumming or drumming when there are no notes to hit. The penalty is just like missing a note, the combo is broken, and the rock meter reflects the crowd's disapproval.

Perfectionist is the GH5 Competitive Mode game where players are scored on their accuracy.

Perfectionist
Each song is divided up into sections, and in Perfectionist each one is started with a gold bar. The timer will show how much time remains before the next section. Over the course of the section, the game will track notes hit, notes missed, and over-strums. When the section is completed, a ratio (0%-100%) will display in each player's meter. The players with the highest accuracy ratio will be rewarded. The most accurate player will get 4 points, the next gets 2 points, and the third 1 point. All other players will not get points. In the case of a tie, both players will be awarded points for their placement. This means that even if you score 99% accuracy, if your opponent hits every note, earning 100%, he'll still beat you.

Perfectionist is the GH5 Competitive Mode game where players are scored on their accuracy.

How to become a Perfectionist
Something about playing Guitar Hero brings out the perfectionist in me... I think it's all the stats after the song. Every time I finish a song, I check the stats for the sections I need to focus on, and then hammer them in Practice Mode for a while. If you're not as obsessive as I am, but you want to do a bit better in Perfectionist matches, there are a few things you can do to tighten up your game.
1) Don't flail - Only strum for notes you're going to hit. It's better to miss a note than hit it if you have to overstrum 2 times.
2) Recenter after a flub - If you flubbed so badly that know you're going to fail a section, just skip a few notes to get back on beat. This way you'll be more ready for the next section.
3) Recheck your difficulty - Since your goal is to hit the highest ratio of notes, you should play the difficulty that you're the most comfortable with. Of course a missed note on Expert has less of an impact than one on Hard, but there are also more notes to potentially miss on Expert.
4) Pick "your" song - Know a song with an irregular beat where you only mess up in the one solo section? Choose this song when playing Perfectionist, as the beat may throw off your opponent, helping you gain the edge by being on your "home turf".
5) Interfere IRL - If all else fails and your friend is just too good ''and'' standing in your house, just wander in front of them mid-match, or have another friend play "Guess Who?" (by covering their eyes) during your match. Sure, the win will be hollow, but hey, we're all here to have fun right? (Be sure that whomever you mess with In Real Life is not going to take your banter the wrong way, some people take Guitar Hero very seriously)

Whenever playing Guitar Hero 5, you should be having a good time. There are so many facets for you to explore, I know there's one that will please you. Thanks for taking the time to check out Perfectionist. I think some of you players will be surprised how these different Competitive Mode games can help you focus on the different components of playing Guitar Hero 5, while others will find them a great way to express their skills in each one specifically. Stay tuned for the next Competitive Mode game blog, where I'll cover the most ruthless of all the new games: Elimination.

Competitive Modes: Elimination

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

This is the sixth in the series of Competitive Mode blogs that describe the new and improved Competitive Mode games that are available in Guitar Hero 5. The series started with a more general entry about the new Competitive Mode and specifically, Pro Face-Off. This was followed by an entry about Momentum, followed by Streakers, then Do or Die, and most recently Perfectionist. This blog entry is about the GH5 Competitive Mode game where players with the lowest score are eliminated permanently at checkpoints over the course of a song: Elimination.

My name is Michael Bilodeau, aka GHDevMichael, and I’ve been a designer at Neversoft since before we got the chance to work on Guitar Hero. Guitar Hero 5 is a big step in the evolution of Guitar Hero, we've improved just about every aspect of the game. Through this series of blog entries, I’m going to tell you about the Competitive Mode games that we crafted to give you even more ways to enjoy the music with your friends. I worked on Competitive Mode directly, so I’m really excited to see what the world thinks of all the stuff we’ve done for Guitar Hero 5.

Skill versus Score
There's no doubt about it, finishing a song in Guitar Hero takes skill, with any instrument, on any difficulty. Once you've gotten good enough to finish a song, there's another level to the game, getting a higher score. Score is how skilled players of Guitar Hero measure their performances against one another. This Score forms the core of several of our Competitive Mode games, but none so much as with Elimination. Several things can dramatically increase your score, maintaining a streak, extracting all the Star Power you can, and deploying Star Power right before a section dense with high value notes. An ideal performance would incorporate all three of these tactics. An easy way to tell if you're getting the hang of it, is to check how many Stars you earn in a song when playing it in Quickplay. If you can get 5 Stars, you know you're on the right track... for your current difficulty at least.

Elimination is the GH5 Competitive Mode game where players with the lowest score get eliminated over the course of the song.

Elimination
Unlike Quickplay, Momentum, and Pro Face-Off you have to be good at the entire song to win a match of Elimination. Some players are better at specific types of notes, but find others more difficult. These specialties vary from player to player, and it's good to be aware of your own when playing Elimination. The selected song can make a big difference as well as your difficulty setting. You can't always count on being able to pick the song, so be careful with your difficulty selection. If your difficulty is set too high, you might not be able to keep a streak going, but if it is too low, you might miss out on some extra points. In Elimination, you need to be playing your best the entire time, because other players may not have the trouble you do with the complex section later in the song.

Eliminated players have the worst punishment, they don't get to play the rest of the song.

Star Power Management
Once you have accumulated enough Star Power to activate it, make sure you're not in last place. If you are, and the clock is ticking down to your elimination soon, trigger it! You might be able to pass another player who thinks he should save it for later. If you're not in last, keep an eye on other players' highways. You might have to deploy it defensively if they're trying to overtake you by using their own Star Power at the last moment. If you're in the lead, stay cool. Don't let the other players bait you into using your Star Power early, keep an eye peeled for those dense sections of notes, keeping that multiplier up. It's the only way you'll hold on to your lead. When you're in first place, always try to increase the gap the most efficient way possible, even if you get passed occasionally. The other players might be triggering their Star Power at sub-optimal moments to jockey for lower positions, thus allowing you to divide and conquer.

The next Competitive Mode game blog will be the last one for Guitar Hero 5. In it I'll talk about the game that brings all of these previously discussed games together in a festival of rock: RockFest!

Competitive Modes: RockFest

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

This is the final entry in the series of Competitive Mode blogs that describe the new and improved Competitive Mode games that are available in Guitar Hero 5. The series started with a more general entry about the new Competitive Mode and specifically, Pro Face-Off. This was followed by an entry about Momentum, followed by Streakers, then Do or Die, Perfectionist, and most recently Elimination. This blog entry is about the GH5 Competitive Mode game which is actually a festival where players compete in a variety of the new games to see who is the best at them all: RockFest.

Practice Mode: Little Things

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Designing a new title in an established series can be a tricky prospect. One wants to make enough updates and new features to make the game stand out as a significant improvement over the previous games, but not do anything which might compromise the core gameplay that has made it so popular.

Fortunately, there are many features which could benefit from small tweaks or upgrades. Because not every player explores every mode of the game in-depth, it may be easy to overlook some of the changes we’ve made. In these blog post, I'll briefly discuss a few of the improvements made to Practice Mode.

Practice Mode was first introduced in Guitar Hero 2 as a way for players to perfect difficult sections of songs without having to waste time replaying the rest of the song to get to the tough part. It is very helpful for refining one’s technique and has remained largely unchanged since its creation. For GH5, we wanted to add some upgrades to it without changing the basic design which has made it so useful.

The first feature we’ve added, one that we’ve seen a lot of requests for, is the option to loop portions of the song to practice them repeatedly. After selecting which sections to practice and the playback speed, you’ll have the option to play it once, or set it to loop repeatedly. With this feature, players can really drill on a tough solo without wasting time in menus retrying it over and over.

The other new addition is a real-time percentage counter which will let you know your note hit percentage for the sections of the song you’re practicing as you’re playing them. If you’re looping the sections, you’ll also see the highest percentage you’ve had this session displayed underneath the current percentage counter.

One other little thing we’ve added outside of Practice Mode, but related to it, is a line on the failure prompt telling you which section you were in when you failed. Up until this title, the game simply displayed the percentage of the song compete, which was great for knowing how close to the end of a song you were when you failed, but didn’t help too much when looking to practice the section that proved too difficult. By displaying the section name, it’s easy to figure out which sections to select in Practice Mode.

As a general rule, if one is seeing this prompt, it's smart to practice the section displayed, plus a few sections before, since the section one was in at the point of failure may have just started.

With these incremental improvements to Practice, we hope to provide a more useful tool both for players who are trying to full-combo an intense song section by section, squeeze those few extra points out of an Expert leaderboard attempt, or just pass a difficult song.

Band Play: Band Rock & Revivial

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

In Guitar Hero 5, we wanted make a few upgrades to the Band Play mechanics established in World Tour to encourage interaction between band members without diminishing the ability to concentrate on one's own individual performance. One aspect of the game we wanted to improve was communicating the band's performance to the players more effectively by improving the Band Rock Meter and what happens when the bands fails a song.

Guitar Hero World Tour featured a shared Band Rock Meter, which was a representation of the average of each individual's Rock Meter. The individual Rock Meters were displayed beneath the Band Rock Meter in the upper-left hand corner of the screen. This had some of the same issues as the shared Star Power Meter, namely that the information was confined to one space, while all the players' eyes were on their highways.

This led to band failure often coming as a surprise, and many people had the impression that when the band failed, it was because a single player had reached the bottom of their own individual Rock Meter. However, what really happened was that a single player had been failing for some time, bottoming out their own individual Rock Meter, and they would gradually pull the Band Rock Meter down.

This was corrected in GH: Metallica by moving the individual Rock Meters onto the players' highways, flashing the edge of the screen red when the band was approaching failure, and also adding a broken instrument icon over the highway of each player that had an empty Rock Meter at the moment the band failed.

We kept all of these improvements in Guitar Hero 5, but also took the extra step of removing the Band Rock Meter from the screen entirely. There are really only two states the band can be in that are relevant to a band member during gameplay, those being "the band is doing fine" or "the band is in trouble, do something!". This latter state is indicated by the appearance of the Revival Meter.

Once any band member fails out, their highway goes blank and the Revival Meter appears in the center of the screen. The remaining players are then given a chance to win over the crowd by concentrating and hitting as many notes as possible. If they do so, the failed player is brought back in (minus any Star Power he or she may have had), and the song continues. If they can't bring the meter up in time, the band fails. In many ways, the Revival Meter is essentially a Band Rock Meter that only shows up when it's relevant to the whole band, and isn't always occupying space on the screen.

The Revival Meter drains over time, and any notes that active players miss will decrease the meter further. Any single note hit raises the meter by a particular amount, which is calculated by a carefully balanced formula which considers the instrument being used (instruments that typically have less notes contribute more rock per note, in ascending order: Drums, Lead Guitar, Bass Guitar, and Vocals), which difficulty the active players are on (lower difficulties contribute more, since they have less notes), and how many players are in the band. Star Power can also be used by any active band member to boost their contribution.

While it is possible to fail out and be brought back in multiple times, the rate that the meter drains increases with the time it spends on-screen. Fail enough times, and it may not be possible to fill it again without resorting to using Star Power. Furthermore, all the notes that the player who failed out is missing out on aren't contributing to the band's points. So while you can slog through the song, constantly reviving that one guy who's convinced he's an Expert-level guitarist, you may end up with only 1 star at the end.

One of the nice things about the Revival Meter is that it really doesn't require much thought. An active player can just keep doing what they were going to do anyhow, which is try to hit as many notes as possible. While deploying Star Power will help dismiss it, it isn't always necessary to do so, and players can rely on their own skill to bring their failed bandmates back into the game.

Part of being in a band is backing up your bandmates and pulling them out of scrapes, but it also helps to know who's making a habit of getting into scrapes. With these improvements to Guitar Hero 5's band play, players will be able to do both more easily.

Band Play: Band Multiplier and Band Moments

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

One of the more noticeable changes to playing in a band in Guitar Hero 5 is the way scoring works while playing in a band. We wanted to rework the Band Multiplier to reward the band both for having skilled individuals as members, and for having members who work well together as a team.

Guitar Hero World Tour's band play rewarded synchronized Star Power usage and Band Streaks differently. Using Star Power when a band member was also in Star Power doubled the Band Multiplier, while Band Streaks granted the players a set amount of points when the Streak was broken.

Guitar Hero 5 simplifies this by rewarding both Band Streaks and synchronized Star Power usage the same way: If more than one person is doing it, the band multiplier goes up.

If you want the quick and dirty guide to scoring highly in a band, just follow these simple rules:

* Streak as long as you can

* Activate Star Power when your band mates do

* Preferably right after hitting a Band Moment

For a more detailed explanation, read on.

Band Streaks

As far as the Band Multiplier is concerned, a player is on a streak once their individual multiplier is at 4x. If multiple members of a band are on a streak at the same time, the Band Multiplier increases by 1 for every additional streaker. So, 4 skilled players can keep a 4x Band Multiplier going for the majority of a song.

In the end, the gains to the band multiplier from streaking on a lower difficulty begin to outweigh the base score gains from having more notes to hit in a higher difficulty. So it's often better to have a solid Hard player in your band than a spotty Expert player. Of course, a solid Expert player would be the best to have.

The Band Streak Counter is also simplified a lot from World Tour. A Band Streak is now simply the total of each member's current streak. If a member drops their streak, the Band Streak is reduced by the amount they had been contributing, rather than breaking the streak for everybody back down to zero. So, if all 4 members have a 100-note streak going, it's a 400-note Band Steak. If one of them drops their streak, it goes down to a 300-note Band Streak.

Synchronized Star Power

While streaking is a no-brainer, we also wanted to reward the cooperative action of activating Star Power at the same time as one's band mates. Star Power activation in a band situation works much the same as streaks do: the more people who do it at once, the more is added to the Band Multiplier, up to 4 in a 4-player band with all members using Star Power.

Most of the improvements in this area come from the improved Star Power allocation system described in a previous developer blog entry. Star Power overflow and individual meters mean that bands are more likely to have sufficient Star Power when it's needed, and that an activation lasts long enough for other band members to notice and join in.

Band Moments

There are certain parts of songs that are important for the entire band to nail and really drive the crowd wild. In Guitar Hero 5, we've picked out these parts and tracked them as Band Moments. You'll have no trouble recognizing them. It's when everybody's notes are on fire.

Band Moments behave much like a co-op Star Power phrase. If any member of the band misses a note during them, it's broken for everybody. However, the difficulty of doing this is balanced with a great reward: an immediate bonus added to the Band Multiplier.

The bonus is proportional to the amount of members in the band. For every additional member, another 1 is added to the Band Multiplier, for a potential maximum bonus of 3 extra. Now, this is on top of whatever the Band Multiplier was already at, for a potential maximum of 11 (4 + 4 + 3) and lasts for 8 measures.

Band Moments also serve as a helpful indicator of good places for bands to simultaneously activate their Star Power. If a band has hit the Band Multiplier, that's a good sign that it's time for everyone to unleash the Star Power and boost the multiplier as far as they can.

As the name implies, Band Moments only appear when playing as a band. Any Star Power phrases that may have taken place during the Band Moment are over-written, but the score benefits from a Band Moment can be much greater than the potential from a Star Power phrase.

Putting It All Together

Combined with the ability to play any combination of instruments, this new system encourages players who care about their band's score to think carefully about the instrument choices used. It's not quite as simple as more notes = more points. The bass track may have less notes, but if they can keep their streak going, they'll help the band to earn more points in the end due to their effect on the Band Multiplier. Once you're actually in the game though, it doesn't really require that much thought to keep the Band Multiplier up, just the three simple rules mentioned above.

Of course, this more dynamic Band Multiplier also means that scores can get much higher than before. In fact, in the most perfect of situations (4 players streaking, all using Star Power and hitting a Band Moment), each player has an 8x multiplier, and the band has a 11x multiplier, for a total of an 88x multiplier when taken together. A single guitar note at this stage is worth 4400 points (50 x 88). However, this exalted state can only be reached for brief periods of time and only with excellent timing and cooperation between band members, and if you can do that, more power and points to you.

Song Library & Creating Playlists

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Hello there. My name is Jessica Abroms and I'm the newest addition to the Guitar Hero design team. My background is in Human-Computer Interaction and I focus on usability issues in the game. This blog will detail the latest and greatest of the song library and playlists.

85 songs creates a fairly long list of music and it just keeps increasing when you add in downloadable content from Guitar Hero World Tour. Our goal was to make browsing the GH5 music library a fun and easy way to discover new music and play old favorites. We introduced the following features to give the player ultimate control when finding and selecting songs to play.

One-Click Gameplay: When you first come to the song library via Quickplay, and hear a song that you like, just hit green and dive right into gameplay. No need to add the song to a playlist. After finishing the song, you return to the ‘Play Song’ screen and can choose another song to play. On this screen, green means go.

Customizable Playlists: And if you want to meticulously craft the perfect sequence of music, GH5 also allows you to create and save lists of up to 128 songs via playlists. You can create, save, and load playlists in the options menu or via the “Create Playlist” item at the top of the song list.

Planning on having a party? Make a playlist of your favorite songs and load it in “Party Play.” And if you happen to forget to save your playlist, just load up “Last Playlist” and you can retrieve the last sequence of songs that you played. GH5 also ships with some custom playlists, including one created by yours truly entitled, “Indie Rock Stars,” featuring my favorite indie tunes.

Sorting: Sorting is a great way to quickly find the song you want to play. You can sort by Title, Artist, Year, Genre, Duration, Game Source, and Instrument Intensity. Do you love to battle through the most difficult guitar tracks? Just sort by guitar intensity, page down to the bottom of the list (hold the yellow fret button and strum), and add the most intense songs to your playlist.

Song Stats: The info window normally displays the top stars you achieved for the selected song with your current instrument and difficulty. However, if you are a game stats junkie, we recommend turning on ‘Show Song Stats’ in the options menu. This will turn the info window into a spreadsheet showing your top stars, note hit percentage, and score for all the difficulties for your current instrument.

Duration: Do you have only 20 minutes to play? The bottom of the playlist window displays the duration to help you manage your time. In fact, if you load the playlist, “All On Disc Songs”, you’ll find that GH5 offers about 5 hours and 55 minutes of new music.

Shuffle: And once you tire of playing the songs in the same order, just choose “Shuffle Songs” from the options menu to reorder your current playlist. It’s a great way to pick a random song.

Now that you know the tricks of the trade, go ahead and make your own custom “GH5 Top Ten” playlist.

Band Lobby Interface Improvements

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Hi again. My name is Jessica Abroms and I'm the newest addition to the Guitar Hero design team. My background is in Human-Computer Interaction and I focus on usability issues in the game. In this entry, I'll walk you through the new features of the GH5 Bandy Lobby and show you just how far we've come since Guitar Hero World Tour.

We streamlined the Band Lobby to bring you into gameplay faster and give you a common interface for customizing your GH5 experience. Whether you’re playing Quickplay, Competitive or Career by yourself or with friends, the Band Lobby will serve as your one-stop shop for setting up your game.

Example of different menu items in Llama Trauma's Band Lobby led by GHDevJessica.

Quick Menus: The first time you enter the Band Lobby, you will be presented with a menu asking you to choose your instrument, handedness, and difficulty. These settings are saved throughout the game, but if you want to make a change you can select the menu item to open it up again. The other menu choices give you quick access to settings like your rocker, the game mode, the venue, cheats, and formerly buried extras such as hyper-speed. If you want to switch from Quickplay to Career just select your game mode and you can switch on the fly. We tried to put the most important items at the top, so you can get to what you want quickly.

Band Leadership: In GH5, the person who starts the game from the Main Menu becomes the band leader. In the image above, you can tell that I, GHDevJessica, am the band leader because there is a crown in the right hand corner of my profile. If I no longer wanted to be band leader, I could forfeit my crown by granting leadership to another player via the Players menu or by backing out of the lobby. This solves issue in Guitar Hero World Tour where players were constantly "stealing" leadership from each other by button mashing.

Everyone Play!: In GH5 the band leader is in charge of deciding when to begin gameplay by either selecting “Everyone Play!” or by hitting the Start button. This relieves the need for each player to individually “Ready Up” and makes getting into the game much faster. We also predict there will also be a lot fewer people yelling, "Hit Green!!!," at future Guitar Hero parties.

Band Lineup: Whether you're playing solo or with friends, you will always see four rockers representing the band you will play with throughout the game. In the image above, Carlos Santana is dimmed out since Llama Trauma only has three local players who have joined the game. The band leader has the option to customize each rocker the 'Band Lineup' option. For example, as the band leader, I can select 'Band Lineup' to take over Carlos Santana's menu and replace him with my favorite celebrity rocker, Shirley Manson. This feature is also useful when you are playing with your kid brother who needs help choosing his options.

Choose Rocker: Another great feature when choosing a rocker is that not only do you have access to the GH5 rockers, but also to your Xbox Avatar (amazing!), a random rocker/avatar, or the Create a Rocker system. You can also customize your rocker's outfit within these menus without having to navigate to Create A Rocker. So, if you just unlocked Pandora's Gretel outfit in Career, go ahead and try it on in the lobby by choosing Change Outfit in the Choose Rocker menu.

Mic Check: Mic Check allows vocalists to check the connection between their rocker's mic and the microphone or headset that they plan to sing into. This is especially useful with the advent of four-player vocals, a very fun non-standard band combination first introduced in GH5. If the game is unsure of which mics go with which player, it will pop up "Mic Check" before you start play and ask each player to speak into his or her mic. The mic's icon gives feedback by changing color when spoken into just like Player 3's mic in the image below.

Mic setup with four-player vocals

Online Play: The lobby is also the place where you can setup online play. Your Friends List is always a button click away so you can quickly see which of them is online and invite them into a game or just view their Rock Record to compare stats. And if none of your friends are available, just click the orange fret button, entitled "FIND Xbox Live Players," and the game will start matchmaking so you won't have to play by yourself.

Well, that is just a brief overview of some of the latest and greatest in the GH5 Band Lobby. Though really the best way to experience the GH5 lobby, is to boot up the game and start exploring the menus for yourself.

GH5 Music Studio: GHMix 2.0: Interface Improvements

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Have you ever wanted to create your own music? Do you ever dream about becoming the next musical sensation? Well, look no further.

Hi! My name is David Stowater and I am one of the designers of Guitar Hero 5. Specifically, I have spent most of my time here at Neversoft Entertainment working on the Music Studio feature in the game that allows you to create your very own songs, play them in the game and even upload them to GHTunes to share with the world. I am very excited about all of the new features and updates that we’ve put into the Music Studio for GH5. I will be writing about them here in a series of blogs to help share all of the latest information on the tools, tips and techniques you can use to create your very own hit songs.

GH5 Music Studio: GHMix 2.0: Interface Improvements

Designing a music creation and editing tool interface to work with the Guitar Hero Guitar Controller is no easy task. The limited number of buttons and controls could make for a cumbersome interface for such a tool. Fortunately enough for GH5 we have made several improvements to the user interface in GHMix 2.0 that actually make the music creation process from the Guitar Hero Guitar Controller very quick and quite intuitive.

Quick Controls Interface: In the upper right hand corner of GHMix 2.0 you will notice an area that is dedicated to displaying which controls are assigned to which buttons. With this interface, the functions assigned to each button dynamically change depending on what menu you are in. The main menu has general categories which you can enter to access features within that category. For example, pressing the Red Fret Button opens the recording menu. Once in the recording menu, you will notice that all of the recording features are now assigned to the Fret Buttons. There is no worry of getting lost because you can see how deep you are in the menus as indicated by the tabs that pop up and pressing the Start Button will always navigate you back to the Main Menu. This interface is quick to get used to and after a while you will notice it becoming second nature as you begin to remember the button presses used to access the tools and features. This is a huge benefit with this new interface as you can now focus more on creating music and spend less time fumbling around scrolling through menus.

Here are some quick controls examples from the Main Menu:

Live Record = Red -> Green

Step Record = Red -> Red

Undo = Orange > Green

Sound Select = Blue > Red

Preview: One thing that was a bit difficult in the first iteration of GHMix was that there was no mode to simply jam out on an instrument to figure out parts before recording them. GHMix 2.0 now features a Preview mode that is designed for this purpose. You can also quickly switch tracks while previewing to easily access all of the different instruments.

Song Navigation: Navigating through your song in GHMix 2.0 has been made extremely easy as the Strum Bar is now used to navigate forwards or backwards through your song.

You can also fast-forward and rewind your song by pressing in on the whammy bar. The song will fast-forward or rewind depending on your last strum direction as indicated by the green and red arrow at the bottom of the current track. Pressing the whammy bar in ever so slightly will slowly navigate forward and rewind while pressing it in all of the way will fast-forward and rewind very quickly.

Hold Down Any Button For Help: GHMix 2.0 has a new, innovative help system. Just press and hold any button and information about the feature or tool assigned to that button will be displayed. This virtual, in game manual ensures you will never get lost and you will always have your questions answered.

These are just a few of the new additions and updates to GHMix 2.0. Stay tuned for future blog posts with more tips and insights into the Music Studio in Guitar Hero 5.

GH5 Music Studio: GHMix 2.0: Pattern Mode

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Have you ever wanted to create your own music? Do you ever dream about becoming the next musical sensation? Well, look no further.

GH5 Music Studio: GHMix 2.0: Pattern Mode

Do you love to create music but have a hard time coming up with drum beats or inspiring rhythm sections? Or are you entirely new to creating music but have always wanted to put together an epic song? GHMix 2.0 features an all new Pattern Mode that will help you get your songs started with ease. With this mode you can access over 400 preset patterns in 14 different musical styles and paste them into your tracks to quickly create a song arrangement. These patterns include verse, chorus, fill-in and breakdown sections that will get you up to speed and creating music in no time.

When you first enter GHMix, you will be in the standard Note Mode where you can record and edit individual notes on the tracks with 2 measures visible on the screen. Pattern Mode is like a zoomed out view in GHMix where you can see about 16 measures on the screen and instead of working with individual notes, here you will work with pre-arranged sequences of notes in patterns which are like larger song building blocks. You can access Pattern Mode in GHMix from the Pause Menu. Just press the Start Button while in the Main Menu and you will be given the option to switch to Pattern Mode.

Pasting Patterns: Working with patterns is very easy. In order to paste patterns into a track, press the Red Fret Button while in the Main Menu. This will take you to the Paste Pattern Menu where you will see pattern names as assigned to each Fret Button. Now all you have to do is press the Fret Button of the pattern you wish to paste into your track and voila… instant music! The patterns will show up as colored boxes in your track and will be labeled by style and song section type.

Selecting Patterns: Upon entering GHMix and creating a new song you will notice the Style Select Screen. Selecting a particular style of music will automatically assign patterns in that musical style to the Fret Buttons for pasting. If you wish to select a different pattern, you can do so at any time. From the Main Menu press the Blue Fret Button to access the Pattern Select Menu. Next press the Fret Button to which you wish to assign a different pattern. This will open a list of patterns to choose from. Once you have selected a pattern it will be assigned to that Fret Button for pasting into your track.

Saving Custom Patterns: Pattern Mode also gives you the ability to save your own custom patterns for use at any time. For example, let’s say you are in Note Mode and you have created an amazing drum beat that you wish to save and have access to for pasting into your song later. Upon switching into Pattern Mode you will notice that your drum beat will be shown as grey boxes in the track. This indicates that there are notes in the track but those notes are not part of a particular pattern. Next press the Orange Fret Button to enter into the Save Pattern Menu. Now use the Strum Bar to select the area of the track that you wish to save as a pattern and then press the Green Fret Button to save the pattern. You will notice that your pattern now shows in the track as a red box labeled “Custom”. Your pattern can now be accessed in the Pattern Select Menu and assigned to a Fret Button for pasting into your track. You can save a unique custom pattern on each track.

I hope I have helped you to understand all of the ins and outs of Pattern Mode. It is a great new feature that we hope you will make good use of to help get you jump started on your own amazing song creations.

GH5 Music Studio: GHMix 2.0: Note Sound Editing

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Have you ever wanted to create your own music? Do you ever dream about becoming the next musical sensation? Well, look no further.

GH5 Music Studio: GHMix 2.0: Note Sound Editing

Recording music perfectly the first time is not a realistic prospect. In fact nearly every musician from the beginning bedroom producer to the pros in the top studios of the world will always go back to their recordings and make edits to get their tracks sounding just right. With this idea in mind we wanted to add some new functionality to GHMix 2.0 that allowed for some more advanced editing of notes after they have already been recorded. This leads me to introduce what I feel is one of the most powerful new features of GHMix 2.0, Note Sound Edit. Note Sound Edit does basically what the name says; it allows you to edit the sound of a note after it has already been recorded. You can make major edits like completely changing the pitch of a note or chord type and you can also get into the finer details such as by adding pitch bends, vibrato or changing the velocity of the note.

To access Note Sound Edit from the Main Menu just press the Yellow Fret Button to enter the Edit Menu and then press the Yellow Fret Button again to enter the Note Sound Edit Menu. While in Note Sound Edit you can use the Strum Bar to skip directly to any recorded note in the current track. All of the information and parameters of the selected note will be shown in the Quick Controls Interface Display in the upper right hand corner of GHMix. Pressing a Fret Button will allow you to edit any of the corresponding parameters. The parameters available vary depending on the currently selected track and are outlined below.

Note: Select the pitch of the note on the Lead Guitar, Bass and Keyboard Tracks or select the root note of the chord on the Rhythm Guitar Track. You can choose from the entire range of notes available in GHMix, not just the ones in your currently selected scale.

Strum Type (Lead Guitar & Bass Tracks): On the Lead Guitar Track, select whether the note is a normal strummed note or a palm muted note. On the Bass Track, select if the note is a normal strummed note or a slapped note.

Chord Type (Rhythm Guitar Track): Choose the chord type on the Rhythm Guitar Track from the following options:

Power
Major
Minor
Palm Mute
Major 7
Minor 7
Dominant 7
Minor 7th b5
Suspended 4
Diminished
Augmented

Special Type (Rhythm Guitar Track): Experiment playing around with different Fret Button combinations on the Rhythm Guitar Track and you may notice that a variety of special guitar effects can be played in addition to standard chords. These are called Special Chords. If you record a Special Chord and you choose to edit it with Note Sound Edit, you will be give the option of different Special Chord types to choose from such as String Mute, Dive Bombs, Finger Slides and Pick Slides. Try using some of these to add a little extra flare and diversity to your Rhythm Guitar Parts.

Velocity: Velocity determines the strength at which a note is played. Higher velocities will have higher volume and attack while lower velocities will have lower volume and attack. Editing the velocities of notes throughout your song can make it much more dynamic and expressive. Using velocity can be especially effective for fading a part in or out.

Note Type: Note Type allows you to select whether the note is a normal note or an expressive note type. Expressive note types include pitch bends, vibrato, slides and sweeps. Want to make a really expressive sounding guitar solo? Start by first recording the part and then go through it afterwards with Note Sound Edit adding pitch bends and vibrato throughout.

If you really want to tweak your sound try some of the extreme bends and sweeps. Add these to some keyboard sounds and you can achieve a really experimental, electronic, chip tunes type of sound.

Note Sound Edit, Drums Track Parameters:

Note Edit (Drums Track): Since we don’t deal with different pitches on the Drums Track we have devised the Note Edit tool. With this tool you can navigate to any recorded drum note using the Strum Bar and then simply add or remove drums notes by turning them on or off with the press of a button.

Drum Type: Drum Type allows you to choose whether the selected note triggers the associated drum sound or percussion sound. Each drum note can be assigned independently. Percussion notes can be identified by the triangle displayed on them.

Velocity (Drums Track): Velocity on the Drums Track is similar to Velocity on the other tracks however, using different velocities on some drums will completely change its sound. For example, using a high velocity on the hi-hat will trigger an open hi-hat sound while using a low velocity will trigger a closed hi-hat sound. Velocity can be edited on each drum note independently.

Now that you are more familiar with Note Sound Edit I hope you will make good use of it in some of your songs. It can help you work out more interesting melodies, experiment with different chord types, create more dynamics and add more expressiveness and realism to your music. It is a very powerful tool that can make the difference between a lack luster lead and an epic, expressive solo.

GH5 Music Studio: GHMix 2.0: Track Design

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Have you ever wanted to create your own music? Do you ever dream about becoming the next musical sensation? Well, look no further.

GH5 Music Studio: GHMix 2.0: Track Design

Writing a great sounding song is only one of the elements to creating a great GHTunes song. Another very important part to making a song fun is great gameplay. To aid this process, GHMix 2.0 has been upgraded with some new Track Design tools that allow you to completely customize the gameplay of your song independently of the sound. I will go over the tools here and also give you some tips for creating fun gameplay.

To access the Track Design tools, from the Main Menu press the Orange Fret Button to enter the Tools Menu and then press the Yellow Fret Button to enter the Track Design Menu. The Track Design Menu options are listed below:

Note Track Design: Note Track Design allows you to design the colored gem note track patterns as they will be played in the game. While in Note Track Design you can use the Strum Bar to skip directly to any recorded note in the current track. You can then change the gems in the note track by simply turning them on and off by pressing the corresponding button.

In general, the scale mappings of the gems by default should get you pretty close to what feels right when recording parts straightaway but it is a good idea to make tweaks and adjustments to the gameplay afterwards so it feels just right. Some tips for creating a good note track are listed below:

*Chords vs. Single Notes: Single notes in your song should be represented with single gem notes in the note track. Chords should be represented with chords (more than one gem note) in the note track.

* Relative Pitch Single Notes: If a note in your song is of higher pitch than another, try to represent it with a higher gem note than the other (as it corresponds to the Fret Buttons) for a natural, musical feel. Similarly, a note that is of lower pitch than another should be represented by a lower gem note. Due to the limitations of only having five gem notes (six if you include the Open Note) it is not possible to make this work for all of the different pitches throughout a song. The idea is to try to make certain sections, riffs and leads follow this guideline wherever possible. For example if you have a guitar lead that contains five notes, assign each note to a different gem color with the note of the lowest pitch as green and the highest as orange.

* Relative Pitch Chords: This is the same idea as for single notes but for chords using the guideline that the “root note” or lowest gem note of the chord would determine whether it is of higher or lower pitch than another. Additionally, following the highest gem note of a chord (rather than the lowest/root note) may sometimes be more appropriate for certain songs. Try to use this guideline when you can.

* Lead Guitar Track Open Notes: Be careful of using the Open Note (Purple Bar) in the Lead Guitar Track. Since the Open Note is not used in the Guitar Note Track in the game, Open Notes will be automatically turned into Green Notes.

* How Do I Create Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs? Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs are automatically generated. Any single gem note that is following another gem note of a different color by an eighth note triplet or quicker will automatically become a Hammer-On or Pull-Off in the game.

Star Power Design: With this tool you can add Star Power Phrases to all of your tracks. You can simply highlight the area of gem notes that you wish to add Star Power to and then press the Green Fret Button to add it. You can toggle between adding Star Power to the current track or to all tracks by pressing the Red Fret Button. If you wish to remove Star Power from a portion of your track you can do so by highlighting the area of gem notes you wish to remove Star Power from and then pressing the Yellow Fret Button to remove the Star Power.

Some Star Power Design Tips are listed below:

* Frequency: Generally, it is a good idea to place a Star Power Phrase roughly every 15 to 45 seconds. This way they do not occur too often but also do not occur too infrequently.

* Length: Try not to make Star Power Phrases too long. It is a good idea to set the player up for potential success rather than creating an unrealistically long Star Power Phrase.

* Placement: Where you choose to add Star Power Phrases can make a big difference in how fun your song is to play. Try to teach the player to succeed on Star Power phrases. For example, if a one measure riff repeats four times you could place the Star Power Phrase on the fourth repeat. As it applies to gameplay, this allows the player to learn then repeat. A curveball here and there is nice too, such as by placing Star Power on a brand new, unseen phrase.

Set Playable Track: With this tool you can choose which sections of tracks will be played as the in-game note track. You can switch back and forth between Rhythm and Lead Guitar to create the most interesting Guitar Note Track for your song and sections of the Keyboard and Bass Tracks can also be combined to create the in-game Bass Note Track. To do this, simply highlight the area of notes that you wish to assign as the playable track and then select the track that you wish to be playable by pressing either the Red or Green Fret Button. Notes that are set as the playable track will be solid in color and notes that are not currently assigned as the playable track will be transparent in color. I recommend you do this as the very last step in creating your song.

It is not necessary to use the Track Design tools much in the early stages of working on your song but definitely something that you will want to do after you are finished writing and getting it to sound to your liking. Now that you are more familiar with these tools try using them on your own GHTunes. Follow some of the basic tips that I’ve mentioned here and you’ll be sure to have gameplay for your song that rocks!

GH5 Music Studio: GHJam: Overview

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Have you ever wanted to create your own music? Do you ever dream about becoming the next musical sensation? Well, look no further.

GH5 Music Studio: GHJam: Overview

GHJam is the newest addition to the Guitar Hero Music Studio. While GHMix is designed as a music creation and editing tool for more advanced users, GHJam is designed to provide a music making and playing experience for anyone. With GHJam even the inexperienced player can quickly and easily jump in, start playing and creating music and instantly sound great. Up to four players can jam out at the same time.

What I like about GHJam is the wide variety of musical styles available. There’s something for everyone ranging from rock and metal to jazz and hip-hop. There is even a chip tunes style for all of you hardcore gamers out there. You can choose from 14 different musical styles and GHJam will automatically set you up with backing tracks in that style for you to play along with and jam over. It will also automatically set up all of the best instrument sounds, scales, effects and mix settings for that style so you will always sound good. In addition to having cool musical styles there are also unique visuals that go along with each style to immerse you into the creative audio and visual experience. You do not need any prior musical or recording knowledge to enjoy GHJam. It is all about playing and creating music and most of all, just jamming out and having fun.

The preset styles available in GHJam are listed below:

* Pop Rock

* Classic Rock

* Heavy Classic Rock

* Alternative Rock

* Punk Rock

* Hard Rock

* Metal

* Funk

* Blues

* Jazz

* Hip Hop

* Dance

* Electro

* Chip Tunes

Here are some tips for jamming out:

Expressive Strum: Try using our new Expressive Strum feature by tapping to strum notes with the Slider instead of using the Strum Bar. Each section of the Slider will trigger a different expressive note type. You will notice how much more realistic and expressive the guitar sounds by using this feature. Most preset styles have the following expressive note types mapped to the Slider by default:

* Green: Slide Notes: Tapping the green portion of the slider will strum notes that slide from the pitch of the note that was previously played into the pitch of the note you are playing creating a very cool effect.

* Red: Pitch Bend Up: Tapping the red portion of the slider will strum notes that bend up in pitch into the note you are playing.

* Yellow: Normal: Tapping yellow portion of the slider will strum normal notes. A normal note is mapped here so that you can easily alternate between normal strums and expressive strums without having to jump back and forth between the Strum Bar and the Slider making it easy to play expressive leads and solos.

* Blue: Vibrato: Tapping the blue portion of the slider will strum notes that have a vibrato effect in which the pitch of the note quickly vibrates up and down. Adding vibrato to notes here and there can really make your leads sing.

* Orange: Dive Bomb: Tapping the orange portion of the slider will strum notes that dive down in pitch similar to a “dive bomb” effect when using a whammy bar or sliding down the neck on a real guitar. Playing a dive bomb is a cool way to end an epic solo.

Tilt for Pitch Range Shift: Try tilting the guitar while playing on the Lead Guitar, Keyboard and Bass Tracks to change the pitch range of the notes you play from low to high. This allows you to play a wider range of notes.

Palm Mute & Slap Sounds: If you press and hold the Star Power/Back Button while playing the Rhythm or Lead Guitar you will trigger a palm muted sound that dampens the sound of the guitar. When the guitar is heavily distorted the palm muted sound in the lower ranges will produce the classic “chugging” sound as popular in distorted guitar music such as heavy metal and punk.

A slapped bass sound is a brighter and more accented version of the sound. When you are using the Picked or Fingered Bass sound on the Bass Track try holding the Star Power/Back Button while playing to trigger the slapped version of the sound. Experiment with this to play some funky and dynamic sounding bass parts.

GHJam Controls:

* Record: Recording your jam is really easy. Pressing Left on the Directional Pad will start recording. Pressing Left again will stop recording. While you are jamming, the gem notes that come down the highway will be transparent but when you are recording they will be solid in color. Any GHJam song can be played back in the game so I hope you’ll record some rockin’ solos. Also, any GHJam song can be opened in GHMix if you want to fine tune your recordings later.

* Stop/Play: To Stop or Play the song, press Right on the Directional Pad.

* Rewind: To Rewind the song, press and hold Left on the Directional Pad.

* Fast-Forward: To Fast-Forward the song, press and hold Right on the Directional Pad.

Well, that pretty much covers GHJam. In general, GHJam is very straightforward and extremely easy to use. There are some more advanced options for those who want to dive a little deeper into the mode but they are not necessary to simply jam. I hope you’ll check it out and doing some jamming out of your own. Before you know it you’ll be immersed in the experience. It is a great way for anyone to be creative, have fun and get lost in the music. Enjoy!

GH5: Logos, Tattoos and Album Art: A Beginner's Guide to Awesome Art

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Logos, Tattoos and Album Art: A Beginner’s Guide to Awesome Art!

Hiya, I’m Ken Ellis and I’m a game tester here at Neversoft Entertainment. While most of my fellow testers specialize in drums, guitars, or even the music creator, I have the privilege of being the local Band Logo and Rockstar Creator expert.

It occurred to me recently, that while I have been thoroughly enjoying these areas since Guitar Hero: World Tour and now in Guitar Hero 5, many of you may have not and possibly because no one has shown you how to really use them to their full potential. So, today I’m going to give the fledgling Guitar Hero artists out there the first official crash course in how to rock out in the Band Logo, Tattoo, and Album Cover creation features of Guitar Hero 5!

Band Logo

You may have seen the Band Logo Menu before and may have even slapped a few graphics and shapes on it. The Logo Creator is the best way to put your own personal style and flare into the game. It’s like the flag of your band, and I’m going to give you some pointers on how you can start making almost anything you can think of.

“This is one of my band logos, featured on the GH Tunes website, which I made almost entirely from Primitive shapes”.

First off the Band Logo is found in the Band Info screen in the Options Menu from the Main Menu. Just go in and hit the Blue Fret Button and you’re ready to go! If there is already a logo present you may want to hit the clear option to start out with a blank canvas area.

Layers: You’ll notice that the game allows up to forty layers. That means that up to forty individual shapes can be used at one time to create your masterpiece. This may not sound like a lot but trust me, if properly used this is plenty. The different types of layers are detailed below:

* Primitives, Outlines and Icon: These three categories represent the very basic of shape types. Individually they are not very impressive, but when used together they can create some very amazing and beautiful logos. Most of my own logos are mainly composed of these.

* Gradients: At first glance you will see that these shapes look a lot like many of the Primitives and that’s for a good reason. The Gradient shapes are the main way to shade and highlight your logos so that they stand out and give them a “3-D” effect. If you are able, always try and include these in your logo to add more depth and character.

* Living and Graphics: These layers are useful for putting in some extra detail or objects that may take too long or too many layers to create individually. They are a good way to cut down on layer use and can drastically enhance the feel of your logo.

* Sponsors: Logos of the various companies that sponsor the game.

* Letters: Putting in a word or message in your logo can be fun and really personalize your creation. There are three fonts available which include letters, numbers, punctuation and other interesting symbols. Be aware though, that EACH letter uses a layer slot, so choose your words carefully!

Shape Edit Tools: Each layer option in the Logo Creator has these tools. They are crucial to you if you want to create, well… anything really. To get to the Shape Edit Tools just select one of your layers and select “Edit”.

There are thirteen tools at your disposal to shape, bend and tweak every part of your image. These are fairly self-explanatory and the best way to learn what they do is to just go in and use them. The Shape Edit Tools available are listed below:

* Color

* Transparency

* Width

* Height

* Horizontal

* Vertical

* Lean

* Tilt

* Rotate

* Flip Horizontally

* Flip Vertically

* Default

* Delete Layer

Logo Creation Tips:

* Try not to rely too heavily on the Graphics options. Using Primitives and Icons can yield surprising results. Combine them and see what you can make.

* If you want to give your image a more eye-popping look then try some Gradient shapes to add that third dimension.

* Have an idea of what you want to make before you start. Having some idea of what you want to create before you start will help you pick out the right shapes and keep your layer usage as low as possible.

* Don’t let your eyes fool you! The default shapes are not all that is available. Try using those useful shape edit tools to make your own unique shapes.

Tattoos:

Tattoos work much like the Logo Creator but are found in the Rockstar Creator Menu. Select Rockstar Creator from the Main Menu, select ”Create a New Rocker” and choose the Body option. The Tattoo Menu will be found at the bottom. Here you can apply tattoos to your rockers torso and arms. You can also add them to the face but that’s found in the Head Menu.

Creating tattoos works the exact same way as in Band Logo, but with some key differences. The major difference is that while the Logo Creator deals with the image on a two dimensional plane, the tattoos are used three dimensionally! That means that whatever you come up with can be placed on the front, sides and back of your rocker. All the same options from the Band Logo are present, so Ill give you some ideas of what you can do with tattoos.

Tattoos are amazing. When applied to a created rocker, they can make the rocker unforgettable and in an online match can make you legendary. We all know you’re a great player, but if you’re a great player with an amazing looking rocker, you’ll be unforgettable! Tattoos can be used like normal tattoos, no problem. But if used correctly, they can completely change your rocker into something out of this world. A few large squares colored black and white could change your guy into a big checkerboard, or a few icons here and there could change him into a beast. They can even be used to just enhance the rocker itself. Give him a six pack or even eight pack abs, or give him battle scars. Can’t find a particular shirt for your rocker? Use the tattoo options to make it yourself!

Tattoo Creation Tips:

* Don’t attempt to make something on band logo and then try to transfer it over as a tattoo. This is because the design area of both the band logo and the tattoo area are equivalent. So what seems large as a tattoo will appear small in band logo and what appears small in band logo will appear large as a tattoo. Probably best to just create tattoos in the tattoo area anyway. That’s what it’s there for!

* Remember that the curves of the rockers body will make the shapes change as they are moved around the body. Try different shapes to see what works best for what you are trying to do.

* Be sure to check if what you are making isn’t covered up by the shirt you are wearing. You want to be able to see your sweet tat, don’t you?

GHTunes Album Art:

The Album Art Creator can be found in GHStudio. When publishing a song to GHTunes you will be given the option to create an album cover for your song. This works exactly like the Band Logo Creator, so don’t worry, nothing new here.

If it’s the same as the Band Logo creator, why even bring it up? Band Logos are really just for you and your band, no one else will really get to see them. GHTunes album art on the other hand can be seen by millions of people who can download your song on GHTunes so it is, in many respects, more important than your Band Logo. It’s very important that your album art looks good. A great GHTunes song may get some downloads and plays, but I guarantee that a song with a good looking album cover will get more downloads. Think about it… would you be more likely to download a song with an album cover of three circles or a picture of Death riding down the River Styx? I know which one I’d pick! Also, if you spent so much time on your GHTunes song, why not spend a little more on its album cover? It’s worth it, trust me.

Album Cover Creation Tips:

* It is probably best to make your picture in band logo first. A saved logo can be loaded into Album Art with no problem, so making it in band logo will save you time when uploading a song.

* Try to make your album art fit the feel of your song, or go along with the title. It just makes sense.

* Give your album art some extra detail such as by using Primitives and Gradients. It will really help it pop out more.

Well, that’s about all the time I have this go around. I hope I have helped you to understand some of the mechanics of the art creator systems in Guitar Hero 5. There are many more ways to use these tools than I have laid out here. I’ve been using these tools for three games and I am STILL discovering different ways to make images. The biggest tip I can give you is to play around with it and have fun!

Calibrating for Lag in GH5

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Hey there. It seems some users are having trouble calibrating for lag with Guitar Hero 5, so here's a brief FAQ which should hopefully address your questions about setting it up, and about lag in general.

Q: What is lag?

A: "Lag" (or latency), is the time between the console sending an image or sound to the television and when it is output by the television. All televisions have a delay between when a signal is received by the TV, and when the image is displayed on the screen, some more than others. Earlier LCD and plasma television had lag which was much longer than on CRT televisions, and with the advent of music gaming around the same time flatscreens were becoming more popular, this was noticed more and more, since music games require precise timing.

The "Video Lag" and "Audio Lag" values in the calibration screen essentially tell the game "This is how long it takes between the game sending the video or audio signal, and when it is output by my television."

Imagine that you and a friend need to press two buttons at the same time on opposite ends of a football field. If your friend shouts to you at the moment he pushes his button, and you push your button when you hear him, you are going to be pushing your button after he pushes his, since it takes time for the sound of his shouting to reach you.

So, if you figure out how long it takes the sound to travel the length of the football field (a little over a quarter of a second, in case you’re wondering), and your friend shouts, then waits that amount of time before hitting his button, you will both press your buttons at the same time, assuming you have pretty good reflexes.

The time between his shouting and you hearing it is much like the lag experienced between the game console sending a signal to your TV, and when you actually see or hear it.

Q: Do I need to calibrate for lag?

A: If you are using a CRT television (i.e. not a flatscreen) you do not need to calibrate, unless something is seriously wrong with your TV. CRT's typically have a lag of less than 1ms. If you have an older LCD or plasma television, then you may need to calibrate for lag.

If you feel like you are hitting notes at the right time, but the game thinks you are hitting the notes late, you may need to set lag values, but you may also be just strumming late.

If you feel like you are hitting notes at the right time, but the game thinks you are hitting the notes early, then you are probably strumming early. This can become second nature if you're accustomed to playing on a laggy setup, and then calibrate it properly, since you may be used to strumming early to account for lag in the past.

If it is playable, but just seems a little off, try getting a friend to give a second opinion. Two people can play the same setup and have a different idea of whether it's calibrated properly or not. Reaction times, expectations of the song, and all sorts of stuff factor into one's perception of whether things are matching up exactly.

Q: How can I figure out how much lag to calibrate for?

A: One way is to look in your television's manual, or look up its product code online to find out the response time. Plugging in this value for both video and audio lag should work very well most of the time.

Or, if you know values from a previous Guitar Hero that give you a good result, those will be the same in Guitar Hero 5.

Q: I can't find out that info, how do I calibrate for lag?

A: Main Menu -> Options -> Calibrate Lag will get you into the calibration screen.

In Guitar Hero 5, we have changed the calibration to more accurately represent what one sees in the game. It does look different, which seems to be causing a little confusion. However, the actual calibration system under the hood is the same as always, so if you know what values worked for previous Guitar Hero games, manually adjust the values by selecting "Adjust Video Lag" and "Adjust Audio Lag" and you should be good.

If you don't know what values to use, pick the "Calibrate" selection, and follow these steps:

For the video calibration section, just strum the notes as they pass the strike line.
Once you're done with that, you should see a number next to Video Lag at the top.
For the next section, the notes will be hit automatically. Don't try to strum them. Instead, watch the notes as they explode and listen to the beep.
If they sound like they're happening at about the same time, go to the next step. Otherwise, strum up to increase delay of the audio until it matches up with the visual of the note hit flame.
Press Start to save the values of the calibration.
Select "Save and Exit" from the calibration menu.

The audio lag shouldn't be more than the video lag unless you have a strange setup such as using a CRT television and a fancy surround sound system that is running a bunch of effects on your audio. The audio lag should usually be between 0 and the amount of the video lag.

Q: What else can I do?

A: If your television has a "Game mode", this setting prioritizes reducing lag over the other processing the television does to the image, making it more responsive overall. Try this setting if your television has it available.

LCD and plasma televisions also have a "native resolution", which means that one pixel on your screen is used to display one pixel of the image. If you are displaying in anything but the native resolution, the television has to scale the image to fit into its screen. This scaling process takes time. Try and find out what the native resolution of your television is, and then use that setting on your console to reduce lag.

Q: Why don't you offer negative lag numbers?

A: Since the lag value is telling the game the time between when it sends the image and when the television displays the image, negative calibration values would mean that the TV displays the image before the console sends it. This would involve time travel, which is a feature we're looking into for Guitar Hero 47.

If you are consistently hitting notes before they get to the strike line because you see or hear the note early, you can simply increase the lag calibration for the other value. For example, if you're hearing the audio earlier than the video, increase the video lag number.

Q: I can't tell if 7ms or 8ms is the right amount, which one is it?

A: A millisecond (ms) is 1/1000th of a second. If you are actually able to distinguish between the two number on a game that runs at 60 frames a second, that's very impressive, but there's a good chance you might already have it set properly. The difference of a single millisecond is probably not going to make a huge difference to anyone who isn't a robot.

Most users will either not need calibration at all, or will need values between 10-40 ms.

Q: The video and audio go out of sync while I'm playing!

A: Well, that's not a question, but I'll try and help you out all the same. If this is happening all of a sudden, with a major shift between the audio and gameplay, it is not a problem with the calibration, but more likely that the audio and gameplay are getting out of sync entirely.

Try pausing and resuming the game so that the game can attempt to re-synchronize the audio streams to the gameplay.

Also check to see if your disc is damaged or scratched.

Finally, if the calibration seems to be moving around just slightly while you're playing, it may be that that's simply how the song flows naturally. Songs recorded with live instruments do not stay at a consistent tempo, since the original artists tend to speed up and slow down as they're playing. We've tempo-mapped all the songs to match this, which means that the speed of the songs really does change over time, both in the original song, and in gameplay.

I hope this answers some of your questions about lag and helps you to tune your game to work well for you.

Competitive Modes: Do or Die

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

This is the fourth in the series of Competitive Mode blogs that describe the new and improved Competitive Mode games that are available in Guitar Hero 5. I started with a broad entry on the new Competitive Mode and Pro Face-Off and then Momentum, followed by Streakers. This blog entry is about the GH5 Competitive Mode game where players hit notes or get eliminated: Do or Die.

There are several ways a player can be eliminated in Guitar Hero 5. During cooperative play, a player can fail out, requiring the rest of the band to play so well that they win back over the crowd and revive the failed player. In some Competitive Mode games a player may be eliminated based on various rules. When a player is eliminated, all of their gems disappear, and a broken instrument icon appears over their highway. When a player is revived, their icon is removed, and notes begin to fall again as normal.

Do or Die is the GH5 Competitive Mode game where players hit notes or get eliminated.

Do or Die

Do or Die is a fast paced, cut-throat Competitive Mode game. Every note you miss becomes a strike against you, and if you have accumulated 3 strikes, you're out! That's right, you get eliminated. The good news is, your elimination is only temporary. At the beginning of the next section you're back in the game. Each section of the song is marked with gold bars, and your current strikes are displayed next to your score in your individual Competitive Meter. If you manage to survive an entire section, you're rewarded with a survival point. The at the end of the match players are ranked by the number of survival points they've gathered over the course of the song.

Star Power Effect

Star Power is always useful, not only does activating it make you feel like a Rock Star, but it also improves your score, and even helps you fill your rock meter faster. In Do or Die, you won't be ranked by your normal score and can't fail, so we gave Star Power a different ability. When you trigger Star Power while playing Do or Die, it wipes out all of the strikes you currently have. It also protects you while it is active, acting as a shield that keeps you from getting further strikes.

Strikes and survival points are tracked via the Competitive Meter.

Do or Die Tips

1) Keep an eye on your strikes - Strikes don't get reset until you activate Star Power or are revived after an elimination.
2) Save your Star Power - Use your Star Power when you're about to be eliminated. If you've got a couple of strikes, or if a really difficult part is coming up, activate it! If you don't use it, you'll surely lose it when you get eliminated.
3) Choose your Difficulty wisely - When you're playing Do or Die, every note counts, so select your difficulty setting accordingly. If you can barely squeak by on your selected difficulty, you won't earn very many survivial points in Do or Die.
4) What if everyone is eliminated? - Don't worry, you won't have to look at your mistake for long. If everyone is eliminated during a long section they will all be revived after 10 seconds.
5) Play Guitar Hero 5 online - Are your friends tired of coming over to your house just to repeatedly get schooled in rocking by your awesomeness? Just take them online to play as a team and rock the faces off everyone else in the world!

Truly, that last tip applies to all the Competitive Mode games, and I highly recommend playing Career online as well. There are several more I've yet to discuss, so be sure to keep checking back! Other Guitar Hero designers are also posting blogs about things outside the realm of Competitive Mode, so be sure to check out the entire feed. Guitar Hero 5 is a milestone in the series, and has something for every type of player. You'll know what I mean when you get your copy! Be sure to catch the next blog entry on a new Competitive Mode game where players are ranked based on their relative accuracies: Perfectionist.

Leaderboards: Little Things

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

With the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero 2 came the advent of online leaderboards, and with them came a whole new level of competition as players were able to compare their performances with rockers the world over.

Eventually the extremely high-level competition spilled over what the game could contain. Players began posting videos of high score runs on youtube, and sites like Scorehero began to emerge to painstakingly catalog high score runs across all instrument combinations and difficulties.

This is great for those players who are looking at Guitar Hero as a sport and constantly challenging one another to best their astronomical scores. If you’re anything like me, though, you may not really have the time (or dexterity) to dedicate to doing a full-combo run of final-tier songs on Expert. Thus, when posting a score to the leaderboard, you may find that you’ve placed 15,497th overall, which is a little bit discouraging.

However, what you may not realize is that there are perhaps 200,000 entries in the leaderboard, putting your score in the top 10%. Knowing that you’re still doing better than 90% of the players is more encouraging than just looking at the fact that you’ve placed 15,496 spots from the top.

In order to better communicate the overall leaderboard placement to the player, we’ve repurposed the scroll bar on the right side to indicate the entire leaderboard, not just the page one is currently on (as it was in Guitar Hero World Tour). The top is first place and the bottom is the lowest score. This way, by viewing the position of the finger, one can determine one’s placement within the whole leaderboard.

Additionally, the colors in the scroll bar represent the different difficulties, so that you can not only see your placement overall, but your placement within the difficulty you played on. Black is Expert, red is Hard, blue Medium, and green Easy.

Don’t be fooled by the large amount of Expert players you see here. This is during development, and most of QA is regularly playing on Expert. Naturally, I would’ve knocked the #1 score out of the park if I were playing on Expert, but for the purposes of illustration, I dialed it down to Hard difficulty for this high score run. Though my score (“km24”in blue) earned me a 46th place overall, I scored at the top of the Hard difficulty, and just above my friend (“ct24”in red). If you're only interested in seeing your placement among your friends, that info is just a button press away.

As you can see, the #1 score is always pegged at the top of screen, so that you always know who’s the person to beat, and what the spread is between their score and yours without having to scroll all the way back to the top.

Also, we’ve also added a “Time” column, which shows how long ago a score was posted. This is mostly useful for knowing the length of time since someone set a new top score, but it's saved and displayed for every entry all the same.

Finally, you should know each song in Guitar Hero 5 has six associated leaderboards, one for each individual instrument, one for a traditional band (no duplicate instruments), and one for a non-standard band (duplicate instruments allowed). So, there are a multitude of top scoring opportunites available for any song, depending on one’s instrument or band configuration of choice.

Overall, we feel these improvements make the leaderboards much more useful and accessible, and should encourage more players to push themselves to achieve higher and higher scores.

Bonus Challenges: Alternate Strum

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Hi, my name is Daryl Kimoto and I'm a designer on Guitar Hero 5. My primary job was to implement and help tune the Bonus Challenges you'll find in Career Mode.

Today's Bonus Challenge is the Alternate Strum Challenge. Learning to alternate your strumming between up and down strums is an important technique to master as you make your way up the difficulties. Not only does it take away some of the fatigue that can occur when strumming like mad in one direction, it also becomes vital when trying to hit all of a long strings of rapidly repeating notes.

The first step before starting to Alt Strum is to make sure your strum hand is positioned correctly. Do this by grasping the strum bar between your thumb and index finger. This way you can move the strum bar up and down with the same amount of movement freedom.

Once you’ve gotten a good feel for the Alt Strum, you can start thinking about your down strum timing. In general, it is ideal to be strumming down on downbeats. This is typically how a real guitarist strums and the feel translates to Guitar Hero well. As a reference, when the drummer counts off the start of a song, each of the drum stick clicks are on the downbeat. As you're playing, you'll notice that each of the fret lines on the highway represent a downbeat. This is something you get a feel for over time. While doing an Alternate Strum Challenge, you can alternate your strum throughout the entire song, but we allow you strum two notes in the same direction as long as they’re not right after another. So if you end a string of notes on a down strum, and the next string of notes starts on a downbeat, you can still down strum again and receive credit towards the challenge. This also means if you have a series of sustains one after another, you don’t need to Alt Strum those. You can just down strum all the notes that aren’t in rapid succession.

For more help with your Alt Strumming, give the Alt Strum lesson in the tutorials a shot. It may take a little while to get used to, but you’ll be rewarded in the long run, and you’ll be able to nail those Diamond Bonus Challenges. Good luck!

Bonus Challenges: Score in Star Power

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Hi, my name is Daryl Kimoto and I'm a designer on Guitar Hero 5. My primary job was to implement and help tune the Bonus Challenges you'll find in Career Mode.

Today's Bonus Challenge is the Score in Star Power Challenge. Improving your score during Star Power utilizes a wide range of techniques. To get those Diamond scores, you'll need to maximize your Star Power by using these techniques. I'll go through each one, from the basics to the most complex.

Maximize that Multiplier: Try your best to make sure your multiplier is as high as possible before using your Star Power. As you may or may not know, getting on a note streak without making any mistakes increases your multiplier. Normally your multiplier maxes out at 4x, but Star Power doubles your multiplier so having a high multiplier to start with will make your scores skyrocket. But be aware, while higher difficulties have more notes, which means potentially higher scores, you need to try to find a balance with the hardest difficulty you can play on while maintaining a good note streak. Sometimes you may just need to drop down one difficulty to keep your multiplier up.

Choose your Phrase: When looking for a good time to use your Star Power, seek out sections with a dense concentration of notes that you can handle without losing your multiplier. For example, when playing guitar, I usually look for a section with a series of repeating chords. The more notes in the chord, the better!

Teamwork: As a band, Star Power can take you to new scoring heights. All you need to do is work together and know the best moment to activate your Star Power. This requires everyone to be aware of each other's Star Power meter. Once everyone has enough Star Power, the best time to activate is at the start of a Band Moment. Synchronizing your Star Power activations during a Band Moment can get your Band Multiplier all the way up to 11x! If there aren't any Band Moments in sight, and your band really needs to unleash a Star Power, try to make sure everyone's multipliers are high, and avoid activating in an area where any of the band members don't have many notes.

Squeeze It: The last and most advanced technique used to maximize your Star Power score is called "squeezing". Using this technique basically allows you to squeeze an extra note into your Star Power for some extra points. The basic idea is to hit a note as late as possible without missing the note, and activate Star Power right before. This extends your Star Power further than it would have normally gone, while still getting in that first note. If you're interested in giving this a shot, you can find more details here: http://wiki.scorehero.com/Squeezing

Competitive Modes: Momentum

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Welcome back Heroes!

This is the second in the series of Competitive Mode blogs that describe the new and improved Competitive Mode games that have been introduced in Guitar Hero 5. My previous blog entry covered Pro Face-Off and the various multiplayer arrangements that all the Competitive Mode games support, including 8 player free for all. This entry focuses on one of the brand new Competitive Mode games: Momentum.

Momentum is the Competitve Mode where each player's difficulty setting changes during the song based on momentum.

The green arrow indicates difficulty-up while the red one indicates difficulty-down, players can fall all the way down to the Beginner difficulty setting seamlessly.

Momentum
Players cannot rely on their comfortable difficulty selection in this Competitive Mode game. In Momentum, everyone starts out set to Medium and while they’re playing, the difficulty setting will change based on their Momentum. It will go up and/or down over the course of the song, numerous times. The specific intensity for the selected instrument naturally changes over the course of the song too, which will cause the changes of the difficulty setting to feel even more dramatic. Eventually, Momentum will help players discover what difficulty setting best fits them for each part of a song. A player’s current difficulty setting will be displayed visually, and they will be notified when difficulty changes by arrows. A green arrow flashes during transition to a higher difficulty, and a red arrow for when difficulty is dropping. Players will not be dropped below Beginner nor will they be raised above Expert... unless, of course, they're playing a song with an Expert+ track on Drums.

Strategy
The end goal for players in Momentum should be familiar, score as many points as possible. The scoring rules are unchanged. Remember though, the difficulty changes on the fly, requiring a new scoring strategy. Of course, the base strategy is still ‘hit the notes to earn points’ and ‘deploy Star Power to double the points you earn’. At the end of the song, players will be ranked by their high scores, just like the new version of Pro Face-Off discussed in my first blog entry.

However well you play Guitar Hero, Momentum will push you out of your comfort zone. In order to raise your difficulty setting you have to gain momentum by streaking notes. Once you have enough momentum, the difficulty will ratchet up. This will repeat until you reach a difficulty above your ability for the current song. Conversely, if you miss a few notes in a row, you’ll lose momentum, and eventually drop down a difficulty. This will give you a break because the lower difficulties have fewer notes tracked. However, this respite has a cost, you'll miss out on the points for the missing notes too.

It may still be in your best interest to miss notes occasionally. The notes of the lower difficulty fall slower and are thus easier to hit, so it should be easier to combo them all. If you can keep your multiplier up this way, especially in note heavy parts of the song, you can actually earn more points at the lower difficulties than you would if you were flailing along at the higher ones. This is a higher level strategy of breaking a combo so you aren’t promoted beyond your ability. Momentum also stresses more careful deployment of Star Power. Normally you would want to hit Star Power when you're on a big streak, but in Momentum, big streaks mean increased difficulty.

Momentum provides a wild ride up and down through the different speeds and complexities that the various difficulties have to offer. If you think Momentum sounds fun, be sure to keep checking back, as I’ll be detailing out all of the Competitive Mode games in Guitar Hero 5. The next one up is Streakers!

Competitive Modes: Streakers

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

This is the third entry in the series of Competitive Mode blogs that describe the new and improved Competitive Mode games that will be unleashed on the world when Guitar Hero 5 launches September 1, 2009. Previously, I covered the new Competitive Mode and Pro Face-Off and one of the other new modes: Momentum. This blog entry is about the Competitive Mode that focuses players on their ability to maintain their note hit streak, aptly named Streakers.

Streaking
Without even having played Guitar Hero, most people would guess correctly that players earn points by hitting notes. Whenever a note is hit, the Combo Meter gains a tick. After 10 ticks the meter is full. It then levels up, increasing the player's score Multiplier value. The Multiplier does just what it sounds like it should. It multiplies the score earned for each note hit. However, even if your streak is greater than 40 notes, your multiplier will stay pegged at 4x, unless you've got Star Power. You can tap into your Star Power and double your current multiplier! This means you will be able to get x6 and even x8 if you're streaking and activate Star Power. The length of your current streak will show up in the Streak Counter.

The Combo Meter shows how close your current combo is to increasing your Score Multiplier.

Streakers
Once you think you've mastered streaking, you can challenge others in Competitive Mode to a tournament of Streakers. In Streakers, players earn Streak Points, one for each 10 notes they can combo. These points are also affected by the Score Multiplier, so a player will earn 2 points for streaking for 20 notes. These points are also doubled when star power is active. Now, since your streak is reset every time you miss a note, players should select a difficulty where they think they can get long streaks. This game emphasizes some core Guitar Hero skills by factoring out a few of the more complex elements, allowing players to focus their attention on streaking and Star Power management. Playing Streakers really helps players learn and refine their Star Power pathing and even their difficulty selection for the song. If you can't seem to get a high score during streakers, you've probably overestimated the difficulty setting you should use for the selected song.

As the release date is rapidly approaching, we're getting very excited here at Neversoft. Everybody wants to know what you guys think of everything we've done. These blogs we're posting are just a hint at all the things that have been upgraded and installed for Guitar Hero 5! Be sure to keep an eye out for my next one, in which I'll be detailing another of our new Competitive Mode games: Do or Die.

Yahoo/ Guitar Hero 5 Secret Weezer Concert

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Check out the article here:

http://laist.com/2009/09/25/yahooguitar_hero_secret_show_weezer.php

Guitar Hero 5 - Critics Review and Quotes

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Xbox 360 Reviews and Quotes

100 - 1UP

98 - PGNx Media

95 - Official Xbox Magazine
"..this is the Guitar Hero to own"
"Party Play is the new standard for social rocking."
"GH5's Party Play mode instantly reinvigorates the social fun of music games."
"You'll be spoiled by all the customization choices."
"...if you're into party gaming with tons of tunes and opulent options, this is the Guitar Hero to own."
"...this is musical fun done right"

91 - Game Chronicles

91 - Planet Xbox 360
"GH5 is the end all be all music game of this generation, guaranteed."

90 - Cheat Code Central

90 - GamingTrend

90 - GameDaily
- Five years running and, somehow, Activision pulled off the unthinkable. Guitar Hero 5 feels just fresh as it did when the series debuted on the PlayStation 2.
- Guitar Hero 5 also has an excellent soundtrack comprised of classic rock favorites and contemporary hits.
- . . . the ultimate set list . . ."

90 - GamePro
"It's almost guaranteed that you'll find something for everyone in Guitar Hero 5…”

90 - GameSpy

90 - ZTGameDomain

90 - GameVortex (Gamerankings)

90 - XXL Gaming

89 - AtomicGamer

89 - IGN
"Guitar Hero 5 is the best addition to the franchise in a long time.”

88 - GameTrailers

87 - Team Xbox

85 - GameSpot

85 - Game Informer

80 - GameZone

80 - Destructoid

Wii Reviews and Quotes

98 - PGNx Media

98 - GameVortex (Gamerankings)

97 - Game Chronicles

93- IGN
"If you own a Wii, you should own this game. Pure and simple."

91 - GamingTrend

90 - GameDaily

90 - GamePro

90 - ZTGameDomain

80 - Cheat Code Central

Playstation 3 Reviews

100 - 1UP

98 - PGNx Media

93 - Game Chronicles

95 - PS Illustrated

91 - GamingTrend

90 - GameDaily

90 - GamePro

90 - Cheat Code Central

90 - GameSpy

90 - ZTGameDomain

89 - IGN

85 - Game Informer

80 - GameZone

Other Reviews and Quotes

MSNBC.com - GH5 pushes "social gaming aspects even further..."

Alternative Press magazine - "While collabs with 85-plus headliners - including Kings of Leon ("Sex of Fire"), Sublime ("What I Got") and Vampire Weekend ("A-Punk") - rock, you can't outshine the biggest act on Earth..."

Wired.com - Here are the five coolest new things about Activision's Guitar Hero 5: http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/09/guitar-hero-5/

San Diego Entertainer - “Guitar Hero 5 is officially available in the US and is better than ever.”

Critics Hail Guitar Hero® 5

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Rave Reviews for Variety of Music, Epic Number of Tracks,
Consumer Value and Game Innovation

Santa Monica, CA – September 3, 2009 – Critics are calling Guitar Hero® 5 the best Guitar Hero® game in years as gamers are getting their first chance to play along with 83 of the hottest bands of today and classic tracks on the latest version of the best-selling music game, Activision Publishing, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) announced today.

•   “Five years running and, somehow, Activision pulled off the unthinkable. Guitar Hero 5 feels just fresh as it did when the series debuted on the PlayStation 2. Guitar Hero 5 also has an excellent soundtrack comprised of classic rock favorites and contemporary hits. . . the ultimate set list . . .” – AOL GameDaily (score: 9 out of 10)

•   “It's almost guaranteed that you'll find something for everyone in Guitar Hero 5's diverse track list… The option to load songs from previous Guitar Hero installments also adds to Guitar Hero 5's staying power and if you add in user-generated content found in GHTunes, you're not likely to run out of tunes anytime soon.” – GamePro (score: 4.5 out of 5)

•   "GH5 is the end all be all music game of this generation, guaranteed." – Planetxbox360.com (score: 9.1 out of 10)

•   “GH5’s Party Play mode instantly reinvigorates the social fun of music games. …this is musical fun done right.” – Official Xbox Magazine (score: 9.5 out of 10)
•   “If you own a Wii, you should own this game. Pure and simple.”– IGN (score: 9.3 out of 10)

“We’ve known how great this game is – the new social features like Party Play and RockFest, the variety of music and the consumer value,” said Dan Rosensweig, president and chief executive officer of Guitar Hero. “It’s rewarding to see that critics and fans agree with us: This is the best Guitar Hero ever.”

From brand new features across all platforms like Party Play and Wii™ exclusive features such as Roadie Battle and Nintendo DS™ connectivity, to the epic set list, reviewers are pointing out the social, musical and innovative features that make Guitar Hero a pop culture phenomenon. Continuing to transform the way people experience music, Guitar Hero 5 hit store shelves this week with unprecedented music variety featuring an expansive, pulse-pounding 85-song on-disc set list, more than 150 songs available via downloadable content, and the capability to import select songs from other Guitar Hero games. The Guitar Hero franchise is one of the fastest growing video game franchises ever with more than $2 billion in retail sales worldwide according to The NPD Group, Charttrack and GfK, and renowned media outlets are already weighing in with glowing reactions and solid review scores for Guitar Hero 5.

Featuring some of music’s leading bands and artists across a multitude of genres, the ability for players to rock any way they want with any combination of multiple guitarists, bassists, drummers and singers in any game mode, Guitar Hero 5 allows players to step into the spotlight as iconic rockers of the past, present and future with an all-star line-up of in-game playable characters, including Kurt Cobain, Johnny Cash, Carlos Santana, Garbage’s Shirley Manson and Matt Bellamy of Muse. For a limited time, consumers who purchase Guitar Hero 5 will receive the unreleased Guitar Hero® Van Halen® when they mail in their proof of purchase.

The entire set list is at players’ finger tips from the start, featuring genre-defining hits from some of the biggest rock artists and bands of all time, including The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, Kings of Leon, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Vampire Weekend. Players take complete control as Guitar Hero 5 allows gamers to personalize and customize how they experience music by being able to play with any in-game instrument combination -- multiple vocalists, guitarists, bassists and drummers, in any game mode. With the game’s all-new Party Play Mode, getting the band back together has never been easier. Players can now jump in or drop out of gameplay seamlessly, without interrupting their jam session. Elevating the Guitar Hero series to new heights with unmatched social gameplay, an enhanced style, new in-game artists and more rock legends, Guitar Hero 5 features new surprises and challenges that will fire-up long-time fret board fanatics and create a new generation of addicts.

Additionally, Guitar Hero fans can take center stage and become the rockstar of the show by playing in-game as their own Xbox Avatar. Taking full advantage of the latest technology available from Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network, gamers can choose their band mates and mix and match their Xbox Avatars with Guitar Hero favorites like Judy Nails, Axel Steel and Lars Ümlaüt, or even rip it up alongside in-game talent.

Published by Activision, Guitar Hero 5 is developed by Neversoft Entertainment for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and by Vicarious Visions for the Wii system from Nintendo. Budcat is developing Guitar Hero 5 for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. The game is rated “T” for “Teen” (mild lyrics, mild suggestive themes) by the ESRB. For more information about Guitar Hero 5, please visit GH5.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.

Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Russia, Japan, South Korea, China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Publishing’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Activision Publishing generally uses words such as “outlook,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “might,” “remains,” “to be,” “plans,” “believes,” “may,” “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “estimate,” future,” “plan,” “positioned,” “potential,” “project,” “remain,” “scheduled,” “set to,” “subject to,” “upcoming” and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause Activision Publishing’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include, but are not limited to, sales levels of Activision Publishing’s titles, shifts in consumer spending trends, the impact of the current macroeconomic environment, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game market, Activision Publishing’s ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware platforms (including next-generation hardware), declines in software pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Activision Publishing’s products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware and related software, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, litigation against Activision Publishing, maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, vendors, licensees, licensors and third-party developers, counterparty risks relating to customers, licensees, licensors and manufacturers, domestic and international economic, financial and political conditions and policies, foreign exchange rates, integration of recent acquisitions and the identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities, Activision Blizzard’s success in completing the integration of the operations of Activision Publishing and Vivendi Games in a timely manner, or at all, and the combined company’s ability to realize the anticipated benefits and synergies of the transaction to the extent, or in the timeframe, anticipated, and the other factors identified in the risk factors section of Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Activision Publishing nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Publishing or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

###

© 2009 Activision Publishing, Inc. Guitar Hero and Activision are registered trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

"PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Wii and Nintendo DS are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2006 Nintendo. All rights reserved.

GUITAR HERO® 5 BOLSTERS MUSIC LIBRARY ALLOWING FANS TO BUILD A PERSONALIZED HOME FOR THEIR MUSIC GAMING COLLECTION

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Rolling Stones, Street Sweeper Social Club, AFI, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Faint and Editors Headline Guitar Hero 5’s Line-Up of Downloadable Content in September

SANTA MONICA, CA – September 2 – Beginning today, Guitar Hero® fans can consolidate many of their favorite songs into one place and play them with the latest Guitar Hero® 5 features. The Guitar Hero Music Library will allow fans to create unique set lists from among the hundreds of songs available for Guitar Hero 5. In addition to the 85 tracks on Guitar Hero 5, fans will immediately be able to import select songs from Guitar Hero® World Tour. Later this month, select tracks from Guitar Hero® Smash Hits will also be available for the GH Library. In addition to the 150 downloadable songs currently available, new songs will be added each month.

On September 3rd, five never before released live tracks from ABKCO’s 40^th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set Edition of “Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! The Rolling Stones In Concert” will be featured exclusively as downloadable tracks in the GH Library. For the first time ever, fans can play the blues-infused song “Prodigal Son (Live),” the acoustic track “You Gotta Move (Live),” as well as “Under My Thumb (Live),” “I’m Free (Live)” and the classic rock anthem “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (Live).” ABKCO’s 40^th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set Edition of “Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! The Rolling Stones In Concert” will be available November 3^rd.

September will also bring new and exclusive music from some of today’s hottest acts, including rap/rock super group Street Sweeper Social Club, AFI, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Faint and Editors.

In concert with the launch of Guitar Hero 5, owners will be also able to bolster their Guitar Hero Music Library with the ability to import 35 songs from the acclaimed Guitar Hero World Tour for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 280 Microsoft Points and on the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system for $3.49 and Wii™ for 350 Wii Points. Additionally, select track from Guitar Hero Smash Hits will be available for import later this month.

Downloadable Content - September 3

The Rolling Stones Live Track Pack

“Prodigal Son (Live)”
“You Gotta Move (Live)”
“Under My Thumb (Live)”
“I’m Free (Live)”
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (Live)”

Downloadable Content – September 10

Street Sweeper Social Club Track Pack

“100 Little Curses”
“Fight! Smash! Win!”
“Somewhere in the World It's Midnight”

Downloadable Content – September 17

AFI Track Pack

“Beautiful Thieves”
“Girl’s Not Grey”
“The Missing Frame”

Downloadable Content – September 24

Editors - “Munich”
The Faint - “Geeks Were Right”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - “Dull Life”

Guitar Hero World Tour Song Imports

30 Seconds To Mars - “The Kill”
The Answer - “Never Too Late”
At The Drive-In - “One Armed Scissor”
Beastie Boys - “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”
Black Label Society - “Stillborn”
Blink-182 - “Dammit”
Blondie - “One Way or Another”
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - “Hollywood Nights”
Bon Jovi - “Livin’ on a Prayer”
Coldplay - “Shiver”
Creedence Clearwater Revival - “Up Around The Bend”
Foo Fighters - “Everlong”
Hushpuppies - “You’re Gonna Say Yeah!”
Interpol - “Obstacle 1”
Jimmy Eat World - “The Middle”
Lacuna Coil - “Our Truth”
Lenny Kravitz - “Are You Gonna Go My Way”
Lynyrd Skynyrd - “Sweet Home Alabama (Live)”
The Mars Volta - “L'Via L'Viaquez”
Motörhead - “Overkill”
Nirvana - “About a Girl (Unplugged)”
No Doubt - “Spiderwebs”
NOFX - “Soul Doubt”
Pat Benatar - “Heartbreaker”
Rise Against - “Re-Education (Through Labor)”
Silversun Pickups - “Lazy Eye”
Smashing Pumpkins - “Today”
Steely Dan - “Do It Again”
The Steve Miller Band - “The Joker”
Sting - “Demolition Man”
The Stone Roses - “Love Spreads”
Stuck In The Sound - “Toy Boy”
Sublime - “Santeria”
Ted Nugent - “Stranglehold”
Wings - “Band On The Run”

Guitar Hero Smash Hits Song Imports

AFI - “Miss Murder”
Anthrax - “Caught In A Mosh”
The Exies - “Hey You”
Extreme - “Play With Me”
Foo Fighters - “Monkey Wrench”
Iron Maiden - “The Trooper”
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - “I Love Rock 'N Roll”
Kiss - “Rock And Roll All Nite”
Living Colour - “Cult Of Personality”
Lynyrd Skynyrd - “Free Bird”
Mötley Crüe - “Shout At The Devil”
Nirvana - “Heart-Shaped Box”
Pat Benatar - “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”
Poison - “Nothin’ But A Good Time”
The Police - “Message In A Bottle”
Queens Of The Stone Age - “No One Knows”
Reverend Horton Heat - “Psychobilly Freakout”
Rush - “Yyz”
The Sword - “Freya”
Twisted Sister - “I Wanna Rock”
Wolfmother - “Woman”

On September 3, The Rolling Stones Live Track Pack will be available on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 720 Microsoft Points and on the PLAYSTATION®Store for the PLAYSTATION 3 system for $8.99 and Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection for Wii for 900 Wii Points. The Street Sweepers Social Club, AFI and Yeah Yeah Yeahs/The Faint/Editors Track Packs will be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360 for 440 Microsoft Points, on the PlayStation Store for the PLAYSTATION 3 system for $5.49. In addition, all songs in all Track Packs will be released as downloadable singles for Xbox 360 for 160 Microsoft Points, PLAYSTATION 3 system for $1.99 and Wii for 200 Wii Points each.

Living room legends will rock any way they want to a variety of iconic rock music in Guitar Hero 5. The entire set list is at players’ fingertips from the start, featuring genre-defining hits from some of the biggest rock artists and bands of all time, including The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, Kings of Leon, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Vampire Weekend. Players take complete control as Guitar Hero 5 allows gamers to personalize and customize how they experience music by being able to play with any controller combination -- multiple vocalists, guitarists, bassists and drummers, in any game mode. With the game’s all-new Party Play Mode, getting the band back together has never been easier. Players can now jump in or drop out of gameplay seamlessly, without interrupting their jam session. Elevating the Guitar Hero® series to new heights with unmatched social gameplay, an enhanced style, new in-game artists and more rock legends, Guitar Hero 5 features new surprises and challenges that will fire-up long-time fret board fanatics and create a new generation of addicts.

Published by Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), Guitar Hero 5 is developed by Neversoft Entertainment for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 system and by Vicarious Visions for Wii. Budcat is developing Guitar Hero 5 for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. The game is rated “T” for “Teen” by the ESRB. For more information about Guitar Hero 5, please visit GH5.GuitarHero.com.

9.5 / 10 – …this is the Guitar Hero Game to Own” – OXM

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Check out the complete Guitar Hero 5 review in the Official Xbox 360 Magazine on sale September 22, 2009. In the meantime, here is a sneak peak at what they had to say...

"...the new standard for social rocking."

"You'll be spoiled by all the customization choices."

"...if you're into party gaming with tons of tunes and opulent options, this is the Guitar Hero to own."

"...this is musical fun done right"

9 out of 10, Activision pulled off the unthinkable. - AOL/Gamedaily

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Plug in and rock out with another guitar strumming, drum hitting music fest from Activision.

by Robert Workman on Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Five years running and, somehow, Activision pulled off the unthinkable. Guitar Hero 5 feels just fresh as it did when the series debuted on the PlayStation 2. Credit the developers at Neversoft for including just the right amount of features to attract newcomers and dedicated shredders, thanks to a massive set list and user-friendly options that allow anyone to step onto the stage and rock the night away.

This time around, you don't have to wait for your turn for the drum set or guitar. Four players can jam using the same instruments; go ahead and create a drum line. The game also features drop-in/drop-out play, so you don't need to wait for the current song to end.

Read the full article at: http://www.gamedaily.com/games/guitar-hero-5/xbox-360/game-reviews/review/8703/2332/

9.1 out of 10, You are going to throw a party like never before. - GamingTrend

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

- A crisper and more friendly GUI.
- Wide selection of mostly great songs
- Loads of freedom to come and go from the stage as you please
- Backwards-compatible with Guitar Hero World Tour
- High capacity SD support
- Best Nintendo DS cross-implimentation to date
- Utilizes the Wii address book for online play!

by Matthew Mumma

Guitar Hero took the first step. It was the leader in the console world. Suddenly, the masses could throw concerts in their own house. Air guitar was redfined. Loud music, check. Good music, check. The world was Activision's oyster.

Then a grit of sand came along and it has irritated that oyster for a while now. What, you have JUST guitars? *cringe* No karaoke? *churn* Your instruments don't come with built-in adapters? *groan* We used to be on your side?

Well after several years of tit-for-tat, Guitar Hero is unveiling its pearl: Guitar Hero 5.

Read the full article at: http://www.gamingtrend.com/Reviews/review/review.php?ReviewID=1290

4.5 out of 5 Guitar Hero continues its steady reign of musical simulation supremacy - GamePro

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Guitar Hero continues its steady reign of musical simulation supremacy with yet another star-studded encore.

The Guitar Hero franchise has been a forerunner in the virtual music genre since 2005, but there's no denying that the series has lost some of its luster over the years. Activision has over-saturated the store shelves with sequels and releases, leaving both fans and critics feeling a little jaded. We've seen this phenomenon before with proven properties like EA's Madden series, where a yearly release cycle and a dearth of notable improvements water down what was once an extraordinary gaming experience and it seemed as though Guitar Hero was headed down that lucrative yet unfulfilling road. Thankfully, NeverSoft has picked up the slack with the seminal series' latest installation, and proven that the beloved hard-rocking franchise still has quite a bit of life left in it.

Welcome To The Party, Pal

Guitar Hero 5's core gameplay is essentially the same as you remember it: same note highway, same frets, same chords, and same Star Power. The note charts have benefited from some interesting tweaks like an extended sustains which allow players to leap from chord to chord on a moment's notice a bit easier, but it's really more or less the same experience that you've rocked out to in the last four installments. That's not a bad thing, of course: Guitar Hero is still as easy to pick up and play as it's ever been, especially thanks to a few interesting new gameplay mechanics like Party Play.

Read the full article at: http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/211825/guitar-hero-5-360/

IGN “Guitar Hero 5 is the best addition to the franchise in a long time.” 8.9

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Don't hang up your plastic axe just yet.
by Erik Brudvig

September 1, 2009 - Activision and Neversoft have been running the Guitar Hero show for some time now. The group took hold of the franchise with Guitar Hero 3, expanded the game series to a full band with Guitar Hero World Tour and offered up a handful of spin-offs along the way. With that much experience, you'd think the mega-publisher would learn how to put together a winning product. And you'd be right. Guitar Hero 5 is the best addition to the franchise in a long time.

It shouldn't come as any surprise that Guitar Hero 5 doesn't stray much from the same tried-and-true gameplay formula that has been the focus of over a dozen games in the past few years alone. The notes still come scrolling down the screen and the would-be rock stars around the world sill click those plastic guitars, bang the drums, and do their best to stay on key and in rhythm. Guitar, bass, drums and vocals are the four parts that make up the band. So what makes this one different from the other handful of Guitar Hero games that have come out over the last year? Quite a bit actually.

One of the best things that Neversoft has done with Guitar Hero 5 is to make it just as easy to navigate the menus as it is to enjoy the game itself. This may not seem like such a big deal, but in practice it makes everything about the game more enjoyable. A layer of frustration has been stripped away from nearly every aspect of this game. Not only will your parents be able to understand how to play the game, now they'll be figure out how to get into the game, too.

This is most noticeable in the all-new Party Play mode. Everyone who has thrown a party with Rock Band or Guitar Hero World Tour has at least one memory of new players having trouble logging in, choosing instruments, and making sure they've selected the right difficulty for their skill level. We've all been there and it isn't any fun. Party Play does away with this in a most agreeable way. As soon as you turn Guitar Hero 5 on, the game simply starts playing through your library of tunes. It acts like a jukebox of sorts. If any song catches your ear, all you have to do is pick up an instrument and hit a button to start playing. You can change difficulties, drop in or out, add other players, or even skip to another song without the music ever stopping.

If somebody is already playing guitar and you don't want to be stuck with bass, no worries. Any combination of instruments can be used. Set up your own guitar army or get everyone in the room singing harmonies -- it's your call. Party Play and letting people use what instrument they want sound like such simple concepts you'll start wondering why it took this long to get these features in. But hey, they're here now and they really do add a lot to the fun.

Read the full article at: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/102/1020394p1.html

9.1 "GH5 is the end all be all music game of this generation, guaranteed." - Planetxbox 360

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Guitar Hero 5 Review

Ask any educated gamer what two video games come to mind when discussing the major opposing forces in the music genre market, most if not all will repeat the words Guitar Hero and Rock Band. One started the music-genre in the United States revolution and the other proceeded to evolve the entire system, adding in all-new instruments and making it more of a group experience. Since the release of Rock Band a couple years ago publisher Activision and developer Neversoft are attempting a pretty strong comeback; by releasing Guitar Hero: World Tour last year it brought the franchise into the next-generation with full band support. Now it's time for the series to make a true return to glory as the experienced companies gear up to release Guitar Hero 5 just in time for the massive holiday sales. The inclusion of superstars (Kurt Cobain, Johnny Cash, Shirley Manson) helps push gamers to complete every single crevice of the game, just to unlock all of them. There have been multiple GH games released over the past couple years but it's now time for the true sequel, the fifth game in a ridiculously popular and fun series of interactive music experiences.

Many people thought Guitar Hero 5 was going to be just another set of songs, after spending hours with the retail build we found out that the exact opposite was true - this game will hit fans with a totally fresh experience, one that is worth every penny of the upgrade cost. Even so the developers made sure to keep the basic formula (that has worked so well in the past) there. Guitar Hero 5 will be continuing the full-band support of Neversoft's latest games and includes a massive 85-song setlist that spans the last 50 years of rock-and-roll music. Although the addition of downloadable content (DLC) has changed the entire business model as to what's expected from video games this generation, it's always great to see a mixture of on-disc songs that make a go at pleasing all sorts of music lovers. This may not be the top selection of music that Rolling Stone editors could imagine but it is easily the most diverse we have yet to see from a GH title. Coldplay, KISS, Bush, Blink 182, Elton John, Nirvana, Whitestripes, The Police, and Wolfmother are just a few of the fantastic bands to rock out with - the game is on store shelves today.

Many gamers have been begging for the next Guitar Hero version to have some new features, new gameplay modes, and all-around just be fresh in options. It's obvious that the developers were listening because GH5 is jam-packed with brand new stuff that will literally blow some gamers socks off. This time around the team wants to make sure that no one complains about what was included out of the box, even if they had to spend more money/time getting the game ready for it's public debut. This time around Guitar Hero 5 wants' to leave the choices up to the player, never forcing him or her into a preset band configuration or multiplayer instrument setup. If you happen to have three guitars and a microphone in the gaming closet that is exactly what will show on screen, gone are the times of making one player sit-out because they don't know how to play the drums or sing. It was such a joy to finally have the ability to play with four guitars at once, or four drums (that's what we call a drum line), and so on.

Read the full article at: http://www.planetxbox360.com/article_7668/Guitar_Hero_5_-_Review

GRUNGE ROCK PIONEER AND ICON KURT COBAIN TO MAKE HIS VIDEO GAME DEBUT THIS SEPTEMBER IN GUITAR HERO® 5

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

“Kurt Cobain is one of the most recognizable frontmen in rock ‘n’ roll history and it’s an honor to have two of Nirvana’s masterpieces included in Guitar Hero 5,” said Tim Riley, Vice President of Music Affairs for Activision. “This is the first time the original recording of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ has ever been licensed in an entertainment property and we’re thrilled to offer Guitar Hero® fans exclusive access to the unreleased live version of ‘Lithium.’”

Guitar Hero 5 features the strongest, most varied set list to date comprised of master tracks from more than 80 of the hottest bands of today and the biggest classic acts; including Kings of Leon, The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, Santana, Vampire Weekend, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, plus more than 25 artists from a variety of music genres that will be making their music video game debut. Among the first-time-ever features of Guitar Hero 5 are: Party Play, where players can jump in or drop out of gameplay seamlessly; RockFest, a comprehensive competitive experience available featuring five new head-to-head modes playable online or in your living room; and the ability to play the entire set-list from the first time the game is turned on.

Guitar Hero 5 refines the player experience, enhances the art style and redesigns core features such as GH™Music Studio, making it the most accessible, fun-to-play and authentic experience for seasoned music gamers as well as first-time players. New innovations such as Band Moments, where bands are rewarded for hitting special note streams together and song challenges where gamers are tasked to play through a song a specific way, add a new competitive layer of excitement and accomplishment to the music rhythm genre.

GUITAR HERO® 5 NOW AVAILABLE FOR CONSUMERS TO ”ROCK ANY WAY THEY WANT”

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Latest Version of Best-Selling Music Franchise Offers Today’s Hottest Rock Hits and Classic Anthems

For a Limited Time Consumers Score a Copy of the Unreleased Guitar Hero® Van Halen® with Purchase of Guitar Hero 5

Santa Monica, CA – September 1, 2009 – Continuing to transform the way people experience music, the highly-anticipated Guitar Hero® 5 video game hits store shelves today with unprecedented music variety featuring an expansive, pulse-pounding 85-song on-disc set list, more than 150 songs available via downloadable content, and the capability to import select songs from other Guitar Hero® games. Featuring some of music’s leading bands and artists across a multitude of genres, the ability for players to rock any way they want with any combination of multiple guitarists, bassists, drummers and singers in any game mode, Guitar Hero 5 allows players to step into the spotlight as iconic rockers of the past, present and future with an all-star line-up of in-game playable characters, including Kurt Cobain, Johnny Cash, Carlos Santana, Garbage’s Shirley Manson and Matt Bellamy of Muse. For a limited time, consumers who purchase Guitar Hero 5 will receive the unreleased Guitar Hero® Van Halen® when they mail in their proof of purchase.

Early reviews and previews of the game have been outstanding. Official Xbox Magazine gives Guitar Hero 5 a final score of 95 out of 100 saying, “Party Play mode instantly reinvigorates the social fun of music games… It is the new standard for social rocking.” The magazine goes on to say, “This is musical fun done right… This is the Guitar Hero to own.”

“Guitar Hero 5 is the best Guitar Hero game yet and an incredible value for consumers by providing hours of entertainment as they play along to the music they love and discover new artists and tracks,” said Dan Rosensweig, president and chief executive office of Guitar Hero. “The game offers consumers access to an extensive library of music, including 85 songs on-disc, more than 150 songs available via DLC and the ability to import music from previous Guitar Hero.”

Guitar Hero 5’s refined GH™Music Studio combines remarkably comprehensive features including improved editing tools, new guitar samples and more than 400 easy-to-use music patterns with complete accessibility for players of all creative abilities. To date, more than 300,000 songs have been uploaded to GHTunes and have been downloaded for free more than 17 million times by users.

Features exclusive to the Wii™ version of Guitar Hero 5 deliver a unique and unforgettable gameplay experience with unprecedented integration, where up to two Nintendo DS™ players engage in an intense competition with two Wii guitarists in the new Roadie Battle mode. Mii™ Freestyle returns for a unique gameplay experience that allows Wii players to jam along to different genres, including Rock, Metal and Blues. The new Mii Freestyle Stage Manager allows Nintendo DS players to call the shots with control of on-stage lightshows, camera angles and pyrotechnics.

The entire set list is at players’ finger tips from the start, featuring genre-defining hits from some of the biggest rock artists and bands of all time, including The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, Kings of Leon, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Vampire Weekend. Players take complete control as Guitar Hero 5 allows gamers to personalize and customize how they experience music by being able to play with any in-game instrument combination -- multiple vocalists, guitarists, bassists and drummers, in any game mode. With the game’s all-new Party Play Mode, getting the band back together has never been easier. Players can now jump in or drop out of gameplay seamlessly, without interrupting their jam session. Elevating the Guitar Hero® series to new heights with unmatched social gameplay, an enhanced style, new in-game artists and more rock legends, Guitar Hero 5 features new surprises and challenges that will fire-up long-time fret board fanatics and create a new generation of addicts.

Published by Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), Guitar Hero 5 is developed by Neversoft Entertainment for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, and by Vicarious Visions for the Wii system from Nintendo. Budcat is developing Guitar Hero 5 for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. The game is rated “T” for “Teen” (mild lyrics, mild suggestive themes) by the ESRB. For more information about Guitar Hero 5, please visit GH5.GuitarHero.com.

Guitar Hero Van Halen is developed by Underground Development for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION3 and PlayStation2 computer entertainment systems and the Wii home video game system from Nintendo. The game is rated “T” (Teen – Mild Lyrics, Mild Suggestive Themes) by the ESRB. For more information about Guitar Hero Van Halen, please visit www.vanhalen.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.

Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Russia, Japan, South Korea, China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Publishing’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Activision Publishing generally uses words such as “outlook,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “might,” “remains,” “to be,” “plans,” “believes,” “may,” “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “estimate,” future,” “plan,” “positioned,” “potential,” “project,” “remain,” “scheduled,” “set to,” “subject to,” “upcoming” and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause Activision Publishing’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include, but are not limited to, sales levels of Activision Publishing’s titles, shifts in consumer spending trends, the impact of the current macroeconomic environment, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game market, Activision Publishing’s ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware platforms (including next-generation hardware), declines in software pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Activision Publishing’s products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware and related software, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, litigation against Activision Publishing, maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, vendors, licensees, licensors and third-party developers, counterparty risks relating to customers, licensees, licensors and manufacturers, domestic and international economic, financial and political conditions and policies, foreign exchange rates, integration of recent acquisitions and the identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities, Activision Blizzard’s success in completing the integration of the operations of Activision Publishing and Vivendi Games in a timely manner, or at all, and the combined company’s ability to realize the anticipated benefits and synergies of the transaction to the extent, or in the timeframe, anticipated, and the other factors identified in the risk factors section of Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Activision Publishing nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Publishing or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

###

© 2009 Activision Publishing, Inc. Guitar Hero and Activision are registered trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

"PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Wii and Nintendo DS are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2006 Nintendo. All rights reserved.

Bonus Challenges: Whammy Challenge

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Hi, my name is GHDevDaryl and I'm a designer on Guitar Hero 5. My primary job was to implement and help tune the Bonus Challenges you'll find in Career Mode.

Part of the goal when we were making the Bonus Challenges was to encourage the player to use techniques that would help him/her to become a better Guitar Hero player in general. In each of my blogs, I'll be giving some pointers on not only how to maximize these techniques to get those Diamond Bonus Challenges, but also how they apply to getting the most out of any song you play.

Today's Bonus Challenge is the Whammy Challenge. Whammying is an important tool to help maximize your Star Power. It's a common misconception that whammying increases score, which is not the case. During a star power phrase with sustains, whammying can get you extra star power, so learning to whammy well can help give your score a substantial boost.

You may be wondering how it's possible to whammy "better". Here's a few tips. Squeezing every bit of whammy out of a sustain starts with the way you begin the note. You need to start whammying before hit the note. This preloads the whammy so that you start getting credit as soon as possible. It makes a big difference over several short sustains. Then of course you want to keep that whammy going all the way to the end of the sustain.

If you're having troubles keeping those whammys going, you can use a technique that some people here use: Strum with the whammy bar in the palm of your hand throughout the song. This way you can keep the whammy bar moving while still concentrating on hitting the notes. Your hand naturally moves while strumming, so even if you can't manage to give the short sustains a full whammy, you'll still get some credit.

Next time we'll apply this to the Refill the Star Power Meter Challenge so you can squeeze every last bit out of those Star Power Phrases.

Bonus Challenges: Refill Star Power Meter

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Hi, my name is GHDevDaryl and I'm a designer on Guitar Hero 5. My primary job was to implement and help tune the Bonus Challenges you'll find in Career Mode.

The Bonus Challenge that I'm going to discuss today is the Refill the Star Power Meter Challenge. Filling your Star Power meter is done by hitting a series of notes within a Star Power Phrase. Maximizing the amount of Star Power you get out of a Star Power Phrase and using it before you waste it are important keys to getting high scores, and getting that Diamond challenge.

Whammy those Sustains (guitar and bass only): Like I mentioned in my last blog entry, remember to whammy all sustained Star Power notes for that extra bit of Star Power. Technique is key so check out my blog on the Whammy Bonus Challenge if you missed it!

No Waste: Be sure not to waste Star Power by over filling your meter, especially when you're playing alone. If you're in a band, your Star Power will now overflow into your bandmate's meters when yours is full, but when playing alone, Star Power that you earn above and beyond the meter's capacity will be wasted. If your meter is full, or even almost full, and you see a Star Power phrase coming up, activate your Star Power quickly to minimize waste.

Next time we'll apply this to the Score in Star Power Challenge so you can get the most points out of your Star Power.

Competitive Modes: Pro Face-Off

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

A big welcome to you, all our Heroes! My name is Michael Bilodeau, aka GHDevMichael, and I’ve been a designer at Neversoft since before we got the chance to work on Guitar Hero. It is always very rewarding to work on a project that so many people excited about. Through this series of blog entries, I’m going to tell you about the Competitive Mode games that we crafted to give you even more ways to enjoy the music with your friends. I worked on Competitive Mode directly, so I’m really excited to see what the world thinks of all the stuff we’ve done for Guitar Hero 5.

Pro Face-Off is a high-score competition that can be played free-for-all and in teams.

Competitive Mode

The core gameplay of Guitar Hero is well established within the community, as well as intuitive for new players. Each release includes a huge new list of songs to play with. In addition to tracking all new songs for Guitar Hero 5, we wanted to evolve the gameplay, as well as offer a variety of ways to interact with the tremendous amount of content that will be available. In this series of blogs I’ll be explaining what, why, and how various the Competitive Mode games were created. Competitive Mode is the part of Guitar Hero 5 where players can go head to head with other players in free-for-all competitions, or in matched teams.

The games available in Competitive Mode are: Pro Face-Off*, Band vs. Band, Momentum*, Streakers*, Do or Die*, Perfectionist*, and Elimination*. These games can be played with single songs or as a tournament, through a playlist. If you want to have a variety of challenges over the course of your tournament, you can play the RockFest* game.

*These games have a Team variant that allows for 2v2, 3v3, or 4v4 play.

Pro Face-Off

The most well known Competitive Mode, Pro Face-Off, was introduced to the series in the release of Guitar Hero II. It would be sacrilege for us to change it now, as most hardcore players consider Pro Face-Off the purest form of competition. For those of you who might not know what I’m talking about, Pro Face-Off is a Competitive Mode in which players playing the same part of a song both try to score as many points as possible. At the end of the song, the players are ranked by their final score.

1v1v1v1v1v1v1v1

Instead of changing the core of the mode, we expanded the competition. In Guitar Hero 5, up to 8 players can compete in a single Pro Face-Off match, with up to 4 of them on a single console. This makes tournaments at parties and bars much easier to manage, since 4 players can compete at once per console. It also gives those of us hoarding plastic guitars a reason to justify keeping all of them out in the living room!

2v2, 3v3, 4v4

Whether you’re at home, online, or out and about, Guitar Hero is best enjoyed with friends and family. Competitive matches can make bitter rivals of even the best of relations. In Guitar Hero 5, you can now play with your friends against other teams in all of the Competitive Modes. This makes Pro Face-Off much more approachable for newer players because they can now ally with their Expert level friend, you know, the one who talked them into playing online in the first place.

Matchmaking

Players looking to compete with others in Pro Face-Off don’t always find people near their same skill level. Many players are best at playing Medium while the most competitive are all Expert level players. In order to have an interesting and competitive match between these players, we apply a handicap ratio modifier to the lower player’s score. It is worth mentioning however, that our matchmaking algorithm puts the highest priority on finding a match between equal difficulty settings. Our goal is to get as many players playing the best game they can, within a reasonable amount of time.

Before Guitar Hero 5, most of the gameplay was hardwired, and thus not very accessible to us as designers. By constructing some flexible script based systems to create and affect gameplay, the door was opened for Bonus Challenges and the new Competitive Mode games. In my next entry, I’ll be talking about one of the new Competitive Mode games: Momentum.

Maroon 5 Frontman Adam Levine Takes the Stage as a Playable Character in Band Hero(TM)

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

SAANTA MONICA, Calif., Aug 19, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Adam Levine, popular guitarist and singer for pop-rock band Maroon 5, will soon be able to add virtual rock star to his repertoire as he prepares to take center stage in Band Hero(TM). When the game hits retail stores in November, family and friends will be able to live out their musical fantasies as they strum, drum and sing along to an exciting collection of songs by some of the most popular bands and artists to ever hit a music game. Levine joins Taylor Swift as an exclusive, in-game playable character by lending his popular likeness to Band Hero. Fans will be able to play as Levine as he rocks out to the Grammy nominated "She Will Be Loved," Maroon 5's hit single from their debut album Songs About Jane, which has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide and is Gold and Platinum in more than 35 countries.

"Besides the fact that it is cool to be in a video game, it is also exciting to be thought of as someone that could be in a video game so I am very proud to be a part of Band Hero," said Levine. "It is really amazing actually, it is one of the more unique things I've done in my life and I don't know if I'll ever have that feeling again."

"Adam Levine has collaborated with some of the greatest acts of his time and now Band Hero joins that list," said Tim Riley, Vice President of Music Affairs for Guitar Hero(R). "We are really excited to not only bring his fans a new way to interact with Maroon 5's music but to offer gamers of all ages the chance to play as Levine."

This November, family and friends will come together to ascend the virtual stage and rock their way to superstardom with Band Hero. Brought to you by the makers of Guitar Hero, one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time, Band Hero features the hottest chart-topping hits from everyone's favorite acts including Taylor Swift, No Doubt, Lily Allen, The All-American Rejects and Jackson 5. Headlined by some of the biggest names in music as in-game artists and playable characters, Band Hero is the ultimate party game where players of all ages will be able to experience the signature, easy-to-learn but difficult-to-master Guitar Hero gameplay. Band Hero allows fans to create the band they always dreamed of using any combination of guitar or drum controllers and vocals, providing rockers and performers of all ages the chance to experience and interact with their favorite music.

Published by Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), Band Hero is being developed by Neversoft Entertainment for the Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION(R)3 computer entertainment system, by Vicarious Visions for the Wii(TM) system from Nintendo and by Budcat for the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system. The game is rated E10+ (Everyone 10+ - mild lyrics, mild suggestive themes). For more information about Band Hero, please visit BandHero.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.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Publishing's expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Activision Publishing generally uses words such as "outlook," "will," "could," "would," "might," "remains," "to be," "plans," "believes," "may," "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "estimate," future," "plan," "positioned," "potential," "project," "remain," "scheduled," "set to," "subject to," "upcoming" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause Activision Publishing's actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include, but are not limited to, sales levels of Activision Publishing's titles, shifts in consumer spending trends, the impact of the current macroeconomic environment, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game market, Activision Publishing's ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware platforms (including next-generation hardware), declines in software pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Activision Publishing's products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware and related software, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, litigation against Activision Publishing, maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, vendors, licensees, licensors and third-party developers, counterparty risks relating to customers, licensees, licensors and manufacturers, domestic and international economic, financial and political conditions and policies, foreign exchange rates, integration of recent acquisitions and the identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities, Activision Blizzard's success in completing the integration of the operations of Activision Publishing and Vivendi Games in a timely manner, or at all, and the combined company's ability to realize the anticipated benefits and synergies of the transaction to the extent, or in the timeframe, anticipated, and the other factors identified in the risk factors section of Activision Blizzard's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Activision Publishing nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Publishing or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

(C) 2009 Activision Publishing, Inc. Guitar Hero and Activision are registered trademarks and Band Hero is a trademark of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

SOURCE Activision Publishing, Inc.

http://www.activision.com

SATISFACTION’ FOR GUITAR HERO® 5 FANS

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Santa Monica, CA - August 19, 2009 -Five live downloadable tracks from the 1969 concert by The Rolling Stones will be digitally released for Guitar Hero® 5 to coincide with ABKCO's 40^th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set release of "GET YER YA-YA'S OUT!". Launching on September 3, The Rolling Stones Live Track Pack also available as single downloads, will feature the blues-infused song "Prodigal Son (Live)," the acoustic track "You Gotta Move (Live)," as well as "Under My Thumb (Live)," "I'm Free (Live)" and the classic rock anthem "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (Live)." Two days after Guitar Hero 5 hits store shelves on September 1, Stones fans will be able to get their "Satisfaction" from the world's greatest rock and roll band.

The Rolling Stones Live Track Pack will be available on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 720 Microsoft Points and on the PLAYSTATION®Store for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system for $8.99 and Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection for Wii^TM for 900 Wii Points. In addition, all five tracks will be released as single downloadable songs for Xbox 360 for 160 Microsoft Points each, PLAYSTATION 3 system for $1.99 each and Wii for 200 Wii Points. Additionally, fans will be able to choose from more than 150 other downloadable songs to further customize their Guitar Hero 5 set list.

On September 1, living room legends will rock any way they want to a variety of iconic rock music in Guitar Hero 5. The entire set list is at players' finger tips from the start, featuring genre-defining hits from some of the biggest rock artists and bands of all time, including The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, Kings of Leon, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Vampire Weekend. Players take complete control as Guitar Hero 5 allows gamers to personalize and customize how they experience music by being able to play with any in-game instrument combination -- multiple vocalists, guitarists, bassists and drummers, in any game mode. With the game's all-new Party Play Mode, getting the band back together has never been easier. Players can now jump in or drop out of gameplay seamlessly, without interrupting their jam session. Elevating the Guitar Hero® series to new heights with unmatched social gameplay, an enhanced style, new in-game artists and more rock legends, Guitar Hero 5 features new surprises and challenges that will fire-up long-time fret board fanatics and create a new generation of addicts.

Guitar Hero 5 is rated "T" (Teen - Mild Lyrics, Mild Suggestive Themes). For more information about Guitar Hero 5, please visit gh5.guitarhero.com.

About ABKCO

Now in its 50th year, ABKCO Music and Records is one of the world's leading independent entertainment companies. It is home to critical catalog assets that include compositions and recordings by Sam Cooke, The Rolling Stones, Bobby Womack, The Animals, Herman's Hermits, Marianne Faithfull, The Kinks as well as the Cameo Parkway masters by such artists as Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, The Orlons, The Dovells, ? & The Mysterians, The Tymes and Dee Dee Sharp.

ABKCO is active on many fronts including the release of critically lauded compilations, soundtracks and reissues from its catalog, film and commercial placement of its master recordings and music publishing properties in all media. It is engaged in ongoing catalog research and development ensuring its continuing role as an innovator in the music field.

The Scratch Perverts and DJ Yoda Provide Exclusive Mixes for DJ Hero(TM)

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Aug 12, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- The growing crew of turntable legends bringing mixes exclusively to DJ Hero(TM) continues to build with the addition of The Scratch Perverts, winners of the inaugural DMC World Team Championship in 1999, and hip hop turntablist DJ Yoda, one of today's hottest DJs tearing it up on the ones and twos.

The Scratch Perverts, a UK-based crew comprised of scratch masters Tony Vegas, DJ Primecuts and Plus One, have spun five mixes including:

    --  Common - "Universal Mind Control (UMC)" vs. Masta Ace -

        "Jeep A** Gutter"

    --  Eric B. & Rakim - "Eric B. Is President" vs. M.I.A. -

        "Paper Planes"

    --  Noisia - "Groundhog" (Beat Juggle)

DJ Yoda has created two mixes that will appear on-disc when DJ Hero drops this October:

    --  The Jackson 5 - "I Want You Back" vs. Gang Starr - "Just

        to Get a Rep"

    --  Little Richard - "Tutti Frutti" vs. Shlomo - "Beats"

Expanding upon the revolutionary easy to pick up/challenging to master gameplay mechanics developed and refined in Guitar Hero(R), DJ Hero delivers an all-new interactive music experience that allows players to start the party and not only experience, but to hear music in an all-new way. With over 100 individual songs, highlighted in 93 unique never-before-released mixes that blend genres of music, including hip-hop, pop, rock and dance, DJ Hero delivers the most diverse and international collection of music ever assembled in a music game by incorporating anthems from legendary artists. Created exclusively for DJ Hero, the turntable controller immerses fans into the authenticity of DJ culture and a sea of music as they utilize and master various DJ techniques including scratching, blending, cross fading and sampling, while leaving room for creative expression with a variety of effects and player chosen samples and scratches, transforming a face in the crowd into the life of the party.

DJ Hero is being developed by FreeStyleGames for the Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION(R)3 and PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment systems and the Wii(TM) system from Nintendo. The game is rated "T" (Teen - Mild Suggestive Themes, Lyrics) by the ESRB. For more information about DJ Hero, please visit djhero.com, facebook.com/djhero, and twitter.com/djhero. To pre-order DJ Hero, check out djhero.com/preorder.

For more information on The Scratch Perverts, please visit www.myspace.com/scratchperverts. For more information on DJ Yoda, please visit www.djyoda.co.uk.

For DJ Hero assets featuring The Scratch Perverts and DJ Yoda mixes, please visit redoctane.us/press/djhero/video.html (login: presspass; password: jimihendrix).

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.

SOURCE Activision Publishing, Inc.

http://www.activision.com

BUY GUITAR HERO® 5 – GET ADVANCE COPY OF THE UNRELEASED GUITAR HERO® VAN HALEN®

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Guitar Hero® is offering fans across the US an unheard of limited time bonus offer. With every purchase of specially marked copies of Guitar Hero® 5 during the month of September, living room legends will be able to rock out with an advance copy of the unreleased Guitar Hero® Van Halen® (up to a $60 MSRP value), long before it takes the stage in stores.

Rock out to over 130 on-disc tracks in two games on September 1 by pre-ordering Guitar Hero 5 now at your local retailer or at http://gh5.guitarhero.com/preorder.php and picking up your copy in September, or by buying specially marked copies of the game at any retailer anytime during the month of September, and take advantage of this limited time offer.

Please visit www.guitarhero.com/vanhalengameoffer for full offer and redemption details.

On September 1, living room legends will rock any way they want in Guitar Hero 5. The entire set list is at players' finger tips from the start, featuring genre-defining hits from more than 80 of the biggest rock artists and bands of all time, including The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, Kings of Leon, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Vampire Weekend, plus more than 25 artists from a variety of music genres that will be making their music video game debut. Players take complete control as Guitar Hero 5 allows gamers to personalize and customize how they experience music by being able to play with any in-game instrument combination -- multiple vocalists, guitarists, bassists and drummers, in any game mode. With the game's all-new Party Play Mode, getting the band back together has never been easier. Players can now jump in or drop out of gameplay seamlessly, without interrupting their jam session. Elevating the Guitar Hero® series to new heights with unmatched social gameplay, an enhanced style, new in-game artists and more rock legends, Guitar Hero 5 features new surprises and challenges that will fire up long-time fret board fanatics and create a new generation of addicts.

Guitar Hero 5 is rated "T" (Teen - Mild Lyrics, Mild Suggestive Themes) by the ESRB and will be released for the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PLAYSTATION 3 and PlayStation 2. For more information about Guitar Hero 5, please visit gh5.guitarhero.com.

Guitar Hero Van Halen is rated "T" (Teen - Mild Lyrics, Mild Suggestive Themes) by the ESRB and will be released for the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PLAYSTATION 3 and PlayStation 2. For more information about Guitar Hero Van Halen, please visit www.vanhalen.guitarhero.com.

JOHNNY CASH TO MAKE VIDEO GAME DEBUT IN GUITAR HERO® 5

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Multiple Grammy Award winner, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and legendary singer-songwriter Johnny Cash will be introduced to an all new audience this fall as he makes his video game debut as a playable character in the highly anticipated Guitar Hero® 5. Cash's virtual image will live on as Guitar Hero players can rock out on any instrument controller to "Ring Of Fire," and even unlock the ability to strum and sing along as the "Man in Black" himself in the all-new Electric Honky Tonk Bar venue. Cash joins the ever-growing list of playable in-game artists announced for Guitar Hero 5.

This September, living room legends will rock any way they want in Guitar Hero 5. The entire set list is at players' finger tips from the start, featuring genre-defining hits from more than 80 of the biggest rock artists and bands of all time, including The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, Kings of Leon, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Vampire Weekend, plus more than 25 artists from a variety of music genres that will be making their music video game debut. Players take complete control as Guitar Hero 5 allows gamers to personalize and customize how they experience music by being able to play with any in-game instrument combination -- multiple vocalists, guitarists, bassists and drummers, in any game mode. With the game's all-new Party Play Mode, getting the band back together has never been easier. Players can now jump in or drop out of gameplay seamlessly, without interrupting their jam session. Elevating the Guitar Hero® series to new heights with unmatched social gameplay, an enhanced style, new in-game artists and more rock legends, Guitar Hero 5 features new surprises and challenges that will fire-up long-time fret board fanatics and create a new generation of addicts.

Scheduled to hit store shelves on September 1, Guitar Hero 5 is rated "T" (Teen - Mild Lyrics, Mild Suggestive Themes) and will be released for the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2. For more information about Guitar Hero 5, please visit gh5.guitarhero.com.

XBOX AVATARS TO ROCK GUITAR HERO® 5 AS PLAYABLE CHARACTERS

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Guitar Hero® fans will soon be able to take center stage and become the rockstar of the show by playing in-game as their own Xbox Avatars in Guitar Hero 5. When fans take home Guitar Hero 5 on September 1, they'll be able to import their Avatars, choose their instrument and play along with their personalized characters rocking out to any track on the epic 85-song set list. Taking full advantage of the latest technology available from Xbox LIVE, gamers can choose their band mates and mix and match their Xbox Avatars with Guitar Hero favorites like Judy Nails, Axel Steel and Lars Ümlaüt, or even rip it up alongside in-game talent. Xbox Avatars will also get a Guitar Hero makeover in the game's Create-A-Rocker mode, where players can further customize their creations with exclusive Guitar Hero clothing and accessories to ensure they look performance-ready.

Guitar Hero 5 features a wide variety of the hottest rock 'n' roll bands and will be the most rocking Guitar Hero game yet with new social and interactive features. The entire Guitar Hero 5 set list is at players' finger tips from the start, featuring genre-defining hits from more than 80 of the biggest rock artists and bands of all time, including The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, Kings of Leon, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Vampire Weekend, plus more than 25 artists from a variety of rock music genres that will be making their music video game debut. Players take complete control as Guitar Hero 5 allows gamers to personalize and customize how they experience music by being able to play with any in-game instrument combination -- multiple vocalists, guitarists, bassists and drummers, in any game mode. With the game's all-new Party Play Mode, getting the band back together has never been easier. Players can now jump in or drop out of gameplay seamlessly, without interrupting their jam session. Elevating the Guitar Hero series to new heights with unmatched social gameplay, an enhanced style, and new in-game artists, Guitar Hero 5 features new surprises and challenges that will fire-up long-time fret board fanatics and create a new generation of addicts.

Guitar Hero 5 is rated "T" (Teen - Mild Lyrics, Mild Suggestive Themes). For more information about Guitar Hero 5, please visit gh5.guitarhero.com.

Activision Unveils Epic 85 Song Guitar Hero(R) 5 Set List Featuring Widest Variety of Today's Rock Hits and Artists

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 30, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Guitar Hero today unveiled the final 15 tracks to be showcased in the epic 85 song set list in Guitar Hero(R) 5. Among the varied collection of current hits and classic artists are Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," TV On The Radio's "Wolf Like Me," Muse's "Plug In Baby," Stevie Wonder's classic "Superstition" and Nirvana's multi-award winning, chart-topping "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Also joining the set list in Guitar Hero 5 and making their music video game debut are Arctic Monkeys and Dire Straits.

When Guitar Hero 5 ships on September 1, living room rock stars will be able to rock any way they want to the expansive set list including the pulse pounding tracks listed below:

    --  3 Doors Down - "Kryptonite"

    --  Arctic Monkeys - "Brianstorm"

    --  Blink-182 - "The Rock Show"

    --  Dire Straits - "Sultans Of Swing"

    --  Jimmy Eat World - "Bleed American"

    --  Johnny Cash - "Ring Of Fire"

    --  Megadeth - "Sweating Bullets"

    --  Motley Crue - "Looks That Kill"

    --  Muse - "Plug In Baby"

    --  Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

    --  Queen & David Bowie - "Under Pressure"

    --  Stevie Wonder - "Superstition"

    --  The Killers - "All The Pretty Faces"

    --  The Raconteurs - "Steady As She Goes"

    --  TV On The Radio - "Wolf Like Me"

Previously announced tracks include:

    --  A Perfect Circle - "Judith"

    --  AFI - "Medicate"

    --  Attack! Attack! UK - "You And Me"

    --  Band Of Horses - "Cigarettes, Wedding Bands"

    --  Beastie Boys - "Gratitude"

    --  Beck - "Gamma Ray"

    --  Billy Idol - "Dancing With Myself"

    --  Billy Squier - "Lonely Is The Night"

    --  Blur - "Song 2"

    --  Bob Dylan - "All Along The Watchtower"

    --  Bon Jovi - "You Give Love A Bad Name"

    --  Brand New - "Sowing Season (Yeah)"

    --  The Bronx - "Six Days A Week"

    --  Bush - "Comedown"

    --  Children Of Bodom - "Done With Everything, Die For Nothing"

    --  Coldplay - "In My Place"

    --  Darker My Love - "Blue Day"

    --  Darkest Hour - "Demon(s)"

    --  David Bowie - "Fame"

    --  Deep Purple - "Woman From Tokyo ('99 Remix)"

    --  The Derek Trucks Band - "Younk Funk"

    --  The Duke Spirit - "Send A Little Love Token"

    --  Duran Duran - "Hungry Like The Wolf"

    --  Eagles Of Death Metal - "Wannabe In L.A."

    --  Elliott Smith - "L.A."

    --  Elton John - "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)"

    --  Face To Face - "Disconnected"

    --  Garbage - "Only Happy When It Rains"

    --  Gorillaz - "Feel Good Inc."

    --  Gov't Mule - "Streamline Woman"

    --  Grand Funk Railroad - "We're An American Band"

    --  Iggy Pop - "Lust For Life (Live)"

    --  Iron Maiden - "2 Minutes To Midnight"

    --  Jeff Beck - "Scatterbrain (Live)"

    --  John Mellencamp - "Hurts So Good"

    --  Kaiser Chiefs - "Never Miss A Beat"

    --  King Crimson - "21st Century Schizoid Man"

    --  Kings Of Leon - "Sex On Fire"

    --  Kiss - "Shout It Out Loud"

    --  Love and Rockets - "Mirror People"

    --  My Morning Jacket - "One Big Holiday"

    --  Nirvana - "Lithium (Live)"

    --  No Doubt - "Ex-Girlfriend"

    --  Peter Frampton - "Do You Feel Like We Do? (Live)"

    --  The Police - "So Lonely"

    --  Public Enemy Featuring Zakk Wylde - "Bring the Noise 20XX"

    --  Queens Of The Stone Age - "Make It Wit Chu"

    --  Rammstein - "Du Hast"

    --  The Rolling Stones - "Sympathy For The Devil"

    --  Rose Hill Drive - "Sneak Out"

    --  Rush - "The Spirit Of Radio (Live)"

    --  Santana - "No One To Depend On (Live)"

    --  Scars On Broadway - "They Say"

    --  Screaming Trees - "Nearly Lost You"

    --  Smashing Pumpkins - "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"

    --  Sonic Youth - "Incinerate"

    --  Spacehog - "In The Meantime"

    --  Sublime - "What I Got"

    --  Sunny Day Real Estate - "Seven"

    --  T. Rex - "20th Century Boy"

    --  The Sword - "Maiden, Mother & Crone"

    --  Thin Lizzy - "Jailbreak"

    --  Thrice - "Deadbolt"

    --  Tom Petty - "Runnin' Down A Dream"

    --  Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "American Girl"

    --  Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk"

    --  Weezer - "Why Bother?"

    --  The White Stripes - "Blue Orchid"

    --  Wild Cherry - "Play That Funky Music"

    --  Wolfmother - "Back Round"

The entire set list is at players' fingertips from the start, featuring genre-defining hits from some of the biggest rock artists and bands of all time, including The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, Kings of Leon, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Vampire Weekend. Players take complete control as Guitar Hero 5 allows gamers to personalize and customize how they experience music by being able to play with any controller combination -- multiple vocalists, guitarists, bassists and drummers, in any game mode. With the game's all-new Party Play Mode, getting the band back together has never been easier. Players can now jump in or drop out of gameplay seamlessly, without interrupting their jam session. Elevating the Guitar Hero(R) series to new heights with unmatched social gameplay, an enhanced style, new in-game artists and more rock legends, Guitar Hero 5 features new surprises and challenges that will fire-up long-time fret board fanatics and create a new generation of addicts.

Published by Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), Guitar Hero 5 is being developed by Neversoft Entertainment for Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION(R)3 computer entertainment system, and by Vicarious Visions for the Wii(TM) system from Nintendo. Budcat is developing Guitar Hero 5 for the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system. The game is rated "T" for "Teen" by the ESRB. For more information about Guitar Hero 5, please visit GH5.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.

(C) 2009 Activision Publishing, Inc. Guitar Hero and Activision are registered trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

SOURCE Activision Publishing

http://www.activision.com

SINGER AND ACTRESS SHIRLEY MANSON STEPS INTO THE MUSIC VIDEO GAME SPOTLIGHT IN GUITAR HERO® 5

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

The Guitar Hero® stage continues to heat up as Shirley Manson, actress and lead singer of the Grammy-nominated alternative rock band Garbage, steps into the spotlight offering her likeness and distinct vocal stylings to this fall's highly anticipated Guitar Hero 5. Manson joins an all-star line up of in-game artists set to appear as playable characters in the game. Guitar Hero 5 boasts 85 songs on-disc including a wide variety of genres from modern, alternative and indie rock to classic anthems and metal, and features Manson belting out "Only Happy When It Rains," the breakthrough single off the band's self-titled debut album, Garbage.

This September, living room legends will rock any way they want in Guitar Hero 5. The entire set list is at players' finger tips from the start, featuring genre-defining hits from more than 80 of the biggest rock artists and bands of all time, including The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, Kings of Leon, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Vampire Weekend, plus more than 25 artists from a variety of music genres that will be making their music video game debuts. Players take complete control as Guitar Hero 5 allows gamers to personalize and customize how they experience music by being able to play with any in-game instrument combination -- multiple vocalists, guitarists, bassists and drummers, in any game mode. With the game's all-new Party Play Mode, players can now jump in or drop out of gameplay seamlessly, without interrupting their jam session.

GUITAR HERO® AND ACTIVISION UNVEIL DJ HERO™ RENEGADE EDITION FEATURING JAY-Z AND EMINEM

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Start the party with the DJ Hero^TM Renegade Edition Featuring JAY-Z and EMINEM. In addition to the DJ Hero game, the Renegade Edition includes a premium Renegade turntable controller, hardshell turntable carrying case that converts to a performance-ready DJ stand, and an exclusive JAY-Z and EMINEM 2-CD pack featuring unreleased tracks.

The makers of Guitar Hero® introduce a new way to experience your favorite music. With DJ Hero you will be the life of the party as you scratch and mix more than 100 songs into over 90 unique mixes.

Learn basic and advanced DJ Hero techniques, then spin your way through different set lists in beginner, easy, medium, hard, and expert modes. Grab your friends and start your own DJ Hero party.

DJ Hero Renegade Edition includes:

DJ Hero game
Renegade turntable controller featuring premium metal controls and finish
Hardshell turntable carrying case that converts to performance-ready DJ stand
Exclusive JAY-Z and EMINEM 2-CD pack featuring unreleased tracks and collectible case designed by artist Shepard Fairey

For more information on DJ Hero and to view the full JAY-Z and EMINEM "Renegade" performance video, please go to djhero.com.

Expanding upon the revolutionary easy to pick up/challenging to master gameplay mechanics developed and refined in Guitar Hero, DJ Hero delivers an all-new interactive music experience that allows players to rule the party and not only experience, but to hear music in an all-new way. With over 100 individual songs, highlighted in over 90 unique never-before-released mixes that blend genres of music, including hip-hop, R&B, pop, rock and electronica, DJ Hero delivers the most diverse and international collection of music ever assembled in a music game by incorporating anthems from legendary artists. Created exclusively for DJ Hero, the turntable controller immerses fans into the authenticity of DJ culture and a sea of music as they utilize and master various DJ techniques including scratching, blending, cross fading and sampling, while leaving room for creative expression with a variety of effects and player chosen samples and scratches, transforming a face in the crowd into the life of the party.

DJ JAZZY JEFF BRINGS THE DJ HERO™ PARTY TO LIFE WITH HIS TURNTABLE SKILLS AND LIKENESS

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Santa Monica, CA - July 27, 2009 - DJ Jazzy Jeff, GRAMMY^TM Award winning hip-hop and R&B record producer, actor and world famous turntablist will ascend to the virtual stage this fall in Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) and Guitar Hero's highly anticipated video game DJ Hero^TM. In addition to joining the distinguished rank of playable characters that will appear in the game, including DJ Shadow, DJ Z-Trip, Grandmaster Flash, DJ AM and others, DJ Jazzy Jeff will shake the room and bring the party to life with his own set list featuring two exclusive mixes hand created by the legend himself - Tears for Fears "Shout" vs. Eric B. & Rakim "Eric B. Is President" and LL Cool J "Rock the Bells" vs. The Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra "Bittersweet Symphony."

"I am very, very excited DJ culture is finally getting its due. To have a song in DJ Hero is a dream come true; to be a character someone can pick up the controller and select you and play is probably the biggest thing to happen to me in my career," said DJ Jazzy Jeff. "Music is so much a part of everyone's life, DJ Hero is going to appeal to almost everybody."

Expanding upon the revolutionary easy to pick up/challenging to master gameplay mechanics developed and refined in Guitar Hero®, DJ Hero delivers an all-new interactive music experience that allows players to rule the party and not only experience, but to hear music in an all-new way. With over 100 individual songs, highlighted in over 80 unique never-before-released mixes that blend genres of music, including hip-hop, R&B, pop, rock and electronica, DJ Hero delivers the most diverse and international collection of music ever assembled in a music game by incorporating anthems from legendary artists. Created exclusively for DJ Hero, the turntable controller immerses fans into DJ culture and a sea of music as they utilize and master various DJ techniques including scratching, blending, cross fading and sampling, while leaving room for creative expression with a variety of effects and player chosen samples and scratches, transforming a face in the crowd into the life of the party.

DJ Hero is being developed by FreeStyleGames for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems and the Wii^TM system from Nintendo. The game is not yet rated by the ESRB. For more information about DJ Hero, please visit djhero.com.

For more information on DJ Jazzy Jeff, please visit djjazzyjeff.com.

For DJ Hero assets featuring DJ Jazzy Jeff, please visit redoctane.us/press/djhero/djjazzyjeff.html.

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.

AWARD WINNING GUITARIST CARLOS SANTANA TO LEND SMOOTH GROOVES AND TRADEMARK MOVES TO GUITAR HERO® 5

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Video Game to Feature the Genre-Blending Guitar Virtuoso's Music and Likeness

Santa Monica, CA - July 20, 2009 - Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and 11-time Grammy Award winner, Carlos Santana, is set to appear as an exclusive in-game artist in the upcoming Guitar Hero® 5. Santana's accomplishments span four decades and more than 40 albums including the self-titled album, Santana, that launched one of the most recognizable Latin-infused classic rock anthems, "No One to Depend On." The live version of the song will be featured in Guitar Hero 5 with Carlos Santana jamming on stage as a playable character.

In addition to music from Santana, Guitar Hero 5 features a wide variety of today's hottest rock 'n' roll bands mixed with classic tracks. Brand new game features let fans tailor their experience to meet the evolving ways consumers are interacting with their favorite music and allows them to challenge themselves as a solo act or band member, or kick back with friends and enjoy their personalized set list.

"We're thrilled to showcase one of the top guitarists of all time in Guitar Hero 5 and offer fans the opportunity to experience Carlos Santana's signature sounds and iconic likeness first-hand," said Tim Riley, Vice President of Music Affairs for Guitar Hero. "His accomplished career and breadth of musical style are a great illustration of the variety of rock experiences we have included in the game and we are excited to announce him as the first of five playable in-game artists."

This September, living room legends will rock any way they want in Guitar Hero 5. The entire set list is at players' finger tips from the start, featuring genre-defining hits from some of the biggest rock artists and bands of all time, including The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, Kings of Leon, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Vampire Weekend. Players take complete control as Guitar Hero 5 allows gamers to personalize and customize how they experience music by being able to play with any controller combination -- multiple vocalists, guitarists, bassists and drummers, in any game mode. With the game's all-new Party Play Mode, getting the band back together has never been easier. Players can now jump in or drop out of gameplay seamlessly, without interrupting their jam session. Elevating the Guitar Hero® series to new heights with unmatched social gameplay, an enhanced style, new in-game artists and more rock legends, Guitar Hero 5 features new surprises and challenges that will fire-up long-time fret board fanatics and create a new generation of addicts.

Published by Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), Guitar Hero 5 is being developed by Neversoft Entertainment for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, and by Vicarious Visions for the Wii^TM system from Nintendo. Budcat is developing Guitar Hero 5 for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. The game is rated "T" for "Teen" by the ESRB. For more information about Guitar Hero 5, please visit GH5.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.

HERE COMES GRANDMASTER FLASH IN DJ HERO™

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

DJ ready? Dance floor ready? Everybody ready? Let's go! Musical legend Grandmaster Flash, the first DJ to make the turntable an instrument, is coming to DJ Hero^TM, joining the epic list of DJs who will appear as in-game characters and who have created mixes exclusively for the award-winning game. Along with contributing two never-before-released mixes, Grandmaster Flash lends his unique, recognizable voice and DJ know-how to the game's tutorial level, schooling players on the game mechanics and the turntable controller. To top it off, FreeStyleGames created an exclusive mix using two of Grandmaster Flash's original creations - "Boom" and "Tap."

Check out and get ready to play as one of the founding fathers of hip-hop and experience his amazing turntable talents in Grandmaster Flash's Herbie Hancock "Rockit" vs. N.E.R.D. "Lapdance" and Grandmaster Flash "Here Comes My DJ" vs. Gary Numan "Cars" mixes.

For more information about DJ Hero, please visit djhero.com. For more information on Grandmaster Flash, please visit grandmasterflash.com.

JAY-Z, EMINEM and DJ HERO™ JOIN IN GROUNDBREAKING COLLABORATION TO BRING NEW MUSIC AND DJ CULTURE TO GAMING PLATFORM

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

Innovative Partnership Includes Special Edition Featuring Music CDs from Both Artists

Santa Monica, CA - May 29, 2009 - Jay-Z and Eminem - two of the music industry's most influential and successful artists - will join DJ Hero^TM, the highly-anticipated new game that is bringing DJ culture and new music genres including hip-hop, electronic, R&B and soul music to the successful Guitar Hero® platform, Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) announced today.

Jay-Z and Eminem will contribute some of their popular songs to DJ Hero and will collaborate on a special branded edition of the game that will include an advanced version of the game's turntable controller, a metal traveling case that transforms into a performance-ready DJ stand and two exclusive music CD compilations featuring greatest hits and new mixes from each artist. Jay-Z and Eminem will both provide downloadable content later this year that will give DJ Hero fans fresh mixes of their material.

"Jay-Z and Eminem are innovators and they share a vision for expanding their genre by letting fans embrace technology and music in new and exciting ways to get the most out of the experience," said Dan Rosensweig, president and CEO of Guitar Hero. "Jay-Z and Eminem embody an entire generation and will continue to influence popular culture. Now their fans can experience what it's like to play the music, mix the music and compete with themselves and others in a game that expands with the user."

"A DJ has the ability to use music to control people's emotions and is responsible for the entire vibe of a room, a club or a party," said Jay-Z. "DJ Hero is the first video game that allows everyone to enjoy the unique experience of creating that environment."

"I came up doing freestyle battles on local stages with other MCs and DJs," said Eminem. "DJ'ing is an essential part of hip-hop and DJ Hero will give people all over the chance to experience the music from the other side of the turntables."

DJ Hero immerses fans into DJ culture and a sea of music as they take turns with their friends, scratching songs, playing along to the hottest tracks and ruling the party. The game's innovative turntable controller was created exclusively for the game and features familiar DJ tools including a fully-rotating turntable, sample buttons, effects dial and crossfader. Players master various DJ techniques as they play along to visual cues for scratching, blending, crossfading and sampling, and can also add their own creative spark by choosing to add a variety of effects, samples and scratches. Social expression is heightened with euphoric multiplayer gameplay where two DJs can battle competitively or have a player join in to emcee over any track in the game using any USB compatible microphone. Additionally, gamers can rock together as DJ Hero features DJ-guitar exclusive mixes played with a turntable controller and Guitar Hero® guitar controller.

DJ Hero is part of a highly anticipated fall video game lineup that includes Guitar Hero® 5 and Band Hero^TM, which will redefine how consumers interact with music. Through unique partnerships with some of the hottest rock, hip-hop and top 40 artists, these games are bringing more fun ways to explore, share and participate in music for millions of people around the world.

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.

Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands and Australia. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com.

DJ HERO™ SUPERSTAR DJs OFFER EXCLUSIVE ORIGINAL MIXES

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

One of the Most Anticipated Video Games of the Year Offers a Globally Diverse Collection of Music Including Hip-Hop, Pop, R&B, Electronica, Rock and More

SANTA MONICA, CA - May 28, 2009 - DJ Hero^TM will drop the needle on one of the most anticipated new video games of 2009 with a completely fresh experience and legendary artists including Black Eyed Peas, 50 Cent, Justice, Marvin Gaye, Beck, Beastie Boys and N.E.R.D. DJ Hero features more than 100 individual songs that have been transformed into more than 80 exclusive, original mixes by superstar DJs including DJ Shadow, DJ Z-Trip and DJ AM. With an innovative, new turntable controller and the hottest music collection of original music, DJ Hero is a unique new social music gaming experience that will excite the millions of dance club music fans who can now play along to hit songs from a range of genres including hip-hop, R&B, pop, rock and electronica allowing them to rule the party with original mixes.

Joining the internationally acclaimed DJ, producer and recording artist DJ Shadow, who has been consulting and contributed several mixes for DJ Hero, and making their video game debuts, DJ Z-Trip, a founder of the mashup movement who's known worldwide for his sold out shows and eclectic style, and DJ AM, one of the world's premier and most in-demand DJs today, appear as in-game characters and have each created multiple exclusive mixes for DJ Hero.

In DJ Hero, faces in the crowd are transformed into the life of the party as the game's turntable controller - created exclusively for DJ Hero and featuring familiar DJ tools including a fully-rotating turntable, sample buttons, effects dial and cross fader - immerses fans into the authenticity of DJ culture and a sea of music. By utilizing and mastering various DJ techniques including scratching, blending, cross fading and sampling, while leaving room for creative expression with a variety of effects and player chosen samples and scratches, gamers will rule the party performing music as only a DJ can. Social expression is heightened with euphoric multiplayer gameplay where two DJs can battle competitively or have a player join in to emcee over any track in the game with a mic. Additionally, gamers can rock together as DJ Hero features DJ-guitar exclusive mixes played with a turntable controller and Guitar Hero® guitar controller.

For more information on DJ Shadow, DJ Z-Trip and DJ AM, please visit djshadow.com, djztrip.com and djam.com, respectively.

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.

GUITAR HERO® 5 TO EMPOWER FANS TO ROCK THE WAY THEY WANT WITH THE BIGGEST ARTISTS AND WIDEST ARRAY OF TODAY’S ROCK TUNES AND CLASSIC HITS

Wed, 31 Dec 1969 00:00:00 -0800

The White Stripes, Kings of Leon, The Rolling Stones, Santana and Johnny Cash Among the Artists Featured in Guitar Hero 5

Innovative Social and Competitive Gameplay Features Designed for All Levels of Expertise, Puts More Fun and Control in the Hands of Music Lovers

Santa Monica, CA - May 18, 2009 - Guitar Hero continues to re-define the music and gaming experience this Fall with the release of Guitar Hero 5. Featuring the best variety and biggest rock stars of today combined with classic rock anthems, Guitar Hero 5 is the latest installment of the world's most popular music game. For the first time ever, players can customize the make-up of their band by rocking with any combination of instruments in-game: whether it be two guitars and two drums, or three guitars and a microphone, any combination is possible, allowing players to experience music their own way. Brand new, innovative, easy-to-use gameplay modes like Party Play and RockFest put fun, competition and control at center stage as fans tailor the Guitar Hero experience to match their personal style and interests. For extended hours of entertainment, downloadable content from Guitar Hero® World Tour will be compatible with the game and will automatically be updated to include all of the upgrades and enhancements of Guitar Hero 5.*

Guitar Hero 5 features the strongest, most varied set list to-date comprised of master tracks from 85 of the hottest bands of today and the biggest classic acts including; Kings of Leon, The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, Santana, Vampire Weekend, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, plus more than 25 artists from a variety of music genres that will be making their music video game debut.

"Guitar Hero is the music platform for today because it celebrates the social nature of music and brings fans closer to the music and artists they love while allowing them to share and discover music with their friends, family and online communities," said Dan Rosensweig, president and chief executive officer of Guitar Hero.

Among the first-time-ever features of Guitar Hero 5 are: Party Play, where players can jump in or drop out of gameplay seamlessly; RockFest, a comprehensive competitive experience available featuring five new head-to-head modes playable online or in your living room; and the ability to play the entire set-list from the first time the game is turned on.

Guitar Hero 5 refines the player experience, enhances the art style and redesigns core features such as GHMusic Studio^SM, making it the most accessible, fun-to-play and authentic experience for seasoned music gamers as well as first-time players. New innovations such as Band Moments, where bands are rewarded for hitting special note streams together and song challenges where gamers are tasked to play through a song a specific way, add a new competitive layer of excitement and accomplishment to the music rhythm genre.

Published by Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), Guitar Hero 5 is being developed by Neversoft Entertainment for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, and by Vicarious Visions for the Wii^TM system from Nintendo. Budcat is developing Guitar Hero 5 for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. The game is not yet rated by the ESRB. For more information about Guitar Hero 5, please visit GuitarHero.com

*Does not apply to a limited number of songs

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.