Music

I’ve just posted my DJ Hero review over at Gizmag. I went into it with an open mind and was pleasantly surprised…

We’ve just got word from Microsoft that Guitar Hero: Metallica will be the first game (that isn’t Lips) to support Lips wireless microphones. Additionally, we’ve tested the Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band USB microphones with SingStar on the PS3, and found that they don’t work.

Do the Guitar Hero World Tour instruments work with Rock Band 2, and vice versa? [Gizmag]

• Lips: Microsoft and Elite Beat Agents developer iNiS take on SingStar
• Sony to unveil the next generation of SingStar at Leipzig
• Rock Band 2 allows you to import most of the songs from Rock Band disc
• Rock Band 2 features unlockable No Fail Mode for party-friendly play
• Peak announce full-size, hardwood bodied Starpex guitar for Guitar Hero & Rock Band
• ION Audio’s Drum Rocker/Premium Drum Kit for Rock Band 2
• Guitar Hero: Aerosmith patch adds Rock Band guitar compatibility on Xbox 360
• Amazon taking pre-orders for Rock Band 2
• ‘Hot For Teacher’ and ‘No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn’ confirmed for Guitar Hero World Tour
• Guitar Hero World Tour will support all MIDI drum kits
• Rock Band hits seven more European countries on July 24
• Rock Band 2 E3 trailer reveals gameplay, psychedelia
• Metallica’s upcoming album “Death Magnetic” coming to Guitar Hero
• Rock Band 2 track list revealed - 84 songs, all master tracks
• Guitar Hero World Tour screenshots look awfully similar to Rock Band

Music producers in search of that unmistakable 8-bit sound have a plethora of options available to them, but few are as authentic as Super Synth Drums - an actual cartridge that works on a real (or pirate) NES system. Granted, its sound palette is so narrow you could spit across it, and the Midines is a far better bit of kit, but it’s half the price and we always like to see more labor-of-love projects supporting discontinued hardware.

The Super Synth Drums cartridge is available from ElectroKraft for $49 plus shipping. Click through for a terrible demonstration video, which demonstrates as much of the demonstrators crotch as it does the actual product.

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Want to know the best version of SingStar to buy little Jimmy, or which version of Guitar Hero has the least emo? MTV have the ultimate tool for the job, the Rhythm Game Track Finder, which is a searchable database containing the tracklists for over 20 rhythm/music games from the ubiquitous Guitar Hero to forgotten favorites like Donkey Konga.

Peter Kirn from the utterly brilliant music production blog Create Digital Music has posted a bunch of stories over the last 24 hours on how to make music with games. Ever fancied turning a Game Boy Color into a full-blown MIDI synthesizer and playing it with a Guitar Hero III Les Paul? Get a load of Game Day - and make sure Peter makes it a regular feature on CDM.

This guy has provided simple instructions on how to make your Rockband drumkit playable in Windows. Essentially all that is involved is making the device recognized as a standard Xbox controller. All you would need is a simple program that can translate joystick/gamepad buttons into midi commands, and you’ve got yourself a free, but rudimentary midi drum kit for all your amateur music production needs.

Just yesterday we posted news on the particularly indie selection of bonus tracks that will accompany Rock Band, and it seems that Harmonix are looking to take it to the next level. Harmonix CEO, Alex Rigopulos revealed in a recent interview that they might allow users to create their own content:

“I think that one direction that the video game industry is headed in general is actually putting the power into the hands of the masses and letting the audience author the music. One possibility that we’re actually considering is releasing our own authoring tools out freely into the world, such that if you’re a band and you and your three friends are in your bedroom or garage making music, and no major label will even give you the time of day but you believe in your music, you can actually produce a game level yourself and send it to us for publishing on the game servers or distributing to your friends.”

Some of you might remember the promised feature of Spore that allows you to buy a figurine of your creature - and Harmonix have taken the idea and run with it. Not only are they planning to provide posed figurines of your avatar, but also T-shirts with your band logo on them, album art, bumper stickers and other merch. You will be able to access your profile and order merch though RockBand.com.

This game is looking to be immense and just keeps getting better.

via 1Up

It’s not just Activision who are raking in the dough from the sales of Guitar Hero III - record labels of bands featured in the game are reporting definite spikes in sales in the US, coinciding with the games release date. Roadrunner Records is one such label, who have said that sales of DragonForce’s album “Inhuman Rampage” have increased by 126%, with Slipknot sales seeing a similar spike.

via Xbox 360 Fanboy

Activision today announced the first three downloadable track packs for Guitar Hero III - the Velvet Revolver, Foo Fighters and Boss Battle Anthems packs. The Velvet Revolver pack includes master recordings of “Messages,” “She Builds Quick Machines” and “Slither.” The Foo Fighters pack includes “The Pretender,” “This Is a Call” and “All My Life.” Both are currently available on the Xbox Live Marketplace for 500 Microsoft points, and will be available on the PlayStation Store later this month.

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