Guitar Hero II announced! (XB360 Song packs released!)

[norkusa]

Can't be that much of a surprise since we all figured it would get a sequel anyway, but still this is great news:

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6147732.html

Best part is you'll be able to play bass in co-op mode!

[ShinobiMan]

Yay! I feel like a kid in some kind of a store.

[GrandAmChandler]

Well, that's a solid purchase from me. Don't even have to think twice about it.

[Joker T]

That's awesome news

[DKTheArcadeRat]

I have wanted this ever since I heard it existed just now. Actually I read it somewhere, but I WANT IT.

[davidbrit2]

I'm pretty sure I heard an announcement a while back that Harmonix is planning to do five or six more Guitar Hero games over the next couple years. Sounds good to me. I can't remember where the news came from, but it was parroted on pretty much all the major music game web sites.

[pacmanhat]

I think if I had to buy just one game for the rest of the year, it would be this one. No Zelda, no FFXII - just this. Of course, that isn't actually going to happen...but if it needed to, I'd get this one.

Just for fun, I've gone through my iTunes playlist and picked out some stuff I'd love to see in GH2. This list could've been longer, but I adhered to the 'one song per artist' policy that Harmonix seems to have going on:

Tool - Aenema
POD - Alive
Lenny Kravitz - Always On The Run
System of a Down - B.Y.O.B.
Marilyn Manson - The Beautiful People
Nirvana - Come As You Are
The Beatles - Day Tripper
Dave Matthews Band - Satellite
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
Collective Soul - Shine
Soundgarden - Spoonman
Radiohead - Street Spirit (Fade Out)
Nine Inch Nails - The Hand That Feeds
Stone Temple Pilots - Vasoline
Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love
The Smashing Pumpkins - Zero

There are plenty of others I'd like to see, but these are the best of the ones I actually own. What do you folks want to see in this version?

[MrRoboto19XX]

This is the best videogaming news Ive heard in I dont know how long!

If you ask me, they should have a really diverse and just plain crazy at times playlist. I mean, I want to play all kinds of stuff.

Songs Like:

Dueling Banjos (Imagine this two player!)
Back in Black (Naturally)
Renegade by Styx
Something along the Punk-Ska lines, like the Suicide Machines
Misirlou by Dick Dale (The song from Pulp Fiction)
Something by Van Halen (Eruption perhaps?)

If there was some way to do it, perhaps the guitar section
of "Bohemian Rhapsody", but they would need to get this spot on for it to work.

Man, the possibilties are endless, all they need to do is keep putting out these great covers of songs and harmonix may as well be printing money. Ill gladly buy 5 or 6 GH games.

[norkusa]

What do you folks want to see in this version?

I'd love it if the new one had ANYTHING by the White Stripes. Seven Nation Army would be the most obvious song, but almost anything from them would be great (and challenging) to play. Danzing or Misfits would be a blast to play too.

And although I know it wouldn't happen in a million years, a Suede or Smiths song would be great too.

[le geek]

I want 70s progressive/arena rock etc

Rush 2112 would RAWK!
as would Led Zepplin

80s metal would also be cool...

Cheers,
Ben

[Oobgarm]

They need to include either a Flying V or a Les Paul in this for a bundle.

Bu this news made me nearly defecate myself. I mean, I knew it was coming sooner or later, but 55 new tracks? Hot damn.

[blissfulnoise]

Pantera, Walk

That is all.

[Crazycarl]

Hell bent for leather- Judes Priest. It needs to be on it...NEEDS.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

Oh yes, so sexy.

GH1 reserve and picked up release day man right here, so you know I'm pumped for this.

[keiblerfan69]

Well I guess I have no reason to buy another guitar just yet. I'll just wait and get the bundle.

[McBacon]

*Warning - Rant*

In the very near future, technology and the inclusion of massive hardrives onto consoles means that theortically, you could burn a song to the hardrive, and get it auto converted into a Guitar Hero or DDR track, but with piracy issues and the way these companies can squeeze out expansion packs with ease and cheaply, it ain't gonna happen.

*end rant*


This is great news, I loved playing my bros. Guitar Hero, I should get mine in like, May.

[neuropolitique]

I'm waiting for the game that lets you use two guitars, one for bass, the drum from Taiko Drum Master and a microphone. Then all my rock star dreams can come true.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

*Warning - Rant*

In the very near future, technology and the inclusion of massive hardrives onto consoles means that theortically, you could burn a song to the hardrive, and get it auto converted into a Guitar Hero or DDR track, but with piracy issues and the way these companies can squeeze out expansion packs with ease and cheaply, it ain't gonna happen.

*end rant*

No, you cant. There is no such thing as 'auto converting' and even if there were, it would be totally lame. With something like DDR, making a set of steps is very, very hard to get the timing down to certain beats (be it bass, drums, guitar, vocals ect) and there is also a certain 'pattern set' that the game follows. As for guitar hero, same thing. It would be even harder, because in this game you actually create the music, like, if you screw up, the note is not played, and you get silence where there would nomally be a note. Again, there are paterns present, and timing for GH is arguably even HARDER to do.

One thing that would be awesome if something like Step Mania (homebrew PC DDR game) could be put onto consoles, so then you could play it on a console (duh) and have an unlimited amount of songs, provided people out there make a stepfile (or guitar file, I guess)

Add to that, all the varying difficulties, videos that may or may not be played, any "specail" thing each song may have, it just isn't possible.

I'm waiting for the game that lets you use two guitars, one for bass, the drum from Taiko Drum Master and a microphone. Then all my rock star dreams can come true.

Well, first, the Guitar Freaks / Drum Mania game in japan (and arcades) combines those two, where you can have a bass, guitar, and a realistic drum-set combined and have an awesome time. No dancing there, no arm waving (Like Para Para Paradise, and Dance Mania) no mics (kareoke rev.) no button pressing (Beatmania or Pop'n Music) and whatever is "next." But, rumor has it that because the PS3 can have up to 7 controllers, that the next thing to come will be 'Concert Mania' where it combines some, if not all of the games listed. THAT would be all kinds of awesome.

[DKTheArcadeRat]

^^ What about Dance Factory which is coming out for the PS2? It has the stuff so you can put in any CD and it generates the dance beat for you so you can dance to virtually any song. So there you have it.


Now back to your Guitar Hero conversations.

[djbeatmongrel]

this is great news indeed.

for those talking about loading anysong into GH have to understand a few things that will make this highly improbably. for guitar hero it requires 2 main sound tracks for each song: the guitar and another for the rest of the instruments. reason for this is that the guitar sound is easily to manipulate and turn off when its separated from the rest of the recording.

if you were to load any recording into GH there would be no way to take out the guitar track to make it play with the software. the only the close to this is the vocal removal software out on the market, the only reason this is successful is that most lead vocal sections in songs are panned in the middle of both speakers. this allows the software to remove similar sound frequencies that are between both speakers. really the only game possible by thise method would be karaoke games.