Scratch offers Numark-controlled Guitar Hero for hip-hop heads

Are the blatant rockist tendencies of Guitar Hero and Rock Band ruining your enjoyment of those otherwise brilliant titles? Of course they are -- we noted your b-boy flava from two blocks away. But don't sweat it because Genius Products, 7 Studios and Quincy Jones III have your niche in their sights and will happily sell you Scratch: The Ultimate DJ when it hits the stores sometime in Spring 2009. With a game controller designed by Numark (known worldwide for its DJ controllers -- there's an example for you after the break), the game will be available for the Xbox 360 and PS3 and feature tracks by "many" (as yet unnamed) hip-hop artists. Trevor Drinkwater, President and CEO of Genius Products promises all and sundry "a cutting-edge game that captures the vital energy of hip-hop culture." And here we thought they were cynically jumping on the Guitar Hero bandwagon! We stand corrected.
Source Engadget

Guitar Hero pedal controller in action

Ben Heck writes, Aside from the 2 I built for a show back in May, the 3rd pedal demonstrated below is the first I’ve actually built by request for a customer. He knew the secret to getting a Ben project - diligent (yet not annoying) emails and patience! Plus he can play Guitar Hero on Hard, something I cannot. (Rock Band, yes)

Click here to check it out on YouTube…

In other related news the Access Controller should be arriving for shipment sometime next week… more details to come.

Guitar Hero World Tour - Wiimote required for drums, Battle of the Bands may cost extra?

GoNintendo has posted up details for Guitar Hero World tour:

NEW FEATURES for Wii

• Mii Freestyle - Use your Mii to rock out in the Wii exclusive Freestyle mode. Create Blues, Rock or Metal masterpieces by yourself, or join with friends to jam freely together on guitar controllers and drum kit controller!
• Downloadable Content - Download new tracks through the in-game Music Store. You’ll never run out of songs to play!

All NEW Instruments

State of the art WIRELESS guitar controller with the new neck slider and authentic drum kit controller, with wired microphone deliver the most authentic band experience.

Innovative Music Studio*

Compose, record, edit, and share your own music online. Download and play community-created content for free!

Battle of the Bands Mode*

Rock out solo, with a band or kick it up with 4 vs. 4 Battle of the Bands play.

Create-a-Rocker

Create your own rocker, choose from your favorite Guitar Hero® icons or take the stage as the biggest rock stars around.

The Rock and Roll Experience

Enjoy a massive soundtrack, all master tracks, and no covers!

Drum Kit Controller (NOT included)

• Wireless!
• 5 pressure sensitive drum pads including a high-hat and cymbal
• Non-slip moveable kick pedal
• One-piece collapsible adjustable stand
• Expandable setup via MIDI hookup
• Authentic wood drum sticks

Guitar Controller (NOT included)

• All-New touch sensitive neck slider for nailing intense solos
• Increased accuracy with more responsive, dual-color fret buttons
• Jam effortlessly with an elongated strum bar and dedicated star-power button
• Improved battery life with built-in auto sleep mode.
• Wireless and removable faceplates

Microphone (NOT included)

• High performance, high clarity, wired microphone
• Reliable and durable design
• Includes 15 foot USB cable

Gameplay Modes:

• Players 1-4 (online multiplayer 2-8)
• Co-op 2-4 (online co-op 2-4)
• 1-2 Guitar Controllers*, Drum Kit Controller and Microphone
• Content download

*Guitar Hero® World Tour Game is compatible with Guitar Hero® guitar controllers for Wii™. Wii Remote™ required for guitar and drum peripherals. Sold separately. Some features may be limited in the Wii™ Guitar Hero World Tour games. Battle of the Bands only available in online play; it may require an additional subscription.

ezJam Combo Guitar for Wii plays neutral in the battle of the (virtual) bands

Living room arenas around the world will soon become even more cluttered with toy instruments thanks to Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour. Axes for the two respective franchises haven't gotten along on the Wii, and while we're still not sure whether the next generation will cooperate ezGear is hoping to bring some peace (and eliminate some clutter) for current Nintendo rockers with its ezJam Combo Guitar. Inside its baby-blue Strat-esque styling there's port to plug in your Wiimote when playing Guitar Hero III as well as an integrated wireless transmitter for Rock Band. At $70 it's a little more expensive than other third-parties like the Nyko Frontman, but playing lead in two bands instead of one is totally worth it.
Source Engadget

Datel Wii Max Vii Guitar Controller reviewed.

Dcemu uk has a new review of the max vii guitar controller.
"Guitar games are currently the hottest property on the current generation of consoles, and Nintendo’s Wii is no exception. Trouble is, some of the guitar controllers out there just don’t look the part. Thankfully, with a Wii Max Vii Guitar around your neck, you look every inch the budding rock star, but do you have what it takes to beat the best in Guitar Hero III?

Boasting an exciting ‘flying V’ design, Wii Max Vii Guitar is a wireless controller, so there are no cables to tangle up as you play. It’s powered by the Wiimote that snaps into the body of the guitar, so you need no batteries either. It has five contoured fret buttons, a responsive strum bar and a working whammy bar. The neck of the guitar is detachable from its body, so it’s easy to transport, and the supplied strap fits either side of the fret board, so you can play left-handed as well as right-handed. It’s the perfect control solution for your Wii guitar games."

For the full review go here.

Aly & AJ guitars prompt pointing & laughter

We are all about the mediocre pop star/music game tie-ins today! Following Natasha Bedingfield's peddling of Boogie Superstar, our heads were turned by these eye-catching axes. If you didn't already know (I'll confess -- I didn't), the blonde toothpicks pictured above are Aly & AJ, a pair of sisters who are also "teen rock stars" and now official partners of PDP, the company behind the plastic instruments they're clutching.

Aimed at the tween and teen markets respectively, these controllers are compatible with both Rock Band and Guitar Hero, and will be available from mid-October for $70. The one on the right doesn't look that enamored with hers. Unless that's her giving the camera some rock chick 'tude.
Source nintendo wii fanboy

Peak's Starpex wooden guitar controller gets the hands-on treatment

While there's likely nothing that will convince most folks of the merits of a full-size, $180 wooden guitar controller, those still on the fence about this particular piece of excess may be interested to know that the good people of PS3 Fanboy recently got their hands on one, and they've now offered up some initial impressions. As you might expect, they found it to definitely be a hefty device, but far from an unwieldy one, with the buttons as familiar as even and the strum bar in particular a significant improvement over other Guitar Hero and Rock Band guitars. Peak also doesn't look to have cut any corners when it comes to the little details, with even the strap made of a thick fabric that makes it more comfortable to wear.
Source engadget

Guitar Hero World Tour's Mystery Peripheral is Not a Keyboard

Alright, all you people that bet on keyboard for the mystery peripheral coming to Guitar Hero World Tour's Studio mode -- it's time to pay up, as Neversoft's Brian Bright has said that that accessory won't be added to the World Tour instrument lineup.

"No, there are reasons why we haven't included a keyboard controller. Not all of our songs have keyboard parts, so we didn't want someone to come into a game, pick up the keyboard controller, and then have nothing to do in any of the songs that are selected. We wanted a big mix of music in World Tour and adding a keyboard controller would either have limited our choices, or the players'.

A keyboard controller deserves to be introduced with its own game. This is something we're thinking about." -- Guitar Hero World Tour project director Brian Bright to Joystiq



Mystery peripheral of of World Tour's Studio mode aside, are you guys getting giddy over the thought of playing Keyboard Hero in the future as Bright deviously hinted at?
Source kombo

Another Guitar Hero World Tour peripheral in the works?

The folks at G4 have a juicy tidbit on the upcoming Guitar Hero World Tour cacophony of simulated instruments: there might be another one in the works. G4 cites Neversoft's Brian Bright, who let slip that a new peripheral is coming, and will be designed specifically for the music-creating Studio mode (pictured above). The logical choice is a keyboard, since it's the preferred method for entering melodies and other mundane tasks by boring people, but we're secretly gunning for Guitar Hero Bassoon -- check out the video after the break to see why.
Source engadget

Hack Guitar Hero DS into a guitar controller

[Eric Ruckman] sent us this awesome Guitar Hero hack. He wanted to get a more "true to the series" game play out of his DS when playing Guitar Hero: On Tour. If you've seen the adapter that comes with it, you'll understand his desires. He found a wireless PS2 Guitar Hero controller on EBay to hack.

He's cut a hole in the controller and removed all the guts. In the picture above the DS fits in the hole to allow strumming in the correct position. The controller buttons are connected to the DS by wiring into the adapter. He's added an FM transmitter to the controller so he can play the sound through his home sound system.
Source hackaday

Microsoft speaks out on 360 instrument compatibility

Hot on the heels of Sony announcing that all instruments for the PS3 versions of three upcoming music games (Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Revolution) will be compatible, Microsoft has announced that all instruments for upcoming Xbox 360 rhythm games will be compatible too.

In a post on the Gamerscoreblog, Microsoft stated “All the instruments from Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour, and Rock Revolution will be cross-compatible. In other words, welcome to the party.”

A game notably absent from the list was Lips, a game from developer iNis that features motion-sensitive microphones and appears to be Microsoft’s answer to Sony’s SingStar series.
SourceEl33tonline

Sony To Set Compatibility Standards For PS3 Music Games

Michael Shorrock, Sony's director of third-party relations, announced on the Playstation blog that he's been working with the major music game developers (i.e. Rock Band's Harmonix, Guitar Hero's Activision, and others) to ensure basic compatibility for peripherals between the games. Joystiq has a compatibility matrix that shows which devices work with which games. "...Rock Band 2's guitar and drum set will work with Guitar Hero: World Tour and with Rock Revolution. Conversely, Rock Revolution's drum set will work with both Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band 2. In addition, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band 2 will both support the SingStar microphones. We're still working hard to ensure compatibility between the Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles currently on the market, and we hope to have an announcement on that shortly."

Source Slashdot

Real wood guitar controller

Not content with the plastic miniature guitar you’re forced to use when you pretend rock out? Well, if you’re a PS2 or 3 owner with an extra $180 lying around, you can pick up this new wooden guitar that works with Rock Band and all of the Guitar Hero games.

Dubbed the Starpex and created by Peak Products, this third-party peripheral is the first ever full-sized fake guitar for use with consoles. Somehow, that isn’t a huge surprise. Let’s take a look at the features in a nice bulleted format:

Instrument-quality, high-gloss lacquered finish
Hardwood body, neck, and headstock handcrafted by a leading guitar manufacturer
Compatible with Guitar Hero/Rock Band games on PS2/PS3
Star Power/Overdrive button provides the fastest most accurate access to improving your score
Ten Fret Button Design features improved button feel, reduced fatigue, and option to play solo-style at the base of the neck
Enhanced Strum Bar gives the perfect balance of tactile and audible feedback
Connect wired for maximum scoring potential or wirelessly (2.4Ghz)
Modular design allows users to separate electronic components from the body of the guitar allowing for further future customization including new guitar bodies, pick guards, and more

For more information goto the peek products website

source http://www.ripten.com/2008/07/31/real-wood-full-size-guitar-controller-for-playstation-rock-band-and-guitar-heroes/

Logitech and Activision developing premium instruments for Guitar Hero

Nintendo Wii fanboy has posted news on logitech and activision working together to create premium instruments for Guitar Hero:

Activision and Logitech have announced a partnership through which Logitech will create "premium" instrument controllers for Guitar Hero: World Tour. It's not exactly clear from the press release, but we believe this means that Logitech will sell nicer, more expensive versions of the stock Guitar Hero instruments, not that they're producing the ones that come with the game. The new instruments will be fully compatible with World Tour, which basically means that the drums will have the appropriate number of pads and the guitar will have an insane touch pad on the neck.

It's not too much of a surprise, after Rock Band got its set of expensive drums, for Guitar Hero to follow suit with "premium" instruments. For extra instruments, this may not turn out to be a bad thing, since Logitech generally makes high quality peripherals. It seems like an uncomfortable position for RedOctane. They started out making music-game peripherals, including those for Guitar Hero, and moved into publishing. Now Activision owns them and publishes Guitar Hero, and Logitech is making instruments.

Source http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/07/31/logitech-and-activision-developing-premium-instruments-for-guita/

Nyko Frontman Compatability Chart

During E3 we spoke with third-party peripheral manufacturer Nyko about its line of FrontMan guitars and which games the different versions were compatible with. We did a quick and dirty post on what we were told during the E3 madness, but Nyko just sent over the chart above, which, admittedly, is much easier to understand.For first-party guitar compatibility, check out our Guitar Hero / Rock Band guitar compatibility matrix v2. We're sure to have v3 available as soon as we confirm Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Revolution guitar compatibility.

Source http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/22/nyko-frontman-guitar-compatibility-chart/