For all you Guitar Hero fans, you day of waiting for your “Rock Band killer” has finally come. Today is the day Guitar Hero World Tour comes out with all the instruments — Guitar, Drums, Mic — and unlike Rock Band, this is available at launch for ALL systems: Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, and Wii (which still doesn’t have Rock Band 2). Check out our previous post here to see what makes this version better than ever.

What you waiting for? Go run down to your local Best Buy/ Walmart/ Target- wherever, and start rocking!

Oh, and let us know your take on the new Guitar Hero– better than Rock Band 2?

Rock Band fans, your long wait for the next version of the popular music game has finally ended. Today, Harmonix and MTV Games released the next version of Rock Band — Rock Band 2 — to the world, and it can be yours for either $59.99 for just the game (for those like me who already have Rock Band 1 and don’t want more instruments lying around ), or $189.99 for the whole package: the game,  a new wireless drum, a new wireless guitar, and a mic.

So what you waiting for? Go to your local Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, Walmart or wherever and pick your self some new virtual rock star goodness, and let us know what you think of the new game (or if you’re waiting for Guitar Hero World Tour to come out next month) in the comments.

P.S. Owners of the PS3, PS2, or Wi: don’t be too upset, the Xbox 360 only has exclusitivity  of the game for a month. Rock Band will be available for the PS3 on October 19, the Wii on November 16 and the PS2 on November 18.

And current Rock Band owners, feel free to download Stephen Colbert’s new free song (called “Charlene”) for Rock Band 1- it’s interesting to say the least and you can check it out here.

Now that Madden 09 is out in the wild (see our review on it here), lets turn back to the ever popular Rock Band 2. The news we got here is not going to be the most pleasant for fans of the “old” game (and those wanting to get in on the new one), but we’ll give it to you anyways. For those who wanna know more on this, hit the More link.

Let’s start this with a little recap: Rock Band 2 will launch first for the Xbox 360 on September 14, with a one month exclusivity till the other systems (PS3, PS2, Wii) get their respective versions of the game. Now while the stand alone game itself will not be delayed, according to Gizmodo.com the bundle of all the instruments and the game will be delayed until October 19- the same day it launches on the other systems. This is not the end of the world by any means, but with Guitar Hero 4 expected to come out on October 26, this could be a real problem for Harmonix- makers of Rock Band-  along with anyone looking to buy this and show it off to all their Guitar Hero loving friends before they get their hands on Guitar Hero 4

What you think- are you still gonna wait for the bundle, is this delay in the bundle gonna make you switch to Guitar Hero 4, or are you perfectly happy with your current music games (Rock Band 1, Guitar Hero 3 and Aerosmith) and Madden 09? Let us know in the comments.

Well, we covered Rock Band’s E3 info, and we know a lot of you LOVE Guitar Hero, so we got some info for you as well. O, Rock Band users- you may wanna check this out as well, as one of the big announcements involves you guys to. All the info is after the More link.

• Sequel to Guitar Hero On Tour for Nintendo DS- Yes, only one month after Guitar Hero On Tour came out for the DS, Activsion is planing an encore with a game called Guitar Hero On Tour Decades. You can’t blame them though- they sold 350,000 (yes 350,000) copies in the first 3 weeks, so a successor was obvious. So what’s new in Decades? Well as you could’ve guessed, the songs in the game will probably date back multiple decades. There is also a new song sharing capability (to let your friends with the original On Tour sample some of the new tunes), and a possible addition of using the DS’s Mic for Karaoke. Not much else is known on the new game such as price or release, but we know Activision will announce more info when the time is right.
• Latest Metallica Album to come to Guitar Hero World Tour and Guitar Hero 3 at the same time it is released on CD- This is some pretty big news, as it shows how big the impact games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band are having on the music industry. It is also big news if your a fan of classic rock or Metallica. We don’t know yet how much this will cost to download, but you can expect it when Guitar Hero World Tour is released in the fall.
• Videos of Guitar Hero World Tour in action- Joystiq got some videos of this highly anticipated game in action- with everything from how the new drums will work, to using the new Song Creator, all the way down to how the game will play with a drum, guitar, and mic all at once, as well as everything in between. Check out the videos here.

Guitar Hero World Tour Demoed

• Compatibility for Rock Band Guitar and Drums with Guitar Hero Aerosmith and World Tour!!- We saved the biggest news for last, and any one who owns Rock Band, or likes its instruments better than Guitar Hero’s, has got to be thrilled by this news. This new Rock Band compatibility comes as an update to Guitar Hero Aerosmith, will be included in Guitar Hero World Tour, and will as the title of the bullet says- allow you to use your Rock Band drums or guitar in Guitar Hero Aerosmith and Guitar Hero World Tour. No news on whether the new Rock Band 2′s kit is supported, or if the new Mad Catz and Ion Rock Band add-ons will work, but it still is pretty big (and nice) news regardless.

Ok, so there is the Guitar Hero E3 info. Any thoughts, questions or comments? Let us know in the comments.

Info provided by Joystiq.com

We said we’d get you some Rock Band E3 info, and here it is. There is a lot of cool stuff here, and to find out all the info, Read On!

• 500 Songs By the End of the Year- We’re starting off slow Well, Harmonix (maker of Rock Band) said that they would have 500 songs out by the end of the year. That probably means you’ll find something to “Rock Out” to . Also, current Rock Band owners- don’t forget you can transfer your  downloaded songs to the new game, and from the new game’s downloaded songs back to the original, assuming there is no license problems- which Harmonix and MTV are currently working out.
• New Venues and Game Modes- With those 500 songs, you got to have some new places to play right? Well, Harmonix and MTV know that and have therefore added 2 new places- Tokyo and Tijuana (according to a Google search, it is a place down in Mexico). There are also 2 new game modes mentioned: a “World Tour” mode where you hire a manager (or your mother- seriously it is a choice in the game) to manage your budding virtual rock star career, and a “No Fail” mode- where there are literally no fails if you aren’t playing perfectly (or if you got some friends over and you wanna be nice and make no one feel like they can’t play- or you wanna keep things moving ).

New Venue in Rock Band 2

• New Accessories- Cheap Version- Probably the biggest news on the Rock Band side (actually that comes a little later, see Guitar Hero E3 post), but before that, there is a whole lot of new accessories for Rock Band. These are mainly new instruments made by Mad Catz, for those of you who want something beyond the standard Rock Band Kit.  These new instruments include a “Premium Mic” that offers sound that is “Studio Quality” and also includes buttons for things such as setup (those of you with the original Rock Band remember that you needed a controller and the Mic for set up, here it is only the Mic). Next up is the “Portable Drum Kit”- a simple Drum Kit that is playable anywhere and supposedly on anything. This Drum Kit comes with the whole deal: foot pedal, pads, and even fold able sticks. Next up is the Cymbals, which will give your drum set a little more of a realistic look and feel (though they look to only work with the standard Drum Kit, not Mad Catz’s portable version). The price of the Mic is $50, the Portable Drum Kit is $60, the Cymbal’s are $30 for a pack of 3, or otherwise $15 each. All of these should be available in the Fall, probably around the time Rock Band 2 is released.

Portable Drum Kit by Mad Catz

• New Accessories- Not so Cheap Version- Well, these are for those of you with some more cash to spend, or with a huge desire to be a fake Rock Star. These accessories are from both Mad Catz and a company called Ion, and these accessories come in the form of a Guitar and a Drum Kit. Mad Catz is the one offering the guitar, and it is a “full size Fender Sterocaster”, that actually looks like the real thing. It also is wireless, and offers a foot pedal for “Over Drive” play for the hardcore rocker. It definitely costs a lot for that look and features- $199, and should come in the early part of next year for both the Xbox 360 and PS3.  Ion is next with their $300 Drum Kit, which for that hefty price comes with a metal enforced kick stand, and high durability pads for quiet gameplay, that also at same time register how hard you hit the pads in order to base the sound (similar to the drums on the new Guitar Hero 4). It works with both Rock Band and Rock Band 2 and is available for pre-order right now from Ion’s site, though currently it is only for the 360, but PS3 and Wii versions are in the works.

Ion Drum Kit

Okay so as you can see, some of this stuff is for just the hardcore gamer (last bullet), while some of the others are for everyone (first 3 bullets). O, and don’t worry all you Guitar Hero 4 lovers, we got some info for you to from E3. Stay tuned…. all will be out soon.

Info and pics are from Engadget.com

In another edition of the news slowly but surely spilling out about Rock Band 2, we have good news and bad news. First the bad: the game will not allow players to record their own songs to play in the game, according to Joystiq, which is surprising considering its rival, Guitar Hero, will include such a feature. (Dont be too upset though– we expect a gr8 list of downloadable content). And the good: Rock Band 2 will be available for the Wii and PS2– the latter incompatible with Guitar Hero 4– later in the year, as said by a co-founder of the game in an interview with CNN.

Much more info is to be released in the coming weeks (the E3 Video Games conference is approaching- and we will keep you updated on it) but has this swayed your video game decision or not? Tell us below.

Rock Band 2!!!!

The title really gives it away, but Rock Band 2 is now officially out of the bag, and looks pretty nice. For all the details and info- and to see if this looks better than Guitar Hero 4, hit the more link.

Features:

• New Guitar– still running same style of buttons like Rock Band 1′s, but this new guitar strives for a appear more as an authentic-looking “wooden” guitar. You will also be able to buy instruments for Rock Band 2 from makers other than Harmonix, the Rock Band game’s creator along with MTV.

Rock Band 2′s new Guitar

• Compatibility with Original Rock Band– Bought the original and want to play the new game without shelling out extra cash for new instruments? For $60 you can buy Rock Band 2 without instruments and hook up your old ones without any trouble. Also, any song you download with either edition will be compatible with the other version as well.
• More Songs- We’ll have more info on the who’s and what’s when the Video Game Conference called E3 starts in mid July

While the price and the exact launch date– key factors esp in comparing to its rival, Guitar Hero 4– have yet to be released, Rock Band 2 will likely be coming this fall- possibly around the same time as Guitar Hero 4– for PS3 and Xbox 360.

But heres two major, lingering questions: To what extent– if any– will Rock Band 2 be compatible to Guitar Hero 4? Its tricky to say; Guitar Hero 3 worked with Rock Band 1 but there are also the Rock Band add-ons like the Stage Kit (which we mentioned here) and the additional question of if (or when?) the Wii and PS2 will get their share of Rock Band 2 greatness.

All should be revealed soon at the E3 conference from July 14-17, where even more video game info will come out, and we will cover all that for you.

Till then though, have you made up your mind about which version to go for– Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero 4, Guitar Hero Aerosmith, none at all?– or are you going to wait to hear more about each product? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Information and pictures from Engadget.com through IGN

Guitar Hero 4 Guitar- notice the touchpad after the orange button in the middle of the neck.

It’s been a while since we last wrote about the much-anticipated Guitar Hero 4, and today we got some more info on how the new guitar will look and run. Unlike on older Guitar Hero’s and Rock Bands, this new guitar features not only buttons, but also a touchpad that can be used for doing various things like playing musical notes, and also in the new music maker we told you about in this Guitar Hero 4 post. All this info is courtesy of IGN, who actually have a first look at the next version. I’m pretty stoked on this, and really hope the new Guitar could work with Rock Band, so this way I don’t need to go out and spend another $100-$180 lol.

What are your thoughts, this new info enough to make you wanna wait till this comes out in October? you going for Rock Band instead? or are you not going to go for either at all? Let us know your plans and ideas in the comments.

We know, we’ve devoted so many posts to this topic, but there is just so much on it that keeps coming out. Today for instance, Gamedaily.com is reporting that not only is there a Guitar Hero On Tour (DS version) and Aerosmith version (both covered here), along with a regular Guitar Hero 4/ World Tour; there is actually a Guitar Hero Metallica planned for next year as well. Activision hasn’t officially announced this, and therefore we don’t have much details, but we can assume that it is going to be modeled in some way after the Aerosmith version coming at the end of this month.

A big question that we do have on this though is how will the launch of Guitar Hero 4 affect this version; are we going to see drums and a mic here as well?

Let us know your thoughts on this in the comments.

You decide. Check out this video from the conference with it in action– Tony Hawk is on guitar and Paula Abdul is “judging.” Let us know what you think of Guitar Hero 4 in the comments.

Snapshot of Guitar Hero 4 in action