The latest in the long line of James Bond actors, Daniel Craig, is secretly a huge gaming fanatic.  He’s actually passionate enough about videogames (secretly) that he wouldn’t sign on with Treyarch to make the upcoming Quantum of Solace game until he got a chance to evaluate it himself. Read more…

Activision announced today that Sting and Tool will be added to the lineup for Guitar Hero World Tour. In addition to their music, Sting will be contributing his voice and likeness to an in-game character, and Tool will be adding their creative input on the design of a new venue.

This is a nice step forward by Activision. The announcements of new tracks can get a bit old, but the addition of twists like this definitely help in my opinion.

Afterthought: What say you? Do in-game characters and band inspired venues matter to you, or would you just rather a more in-depth track selection?

Full press release and in-game screens available after the jump. Read more…

These instruments getting all “compatible” with each other borders on pornographic.

Harmonix, Neversoft, Konami, and Activision have all signed an agreement with Microsoft and Sony that guaranteed that all of the new peripherals coming out for the newest batch of music games would all be compatible with each other. Read more…

In an interview with MTV News, director Brett Ratner, expressed his interest in making a film based on Activision’s extremely successful Guitar Hero franchise.

“I love Guitar Hero and I think it’s a part of pop culture … I would love to do a Guitar Hero movie, if Activision would ever let me. I’m trying to convince them, but why would you have a movie screw up such a huge franchise? Not that I would make a bad movie. So that would be cool, to do a Guitar Hero movie.”

“It could be about a kid from a small town who dreams of being a rock star and he wins the Guitar Hero competition … One of those dreams-[come-true] kind of concepts.”

Shall I barf now or later? Do we really need another “dream come true” film, and how on earth is wanting to become a rock star and ending up holding a fucking plastic guitar a dream come true? That’s like a girl heading to Hollywood to become an actress and ending up a fluff girl on a porno set.

Afterthought: What do you think? Should Activision give him the green light on this? Maybe they should allow him to film two movies back to back — one for the full version, and then another based on a different kid from a small town who has a dream to play the harmonica. That kid can end up winning a Guitar Hero DS competition. Feel good story of the year material right there. I am holding back the tears.

Source: multiplayerblog.mtv.com (via: escapistmagazine.com)

Might wanna soften up your palms, because they’re about to hit your face at record speed.

Blake Peebles, a sixteen-year-old kid in Raleigh, North Carolina, has, through a combination of Jedi mind tricks and voodoo magic, convinced his parents to let him drop out of high school so that he can focus on the number one priority of every high-schooler– Guitar Hero.

“We couldn’t take the complaining anymore,” says [his mother]. “He always told me that he thought school was a waste of time.”

Read more…

Not content with the plastic miniature guitar you’re forced to use when you pretend rock out? Well, if you’re a PS2 or 3 owner with an extra $180 lying around, you can pick up this new wooden guitar that works with Rock Band and all of the Guitar Hero games. Read more…

In other video game related news, private military company Blackwater USA is currently developing an entertainment package to be air-dropped to US troops that includes the popular rhythm game. Read more…

When will the long line of lovely ladies willing to throw themselves ass first in front of a camera, while they fiddle with gaming related paraphernalia, ever end — and do we really ever want it to?

First Wii Fit Girl, and now we present to you, Bikini-Clad Guitar Hero Girl. The screen appears gray and choppy for the first 10 seconds or so, but rest assured, a very nice female figure adorned in dental floss appears shortly thereafter.

Enjoy.  Oh, and this is so not safe for work. Read more…

Drummania and Guitar Freaks — totally different from Rock Band.

Konami has filed a lawsuit against Harmonix, MTV Networks, and their parent company Viacom over alleged infringement in the Rock Band videogame.

Konami is claiming that Rock Band violates patents it filed way back in 2002 and 2003 that cover simulated musical instruments and a “musical-rhythm matching game”. Read more…

Not a bad week for game releases, well, that is for every console but the PSP. Sadly, no PSP releases this week, but DS fans will be happy to hear that they’ve got a few options to choose from with Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2, Journey to the Center of the Earth, 1 vs. 100, AMF Bowling Pinbusters and Ducati Racing.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith hits all the home consoles and Hail to the Chimp hits both the Xbox 360 and PS3. Gears of War Refresh also comes out this week, just in time to get gamers ready for the sequel this fall. Check out the full list on the next page. Read more…

Activision CEO: “We need a Guitar Hero game on the DS.”

Activision Dev: “I don’t know how that is going to work…”

Activision CEO: “Make it happen.”

And thus sprung forth the abomination that is Guitar Hero: On Tour for the Nintendo DS. Read more…

“Death will rise from the tide” for 360 and PS3 users tomorrow, when the *free* World of Warcraft track, I am Murloc, becomes available for download in Guitar Hero III.

The song was introduced at the 2005 Blizzcon by Blizzard Entertainment’s house band, Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain, and is quite catchy, even for someone such as myself, who hasn’t played WoW in a while.

Too bad it’s not on Rock Band so we could cover those tasty vocals! Hit the jump for the youtube music video. Read more…

Romancing the teenage girl in your life is as easy as strumming your DS screen while a bunch of your friends dance around you at your local neighborhood park. Man I wish they had this amazing invention for my Gameboy when I was a teenager.

Enjoy the new Guitar Hero: On Tour trailer, and remember that everything in life is “more funner” when you are an imaginary DS rock star!

Today, Activision released a slew of new screenshots for their upcoming summer release, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, as well as a list of songs from the first 5 venues. Each venue consists of two opening acts and three songs featuring the title band, Aerosmith. Read more…

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has let slip that future iterations of the Guitar Hero franchise will embrace multiple instruments. Read more…

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was just awarded Overall Game of the Year at last night’s 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards Show. See, we were right!

In addition to Game of the Year, Infinity Ward’s hot little number also called in an airstrike on Console Game of the Year, Action Game of the Year, and Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play. Activision rejoiced at the kill streak and called in a helicopter. Read more…

See, it’s not all doom and gloom for the 360 after all! According to the NPD Group’s data, Microsoft is leading the videogame industry in several areas. They had a big year overall - December hardware sales were on par with the Wii ,while 360 software sales took the lead with games like Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, and Assassin’s Creed.

Microsoft sure is proud of their accomplishments and wanted to let you know how awesome they are. Read on to see their take on this information. Read more…

Say hello to Activision Blizzard, the result of a Sunday-morning announcement between Activision and Vivendi Games that they’ve agreed to combine their resources. The new company results in about $3.8 billion of pro forma and the greatest operating margins of any current third party publisher. Stick that in your craw, Electronic Arts! Read more…

After injuring one of his fingers from playing too much Guitar Hero II, modder Egyokeo took it upon himself to rig up a MIDI drum kit to work with the game. If he wasn’t going to be able to grip the fret his Xplorer until the aching digit fully healed, then he’d play guitar…with the drums. Hit the jump for some videos of the final product.
Read more…

It’s Thursday again, which means that it’s time for Sony to throw up some content on the good ol’ Playstation Store. The marquee release this week is PAIN, a game once unceremoniously touted as being thought up by a marketing department. If that doesn’t blow your skirt up, there’s plenty of DLC for your favorite Playstation 3 titles. Read more…