neversoft
November 4th, 2009 at 05:40pm
Under Wii / Nintendo
The multi-platinum rock band No Doubt has filed a lawsuit against Activision in a L.A. County Superior Court claiming its likeness was “transformed” into a “virtual karaoke circus act” in over sixty songs in the recently released music title, Band Hero. According to TMZ, No Doubt claims gamers were only supposed to be able to use their likeness with three of its own tracks; however, the band is available as playable characters through the game’s entire music catalog.
Of particular note is lead singer Gwen Stefani’s displeasure that her likeness can be used to sing “Honky Tonk Woman” by the Rolling Stones — a song which references sex with prostitutes — using a male voice and mannerisms. For its “circus act” inclusion, No Doubt is seeking an injunction to halt the “unauthorized use” of the band’s name and likeness, as well as an unknown amount of damages (aka mad monies). Seems like Activision can’t keep rock stars happy, dead or alive.
[Via TeamXbox]
No Doubt suing Activision for Band Hero ‘circus act’ appearance originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: activision, band-hero, budcat-creations, gwen-stefani, lawsuit, neversoft, no-doubt, vicarious-visions, Wii / Nintendo
By Mister-X
Continue Reading No Doubt suing Activision for Band Hero ‘circus act’ appearance
November 1st, 2009 at 12:45am
Under Wii / Nintendo
No, that isn’t your high school gym teacher (pictured right), that’s Weezer front man Rivers Cuomo and he’s joining with Nintendo to help launch the upcoming Pop-centric music title, Band Hero. Tomorrow, November 1, beginning at 11AM (EDT) at the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Plaza, players will have a chance to play both the Nintendo Wii and DS versions of the game before lining up for an exclusive autograph session with the singer from 3PM to 4PM.
Need more incentive to join the party? The first fifty players in line will walk away with a pre-release copy of the game to call their own and other random giveaways. Finally, you yourself can interrupt your sister’s Taylor Swift karaoke sessions in homage to Kanye West’s VMA performance. We call that, “emergent gameplay.”
Nintendo World Store holding Band Hero launch event tomorrow originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: activision, band-hero, launch-party, neversoft, new-york-city, nintendo-world-store, rivers-cuomo, vicarious-visions, weezer, Wii / Nintendo
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Nintendo World Store holding Band Hero launch event tomorrow
October 20th, 2009 at 01:30pm
Under Wii / Nintendo
The Beatles: Rock Band’s initial U.S. tour at retail has proven boast-worthy for its promoters. Following two promising platform appearances in NPD’s top 10 software sales chart for September, MTV Games and Harmonix have declared B:RB “the top selling music video game in the U.S. for September.” The Beatles-only game (released September 9) outsold Guitar Hero 5 (released September 1) with 595,000 units to 499,000 units in total U.S. sales for the month, according to a statement released by the NPD*. Additionally, charity-driven purchases of the “All You Need Is Love” DLC track exceeded 100,000 downloads on Xbox 360 in September.
The makers of B:RB have also rubbed in a few seemingly noteworthy facts; namely, (1) U.S. purchases of GH5 in September were eligible for a free mail-away copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen, and (2) GH5 is available on one additional platform, PS2. Of course, Van Halen isn’t exactly the American equivalent of The Beatles, and the PS2 is no longer the dominant platform to stage one’s acts upon. Still, despite the staggering odds stacked against its success, B:RB managed to capture the mindshare of U.S. gamers. (And we all know that Americans like to speak their minds with their monies.)
The sales de-feat must feel good for MTV Games and Harmonix — what with B:RB being burned in the sales competition with GH5 by the kingdom that birthed the band (see: Chart-Track UK September sales rankings posted after the break). What was it? Right: Guitar Hero 5 supposedly outsold The Beatles: Rock Band “2-to-1 in the UK.”
So, score a victory for B:RB in the battle of the bands fought in U.S. retail last month. But let’s not forget there’s a bigger, “World War of Rock” being waged, as well. And our wallets are the oft-unreported collateral damage.
Continue reading Beatles: Rock Band bests Guitar Hero 5 in U.S. Sept. sales
Beatles: Rock Band bests Guitar Hero 5 in U.S. Sept. sales originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: activision, All-You-Need-is-Love, battle-of-the-bands, chart-track, denmark, ea, guitar-hero, guitar-hero-5, harmonix, mtv-games, neversoft, npd, rock-band, sales, september-2009, the-beatles-rock-band, uk, Wii / Nintendo
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Beatles: Rock Band bests Guitar Hero 5 in U.S. Sept. sales
October 19th, 2009 at 11:34am
Under DS
If you’ve been savoring the slow trickle of track list announcements for Activision’s tween-oriented rhythm title, Band Hero, your prolonged pleasure is about to come to a satisfying, yet abrupt end. The publisher has revealed all of the songs that will be available on the generically monikered game, and we’ve posted them — along with details about compatible DLC and song importing from other Guitar Hero games — after the jump in the least confusing manner we could possibly conjure. To help in this endeavor, we’ve even added a table of contents!
Man, we’re seriously too nice for our own good.
Continue reading Full Band Hero track list, importable songs revealed
Full Band Hero track list, importable songs revealed originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: activision, band-hero, compatibility, dlc, guitar-hero, importing, music, neversoft, rhythm, song-importing, songs, track-list
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Full Band Hero track list, importable songs revealed
October 15th, 2009 at 01:00pm
Under Xbox 360
The Major sends word that a Band Hero demo is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo allows players to try out three different songs in the new, family-friendly Hero title and offers both the Party Play mode and the new Sing-Along mode. The three playable songs are:
That’s right, Taylor Swift is right there. With some clever positioning and a few mirrors, you might be able to convince your daughter this is the full game, saving you the trouble of actually buying it. Good luck.
Band Hero demo walking on Xbox Live originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: activision, band-hero, demo, guitar-hero, neversoft, vicarious-visions, xblm, xbox-live
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Band Hero demo walking on Xbox Live
October 9th, 2009 at 01:45pm
Under Xbox 360
Major Nelson has dropped knowledge, and we must heed: A Guitar Hero 5 demo is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo offers three songs that can be played in the game’s Party Mode, which allows players to jump in and out of a song at any time. The songs available are:
If you’ve yet to try out the latest in the series grab the demo and give it a go.
Add the Guitar Hero 5 demo to your 360 download queue
Guitar Hero 5 demo rocks XBLM originally appeared on Joystiq Xbox on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: activision, demo, guitar-hero, guitar-hero-5, neversoft, xblm
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Guitar Hero 5 demo rocks XBLM
October 1st, 2009 at 10:00pm
Under Xbox 360
Despite concerns that one third of Activision’s holiday peripheral triforce would be missing its North American release date, the publisher has assured us today that Tony Hawk Ride will still be arriving on November 17 as planned. A rep from Acti told Joystiq, “The game is on sale Nov. 17 in the US, Nov. 27 in Germany and Dec. 4 in the UK,” confirming a two week delay for United Kingdom-ers.
We may be getting the game two weeks before you folks in the UK but look at it this way: now you have two more weeks to sell off your furniture and reorganize your living room for all your new plastic peripherals. Hooray!
Tony Hawk Ride pushed back to Dec. 4 in UK, arriving on time in NA originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: activision, delay, neversoft, peripherals, tony-hawk, tony-hawk-ride, uk
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Tony Hawk Ride pushed back to Dec. 4 in UK, arriving on time in NA
September 14th, 2009 at 02:30pm
Under Wii / Nintendo
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, Italy set a Guinness world record for “largest number of participants to play in a single Guitar Hero session over a 24-hour period.” At the FNAC store, 594 people participated in a single, massive Guitar Hero 5 play session coordinated to celebrate the European release of Activision’s latest music title.
The record was set using Guitar Hero 5’s Party Play mode, which supports drop-in and drop-out gameplay. There’s no word on whether any Montagues or Capulets were harmed during the event, but as soon as we hear something, we’ll let you know.
Italian gamers set new Guinness world record with Guitar Hero 5 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: activision, europe, guinness, guinness-world-records, guitar-hero, guitar-hero-5, italu, italy, neversoft, Wii / Nintendo
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Italian gamers set new Guinness world record with Guitar Hero 5
September 14th, 2009 at 10:00am
Under Wii / Nintendo
Guitar Hero 5, which is like the tenth (give or take a couple) installment in the series, has resonated with UK consumers and hit a high note atop the Chart Track all-formats chart. The Dark Knight of Arkham Asylum — who was perched above the charts for two weeks — slipped off the top to the number three spot, with Colin McRae: Dirt 2 taking the silver.
The Beatles: Rock Band premiered at the number four spot, which some are sure to find disappointing. Both Guitar Hero and Rock Band have previously debuted at the fourth and sixth spot, respectively, with previous iterations. Music games may be on a sales decline, but they apparently still know how to make an entrance.
Source — Guitar Hero 5 hits the right notes (Chart Track)
Source — All formats chart (Chart Track)
Guitar Hero 5 goes straight to the top of the UK charts originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: activision, batman-arkham-asylum, chart-track, codemasters, dirt-2, ea, eidos, guitar-hero, guitar-hero-5, harmonix, neversoft, rock-band, rocksteady, the-beatles-rock-band, uk-charts, Wii / Nintendo
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Guitar Hero 5 goes straight to the top of the UK charts
September 9th, 2009 at 10:15am
Under Xbox 360
Hi. I’m Joystiq writer Griffin McElroy, and those are my feet. They’re attached to my shins, which attach to a long sequence of other appendages which stop at my brain — which at the very moment this image was taken, was likely in a confused, panicked state. It’s a reflex reaction I usually turn to when placed before an alien video game peripheral, although in most cases, it quickly subsides, and is replaced with a steely determination to figure out how it works.
By the time I’d reached the end of my brief hands-on session with Tony Hawk Ride, I had only just begun to deconstruct the hardware’s machinations, and started determining how to deftly manipulate it in order to do sweet tricks. I was making progress in this endeavor when the demo came to a halt, but I’m still not sure my mind had completely wrapped around how I was supposed to manipulate the device. Is that indicative of the peripheral’s weakness? No, I think it can be entirely chalked up to the fact that skateboarders move in mysterious ways.
Continue reading Hands-on: Tony Hawk Ride
Hands-on: Tony Hawk Ride originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: activision, hands-on, neversoft, pax, pax-2009, robomodo, tony-hawk, tony-hawk-ride
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Hands-on: Tony Hawk Ride
