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Guitar Hero II Announced

Posted by Zonk on Mon Apr 17, 2006 01:29 PM
from the throw-up-the-horns dept.
Entertainment Games
Gamespot reports on the official announcement of an encore to the extremely popular Guitar Hero title from Harmonix. From the article: "RedOctane today confirmed the band was indeed getting back together, as it announced that Guitar Hero II would arrive on the PlayStation 2 this November. While the song list hasn't been announced yet, the publisher confirmed that there would be more than 55 tracks in dire need of shredding. There's also a multiplayer co-op mode that will let players collaborate, each playing lead, rhythm, or bass guitar portions." IGN is running an interview with the gents behind the game, giving us heads up on their plans for the sequel. Rock on!
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Related Stories

[+] Guitar Hero Hacks 42 comments
Edge Online has a short blurb mentioning a project at the University of California turning the Guitar Hero guitar into a real instrument. From the article: "For the final project of their Computer Audio course, University of California students Travis Chen and Sunny Chan have created Guitar Hero Hack, a plugin for sequencing software Max/MSP that lets players assign switchable banks of samples to each of the controller's buttons, utilizes its tilt switch as a way to clear current audio on any given track, and, the two hope, might be on its way to a fully functioning live instrument." His incredibly impressive demo video is well worth watching.
[+] The Rhythm Is Gonna Get You 52 comments
If shaking your groove thing or laying your thing down is something you enjoy, you might be interested in Gamespot's Rhythm Game 10 Spot, looking at the 10 Best Rhythm games. From the article: "Some of these rhythm games never made it outside of Japan, and others require you to purchase an expensive peripheral controller, but all of the greatest rhythm games are characterized by a few elements--a noteworthy soundtrack, a unique method of interaction, and an addictive gameplay. To be truly great, the game can be responsible for pioneering the genre or merely perfecting the established formula, and whether you're using your feet, hands, or stylus to map out the beat, we guarantee that in the following 10 games, the rhythm is going to get you." Played Guitar Hero for the first time this weekend, and it is as good as everyone says it is. Highly recommended.
[+] Your Song Featured in Guitar Hero II 31 comments
JamesO writes "RedOctane has launched a competition in which budding musicians can get a song featured in Guitar Hero II." From the article: "To enter simply submit your song at beaguitarhero.com before 11:59 p.m. PST on June 30, 2006. There are a few rules that each entered song must adhere to though. The song must be from independent artists, must be an original piece, and must fall under the 'hard rock' or 'heavy metal' genre. The track must also feature a lead guitar. The winner will get their song featured in Guitar Hero II, plus will be eligible for additional publicity through the game's launch promotion." The winner also gets a kickass set of prizes, including a guitar, drumset, and wah pedal.
[+] Partial Guitar Hero II Setlist 40 comments
Eurogamer reports on the release of a partial setlist for the Guitar Hero sequel. From the article: "Ostensibly to trail its E3 showing next week, RedOctane's said we can expect Black Sabbath's 'War Pigs', Butthole Surfers' 'Who Was in My Room Last Night?', KISS' 'Strutter', Rush's 'YYZ', Reverend Horton Heat's 'Psychobilly Freakout' and Van Halen's 'You Really Got Me' in GH2. There'll also be an original recording by Drist called Arterial Black - and Drist, whose Marcus Henderson was the original Guitar Hero guitarist - will be performing in one of a few mini-concerts planned for GH2's showing in E3's Kentia Hall."
[+] More 'Hero' Games Without Guitars Likely 105 comments
In light of the popularity of the Guitar Hero game, Next Generation reports that it is very likely RedOctane will be publishing several more 'Hero' series games. From the article: "The next logical step within this category is to make other music instrument-based games. What most people have been asking for and would want next are products that we're likely already working on."
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  • Yeah, but where's my accordion hero?

  • Couple of points... (Score:3, Informative)

    by DorkusMasterus (931246) <dorkmaster1.gmail@com> on Monday April 17 2006, @01:40PM (#15143726) Homepage
    *Guitar Hero (the first one) is quite possibly the best and most fun game I've played in quite some time (meaning at least a decade). The truth is, I haven't seen anyone pick it up, give it a good try, and then want to put it down. It's one of those addicting games that makes you try harder and harder with each song.

    *I play guitar, and sure it's much more "skill-building" to play a real guitar, and this experience really is nothing like playing for real, but it's still a heck of a fun time.

    *The only thing I would reccomend for the second incarnation is to get as many "actual" performers to do the songs, or at least the vocals, as possible. It's the only drawback to the original, and would REALLY make the 2nd game so much cooler.
    • "Guitar Hero (the first one) is quite possibly the best and most fun game I've played in quite some time (meaning at least a decade)."

      This may be true of you, but some of us were enjoying other rhythm games like Dance Dance Revolution, Pop'n'Music, Samba de Amigo, etc, for years before this came out. I can appreciate that you like guitar more, but don't ignore the rest of the genre :)

      DDR is hardly like ballroom, but it's a heck of a lot of fun.
      • Don't forget the game that Guitar Hero wouldn't even be around without - Beatmania (I, III, IIDX, etc) - that game is killer addicting (and a source for a large number of the songs in DDR too. ^_^)
      • What you just said is equivalent to something like "You may like shrimp, but I don't."

        So? What does it have to do with anything?

        The guy is saying that guitar hero is the most fun he's had in years. He said nothing about Guitar Hero being the first rhythm game in existence...
        • I was interjecting...
          "I can appreciate that you like guitar more, but don't ignore the rest of the genre :)"

          If you're going to gush about it, it doesn't hurt to mention other games (and especially since Guitar Heroes is just a clone of one of the Bemani games, Guitar Freaks).

          His post implied that Guitar Heroes was out of the blue, when it's just a clone of Konami's work. I interjected this extra bit of info :)

          I swear, no one on this site knows how to read for content, and is too caught up in "out-doing" ev
          • That's just it. He didn't imply Guitar Hero was out of the blue. I've played lots and lots of rhythm game before Guitar Hero (which is not my favorite) and I would have phrased it the same as him. I wouldn't have implied anything.... I suggest you play Osu!Tatakae!Ouendan for Nintendo DS. It's almost as good as Guitar Hero.

  • The Things I Want... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by th1ckasabr1ck (752151) on Monday April 17 2006, @01:41PM (#15143732)
    I would be really awesome to be able to buy a "classic rock pack" or a "grunge rock pack" and get a bunch of songs that I'll probably like. The song list for Guitar Hero was the best I've seen in a music game, but still it would be nice to be able to focus the type of music I'm listening and playing on my personal preferences.

    Secondly it would be nice to have a higher quality guitar. That thing looked and felt totally cheap, it was like a kid's toy. I would have felt like I was rocking a lot harder if the guitar was bigger and had taken itself a little more seriously.

    Van Halen - How you can have a game called Guitar Hero and not have a Van Halen track is beyond my scope.

    Still a cool game though.

    • There are already people who have extracted the electronics from the Guitar Hero controller and installed them in a real guitar body.

      As for Van Halen, it was probably a combination of licensing fees and musician apathy. From the interview it looks like this time around the former will be less of a problem and the latter is definitely no longer a factor.
    • You're not the only one who thought Van Halen was missing. Or AC/DC, or several others. You can't blame RedOctane for not trying - these bands were asked, they just declined [guitarherogame.com]. Hopefully there'll be more of these bands showing up for GH2.
      • Argh, that thread makes me want to claw my eyes out.

        Seriously, were those goofballs just pulling their favorite bands out of thier asses without regard to whether there was actually any good guitar involved?!

        Hell, I loved Tool (at least for the first two albums), but they ain't exactly thrashing.
    • The main think I want is a tournament ladder, for parties.

      I mean, we've got two controllers tops, right? What if six people want to play against each other?

      Yeah, people can mill about and yell out "I have winsies" and stuff, but IMHO it would be nice if the game could say "okay, the next match will be Kevin against Milicent", and keep track of scores and so forth, and end up telling you who won.
      • dude, it would be nice if any game still did that. i remember that in the 16 bit era, every other fighting game came with some kind of tournament mode. the only recent fighting game i've played that came with one (that I can think of off-hand) is dragonball z budokai 3 (which I recently dug out of the bargain bin, so its still fresh in my memory.) I have no idea why this isn't a demanded-feature: i'd organize parties based around the latest fighting game if that were the case!
    • I forgot to mention the other thing I want.

      I want to be able to plug in this [redoctane.com] alongside of this [redoctane.com], using both in the same game.

      And it'd be real nice if you could also use this [redoctane.com], and set it up as a bank of effects pedals, with one of 'em kicking off "rock out" mode.

      It might just be better for all concerned if they leave this [logitech.com] peripheral out for now, though.
        • But you sold it. So obviously it wasn't money well spent, except as an investment that you were able to profit from.

          I own Guitar Hero, bought a copy for a friend, and bought a second guitar controller for my wife, and we played it constantly for the first month, and still go back and play it at least once a week. I'd consider that money well spent.

          I also own an accoustic guitar and two electrics, so I do play the real thing. And yes, the toy game version is still fun.
          • But you sold it. So obviously it wasn't money well spent

            Why is that obvious? Maybe the guitar had served its purpose as a cheap beginner's instrument and he/she decided to move up to a better one.

  • Today's Slashdot articles have been at least 60% "Games". Am I the only one left with a daytime job?
  • Guitar hero is about the only game my fiance plays (yes, she plays video games). What's so great about it is that, especially for two player, we're fairly evenly matched from the onset. Hopefully they make a non-failing quick play option.
  • My only complaint with Guitar Hero is that the song list is devoted half to the 80's, a little from the 70's and still a little less from 2000-present with one song from the 90's (by Helmet). If they're going to keep the same band (who did phenomenal work), they shouldn't do the same stuff. Why do we need more hair band metal when a good portion of the original IS hair band metal?
    • by my count, out of the 30 licensed songs in the game, six were from the 80s..

    • Re:Hopefully they'll have stuff from the 90's (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Keebler71 (520908) on Monday April 17 2006, @02:17PM (#15143999) Journal
      My only complaint with Guitar Hero is that the song list is devoted half to the 80's, a little from the 70's and still a little less from 2000-present with one song from the 90's (by Helmet). If they're going to keep the same band (who did phenomenal work), they shouldn't do the same stuff. Why do we need more hair band metal when a good portion of the original IS hair band metal?

      That's because the game is called Guitar Hero... not Grunge Frontman Hero. Through the 70's and 80's the guitarists were the cult sensations. As far as I can tell, beginning with Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder (yes, I know they both play guitar), the emphasis turned more toward the vocalist.

  • No game for keyboards? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Cthefuture (665326) on Monday April 17 2006, @02:38PM (#15144134)
    Why doesn't someone make a game like this for piano/keyboard playing?

    You know, hook up a MIDI keyboard and go to town. That would be an awesome teaching tool because you learn on the real thing. Much more fun than learning to play the traditional way because it's really boring when you are just starting playing any instrument (which generally lasts many months if not years).

    A high tech Guitar Hero would be nice too. I mean something that uses a real (electric) guitar and determines how you are playing by sound and/or the pickups.

  • Guitar/Karaoke Hero? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by th3walrus (191223) on Monday April 17 2006, @02:48PM (#15144209)
    The co-op mode is great and the new addition of playing different song parts is even better. I'd really like to see Guitar Hero combined with a Karaoke Revolution type thing where you can either play the guitar and have to sing along or else you can play the guitar and someone else could sing.

    Are we eventually going to get to a point where we can have all our friends over to play Guitar Hero type songs as a full band? One guy has the guitar, another has the bass, another on drums and a singer! That would be great party fun.

  • Why not just go play a real guitar? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by llevity (776014) on Monday April 17 2006, @03:20PM (#15144423)
    I'll tell you why. I've been playing guitar for close to 15 years. I own an accoustic, two electrics, a couple of amps, a few effects pedals.

    And yet, I still love Guitar Hero. Why?

    It's the same reason I enjoyed Gran Turismo, despite the fact that I own a real car. I can do things in Guitar Hero that I can't do in real life. I can sit down and instantly start playing a song just like the original guitarist. I can crank up the difficulty if I want more of a challenge and to get more of a "I'm really playing a guitar" feel, or I can dial it back and jam with my wife who can't even play an E chord on a real guitar.

    I can do it in front of an audience that roars its approval on a massive shredding solo, without the grueling practice, coordination, and drama of a real band.

    And just like Gran Turismo encouraged me to drive my car a little faster than I should, Guitar Hero has encouraged me to sit down and learn to play some of the songs on my real guitars. But like all good video games, it's there when I want a quick, easy, enjoyable experience.
  • Guitar Hero is a very close ripoff of Guitar Freaks from Konami, which came out back in the days of PlayStation 1. What is so special about this ripoff compared to the original?

    Melissa

    • Re:What's so great about Guitar Hero? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Blackwulf (34848) on Monday April 17 2006, @04:12PM (#15144739) Homepage
      What's so special?

      It was actually released in the US and contained a large list of songs people in the US recognized. Two things Konami never did.

      I love all my Bemani games, don't get me wrong (I've spent thousands of dollars importing IIDX, Pop'n, and Drummania) but Red Octane and Harmonix did what Konami wouldn't do. Konami is very dead set on their Japanese roots, and most people won't play guitar games with songs they don't recognize here in the US.

      So, the difference is...Guitar Hero is marketed towards Americans. Guitar Freaks is marketed towards Japanese. That's not to say Americans wouldn't enjoy Guitar Freaks, but that's not their target audience. Especially since I don't believe Guitar Freaks ever got any release outside of Japan.
    • From a quick glance it would seem to be the same game but there are plenty of differences.

      Different control scheme, Hammer-ons, pull offs, more fret buttons, wammy bar, star power/rock out mode(the motion sensing game play element), Rock music that isn't Jrock(not that I have anything against Jrock), and awards from many many people (http://www.guitarherogame.com/rockalades.asp [guitarherogame.com])

  • I need a left-handed guitar! (Score:3)

    by tb3 (313150) on Monday April 17 2006, @04:19PM (#15144770) Homepage
    I just hope Red Octane pays attention to the 10 or 20 percent of us that are left-handed. Turning the controller upside-down just doesn't cut it. The whammy-bar is in the wrong place, and the strap is wrong. And I'm too left-handed to play right-handed.

    I took guitar lessons a few years ago, and discovered that I could only play left-handed. It was much easier to buy a real lefty guitar than fake it any other way. I hope it's possible for RO to build a lefty controller; I'd gladly buy one.
  • Please. Could you make a PC version? Pretty please? I don't want to throw money towards Sony just to play that game.
    • My plan is to just get a used/price-reduced PS2 this fall when the PS3 finally comes out. I'm not a big fan of Sony either, but if I can get the game system cheap enough, I don't think I'll feel bad about buying it for just one game :)
      • For me this would require being certain that Sony doesn't benefit from it. If someone plans to dump his PS2 and needs money for, say, a Nintendo Revolution, hell, even a X360, I'll buy the PS2.
  • How well GH has sold. I actually have no idea, and while everyone seems to be talking about it, people tend to mistake popularity with their group as popularity across the board. Look at Katamari Damacy, for instance.

    Just wondering if it's nearly as successful as everyone thinks it is.
  • How many guitar heroes does it take to change a light bulb?

    They have games to do that now.

    • Actually, I do own an acoustic guitar. I have fun with it. (Granted, my first love is percussion and yes, I do own a drumset.)

      However, I still have lots of fun playing Guitar Hero. Why? Because Guitar Hero isn't about playing guitar. It simulates performing for a crowd. I, sadly, do not have the time right now to join a rock band and put in the time I'd really want to in order to sound good to perform at large venues. Guitar Hero simulates performing on stage to an extent. Plucking on my guitar in my living room doesn't simulate playing in front of a crowd.

      It's kind of funny that several elitist musicians bash on the game because it's a "cheap plastic toy", and that people should, instead, buy real instruments. However, I have known two people personally (which is not by any stretch a large number) who got Guitar Hero, enjoyed it so much, that they then went out and bought their first guitar and started to learn how to play one legitemately.

      I would think ANY musician would agree that something that gets more people into playing music is a GOOD thing, and that they should embrace something like Guitar Hero not as a replacement for guitar playing, but rather an entry point for new guitar players.

      (And in fact, one of my friends who enjoys Guitar Hero the most is also an amazing classical guitar player. If he can get over the fact that he's playing a plastic toy, I think anyone can.)

    • Re:Dude (Score:3, Insightful)

      by MC Negro (780194)

      just buy the most sucky acoustic guitar there is. For less money you have more fun with a real guitar!

      No. You would waste your money, develop a bad ear, and most likely pick up some bad habits that cater to the instruments poor quality. As an added bonus, you still probably won't be able to play "Crossroads" or "Texas Flood" or any of the other licensed tracks due to frustration with the quality of the instrument and time it takes to develop the methods required for songs like those.

      It always puzzles

          • playing guitar is equivalent to hurting people?

            playing guitar will put you in jail?

            I guess I didn't get it.
            • Playing a game is not like real life?

              Guitar Hero:guitar::GTA:shooting a cop

              If you want to learn the guitar, you get a guitar. If you want to shoot a cop, you get a gun.
              If instead you want to have fun, you get Guitar Hero or GTA!
      • Guitar Hero made me realize that I will never, ever be able to play the guitar. Not because I'm bad at the game (I'm not great, but I can pull 5 stars on about 85% of Medium), but because after an hour or two, the 20+ years of qwerty catches up with me and my hands feel like they're going to fall off for eight hours.

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