In advance of this weekend’s E3 Media and Business Summit, during which many video game geeks will converge on a convention center in hopes of finding out what will attach them to their personal couches for the next few months before the next E3, someone took it upon themselves to leak what they’re claiming are the song menus for Rock Band 2. The list’s veracity is debatable–it looks not unlike every fanboy’s dream air-guitar playlist, featuring “November Rain,” “Peace Sells,” and “Crazy Train,” not to mention “Hot For Teacher”–but hey, if I can spend a rainy night trying to perfect the rhythms of a track from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ underrated Show Your Bones, I’ll be happy. Full list of tracks after the jump.
Following in the proud tradition of, well, Aerosmith, Metallica will be honored with its own version of Guitar Hero sometime in 2009. Of course, with Metallica’s recent track record, I’m a little concerned that the song selection might be a bit troublesome for the band, and by that, I mean the game might feature any of its recent material. As a helpful service, a few suggestions below the cut.
Tough break, Coldplay, Madonna, and Kid Sister. You picked the wrong day to try to release new material, as the world as we know it has shut down completely over the release of Grand Theft Auto IV. While I personally cannot be separated from my copy of Mario Kart Wii, if you’re the type who enjoys (digital) murder for sport today is like Christmas and that time when Sonny Corleone got shot at the toll booth all wrapped up in one. The even better news: The music you’ll hear while you’re busy banging hookers and executing cops is really good.
Today, Activision announced that an Aerosmith-themed* edition of Guitar Hero, the cleverly titled Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, would be available in stores come June. The press release heralding the game’s launch contained a baffling quote from Steven Tyler, who said: “Any band that can go from ‘Don’t Want to Miss A Thing’ (Aerosmith’s #1 smash hit) to the ass-kicking ‘Sweet Emotion’ to the cheekiness of ‘Love in an Elevator,’ to the classic ballad ‘Dream On’ shows why Activision chose us to headline this game based on the diversity of the Aerosmith catalog. Not only is songwriting a bitch, but then it goes and has puppies.” Odd dog-related metaphors aside, what is up, Mr. Tyler, with naming a freaking Diane Warren track before anything else from your catalog? Clearly you need some help picking the right songs for your game, so after the jump, I’ve selected five songs that are definitely ripe for inclusion. (And no, “Sweet Emotion” and “Walk This Way” aren’t on there because we pretty much can figure that the songs you trot out for every TV appearance will be front-and-center, probably in multiple versions.)
If you’ve ever wondered what accounts for the sudden, occasional dips in quality on this site–why posts take three hours to show up, or why there’s a sudden surge of “look at this funny photo!” entries–there can be only one explanation: Your Idolators are off playing Guitar Hero. Now officially the eleventh-greatest thing ever to happen in the history of mankind (following such heavy hitters as oxygen, waffle irons, the fall of Communism, and season three of The Wire), Guitar Hero is the first game to combine our collective need for communal self-expression with our collective need to eat pizza and play “Smoke On The Water” eleven times in a row. Badly.
Next month sees the release of Guitar Hero II for Xbox, but we’re already thinking about the still-in-the-works third edition. So we hereby present our 30-song wishlist for Guitar Hero III jams–the songs that we hope to be playing along with in the near future. We’ve even included MP3s with our top ten, so you can get a head start on your neighbor.
